#(yeah i had to copy and paste the song title)

[placegrenette]

On 5Miinust (+ Puuluup) and the pleasures of sticking idol pop where it (supposedly) doesn't belong.

I haven't been around much lately, y'all. Partly because my dudes have also not been around much, although ZaQ continues to post a series of videos on the ARTJAQ channel, teaching the audience about... something. I continue, in turn, to not understand Kazakh. Throw in increasing disillusionment with K-pop (I guess now we know why GFriend was so abruptly shitcanned, though the knowledge doesn't make me feel any better), a general post-October-7th discomfort with most online pop-music discussion spaces, and work to get done at home, and Tumblr just hasn't been a particularly rewarding place for me lately.

I didn't think Eurovision was going to be a rewarding place for me this year, either. And then Eesti Laul happened.

It's like some divine imp was watching and saying to themself, "You know what Jessica needs? A pop-rap group from a former Soviet colony whose members love video games and refuse to take themselves seriously and release lots of goofy content that sorely lacks English subtitles. No, another one."

To clarify: the description in the previous paragraph only refers to four of the six people making up Estonia's Eurovision entry this year. The two guys in the clip with talharpas are the respected "zombie-folk" duo Puuluup, who play world music festivals and draw their own album covers and seem like a very fun and intelligent duo. They somehow have fallen into league with 5Miinust, a four-member (previously five) group that has been around since the mid-2010s. To the best of my knowledge 5Miinust have never been accused of being Satanic and/or gay like Ninety One have, but they are either a party group, a hip-hop group, a boy band, a bunch of frat bros (see this album cover), or a very savvy business collective whose members include a former advertising specialist and a trained accountant. Or, most likely, all of the above at once.

The 5Miinust / Puuluup collaboration by itself is charming enough, and if you want to know more about how it came to pass, I direct you to Overthinking It's very good video on Estonia's entry. And "Nendest Something Something," as @sole-cuore-amore-e-droga calls it, is the best kind of fun: chaotic at first listen, carefully constructed subsequently. I don't expect it to do well in Malmö. (I think "Europapa," which is also a seemingly chaotic song that turns out to have a lot more going on than its bouncy surface would first indicate, will win overall.) And I don't really care. I'm not sure 5Miinust and Puuluup care a huge amount about the scoreboard either. They've already recorded a full album together; they seem to be having a good time making silly videos for social media. They'd be my winners even without the added bonus, which is that these guys are absolutely giving idol-pop goodness.

I mean: go watch that Eesti Laul performance again. With the exception of the bridge, each performer gets his own solo time, a classic idol-pop move. There's choreo! And the styling: everyone shirtless under a suit jacket, but each suit jacket tailored slightly differently—that is such an idol-pop live-performance look. I cannot be the only person who clocked that Korea's suit is cut the same way as Nine's for "libidO" live stages, just more conservatively.

And the deeper you get into the 5Miinust rabbit hole, the more idol-pop-esque goofiness you find. Drag performances? Yep. Live radio performances with gimmicks? Here they are stripping to "Vamos." Super-dramatic award-show performances with loads of backup dancers? Here they are at last year's Estonian Music Awards. Do you need to learn the point dance? 5Miinust and Puuluup will combine forces to teach you the point dance.

And yet, talking about either (and both) of these groups as idols is a gloriously stupid idea, because "idol pop" suggests a willingness to subjugate themselves to audience demands that neither 5Miinust or Puuluup, for all their combined marketing skill, have. Idol pop historically depends on hierarchies—performers deferring to management, and, in a different way, to their audience—and that's not how 5Miinust or Puulup work. When I wrote up a guide to who's who for /r/eurovision, I said that Päevakoer is 5Miinust's maknae, and it was a joke because I'm pretty confident no one within 5Miinust has ever cared for one second who's older and who's younger. Just the fact that two different groups with a decade between them found creative inspiration in happily treating each other as equals gives the lie to the idol-pop framing. Nobody's bowing to Marko and Ramo. The whole idea is so far from how these particular performers relate to each other as to be nonsensical.

Which means: idol-pop goodness without stifling hierarchies; idol-pop goodness by people in charge of their own careers, who post goofiness on their own terms; idol-pop goodness combined with musical experimentation born of mutual respect. YES. YES. SIGN ME THE HELL UP.

(If it doesn't go without saying at this point, I would give a lot for my new faves to somehow meet my existing faves. Ninety One might not have enough English comprehension to make the meeting work, though. I think 5Miinust's ex-member Gameboy Tetris might speak Russian; whether he wants to speak Russian would be another story.)

I got lucky, and found people also willing to enjoy the 5Miinust-and-Puuluup-as-idols ironic glee. @sole-cuore-amore-e-droga really kicked things off by making that awesome lyrics video, and from there we got a line distribution video and a logo design for our fandom (Estoners) and photocards and a fanchant and a lightstick design and a "Gangnam Style" mashup and chibi art and then more chibi art. It has been one of the highlights of my past month, being able to giggle unreservedly with strangers. I haven't been able to do that in a long time.

Eurovision happens in two weeks, and then there will inevitably be a dropoff in activity, no matter where "(nendest)..." places. Without the Eurovision framework (and the English-language content that comes with it) I suspect most Estoners will move on. I'm still going to play the album, though, and keep an eye on these guys. Any chance to expand idol pop into more humane spaces, I'm going to take, no matter how silly it seems.

[all444miles]

— IN HER OWN LIL’ WORLD

— paring: e!42 miles x black!fem!reader

— genre: fluff

— summary: you can chat for the world, so you tell it all to none other than your boyfriend.

— a/n: the way this is a self insert bc when i tell u i can CHATTTTTT 😭 this is pretty much inspired by the song “love is only a feeling” (hence the title, that “she’s so perfect in her lil world”) so you might see a bit of lyric references in it. writing ts at 2am got me TIRED than a mf, but enjoy !!

You were a natural talker. You could talk for hours without getting tired. You could talk for the whole world, even. So you tell everything you want to say to your world, Miles. Miles loved everything about you. But when you would talk to him non-stop, and the way you’d articulate your words? Made his whole day.

“She came up to me tryna start sum, and you know I wouldn’t take that shi, so I had to deal wit her.” you explained, sitting on your boyfriend’s lap, his hands on your waist, as you continued to tell the story you had been telling Miles about for the past 26 minutes.

“Mami, you fought her?” he asked, his head cocking to the side and his eyebrows furrowed. “Das crazy, ain’t I said if you got a problem tell me?” You never really knew how, but whenever a person would cause you problems, Miles would always find a way to sort it out.

You tried to think to yourself, before you realised what he said to you just a ago week ago, catching your breath as you did so.

“Aight ma, after that fight, if you got any more beef wit somebody, for a good reason, you come to me, you heard?”

“Oh yeah..” you could hear a soft sigh coming from Miles and watched as he slightly shook his head, which made you smile. “That’s my bad. But she still deserved that shit.”

“So ima take it you won? Or else ima be even more annoyed.” he questioned you, raising an eyebrow, engaging himself more into the conversation.

You chuckled at his question, and your answer made him grin. “Of course I did! You ain’t never gon see me lose a fight.”

“That’s my girl. Now, tell me the rest.” you smiled at Miles as he waited for you to continue. You were always a talkative person, and Miles would always be the one to listen.

“You sure I ain’t talking yo ear off, baby?” you laughed quietly as you spoke, feeling the slightest bit self-conscious that you were talking too much. Miles, however, laughed at what you said.

“Mami, you always do, but I love it.”

“Ahora, no dejes que te detenga amor, sigue hablándome.” (Now, don't let me stop you love, keep talking to me.)

© all444miles 2023. do not plagerize, copy, or repost my work in any way shape or form, without my permission.

likes, reblogs, comments and asks are always appreciated !

[queenendless]

CRIMSON

A/n: I legit don't know how to title this piece. Inspired by @xo-romiiarts and their artwork.

Also Guns for Hire by Woodkid fits this piece so listen to it while reading this or any song that gives dark!GoGe vibes.

CW ⚠️ : 4.7k worded piece with DARK MATURE themes/depictions of murder/genocide, teen dropouts/runaways, angst, hurt/comfort, romance/fluff, already established poly!teen!GoGe x fem!teen!curse seer!reader, set in an AU where the guys did go through with it ... you have been warned. ⚠️

Cause #261 and fanarts of Gojo saying yes to Geto have given me the push to finally get this out. I have been working on this since September of LAST YEAR SO I hope yall enjoy this.

And I'm working on a pt 2 to this set a few months to a year later of the aftermath. Cause Lord, Clan Head Gojo x Cult Leader Geto x Reader but they're dark now kinda I wanna explore in my own way. With them kids. Their kids. And scene.

*DO NOT REPOST, TRANSLATE, COPY, EDIT, PLAGARIZE, AND OR STEAL MY FANFIC WORK. Rather if you enjoy my fan work, then reblog, like, comment, n follow pls n thnx u.

"You're late, Suguru."

Indeed he was.

"No … I guess you got here fast. There are several Star Religious Group facilities in the city, after all."

Something felt seriously off the moment the snowy-haired sorcerer raised his head.

"Satoru? Is that you?"

The look in his eyes … practically radiating their potent rebirth … a stark contrast to the fading scuffs of blood running down the left half of his face, down both sides of his mouth, weariness evident.

"What happened?"

This was not his Satoru. This one … had seen hell first hand. In a twisted way, they both have today. Literally at death's door.

"I see you already saw Shoko."

"Yeah, she healed me. I'm fine now."

And yet, a long sleeved uniform arm slipped out from under the sheet, swaying a bit til staying still as a lifeless corpse would be.

"No … me being safe doesn't help anything here."

Not when he failed to keep their promise to Riko-chan. She was ready to walk away from the merger with him. Choosing to live for herself rather than follow her pre-chosen fate. Yet, fate had other plans. A cruel one, at that.

"I screwed up. You're not at fault." Gojo sounded so blunt, so calm … willing to accept all the blame for their greatest failure yet.

"Let's head back."

An eerie ringing began penetrating Geto's hearing as the clapping kept going. He chalked that up as an explanation as to why he thought he misheard Gojo's next words.

"Suguru, should we kill these guys? The way I feel right now, I doubt I'd feel anything about it."

As the form of Gojo carrying Amanai's draped body was being overshadowed by the pure white radiance of the smiling clapping cultists, Geto's morality dilemma prodded his mind, unable to meet Gojo's gaze.

"No. There's no point. It looks like there are only common believers here. The masterminds who know about our world have probably fled already. And unlike with the bounty, they won't be able to talk their way out of this. The organization had problems to begin with. It'll be dissolved soon enough."

Geto, standing in the pure white room of morality, starkly contrasted Gojo as he brushed past him and stood in the crimson room of immorality.

"No point, huh? Does there really need to be any point to it?"

Does there need to be a rhyme or reason for them to act on this? Ideally yes. They may be above the laws in most cases, but even sorcerers can't enact vengeance on regular humans. Unless they were curse users or even like the Sorcerer Killer, they couldn't lay a hand on them.

Realistically?

Right now?

The clapping grew louder, mocking him. Antagonizing him.

Gleefully celebrating her death and their own damaged, traumatizing failure.

Geto's left hand curled into a fist.

His morals were conflicting with his personal feelings; his fist shaking in restrained emotion.

His almond eyes, weariness tainting his eyebags, finally looked up.

Out at the clapping, smiling crowd.

"It's very important that there is. Especially for a jujutsu sorcerer."

Even the cruelest scum of the Earth get away scot free, never facing retribution. Darkness grew underneath him, outstretched to reach their seemingly untouchable light, as his fractured moral code made way for his true inner self to finally show its true colors.

"But not us …"

Gojo stiffened. Slightly looking back over his shoulder, peering inside the open doorway, his radiating Six Eyes turned on at the darkened gaze of Geto's eyes slightly looking back in return.

"Not today."

Rage and distraught guides him.

He would right this wrong.

To the bloody damn end.

Now triggered by those firm, final words, Gojo's heightened state strengthened as he set Amanai's body down gently on the hallway floor, the anger he didn't feel on her behalf in his rematch against the fallen Zen'in man was finally making its appearance, intertwining with an unhinged drive for chaos in his blood as a twisted gleam overtook his lips.

Survival of the weakest. Discouragement of the strong. That's how society should be; one where jujutsu sorcerers protect non-sorcerers. That's what he always strived to uphold despite his inner demons. But now… they as sorcerers still failed in the end.

Riko-chan, Kuroi-san, the weak but good ones, now dead by the orchestration of these unforgivable heinous —

"Monkeys." Having seen that monkey assassin's standing corpse himself on his way inside; decimated and dripping with bloodied spilled guts, made Geto wish he could deal the killing blow himself back in Tengen's domain.

This would have to do, feeling ready to puke when he uttered the same word as that scarred mouthed bastard, wincing as the shadowed hole he summoned released his newest curse.

The same cursed worm draped over his shoulder, opening its mouth to pop out the handle of a cursed tool, one Geto pulled out as swiftly as Gojo began ascending to heights unbound, slicing the cursed energized blade through the air as tears sprung from his unforgiving dark eyes.

"DIE!"

Those monkeys' glee changed to confusion then bursting out in waves of panic as the blade grew in length the more Geto spread his cursed energy into it.

Several heads got sliced sideways, splattering blood over some's prime white apparel, kicking off the shrill hysterics.

In an instant, Gojo blips out of sight only to plow through a row of them scurrying ants in his way like the cursed speedster he had become.

Blown off head chunks.

Fists jutted right through their torsos right and outta their spines.

Setting off carnage filled piñatas left and right.

Trained on every weakling in his sight, Gojo's uniform grew darker as more blood seeped further in with each blow.

Reappearing as he grabbed a randomly chosen neck, snapping it in two with ease, before blocking a panicking one that tried socking him from behind, glowing eyes narrowed in as he clenched their fist before ripping their arm right off with swift ease. Their tortured screech is heard one moment, the sound of bones crunching in Gojo's other hand the next.

Through hatred fueled adrenaline, Geto cleaved in them guts to match the mutilated limbs that rolled across the crimson spreaded floor.

Those attempting to flee were squandered as the force field of Limitless smooshed them, splattering the now cracked dented walls; minced red.

Many more sunken noggins soared in the air, sprinkling red from on high.

Screams and splatters became the symphony of Pandemonium.

Flinging the chain around the neck of one, Geto swung them like a chain and ball, crushing many others against the walls.

Those petrified hideous faces get their brains ruptured out; globby chunks vomiting out by mere cursed thought.

Many rammed right into the glass window ceiling, sending cracks racing in its wake, the pure white sunlight becoming a neon red.

Shards of glass rained down, deflected by Limitless as the pair found themselves back to back, watching with callousness as many were skewered like porcupines.

Limbless lumps of lifeless flesh plastered every inch of the once pristine interior from every wall, crevice, and even the ceiling had scarlet drenching it.

Their haggard breaths and sweaty burning faces aside, their dark craving for retribution still lingered in them both.

It wouldn't be enough.

Not until every last member was eviscerated.

Dismissing the worm, Geto scanned the room, trembling at the grotesque aftermath.

His cerise painted hands hung limply at his sides.

Amiss the madness, their residuals were there.

Fortunately they knew to an extent how to hide them. However long those held out, they couldn't waste a moment. Any longer than that spent here meant capture followed by immediate execution.

