#Also! This was before cars were banned from the city

[darkersoil]

Before the ventilation system was perfected, there were plans to simulate weather on Earth. An incident occurred during the testing phase that caused a dense fog to encompass the entire city dome for several days. We were advised to stay indoors as the high humidity could affect many home components, electronics and the like.

This was the last photo I was able to take with my old polaroid, it grew all moldy when I took it apart later.

[skzstannie]

"Did you know?"

SKZ-> ot8 x 9th member! reader

genre: angst, hurt/comfort wc: ~4,500 cw: slight violence, swearing, reader has to go to the hospital

summary: some online rumors cause turmoil within the group, and it seems the members’ concerns were certainly not without reason

A/N: Here's another angsty 9th member fic for you guys, hope you enjoy! My requests are still open, so if you have any ideas, feel free to send them in!

Likes/reblogs and feedback are greatly appreciated!

Part 2 | Happy Scrolling! | Masterlist

Today was the first date of your North American tour, landing you guys in the beautiful city of Los Angeles, California. Your managers allowed you the morning to explore the city, given you had constant security. They made you specifically promise to abide by these rules, as you had a habit of sneaking off to see fans on your own. What can you say? Security could be annoying, and your fans were always the sweetest.

This little habit of yours not only made management anxious, but also your members. They knew you could be innocent and credulous when it came to other people, always wanting to believe there was good in everyone. While this may be true, people's best intentions sometimes went out the window when confronted with their favorite Kpop idols.

"Ok, first the art museum for Hyunjin, then Griffith Park, and then the nice breakfast cafe down the street from the venue. Anything else?" Chan reads off your planned itinerary, glancing upwards at you guys.

"Yea, I said I wanted to go to the Santa Monica Pier. They have the cutest attractions there," you say, repeating yourself for what felt like the hundredth time that day. You were the only one wanting to go, all the other members not wanting to risk getting sick on fair food and carnival rides before the concert.

"Yes, and I already acknowledged the fact that we will not be going there today. And we, includes you, meaning you will also not be sneaking off to go by yourself," Chan pointedly looks to you, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"What makes you think I'd ever do that?" you give him a cheeky smile, tilting your head ever so slightly.

"Don't look at me like that. You know exactly why I'd think that."

You drop your innocent act, giving him a bored look in return.

Chan gets notified that the vans have arrived, so you all pack up your things and head to the hotel elevator. The boys roughhouse in the hallway, Seungmin almost tackling Jeongin to the ground. This is quickly stopped by Minho, reminding them they can't get hurt before the concert tonight. They roll their eyes at him but oblige.

Leaving the hotel, you all jump in the cars, embarking on the short drive to the art museum. Your van consists of Seungmin and Felix sitting in the middle set of seats, while you're squished in the back between Chan and Minho. The air is weirdly tense and quiet, everyone seemingly too occupied with their phones. Besides Chan describing the itinerary this morning, everyone has been quiet all day.

You feel Chan's watchful gaze slide to your screen, and you pull away, leaning towards Minho. "Do you mind?" you sass.

"I do actually. What are you looking at on there, any cute boys?"

"Give me a break, we have a dating ban," you scoff, turning your phone back off and sliding it into your crossbody bag.

You continue to sit in silence until you arrive, not wanting to deal with Chan's wandering eyes on your Instagram feed.

Finally arriving at the art museum, everyone piles out of the vans. Fans line the sidewalk, and a grin spreads across your face. You step out of line quickly, wanting to go over to a particularly young fan. She looks around 8 or 9, and she has a poster of you in hand with a black Sharpie. What's the harm in giving this young girl a quick signature?

Within your first few steps, your arm is aggressively pulled backwards, and you stumble into Minho. He gives you a stern look, and you know, especially with this many people around, not to question him. You fall back in line, looking back to give the young girl a sympathetic smile as you're guided the rest of the way into the museum.

You guys walk through the entrance of the museum, officially out of sight from all the fans. Minho gives you another pointed look, finally releasing your arm from his grasp. "We told you, no funny business today. Tonight's important, and we need you in one piece for it."

Your eyes widen at his tone of voice, not appreciating the seriousness behind it. You know you tend to break some rules here and there, but it's always light-hearted. You'd never intentionally put yourself or anyone else in danger.

You guys explore the museum exhibits in peace, security doing an excellent job of keeping the fans outside. You, not having much of an interest in art, spend most of your time watching Hyunjin and the way he admires the artwork. He really is an artist at heart, and you love the way he can appreciate each individual piece.

While staring at Hyunjin, who's admiring an intensely beautiful painting of a riverbed with flowers, you suddenly feel eyes on you. You quickly spin around to be met with the stares of Felix, Jisung, and Jeongin. They quickly look away, busying themselves looking at the statues next to them.

You give them a squinted look, walking over to them. "What is wrong with you guys today? Why is everyone acting so funny?" you confront them, furrowing your brows.

Jisung stumbles over his words, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Felix jumps in, giving Jisung a strange look, "We were just talking about how beautiful you look today." He comes over to you and wraps an arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his side.

You don't stay there long, removing his arm from around you and walking away. "Weird," you mutter to yourself.

You guys finish up in the museum shortly after. Piling back into the cars, you're once again stuck between Minho and Chan. This time, however, Chan keeps constant conversation with you. He rambles on about the concert that night, what he had for dinner last night, practically anything to keep his mouth moving. While this is still strange behavior, you prefer this to radio silence.

Arriving at Griffith Park, you guys make your way up the hill terrain. All the guys want to take pictures, planning to post them to Instagram later that week. You think the perfect spot for pictures would be the Hollywood sign, so you start to make your way towards it.

You don't think to alert anyone, as it's within eyesight, and you prefer to take your own pictures, anyway. You came prepared, bringing your tripod in your backpack.

Before you make it very far, only walking about 25 feet away from the group, you hear your name being yelled. You turn back around, seeing an angry Minho storming towards you.

"What'd we say about going off on your own? Why are you being so difficult today?" he asks, his voice rising with every word he spits at you.

You don't know what's gotten everyone's panties in a bunch today, but you've just about had enough. The atmosphere has been tense all day, and you're officially sick of it.

"Why is everyone being so tense today? Gosh, I'm only going up to the sign!" You throw your arm behind, motioning to the spot only about 50 feet away from where you and Minho stand.

"No, you will not be going up there, especially not by yourself. Stay with the rest of the group and stop being stubborn!" Minho's overly-critical eyes stare you down. He steps toward you, grabbing you by the elbow for the second time that day.

You wretch yourself away from him. "I've had enough with being man-handled today. I'm done! I'm going to wait in the van. Have fun without me!" you yell at him, stalking off towards the parking lot.

You see everyone had stopped what they were doing upon hearing the loud yells, and they're all watching you as you hurriedly make your way back to the vans. Your face flushes, embarrassment taking over your features.

You pull on the door to the van, realizing it's locked. You stomp your foot and whip around, finding everyone still staring at you with varying expressions. "Someone please unlock this door before I have a mental breakdown," you beg, feeling the beginnings of an anxiety attack taking over your body.

The driver, just feet away sitting on a bench, searches for the keys in his jacket, finally unlocking the door for you. You climb in, slamming the door behind you.

You stumble over the front row of seats, laying down in the back away from the concerned gazes of your members and the rest of the staff. Your chest feels constricted, the air in your lungs feeling limited in supply. Tears stream down your face at the unwanted advances of an anxiety attack.

The fight with Minho paired with the building tension all day, along with the nerves for tonight's concert mixed into a deadly concoction in your brain, all too much for you to handle.

You're not left alone with your thoughts for long, the door to the van opening only minutes later. Hyunjin crawls in, shutting the door behind him.

"Hey, hey, shhh. It's ok, everything will be ok," he coos, rubbing your back. He's squeezed himself down in between the middle row of seats, his elbows resting on the armrests beside him.

"I'm sick of today," tears slide down you cheeks, your voice audibly shaking. "Everyone is being so distant and mean. What'd I do?"

"No honey, you didn't do anything. Everyone's just a little stressed for tonight. There's been some stuff circulating around online putting everyone on edge, but it'll all be fine," he reassures you, trying to roll you onto your other side so he can see your face. Your mind is too pre-occupied to register his words, letting them travel in one ear and out the other.

You allow him to turn you around, uncomfortably shifting in the small space. Your glossy eyes meet his, and he's quick to wrap you up into a tight hug, your own arms squished against his chest.

"Everyone's finishing up out there, then we're going to head to the venue a little earlier than planned. Does that sound ok?" he asks, affectionately running his fingers through your hair.

"Yea," you sniffle, pressing your face firmly into his shoulder. "I don't want to sit by Minho. Please don't make me," you cry harder at the thought.

"Alright, alright, shhh. You're only working yourself up more. You know we have to stay in our assigned vehicles, but I'm sure Seungmin and Felix will switch spots with him and Chan."

After a few more minutes of consoling from Hyunjin, everyone else has finished their photoshoots. Hyunjin leaves, but not before giving you another firm squeeze. Seungmin and Felix pile into the van first, both of them coming to sit beside you. You telepathically thank Hyunjin for asking them in passing.

Felix rests a comforting hand on your knee throughout the ride to the venue. Chan and Minho are silent, completely engrossed in their phones once again.

Once at the venue, you stay far from Minho, not wanting to deal with his negativity. You notice the security is amped up a bit compared to last tour, guards standing at every door leading to your dressing rooms. You figure it's because your band has gotten so much bigger, the Stay Family always growing exponentially.

In your dressing room, Felix occupies the chair by the mirror, your stylists brushing shades of brown and pink across his eyelids. Changbin stands nearby, the hair stylist just finishing up with a couple extra spurts of hairspray. You lay on the couch while you wait, playing Among Us with Jeongin and Hyunjin who reside in the other dressing room.

Changbin and Felix offered to go with you to your dressing room, and you gladly accepted their offer. You explained to them you didn't necessarily want to be alone; you just didn't want to be by Minho.

The stylists start to work on you once they're done with the boys. They finish your hair and makeup just in time for soundcheck, applying some last minute powder to your nose before sending you off to the stage.

Rehearsals go by smoothly. You and Minho are able to put your issues behind you for now. Your fans are so important to you, and the last thing you want to do is ruin their night because of some petty argument.

Management sends you off to the dressing rooms once again, satisfied with the quality of the soundcheck. You follow your members off stage before departing down a separate hallway in search of the bathroom.

You walk for another few seconds, taking a few random turns before your met with the door to the ladies' restroom. You do your business and take your time getting back to the dressing room as you guys don't go on for another hour. The venue your playing is beautiful, so you take a slight detour, admiring all the nice architecture.

You're startled from your peaceful thoughts once again by a furious Minho. "I cannot believe you'd go off on your own again. After all we've told you today, how could you possibly think that's ok?" he throws his hands up in disbelief, his tone snarky.

"I had to use the restroom! You guys have never had a problem with me walking around the venues by myself, why now? You have been up my ass all day. Leave me the hell alone for awhile." You push him out of the way, ramming his shoulder with your own in the tight hallway.

"Do you think this is fun for me, huh? Yelling at you all day long? Did you ever stop to think for one second that there may be something bigger going on here?" His voice sounds exhausted, leaving you slightly concerned because you still have hours of performing to do. However, your anger gets the best of you, and your concern gets pushed deep below the surface.

"Well, I'm sorry that I can't read your damn mind. If there's something bigger going on, then why hasn't anyone told me? I'm a big girl, not some toddler. I am a part of this group the same as everyone else, so why are things being kept from me?"

Minho starts to speak, but you immediately cut him off, not wanting to hear the lame excuses you're sure he's come up with. "You know what, I don't even wanna hear it. My mental health has went to shit today because of you, and if I wanna be able to perform in 30 minutes, I need to be away from you. We can talk about this later," you finish, rushing off to your dressing room, leaving Minho standing alone in the hallway.

Everyone seems to have deemed your dressing room the hangout spot until the concert officially begins, as all the other boys have gathered around, making themselves comfortable amongst the laid out furniture in the room.

You all make conversation, laughing at Changbin's cringey jokes; you're happy for the distraction, allowing your mind to wander from the fight you had with Minho.

10 minutes before you go on, management comes to fetch you to get ready, providing you all with in-ears and microphones.

Your pre-performance jitters have made themselves known, but you've been doing this long enough that you can turn that nervous energy into excitement.

5 minutes before you go on, you and the boys gather in a circle. Chan leads, knowing exactly how to get everyone hype before going on.

You're all standing now just outside of view from the fans on the side of the stage, waiting for your cue from management. Once they give it, you all make your way out onto the stage, relishing in the sounds of the screaming Stay that form the crowd.

All is going smoothly as you finish your center part during the bridge of Lalala, and you make your way to the side of the stage, waiting for the part in the song where you re-enter the choreo. With all your attenton focused on the performance, you fail to notice the commotion coming from the crowd just a few feet from you.

Your attention is pulled away from the performance when you're tackled from behind. You scream in agony and fear, having landed painfully on your wrist. If the snap you felt is anything to go by, it's definitely broken. However, this isn't your main concern at the moment. You open your eyes, and they’re immediately drawn to the shiny pocket knife the man has in his hand. He's quick to slash a small cut into your forearm before he is aggressively pushed off of you. Your attacker is taken down by security; they immediately throw a pair of handcuffs on him, taking him off stage.

The crowd has broke out into panicked cries, all of Stay wondering what happened and if you're ok.

Your members are quick to rush over to you, abandoning the remainder of the Lalala choreo. While it's felt like an eternity since you were tackled, it really only took security a few seconds to get the situation under control, and only a few more seconds for your members to surround you.

"What hurts?" Chan panics, crouching down beside you.

"My wrist," you sob, totally overwhelmed from all the commotion. The crowd is still roaring and your wrist throbbing like crazy. The cut on your arm is no comparison to the pain radiating from your wrist.

"Alright, let's move her off stage," a paramedic pushes through the barricade your members have formed around you and helps you stand to your feet. You quickly move off stage, wanting to get out of the crowd's view as soon as possible.

Once off to the side, one paramedic inspects your wrist, gently grasping your forearm to hold you steady, while another wraps the cut on your other arm.

"It definitely looks broken. We should get you to the hospital to get it X-rayed and possibly casted," he explains.

Minho steps up next to you, your earlier arguments swept from your mind. "I'll go with her. You guys finish up here. Probably should cut the setlist short anyway; we're already behind schedule."

You follow behind the paramedics, them leading you outside to the ambulance. Minho walks beside you, providing you familiarity in this uncomfortable situation.

The ride to the hospital is silent except for the beeping of the machines the paramedics have you connected to. Minho holds your unbroken hand the whole ride, your disagreements on the backburner for the moment.

The more time that passes, the sorer your body becomes. Your arms feel heavy, and your back feels like it was beaten with a hammer. You realize you've probably been in shock this whole time, and the attacker did more damage than you originally thought.

You finally find yourself in a hospital room, Minho pulling the chair up beside you.

"Well," the doctor says, pulling your X-ray up onto the screen, "This cut doesn't require stitches, just keep it bandaged and medicated. We'll give you a Tetanus shot for it, though, since it was done with a knife. As for your wrist, it's definitely broken. The good news, though, is that it doesn't look like it will require surgery. What color cast do you want?"

You're expression appears dazed to Minho and the doctor, your mind completely preoccupied. "Black," you mumble, just loud enough for him to hear you.

The doctor nods his head, disappearing from the room to retrieve the supplies to apply your cast and the shot.

You look to Minho, finally feeling like you have processed everything that's happened. "What the hell happened? How did that guy get past security, and with a knife especially?"

"Honestly, we're not sure. Management and security are reviewing the camera footage now. We were trying to be cautious; there was so much extra security tonight. It should've been impossible for anyone to get to you."

You process his words, a realization forming in your mind. "Did you guys know something about this beforehand?" Your eyebrows furrow. If they knew something, they for sure would have told you, too, right? "Is this what you were talking about in the hallway before the concert?"

"Y/N," he sighs, giving you a look full of remorse.

"No. I don't want any bullshit," you snap, "Did you or did you not know something was wrong before the concert? Is that why you have been giving me a hard time all day?" You start to put the puzzle pieces together, the day replaying in your head.

The overprotectiveness, the extra security, them not wanting you to go on your phone- they knew.

Minho looks to the ground, his shoulders slumping. "Look, we find out about some rumors going around online this morning, but-"

"Get out," you say, your voice tense.

His head snaps up, his remorseful eyes meeting your fiery ones. "What?"