Feeling himself moving by a firm grasp tugging on his hand, his light headed state transitioned to a frigged one over what they had just committed. The solid squeeze of Gojo's sizzling hand helped pull him further out of his own unsteady mindset.

"Satoru …" He internally felt revolted at having those monkeys wretched blood covering his skin.

"Suguru."

Through the path of red, his closest friend – his ally in genocide – turned to him with cherry-red streaking his unbuttoned jacket and the collared white undershirt, for his glowing – exhausted – eyes were scarred with the brutal truth. Reaching his stained, steadfast hands out for that stained lost face, Gojo rested his forehead against Geto’s, staring into those stricken eyes of one of his most greatest treasures.

"Come with me. Let's get away.”

Blood trickled down from the ceiling, spilling along their hair, staining their faces, but both couldn't care less as they sealed it with a kiss. Lost in the bloody euphoria, relishing in one another's warmth.

The new taste of searing iron overtook the repelling flavor of cursed spirits, overwhelming the pair as Geto clawed at Gojo's back and the latter's hands massaged the former's supple cheeks, bringing muffled moans outta them both.

It feels right … anywhere … as long as it's with each other. It's just right.

Wherever they end up, whatever it may be, may it be nowhere near here whenever whichever sorcerers would be sent to investigate this now scene of massacre.

Once partners in sorcery.

Now partners in crime.

What a send off for them, the newly dropouts.

The clapping halted.

The ringing faded.

Their hearts felt lighter.

But something still felt off.

Someone was missing.

"Y/n." Geto's eyes opened to stare into Gojo's as they parted lips. "We can't leave her behind … we can't …"

Knowing their cursed seer partner probably foresaw the bloody chain of events that had recently just transpired in the last few hours. But knowing how abrupt they can be, maintaining and willing them into your mind’s eye was still a burdening struggle, ergo you being left behind at school for tiring training.

The heavy fog of bloodlust and tension between them lifted for now Geto's eyes lightened at sensing that familiar presence. He knew Gojo sensed it as well, for his glowing eyes followed his lead, taking Riko back in his arms, the duo raced to the surface outside.

You had ran outta the car that dropped you off down the street. You gulped to stifle back the bile at the gory sight of the fallen Zen’in still standing; the bloody puddle reaching for you now.

Your gaze averted once you spotted them coming out, hurrying over, your stomach churning at how scrapped up and red they appeared, but your empathy outweighed the disgust as Geto caught you in his heavy weighted grasp.

The fear in Geto's eyes mingled with confusion and concern. "Y/n … I … we –!”

Gojo’s eyes slanted as you kept your face hidden. "Did you get a vision?”

Your shaky nod against Geto’s chest paired with your ashamed tone. “I was too late … I,” An anxious pause of silence stretched between you three. “Shoko told me where you were headed after healing you … then came another one … of course you two would get Riko’s body back …”

They waited for the heart shattering blow. The final nail in the coffin. You shunning them away, cutting ties immediately. Rejecting them for their heinous act. Fleeing away in horror to Jujutsu High, reporting their sorry asses and ousting them as traitors. All the above — !

“The system would have let these zealots slip through the cracks. They … their assassin … they all deserve to rot in hell for what they've done … all because of Tengen … Kuroi and Amanai have been avenged.” Your callous tone kinda threw them off a tad bit.

Geto gulped. “You … You're okay with it?”

Your head finally rose up, the glossy layer to those e/c eyes sparkled from the sliver of sunset. "I know I can't make up for letting you all down … and no amount of apologies can redeem my blunder … but I can do this at least. I'll bring her back to the school, back to Kuroi-san. They deserve to be laid to rest together.”

You reluctantly pull away from Geto’s warmth; uncaring about the red stains smearing your clothes now, to take the wrapped up body as Gojo gently passes her into your arms, melancholy heavy on your face but the strength of resolve aiding you in carrying her. “My place is with you two. Always. Now more than ever.”

Geto’s eyes pricked with burning warmth; your willingness to stay despite everything, as he kissed your temple. “We should be apologizing to you.”

“There's still more of those facilities in the city left standing. We're not finished just yet.” Gojo's voice spoke doom for their upcoming targets, a stark contrast to his own kiss to your forehead being so sweet.

“They all need to go. Every single one of them.” Geto clenched his veiny hands, determined to see this through to the end. “We will return for you. If you wouldn't mind packing our things for us by the time we show up …”

You nodded, sadly smiling. "Don't keep me waiting too long.”

Their brisk nods to you paired with smooches to your cheeks were all you were given before you watched them holding hands then warping away.

The driver stayed silent as they drove your contemplative self, keeping her cold self close to your warmth, back to school for the last time.

°•○•°•○•°°•○•°•○•°°•○•°•○•°°•○•°•○•°°•○•

The sun had set.

Crimson painted the sky.

A young girl's life ended by a gunshot to the head.

Two young teens, forced to face the cruel reality of their lives through near death.

The Star Religious Group Headquarters.

House of the Children of the Star.

Their monotheistic religion spent worshiping their absolute God; Tengen.

Crossing the wrong sorcerers, nearly costing them their lives in the process at the hands of their hired assassin; the Zen'in clan failure.

Their facilities left as ruins scattered in ruble, collapsed craters layering the grounds, red painting the toppled stone and marble.

The trauma of near death, failing to keep their promises to protect their friends' lives, and losing to a physically gifted human … their pride as the strongest duo now tarnished.

Retribution.

Selfish desires made to fruition.

With Riko-chan now gone, the assimilation was now void.

Tengen-sama had evolved.

The barrier hiding the school's location was weakened and easily spotted by the Six Eyes.

You solo carried Riko to the morgue, spotting your senpai and fellow kouhai watching you from the distance, ignoring your driver hurriedly running to inform Yaga-sensei of the turn of events, but only making eye contact with Shoko as she was standing out front by the entrance, already expecting you, prepared for the worst.

You two stayed silent, understanding exactly just from seeing the acceptance in your gaze.

Seeing the covered bodies laying side by side on the tables, you prayed over the mother daughter pair, believing the guys would stop by to do the same, hopefully.

As you just finished zipping up one of three duffle bags meant for each of you in your room, you felt the ripples through the Force that is cursed energy.

The fuse was lit. The air pricked with sparks as those two set off a chain reaction.

You could visualize the facilities up in flames.

“You really are idiots.” Shoko leaned against the open doorway, smoke in her disapproving frown. “To think they'd go this far … and you're bailing with them.”

“My whole world ended when I lost my mom. My dad was a broke ass deadbeat. Then I was discovered, brought here and met you all. You became the family I needed … so I thought that was enough. But those two … they're my everything. We ride or die together. You can join us or stay here. That goes for you two as well, ya know.”

You felt Haibara and Nanami hiding behind the wall before joining Shoko in the sliding doorway. By the looks on their faces, the news spread like wildfire.

“If I go with you guys, then the higher ups will force my sister to take my place.” Haibara frowned at the guilty truth.

“Rules and regulations keep us in line, as much as they suck.” Nanami sulked.

“Those old cods view us all as disposable tools. We're not heroes. We have our own ideals, desires, lives even. And if it means I may die down the line because I choose to walk away, then I'd rather die with freedom than serve them as their obedient lapdog.” You spoke devotedly.

“I don't get it.” The blunt tone and her aversion to eye contact made you realize how left out Shoko still felt that her two crazy guy friends were willing to leave them – leave her – behind.

“It'd be nice to have you by our side Ieiri … but I know you still have Utahime to consider.” You grinned at seeing the tiny pink tinted rise to her cheeks.

“You're our classmates! To have you and our senpai be branded as curse users, I don't want to have to fight you guys!” Haibara's angry tears made your heart waver. Your own eyes burned with cursed energy.

The static film reel of seeing your guys getting savagely brutalized, Riko and Kuroi's murders, even further down the line … glimpsing Haibara scarred and pale and so damn still —

“You're still our friends. Always.”

Even with glistening chibi eyes and stubbornly pursed lips, Haibara realized you had made up your mind, reaching Nanami's hand to squeeze and be his anchor.

“It's not a crime to be a kid, but the accumulation of life's little despairs make you become an adult. Remember that.” Nanami understood that much, knowing the guys are capable of setting the world on fire when pushed too far. Like so.

Blinking back tears yourself, you nodded. “If you ever need us or change your mind, you know how to reach us.”

Throwing the duffle bags outta the window before jumping out yourself took them all by surprise. Jutting their heads out, they were relieved yet anxious spotting Geto's manta ray cursed spirit flying away, the bags and you safe across his lap and wrapped up in his arms.

His crestfallen gaze back at them was the last sight of him they received when they also spotted Gojo floating on high, gazing at them with melancholy, the living example of Nanami's parting words to you.

Knowing deep in your intuition they snuck into the morgue to pay their final respects to Riko and Kuroi before retrieving you, you kept quiet about it, trusting them wholly to catch you as well.

On that day, everything changed.

On that night, there was no turning back.

But to both yours and Geto's surprise, the boldness of Gojo as he landed right by you both on the manta ray and grasped Geto's shoulder, his suggestion for a hideaway took your breaths away.

The empty private home – one of quite many – belonging to his family's clan; this one gifted solely to him. Even as fugitives, making such a bold choice to hide there, Gojo sure is a wild child.

Wading in the waters of the giant tub to wash away the blood, flushing the pink tinted liquid down the drain, then filling up the tub once more made way for some scented oil that helped elevate the tranquil vibes.

“You're certain?” Geto scrubbed his shoulder length sudsy hair, brushing his wet locks.

“The clan has too many spots all over Japan. We crash here tonight, take what we can to sell for cash in case the geezers fry our bank accounts, then high tail someplace new. Like say, I don't know, overseas?” Gojo's lax assurance transformed him into a chibi in Geto's point of view; resting his head and arms back against the tub's rim.

Almond eyes darkened, catching the scar stretching from Gojo's lithe neck, across that toned chest, and stopping by his hip poking out of the bubbly water.

Exhaustion smeared with piqued intrigue and guilt in those blue eyes spotting the X shaped scar on Geto's sculpted chest.

Red tints colored their faces as pleased sighs left their lips at the warm water loosening up their stiff muscles, fingers weaving through each other's slick hair, bringing their faces closer, brown meeting blue as they stared longingly at each other.

The unique connection ergo magnetic attraction was evident. From clashing freshmen to still bickering but budding sophomores. And now, as fresh genocidal dropouts, they both looked like they aged a lot.

The contrasts, the similarities, their yin yang dynamic.

That and the fuzzy warmth was getting to them.

“I'm really glad you're alive.” Geto nuzzled his nose against Gojo's.

“RCT for the win.” That albino pecked the corner mouth of his raven.

Their tired giggles relieved the tension.

Brushing their bare dripping shoulders together, lips connected, initiating timid soft touches. Drool connected their heated tongues, their heated breath fanning one another's face, oh so close, wanting more.

Your hums of content grabbed their attention as you waded over to them, watching your round cheeks blowing soapy bubbles into their faces.

Running your hands down their scars made your lips tremble at the agony they went through. Entrapped in their arms, you hummed as their lithe hands caressed your supple smooth skin for they were touched by your gingerly layered kisses along their tender marked flesh.

Toru's yawning broke out, worrying you and Sugu who suggested you all start drying up. Toru was the most exhausted being actively awake using Six Eyes for 3 days straight.

But you all were, mentally and emotionally.

The electric dryer rumbled as your wet uniforms swirled within. The AC hummed in the backdrop.

Duffle bags left open as you three laid in the enormous bed, you three snuggled in close on the center.

Setting up a small simple altar in honor of Riko and Kuroi in the room gave you all some peace of mind, especially when burning some smoky incense to cleanse the place. To pray and hope that their souls were in a better place than the hell they're stuck on called Earth.

“I detest humanity. Swallowing cursed spirits made from the worst parts of their very existence for so long confirms that. Killing those cultists put my mind at ease … as horrible as that must be to you.” Suguru's weary gaze shifted to meet Satoru's now unsettlingly calm ones as they laid atop the bed beside each other, clad in just boxers, with you splayed across Satoru wearing just a large tee you all shared just cause.

“You've been feeling this way for a long time, then.” Suguru flushed as Satoru weaved his hand through those silky obsidian strands, free from the metaphorical shackles of his usual restrained bun. “I'm sorry I didn't realize it.”

Suguru's cheek nuzzled his wrist, breathing in Satoru’s cozy scent. “I never wanted you to. Or anyone for that matter. These are my own feelings to grapple with.”

Satoru's messy cat hair shook, tickling Suguru's face, closing his stinging eyes to let them rest for the moment as their foreheads touched. “Well, now, we'll carry that burden together.”

“We're branded as curse users now … we're on our own from here … and you're fine with that?” Sugu was skeptical for the most part.

“I never held hatred for anybody before … not even over Amanai's death … but I always knew my life would be spent as a living weapon for jujutsu society … a monster. And now that I've crossed the line … there's no coming back from that … but I'd do it all again …if it mended the pain you felt inside. I just … I don't want you suffering in silence anymore. I never want to leave you behind.” That soothing voice of his cracked.

Suguru was breathless seeing red in those reopened agonized eyes.

“Still … I took advantage of your heightened state and let my emotions cloud my judgment. I'm supposed to be the moral compass … yet I'm no better than those monkeys … and you nearly died because of them … I'm sorry Satoru … I'm so sorry.” Water hit Toru’s skin as the choked up weeping of his best friend smothered his shoulder.

“Hey, hey. I'm here, aren't I?” Keeping an arm wrapped around his partner, Satoru smooched the crown of Suguru's precious noggin, being tickled by those loose bangs in the face, shushing him and kissing that pierced ear of his. “And even you need to cut yourself some slack and lean on others too, ya know. And realize … you can't get rid of me that easily. You're stuck with this monster for a long time, Suguru~”

That possessive, enamored voice compelled Suguru to peak out and witness those lovesick eyes; the polar opposite to the tunnel vision of the reawakened Satoru Gojo that approached him with Riko-chan in his arms, struck right at his core.

The soft warm lamp on the side table paired with the sliver of moonlight between the curtains transformed their eyes into mini galaxies. Their own universe even to dwell in and share together.

“Hmm.” He brushed back Satoru's locks to spot the scar on his forehead and kiss that booboo. “You've never been a monster to me. Just a goofy idiot.”

Elated chuckles hit his giant lobed ears as his resident goofball pecked his blushing nose. “Your goofy idiot, smart ass.”

“Awwww~”

Flinching at that familiar voice, the guys directed their flushed gazes to you; your cheek mushed against Toru's pillow chest, fawning over them with your e/c eyes, round with sparkles and hearts set a glow in ‘em.

“I agree with all the above. Don't mind me. Just get it on with the yaoi goodness.”

“How subtle.” Suguru's eyes crinkled with mirth.

“She's got good taste, though.” Satoru's feline grin followed, rolling you both over to smush you in between them, pecking your forehead. “Period.”

You frowned. “All the apologies in the world can't make up for me letting you two down today.”

“Nonsense.” Suguru disagreed as the back of your head cushioned in between his plush pecs. “Having you here with us makes this shitty day much better.”

“We all screwed up.��� Gojo griped before it became a longer deeper yawn.

Your eyes glowed a moment before dying down, alerting them and reminding you. “Time for you to sleep. Cause we got a lot of shit to think over on how to move forward. For all of us.” His exasperated sigh was met by your chaste lips as you leaned up to kiss him; him returning it to suck them up.

“Yes ma'am.” His pouting turned to a dopey grin; growing wider when Suguru kissed him goodnight too. That finally conked him out, breathing softly, when Suguru's hand wrapped around your side, turning you to lay on your back so he could see you properly; eyes clad in guilt of his own.

“Y/n, in no way should you feel responsible for what happened. That assassin would have killed you too if you had gotten involved. If we lost you as well …” His forehead met yours, letting you kiss him slowly, pulling him in to relish your personal taste. “My hope is that they're in a better place now.”

“Me too … My visions are just as much an omen as they are an aid. In this world there are no guarantees for a peaceful living … but I believe in you two … no matter what … and I know in my heart this is worth it, risks and all.”

Your honest smile made him grateful for accepting him, despite all that's happened, his tears hitting your face in response so you kissed his tears away.

“Thank you, Y/n.” His whispers met your lips as you two got caught up in another kiss when you two grunted in surprise as Satoru flipped you both over, smothering you two under his precious heat.

“‘M love you both, mmh so much.” He mewled, sleepy eyes peeking open to drowsily smile down at you two.

“Satoru, we can't breathe.” A red faced Suguru wheezed out.

Satoru languidly laughed, “My bad.”

Thankfully, you three were able to get some shuteye that night.

They're your whole world now.

Deep down inside, they know they're both monsters, for that day brought the truth to light of their dark potential.

But they're your monsters.

Your empathetic, devious, passionate monsters.

And as far as the truth goes, you too are just the same.

Three of a kind, indeed.

[gremlin-girly]

Flufftober Day 3: Favourite Scent

Title: Candle Shopping

Pairing: Dean Winchester X gn!Reader

Tags: Fluff, Flufftober 2024, Dean Winchester x reader, established relationship, candle sniffing in the supermarket is always a fun past time

Part of the Flufftober 2024 challenge that can be found here @flufftober

Warnings:  Dean being a little misogynistic (calling candles “girly”) but we love him all the same

Word Count: 1k

Summary: To get rid of that musky, bloody, dead-monster stink out of the bunker, you convince your boyfriend to come candle shopping with you.

A/N: I'm an absolute tart for candles - I love me a candle with a crackling wick. This was a dometic-y one; I was really struggling to figure out where to go with this one so I hope you can enjoy it regardless x

As always I do not give permission for my work to be reposted, translated or copied

I hope you enjoy! likes, commentsand reblogs are always appreciated 💜

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“Dean, please,” you plead, following your boyfriend from his man-cave to the kitchen. “it smells. Just come with me so you at least have the opportunity to choose.”

“No,” Dean replies sulkily. He’s still in his bathrobe and his hair’s a mess but somehow, he still makes it look sexy. “I don’t want any of your girly candles ruining my bat cave.” He says gruffly, making himself a coffee.

You crinkle your nose, remembering the smell of Dean’s so-called Bat Cave. “Only you call it the Bat Cave,” you huff. “And it’s starting to smell stuffy.”

He flashes you a lopsided grin and toasts his mug to you. “Smells like man.”

You roll your eyes and bite back a smile. “No – it stinks. Come with me to pick a candle.” You cosy up to him, giving your best puppy dog eyes and pout knowing it would make him melt. In your best sing-song sweet voice you add, “I’ll even let you choo-hoo-se.”

Dean tries not to look at you but it’s pointless; his heart melts at the sight and he can’t say no to you. He sighs, tilting his head back dramatically.

“Fine.” He grumbles.  “But no flowery stuff.”

You lean up on tip toes and peck a kiss to his lips, making him smile. “Thank you! I’ll go get ready.”

Dean only huffs in response watching you skip out of the kitchen triumphantly. He took a swig of coffee, secretly looking forward to your little shopping date.

Standing in the Home aisle, your eyes rake the shelves of candles before you with excitement. The excitement clearly wasn’t as contagious as you’d hoped; Dean stood arms folded, looking down the aisle away from you. You frowned at him.

“Spoilsport,” you mutter at him, picking up the first candle and giving it a whiff. Your, for lack of a better word, nosebuds are attacked with the overwhelming scent of commercial pumpkin spice. The terribly artificial scent making your nose crinkle as you put it back to the shelf.

“Can’t you just pick one?” Dean huffs. “Then we can leave and grab some food on the way back to the bunker. You know that diner we passed looked pretty go-“

“No way,” you interupt. “There’s an art to this.”

Dean rolls his eyes as you pick up another candle and bring it to your nose. This time, you smell floral scents that you’re sure would give anyone hay-fever from the smell alone. You huff, frowning thoughtfully at the shelves.

Your eyes scan each shelf meticulously, making mental notes of the scents and skimming over scents you just know your boyfriend will despise. Then you see it. Tucked away behind another candle jar, sat a Cherry Pie scented candle.

You almost dove headfirst into the shelf to grab it. You take a small sniff and and slam the lid shut again, turning to Dean with a wide smile, clutching the jar tightly like the gremlin you are. You hold the candle to him and he pulls a face at you.

“Really?” He scoffs. “Cherry Pie? Heh, yeah sure.”

“Trust me,” you say, watching Dean lower his face to the jar’s opening as you peel back the lid.

You watch with a satisfied smirk as the gentle notes of almond and vanilla caress his nose buds like it had yours, the perfect balance of cherry scent melding between them. Dean sighs almost wistfully, unable to stop himself from gazing at the candle in awe. It would be PERFECT for the Bat Cave. Smelling like pie? His favourite pie?

When he meets your smug little face over the rim of the jar, he frowns.

“You like it?” you tease.

“Shut up,” he grumbles, re-fitting the lid but not handing the candle back to you. “Can we go?”

“You want the Bat Cave to smell like cherry pie?” you grin, feeling smug.

A smile twitches at Dean’s lips. “Maybe. But you just called it the Bat Cave.”

You roll your eyes playfully. "Whatever. Is that the one you're choosing?"

Dean's face flushes slightly. He's excited to light the candle (and eat food) but he can tell by the look on your face that you're teasing him. "Why?" He asks cautiously, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“Well, it’s just...” You pretend to look coyly behind you the the wall of candles. “They have an apple pie one too.”

“WHERE?!” Dean says much too quickly, excitement getting the better of him. You giggle watching his eyes go wide with childish glee as he scans the shelves, and you point at a jar that looks almost bioluminescent.

Dean shuffles the first candle in his grasp and reaches for the new candle. You watch him awkwardly open the lid and take a long, deep sniff. He hacks and turns away to cough; the strong, artifical scent of green apple and cinnamon making your own nose wrinkle.

When Dean turns back to you, he's beaming, and looking very adorable with his signature excitable smirk.

"You want to light your candles now, don't you?" You try to suppress the smile that's pulling at your own lips but Dean’s excitement is contagious.

"Yeah." He says sheepishly, carrying his pie scented candles close to his chest. "Come on. I'm hungry too, and that restaurant had some good burgers."

"Alright, alright." You shuffle along behind him to ring up the candles, chuckling softly to yourself.

Later that evening, after eating a better than average burger and fries, you and Dean are curled up on one of the chairs in the man cave watching a movie. The scent of the new apple pie candle wafted around you as Dean’s fingers traced languid patterns over your shirt. He'd insisted that the cherry pie one belonged in his bedroom; that falling asleep to cherry pie dreams was the only way to fall asleep.

"Today was fun," He rumbles softly, kissing the top of your head. "I'm glad you convinced me to go candle shopping."

You huff gently, smiling. "You're just happy to have found out pie scented candles exist."

"Happy to have found they exist with you," he quips, smugness emanating from him. You roll your eyes and shift in his lap to press a kiss to his lips.

"Shut up."

[cherrylng]

Green Day Interview - Warning era [ROCKIN'ON (September 2000)]

"Don't think rock is just dormant at the moment. I'm sure there's some energetic rock out there somewhere, properly, I'm sure. I'm sure it'll wake up and bite us in the ass again - and yes, if you still love rock ‘n’ roll, we've got some great stuff for you."

How will the ‘immortal little bastard punk spirit’, which has seriously entrusted its troublesome life to punk and continues to take on troublesome rock for life, manifest itself in this year 2000? We meet Green Day just before the completion of their new album ‘Warning’ and just before their Summer Sonic visit to Japan, with an undercover studio report and interview!!!

Interview & Text=Kenichiro Yanagi Interpretation/Photography=WILLIAM HAMES

"And I feel forgotten Feel like rotting (Do you feel the same?) Adolescence Just can't make sense" ‘Road to Acceptance - 39/Smooth’

Ten years have passed since Green Day sang this on their first album, released in 1990. I think it's quite a long time for everyone, and for Green Day, too, because when I subtract ten from my own age, it makes me laugh. Anyway, since 1990, ten years have passed, and now it's the year 2000.

Ten years. I've passed through my adolescence, when I was completely ‘out of touch’ but had a strange sparkle in that aspect, and I've said to myself, "It's been a long time since then, but I feel like nothing's changed," and then someone might say "The fact that you're saying things like that means you've gotten older," and I'd say, "I see," and think about it again, and then the next day I say to myself, "I'm not young anymore." That's a long enough time for that kind of flow to take hold. And in fact, most people live with it.

But the band Green Day seemed to be a bit different from us. They started their rock ‘n’ roll career with the idea that ‘maybe that trend can be managed with a driving beat and a melody?’ That was the starting point of their rock music. I think that was their way of rock, running so fast that you can't see what's in front of you, and staring at the scenery as it flows by. I think that's why they sang "Every time I look in my past, I always wish I was there" and "I wish my youth would forever last" [from the song "16"] on their first album. If you wish that, you might actually get it, haven't you ever wondered that? I think their early work was like that, and their first major album Dookie, which was full of that wish, sold a huge 10 million copies.

But that wish did not come true. It was a failure. It's no surprise. It is impossible to break the timeline in a strict time flow. It's good that they ran forward with such a wish and became popular, but as time passed, they stumbled, they were troubled, and they got tired. That's the kind of Green Day I was attracted to. They were rejected with comments like "You're not punk, you're going to go to the majors and try to sell yourself!", but at the same time they were praised with comments like "You're the punks! Our real punks!" - it fits the 'me' and 'you' who had no idea who they were. "There's no point in looking back at the past!" they said in an interview, but "I look into the past and I want to make it last / I was there" ("I Was There") - yeah, that's ‘me’ and ‘you’ again. Moreover, they continued to behave too honestly, even more than ‘me’ and ‘you’. Yes, Green Day were too honest a band to be labelled as "young punk." Their second album was full of negativity with the title ‘Insomnia’, and their third, "Nimrod", crawled out of it and returned with musical breadth and verve. Green Day, as a band, had created a clear passage of time - a band story. In the end, Green Day seem to me to be the band that has bitten off the passage of time more than anyone else. That's why they were proud to be ‘our band’.

This year, they will release a new album, their first in three years since "Nimrod". I was very interested in this news, as it seemed to me that with "Nimrod" they had put some of their own drama behind them. Green Day have run, stumbled, and bounced back - what exactly are they going to show us of themselves next? Although I was only allowed to listen to six songs at the moment, I applied for an on-the-spot interview and headed for Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, a certain day in June. As I arrived at the hotel and was preparing for the interview tomorrow, I got a call from a record company representative. "They say they're doing a live studio today. They might play a new song, so let's go and see it." I rush out by taxi to a studio in the city, but it turns out to be a recording for a programme called "MTV Influence." The show is about artists who talked about the artists who influenced them in their music, and then played covers of those artists. On a table outside the studio was a random CD. It was Hüsker Dü. Well, that's interesting, isn't it? I say hello to the three members of Green Day. The drummer, Tre, was drinking beer, joking around and messing with the staff whenever he had the chance. He suddenly took the cigarette from one of the staff, a very fat guy of KONISHIKI's size (but with a bullet wound in his shin), climbed up the ladder, and jumped onto the roof of the studio. Then he grins. "Take it if you can, fatty," he said, just like a little kid (but in the end, the fatty man manages to climb the ladder and take it). I saw the ‘marijuana’ tattoo on Mike's arm with my own eyes for the first time. It looked strangely dazzling. Billie is, as I thought, nothing but mischievous looking, but he still has a great deal of thoughtfulness about him.

But basically, all three of them were still giving off the same ‘fuck-you’ vibe, which made me irresistibly happy. But I also thought they must be getting a bit older (as you can see from the photos in this issue).

The three of them played "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely". Well, it's a sad song to begin with, but even more so when performed by Green Day. Even the title of the song seemed to have a sadness that had Green Day's stamp on it, and it was very moving.

After the recording was over, we all looked at the TV in the studio and saw a car on fire. And so is the crowd. It's a riot. "Where are we?" "Hey, downtown. The Lakers won today, and this is what happens when they win," said the staff member. Billie was staring at the TV screen, but when he looked at us, he said in a tone that it was hard to tell if he was joking or serious: "Welcome to Los Angeles!" I should have laughed, but for a moment I thought of his history as a street kid. I felt as if he was seriously telling me, "Well, this is what California is all about", so I couldn't really laugh.

I left the studio and returned to the hotel, but Los Angeles was in a state of chaos everywhere because of the Lakers' victory. The roads were filled with cars and honking horns in celebration. The asses of the girls were dazzling, and the men hanging out in the streets would only say "LAKEEEEEEERSSSS!!!!!" when they opened their mouths. I'm a complete Asian country bumpkin, silently turning on my 8mm camera. In the end, the horns didn't stop honking until late at night. "Welcome to Los Angeles!"

The next day. I headed to the office, which was 10 minutes from the hotel. After listening to six new songs, we moved to the studio and interviewed the three of them.