"I said, Get. Out." Your unbroken hand aggressively points to the door.

"I'm not leaving you here alone. Let's just talk about this-"

"You had all day to talk to me about this, but now that I'm injured and traumatized you want to talk about it?" Your incredibly angry, and your words are filled with venom. "Get out, get out, get out!"

"Do you really think it's the best idea to be by yourself right now?" His eyes are filled with sorrow, his hands in dire need to reach out to you.

"If you don't leave right now, I will scream."

His watchful gaze rests on you for a couple seconds, before he finally gives in, rising to his feet. He walks toward the door. "We'll send a car to come get you when you're ready. There's security out here waiting, and your manager is out in the hall. I'll see you when you get back to the hotel."

He disappears out the door, once again leaving you alone with your thoughts. How dare they not tell you? There are threats going around online about you, and you're the last one they tell? In what world does that make any sense?

The doctor comes back in the room just a few minutes later. He's quick with putting your cast on, and he sends you on your way, requesting you stop by the front desk to sign a few documents before you go.

You follow him out the door, meeting up with your manager and security right outside the room.

After signing the paperwork, your manager leads you outside to the car that has been called for you.

Fans must've found out which hotel they took to you, and the outside of the hotel is flooded with Stay. Normally, you'd be ecstatic to see so many of them. However, you're exhausted and hurt, so you bring your hood over your head and stare at the ground, thankful for the security that surrounds you.

You climb in the back of the car, your manager following suit. "Why was I not informed about the threats online?" you question, your eyebrows furrowing in anger.

"The concert was going to go on no matter what, so we figured it'd be easier to get you out there if you didn't know about them."

Your jaw drops at her statement. "That is not fair, how can you just assume that? I had a right to know about this," you argue.

"This isn't really up for discussion. It's the way we chose to handle it, and that's that."

You're in disbelief at her careless attitude. "How did the guys find out about it then?"

"Nosy little shits," she laughs, but you're not sure how she's finding any humor in this situation. "They saw them online themselves. We practically had to threaten their contracts to get them not to tell you."

Your heart constricts at this new information. Emotions flood your system, and you're suddenly feeling incredibly guilty for your interaction with Minho in the hospital room. All the arguments between the two of you flood your mind, and remorse rushes your body.

They have just been trying to keep you safe all day. Trying to keep you off your phone, not letting you wander by yourself, the whispers behind your back. It all makes sense now. And you realize you've been a royal bitch all day to the wrong people.

You turn to look out the window for the remainder of the drive, knowing it's useless to argue with your manager. What she says goes. This doesn't mean you're not angry with her and the rest of management, though. This conversation needs to be had in a professional setting, not in the backseat of a car when you're by yourself.

Once you arrive at the hotel, your quick to jump out of the car, wanting to be away from your careless manager. However, you stand directly outside the door, patiently waiting for security to escort you to your room.

They walk you all the way up to your shared room with Seungmin, and you're not surprised to find all of them waiting for you when you open the door.

They're conversations halt, all eyes snapping to you. You walk in and set your bag down on the bed. Your eyes well up with tears for what feels like the hundredth time that day. "I'm so sorry," you cry, afraid to meet their concerned gazes. "Today has just been so overwhelming, and my manager sucks, and my back hurts, and I have been so rude to you guys all day-," your words are cut short by another sob wracking through your sore body. You sniffle some more, bringing your sleeve up to wipe at your face. "Min, I'm so sorry for kicking you out. I should've just listened to what you had to say. I'm such a horrible person."

All the guys are quick to stand, not wanting you to rile yourself up anymore. Hyunjin comes over to you first, gently guiding you to sit on the bed. Everyone else follows, all of you now gathered on the queen sized bed. "Listen," Minho starts, comforting you, "Absolutely none of this is your fault, you hear?" He pulls you down next to him, his arm coming up around your shoulders. "Today has been an awful day, and you don't need to work yourself up about how you treated us."

"Yea, but-"

"No buts, you need to rest. We are not mad at you."

"Not one bit. We love you so much, and we're so sorry you had to go through that. Are you ok? How's your wrist?" Chan asks from the edge of the bed, placing a comforting hand on your ankle.

"It hurts, but the doctor gave me some painkillers to take for the next few days. My cut didn't need stitches, but I have to keep it bandaged until it heals," you explain, your words coming out steadier than before.

Your cries eventually calm down, leaving you sniffling every now and again. Felix notices you've calmed down, and he nudges your leg, opening his arms for you. You crawl into them, relaxing into his calm and comforting embrace. The rest of them are quick to follow, creating one big group hug.

You know this situation is certainly not over. I'm sure you guys will press charges, and you'll probably have to release a statement of some kind. It seems that management and you guys have come to a silent agreement to deal with everything in the morning, and you couldn’t be more grateful for it.

~ ~ ~

Part 2

[base0h]

Just went driving on a road it was scary ash. So anyway I was wondering how one piece characters would fair on the road. Ik for a fact that luffy is probably banned from every road imaginable. Have a good day slayer

a/n - ah yes I’m slayer 😂 (a demon slayer) jkjk thanks for your request anon and yes, Luffy is banned from driving forever. (Garp’s also banned but we don’t talk about that)

Warnings ⚠️ - modern au, g/n reader, crack, bro Luffy is so bad at driving it’s hilarious

- if you think you’re a bad driver no you’re not. Luffy’s 10x worse

- he eats when he drives and he steers the wheel with his toes 💀💀💀

- “You have to stop at the red lights Luffy.”

- “MFFMM got it!” *his mouth is full*

- bro speeds through red lights and somehow stays alive

- and this time he managed to fly through a literal building. A BUILDING.

- needless to say. You’re scared asf. (Who wouldn’t be-? I’d die the moment I step into the car 💀)

- “LUFFY STOP THE CAR AND PUT YOUR FEET ON THE BRAKES-!”

- “IM OUT OF FEET!” *feet on the steering wheel*

- “THEN USE YOUR FUCKING HANDS THATS WHAT THEYRE THERE FOR!”

- “IM EATING!”

- “SIDJEONRORNRKT STOP EATING OMFG-“ (you are about to murder your bf. i support that movement, do it)

- nothing can interrupt a meal 👍

- garp is just as bad except he gets more angry at dumb drivers. He’s also been banned by the city government from driving but he drives anyway

- Luffy is very close to being banned by the country government. That’s a whole new level of bad driving

- you have survived all the times and I commend you for that. If you didn’t worship god before you do now thanks to Luffy. You pray before every driving experience 🫶

- does zoro know how to drive? Yes

- is he good at it? Eh he’s ok

- does he use a gps? no.

- do you end up in Hawaii when you’re trying to go to Starbucks? Yes

- “HOW DID WE CROSS AN ENTIRE FUCKING OCEAN??” -you

- “I TOOK THE FREEWAY TF YOU MEAN?!” -zoro

- he’s a smooth driver don’t get me wrong, but he never ends up in the right place

- “zoro im gonna take a nap wake me up when we get there.”

- “k.”

- you’re on the right path, and it’s a straight way for a couple hours, nothing could go wrong! Right?

- when you woke up, you found yourself in the heat of a- battle?! WHERE TF WERE YOU?

- you saw stars all around you. NOT FIGURATIVELY. LITERALLY

- “Y/N PLS HELP.” (Zoro is dying rn)

- “WHERE TF ARE WE?!”

- “I DONT FUCKING KNOW?!”

- you’re in space. you’re in space.

- don’t ask me how you can breathe with no air it’s zoro’s fault

- you’re in the star wars verse btw 💀

- “IS THAT A ROBOT FLYING THAT SHIP?!” -you (this is a normal reaction)

“Oooo that guy’s sword is green! I gotta get one of those.” -zoro (this is not a normal reaction)

- “CAN YOU FOCUS??? DRIVE PLEASE!”

- you’re literally abt to get shot to death by lasers and zoro’s talking about lightsabers 💀

- afterwards.. yes. you drove while he took a nap instead. You’ve learned your lesson to never let this mossy bitch drive

- also yes. Zoro got a green lightsaber as a souvenir so don’t worry about him

- believe it or not he’s always drunk when he’s driving (omg it’s so hard to believe ikik)

- but fr he’s always driving while being illegally intoxicated 😭

- since he’s also missing an arm that makes it worse because he has to take his hand off the wheel to do anything else

- “Babe pls keep your eyes on the road.” -you

- “Yeah i got it don’t worry!”

- he doesn’t got it

- he’s swerving all over the place, getting honked at, getting flipped off, and most of all, getting angry death glares from other drivers

- “Hey babe I’m gonna take- a nap.” -shanks

- “Ok.” -you

- …

- “Wait what? SHANKS WTF-“

- bro fell asleep on the horn and made the car start swerving around all over the place. You couldn’t count how many poor trash cans the car ran over 💀

- you tried to take the wheel but his dumb ass was too heavy and big to move out of the way

- “SHANKS WAKE TF UP!”

- you ended up punching him in the nose, making it bleed, and he woke up in a daze. Bro stank ASS. HE SMELLED SO BAD

- bro was RANCID. Smelled like over fermented kombucha and that is not a good smell trust me

- “Oh hey babe what’s going on?” -shanks

- “PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD YOU IDIOT-!”

- idk how y’all didn’t crash but you didn’t so-

- you needed some therapy from Benn later but that’s ok 👍

a/n - i chose all bad drivers

[lil-spider]

So Damn Pretty

Chapter 2

Part 1 : Part 3 :

Pairing: Johnny Slaughter X Female Reader

Summary: Johnny is sex starved and you’re very attractive, so attractive that he doesn’t want to kill you. Instead he finds ways to keep you around longer.

Note: Okey I’ve changed some stuff so here’s some context. I like the idea of Johnny being a bit of an sex addict and he’s really good at sex (he can find the clit type of good) cause he’s made himself a hobby fucking the pretty female victims and going out to the local bar when he actually gets free time. He’s a basically massive man whore, but he can’t help it that women find him sexy (super cocky). But Drayton later finds out he’s been fucking the food (lmao) and has temporarily banned him from going out by himself and keeping the female victims away from him. So a sex starved Johnny who’s heavily attracted to the reader sees an opportunity to use her like a maid so he can constantly keep fucking her. I’m still gonna keep the baby momma thing but that will come later in the story. Oh and I’m turning 21 on the 17th! So happy birthday to my fellow September babies!

Warning: This is 18+ and please do not read if your sensitive to heavy descriptions of non/con and violence. Including bondage, blood, gore, assault, objectification and unsafe sex. For those who don’t mind, I hope you enjoy.

Catchy music was blearing out of the front speakers of the minivan; my friends Jessica and Nate were singing along to the tunes. I was sitting in the back, relaxing into my seat, enjoying the fact that college was finished and summer holidays were just beginning. We decided this summer we were going to experience camping for the first time. We had all grown up in the city and never got the chance to enjoy the country side of Texas. I’m excited to finally cross camping off my bucket list, and make this summer memorable.

 

My bubbly blonde friend Jessica turned around in her seat. “Two hours left, and we should be at the campsite before night.” She said this, grinning at me and turning back to kiss her boyfriend, Nate, on the cheek. Nate, being the protective type, only tagged along with us as he didn’t like the idea of two ‘pretty girls’ camping by themselves in the middle of nowhere. They have only been dating for a few months; he’s the classic teen heartthrob with dazzling eyes and short, dark blonde hair, and Jessica is the overly cute blonde. They were perfect for each other. I smile at the both of them, they were great friends.

 

“Oh fuck!” Nate is panicking as black smoke starts coming out of the hood. He pulls over to the side of the road, and all of us get out to see what’s wrong. “Can’t it be fixed?” I ask, looking at Nate, worried. His face contorts in disappointment. “I've got no idea, Y/N; cars aren’t my speciality.”

We all look at each other, uncertain of what to do; we’re in the remote countryside without any sort of help. “We might have to walk back if no one drives by.” Nate tells us regretfully: But as soon as he said that, we saw an old blue Ford truck honking and driving up to us.

 

“You need a hand?” The unknown driver asked Nate. “Yes please! Our van just broke down with smoke coming out.” Nate explained to the man. He nods his head and parks his truck in front of us. The trucks door opens, and out climbs one of the best-looking guys I have ever seen. He wears a black sleeveless top that shows off his muscular arms and a pair of blue denim jeans paired with dirty yellow gloves. He has dark brown hair slicked back with a few strands falling over a scar; my cunt embarrassingly throbbed at the sight of him; I must have gone red in the face as he smirked looking at me. I quickly turned my head to look at Jessica, who was also a little red in the face. It’s not every day you see a hot country boy.

 

The handsome stranger introduces himself as Johnny Slaughter. “Good to meet you, Johnny. I’m Nate, over there is my girlfriend Jessica and my friend Y/N.” I did a little wave at my name, hoping I wasn’t still blushing. He shakes Nates hand and nods his head to us. “Ladies. Damn, he has a deep voice; it’s making me all hot and bothered. “Alrighty then Nate, pop the hood and let's take a look.”

 

Johnny stared at the engine, arms pressed against the van, leaning over while shaking his head. “I’m going to have to get my tools for this.” He said, looking over at us. ‘’Ah, shit! That bad?" Nate asked. “Yep, but don’t y’all worry, I’ll get this baby fixed in the morning. For now I can take you guys back to my family’s home, get some food, and sleep?’’ Johnny offered. “Wow, that’s so nice of you, Johnny.’’ Jessica replied, smiling at him, being a little too flirty.

 

I feel a little uncertain about trusting Johnny, we have only just met him; but he is helping us and I would rather not sleep on the side of the road. Jessica and I nod to Nate in agreement with Johnny’s offer. “Okay, yeah, we’ll go with you.’’ Nate tells him. He smiles, slamming the hood of the van back down, and turns, leading us back to his truck. He opens the back door, and we three slide in. As Johnny hops into the driver's seat, we are greeted by a woman sitting in the passenger seat. Was she here the whole time? “Hi y'all, I’m Sissy.’’ She introduces herself with a wink, but before we could reply, she blows this white powder in our faces. My vision starts to blur as I hear strangled coughing from my friends, and everything quickly goes black.

 

The next thing I know, I’m waking up tied to a meat hook, covered in dry blood, and desperate for freedom. At that time I had no idea where Jessica and Nate could be, but now as I stare at their lifeless, brutalised corpses, I regret not trying to find them. Jessica's blonde hair is tangled, and her body is covered in slices, with a massive cut on her stomach. Nate's handsome face was shredded up by a chainsaw. They are getting wrapped in a blue tarp, by a larger man with a very human like mask on his face. Johnny takes a drag of his cigarette while holding me, and he shoots me a grin, seeing my legs wobble from the hard fucking I endured. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you? So slutty having an orgasm while your friends get murdered.’’ He taunts quietly in my ear, guilt-tripping me.

 

“Johnny, why is she still alive?” Asked the small woman who blew white powder in my face. It’s Sissy, I think, trying to remember her name. “This pretty little thing is going to help us cook, clean, and do all the daily chores around the house. We’ve been needing extra hands around the farm since Ma is gone and Drayton busy with the chilli carnivals.’’ He explains to Sissy. She looks at me up and down, smirking. “Oh, I’ve been wantin’ some female company for ages now, and you're so beautiful too! I have these pretty ol’ dresses that would look lovely-,” she didn’t finish her sentence as she’s cut off by Johnny. “That’s enough, Sissy; you can talk to her later; we've got sh*t to do.’’ She rolls her eyes at him but goes to help the larger man.

 

Johnny pats the larger man on the back, “You did a good job, Bubba.’’ So Bubba is his name. He just lets out these happy groans. So he’s nonverbal?Johnny turns back to me. “Were you listening before? Tomorrow, Sissy will show you how things get done.” With a cig in his mouth, he grabs me again, pulling me out of the slaughterhouse and bringing me to his parked truck. “I’ll cut off the zip-tie when we get back home.’’ He opens the passenger-side door, waiting for me to hop in. He shuts the door after me and flicks away his burned-out cigarette, reaching in his back pocket for another one. Johnny walks away as Sissy plops into the back seat. “Hi again sugar.” She says gleefully behind me.

 

Johnny and Bubba walk back, carrying each body on their shoulders, I swallow a lump as they chuck the bodies carelessly in the tray. Johnny, with another cigarette in his mouth, gets into the driver's seat, Bubba sits next to Sissy. Johnny chucks his packet of smokes and bloodied gloves from his back pocket onto the dash. He starts up the engine and changes gears, leaving the slaughterhouse behind. The drive is silent except for Sissy’s humming; Bubba stares out of his window while Johnny drives one handed flicking his finished cigarette out the window. I look back to the front, watching the high beam lights brighten up the dark landscape.