It's been 10 years since you released your first album. Well, maybe it's not really a milestone because it's been 10 years, but I think there must be some kind of emotion to it. Billie (B): 「It makes me feel like I'm getting old, hahahaha. But we made our debut so early. I was only about 16 when I started this band. So…… Yeah, we've changed a lot since we started, it's true. When you're a kid, it's like time stands still, you don't really think about the next day (laughs). So we really had no idea how long this band would last back then. All we knew for sure was that we wanted to be in this band now.」 Mike (M): 「We've always tried not to look too far into the future. And now we're trying not to look too far into the past.」

But in 10 years, I went from being a kid who listened to Green Day to now coming to you for an interview, looking like a big shot. Tre (T): 「So you're old now, too, hee hee hee hee hee.」

Hahahahaha. Now that you've been together for such a long time, what do you think of each other? Do you think you've changed? T: 「We still have a perfect relationship, like spoons lined up in a spoon holder in a cupboard.」 B: 「Hahahaha. But I think all three of us have grown as individuals. And we've started to want more time away from each other. That's what happens when you get older, you know? You want to do what you like, how you like it.」

I see. You mentioned ‘doing what I like’, but in terms of ‘doing what I like’, I think the situation in the American music scene has changed a lot in the last three years. B: 「There have been so many different bands that have come out over the past three years, and there have certainly been quite a few that I don't really understand. But on the other hand, there are also a lot of bands that are working hard and making energetic music. For example, the Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They've been doing it for years and they're still growing, you know? But to be honest, we have to concentrate on our own work. I think it's quite a narcissistic idea that we can control the whole music scene (laughs). You have to accept that there are good bands and bad bands. For every good band I find, I find another I don't like. You just have to think of it that way.」

That said, it's been said that rock music is getting smaller and smaller, with hip-hop, teen bands and pop tunes with female vocals all being embraced. Do you think this is a very sad situation? B: 「"Rock's shrinking stature"? I think it's just dormant. Besides, I'm sure there's a vibrant rock band out there somewhere. I don't think rock ‘n’ roll is going away, I think it's just hibernating like a bear at the moment and it'll wake up and come back to bite us in the ass. Well, if you like rock ‘n’ roll, leave it to us. We've got some great stuff for you.」

But why do you think hip hop and teen pop are so popular? B: 「Well, I don't know. I think it's the same reason as when Run-D.M.C. became big. It fits in with the times, and hits the key points of American culture. I think that's what it's about. And I think the American music scene is always cyclical in all its styles. Every ten years a really good rock ‘n’ roll band comes along and explodes in popularity, and every ten years another really popular hip-hop band comes along.」

Cyclical. B: 「Yeah. At this very moment, there's a cool band playing in a garage somewhere with a cool sense of humour and cool opinions. Nobody knows they exist at the moment, but one day they'll burst onto the scene and show us what rock ‘n’ roll is all about again. It's just a matter of time, so we can't get fed up with what's going on. Once you're fed up, you'll end up not being able to see what's on the other side of all the crap that's trending right now.」 M: 「But I'm sure when we were kids there were a lot more rock’n’roll bands. So the music that people are influenced by now is probably different from when we were kids, and I think it's even different when you're younger.」 B: 「Oh, and I think a lot of bands these days are very conscious of self-marketing. Compared to those who were active in the early 90s, for example, they have a totally different mindset, really. They're on TV all the time, and they're always praising themselves like it's a telephone shopping show.」

Yeah, and there are bands that just sing "I'm pissed off!" and don't know what to do next. B: 「I've thought about that too. I think you should always have a sense of humour no matter what.」 M: 「It's no fun to perform. Especially when you call yourself an ‘angry band’.」 T: 「People who get angry easily seem to get pissed off at everything around them. It doesn't matter what they're angry about. Of course, we're not a bunch of chumps or anything, but, you know, when it comes to ourselves, we have to look at it fairly objectively from all angles.」

I see. So, let's talk about the new album… B: 「Great! (laughs)」 M: 「Thank you! (laughs). All the songs are tremendously inspired by all sorts of things. We took a break and waited for Billie's moment of inspiration to write new songs to come naturally. We practised all the time, but we didn't force him to squeeze out new songs. So it just happened naturally. Everyone wants us to explain everything, like, "What did you write? How is it different from before? What's changed? Have you grown?" But all we can say is, "Listen, this is our next album, it's a Green Day album, it's a rock “n” roll album".」 B: 「We're really proud of this album. I think I'm at a good time in my life right now, and……. And we all worked really hard on it, so I think we deserve to be proud of it. But I don't want to hype it up or sell it. I don't need to say anything, the music and the lyrics will speak for themselves. So…… yeah…… Anyway, this time it's just the three of us and we produced it ourselves, so it's a real, how can I say……」 M: 「Personal.」 B: 「Yes, it's definitely a personal work, and the whole album is full of uniqueness and hope and humanity, and the songs are about personal issues. And it's also…… It's also a fun album.」

You say that you produced such an album yourselves. How did that come about? T: 「Because we're the best producers in the world.」

……You say you produced it yourselves, but then again, why? B: 「(laughs). We had a lot of producers' names on the shortlist, you know. Just…… this album had too much weight to bring in outside influences.」 M: 「Yeah, in the end, when you want your car to run properly and you're there and the guy who made the car is there, and someone else comes in and says, "The body colour should be like this," how would you feel? Well, maybe they're right about the colour, but in the end, the car won't run properly without the person who made it. In other words, we're the mechanics on this album. That's what we wanted to do.」

So it took you three years after "Nimrod" to start work on this album, and the reason you didn't start immediately was to prepare for that? B: 「…………I was burnt out. I felt like I was going to hate the music too, so I needed to get away for a while before that happened.」

"Nimrod" was a great album, but were you too tired to maintain the energy you showed on that album and go straight into the next one? B: 「We just needed time to get back to normal life. The difference between "Nimrod" and this album is that last time it was like our lives went through the making of the album, but this time it's like the making of the album went through our lives. Do you see the difference?」

Yes, I do. B: 「We've been able to experience friends, family and all the elements of normal life over the last three years. If we kept living 24 hours a day all immersed in music …… I thought we'd end up neglecting ourselves and our music. If I could give one piece of advice to every band, it would be to put the guitar down and go away for a while. Before the guitar crushes you.」 M: 「Then by the end you'll be so desperate to play the guitar that you'll jump at the chance to play it. That's when you get the most incredible inspiration. So for the last three years I've been so preoccupied with life that I even forgot to play the guitar for a couple of days. Then I'd suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, or in the middle of dinner I'd suddenly think, "I'm not hungry. What's going on? I know! Let's play the guitar," and I'd jump at the guitar.」 B: 「The “Nimrod” tour was too long. So, we all felt that after that cycle, we needed to go home and experience a bit of “life”. We had to get a life so that we could write songs that had something real to say, instead of just writing about rock star woes while we were still on tour. No one wants to listen to that rubbish, and no one can relate to it, right? nd most of all, I can't relate to those songs either (laughs).」

(laughs) So you needed time to face yourself and reassess the situation. B: 「Yes, I just wanted to be able to write songs about what I experienced. And in order to do that, I needed to get away from music for a while. Because, you know, when you think about how many years we've been a band and how many times we've toured and made records for how long, a year off isn't long at all (laughs).」 M: 「Plus, we hadn't really taken a break up until that point.」

You took a year off? M: 「Yeah, but we only didn't play together for two months. And after those two months, we were back to practising five days a week. But I enjoyed that pace because of the break. We didn't try to force the songs.」 B: 「Yes, I didn't want to force it. So if I couldn't think of a song, I didn't force myself to write it. Anyway, the band was becoming a source of depression for me, so I needed to do other things…… Like having time with my family.」

The huge sales made you famous whether you liked it or not, but in the past, you guys were very resistant to your fame, weren't you? Has taking a break freed you from that? M: 「I still don't think we need fame. To be honest, I have a lot of fun, but the truth is, I'm both very outgoing and very shy at times, so it's hard when I want to be alone……」 B: 「I don't think there's anything wrong with being famous or successful - as long as you're doing it your own way and not anyone else's.」 T: 「And there are different kinds of fame. There's fame like Green Day, there’s fame like Macaulay Culkin, there’s fame like Shirley Temple…」 B&M: 「(laughs)」 B: 「Well, unlike those child stars who were totally controlled by their parents, we had freedom of choice and we're happy with the way our band is and what we're doing. We don't care what other people think of us or what they say about us or anything like that. But kids don't, do they? They don't have a choice, to be frank.」

So it sounds like you guys have learnt to deal with fame in your own way? M: 「Because, you know, nobody wants to hear you whine like that, do they? In fact, I don't want to hear myself whining. That's why…… When I realised I had learned how to cope with it. And how we cope with it is that we go home for a while and get completely away from it all and get back to ‘reality’. We go back to the world of friends, music and family. That's how you give yourself substance again…… You refill your water.’

With all that in mind, I think this "Warning" is a wonderfully balanced album that truly values ​​both "changing" and "staying the same." Well, I've only listened to six songs, so I don't know yet. M: 「(laughs). So it's like, you change your shoes but not your underwear?」 B: 「Same right! That's so cool! (laughs) ……Well, I mean, this album isn't about growing up and getting older or growing up and becoming an adult anymore. It's simply about growing up, that's what this album is all about. Always remember your roots……」 T: 「We'll play better music.」 B: 「Yeah, with the feeling that we're going to be a better band.」

I also thought that the album showed a very natural side of Green Day. B: 「It's a lot better than the “unnatural” Green Day of old, isn't it? (laughs)」 T&M: 「Hee hee hee hee!」

(laughs) I mean, before "Insomniac", you guys used the punk format to show us the sensations and ideas you'd acquired to survive on the streets. And with "Insomniac", there was an attitude of "If you're going to be negative, then go for it!" But with "Nimrod", you recovered from that kind of negativity and scaled up your expression by using strings and horns. But this time, I felt like it was Green Day's natural punk, in a way that was rather free from that kind of approach or storyline. It's not just about rushing, it's about punk. There were a lot of songs with an acoustic feel. B: 「First of all…… I don't think of Green Day as a punk band. I don't think it can be categorised in that extreme. I don't know, I just think we're a cool rock ‘n’ roll band. I don't really know what else to call it…… Well, we don't really care what other people call us, seriously, we've been called all kinds of things. We believed every single one of them at first, then we ignored every single one of them…… We just want to live. Seriously, as long as they let us live, that's all we want (laughs). But…… I'm sure I learnt from punk that it's about ‘being yourself’. So it's up to the person who goes through punk to decide what to do afterwards. And now we're just……. We're in the process of trying to grow up freely, without putting ourselves into genres or anything like that…… I think that's what this album is about.」 M: 「We are crazy punk guys, but at the same time we are very normal people. I think that part of us will continue to show up in our songs for a long time to come, just like it has in the past. We might be a little weirder compared to the old guy sitting next to us on the bus, but at the same time we might be more normal than the guy sitting at the back of the bus…… That's who we are.」

I see. The way you guys interact with music these days seems fresh in this 2000 era. T: 「That makes me happy.」

You mentioned above that the theme of punk is ‘to be yourself and live the life you want’, and that's also what you sing about in “Minority” on this album. B: 「Yes, “Minority” is about individuality, about being yourself. People don't belong to a country, they are who they are.」 M: 「That's what I've been trying to achieve in the last three years of my life - to be myself.」 B: 「Yeah, the songs on this album, “Deadbeat Holiday” is a song about not giving up on life, “Misery” is a story about people living miserable lives. And “Castaway” is…… I think it's about starting a new adventure. And “Macy's Day Parade” is about commercialism, about outside forces selling you things, but what you really want is hope for a better tomorrow. I think there are a lot of songs like that.」

…….That's amazing. B: 「That's what we're trying to do (laughs).」 M: 「It's a tough world out there (laughs).」 T: 「You have to live positively (laughs).」

(laughs) But, you know, I think you have a lot of depth when you can sing about things like that so honestly. I guess you guys really love people now. B: 「(laughs) Hmm, yes……」 T: 「Yeah, yeah, we're having sex with everyone one by one.」

(laughs). You know how? M: 「(laughs) Well, I've become a bit more tolerant, or maybe I've slowed down to the point where I can smell the roses.」 B: 「In the end, it's all about how you deal with your anger. Do you look for a solution, or do you hide in your shell and let the anger smoulder? That's what's changed a lot since before. And also in terms of how you channel your anger. Do you channel it in a positive way and make your life, and sometimes that's more important - other people's lives, better, or……?」 M: 「In short, are you going to find a proper solution or are you going to continue being an asshole (laughs)?」 T: 「Hahahaha.」 B: 「But there are times when I just want to be an asshole, of course. Like, I don't want to be in a good mood (laughs). That's seriously still there. But I think we've all become better at dealing with anger, especially in the last couple of years. I don't mean stop being angry. That's not what I want. I don't want to give up my anger. I just want to channel it in a positive way.」

I see. That's a very good state of mind. It's like all three of you are able to do punk independently of each other. M: 「Yes. —So for the next album we'll evolve even more and release a record for each of us. See, KISS did that a long time ago, right? We'll make a Billie album, a Tre album, and a Mike album like that.」 T: 「Hahahahahaha!」 M: 「And of course, the Mike album is the easiest record to listen to.」 T: 「And it's a two-disc set, right?」 M: 「Oh yeah, a two-disc set!」 B: 「Gahahaha!」 T: 「The discs are all poetry readings……」 B: 「Gahahahahahaha!」 M: 「Yes, yes, of course, the first disc is all poetry readings……」 T&B: 「Disc 2 is also a full-length reading series! (laughs)」 T: 「Hahahahahahaha! And the title will be “A truly enigmatic and brilliant man, his name is Mike”!」 M: 「Hahahahahahaha…… And also “Mike's Quick Guide” (laughs).」

(laughs) That's enough. M: 「(laughs). I think that as time goes by, we tend to lose sight of what we want most as individuals in life. But anyway, I believe that if you just keep moving forward, in the end you'll find out what you really want. That's why we took a break along the way. Not only for ourselves, but also for the people to whom we dedicate our music to. I think that's how we felt that we could keep going forward and not burning ourselves out.」

I have a feeling that you guys are trying to keep rocking out in your own natural way, while protecting your punk roots in a good way, so what do you think about that? M: 「Yeah, we're certainly at a point in our career where we can take it easy and not get too uptight.」

Do you feel you're moving forward in your career with confidence? B: 「I think so〜〜」 All: 「Ahahahahahahahaha!」 B: 「No, no, no. I don't have any confidence!」 M: 「Yes. As for us, we just have to keep working as hard as we have been working so far. That means first of all, we do what we are happy with. We always think that we are our own biggest critics, but at the same time, we are the ones who are the first to praise others and say, "Well done! You did well!"」 B: 「Well done, Mike!」 M: 「Gufufufufufufu (laughs).」 B: 「Well done, Tre!」 T: 「Billie, you too! (laughs)」

(laughs) I guess we should wrap up the interview then. So here's the last question. You are finally coming to Japan for Summer Sonic 2000, can you tell us how excited you are? M: 「It's great to be able to play at a festival.」 B: 「Yeah, yeah.」 T: 「We couldn't make it to Fuji Rock in 1998, so this time we're going to……」

Right (laughs). B: 「So, this time, we're going to give you a show that's so intense you won't be able to say a word! You guys can expect the best moment of your life at Summer Sonic.」

……Um, does Fuji Rock in '98 still have an impression on you? B: 「Yeah, I think it was terrible for the crowd. A lot of people got buried in the mud.」 M: 「And in the end we couldn't play.」 T: 「Right?」 B: 「Right? We had no choice but to stay in the hotel and shoot the people around us.」 T&M: 「Bwahahahahahahaha!」

……………………Oh, that's right. What's your hair colour going to be? B: 「I haven't decided.」 M: 「Me, I'm thinking of going for emerald green, but then again, I'm still on the fence about this one (laughs).」

Translator’s Note: KONISHIKI (originally named Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e, nowadays going by his naturalised name Konishiki Yasokichi) is a retired American-born Japanese professional sumo wrestler and still a celebrity in Japan. He was also at the time the heaviest wrestler ever in sumo, at a peak weight of 287 kg (633 lb), earning him the nicknames "Meat Bomb" and, most famously, "The Dump Truck".

Despite the journalist trying to hide when Green Day was having that particular episode of MTV Influence filmed, because he didn’t hide when that particular riot happened thanks to the Los Angeles Lakers winning the 2000 NBA Finals, I easily found that the day of the recording was done on June 19th, with the interview being done on the 20th the next day instead. So you’ve tried, Yanagi-san.

As mentioned in a previous translated post, there are at least 3 different accounts on what happened with Green Day when the first Fuji Rock Festival was cancelled back in 1997. Yes, it's 1997, not 1998 like Yanagi-san had mistaken here. The first ever Fuji Rock Festival was held in 1997 and subsequently cancelled because of how bad the location and weather was.

Do support me on my Ko-fi! ☕

[poetry-protest-pornography]

I'm mostly just gonna copy paste my real time conversation with @hotasfahrenheit here, with a free added bits of thoughts:

My Stand In episode 2 thoughts

I wish they translated the title song, because it's tonally confusing

I love when the makeup team adds hickeys

I definitely watched some of this second episode, but I do but remember how far I got, so I'm just rewatching all the crazy

I really need this orgasm-sneeze to be the thing that tips Ming off

I need it

Joe, baby, you've known this man for five seconds, please do not tell him where your spare key is

Ming stop being so fucking awkward challenge

Ugh, Tong is such a dick

Why does anyone hire him? He's always late, he complains about having to do his job and threatens to need weeks off if he has to do one (1) thing....

Ming: "I'm feeling jealous, so I'm gonna be petty about it and hurt Joe's feelings"

Joe: "yeah, I should've expected this"

Ming: are you bisexual (accusatory) or banging the makeup guy?

Joe: I have friends???

(Mia: Listen Ming doesn't have friends so he doesn't understand what those are

Me: oh, that's very clear. Gee, I wonder why that is 🤣)

I love that Ming dresses exclusively in $500 shirts 🤣

Wait, is this girl supposed to be set up with Ming 🤣 He's such a bitch 😆 I love him (forgot to tell with Mia about his slutty little rich asshole silk robe, but bless him and the slutty little rich asshole robe)

(Mia: Ming doesn't know how to function as a person but he does know how to look like a rich bitch)

Joe translating his anger at Ming by being hard on his trainees... Oh baby, no

He's really just "I'm asking for a friend"ed 🤣🤣🤣

Oh, I love this girl actually

Joe with the sex puns, lmao

Ming smiling and then immediately suppressing it is so sad actually

Get therapy, my dude

THE SHEETS ARE WET I AM SCREAMING

THE SNEEZES OH MY GODDD

Also, the work bathroom hook up cut with the training session was *chefs kiss* (the way this built tension and also narrative, and like, showed Joe's inner thoughts? Incredible.)

(Mia: Pepzi, our queen) FOR REALZ

He knows Joe's coffee prep

This is so domestic? (This makes me feel crazy, actually. And Joe's genuine awe at being seen in this small way breaks my fucking hearrrt)

Joe. Baby. Again, it has been five minutes and three orgasms, you cannot invite him to move in

He's being so nice to the stunt men today 😂

Ming:

The way he said Joe's name while staring at Sol like "okay bitch, watch this" killed me

He knew Joe would go to him and he wanted Sol to know real bad

Sol is ready to Fite

Listen, I knew he made him sleep on the floor OF HIS OWN HOUSE, bit it's still deeply funny to me

And then, he's just staring at him while he sleeps waiting for him to wake up so he can give him the bitchiest look known to man

Ming: *is jealous AF*

Joe: you jealous bro?

Ming: No, who would even like you?

Joe: *is the world's saddest puppy*

"sit ups break my back, live breaks my heart". Baby, no.

Lovesick Joe= drill Sergeant

Post orgasm Joe = kindergarten teacher

Sad Joe = bad poet who can't do a sit up

(Mia and I had a conversation about how sometimes, very drunk people want to be on the floor in a blanket, and she is very correct)

Wait.

...

Did Ming go home and make himself the same ramen Joe made for him? (Because he was jealous and bitchy and ran away after making the boy he likes Dad on purpose)

THIS IS MAKING ME INSANE, ACTUALLY?!

Okay, considering Ming is in love with his sister's boyfriend, they actually have a really sweet sibling dynamic, and she is actually The Best.

Why can't we go to a movie and eat fondue? Why did Thailand get movies so much better than we do? Let me watch a movie in a bed or eat fondue while I watch my favorite blorbos.

But also, he clearly just needs like, so much therapy

Like, his thought process is "I love him, no one else can have him, I'm gonna kidnap him". Which is .. Not Normal People Thoughts

"even if I could be happy, I shouldn't be"

THERAPY. THERAPY FOR A THOUSAND YEARS

Sol: " I will flirt by kicking his ass and hoping he kicks mine back"

Oh shit, Joe really just fucking knocked him out 🤣

Ming having a crisis hearing Joe talk about what love is, and then that little smile when Joe said he wanted then to be a couple... (Joe's like, pathological inability to let himself experience emotions is... Several Problems)

This man is insane

Listen, if I'm supposed to hate Ming, they shouldn't have had Up play him

NOW HE'S AT JOE'S HOUSE PLAYING HOUSE HUSBAND. (WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?)

Rip curry

It's the ramen of suppressed feelings again

JOE STOP MAKING ME CRY CHALLENGE

Look, is Ming:

LADY AND THE TRAMP AND THE GRIP YOU HAVE ON THE THAI BL INDUSTRY

They're so cute that it's actually a crime that I know Ming is a whole red flag parade

The way Joe did the cutest little "please, tell me, please please please, I wanna hear you say the things we both know (you jealous baby)" and Ming was like "yeah okay, I will hum a quiet affirmative and we will never speak of it again" was so fucking cute. I am prepared to cry and scream and have my feelings hurt, but gosh do they do this well.

Okay, I have like, real actual thoughts about this, but also I do not. I am obsessed and too deep in it right now to words, but AAAHHHHHHH

[sam-loves-seb]

weekly tag wednesday

thanks to my lovelies for the tags <3 @spookygingerr @transsexual-dandelions @deedala @heymacy @gallawitchxx

name: sam

age: 26

location: home of the 2024 nba champions

and now...

what is your DJ name? dj sammy spins

if you were a genre of music, what would it be? indie rock

what would you title your biography? what the hell is going on (seriously can somebody tell me)

what are the first three things you'd do if you were invisible? steal some shit, probably commit some other non-violent crimes, then maybe try and uncover some state secrets

what subject do you wish was taught in every school? literally copy and pasting bee and so many others but: financial literacy !! i still feel like i know nothing !! also on a less serious note: world geography, because it has taken me a shockingly long time to figure out where some things in the world actually rae

when was the last time you tried something for the first time and what was it? a few weeks ago i tried a new beverage of the alcoholic variety called Sun Cruisers and they were quite good

what is the most underrated city you have ever visited? davos, switzerland (probably not that underrated to some but i had never even heard of it before i went and now i think about it constantly)

what day in your life would you like to relive? the last day of school before spring break during my senior year of college. it was a friday, i had no classes, i spent most of the day with my roommates hanging out and that night we got tipsy and watched mamma mia and jumped on the couch and scream-sang all the songs

little did we know that a week later the world would end.

i went to florida for 5 days for spring break and when i came back, the dorms were closed, classes were online, and everything was completely shut down starting monday because of covid. we had to move all our stuff out, and i never lived with those roommates again. we're all still friends, but i rarely see them because we live far apart.

this answer got away from me but yeah. that last day with my perfect roommates in our perfect apartment dorm. that's the day i'd relive if i had the chance.

if you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be and why? showering. it's so tedious. i know it needs to be done but god it's so much effort. why can't i be instantly clean?

how long would you last in a zombie apocalypse? honestly i think i would last pretty long in a zombie apocalypse if i tried, but the more important question is would i want to last in a zombie apocalypse? probably not. is there an end in sight? a cure? is this just the world now? i think my survival skills are high but my will to live is low in this scenario

what would be the most surprising scientific discovery imaginable? if scientists figured out teleportation i think that would be the most shocking thing to me

if you could have any view out your office window, what would you choose? a city view. i want an office in a high rise that overlooks boston. that would be cool.

tagging anyone who hasn't played yet cuz it's almost technically thursday by now <3

[wrongcaitlyn]

wait, im confused, what's the voicenote at the end of chemtrails???

if you listen to the song 'chemtrails' by lizzy mcalpine, there's a short recording at the end of lizzy's father talking about her from an old video! the song is about her father's death, and the voice note is just such a beautiful part of the song. i sort of changed the meaning of the song though to match nico, and changed the voice recording (in my head ofc) of lizzy's father to will.

at the beginning of chapter 8, titled chemtrails, he and will work on the song and add the excerpt - i'll just copy and paste that right here so you can see what my version of the voice note is :)

So he concludes that that’s what chemtrails is about, in his head. Grief, and how he can’t ever seem to escape it, even with the events done and over with. Even with therapy, and growing up, and making friends, the emptiness is still a pit in his stomach that returns every other day. 

But there are things that make it better. That relieve him of the regret and the longing for a few minutes, and that remind him of what he has right now—what he hasn’t lost.

He pulls open his phone app, and a few seconds later, there comes Will’s, “What’re you doing?” that Nico refrains from chuckling at.

He opens up one of the voicemails—dated August 30th, a call that had come in the early hours of the morning when Will was heading off to his first class. It was a general update on life, on who his friends were and what he ate for dinner the night before. “So, yeah. I think I’ll be alright,” he says, his tone comforting even with the sound of wind making it through his phone. He ends the call with a brief, “Love you, bye,” as he always does. 

Nico screen records it and emails it to himself, opening up the tab on his computer.

He doesn’t talk as he inserts the clip and edits it into the song, biting the inside of his cheek as he tries to get the volume just right so it doesn’t overshadow the song, and lowering the sound of the wind a bit so it doesn’t get in the way of Will’s words.

He doesn’t know how much time passes, but the time says 6:32 AM, and he clicks play on the newly finished song. It’s only when he hears Will’s voice back at him, over the repeated lyrics, I miss it, I miss you, that he turns around abruptly, realizing he hadn’t even considered Will when using his voice in the song.

Nico doubts he’ll add it to the album, anyway, so some of the panic fades away, only to be replaced with gut wrenching dread as he watches a tear roll down Will’s face.

“Will?” he asks, moving closer to where Will is seated on his stool, but having pulled his knees up and holding them against his chest. “Will? Shit, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“I like it,” Will repeats his earlier comment, but this time his voice cracks in the middle, and he quickly moves his hand to wipe away the tear. “I really like it, Nico.”

the full scene is in the fic, but that's just the part describing the voicenote :) highly recommend listening to the song, its incredible! and heartbreaking. i love it so much.

[aprillikesthings]

oh god oh god

HEY GUESS WHAT I'm down to the last two episodes of She-Ra in my rewatch

On a related note, should you desire to read them all starting from s1ep1 for some godforsaken reason, here's the link. Please be amused at my claims that I would not do this for every episode and my repeated attempts to cut back on how much I copy/paste dialogue and/or explain the entire plot instead of just making jokes and commentary

If, somehow, you are New Here, I've been rewatching all of the 2018 She-Ra, ostensibly for fic-writing reasons as I had forgotten huge quantities of the plot. I have since become deeply obsessed, as one does.

I make a lot of adult jokes, random asides, references to other things, commentary, and a lot of cursing and crying. I love Catradora and I love Catra especially and have a tendency to add a screenshot every time they so much as look at each other. It seems silly to warn for spoilers at this point, but yeah, this is a RE-watch. It's just that I forgot a lot of it because I watched it the first time as it was coming out (pun intended). The shit I did remember is so fucking random tho lol

The last time I tried to do a two-parter in one post the number of times I had to reblog it because tumblr only allows 30 images per post got real stupid, so while I do still assume I will have to reblog multiple times per episode, I'm doing each episode separately.

HERE WE GOOOOO

s5 ep12 Heart (pt 1)

jfc i'm full of adrenaline lol

Also I have a beer, it's a citrus IPA because I live in Portland and it's required by law

(not really I just genuinely like them. that and IPA's that taste like gnawing on a douglas fir. also fruit sours.)

LOL I was so anxious I looked away from this post and consumed most of my beer this is gonna be hilarious

ALSO my goal is to finish these two episodes before the Easter Vigil service tomorrow night at 8pm

Theoretically I should be able to watch two episodes of TV in a day and a half, right? AHAHA

Bow should play Wonderwall

she always looks so soft with her hair down

but also having that thing just floating in front of your chest like that has gotta feel weird

ON A RELATED NOTE I know I made the joke in the last episode about how many people have the failsafe as a tattoo but the PROBLEM is that now I literally LIVE with a tattoo artist whose work I like--I already have two tattoos they've done, here and here, and the temptation is extremely high?? but I don't have any other obvious fandom-related tattoos (unless you count the title of a Björk song) so it feels weird to start with this one???? Like I don't have any LoTR or BBC Sherlock or SU or K/DA tattoos (to list off a bunch of fandoms I was devastatingly obsessed with at the time) so getting one for THIS fandom feels kinda weird. But like, also, if I got it kinda small on one wrist it would look kinda cool and be a nice loud DID U KNOW I'M GAY kinda thing. Gyahhh.

She's struggling to do She-Ra, and I'm sitting here YELLING because IT'S BECAUSE CATRA LEFT and UGH I want to murder Shadow Weaver

(eyyyy I won't have to, ha ha oh god)

Oh she manages to transform anyway. Without making any noise or glowing lights, just pop, She-Ra

awwww but also lol

related aside but like, every culture that figured out bows and arrows invented at least one kind of string instrument. Literally archers just fidgeting with their bows and going "oh this makes a nice sound, what if I put more strings on this thing." So many different places and cultures invented things like a guitar or like a harp or like a violin. But also I want to know who the FUCK figured out the hurdy-gurdy??? oh my god I just looked up the hurdy-gurdy and I'm cracking up because one of the earliest depictions of it is from the 1100's, in the Santiago de Compostela cathedral. A place I have been. Because I did the Camino last year.

oh right plot

I would like to take a moment and be grateful for the people who put together the transcripts on the fandom wiki for saving me typing up long bits of lore-heavy dialogue

She-Ra: "Prime is getting closer every day to figuring out how to access the Heart of Etheria. If he succeeds, he can use it to destroy worlds, galaxies, maybe even the entire universe. The Failsafe is our only chance at stopping him."

"His hold over them grows stronger every day they're chipped. If we don't free them now, we might lose them forever. Prime holds every advantage in this fight. He'll be ready for us. But we have a plan. Entrapta?" Entrapta: "I finally succeeded in cracking Prime's signal pattern. If I get access to his Spire network, I can use it to broadcast a jamming frequency that will disable all of the chips on Etheria, freeing everyone at once!" She-Ra: I need you all to get Entrapta to the Spire and keep Prime's forces distracted while she jams the signal."

"We're going to make sure that Prime can never hurt anyone ever again. We're ending this today. For good."

oh lord so Shadow Weaver is still there, sulking and looking away, and she looks over at her and starts almost losing She-Ra and being Adora again

have I mentioned how much I hate Shadow Weaver >:(

Adora goes outside...and looks around. I know who she's looking for. *sobs into a pillow*

NO. she's LOOKING for her GIRLFRIEND

I made that joke and then Glimmer literally says "Any sign of Catra?" I have to remember that at this point in the story literally everyone knows how in love they both are. Except them. Of course.