 

We turn onto a long dirt road leading up to a white, two-story house. Johnny parks the truck at the front and helps Bubba unload the bodies. Sissy goes to unlock the front door, leaving me alone. I thought of running when they took the bodies into the house. But I’m still zip-tied, so my chances of escaping now are extremely slim.

 

Johnny comes back to open my door and yank me out. He roughly drags me inside. I look around and notice a lot of bone decor, similar to the hanging bones in the slaughterhouse. I really hope it’s not human. I’m brought downstairs to a basement, Johnny opens this metal door, it makes a loud awful sound. He takes me to a small prison; Johnny stops to cut off the zip-tie, and I rub my sore wrists, trying to bring the blood to flow back. Johnny pushes me into the room, locking the door. It’s smells disgusting and damp.

 

“I'll be back to bring ya’ dinner.’’ He leaves upstairs, slamming that awful metal door. I sit down on the dirt floor and bring my knees to my chest. Dried-up cum is all over my thighs, making me feel gross. I started to cry. The last few hours have been horrid. I wish it was just a nightmare. The basement door slides open again. Snivelling, I stand to see who's down here. It’s that large man with the mask, Bubba; he walks over to the end of the basement, where I see Jessica and Nate’s hanging bodies, stomachs sliced open with their organs dropped into a metal tub. My hands shake as I cover my mouth in shock. Oh God! Bubba unhooks Nate and carries him over to a workbench littered with dirty tools. He grabs a hacksaw and begins to dismember Nate. I walk backwards into a corner, sliding down the wall. I started to breakdown. Is he harvesting them? Are these murderers cannibals? God, why did this happen? From sheer exhaustion, I lean my head back and pass out.

 

“Hey! Wake up!’’ My eyes shot open, searching for the yelling voice. It’s Johnny; he’s holding a white bowl with a spoon. He crouch’s down to my level and hands out the bowl for me to take. I hesitate because I am sceptical of the ingredients. “It’s pot roast; Sissy made it.’’ It does smell delicious, but I don’t wanna eat it. “I’m not hungry,” I told him in defiance. His eye twitches in annoyance, not liking my response. He grabs my hair roughly, craning my neck to stare at him. “Listen, I’m being really fucking nice here, so I ain’t gonna take any disrespect! You may be pretty, but I can easily get another woman who is just a tad more obedient to replace you.’’ His threat worked. I snatched the bowl and dug in, It was tasty. “Good girl.’’ He smiled, patting my head as I ate. He waits until I’m finished and leaves. Did I eat someone? Will I have to eat my friends? I have so many questions but right now the only thing that matters is staying alive. I don’t want to end up like Jessica and Nate.

Sometime later, Johnny comes back to let me out. “Follow me," I obeyed him, leaving the basement and following upstairs. He brings me to a bathroom. It has white broken tiles, a large bathtub with a shower head. He locks the door after I enter and turns the water on, letting it heat up. He throws off his top, giving a new view of his muscular body. I couldn’t help but stare. He has old scars lingering over his body more noticeably on his large pecs, he’s has light definition on his abdomen, and a defined v-cut. His body represents the result of hard work. He smirks at my staring, continuing he unbuckles his jeans, pulling them down. I quickly glance wanting to get a good look at his cock. It’s only semi-hard yet it’s still intimidating, how did it managed to fit inside me?

 

Johnny doesn’t move as he waits for me to undress. Not wanting to anger him again, I take off my dress, dropping the tattered material. I shiver in my naked form. He gently takes my hand and helps me into the shower. I hiss as the hot water makes my cuts sting. He grabs a plain bar of soap and starts lathering it up and down my body. Enjoying my little gasps as he squeezes my tits and glides his hands everywhere. He swaps us around so he goes under the water, his muscles flex as he relaxes, his head falling back, closing his eyes, while his hands run through his dark hair.

 

I won’t lie; just the sight of him is turning me on. Shit, why does he have to be so sexy? A murderer shouldn’t be sexy. Startling me out of my thoughts, he grabs my hand that’s holding the soap and moves it to his body, wanting me to wash him. Nervous, I don’t refuse, but I start out slowly around his stomach, leading up to his chest. This small action makes him rock hard. I see it pulse against his lower stomach just above his belly button, I bite my tongue scrubbing his body with both hands, massaging his chest and arms, feeling his muscles. The hot look he gives me sends a throb straight to my core. Water gently running down his handsome face. He brings my right soapy hand down to his cock, tugging it. “Come on baby, jerk my fucking cock.’’ I hesitate for a second, he squeezes my hand hard as a slight warning not to disobey. Wincing, I start to tug at his cock up and down, jerking him off. Groaning, he rocks his hips, shifting them into my hand, following my rhythm. “Good girl, play with my cock, just like that’’ He’s a head taller then me so when he grabs my chin to look at him I have to bend my neck back. “I bet your pussy’s dripping.’’

 

He swats my hand away and grabs my hips, bringing me in closer under the water so the soap starts rinsing off. He places his fingers below and, feels up my pussy, “I fucking knew it; you're such a needy whore, getting wet from jerking my cock off.’’ I grow shy at his words, wanting to hide my face from embarrassment. Johnny places his hands on the sides of my head and shoves his tongue down my throat. Heavily aroused, I kissed back, holding on to his shoulders. We start making out, our hot tongues wrestling with each other. His strong arms pick me up and shove me against the shower wall. I wrap my legs around his waist for balance while he lines his cock up thrusting it in my cunt without warning. I groan at the sudden intrusion: “Shhh, it’ll only take a second.’’ He says impatiently pounding into me. His hard cock reaches new places, making me moan desperately. The running water muffles the sounds of flesh clapping together. He grips my hips hard as he thrusts upward at a brutal pace. This time only focusing on his own release.

 

He leans back to watch my chest bounce. “Fuck, I love your tits.’’ He says with admiration as he slows down to suckle on each nipple. His obsession with my breasts is going to be the end of me. I start getting closer again until he stops, suddenly cumming inside me. “Ah,’’ he lets out a little moan as he fills my throbbing cunt. I look at him in disappointment, I was so close to cumming. He grins playful at me. He places me down as we go back to washing, I silently fume as my pussy and clit pulse from neglect.

 

We dry ourselves, and he puts on new, clean clothes similar to his older ones, but the shirt is blue. He hands me a white summer dress. “One of Sissy’s.’’ He tells me, “any underwear?’’ I question. He just sends an amusing smile and shakes his head. “That's a privilege, sweetheart.’’ Great; it wouldn’t have been bad if the dress wasn’t so short. If I bend over too far, I’ll flash my goods.

 

Johnny leads away to what seems to be his room. Everything is old and wooden; including a worn-out bed barely big enough for two people. He lays down on it and pats his side, signalling me to sit. I lay down on his bed as he sits up going in between my legs, pushing up my new dress. “I like the easy access.’’ He tells me right before sucking on my swollen clit. “Nnnnh.’’ I moan breathlessly finally having some relief. His two middle fingers slide in and set a steady pace. I spread my legs wider for him, still turned on from the shower fuck. He shoves his tongue flat against my nub, licking it up and down. I push his head further into me, thrusting against his face; this spurs him on as his fingers speed up. I cum on his face, my head thrown back, as my hands grip the sheets tight. I rut into him as he licks up all my juices.

Just when I thought we were done he thrusts his fingers back into me. I try to close my legs and wiggle away from the overstimulation but Johnny forces them open. He lets out a deep chuckle at the tears rolling out my eyes, I clench on his thick fingers as he puts his thumb on my sensitive clit, rubbing it in slow circles. I still hold onto the sheets while lifting up my hips, trying to chase my second release. He hears my needy whines and speeds up, swapping to his other thumb to rub my clit faster while his opposite hand continues finger fucking me. “Fuck, Johnny please don’t stop.’’ I beg him as I cum around his fingers. I gasp at the abruptness of my second orgasm. My legs shake from the intensity. Johnny pulls his hands away from me as I turn to the side, squeezing my legs trying to relieve the sensations.

 

He casually stands up walking to the desk across the room grabbing a cig, lighting it. Cig in mouth he undresses, getting ready bed. I watch him smoke, flicking the ashes in a tray on the desk. When I finally calm down he’s finished the cigarette, he turns of a lamp comes to lay down behind me, getting comfortable. He wraps one arm around my waist and helps me take of my dress letting it drop to the floor, So both of us now naked. “I'll set up a room for you soon; for now, you’ll stay with me.’’ He speaks softly. I try to get comfortable on the small bed wiggling slightly. “You keep moving like that and I’m going to fuck you again.” He threatens squeezing me tight. I freeze, too sensitive to test his patience.

“Hey Johnny?” I gently whisper his name. The only response I get is snoring, now left with no distractions I go back to my thoughts. I feel guilty knowing I’ve been enjoying Johnny’s company too much, I shouldn’t feel this comfortable with him but the more he cuddles into me the more my eyes feel heavy, I start to fall sound asleep in the arms of a killer.

[chosok-amo]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀JJK [N]SFW MASTERLIST .ᐟ

beware. nsfw. name-calling. degrading.

BLOCK!! ꒰ spamming like without re-blogging, don't want my account to get shadow-banned ꒱

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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ᘊ oneshots / fics ᘍ

Ꮺ SUGURU GETO, SATORU GOJO.

DIRTY LITTLE NURSE : you're a nurse and they are friends from one of your patient.

THE IT GUY : your boss needs his computer to be fixed so they can fuck you.

CAN YOU HANDLE IT, BABY?! : you are sitting there in the living room, drowning under the tongue-tied make-out sessions before your other boyfriends walk in, happily watching the two of you while touching himself.

Ꮺ SATORU GOJO.

nanny : when you're babysitting teenager satoru gojo.

my little virgin : your used to be upperclassmen who happened to be your friends-with-benefits teaching you how to kiss, also the one who took your virginity.

Ꮺ RYOMEN SUKUNA.

i dare you : when you wanna break-up with him and he reminds you that there's no break-up in your relationship.

time to confess : when you're having a crush on your best friend's twins.

jealous, jealous, jealous: your boyfriend got jealous because some underclassmen were helping you carry your bag.

Ꮺ SUGURU GETO.

GETO-SAMA [ soon! ]

YUM : he is your step-brother who just got home after years of living in the city.

enemies with benefits : you and suguru are enemies, you're supposed to hate each other, right?

Ꮺ MEGUMI FUSHIGURO.

HOW TO FUCK 101 : he is having a wet dream of you, so you decided to make virgin megumi fushiguro's dream come true

Ꮺ TOJI FUSHIGURO.

SEE STARS [ soon! ]

babysitter's punishment : toji caught you when you were trying to steal something from him.

a brat is all i want : he has a breeding kink, and you’ll be damned if you give into it! but in reality, he just wants to start a family with you.

Ꮺ NANAMI KENTO.

daddy's car : when you steal your step-father's car and try to have sex in his car only for him to be the one who's fucking you

TROUBLEMAKERS : he hates students like you so he fucked you.

therapist's wet dream : you need a therapist, with all the sick things in your head and luckily for you, nanami comes to the rescue, except he wants nothing but to corrupt you.

DADDY KINK [ soon! ]

Ꮺ SHOKO IEIRI.

kawaii, hentai, boobies : it just happened that the girl hated satoru gojo so much that day, so she decided to give his girlfriend— you, a little fun, on her couch.

Ꮺ OTHERS.

HAIBARA 'S LITTLE SISTER (NANAMI, SUGURU, SATORU) : when your brother asks his best friend to look after you while he go visit his girlfriend.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ᘊ drabbles ᘍ

hand job r. sukuna : you try to give him a proper hand job.

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⠀⠀⠀ ⠀likes, comments, and reblogs are well-appreciated ꩜ .ᐟ

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[allyricas]

Moving On pt. 2

part one

3,180k words

The day of the trip to Indy finally arrives and the weather does not reflect the excitement Steve feels as he loads his last bag into the trunk of his car. He knows he overpacked but wants to be ready for anything. He also has a cooler full of drinks and sandwiches along with enough junk food to make anyone sick.

He and Robin had decided to make sure they had plenty of food so they could settle in to their hotel and chill the first night. Robin had an early campus tour and Steve had a meeting with an advisor at the community college he’d be taking his cosmetology courses. They had a packed schedule considering they needed to find an apartment and jobs (together if possible) and the urge to scope out the gay scene. Or find it, at the very least.  

Steve pulled into Robin’s driveway and saw that she’d also slightly overpacked. Two halves of the same soul, the two of them. He got out and helped her load up her bags. She was holding a thermos of something and wearing a pair of Steve’s sweatpants. That’s where those went. He’d been looking for them for a week. Robin had a tendency to steal his clothes which mostly just made Steve feel all loved and shit, so he only complained for appearance’s sake.  

“Rob, my fucking sweatpants. Come on, I’ve been looking for them.” He whined. He truly didn’t mean it all.  

“Shut up, they are my pants now. They look hotter on me.” She laughed, doing a pathetic little shimmy. She was not a morning person. The messy bed head and the large amount of coffee she was inhaling made this apparent. “I am so tired, but really fucking excited. I brought the music. You are banned for the entire drive up and back. I will fucking jump out of this car if you play any sad, pining music. This is fun time not sad boy time.”   

“That tape has Whitney and George Michael on it. It’s not a total sad fest.”  

“Liar. You cry the most whenever careless whisper comes on.” Robin replied viciously.  

“Let’s uh, not talk about that please.” Steve knew he was still whining a bit, but Robbie was mean in the morning.  

The drive up went smoothly despite the terrible weather. Fifteen minutes into the drive, it started to torrentially rain. Thunder shook the car and lightning lit up the sky. Robin did in fact have all upbeat music and refused to let Steve play anything remotely sad. This was good as he was feeling rather happy in the moment. At one point it rained so hard, Steve had to pull over and wait for it to slow down as Robin started hyperventilating. What should have been an hour and fifteen-minute drive took three hours, but time spent with his best friend was always good.  

Navigating the city was invigorating (for Steve) and anxiety inducing (for Robin), but they both could barely contain their excitement when they finally pulled up to the motel they're staying at. It’s a little mom and pop place that Joyce and Hop had recommended. Why those two have a favorite motel in the city, Steve doesn't want to think to much about.

It’s a cute place, white shutters and soft yellow paint with a rustic looking sign that says The Mosey Inn. The rooms were entered from the outside, with parking all around the place. There were plants everywhere and everything had a well-loved appeal. It’s a rather nice little place. He goes in to check them in and there is an older woman at the desk. She's one of those people who radiates kindness and Steve likes her right away.  

“Hello there, dear. Welcome to the Mosey Inn. I’m one-half of Mosey, but you can call me Elise.” She’s smiling softly at him as he walks up to the desk. 

“Hi, I have a reservation for Harrington. For a suite with two queens.” He finds he’s nervous which feels silly. He grew up checking into hotels and dealing with reservations. Usually, it was at swanky hotels that his parents would leave him in before he was old enough to be all alone at home.  

“Of course, sweetie. Joyce and that sweet Jimmy told me all about you the last time they visited for the weekend. I just adore them. Jimmy did some handy work for me and the missus last time they were here. We’re getting up there in age and my Maggie cannot be climbing ladders anymore. I always give them a discount and I like the look of you, dear. I’ll give you one too.”

She’s beaming at Steve like she is thrilled to meet him which is not something he’s exactly used to. He’s thinking over what she said. The missus, her Maggie. He looks around the room and spots a tiny pink triangle on a bookshelf. Oh. This was a safe place. He owed Hop and Joyce dinner because this was the nicest surprise he’d gotten in a long time. He'd definitely be calling Hopper by the nickname Jimmy though.

“Thank you so much, ma’am. I know my friend Robin and I are going to enjoy this trip even more now knowing this is a safe place for people like us.” That felt as close to telling a stranger he was gay he could manage, but it felt huge to say it. It meant something to find this little piece of community with two women who were old enough to be his grandmothers. He felt like he might cry and for once, there were happy tears brimming in his eyes.  

“Please, call me Elise. There’s no ma’am, none of that uppity nonsense. This place is for friends, you understand.” She told him in a voice so genuine that Steve choked back a sob. He handed over his credit card and she handed him two room keys. “We offer breakfast and lunch, usually buffet style unless we say otherwise. There’s a coffee station around the corner and there’s always some sort of snacks next to it. If you need anything just give us a ring. Feel free to come chat anytime. Enjoy your stay.” 