Adora: "She's not coming back." ;_;

Adora: I mean you don't have to come with me this could be dangerous Bow: the fuck are you talking about of course we're going

And she turns into She-Ra again, roll intro

Okay so they go to the Crystal Castle thing where Light Hope was

it doesn't look so good

but also that's creepy

anyway they tell the hologram (not Light Hope, the other one) that they're looking for the Heart of Etheria and that they're Friends of Mara. She-Ra gets scanned and then a door opens into a passageway. Bow and Glimmer take her hands and they walk into the hall but:

she's still looking for someone

I have to deal with another episode and change of her looking for Catra ghghggh this hurts meeeee

OH SO OF COURSE they literally switch to showing us Catra

bahaha okay so she sits up and looks behind her kind of sadly, and Melog just skids to a stop so hard they throw Catra off

And Melog looks at Catra like she's fucking nuts. Catra's like, wtf is wrong with you??? and Melog looks back like BITCH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??? Catra what did you think was going to happen when you got a therapy animal that can literally read your moods. Melog knows you're being a dumbass and has NO reason to pretend to believe your surface "I don't give a shit" act!!

Melog does airplane ears at that. And then just pounces Catra.

Time for pressure! Just like a real therapy animal. Big weighted blanket!

oh shit I forgot about this bit

Catra just immediately starts crying.

Catra: "You saw what happened! Adora chose Shadow Weaver, okay? Not me!"

*sobs into hands* you useless fucking dumbass that is your abysmally low self-esteem talking literally every living semi-sentient thing in the galaxy knows Adora's in love with you EXCEPT YOU

I can get frustrated with AU fics where these two both pull this "but what if she doesn't like me back" thing for ages while everyone around them is face-palming in frustration, but like. You have to admit. It's accurate to canon.

(It's also accurate to lesbians in general, lbh. Either fucking on the first date or doing the "but what if she's not into me" thing for months-to-years. Sometimes both, including in some of the fics I've written, heyooooo.)

Melog purrs and licks her face. A clone approaches and they both go invisible and then follow it.

MEANWHILE

the rest of the rebellion is attacking Horde Prime's ship thing

Wrong Hordak helps Entrapta get into the spire. The whole point of this fight (which I didn't bother screenshotting lol) is to give Entrapta time to disconnect everyone's chips from Horde Prime.

Lol once inside Entrapta does another one of those "holy shit this stuff looks so cool...OMG FOCUS" things

Back at the Crystal Castle Glimmers like "omg are you scared" and She-Ra says "No, I just hope this works." Liar.

Bow: "It'll be okay. And when we get back, it'll be a whole new world."

this poor girl. she's so heartbroken.

(meanwhile the plot of my fic-in-progress is literally them breaking up. (not forever.) but it's hilarious of me to get SO UPSET over this scene when I'm going to force them to repeat it. like it's a mutual decision in my fic but it doesn't make it hurt any less.)

PFFT I unpaused it, and IMMEDIATELY:

I just said OH SHIT out loud lol

oh god I saw someone talking about this in a youtube video right around when I started my rewatch

It's a hologram, she's not actually there. And Catra goes through multiple other ages, including her kid self, being chipped on Horde Prime's ship, when they were Horde cadets, etc; before going back to looking like she does now.

Adora's sharp little gasp of shock here

Adora goes to touch Catra's hand and the hologram disappears

(good lord she's beautiful here)

And I think I agree with the youtube video: Adora knew she was upset about Catra running off, but this is the moment she specifically realizes she's in love, and it breaks her heart into tiny pieces.

(Hah, I actually say a very similar thing in part of my fic that they mention in the video--that previous to this, she refused to let herself want this or even think about it. "I didn't even realize this was something I could want.")

BUT ALSO so like is this a remnant of Light Hope's programming that tortured them with childhood flashbacks in season one (in order to drive them apart) or what

LOL NO

I know I made this joke before but I'm suing Nate for emotional damages

She-Ra: "We need to be careful. It looks like this place can still project memories."

oof

A still-invisible Catra follows the clone to where Horde Prime's ship is and is visibly terrified and shaking. A clone who might be Hordak turns around with that white in his eyes that means Prime is using him to see, and Catra just tries to be quiet and not move but she's obviously triggered, and I mean that in the literal PTSD sense.

Horde Prime (via Hordak?): "My brothers. The time has come at last. No longer shall She-Ra stand in my way."

oh okay so Horde Prime's actual ship is still in space (just orbiting Etheria I assume) and the planet-side thing is him speaking through one of the clones via the hive mind.

"Begin the acquisition process!"

are they just gonna straight-up drill into it?

apparently yes

the whole area lights up with that sickening green light, including all the lines that characters kept noticing on the ground that looked like some combo of circuit boards and First Ones' writing.

meanwhile, Adora keeps slipping out of being She-Ra for split seconds and is clearly stressing The Fuck Out and possibly walking in the wrong direction in her distress, only to walk into another memory/hologram.

And I've predictably hit the image limit, but 13:30 to go which is better than last night pfft okay gonna reblog

[mzsvelenaya]

A Sparxshipping Inspired song ? Really ?

Hey Winxers ! Today I was scrolling on the WinxClubRus VK to see fanart and cosplay. I don't understand the text but I don't care I just want to see pretty Winxy stuff One post was... different, their was a picture and a song

The picture :

Those two look like Bloom and Valtor during their 2nd meeting : on Andros (maybe the easier picture I had to search during my whole existence on internet)

Except the Wings and the pose, the two picture looks alike (I'm pretty surprise to see the accuracy of the hair) Bloom also seems to not have her tiara

The song :

EDIT 2 : This is the Remastered Song, from the single Чувства

I Copy-Past the text on Translate Google (my best friend during this research) and see it was about a song, about those two

My reaction was : "I'm pretty sure they overreact, it can't be the official Music group who post that song, it's surely a fanmade"

So.. Which music group am I talking about ? Its ЭКСТРЕННЫЙ ВЫЗОВ (meaning : Emergency Call)

EDIT : Now, the group name is EXTRENNA (I think the group change their name because it was difficult to find their song while searching Emergency Call Russia or Emergency Call July) The Group VK Page

Yeah, that's what is written on the picture The song is called Чувства (meaning : Feelings)

So, that's real but... We only have the picture which looks like Bloom and Valtor, but, Maybe the characters from the picture just... randomly look like them Miza continue her scolling on a VK page about a group I absolutely know anything Everytime I see the title, I Copy-Past in a automatic translator Some post below, I find a Text, without the song but I saw the title I'll share with you what the translator gave me

Translation of a text from the writer of the song

"I dedicated 'Feelings' to a man who doesn't exist." History of the song In the summer of 2022, Renata wrote the track "Feelings", which was included in the "Tautophone". 

(NB : the first version of the song was in this EP. The remastered version is in the Single Чувства)

This is a love song that everyone perceives differently. For some, this is a story about a difficult breakup, for someone about an abuser or unrequited love.

 “I think many children fell in love with Disney princes, specialists from the Winx or Caleb from W.I.T.C.H.. And I am no exception, so I dedicated the song to a fictional character. He cannot be called positive, in the animated series itself he was an antagonist, but I was hooked by the charisma, the stamina of the character of this hero, and of course the visual. I really liked him when I was in the 4th grade, and now, this summer I again wanted to revise my favorite animated series. You can love a person who does not reciprocate indefinitely, let alone a fictional character with whom there is no way to even meet. I reviewed a lot of art, comics, fanfiction with him, from which I began to like the hero even more. The result is a song. It may seem strange from the outside, but my desire to share my thoughts is stronger than the fear of rejection of my work. Everything in the song is quite abstract, so listeners will be able to interpret it in completely different ways. However, Winx connoisseurs will understand who this song is about. ”, Renata comments.

Well, an antagonist, Charismatic, from Winx How to be more obvious ? Especially when we have the Black and Red picture

The lyrics (translated in english)

Now i'll share the lyrics I find : Someone called Milena Daїanova post the lyrics in a comment on the VK Page of WinxClubRus

I'll never find thee Well, okay, the hell with thee Tears are running, but I'll wait Maybe a month or two The fire of hair and turquoise eyes Drive me crazy at night Purple smoke will envelop us And will cover the houses by fog

Our music of summer will not be repeated again But I'll still be waiting, waiting for thee until dawn

Feelings are drenched with sadness Empty in cold eyes His art is to make a person fall in love with himself so much and destroy Feelings are drenched with sadness Empty in cold eyes His art is to make a person fall in love with himself so much and destroy

This is the last story about love It will be forgotten as a sadness In the cold morning the fire will go out Turning our hearts into steel But I... but I... but I'm dying without thee But I... but I... but I'm dying without thee

Feelings are drenched with sadness Empty in cold eyes His art is to make a person fall in love with himself so much and destroy Feelings are drenched with sadness Empty in cold eyes His art is to make a person fall in love with himself so much and destroy Feelings are drenched with sadness Empty in cold eyes His art is to make a person fall in love with himself so much and destroy

I'm not really good to understand lyrics... I'm bad at it

But I think with this whole post it’s more undertandable

Translation of a comment from the song Writer : Renata Vafina

On WinxClubRus, there are 2 posts : The most recent, with the black and red picture (posted on february the 1st) The older (posted on january the 27th) On the oldest post, the writer of the song, Renata Vafina add an explanation :

This is the story of Bloom and Valtor in my interpretation (I think that Valtor definitely liked Bloom and this couple would be wonderful. In general, BLOOTOR VAN LOVE) The story is told from the perspective of a magician. The song describes his feelings during the final battle of season 3. There, the fairy defeated Valtor, destroyed his feelings (refused to join him) and himself (in the animated series they showed how he dies)

I reaaaaally like that Winx inspired song exist And I liked writing this

Last Edit : 06 August 2023

[novastories]

Flight Risk

Title and story inspired the song “Flight Risk” by Tommy Lefroy.

Summary: Aurora struggles to open up.

Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!

Warnings: Mentions of torture, depression, PTSD, and language.

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: I'm finally back with another chapter!! First chapter of the year 2023, sorry I've been away. I've been on vacation! I’m also sorry there’s no Bradley again in this chapter! Just a heads up, he will be coming up soon! But I just want to expand on Aurora a bit more, plus, Jake’s in here! So enjoy Aurora and Jake as well as the NCIS team obviously! As always, shoutout to my beta reader and editor @reginleight!

As always, comments, reblogs, and feedback are appreciated! 🤭

Previous | Next | Masterlist

Aurora was still in shock about what had just happened as she entered Abby’s lab, where she found both Abby and Gibbs waiting for her. 

“I’m sorry I’m late, I was–”

“Rule #6,” Gibbs interrupts her.

“Right, never apologize, it's a sign of weakness,” she sighs. Abby looks at her, concerned at seeing her friend’s distraught expression. 

“You okay there Artemis?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Aurora dismisses her. “McGee said you had something for us Abs?”

“Right! So, according to…” Abby drones on about what she had found in the recent evidence that they had collected from the crime scene. Aurora still barely understood a lot of the forensic lingo, but it also didn’t help she was just distracted in general. Her mind was bouncing through different memories.

“You’ll be safe, right? Promise me you’ll be as safe as you can?” Bradley begs her. Everyone had just found out that she was joining NCIS officially and Bradley had finally been able to get her alone, pulling Aurora off to the side. 

Smiling at him, she nods. “Of course. I’m sorry I didn’t try and become a naval aviator like we planned.”

He shakes his head and returns the smile, grabbing Aurora’s hand and pulling her in closer.. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about, princess. I just want you to be safe.”

“For you, anything B.”

Aurora was on autopilot as she walked to take a seat in Abby’s chair in the other room, while Gibbs and Abby were distracted, not noticing that she had left the conversation. Another memory came flooding back into mind, this one much darker than the last.

Aurora’s screams echo across the walls within the room she had been kept in for hours. Or was it days? She couldn’t tell anymore. All she knew was she was almost past her breaking point. He had electrocuted her with a cattle rod, cut her, and beaten her. He was careful to not make her lose too much blood, knowing the right spots to make it hurt, but not enough to kill her. To prolong her suffering.

“C’mon, is that all you got?!” she growls at her captor.

“You haven’t even seen everything yet,” he replies calmly before electrocuting her once more with a higher voltage. Her screams start up once again, agony taking over.

A thud was heard as the door was kicked down.

“Freeze! NCIS!” a voice calls out. The captor tries to go after the voice with the rod, but was shot multiple times for attempting to attack the group. Aurora looks up and sees Gibbs and Ziva in the doorway.

“Took you long enough,” she croaks out, sarcastically. Ziva yells at Tony and McGee to get a medic, while Gibbs unties her from the chair, helping to lift her up. Ziva made sure that the attacker was dead before helping Gibbs carry Aurora.

“Thank you for saving me,” Aurora whimpers, looking at Ziva and Gibbs before her body finally gives out, body collapsing from the exhaustion and pain she’d suffered from. 

“Benjamin?! Breathe! Listen to my voice,” someone calls out. She recognizes it as Gibbs kneeling next to her, trying to calm her down, while Abby panics on the phone. She can hear Abby telling Ducky or Palmer to come down and check on her. Aurora then realizes that she was having another panic attack and slowly begins urging herself to calm down. 

“Focus on my voice Artemis,” Gibbs says. “In and out. In through your nose, out through your mouth.”

Her breathing starts to slow down and Abby comes back into her view and hands her Burt, the farting hippo. Aurora takes and embraces the stuffed toy in her arms. She hugs it tightly as it sounds its signature fart noise, burying her face into the stuffed toy as she regulates her breathing. 

“I’m sorry. I thought I had it under control,” she whispers to Gibbs. He puts his hand on her shoulder. 

“Artemis, how long has this been going on?”

“The panic attacks? Since the accident. Recently? Since the start of the case it’s gotten a bit worse,” she replies.

Gibbs sighs. “Artemis–”

“Please don’t take me off the case Gibbs. I can do this.”

“Artemis, you need to take a breath. At least take a day off. We can manage for now,” Gibbs says, getting up just before Ducky came in with his medical bag.

“Ahh, Gibbs,” Ducky says. “Abby said you need my assistance.”

“Yes, do a check on Artemis here and then make sure she goes home, or at least away from this case for a few hours.”

“Gibbs,” Aurora interjects. “That’s an order, Benjamin,” Gibbs sternly speaks up as he gives her the infamous look that lets her know that he was serious.

She sighs and nods. “Yes, boss.”

Abby gives Aurora a big hug not wanting to let go of the girl. Ducky then gets to work on checking up on Aurora, Abby giving her one last concerned look before reluctantly leaving to join Gibbs to continue going over the evidence in the other room.

“He means well, you know that Artemis,” Ducky tells her, preparing to examine her.

“I know Ducky…I know.”

—

Aurora needed fresh air from the panic attack she had, as well as after being examined by Ducky. Gibbs wanted her to take a break, so she decided to sit outside in front of the NCIS building where there was a little park with benches. The sun was just about to set, so she could see all the colors of the sky. She sits on a bench and sighs, resting her elbows on her knees before burying her head into her hands. Just for a moment, Aurora wanted to close her eyes and breathe, those thoughts in her mind finally falling silent.

A throat clears, and she looks up to see Lieutenant Jake Seresin standing in front of her, coffee in hand and a bottle of water in the other. He looks at her, subtly asking with his head if he could sit next to her. 

 She nods and lets him sit beside her. “Lieutenant, what are you doing back in the Navy Yard?”

��Agent Dinozzo asked me to come back, something about a DNA test to clear me from the murder. I stopped to get a coffee real quick and saw you sitting here, figured you could use this.” As he handed her the water bottle.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it, Lieutenant”

“Hangman,” he corrects her. She smiles as she repeated his callsign back to him.

He took a good look at her. He couldn’t believe that the girl that Rooster and Apollo always used to talk about was sitting right next to him, let alone her being THE Artemis almost everyone talked about. Gibbs and his team were renowned within the Navy and the Marine Corps. He glances at her figure, bent over still, putting the cold water bottle to her head.

“You alright?”

She takes a deep breath. “Long day, long case.”  

“PTSD?”

She looks at him in shock. Jake turns to her.

“I recognize the look,” he shrugs.

She sighs and chews the inside of her cheek, “I just feel like I'm stuck in a constant state of panic, like everyone is watching my every move. Like I’m a bomb waiting to go off.” 

Jake patiently listens to her.

“And the nightmares, the fucking nightmares,” she mutters, “It’s like nothing I do can help the nightmares. No matter how many bad guys we catch, what happened will always haunt me.”

There was a small pause between the two of them. He didn’t want to push her to know what happened, but rather why she hasn’t talked to anyone else about this. 

“If you have a question, Lieutenant, I suggest you ask,” she remarks.

“How do you know I have a question?”

“I’ve gotten used to reading people on this job.” She replies.

“Do they not know? Your team? About your PTSD?”

“Gibbs, yes. The rest of the team, if they do, they haven’t said anything.”

“Shouldn’t you talk to someone about it?”

“I did, it’s called a psych evaluation,” she retorts. 

“That doesn’t count,” he sighs, taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Well, it’s not like I have any options, since they’re the only ones who know about what happened that day.” She sits up to take a good look at the naval aviator.

“Not even your family? Bradshaw?”

She laughs sarcastically. “Please, Maverick almost had a heart attack when I told him that I was joining NCIS, let alone a case where I almost died. Mom and Amelia are supportive, but I don’t want them to know what I go through on a daily basis. And Pey and B–” she pauses and sighs.

“I don’t want to put them through any of that pain of knowing. This is my burden alone to carry.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way Aurora,” Jake argues as he tries to comfort her. “It’s better to have someone to talk to, why not your team?”

“Because my team has enough to worry about,” she hisses at him. Her temper growing as the conversation goes on.

“Don’t you trust them?” he asks. That question makes her pause shifting in her seat and biting the inside of her cheek.

“I do.” she replies curtly.

“Then why don’t they know anything about your PTSD? Your family?”

“I’m just…protecting myself.”

“From what?”

She finally looks into his eyes and for the first time he sees the pain in her eyes. Bags under eyes from exhaustion, from the nightmares or the job, he wasn’t sure. Her eyes were glistening with tears that were threatening to fall down. 

“From getting hurt,” she admits her voice just above a whisper. 

Looking at her, Jake then set his coffee down before reaching out his arms in a quiet offer. Instantly, Aurora put her own arms out and accepts the hug from him.

Aurora couldn’t believe she was being comforted by Bradley’s arch nemesis (so he calls him), and if he found out, he would probably be so pissed, it made her chuckle internally.

A few seconds pass before they separate from the hug. Jake picks up his coffee and takes another sip.

“So, a Mitchell huh?” 

Aurora laughs as she opens the water bottle Jake had given her and takes a swig from it.

“It’s been so long since I’ve heard that.”

“Your last name?”

“Heck yeah. It’s always Aurora, Artemis, or Benjamin. I haven’t been called Mitchell since college.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve called someone Mitchell,” Jake retorts. 

“Ahhh right, Peyton,” she smirks at him. 

Aurora never thought she’d get to say that she had made the Jake Seresin turn red.

“He told you?”

She lightly chuckles. “He tells me almost everything. Things that sometimes I don’t even ask,” she shakes her head, as if trying to get rid of any memories from what Peyton tells her.

Jake stutters a little. “I’m still…I don’t really…I-”

“Jake, you don’t have to explain yourself. It’s not my business to know. But if you ever need to talk to anyone, I’m here.”

“Is this a way of saying you want my number?” he smirks. Aurora chuckles.

“With the way you are when I mention my brother, I wouldn’t flirt with his twin sister,” she teases.

Jake chuckles. “How are they? Have you heard from them lately?”

“Got a postcard from both of them. Deployed on the USS Franklin, took a stop in Japan. They seem to be doing fine.”

“You miss them?”

Aurora looks to the sky. “Every hour, every minute, every second I breathe,” she repeats the phrase the trio always say to each other, thoughtfully rubbing a thumb over her wrist where her charm bracelet usually would sit. 

Jake looks at his watch. “I should probably head in.”

“C’mon,” she says standing up. “I’ll escort you.”

“Thanks. Not just for escorting me, but for talking with me.”

She smiles at him. “Anytime.”

—

Aurora and Jake step out of the elevator to the squadroom and Jake tosses his empty coffee cup in the nearby trash can on the way to Aurora’s desk. Tony, Ziva, and McGee watch the two as they enter the desk area.

“Hey Tony, I ran into Lieutenant Seresin on the way up, something about a DNA testing,” Aurora spoke up, as she went to her desk to set her water bottle down, and sat at her desk. 

“Oh right, this way Lieutenant,” Dinozzo gets up from his desk and leads Jake to Abby’s lab. 

Jake locks eyes with Aurora again on their way out as he nods at her and leaves with Tony,  while McGee and Ziva are still watching Aurora in disbelief. 

Feeling two sets of eyes on her, Aurora looks up from her phone and looks between the pair.

“If you have a question, ask it,” she says.

“Gibbs said you left, something about needing a breather,” McGee addresses.

“That wasn’t a question McGee,” Aurora retorts back.

“Are you okay?” Ziva asks, as she walks towards the girl and leans on her desk.

“Fine.”

“You don’t seem fine,” McGee replies.

“McGee, leave her alone,” Gibbs tells him as he walks into the bullpen.

“Sorry boss.”

Gibbs stops at Aurora’s desk and gives her a look.“I thought I told you to go home.”

“Boss, with all due respect, I can’t. We still have a case to solve. Plus you told me if anything I could just take a couple of hours away from the case,” she replies looking up at Gibbs.

He sighs and looks at Ziva who was still leaning on Aurora’s desk. She took the stare as a sign to go back to her desk and get back to work. Gibbs turns his attention back to Aurora.

“Fine, but if something happens-”

“I’ll go to you Gibbs,” she replies. He nods and walks back to the center of the bullpen.

“Alright, what do you have for me?” He addresses them.

—

Aurora should have gone home. She should have been at her apartment, eating takeout, watching a Netflix show Peyton had put her on, while cuddling with her golden retriever puppy she named CJ. Usually she would hire someone to come watch him while she was out for her job. So while she should’ve been home doing all of that and relaxing, she realized she needed to talk to someone. Without thinking too much about it, she arrived at Gibbs’ house, and walked through the house’s front door, which was never locked. She took a look around and realized Gibbs was most likely in his basement, so she headed in that direction. She stood in the doorway and spotted Gibbs sanding his boat.

Gibbs looks up as he had heard someone in his house, and sees Aurora. He puts his sander down, and walks back to his table where he had a small fridge sat on it. Usually he would offer a guest some of his whiskey he usually had, but knowing Aurora, he always had a stock of water for her in the fridge. Walking down the stairs of the basement, Aurora came over to Gibbs as he handed her water. She nods her thanks, and takes a sip from the water while sitting on a stool, Gibbs taking the other one beside it. 

They sit in silence, while Gibbs watches Aurora fiddle with her water, peeling the label a bit.

Aurora takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry about earlier, Gibbs. Not just about the panic attack but not telling you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything Artemis?”

“Because I didn’t want to look weak.”

“You went through so much trauma, that doesn’t make you weak, Arty.”

“Then why do I feel like I’m losing my mind? Ever since the start of this case, I just can’t get it out of my head. It’s not just the case. I keep reliving memories from my past and they’re nice memories, which makes the pain hurt even more.”

“You’re stronger because of it.”

“Am I?” She says exasperated. “I came to NCIS to be something. To prove to everyone that I can be someone other than my father’s daughter, other than being a Naval aviator legacy. The Mitchell legacy.”

Gibbs sat in silence listening to her as she went on.

“I just feel like I’m being worn down. I love this job, and I love this team.” she says after taking a sip of her water. “I just don’t want to be this broken anymore,” she whispers.

“Have you tried talking to anyone?” Gibbs was trying to comfort as best as he could.

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Not me Artemis, your family. Your dad? Brother?”

She stills from that realization. She hadn’t talked to her dad since he had just been recruited as a test pilot for a special Mach 10 project. Peyton was deployed with Bradley. Her mom had her bar to take care of, and Amelia had just started high school. Uncle Goose and Aunt Carole were on their anniversary vacation traveling around Europe. Uncle Ice and Aunt Sarah were still dealing from Uncle Ice’s cancer scare when they thought he had relapsed. No. She hadn’t talked to anyone. She shook her head and Gibbs sighs.

“Kid, you’re going to have to talk to someone.”

“Wh-”

“And not just me,” he cuts her off. “Maybe it’s time to see a therapist.”

Sure, Aurora could. But for Aurora, it was hard for her to ask for help. She just shrugs at Gibbs while biting the inside of her cheek, something she normally does when her anxiety kicks in.

“Maybe it’s time to tell the team-”

“No, Gibbs we both agreed that telling them about my family has nothing to do with my work.”

“When it’s affecting your mental health, I think it’s time to tell them about your family. You have nothing to lose, Artemis.”

She scoffs at Gibbs' words. She knew he was right, but she was stubborn. Aurora didn’t want to lose the respect she had earned from her peers all because of her last name. 

“We’re a family too. It’s time to trust us now,” Gibbs says to her. 

Aurora looks up at Gibbs. She smiles and takes out the postcard from her pocket and hands it to Gibbs. She could always trust Gibbs, maybe it was time to open up. He takes it and reads it, turning to her with a smirk.

“Brother and boyfriend?” He says teasingly.

“Brother and BEST friend,” she emphasizes, while rolling her eyes.

“Doesn’t seem like it. It sounds like he loves you.”

“No. I mean yes, but only like a friend.”

“I highly doubt that Artemis.”

“No, because if he does I can’t be with him.”

Gibbs looks at her incredulously. “Why?”

“Because I’m broken, he deserves better,” she replies.

“You’re not-”

“And I left. Life just got in the way. I was about to be an NCIS agent, he was just about to start his naval aviator career. He had just gotten into Top Gun, his dream! And I couldn’t hold him back. And he didn’t want to hold me back either.”

“What’s holding you back now?”

Aurora looks at Gibbs and sighs.

“I don’t know anymore.”

---

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Taglist: @call-sign-jinx @sqrlgrl22 @luckyladycreator2 @purplevortexx

[trsrina]

SKINCARE THIEF Enhypen Sunoo

y/n innocently uploads a skincare routine on her group’s youtube channel only for her to wake up the next morning trending on twitter with the title of ‘skincare thief’ along with enhypen’s sunoo. fans noticed that y/n skincare routine was oddly similar to sunoo’s, leading to fans attacking her and sunoo’s childish one-sided beef with her.

10 | vending machine

“chaeyeon unnie, please. i’m so sorry,” you plead to your beloved leader as she slowly approaches you with an evil grin on her face. “oh y/n, you are so dead,” uncontrollable giggles soon erupted from you, chaeyeon’s tickles making you squirm.

“guys, let’s hurry, practice is about to start,” yurina called you two, chaeyeon’s leader mode immediately returning as she stopped tickling you and regained her composure, acting like nothing happened and being professional again.

when you walked through the doors of the spacious practice room, all members of enhypen and the choreographers have already arrived. you and your members awkwardly bowed to them with chaeyeon in the lead and enhypen doing the same.

the atmosphere was tense to say the least but you being the extrovert you are, decided to take the initiative to break the ice. “so, you guys are going on tour?” catching the attention of the others, your members gave you panicked glances, not expecting you to be so bold and speak up.

“yeah. i heard your newest release. it was really good. the song is catchy and i even learned the choreography,” jungwon, who you assumed who was the leader for his professionalism and confidence, replied to you with a smile on his face.

your eyes scanning through the unfamiliar members of enhypen, you met eyes with a familiar face. you couldn’t quite put your finger on it as to where you’ve seen him before, his sparkly sharp fox-like eyes gave you deja vu as you gazed into them.

realisation soon hit you as you recognised him as kim sunoo, the one whose fans accused you of copying his skincare routine.

however, those same eyes returned the gaze back but with a different approach. his icy gaze somehow managed to send a shiver down your spine, “what’s with him?” you thought to yourself as the stranger (not really) glared at you as if he had a vendetta against you.

practice continued on with the same uncomfortable atmosphere as no one dared to even try to spike up conversation, especially with you and sunoo exchanging glares.

it was finally break time after your nonstop hours of training to the tiring choreography. you chugged down your water as if it was an oasis in the middle of a desert and sooner than you know it, your bottle of water was empty.

you sigh in distress as you get up from the floor you were sitting on to buy another bottle from the vending machine.your footsteps halted when you noticed the same boy who was glaring at you with fury in his eyes during practice.

you preparing to turn on your heels before the devil himself turned back to face you, his narrowed gaze bored into your tired ones, stopping you in your feet.

“what?” sunoo asked with an annoyed tone, rolling his eyes at your presence. “nothing, sorry to bother you,” before you could leave, it was like you were hit with a whiplash as an impulsive idea of yours entered your mind, you turning back to face him again, catching sunoo’s attention.

“why do you keep glaring at me?” you asked, immediately feeing regret wash all over you, wanting to dig a hole in the floor and crawl into it. “what do you mean?” sunoo scoffed, as if taken aback by your bold question. “what do you have against me? if you dislike me because of that ‘scandal’ then that’s very hypocritical of you. i’ve already posted my apology that honestly, i didn’t mean at all. is it that hard for you push things in the past? i never meant to copy your skincare routine and we both know it was all very stupid,” you blurted out.

your outburst seemed to have made sunoo speechless, him only responding by walking towards you with big strides, making you take small steps back. sunoo extended his arm to you, handing you a bottle of water and you replying with the tilt of your head due to your confusion.

“i’m sorry if i made you misunderstand. look, I don’t hate you nor dislike you at all. i did make a few sarcastic jokes about me and you being enemies but other than that, i have nothing against you. my resting face just looks mean and i wasn’t glaring at you. i also apologise for what my so-called fans has said. i hope we can put this aside,” y/n’s eyes were wide open, not expecting him to give such a ‘proper’ apology and immediately feeling a sense a guilt for judging him that quick.

y/n hesitated for a while before speaking up, “i’m sorry too. you know, for judging you too quick, kinda ironic how i’m literally an idol and knows what it’s like being judged,” y/n scratched her neck awkwardly before stopping herself from talking further and rambling on, “sorry, the point is i’m sorry. i hope we can put aside whatever rivalry our fans have going on and start over,” y/n smile at him and sunoo returned with a warm smile that almost melted y/n, almost. sunoo has such a pretty smile. god, shut up. what are you thinking, y/n?

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[sorryimananti-romantic]

wanna play a quick game of finish the lyrics + guess the song: ateez edition? ... no? too bad 👹

(NOTE: bsides are not included, since this is an easy version.)