“I think I will, Elise. I’ll bring Robin around to meet you once we’re settled, probably for breakfast tomorrow!” 

_________________________________________

As soon as Steve got back into the car, he excitedly told Robin all about Elise and her partner and how the Inn was a safe place for them. The fact that Joyce and Hopper stayed here whenever they wanted a night or two away from the chaos of their little blended family filled Steve with joy. He knew that they weren’t hateful people, but this was outright acceptance by the adults he respected most in his life. Robin was rambling on about the décor of the inn as he lugged their many suitcases into their room. She just smiled at him as he struggled.

It was cozy with two queen beds and a little kitchenette and a sitting area off to the side. There was a good size bathroom and closet. It was decorated in soft hues of yellow and green with floral bedding. It was lovely and Steve felt immensely at home in this place.  

“This place is so cute!” Steve exclaimed happily, finally collapsing onto his bed. It was comfortable too. “Damn, this is going to be a nice trip. Elise said they offer 2 meals, that there’s a coffee station with snacks and this bed is fucking soft as hell.” 

“So basically, we can save a ton of money and try to eat here most of the time is what I'm hearing you say Steven?” This seemed to genuinely thrill Robin.  

“Absolutely, we can go visit with them tomorrow during breakfast. It’s from 6:30 to 8:30.” Steve knew this was going to cause some mild stress for Robin. This delighted him. 

“Ugh, ugh. For free breakfast and fellow lesbians, I will get up. You might have to drag me though.” 

Steve laughed, delighted at the prospect of waking Robin up in the morning. It was early evening, but they decided to munch on the leftover food from the drive in and relax. There was a small tv, so they found something to put on and got comfortable. The day so far had been nearly free of sad thoughts over Eddie, but it seemed inevitable that Steve would start to think about him. For one thing, Eddie would look ridiculous in the Mosey Inn, although he would thoroughly appreciate the pun. Yet, there was a part of Steve wishing that Eddie was a part of all of this.

Before he’d ruined everything, Eddie would have been invited on this trip without a second thought. If only he could go back and not fall in love with stupid Eddie Munson. Steve worries that falling for him would have been inevitable though. Everything about him made Steve crazy.

The moment he knew he was monumentally fucked was a few months after everything with Vecna went down. Eddie had still been in the hospital, thankfully cleared off all charges with Hopper back in charge. He’d been high off his ass on morphine and smiling at Steve. Eddie had looked at Steve and said, “Stevie, sweetheart—you beautiful man. How come you’re always sitting around here taking care of me huh?” and Steve had known several things.  

He wanted Eddie to smile at him like that for the rest of his life. He really enjoyed being called sweetheart. And the reason he was always hanging around was because he wanted to be with Eddie. Eddie who always lit up with joy when he saw Steve sitting by his hospital bed. All the time they spent walking that line between friends and more, or at least that’s what Steve thought.

He swore there was so much flirting back and forth. Like the time Steve snuck in cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes from the one diner left open in town and Eddie had told Steve, “All this for little old me?” while literally twirling his hair like a schoolgirl. Or when Steve brought in books for him and Eddie had just clasped Steve’s hand tight and said nothing, just staring intently at him like Steve really meant something to him.  

All misread apparently. It wasn’t flirting at all, just Eddie being Eddie. And Steve had ruined it. He tried not to spiral into his bad thoughts too much but he felt like he always ruined everything. Robin might be his best friend, his platonic soulmate and other half, but it’d been so nice to have a close guy friend.

Eddie had barely been out of the hospital when Steve had driven him up to Indy to replace some of his things lost to the earthquakes. There were better record stores and better thrift stores, and Eddie had very little left to his name. The trailer was gone. He’d even lost his beloved guitar. Steve had never planned on telling Eddie how he felt during that trip, but Eddie has a way of needling things out of people. Something Steve usually finds quite adorable, but not so much when it’s his own unrequited feelings.  

Sighing to himself, Steve sits down by the phone to call Dustin and tell him they made it to the city safely. This means actually calling Mike’s house since the boys are having their weekly nerd fest. The whole group of them are all a little codependent, but after everything they’ve been through it seems reasonable. Unfortunately, Mike nor Nancy answers the phone. It’s Karen Wheeler and she lets Steve know that the boys are all over at Eddie’s apartment playing their little game. That’s exactly what she calls it which does make him chuckle.

He dreads calling Eddie’s place, but he did promise Dustin he’d call. Dustin is already asking questions about him and Eddie. If he’s weird on the phone it will only fan the flames of Dustin’s incessant need to meddle. He dials the number and tries to psyche himself up for the interaction. Maybe one of the kids will answer.  

“Munson Residence, Eddie the Banished speaking?” Eddie’s voice fills Steve’s ear. It’s like a punch to the gut, but Steve takes a deep breath.  

“Is that how you really answer the phone all time or am I just lucky?” Steve asks lightly. Do not make this weird. Be cool. “Or is it just because you’re playing dungeons and whatever?”  

“Ha, Ha. I knew it was you telepathically, so I of course had to answer the phone accordingly. My liege, what can I do for you on this fine summer evening?” 

“You’re lucky it’s cute to be such a fucking nerd.” Shit, shit, shit. Abort flirting. “Kidding, kidding. I called to see if Dustin is still there. I told him I’d call when we got settled.” 

“Rude, I am absolutely the cutest nerd. I’d dare say, adorable even. The fairest in the land, perhaps.” Eddie’s voice had gone low and Steve would bet a hundred bucks he was twirling his hair. What the fuck? “You know, you obviously like nerdy shit considering you-” 

“Hey stop flirting with Steve and let me talk to him, I've been waiting to hear from him all day. We’re in the middle of a campaign Steve. We need our DM not whatever the fuck he was just doing.” Dustin says this all like he knows for a fact that everything he says is true. It’s not.

“Tone, dusty bun. I’m not gay and I wasn’t flirting with Harrington, just messing with him. He’s just so easy to tease. We’re just buddies like that, right man?” Eddie replied, his voice no longer soft, low and sweet. In fact, Eddie sounded hostile. Steve felt his stomach turn. He couldn't even reply.  

“Nothing wrong with being gay, you moron.” Dustin replied firmly. This made Steve smile considering Dustin didn’t even know about Steve yet. He was definitely his favorite kid. Dustin continued on “I mean, we’ve fought literal monsters. Of all things to get worked up over, being gay is not even on the damn list!”   

“I didn’t mean it in a rude way, just saying we were not flirting.” 

“Whatever you say Eddie.” 

“Um, hello guys I am still on the phone.” Steve yelled as the two of them continued to bicker. “I have to go, but I’ll call in a few days Dustin. Bye Eddie.” Steve replied, trying his best not to cry. 

“Wait-Harrington. Steve, I didn’t mean anything by that okay.” 

“Yeah of course, no worries, man. Talk to you later.” Steve knew his voice was emotionless.  

_______________________________

He had to get over Eddie. This confusing back and forth was so painful. Steve didn’t consider himself the brightest, but that felt like flirting. What straight guy calls himself the fairest of the land or adorable to another man? Eddie’s tone of voice was the exact same tone Steve had used so many times to flirt with girls. He knew what flirting looked like. He shouldn’t have started it with the cute comment, but Eddie had most certainly flirted back. He looked over at Robin who was sitting up and waiting patiently for Steve to hang up the phone.  

She looked worried. If his face was at all reflecting how he felt right now, he understood why. The way Eddie has sounded when he said he wasn’t flirting. He told Robin the entire conversation verbatim and he watched her face go through a myriad of emotions. Despite the fact that Robin wasn’t the most tactile person, she threw her arms around him and let him cry all over her t-shirt.  

“Well, I could just kill him. I swear to fucking God. If he’s not gay, fine. But why flirt back?” 

“Maybe he really isn’t flirting. He said he was just messing with me. Maybe we’ve been reading it wrong this whole time!” Steve cried.  

“Fuck that, even Dustin called him on it. He flirts with you all the time. If he’s just messing with you at this point, it’s cruel. Especially now that he knows you’re gay and have feelings for him. I won’t be friends with a bigot.” 

“No, Robbie. I don’t think he’s a bigot. He’s just trying to deal with all this. It’s not his fault I had to go and fall for him. I always fall for the first person who shows me any attention. I ruined this. He’s just...I think he’s a flirty person and I’m just the idiot who thought it meant something.” 

“Shut your whore mouth Steven Elizabeth. That’s absolute nonsense. Eddie is a socially awkward, metalhead D&D playing virgin. You and I both know it. I’ve never seen him so much as look at a girl in a romantic way. He barely talks to anyone he doesn’t know unless it’s to cause a scene. That boy is not a natural flirty person. He flirts with you. He’s either an idiot, a repressed idiot or an asshole. Pick one.” 

“He’s not a virgin, no way. Look at him. Some people go for the whole alternative thing. He’s in a band for fuck’s sake. I bet he’s fucked lots of girls. I mean, he is objectively hot.” Steve argued.  

“Steve!! You always defend him like some sort of rabid groupie, but if that man has so much as seen a real-life titty, I will eat my shoe. He isn’t ugly, I will grant you that one. But please, Eddie Munson is not banging hot chicks on the regular.” 

“I pick that he’s an idiot. I do not think Eddie would purposefully hurt me by flirting just to be all ‘ha-ha, gay boy you fell for it’ when he didn’t even know I was gay until I told him how I felt. I think he just likes to tease me, like he said and he doesn’t know how flirty it comes off maybe?” 

“Dingus. You are in love with him. You are no objective source on the situation.” 

“Can we just... pretend Eddie Munson doesn’t exist for a few days. I won’t play my mixtape. I will try not to mope... let’s just find an apartment and visit your campus and apply for jobs everywhere we can find. It hurts too much to talk about right now.” 

Steve knows he’s lying to Robin. It’s impossible for him to pretend Eddie doesn’t exist. It’d be nice to try though. Instead of trying, he wonders what Eddie’s thinking about back in Hawkins. Is he feeling bad for how he spoke to Steve tonight? Is he also worrying over every little thing he said? Does Eddie even care that what he said felt like a slap to the face? The way he’d said Harrington, instead of Steve. The disgust in his voice when he’d said he wasn’t flirting. At least it was crystal clear that Eddie would never reciprocate his feelings. It feels nearly impossible, but Steve knows he has to let go of Eddie and move on. Two weeks in Indy with Robin should be the perfect way to start trying.   

@koyislosinghismind

@lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring

@dilutedpondwater

@r0binscript

@wheatnoodle

@randomnessbecausewhynot

[argyrocratie]

"In the case of car culture, the problems of sprawl and automobile dependency did not inevitably result from the automobile itself, but from the power interests that redesigned society around it. The problem was created by subsidies to monoculture development, freeways systems imposed by eminent domain, and legal prohibitions — like zoning — against mixed-use development.

Before the rise of car culture and car-centered urban design, the norm was the compact, mixed-use city or town where residences were within foot, bicycle, bus or streetcar distance of the downtown district where people worked or shopped. Increased population was accommodated primarily by modular proliferation — e.g. the railroad suburb — rather than outward sprawl.

Absent the imposition of car culture by the federal and local governments and by the local real estate industry, the automobile would have served a useful niche function in cities laid out in the old fashion. Its primary market would have been people like farmers in the areas outside cities, where population concentrations were insufficient to be served by streetcar or rail lines. For periodic trips into town and back, perhaps in a small truck capable of conveying a load of vegetables to the farmers’ market or bringing home groceries and dry goods, a light internal combustion engine or electric motor would have been sufficient. With no need for rapid acceleration on the freeway, there would be no point for heavy engine blocks with six cylinders, and the overall weight of the vehicle could be reduced accordingly. With flat body panels capable of being produced on a cutting table, there would have been no need for Detroit’s two- or three-story stamping presses. The automobile industry would have been an affair of hundreds of local factories.

Hence it is not true that “[p]ast a certain threshold of energy consumption, the transportation industry dictates the configuration of social space.” Rather, the configuration of social space dictates the forms of transportation adopted, which dictates the level of energy consumption.

Illich’s tendency to see the proliferation of managerial bureaucracies and their unwilling clienteles as an expansionary phenomenon in its own right with no need for a causal explanation, rather than a secondary effect of larger class and power interests, is also illustrated in his treatment of squatters.

Both the non-modernized and the post-modern oppose society’s ban on spatial self-assertion, and will have to reckon with the police intervening against the nuisance they create. They will be branded as intruders, illegal occupants, anarchists and nuisances, depending on the circumstance under which they assert their liberty to dwell: as Indians who break in and settle on fallow land in Lima; as favellados in Rio de Janeiro, who return to squat on the hillside from which they have just been driven — after 40 years’ occupancy — by the police; as students who dare to convert ruins in Berlin’s Kreuzberg into their dwelling; as Puerto Ricans who force their way back into the walled-up and burnt buildings of the South Bronx. They will all be removed, not so much because of the damage they do to the owner of the site, or because they threaten the health or peace of their neighbors, but because of the challenge to the social axiom that defines a citizen as a unit in need of a standard garage. [emphasis added] Both the Indian tribe that moves down from the Andes into the suburbs of Lima and the Chicago neighborhood council that unplugs itself from the city housing authority challenge the now-prevalent model of the citizen as homo castrensis, billeted man.

Illich’s framing of this as some inherent expansionary logic or hegemonic drive inherent in the “managerial-professional classes” themselves, and not the outcome of a much larger, long-term process of land privatization and enclosure driven by capitalist class interests, is a major critical failure."

-Kevin Carson, ”The Thought of Ivan Illich: A Libertarian Analysis“

[luminalunii97]

The islamic republic: dOn'T MiX fOotbaLL wiTH POliTiCs!

Also the islamic republic:

*sends their journalists and employees as "fans" to Qatar to do their biddings*

*hires Bangladeshi workers in Qatar to come and pose as islamic republic supporters and fans*

*makes sure Qatar security guards confiscate any protest sign like woman life freedom prints or Iran's original flag*

*Their assigned "fans" interview with western journalists and tell wild lies, like "we have complete gender equality in iran!" Funny enough, that woman who was lying like that couldn't leave Iran without her husband's permission and couldn't go to stadiums inside of iran*

*Sending non-hijabi "fans" to Qatar so that they can claim even the women we arrest, whip and kill are on our side. This one is a wild concept, we know she has received money and she's regime related, but the regime wants to pretend she supports them from heart. Well I can't think of any reason why someone like her would support a regime that not only hurts her but calls her a prostitute for not wearing hijab, other than Stockholm syndrome! Is the regime trying to say Iranian non-hijabis have Stockholm syndrome??*

*They used the win against Wales as an excuse to dance on our fallen graves. The security forces were dancing in the streets after the win. Their hands are red with our blood and they mock us with false happiness. Just so you know, any festivities in the streets that contains dance and music is banned in Iran. Previous world cup when real regular people came to the streets to celebrate, they were treated with police suppression. But apparently for regime goons it's ok to dance in the streets*

At this point it doesn't even matter if our national football team is supporting us or not, if the team members were bought or threatened. The regime made football a war tool, let's fight then.

After loosing to USA people came to streets to celebrate. We celebrated because it's a lose forthe islamic republic and they're going to lose more than just a football match soon. We celebrated because our happiness makes our enemies mad. We celebrated because they danced on our loved ones graves, we'll dance on their graves one day. We celebrated because they want us depressed and compliance, but we won't sit until we see their downfall. We celebrated because it's banned in iran and we no longer play by the Islamic republic rules. We celebrated because we're practicing to celebrate the regime change soon.

Before the game we were telling each other no matter what the result we're going to the streets to make noise. They can kill our bodies but they won't kill our spirits.

The regime as they always do, opened fire on people. Broke windows and broke skins. This man was murdered last night in a northern city in iran for honking a happy rhythm. He was shot in the head for honking. His name was Mehran Samak. His last Instagram story said: no matter what, we're going to the streets tonight.

And let's hear one last tragic story. Mehran Samak was Saeed Ezatolahi, one of the national football player's childhood playmate. When one was crying in Qatar over loss, the other was cheering the Islamic Republic loss in his city. This is all on the regime. No one wins as long as this regime is on.

ps, celebrating for us means dancing while chanting death to the dictator. It's not a happy occasion, it's a fighting strategy.

Ps2, after the match with USA the security guards opened blind fire on people. One of Iranian actors, Mohammed Naderi, shared a picture of his pierced car window and wrote about his experience with the security guards:

[mellodyevangeline]

I'm imagining a BNHA adjacent world where there's this schlubby middle-aged ace dude named Fred or something has passive succubus style pheromone abilities that he cannot turn off, so everywhere he goes people are just falling all over themselves hoping to get a piece of him.

The thing is, while he doesn't enjoy having these powers, he still finds ways to make use of them. He wins almost every dating show because both the bachelors and bachelorettes want him so badly. Eventually the production crews learn to recognize this guy because Holy Shit he's ruining the entire industry at this point, but every time they try bar his entry he hits them with that "If you let me through I'll love you forever" bit and it works EVERY SINGLE TIME.

He makes a lot of money using these tricks, but after not too long of this every villain is wearing a hazmat suit on every mission, and he realizes that it's because of him. He's changing the entire villain meta and it's wiggin everyone out.

Without warning Fred just falls off the face of the earth. Just completely dissappears. Everyone assumes he had a rival that took him out or he just died in a car crash or something, but either way no one sees him again.

But 10 years later a man runs for president of the United States and he is unilaterally accepted as the president before the votes can even be cast. Law makers are falling over themselves trying to get him in the oval office ASAP.

As soon as he's in office, he passes through several laws that are widely adored, things like bans on fracking, UBI, defund the police, etc. He attends a UN meeting and everyone LOVES his proposals and every member of the UN agrees to sweeping social policy changes as well as complete disarmament.

And after his 4 year term is over, much to the chagrin of his international fan base, he decides to never run again, or pursue a monarchy as some had begged for.

Shortly before his death, Time Magazine's "The Most Beloved President of All Time, Like We're Being So Cereal Right Now" publishes a memoir detailing his rise to fame.

Of course he had been Fred. But after giving it a lot of thought he decides to meet with 3 people: A plastic surgeon who changes his face in exchange for a kiss, a chemist who synthesizes his unique pheromones for a hug, and finally a surgeon who carefully removes the mutant organ that was pumping out this super strong love juice in exchange for the privilege of keeping it in a jar on his desk.

Using the synthesized pheromone, Fred uses it at strategic times to get what he wants here and there in small, almost unrecognizable ways.

He convinces a CEO to sell him majority stock in his lucrative tech company. He convinces many unconnected contractors across the US to install aerosol cannisters throughout every major US city. Finally He convinces every metropolitan area mayor that these cannisters are his way of giving back to community and cleaning the smog out of the air for good.

Of course, these were lies. Over the course of his election cycle, Fred slowly releases his synthesized pheromones from these canisters, convincing more and more people each day to vote for him.

His universally loved "Clean Air Towers", accepted by the UN and eventually every nation on earth, also spread these pheromones to most every corner of the globe.

But after his work was done and people finally began to leave him alone once more, he turned off these machines and got back to what he was doing before he developed these annoying powers.

Eating meat lovers pizzas and watching ALF reruns.

[kcyars99]

The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards are on Wednesday night!

let’s be clear, since debuting in 1984(that’s 40 years ago!) The video music awards (or vmas for short) had some outrageous and iconic moments that we will never forget. Here’s a list from each year

1980s

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Radio City Music Hall, site of 12 VMAs, including the first

1984: at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, Madonna performed her hit "Like a Virgin" wearing a combination bustier/wedding gown, including her trademark "Boy Toy" belt. During the performance, she rolled around on the floor, revealing lace stockings and a garter.[7] Cyndi Lauper spoke in "Exorcist-esque gibberish" to explain the VMA rules right before winning the Best Female video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".[8] David Bowie, the Beatles and director Richard Lester were rewarded with the first ever Video Vanguard Awards for their work in pioneering the music video. The Cars' "You Might Think" won the very first video of the year, beating out Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Herbie Hancock's "Rockit".[9]

1987: At the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, Peter Gabriel won ten awards, including the Video Vanguard Award and Video of the Year for his video "Sledgehammer", holding the VMA record for most Moonmen in a single night.

1988: At the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards, Michael Jackson appeared for the first time. A pre-recorded live performance of Bad was shown."[10] He was also awarded the Video Vanguard Award,[11] which was later renamed in his honor.

1989: Comedian Andrew Dice Clays appeared at the 1989 Video Music Awards to promote his new movie, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, earning a "lifetime ban" from the network when he introduced Cher with some of his recently notorious nursery rhymes that contained vulgar language and references.[12] After performing with Tom Petty, Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin was assaulted by Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil, leading to a verbal battle between Neil and Guns N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose.[13]

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora turned out a stripped-down acoustic performance of the Bon Jovi hits "Wanted Dead or Alive and "Livin' on a Prayer", and in the process possibly provided the inspirational spark for MTV Unplugged.[14][15]

Paula Abdul was nominated for six awards, picking up four wins. She performed a seven-minute medley of her singles "Straight Up", "Cold Hearted", and "Forever Your Girl".[14]

When Madonna won the Viewer's Choice Award (sponsored by Pepsi-Cola) for her "Like a Prayer" video, she thanked Pepsi-Cola in her acceptance speech "for causing so much controversy". Pepsi-Cola had paid Madonna $5 million to appear in a commercial that would predominantly feature the world premiere of "Like a Prayer"; the commercial, titled "Make a Wish", depicted Madonna drinking Pepsi and watching a home video of her eighth birthday. The tone that the commercial sought to convey sharply contrasted with the music video. When Pepsi executives saw the video, they yanked the advertisement after only two airings, in an attempt to dissociate themselves from Madonna.[16] She also gave one of the most memorable performances of her hit "Express Yourself", as a preview of what would become her Blond Ambition World Tour.[14]

1990s

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Nirvana performing at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards

1990: at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna performed her single "Vogue", which featured Madonna and her backup dancers dressed in an 18th-century French theme, with Madonna bearing great resemblance to Marie Antoinette. The performance consisted of both a dramatic historical reinterpretation of "Vogue" as well as her dramatically becorseted breasts.[17]

1991: during the award show the MTV Video Vanguard Award was renamed to the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award from then on, in honor of his contributions to the culture of music videos[18] by changing them from a mere promotional tool featuring musicians playing instruments and singing, to a "short film" with a storyline. His video "Thriller" influenced and changed music videos into what it is like today.[19]

A conflict between Poison's Bret Michaels and C.C. DeVille culminated in a fistfight at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. DeVille was fired and replaced by Pennsylvanian guitarist Richie Kotzen.[20] Paul Reubens had his first public appearance, during the opening montage, following an arrest for lewd-conduct earlier that year. Taking the stage in costume as Pee-wee Herman, he received a standing ovation, after which he asked the audience, "Heard any good jokes lately?".[21] After his appearance, Van Halen made their television debut, performing "Poundcake". Metallica was another highlight of the performances with "Enter Sandman".

Prince and The New Power Generation performed their sexually charged song "Gett Off" on a Caligula-esque set, with Prince dressed in a yellow mesh outfit which infamously exposed his buttocks. His trousers were parodied numerous times throughout the following year, on the sketch comedy TV series In Living Color, and even at the following year's VMAs by radio shock jock Howard Stern. It also marked the final TV appearance of Kiss with Eric Carr prior to Carr's death in November 1991.

1992: in the 1992 show, MTV requested Nirvana perform "Smells Like Teen Spirit", while the band itself had indicated it preferred to play new songs "Rape Me" and "tourette's". Network executives continued to push for "Teen Spirit" but finally offered the band a choice to play either "Teen Spirit" or "Lithium", which the band appeared to accept. At the performance, Nirvana began to play, and Kurt Cobain played the first few chords of the song, "Rape Me", much to the horror of MTV execs, before continuing their regular performance of "Lithium". Near the end of the song, frustrated that his amplifier had stopped functioning, bassist Krist Novoselic decided to toss his bass into the air for dramatic effect. He misjudged the landing, and the bass ended up bouncing off of his forehead, forcing him to stumble off the stage in a daze.[22]

Backstage and before the show, Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose challenged Cobain to a fight after he, his wife, Hole lead singer Courtney Love, and Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl egged him on. At the end of Nirvana's performance, while Cobain was trashing the band's equipment, Dave Grohl ran to the microphone and shouted "Hi, Axl! Where's Axl?" repeatedly. Guns N' Roses' video for the ballad "November Rain" won the MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography. During the show, the band performed "November Rain" with singer Elton John. Because of the dispute Rose had with Cobain, moments before the "November Rain" performance, Cobain spat on the keys of what he thought was Axl's piano. Cobain later revealed that he was shocked to see Elton John play on the piano he had spat on.[10] During the commercial break, the Alien 3 Pepsi commercial was shown.

Radio host Howard Stern appeared as Fartman, Stern's radio superhero, wearing a buttocks-exposing costume obviously inspired by Prince's outfit from the previous year. Stern was a presenter for best hard rock/metal performance with actor Luke Perry (after several other celebrities turned him down).

1993: at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna opened the show in a gender-bending performance of her song "Bye Bye Baby", in which Madonna and her two backup singers, dressed in tuxedos and top hats, danced with women in corsets in a choreographed, highly sexual routine.[23]

RuPaul and Milton Berle, who had conflicts backstage, presented an award together. When Berle touched RuPaul's breasts, RuPaul ad-libbed the line "So you used to wear gowns, but now you're wearing diapers."[23]

Rapper Snoop Dogg presented the Best R&B Video award with Dr. Dre and George Clinton. At the time, Snoop was wanted in connection with the week-old drive-by murder of an L.A. gang member.[23]

Janet Jackson closed the show with her performance of "That's the Way Love Goes" & "If".

1994: at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards on September 8, months after a profanity-laced appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Madonna was announced to present the award for Best Video of the Year. She came out, arm-in-arm with an unannounced David Letterman, to a wild ovation. At the microphone, Letterman told her "I'll be in the car. Watch your language", and left.[24]

Recently betrothed couple Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley received a standing ovation as they walked on stage hand-in-hand. After turning to the audience and proclaiming, "And just think, nobody thought this would last", Jackson grabbed Presley and kissed her.[25][26]

1995: at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, Hole perform the song "Violet" from their major-label debut album Live Through This. This was one of the first major televised performances given by frontwoman Courtney Love following the death of her husband Kurt Cobain and the death of her band's bassist Kristen Pfaff in 1994. Before beginning the song, Love dedicated the performance to her husband and different people in the entertainment industry who had recently died: "This is for Kurt, and Kristen, and River, and Joe, and today Joni Abbott, this is for you." Abbott worked in the Talent Relations department at MTV and had recently committed suicide.[27] The song ended with Love throwing her guitar, knocking the microphone stand into the crowd and pushing over speaker-boxes with bandmate Eric Erlandson before exiting the stage.[28] Love also caused a stir when she interrupted a post-ceremony interview with Kurt Loder and Madonna by throwing her make-up compacts at the singer as they broadcast outside the awards venue.[29]

Michael Jackson performed for over 15 minutes to a medley of his main songs, including "Scream", and danced his signature moves, including the robot, moonwalk and the relatively unknown "Bankhead Bounce". While Slash accompanied Jackson and played guitar on "Black or White and the beginning of Billie Jean".[30] This performance was voted by the public as the Best VMA Pop Performance and Most Iconic VMA Performance in 2011 with more than half the votes.[31][32]

TLC was the big winner of the night won four awards, including "Viewer's Choice", "Best Group Video", and "Video of the Year" (Waterfalls).

1996: at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, the four original members of Van Halen received 20-second standing ovation when they made their first public appearance together since their break-up in 1985.

Several weeks later, the public learned that Van Halen would not reunite with Roth. Roth released a statement apologizing to fans, stating that he was an unwitting participant in a publicity stunt to sell more copies of the greatest hits album, Best Of Vol. 1, and that he had been led to believe that he was rejoining Van Halen. The following day, Eddie and Alex Van Halen released a statement, stating that they had been honest with Roth, and never led him to believe that he had been re-hired.[citation needed]

During British band Oasis' performance at the show, lead vocalist Liam Gallagher made rude gestures at brother Noel as he was playing his guitar solo, then spat beer all over the stage before storming off.[33]

Alanis Morissette performed "Your House", a hidden track from her bestseller album "Jagged Little Pill".

The recently reunited Kiss closed the show with a special concert aired from the Brooklyn Bridge.[34]

Tupac Shakur made his final public appearance before his murder.

1997: at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, Pat Smear announced that he was leaving Foo Fighters halfway through their performance and presented his replacement, Franz Stahl, who had been a member of the band Scream with Dave Grohl.[35]

The Spice Girls, who won the best dance video award to the for their music video "Wannabe", who wore a black strap on their left arms as a sign of grief because of Diana, Princess of Wales's death prior to the event.

While accepting the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist Video that year for "Sleep to Dream", Fiona Apple appealed to her audience not to be enamored of celebrity culture. She proclaimed, "this world is bullshit" and quoted Maya Angelou, saying "go with yourself". Though her comments were generally greeted with cheers and applause at the awards ceremony, the media backlash was huge. Some considered her remarks to be hypocritical, however she was unapologetic: "When I have something to say, I'll say it."[36][37][38]

Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson performed the song "The Beautiful People", as the grand finale, and the video for this song was nominated for "Best Rock Video" and "Best Special Effects", marking one of the most significant performances for the band.[39]

1998: at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, during the original broadcast of the show, a commercial faded in the Nine Inch Nails NIN logo on a black screen while playing a combination of music that started as a solo piano piece and morphed into an electronic/industrial beat (which would later found out to be the songs "La Mer" and "Into the Void", which share many melodic components and can be considered variations on a theme) and ended with Trent Reznor screaming "Tried to save myself, but myself kept slipping away" and the word "ninetynine" in the trademark NIN reversed-N font. This was only shown once during the original broadcast, was edited out of all repeats.

Geri Halliwell attended the event, one of her first public appearances since she left the Spice Girls.[40]

At the red carpet, actress Rose McGowan was wearing a see-through dress, no bra, and a thong,[41] while Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston poked fun at their rumored rift by wearing lookalike chocolate brown dresses by Vera Wang. In an attempt to outdo each other, the singers tore off pieces of their dresses to reveal minidresses then staged a faux catfight that left the audience in disbelief. "People thought Whitney and I had some kind of beef", explained Carey.[42]

1999: Lil' Kim showed up at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards with an entire breast exposed and only a small pasty over the nipple. Kim's outfit became even more controversial later when she appeared on stage with former Supremes member Diana Ross and Mary J. Blige to present the Best Hip-Hop Video award, and Ross reached over, cupped her hand under Kim's exposed breast and jiggled it while Kim laughed.[43]

During the following acceptance speech by the Beastie Boys, group member Ad-Rock addressed the instances of rape and sexual assault that occurred in the crowd at the recent Woodstock 1999 concert event. He pleaded to other musicians in the room to make a change in the way they treat fans at concerts; to pledge to talk with promoters and security to ensure "the safety of all the girls and the women who come to our shows".[44]

Afeni Shakur and Voletta Wallace, the mothers of the recently deceased Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., met for the first time at the ceremony.[45]

Britney Spears made her debut appearance on the show, performing her single "...Baby One More Time" and later introducing NSYNC for "Tearin' Up My Heart".

Ricky Martin took the stage of the ceremony to perform his singles "She's All I Ever Had" and "Livin' la Vida Loca".[46]

TLC won Best Group Video for "No Scrubs", receiving a standing ovation from the audience and artists. For the second year in a row, the Backstreet Boys took the Viewer's Choice Award for "I Want It That Way", a song they performed during the broadcast.

Before presenting the final award, a group of drag queens paid tribute to Madonna wearing her most iconic outfits with a medley of her hit songs. Madonna herself then appeared onstage and remarked, "All I have to say is that it takes a real man to fill my shoes." She then introduced Paul McCartney, who presented the Video of the Year to "some guy called Laurence Hill" (Lauryn Hill).