Let's go !! cheat n i'll track you down 😋😋

1. 네 흔적은 향기로 남아

미친 사람처럼 너를 찾아 헤매다

잠이 깨면

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

2. 거친 바람에, 다친 마음에

세상은 내게 추락만을 택하라는 듯

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

3. 하고 싶은 게 뭐냐고

너는 커서 뭐가 될 거냐고

모르겠네요 처음이라

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

4. 우리가 보이는가? 타오르는 눈빛과

삼킬 듯한 함성이 온 세상을 울리는 걸

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

5. 저기 저 달빛이 부를 때

세상을 덮칠 듯 달구네

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

6. 감정의 눈을 가린 채 산다는 게

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

i prepared this based off your fav ateez titles and added one of my personal faves, so you better get this right 😠

(NOTE (again): you can translate these lyrics if it helps, but no direct searches)

good luck !! <3

OH THIS WAS AN EASY VERSION. i went straight to reading the lyrics and almost flunked this altogether but as soon as i realised you chose my fav tracks (how did you know who are you i think i know) this became a lot easier LOL i totally did not sing all my fav title tracks to see if these lyrics came up-

(also only googled to copy paste the rest of the lyrics once i got the answer, no cheating done here :D)

1- 다시 또 제자리인걸 Where you at? Where you at? 너는 어디에? --- INCEPTION!!

2. 세상은 내게 추락만을 택하라는 듯 끝없는 어둠만 --- TURBULENCE my queen

3. 모르겠네요 처음이라 더 살아봐야 알 것 같은데 eh hahaha --- THANXX (i know who you are now also this would have been a lot easier if you added the ah ya ya i had to struggle)

4. 듣고 있다면 지금 내 곁으로 와줘 함께 할 수 있게 --- ANSWER LOML this was the quickest

5. 우리 손을 잡고 날아가 Yes sir 부름에 응답 --- SAY MY NAME MY NO. 1

6. 너에겐 아무 의미 없는가? --- GUERRILLA (BREAK THE WALL 👹)

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

this was fun. i feel like bsides will be easier bc i listen to bsides more than titles but at the same time, there are many i don't really listen to so yeah. can't wait for the next part hehe

[mardytoast]

🍓🔪☁️

i thought you were referencing a song coming out from this band i know and i was like ?

but omg ask game!!

🍓how did you get into writing fanfiction🍓

omg this is serious loree. so ive been reading ff for a good few years and so do two of my irl friends (the only ppl who know i read ff in this day and age irl) and we were all in the harry potter fandom. then we were like, we should make our own JOKE fanfic, and we're were like planning it all out for fun w y/n and shit and then we actually wrote it😭 it has four chapters and it's on wattpad but it's the most insane cliché shit and probably the funniest thing I've ever done LMFAOO

and then months and months after that i tried to do my own little things but they were all terrible. but then jan 2023 i started like seriously writing. the first proper fic (multichap) i tried to do kinda crashed and burned and the other ones never made it past a few thousand words. the writing was good i just dk how to make a story😭 anyway then in september i wrote a full hp one shot even though im not in the fandom anymore?? tried to reform my multichap and wrote a few more chapters then was like wait, this still isn't working (for plot reasons).

writing is hard but rn im working on a clyde biography which is easy enough bc it's it's basically just all my head cannons❤️

🔪what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project 🔪

usa secret service LMFAO

i was writing this bodyguard x presidents daughter clybe fic and i was like.. is he even necessary??

turns out that yeah the american president has a stupid amount of guards for him AND his family and some of them live in the white house

i was basically js trying to figure out if a personal bodyguard was a reach

but that's been scrapped bc honestly it would've just been a rip off of an incredible bodyguard fic from another fandom that i read, but oh to dream

the first chapter actually bangs though i read it over a few months back and i was like damn who wrote thiss

im also considering on becoming a baby electrician bc i feel like electrician clyde x terribly built house bebe would be SO cute, but if need to know so much for it to work, thoughts?

☁️what made you choose your username☁️

basically there was an era where i was like oh i should probably get socials so i made an ao3, twitter, discord etc and i just picked two random words for each. for ao3 my first username was savage toes but i forgot abt it so i made a new acc

i picked mardytoast bc my friend, who knows i read ff has a cat called melba, and she was talking to me one time and she was like oh it's melba as in melba toast and i was like oh okayy

so when i was making my user i used that but obviously im not stealing her cats name so i chose some other word that started with m

and im actually not joking i literally created the word mardy scholars would say i COINED the phrase. like i remember i was just like okay mardy i guess. AND IN FEBRUARY I FIND OUT MARDY MEANS ANGRY GRUMPY MOODY?? like explains that arctic monkeys song but damn. so if anyone's wondering I DO NOT CLAIM THAT im just mardy with no meaning

and in september (?) i created this acc bc this writer i was going to beta read for wanted to be able to contact me outside of email so i really quickly made this and just used my ao3 username!

omg and whenever she sends me the doc with the chapter she titles it 'Mardy's Copy' and the first time I saw it i had this out of body feeling and i was like WOAH...i guess im mardy now

(and also our one on one channel in her discord server of betas was called mardy's seat like cutee)

so now me and my username have merged and i genuinely feel like my name is mardy😊

so mardy is the alias i use on all accounts where ppl i actually know don't follow me!!

send in more asks pls i love talking abt myself

the ask game is in my recent reblogs <333

[victorluvsalice]

Valice Calendar In Honor Of 15 Years

Yeah, you read the title right -- as of 2023, I will have been shipping Victor Van Dort from Corpse Bride with Alice Liddell from American McGee’s Alice and Alice: Madness Returns for FIFTEEN YEARS. I actually went back into my old LiveJournal/Dreamwidth entries some time ago to see if I could pinpoint when the hell I actually started shipping them -- turns out it was June 22nd, 2008 when I first mentioned having shipping thoughts about them (in response to a TV Tropes binge apparently). Granted, it was in the context of “what the fuck, me, you know they’d be a terrible pairing,” but -- yeah. We see how long that attitude lasted. XD And that means that next June, it’ll be 15 years! Holy hell.

So! Given that 15 years is a bit of a milestone, I thought I’d set up a “Valice Calendar” for the next year so I know which dates I should try and acknowledge as Important Valice Dates. :) Some of these should already be familiar to my regular followers, as I’m already in the habit of doing something special for them, while the rest are from that deep dive into my journaling past:

January 27th -- the date that I posted my first Valice fic, “Suffocating,” on my LiveJournal! Which was obviously in 2009, not 2008, but still a momentous occasion! Also, conveniently, the birth date of Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll.

February 14th -- Valicetine Day, obviously :)

May 4th -- the historical Alice Liddell’s birthday, and thus my Alice’s birthday!

June 9th -- Johnny Depp’s birthday, and as I have a habit of using actor birthdays if a canonical one is not given for a character, thus my Victor’s birthday! (Also, amusingly, the birth date of Michael J. Fox, and thus also my take on Marty McFly, which comes up in “Secundus.”)

June 14th -- release date of Alice: Madness Returns in North America! (According to Wikipedia, anyway, but I can confirm because I got my copy from GameStop the very next day.)

June 22nd -- as stated above, the first time I mentioned thinking about shipping Victor/Alice back in 2008! Even if I thought at the time it was also a pure crackship. XD

JULY 7TH -- Victor and Alice’s wedding anniversary! Which I picked because a) I liked the idea of a summer wedding and b) it’s easy to remember. *facepalm*

September 10th -- first mention in 2008 of me associating songs with the ship (I believe it was “Love Me Dead”); the entry indicated I’d already started associating any vaguely romantic songs with them, but this was the first time I mentioned a specific one, so we’re going with this.

September 23rd -- release date of Corpse Bride in the United States! (According to Wikipedia again, but I’m inclined to believe them.)

October 6th -- Mad Hatter Day (because of the date -- 10/6 like on his hat) and thus just a general Alice day of mention. (I’ve also seen it stated as a release date for the first game, but I’ve never been able to fully confirm that.)

October 31st -- Halloween! Not a specific Valice date, but this is the holiday that sees the biggest spike in interest in the two fandoms, sooo. . .

November 27th -- first mention of me starting to seriously think about fanfic for Valice! Seems weirdly appropriate I’d publish the first one exactly two months later. :p

December 6th -- release date of American McGee’s Alice in North America! (Again, according to Wikipedia -- as stated above, I’ve also seen October 6th cited, and November 22nd on at least one site, so -- I’m just going with this!)

December 8th -- the first time I had one of my RP Alices (”save_us_alice,” though she didn’t have her journal at the time) call one of my RP Victors (”deadgirlsliekme” -- the proper spelling had been taken!) her “boyfriend.” While I’d obviously started genuinely shipping them before that, this is the first date that I saw anything about the pairing being Official, so again, we’re going with this.

December 27th -- my birthday, which -- as the person who came up with this ship -- I feel deserves to be recognized. :p

So yeah, that’s kind of the official Valice Calendar! :D Except -- well. You guys know that a certain OT3 has become very popular around here as well, huh? So yeah, because I know me, here’s also a handful of Valicer dates --

January 8th -- the actual creation of Smiler Always, the sim that informed the look of all my human/humanoid Smilers for my AUs, and their insertion into the Chill Save.

May 31st -- the actual opening date of The Smiler roller coaster! (It was supposed to open earlier, but delays in the final construction meant that it missed the first two dates.) Meaning this is the birthday of my own Smiler!

December 27th -- yes, doubling up with my birthday, because -- well. December 26th of 2021, I watched “One Night In - Alton Towers” with my parents, which led to us looking up a bunch of the rides on YouTube so we could see what they were like. Which included one called “The Smiler,” which I found myself very intrigued by the next day. . .meaning you can trace my Smiler obsession and the eventual creation of the OT3 to me binging Smiler videos and lore posts on my birthday last year.

December 31st -- the date four days later where I realized that the “private hypnokinky AU with Victor and Alice using the coaster’s theming for private fun times” had somehow become “I have made a human Smiler, a vampire Smiler, and a robot-run-by-an-eldritch-abomination Smiler for three different AUs VICTOR WHY DO YOU WANT TO FUCK A ROLLER COASTER” XD AKA the more EXPLICIT creation date of the OT3.

Okay, that should cover just about everything. XD Next year, we celebrate Valice (and Valicer) in style! :)

[prongsandhisfoot]

i was reminded today that i once made a playlist of songs related to prongsfoot in some way and i don’t think i’ve ever actually?? listened to it, but i’m going to listen to it for the first time! and try to remember my reasoning...

1. keep away - lou reed

i genuinely don’t remember this song. may 6, 2022...yeah, no recollection. my best guess is i was reading pioneers for the second or third time and made some parallels with the lyrics. reading the lyrics now, i kind of see it? in a more ironic/lying way...i’ll probably delete it, though it’s a very fun song tbh, so i’m glad i re-listened to it! 

2. thick as thieves - the jam

this one is pretty obvious. i could just copy and paste the whole song lol, but that’s a little too much, so i’ll just paste the first few verses! second half is just as prongsfoot-y though. for similarly clear reasons.

Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now We were so close and nothing came between us, and the world No personal situations Thick as thieves us, we'd stick together for all time And we meant it but it turns out just for a while We stole, the friendship that bound us together

We stole from the schools and their libraries We stole from the drugs that sent us to sleep We stole from the drink that made us sick We stole anything that we couldn't keep And it was enough, we didn't have to spoil anything And always be as thick as thieves

Like a perfect stranger, you came into my life Then like the perfect lone ranger, you rode away, rode away Rode away, rode away

3. pale blue eyes - vu

i genuinely annotated a copy of this song in the book i have of lou reed’s lyrics from the perspective of prongsfoot. something was wrong with me but also, i was right. this one is a bit (lot) more metaphorical than #2, hence my annotations lol, so i’ll just paste the most obvious bit:

It was good what we did yesterday And I’d do it once again The fact that you are married Only proves you’re my best friend But it's truly, truly a sin

as for the eponymous “linger on, your pale blue eyes,” i wrote in the book that it represents sirius losing his memories of james while in azkaban--aka him lingering on james while alone for a decade lol, and his memories of james changing. according to what i wrote, “pale” represents how he’s losing his memories (i.e. they’re losing color; paling) and “blue eyes” represents the same exact thing--or more specifically, how he’s remembering incorrectly, since james’s eyes are hazel (and sirius’s are grey). this is so funny and terrible

edit: i almost forgot the other pretty clear verse??

Thought of you as my mountaintop Thought of you as my peak Thought of you as everything I've had, but couldn't keep I've had, but couldn't keep

4. i’m sticking with you - vu

another fairly very obvious one (this song is literally james and sirius in the levicorpus flashback scene lmao). the clearest parts:

Anything that you might do I'm gonna do too

and then

But with you by my side I can do anything When we swing We hang past right and wrong

I'll do anything for you Anything you want me to

5. red right ankle - the decembrists

this one is literally since a prongsfoot fic i have bookmarked is named after this song and inspired by it lmaoo

here’s the first two verses:

This is the story of your red right ankle And how it came to meet your leg And how the muscle, bone, and sinews tangled And how the skin was softly shed

And how it whispered, "Oh, adhere to me For we are bound by symmetry And whatever differences our lives have been We together make a limb" This is the story of your red right ankle

“oh, adhere to me // for we are bound by symmetry / and whatever differences out lives have been // we together make a limb” tbh that’s all i care to include, the rest is just for context lol.

adhere to me <-> i’m sticking with you lmaooo

6. black and gold - sam sparro

this is the most cringy of them all. i promise it’s not just because of the title that this is here. it’s still cringy either way but still. tbh someone needs to give this to the jegulus fandom they’d eat it up. the “black and gold” at the very least

'Cause if you're not really here Then the stars don't even matter Now I'm filled to the top with fear That it's all just a bunch of matter

Cause if you're not really here I don't want to be either I wanna be next to you Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold

also this part, which this fic comes from. (it’s not exactly a favorite fic of mine but it is a readable prongsfoot fic, which is rare enough for me to call a fic with a “misunderstandings” plot readable)

I look up into the night sky And see a thousand eyes staring back And all around these golden beacons I see nothing but black

7. barracuda - john cale

tbh i could explain every line & verse as prongsfoot-y but some are less obvious and some are more obvious so i’ll just do what i’ve been doing and paste the most obvious lol

Barracuda, barracuda Won't you lay down your life to me? Won't you love me barracuda? If you always need to bring out the worst in me

and then, of course

The ocean will have us all The ocean will have us all

and finally (think of this in reference to poa lol)

Dead forest with the moon arising Smiling at you out of reach

8. supplier! - crisaunt

this is...not exactly my type of song?? to be honest i don’t even know the prongsfoot reference but i do remember adding it...i just don’t have a clue why

9. what’s good (the thesis) - lou reed

this is what made me remember this playlist!

Life's like a mayonnaise soda And life's like space without room And life's like bacon and ice cream That's what life's like without you

Life's like forever becoming But life's forever dealing in hurt Now life's like death without living That's what life's like without you

and then

What's good is life without living What good's this lion that barks You loved a life others throw away nightly It's not fair, not fair at all

pretty simple!

the verdict: i’m taking off keep away, black and gold, and supplier. now it’s a 6-song, 22 minute playlist, lol. i doubt anyone’s read this far but if you have--suggestions?