2000s

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Kanye West taking the microphone from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

2000: at the 2000 Video Music Awards, Limp Bizkit won the award for Best Rock Video. As vocalist Fred Durst spoke, Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford climbed onto the scaffolding of the set. Durst egged Commerford on, saying "Stage dive, dude" and "Take a dive", finally ending his speech with "and [Commerford]'s a pussy 'cause he won't jump". Commerford and his bodyguard were sentenced to a night in jail. RATM vocalist Zack de la Rocha reportedly left the awards after Commerford's stunt. RATM guitarist Tom Morello recalled that Commerford related his plan to the rest of the band before the show, and that both de la Rocha and Morello advised him against it immediately after Bizkit was presented the award.[47][48]

Eminem performed his two singles "The Real Slim Shady" and "The Way I Am". The performance began with Eminem's single "The Real Slim Shady" which started outside the Radio City Music Hall on 6th Avenue, Manhattan. Eminem continued his performance into the arena and was followed by a hundred Eminem 'clones' wearing white tank tops and baggy jeans with bleached blonde hair.[49]

Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning co-introduced Britney Spears. Fanning wore a Metallica T-shirt, much to the displeasure of Metallica drummer and anti-Napster advocate Lars Ulrich. Britney performed "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and her newest smash hit "Oops!... I Did It Again", which gained media attention mostly due to Spears's ripping off a tuxedo to reveal nude-colored performance attire. At performance's end, VMA co-host Marlon Wayans proclaimed, "Girl done went from 'The Mickey Mouse Club' to the strip club."[50]

At the end of Christina Aguilera's performance, Durst walked onstage and performed part of his band's song "Livin' It Up" with Aguilera. After eliciting charged reactions from his fans, Durst stated: "I already told you guys before, I did it all for the nookie, man."[51] The feud died weeks later. Aguilera denied Durst's statement, saying Durst "got no nookie".[52]

Aguilera and Spears disproved rumors of a rivalry when they came onstage, holding hands, and introduced Whitney Houston. Houston, who had been targeted by the media for erratic behavior, canceled appearances, drug use rumors and being busted for carrying marijuana at a Hawaii airport just a few months prior, came out to a standing ovation and introduced an award to Eminem with husband Bobby Brown, who was recently let out from jail. Houston revealed more erratic behavior, jumping up and down saying "free" in reference to Brown's recent jail release. Aaliyah would win two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video and Best Video from a Film for "Try Again".[citation needed]

2001: at the 2001 Video Music Awards, Britney Spears performed her single, "I'm a Slave 4 U". while dancing in a very revealing outfit, the performance featured the singer in a cage with a tiger and briefly dancing with a real albino snake on her shoulders. The inclusion of a tiger and a snake in the performance bought a great deal of criticism from PETA.[50][53]

U2 had been set to perform a medley including "Elevation", "Beautiful Day" and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of". The riser they were performing on lost power and MTV had to cut to several minutes of promos while everything was set up again. They lost power again and finally the band was lowered to the ground and performed without the riser. After the performance, lead singer Bono explained that MTV "forgot to pay the electricity bill".[54]

Michael Jackson made a surprise appearance at the end of NSYNC's performance of "Pop". Surrounded by members of the group, Jackson performed some of his trademark dance moves to Justin Timberlake's beatboxing.[54]

The show paid tribute to the R&B singer/actress Aaliyah, who was supposed to present an award but died two weeks before from a plane crash. U2 paid tribute to punk-rock singer Joey Ramone, who died of lymphoma 4 months before.[55]

2002: in 2002, the VMAs took place on Michael Jackson's birthday, and as a tribute, Britney Spears introduced him saying she "considered him the artist of the millennium". Jackson said, "When I was a little boy growing up in Indiana if someone told me I'd be getting 'the artist of the millennium award,' I'd have never believed it."[56] A year later, at the 2003 VMAs, this was parodied by presenters Fred Durst and Jack Black, with Durst stating that Black was the "funniest man alive".[50][57]

The Hives and The Vines both performed on the night after the sudden garage rock revival during the year, with rumors spreading around that it was to be 'battle of the bands' performance. Once The Hives performed, singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist said to the crowd "I know you want us to play more, but that's all the time we have for so you can turn off [your TV] now",[58] just before The Vines came on the bigger stage to perform their hit single "Get Free", ultimately destroying their set after their performance.

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog appeared and had a confrontation with Eminem. Eminem had a confrontation with Moby, who had called the rapper's music misogynistic and homophobic. By that time, there were multiple boos from the crowd. The Best Male Video award was given to Eminem right after the confrontation with Triumph and Moby, and when Eminem went to stage to pick up the award, in the middle of his speech, he challenged Moby to fight if he continued to boo him.[59]

Justin Timberlake made his solo performance debut on the show, performing his single "Like I Love You".

Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, the surviving members of the top-selling R&B trio TLC, made their first television appearance since the death of bandmate Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.[59]

Shakira took the stage of the VMAs to perform her single "Objection (Tango)".

Christina Aguilera shocked the audience by wearing a skimpy outfit and heavy makeup, with a dirty look removing her good-girl image.[60] She was part of an awkward moment at the awards when presenting the Best Male Video Award to Eminem, who had insulted her in 2000.[61]

Canadian artist Avril Lavigne won her first award ever as Best New Artist in a Video, getting the record for the youngest artist so far to win this award at the age of 17. She kicked off the 2002 VMAs with a "Complicated" / "Sk8er Boi" pre-show performance and together with Lisa Marie Presley they gave the award for Best Female Video to Pink who was under the effects of alcohol during her acceptance speech.[59]

Axl Rose unveiled the new lineup of New Guns N' Roses. The band's set was the show's finale, and although the performance was meant to be kept a secret, some New York radio outlets announced the performance earlier in the day. The band played a set consisting of "Welcome to the Jungle", "Madagascar", and "Paradise City".[62]

2003: at the 2003 Video Music Awards, Madonna played a groom kissing her brides, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, on stage. The gender role-reversal and lesbian theme instantly made front-page headlines. The three singers performed a medley of her classic hit, "Like a Virgin", and her then latest release, "Hollywood", with a guest rap by Missy Elliott. A quick camera cut to the reaction of Justin Timberlake, who dated Spears until 2002, also gained media attention.[63] The design resembled Madonna's performance of "Like a Virgin" at the 1984 VMAs: the same wedding cake set, wedding dresses and "Boy Toy" belt worn by Madonna 19 years ago now adorned Aguilera and Spears.[64]

Beyoncé opened her performance by descending upside down from the rafters at Radio City Music Hall. Knowles performed "Baby Boy" as she was gently lowered to the stage, dressed in harem pants. She was later joined by Jay-Z as they performed their duet "Crazy in Love". The performance marked Knowles' solo debut.[65]

2004: the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards were held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. This was the first time the awards show was held outside of New York City and Los Angeles. It was the first video music awards to not have a host.[66]

2005: at the 2005 show, Green Day returned, taking home the Best Rock Video, Best Group Video, and Video of the Year Moonmen for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", which they performed during the broadcast. They also took the Viewer's Choice award for "American Idiot".

The 2005 VMAs were the first to have a performance in Spanish, when Shakira performed her single "La Tortura" with Alejandro Sanz. It was also the first time that Spanish-language videos were nominated at the awards.[67]

Also at the show, while introducing the reggaeton spot, Fat Joe made a disparaging comment about G-Unit: "I'd like to tell the people home I feel so safe tonight with all this police protection courtesy of G-Unit...". Later in the show, after G-Unit's performance, 50 Cent directed profanities at Fat Joe which were edited out before the shows airing although some broadcasts played the uncensored version of the show.[68] Reggaeton artists Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderón and Don Omar performed.

Actress Eva Longoria caused a stir when she appeared barely dressed to introduce Mariah Carey.[69] Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg won best dressed female and male and received prizes to donate to a charity of their choice.[70]

Kelly Clarkson performed a high energy version of her song "Since U Been Gone" barefoot wearing a graphic belly top and capri pants. Clarkson moved through the crowd during the performance, which culminated in the singer getting sprayed with water. By the end of the song, she and a portion of the audience were soaking wet.[71] R. Kelly performed his rap opera, "Trapped in the Closet".[67]

Animated duo Beavis and Butt-head appeared in several Viewer's Choice award skits, saying to "Vote to put Beavis and Butt-head back on MTV!".[72] Rather belatedly, the TV show returned to MTV in 2011.

2006: Justin Timberlake opened the 2006 Video Music Awards performing his singles "My Love" and "SexyBack". The awards were distributed evenly widespread all genres, as hip-hop, pop and rock artists alike all won Moonmen. 2006 was also the first time that viewers voted for all the performer's categories (Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Group Video, among others, except professional categories).[73]

When Panic! at the Disco won Video of the Year for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", a man calling himself Sixx jumped onstage claiming that MTV had denied him his own TV show.[73] Hosted by Jack Black, there were also performances by Shakira with Wyclef Jean, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera and The Killers.

2007: the 2007 Video Music Awards was opened by Britney Spears performing her comeback single "Gimme More". To many, Spears failed to live up to the pre-show hype. She wore black sequined lingerie and put in less energy than her previous performances.[74][75] The performance was called "career crippling".[43]

Kid Rock and Tommy Lee were involved in an altercation during Alicia Keys's performance. Lee was sitting with magician Criss Angel when the two went to visit Diddy, who was sitting close to Kid Rock. Kid Rock allegedly punched Tommy Lee in the face. The two were broken up, and both were escorted from the resort. Angel was removed a short time later.[76]

2008: the 2008 Video Music Awards were opened by Britney Spears which welcomed everybody to the 25-year anniversary of the Video Music Awards. Barbadian singer Rihanna opened the show with her song "Disturbia" in a very revealing black leather outfit. After 16 nominations, Britney Spears finally won her first VMA, taking Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, and Video of the Year for "Piece of Me", considered as Spears' comeback.[citation needed]

Host Russell Brand commented on Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, begging the audience to vote for him. Brand called President George W. Bush a "retarded cowboy" and claimed Bush "wouldn't be trusted with a pair of scissors in Britain".[77]

Russell Brand also made comments on the Jonas Brothers for wearing purity rings. Brand later faced criticism for his swipes at the trio. He confirmed his apology at the MTV Video Music Awards 2009 by saying "I upset the Jonas Brothers last year, I had to say sorry to them and they forgave me. They had to, they're Christians." During her introduction of T.I. and Rihanna's performance, Jordin Sparks, who also wears a purity ring, defended the boy-band by saying "It's not bad to wear a promise ring because not everybody, guy or girl, wants to be a slut." Sparks was in turn criticized for implying that those who do not wear purity rings or do not abstain are promiscuous.[78]

2009: at the 2009 Video Music Awards, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift won Best Female video for "You Belong with Me". During her acceptance speech, rapper Kanye West unexpectedly showed up on stage. Taking the microphone from Swift, he announced "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!".[79][80] MTV cut away from the stage (showing Beyoncé with a shocked and disapproved look) after West gave the microphone back to Swift and giving the middle finger to the audience as they started booing him off stage, and so Swift did not finish her speech. West was removed for the rest of the show. However, when Beyoncé won Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift back on stage to "have her moment" (finishing her speech from winning Best Female Video). In an off-the-record portion of an interview the following day, President Barack Obama called West a "jackass" for his antics.[81] During a post-interview, Jay-Z admitted West was wrong to go on stage, but he thought people were overreacting to the incident.[82]

Madonna opened the show talking about her experiences with Michael Jackson. After her speech, a Michael Jackson tribute commenced, including Janet Jackson performing the duet "Scream". The show closed with a sneak preview of Michael Jackson's This Is It movie.[83]

At the show's red carpet, Colombian singer Shakira and American singer Pink attended with the same dress. Both singers took it humorously and posed together for the paparazzi.

Lady Gaga later performed her song "Paparazzi" and shocked the audience when she appeared to bleed out on stage. It was actually a contraption in her outfit.[84] Beyoncé performed her song "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" with over two dozen female dancers dancing with her.[85] Pink performed her single "Sober" while doing a trapeze act during the entire performance while singing live.

Rapper Lil Mama jumped on stage as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed "Empire State of Mind".[86] Lil Mama later apologized.[87] During an interview with New York Radio DJ Angie Martinez, Jay-Z said that he thought the unrehearsed move was something similar to the West and Swift incident.[87]

Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Green Day were the big winners of the night, with three awards each.[85]

2010s

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The standing inflatable KAWS moonman at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards

The redesigned moon man by Jeremy Scott at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards

2010: at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift performed her song "Innocent", while Kanye West performed "Runaway" with Pusha T giving a stellar performance on the MPC2000.[88] Eminem, who performed at the show, did not receive his awards in person, as he had to leave immediately to perform with Jay Z at The Home & Home Tour in New York City the next day.[89] Additionally, will.i.am's "blackface" outfit sparked controversy among African-Americans.[90] Florence + the Machine performed "Dog Days Are Over".[91]

Lady Gaga won eight awards, including Video of the Year, Best Female Video, and Best Pop Video for "Bad Romance"; she also won Best Collaboration for "Telephone" with Beyoncé. Upon accepting her Video of the Year award, Gaga wore a dress made entirely of raw meat, which drew criticism from PETA.[92] While accepting her Video of the Year award, Lady Gaga announced the title of her next album, Born This Way, and sang the chorus of its title track and lead single. Justin Bieber won Best New Artist, making him the second youngest Canada-born artist to ever win a VMA (first being Avril Lavigne in 2002).[93]

Overall, the show grabbed 11.4 million viewers—the largest audience for an MTV Video Music Awards since 2002, and until 2011's new record.[94]

2011: the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards returned to the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. In the entire history of the show, this was the third time no host was scheduled, although Kevin Hart, who would receive the position a year later, delivered an opening monologue.

Lady Gaga opened the show dressed as her alter ego Joe Calderone, delivering a monologue and then performing her single "You and I" from her album Born This Way. She was joined on stage by Queen band member and guitarist Brian May.

The tribute to Britney Spears included performances by young talents, who danced to various hit singles by Spears including "...Baby One More Time" and "Till the World Ends". After the tribute, Lady Gaga went onstage to present Spears the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.[95] While accepting her award she and Gaga (dressed as her alter ego Joe Calderone) teased a kiss. Spears rejected the exchange saying, "I've done that already", referring to her liplock with Madonna at the 2003 show.[96]

During Kanye West and Jay Z's surprise performance of "Otis", a man attempted to rush the stage but was quickly taken off by security.[97]

Katy Perry and Kanye West won the Award for Best Video for a Collaborative Single. As they went onstage to receive the award, Perry made a reference to West's incident with Taylor Swift two years back. This was the first award Perry won in four years of being nominated.[98]

Prior to her performance, Beyoncé announced on the red carpet that she and husband/rapper Jay Z were expecting a child. Straight after Beyoncé finished performing her song "Love on Top", she also revealed again that she was pregnant by showing off her baby bump and rubbing it. That evening, Beyoncé set the record for the most mentions on Twitter per second (with 8,868) and helped this year's VMAs become the most-watched broadcast in MTV history, pulling in 12.4 million viewers.[99]

A tribute to late singer Amy Winehouse also took place; Russell Brand delivered a monologue on his thoughts on her, after which Tony Bennett previewed his collaboration with her for his album Duets II. Afterwards, Bruno Mars performed "Valerie" in her honor.[100]

Katy Perry won three awards including Video of the Year for "Firework", and Lady Gaga won two awards, including the new category Best Video With a Message for "Born This Way".[101]

2012: The 2012 MTV Video Music Awards aired live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on September 6, 2012. British boy band One Direction was the big winner of the night receiving Best New Artist, Best Pop Video, and Most Share Worthy Video. Rihanna won the Video of the Year Award for "We Found Love".

2013: For the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV redesigned its moonman statue[102] for one year only due to the ceremony's being held in Brooklyn for the first time. Brooklyn-based artist KAWS used Michelin Man as inspiration to redesign the image of the renowned MTV moonman. Barclays Center, which served as the venue for the 2013 show, was decorated also by KAWS, themed around the redesigned moonman. The 2013 VMAs also marked the fourth time in the award show's history that a host had not been appointed for the annual event.[103] Lady Gaga opened the ceremony, performing her single "Applause". During the performance, Gaga changed three times on stage and gave a tribute to her past eras (The Fame, The Fame Monster and Born This Way). At the end, Gaga came on stage wearing nothing but a seashell bikini.

Miley Cyrus' performance of her song "We Can't Stop" featured the former Disney star entering the stage through a giant teddy bear wearing a one-piece bodice with a teddy bear design on it. The singer performed with a group of female backup dancers dressed as giant bears before singer Robin Thicke joins with Cyrus on stage to perform his single "Blurred Lines". Cyrus then stripped down to a nude-colored lingerie and proceeded to perform her signature twerking dance moves, simulating sex with Thicke and grabbing his crotch with a giant foam finger.[104] The unimpressed reactions of several celebrity audience members, including Rihanna and members of One Direction, also gained attention in the media.[105]

Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" won Video of the Year, making him the first male solo artist to win this category since Eminem in 2002 with "Without Me". Timberlake also became the second artist to be honored with the Video Vanguard Award and win Video of the Year in the same night, after Peter Gabriel did it in 1987. To celebrate his Video Vanguard Award, Timberlake performed a 15-minute medley performance, which included a mini-reunion with his former band *NSYNC.[106] The set list of the most watched performance of the night[107] included hit singles from his first four solo albums, such as "Cry Me a River", "SexyBack" and "Suit & Tie".

2014: the 2014 show was held at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Miley Cyrus won Video of the Year for "Wrecking Ball" and got a young homeless man named Jesse to accept the award on her behalf. His speech was a call-to-action to help raise awareness to the homeless youth of America.[108] Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Jessie J opened the show.[109] Beyoncé closed the show by performing a 16-minute medley of songs from her self-titled fifth studio album. After the performance, her husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy presented the Video Vanguard Award to her.[110]

2015: the 2015 show was hosted by Miley Cyrus. Fashion designer Jeremy Scott redesigned the year's "moonman", marking the second time that the statue had been transformed.[111] Taylor Swift won four awards, including Video of the Year for "Bad Blood".[112] She presented the Video Vanguard Award to Kanye West, who ended his acceptance speech by claiming that he will run for president in 2020.[113]

Nicki Minaj ended her acceptance speech for Best Hip-Hop Video by passing the show back to Cyrus, saying: "And now, back to this bitch who had a lot to say about me the other day in the press: Miley, What's good?".[114] Minaj was referring to Cyrus' comments about how she handled "Anaconda" being snubbed for a Video of the Year nomination. Cyrus appeared stunned by Minaj's remarks and replied, "We're all in this industry. We all do interviews and we all know how they manipulate shit. Nicki, congratu-fuckin-lations."[114] The camera then cut back to Minaj who seemed to mouth back the word "bitch".[114] Cyrus closed the show by performing along with a group of drag queens who participated on RuPaul's Drag Race and surprisingly released her fifth studio album Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz for free.[115]

2016: the 2016 show was held at the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Rihanna performed four times during the show, including opening and closing the ceremony. After her final performance, Rihanna was presented the Video Vanguard Award by Drake, who declared, "She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old."[116] While accepting her award, Drake leaned in for a kiss that Rihanna dodged.[117] Britney Spears returned to perform at the VMAs for the first time since her heavily criticized performance at the 2007 show.[117] Kanye West gave a seven-minute long speech covering different topics, including his feud with Taylor Swift.[118]

Beyoncé performed a 16-minute medley of her album Lemonade and won eight awards, including Video of the Year for "Formation".[117][119] She became the most awarded artist in VMA history with 24 moonmen, surpassing Madonna's previous record of 20.[119] The telecast saw a drop in audience for third year in a row.[120]

2017: the 2017 show was hosted by Katy Perry. Kendrick Lamar won six awards, including Video of the Year for "Humble", becoming the first artist to have won the award for a video he co-directed, while Pink was honored with the Video Vanguard Award.[121] Jared Leto paid tribute to Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell, who both died over the past three months.[122] The music video for Taylor Swift's song "Look What You Made Me Do" premiered during the broadcast.[121] Compared to the previous year, viewership was down from 6.5 million to 5.4 million viewers, making it the lowest viewed VMAs since Nielsen started measuring the show in 1994.[123]

At the start of Fifth Harmony's performance there were five silhouettes; one of them fell off the stage, referencing former group member Camila Cabello leaving the group the previous year.[124]

Logic performed his song "1-800-273-8255" along with Alessia Cara and Khalid. Their stage was outlined with survivors of suicide loss and attempts, who wore T-shirts that had the phone number on the front and the phrase "You Are Not Alone" written on the back. During their performance, Logic gave a speech about thanking the audience for giving him a platform to talk about the issues "that mainstream media doesn't want to talk about: mental health, anxiety, suicide, depression".[125] He further added, "I don't give a damn if you're black, white, or any color in between. I don't care if you're Christian, you're Muslim, you're gay, you're straight – I am here to fight for your equality, because I believe that we are all born equal, but we are not treated equally and that is why we must fight."[125] Following the performance, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline experienced a 50% increase in calls.[125]

2018: Cardi B, the most nominated artist of the night, opened the 2018 show with a brief speech, holding a VMA like a baby.[126] While receiving one of her awards, Cardi B stated, "all the love.. it's genuine, it's beautiful, and that's something that God give me that you can't buy. B-tch."[127] Camila Cabello won Video of the Year for "Havana" and Jennifer Lopez received the Vanguard Award.[128] With Maluma among the performers as well, it marked the VMAs with the most Latin music artists present at the ceremony since the 2005 show.[129]

Before introducing Cabello's category, Madonna gave a tribute to the late Aretha Franklin. Most of the speech said the early origins of Madonna's career and was only tangentially Franklin-related,[130] which made critics describe the "bizarre" tribute as a "lengthy" anecdote about herself that involved Franklin's music.[131][132][133] Afterwards, Madonna explained that she was there to give the Video of the Year award as asked by MTV and to speak about some experience in her career with some connection with Aretha, not to make any kind of tribute.[134]

The viewership of the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards was down 9% overall and 15% in the important 18- to 49-year-old demographic group. The total viewership was 4.8 million.[135]

2019: the 2019 show was held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. This was the first time the VMAs took place at the venue and in the state of New Jersey (it became the fifth state to host the show after New York, California, Florida and Nevada).

The show was hosted by Sebastian Maniscalco. Taylor Swift won three awards, including Video of the Year for "You Need to Calm Down".[136] She became the second artist and first female artist to have won the award for a video she co-directed, and the fourth artist to win the category twice overall.[137] Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus's "Old Town Road" won two awards, including Song of the Year.[138] Missy Elliott received the Vanguard Award introduced by Cardi B and performed a medley. The performance was heavily choreographed and the set pieces alluded to her music videos "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Get Ur Freak On", and "Work It".[139][140] Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello performed their hit single "Señorita" for the first time ever in a performance characterized for its kissing tension. Lizzo performed a set featuring her singles, "Truth Hurts" and "Good as Hell". During the performance she gave a short self-empowering monologue, and featured a figurative shadow of an oversized CGI rear end.[141][139] Normani gave a performance of her song "Motivation",[142][143] that featured her doing intense gymnastic styled choreography that echoed the music video.[144][145][146] Rosalía became the first lead Spanish act to ever perform at the VMAs, performing a medley of "A Ningún Hombre", "Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi" (alongside Ozuna), and "Aute Cuture".[147][148] She also won Best Latin and Best Choreography for "Con Altura", becoming the first ever Spanish act to win a VMA, for which she was congratulated by many personalities including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.[149]

Marc Jacobs received the inaugural MTV Fashion Trailblazer Award.[150]

2020s

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2020: The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2020. The show was originally scheduled to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, but was moved outdoors because of security concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[151] Instead, the 37th annual ceremony would "highlight the boroughs in an exciting show and return to Barclays Center in 2021".[152] For the first time in its history the VMAs were simulcast on over-the-air television on The CW, which is jointly owned by MTV parent company ViacomCBS and AT&T parent company WarnerMedia.[153]

Keke Palmer hosted the show from a VR model of the infamous Manhattan staple, Empire State Building. The Weeknd won Video of the Year for "Blinding Lights", which he also performed as the show's opener. During his speech he showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and demanded justice for Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake.

Lady Gaga received the first-ever (and only thus far as of 2023) Tricon Award, introduced by Bella Hadid. After giving her speech, Gaga performed a medley of her songs, including "Chromatica II"/"911", "Stupid Love" and "Rain on Me", the latter performed with Ariana Grande. Grande also won four awards, including Song of the Year and Best Collaboration.

The show was dedicated to actor Chadwick Boseman, who died less than 48 hours before the ceremony due to colon cancer.

The redesigned moonperson trophy by Kehinde Wiley at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards

2021: The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards were held September 12, 2021, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, for the first time in eight years.[154] The award show also served as a celebration of MTV's 40th anniversary. An opening monologue was delivered by Madonna.[155] Artist Kehinde Wiley redesigned the year's moonperson trophy, marking the third time that the statue had been transformed and the first from an artist of African-American descent.[156][157]

Lil Nas X won three awards for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)", including Video of the Year and Best Direction. He became the second artist and first LGBTQ+ artist to win both categories for a video they co-directed. He jokingly thanked the gay agenda in his acceptance speech.[158]

Olivia Rodrigo and Justin Bieber also received awards in big categories, winning Song of the Year and Artist of the Year respectively. BTS won three awards, winning Group of the Year for the third consecutive time, in addition to Best K-Pop and Song of Summer for "Butter".[159]

2022: Taylor Swift announced the release of her tenth studio album Midnights during her Video of the Year award acceptance speech. Swift also became the first ever artist to win Video of the Year three times.

Nicki Minaj won the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award that night and performed a 9-minute medley of her hits including "Anaconda," "Super Bass", "Monster", "Beez in the Trap", and her newest hit "Super Freaky Girl" along with other songs. The award was presented by five members of her fan club the Barbz. In her acceptance speech, Minaj shouted out multiple people who had inspired her and people who have given her big opportunities early in her career including Madonna, Eminem, Britney Spears, Lil Wayne, Drake, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and more who had help boost the popularity of her 2011 hit, "Super Bass". Minaj also said that she wished musicians Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were there to witness her.[160] She also paid respects to her father, Robert Maraj, who died in a tragic hit-and-run accident in 2021. She said she wished people took mental health more seriously. Minaj thanked the Barbz, told the audience about her son, nicknamed Papa Bear, and announced her first greatest hits album, Queen Radio Vol. 1.

There were three co-hosts in the show, LL Cool J, Minaj, and Jack Harlow.

Harlow opened the show with a performance of his single, "First Class". The performance took place on an airplane with Harlow acting as an attendant. Several celebrities were seated in the plane including Lil Nas X, Saucy Santana, Avril Lavigne, and more. The plane "landed" at the award show and mocked a red carpet interview, with Harlow saying "Ladies and Gentlemen, Fergie!". Fergie had come out onstage to perform her 2007 hit "Glamorous" which "First Class" samples, marking her first televised performance since her controversial performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 2018 NBA All Star Game. The performance ended with Fergie and Harlow hugging.

Anitta becomes the first Brazilian singer to win the MTV Video Music Awards.

2023: NSYNC reunited for the first time in 10 years at the ceremony, to present the award for Best Pop, which was to Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero". Swift acknowledged that she still has the 'N Sync dolls, referencing the "It's Gonna Be Me" music video, and they gave her friendship bracelets.

Shakira was awarded with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, performing a medley of her hits. She became the first South-American born artist to receive the award. Later, Shakira and Karol G won the Best Collaboration award, for "TQG", making the first time a Spanish-language video and a Latin female collaboration won the award.

Taylor Swift won Video of the Year for a second consecutive year for "Anti-Hero", making her the artist with the most wins (four) in this category.

We can’t wait to see what iconic moment happens on this year’s award ceremony.

Happy 40th anniversary vmas !

Oh and one more thing : Who do you think will take home the coveted video of the year award? Here’s the nominees:

we can't be friends - Ariana Grande

LUNCH - Billie Eilish

Paint The Town Red - Doja Cat

Houdini - Eminem

Snooze - SZA

Fortnight - Taylor Swift ft Post Malone

[lgbtawarenessproject]

Part 1: USA

Hello everyone! Happy pride month!

Last month I stated that coming June I would post about historical queer events around the world. This is part 1 of North America. Later today I will post parts 2 & 3, Belize and Greenland. The pride month calendar can be seen in our pinned post!

That being said, I'm excited to show you what I've been working on. (Also thanks Mom for helping me edit this)

-Soul

Stonewall Inn was one of many bars in Greenwich Village, New York City. It, just like many others, was owned by the Genovese crime family, the local mafia. The family thought it would be profitable to cater towards the gay citizens, shunned by most every other bar and person. Police had been bribed to ignore it, and on the occasions that they did raid the bar, ‘dirty’ cops would send a tip.

June 28th 1969, Stonewall Inn had just experienced a routine raid a couple days before. Officers burst in carrying a warrant, and arrested thirteen people. In order to check if they were truly ‘cross-dressing’, female officers would take them into the bathroom and have them strip

Usually when this happened everyone would let it go, they’d be mad, but they wouldn’t do anything. This time, however, an officer had hit a butch lesbian(widely assumed to be Stormé DeLarverie), in the head with a baton while getting her into the car. She yelled for the onlookers to act, and they did. Bottles, stones, pennies, and other things were thrown at the police. Among the first to throw them were two trans lesbians of color, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha Johnshon. The officers boarded themselves in the Inn, but the crowd had begun setting it on fire. Not long later, the firemen and riot control came and took control of the situation.

This event may be the one we are most familiar with, but it’s not the only thing that happened. Here are some links to other events that happened shortly before and after.

Before Stonewall

After Stonewall

Sources 1 2 3

Back in 1987, the AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) epidemic had just been labeled an epidemic. There were very few treatments, and only one FDA approved one. This treatment, called AZT (zidovudine) , was only manufactured by one company. Burroughs Wellcome, a pharmaceutical company, had made the drug nigh inaccessible. The price was so high, that very few people could afford it. 

ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), was created in response to this. Larry Kramer was among the ones to originate this movement. The activist groups scheduled a march on Wall Street in 1987, scheduled to disrupt traffic during the morning rush hour. Activists laid in the street and held signs, chanting phrases like “We are angry, we want action”, and “Release those drugs.” Seventeen activists were arrested, but shortly afterwards the FDA announced it would lower the required time for drugs to be approved from nine years, to seven. 

Sources 1 2

In June of 2015, gay marriage was legalized by the supreme court in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, forcing fourteen states to legalize same-sex marriage.

The case started in 2013, when James Obergefell and his husband John Arthur James, filed a lawsuit in Ohio when they realized that their marriage would not be recognized on Arthur's death certificate.  During the lawsuit, Arthur, who had a terminal illness, passed.

Plaintiffs told Obergefell that state officials were not going to approve his name being on Arthur’s death certificate, but filed the complaint anyway. The judge the case went to, Judge Timothy Black, granted Obergefell a temporary order that would allow Arthur to be marked as wed. 

The plaintiffs and Judge Black were not happy with this however, and the plaintiffs amended their complaint, adding two more plaintiffs. They asked that Ohio declare that their refusal to honor out of state marriages on death certificates, was unconstitutional and asked that they would fix it. Judge Black also declared it unconstitutional and banned the state from enforcing it upon the plaintiffs.

The department of health director Wymyslo appealed this, but was unable to see the case through. As was his successor Lance Himes. Himes’ successor Hodges was the one to finally see the case in court, where it was appealed. 

Obergefell filed a petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the supreme court, in 2014. In January of 2015, the Supreme Court granted it, allowing the case to be heard. The Supreme Court, decided after much deliberation, to recognize same-sex marriage as a right under the fourteenth amendment.

Sources 1 2

Additional things that I wanted to share about, but cannot do justice for.

Intersex Awareness 1 2 3 4 5

Two-Spirit 1 2 3

Please support our project by taking this survey if you haven't already done so!

-> Part 2

[beardedmrbean]

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Ramsey County law enforcement officials said what started out as a plan to catch a credit card thief led them to a "disturbing and dangerous" discovery at an Airbnb in Maple Grove.

Images shared by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office show 11 guns found at a home in Maple Grove, including stashed in board games and a McDonald’s bag.

"The guns were in backpacks, purses, above the furnace, in the walls, behind couches," said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. "This is the fourth Airbnb incident involving guns. We had three here in St. Paul. We had one in Roseville."

Finding the weapons actually started with the search for a 17-year-old suspect from St. Paul. Deputies said the repeat juvenile offender stole credit cards from a car in Shoreview last week and used them at Target.

Deputies learned the teen's mom had reserved an Airbnb in Maple Grove Saturday night for his birthday party, so they staked out the home. More than 50 people between the ages of 15 and 21 were inside, along with alcohol and marijuana. Deputies have had contact with most of the party attendees before because they belong to a group that's been involved in auto thefts, carjackings and shootings the last two years.

"One of their members was knifed and killed at Harding High School," Fletcher said.

The sheriff said the most unusual and troubling part of the Maple Grove incident is seven of the guns recovered had what's known as a "switch" or "auto sear," which allows them to fire fully automatic. Possession of a switch is a state and federal offense.

"An extended magazine of 33 rounds, which many of these guns had extended magazines, can be fired in two seconds or less," he explained.

The 17-year-old fraud suspect was arrested. At the time, he was out on bail for previous credit card fraud from August. He's been booked in the juvenile detention center on the new credit card fraud charge and for violating the conditions of his release.

More party attendees could be charged if authorities can match fingerprints or DNA on the guns. Fletcher believes the weapons were involved in other recent crimes, including a shooting at a St. Paul cemetery.

St. Paul police are working hard to find answers for the friends and family of those affected by the shooting at the cemetery, and those answers, as well as firearm testing, take time. It is an open and active investigation.

"There were 130 casings found at the Oakland Cemetery shooting. We believe these guns were probably used in that shooting," Fletcher said.

The crime is also further proof to Fletcher that suspects from the cities are bringing their parties and illegal activities to the suburbs in jurisdictions where they’re not known to law enforcement. 

He encouraged citizens to call 911 when they see something suspicious in their neighborhoods. 

"There was a citizen that saw [the 17-year-old] breaking into the car that started this whole cycle for us. So, the good news is if citizens call when they see things suspicious, we never know where that case is going go, and in this case, it went to 11 guns," Fletcher said.

In a statement, Airbnb said, "Unauthorized and disruptive parties are banned on Airbnb, and our Safety team has removed the booking guest from the platform. We are supporting our Host, including through AirCover, and we stand ready to assist the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office as they investigate."

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2023 Day 20: The Musician's Apprentice

Summary: Nate has a great idea, with unfortunately some bad timing.

Prompt: Music

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Nathan Sharp essentially had two homes. His actual house in Gainesville and then the open road whenever he did his yearly tour. Mostly he toured, even for a little bit, to keep his “friend” fed and out of trouble.

Mare, the demon who was in lockstep with Nate and his musical career. A symbiotic relationship. And also the reason that Nate was banned from the country of Ireland, because if Mare and Anti were in the same city for a prolonged period of time people died and houses burned.

So Nate was on a strict no fly list to the entire country, even though Anti could find Nate and Mare whenever. But Nate didn’t make the rules, he only suffered under them.

He was on his way home when he called Bing, he’d done a bit of thinking over the last year or so.

Nate texted Bing. “Got a moment?”

Bing was slower to text back than usual. “Yeah, what’s up, dude?”

“Wanna talk about someone, would rather do it without a paper trail.”

Nate got his luggage into his home, and got his dog all excited when Bing appeared into his house through his laptop.

Nate jumped, his dog barked.

“Glad you’re back,” Bing said.

After Nate calmed his racing heart, he sat down. “Yeah, thanks. We gotta talk about something.”

“We do,” Bing said.

“I want to take on an apprentice,” Nate said.

Bing clapped his hands in front of his face once. “You’ve got the worst timing. Who and where are they?”

“They’re the kid of a friend of mine, got the best gift I’ve probably ever seen,” Nate said.

Bing took a deep breath, “Dark is on a rampage in Egoton, he is reacting to Marvin moving here. And you are giving me a second apprentice to worry about.”

“Shit,” Nate said, wiping his hand down his face. “Does it make it better or worse that his gift is very visual and I’m not the only one who’s spotted it.”

“Take me to the kid, we’ll go from there,” Bing said.

Nate rolled his eyes, grabbed his phone and his dog and on the way texted his friend what was going on and to meet him at a secluded park.

Bing shot into the driver’s seat of Nate’s car as he started the car. Nate tried not to jump, failed, and started the car. He turned some music on.

“Heard the Coalition has some apprentices,” Nate said.

“Well, a bunch of us had ‘em for a while. We only got around to breaking it to Silver.”

“You got one, some science guy? He’ll play nice with mine.” Nate said.

“Yep, Logic, he’s great, if he tries to tell you he’s a reformed criminal, don’t believe him, it was minor eco-terrorism,” Bing had the gall to smile at him as he said it.

“How much are we talking?” Nate asked.

“Not much,” Bing said. “Great kid, smart kid, trying to get him off crime before Google and Dark scoop him up.”

“Alright then,” Nate said. “Should be fun, Mare will love the guy then.”

They got to the park and Nate introduced him to his friend, and his sixteen-year-old son Thomas.

Nate liked Thomas, he was a bit excited.

Bing seemed to like him too but to Nate it always seemed like Bing regarded most humans with lukewarm acceptance. He was never too upset or too enthused.

Thomas loved seeing his dog again and Nate’s dog loved being outside with people.

Thomas was naturally excited to meet Bing, and after some pleasantries started up a little song from a play he was practicing for school. After a little warm up, the park around the warped and changed to look like a setting from the musical number. Even Bing was watching it happen, which Nate hadn’t been sure would happen. Bing and Google were naturally resistant to visual and auditory illusions.

As Thomas sang and performed Nate watched a slowly growing look of dread creep up on Bing’s face as he stared more and more intently at Thomas.

The song ended, Nate and Thomas’s father clapped.

Bing stared before saying, “Okay, if it was up to me, you’re basically hired. We’ll talk about a suit, I’ll talk to Jackie and Silver.”

“Really?” Thomas said.

“You’re too dangerous to let Dark, or worse Deceit, just scoop you up,” Bing said.

“Oh, I don’t want to work with them,” Thomas said.

“Perfect, come up with a name, I’ll see about a costume,” Bing said and then looked at his dad. “And you need to sign and look at some forms. I’ll have Silver, Jackie, and Nate send them to you.”

“Yeah, I’ll read over those,” Thomas’s dad said.

Bing was pleasant enough but when Nate went to leave he looked a lot less pleasant. “I think I know how Silver feels now, you’ve made me an actual branch leader.”

“You’re welcome, how much is Silver going to hate this?” Nate sighed.

“Oh very,” Bing had a laugh in his voice, “he’s going to be pissed, but I’ll talk with him. It’ll be fine. Besides, a friend should keep Logic out of trouble.”

Nate got a text message and smiled when he read it. “Iridescence. He’s already picked a name.”

Bing smiled back. “Oh, he’ll fit in.

Bing left at that point and Nate went home to finally relax before Silver would figure out what was going on and call him.

[tummymoth]

Of (Tattoo) Guns N' Roses [1]

Chapter 1: Sweet Child O' Mine (read on Ao3 here)

Chapter Summary: On his way home from work, Xie Lian finds a bedraggled cat in an alleyway and decides to take it home. His roommate Mu Qing is less than enthused, but the florist insists that he can cover the expenses.

Additional Info: Florist! Xie Lian x Tattoo Artist!Hua Cheng, roommate!Mu Qing, personal trainer!Feng Xin, some FengQing as a treat for us, strong language, meet-cute, fluffy as fuck in the future, slice of life, an unnecessary amount of flower research was put into this

A/N: A sleep-deprived night full of making headcanons of my favorite trope (florist/tattoo artist) with my favorite mutually obsessed paring has resulted in one of the most self-indulgent things I've ever written. Enjoy.

Word Count: 4,261

Next>

“You get what you pay for,” while a common adage, is a phrase Xie Lian has worked hard to defy every day. 

Why spend sixty dollars on a coat when he could layer on three sweaters he thrifted for five dollars each? No need to waste money on buying a new one either, when he could patch up the holes with a good, old-fashioned, needle and thread. The idea of spending 20 dollars on an umbrella? Obscene; especially when Xie Lian got a deal for his new favorite possession: a Hello Kitty umbrella. A steal, really.

Unfortunately for Xie Lian, his two-dollar, bottom-of-the-bargain-bin, flimsier-than-a-wet-napkin umbrella was unable to keep the wind and rain from seeping through three layers of woolen threads and soaking him to the bone. 

If his shivering form was anything to go by, it was apparent that the phrase, “you get what you pay for,” still reigned supreme.

It was with stiff limbs and an inverted umbrella in tow that Xie Lian speed-walked to his apartment in the rain (taxis are overrated, it’s important to get your cardio in). A steady rhythm of icy drops paired well with the post-workday din of cars screeching down the city street, allowing his mind to wander. 

What was Mu Qing making dinner tonight? He ate a piece of cantaloupe he packed for work in thought, eyes observing rainwater filling in the familiar cracks of the sidewalk. To be fair, it didn’t matter either way; Xie Lian was banned from the kitchen regardless. You set off the building’s fire alarm once, and everyone gets into a tizzy about how you “managed to set fire to congee” and  “should never be allowed within three meters of a working stove again.” Honestly, did people no longer believe in second chances anymore—

A pitiful yowl yanked Xie Lian back to reality. He squinted in the general direction it came from, trying to see past what was essentially a grey sheet of rain. It wasn’t long before another cry rang out, barely making it above the sound of traffic. His eyes zeroed in on the alleyway a meter or so ahead of him. 

What poor creature had managed to get caught in the rain? It wasn’t as if this was a summer shower either. Each drop of autumn rain that splattered on his skin leeched heat away from his body. He couldn’t imagine being weighed down by fur that couldn’t even offer warmth. 

Sure enough, there was a dirtied, soaked cat shivering as it pressed itself against the wall in an attempt to shrink away from the cold. It couldn’t have been more than two years old; it also looked like it could’ve been white, but with all of the dirt, smog, and—was that blood?!—caked into its matted fur, Xie Lian figured the poor thing hadn’t had a proper bath in ages. 

Making sure his steps were light—not that the cat seemed to be of the mind to care how loud he was—he padded his way towards it before squatting down. 

“Hello there, little one,” Xie Lian cooed, gingerly reaching out a hand while trying to shield it from being pelted by any more rain with his umbrella. “You shouldn’t be out in the rain like this, you’ll get a cold.” 

He received little more than another meow before his brown eyes met blue ones. The cat butted its head toward him, trying to lean its full body weight against his hand. Xie Lian shivered at how frigid to the touch its waterlogged fur was and made a move to withdraw his hand in surprise, but each time he tried to move away, the cat pushed further until it was practically in his lap. 

He chuckled and gave its head a few cursory pets, smiling in spite of the water that was slowly seeping into his pants. It was fine if they got grime and mud on them today, tomorrow was laundry day anyway. 

“You’re a persistent one, aren’t you?” he mused mostly to himself as he took a closer look at its coat to see if there were any injuries that needed attending to. The few streaks of blood he could see on its fur didn’t look fresh, but it couldn’t have hurt to get them checked out to avoid any infection. There was no collar around its neck either, so unless it was microchipped, he had no hope of trying to call the owners. 

With a small grunt of effort, Xie Lian scooped up the cat in one arm and hoisted himself up. Now that it was pressed close to his chest, he could feel the tremors that wracked the poor thing’s body. 

“I know we’ve only met today,” he said as he made his way to the nearest clinic, pointedly ignoring the feeling of claws digging into his sweater, “but can I ask you not to hate me if I take you to the vet? I want to make sure you’ll be okay before I send you home and see if we can find your parents.” 

The cat blinked back at him owlishly, shivering all the while. Xie Lian smiled. 

“To the vet, it is then!”

After about thirty minutes of sitting in the waiting area, the door to the veterinarian’s office opened and the cat stepped out, closely followed by the vet herself. 

“Aside from a few cuts and scrapes, he looks to be in good condition,” she announced, smiling at the cat leaping into Xie Lian’s arms before turning back to her clipboard and writing notes. 

Ah, so it was a he.

“We also gave him a bath to get rid of the dirt and dried him off.”

“That’s good to know, thank you so much for your help,” Xie Lian nodded his head in thanks and gave the cat gentle scratches behind his ears, admiring his newly blow-dried coat and fawning over him even more when he started purring. So he was a white cat. With soft fur too.

 “If it’s not too much, could I ask one more thing of you?”

“Yes?” The vet looked up from her papers with a raised brow. 

“Do you know if he’s microchipped or not?” 

“You don’t know if your own cat is microchipped?” 

His smile turned sheepish as he scratched the back of his head with a free hand. “Ah, no I actually picked him up off the street today. He was just sitting there in the rain, it was worrisome.”  

“I see…” After a few beats of silence, she pushed up her glasses. “When we conducted his physical exam we didn’t see any microchip. You could take him to a nearby shelter, but they tend to be at capacity around this time of year.” 

Xie Lian frowned. As far as he knew, there weren’t any no-kill shelters in his area. And while the question of whether or not he would be adopted wasn’t an issue—this cat was quite handsome now that the dirt and blood had been washed off—sending him off to another strange area didn’t sit right with him. 

“Could I take him home instead?”

She smiled and scribbled a few more notes. “I’ll go ahead and get you the proper paperwork so we can get him registered. That shouldn’t be a problem at all."

“Absolutely not,” Mu Qing deadpanned before Xie Lian could get more than a word in edgewise, arms crossed over his chest and a spatula in his hand. The pinched look of irritation on his face was almost intimidating enough to offset the pink checkerboard apron (also Hello Kitty themed) he was currently wearing. 

Almost. 

The smile Xie Lian was wearing felt a little more forced than it did thirty seconds ago, but he carried on regardless and closed their shared apartment door behind him, mindfully setting his newly acquired companion on the couch where Feng Xin sat and a hefty bag of cat food on the floor. The cat wasted no time in padding over to the man and pawing at his knee, eyes timid but curious as he inspected the threads on his pant leg.

“I don’t know…” Feng Xin trailed off as he let the cat nose at his fingers, enamored by how the small creature’s nose was cool to the touch. “I think it’s a great idea, Xie Lian. Mu Qing just hates the idea of cleaning up after a fellow stray.”

“You don’t even live here, cadger.” If Mu Qing’s eyes kept rolling like this, Xie Lian feared they would get stuck looking at the back of his head permanently. “You get no say in this.” 

“Oh my, that’s a fancy word for you. Is that the word of the week for your little book club—”

 “As I was saying,” Xie Lian began again, “I’ve named him Ruoye, and he’s an exceptionally well-behaved cat. I found him on the street today, and he was sitting in the cold all alone—”

“All due respect, I couldn’t care less how well-behaved that thing is,” Mu Qing interrupted as he shot a pointed glare in their direction. “It hasn’t even been here for more than five minutes and it’s already shedding all over the couch.” 

Feng Xin barked out a laugh. “See? Told you.”

“Can it, freeloader.”

“Mu Qing…” Xie Lian’s voice took on a pleading tone. 

“We’ve both been struggling with rent, we can’t possibly take in a stray cat.” He waved his spatula around emphatically. “I hate to be the one to say it, but this isn’t practical. You’d have to think about food, vet visits, bedding—” 

“I can make it work.” The gears in Xie Lian’s mind were already turning as he worked out the budgeting he’d need to keep track of. “The shop got a new regular about a month ago, and he tips really well. More than I’d like… but if he keeps ordering arrangements and tipping the same, the amount of income the shop would make from just him would be enough to cover any expenses for Ruoye.” 

Mu Qing was hardly convinced. “Listen, I don’t say anything about you spending money on buying treats to feed stray animals or letting them stay here to recover for a night if clinics are closed. I’m not your parent; if that’s your prerogative, then you should go for it. But to permanently bring one into a space that we share? Did you think this through?”

“I can take care of everything for Ruoye and still keep up with my half of the bills,” Xie Lian insisted. 

Feng Xin rose to his feet and stretched himself out, yawning languidly before he let his hands drop to his sides. “Sounds like he’s got you beat, you know how Xie Lian is when he’s got his heart set on something,” he simpered as he gave the cat of the hour a few head rubs, cooing when he leaned into his hand. After sniffing at his hand for the past five minutes, Ruoye had decided Feng Xin wasn’t a threat. “Anyways, when’s dinner gonna be ready?”

Rolling his eyes, Mu Qing headed back to the kitchen to check on the progress of tonight’s dish.  “I’m not feeding you tonight, you mooch. Go order takeout or something.”

“How am I supposed to tell my clients to train hard and keep to a diet if I’m stuffing my face with shitty food?” Feng Xin groaned as he followed after him. 

“Oh, I don’t know. Starve then, ”Mu Qing grumbled.

“You have the most bitter personality I’ve ever been unfortunate enough to meet. You are such an ass…”

“…”

“…but your cooking is actually decent.” 

“Maybe instead of starving you, I’ll just spit in your food,” Mu Qing muttered dryly as he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. He turned to Xie Lian and, upon seeing that his stupidly optimistic smile never went away, Mu Qing huffed turned back around to rifle through the cabinets and grab three plates. He set them on the island before taking the pan off the stove and plating up. 

Tonight was steamed sea bass in a ginger soy sauce with stir-fried vegetables. For extra protein, there was also scrambled egg with tomato mixed in. Feng Xin hated tomatoes, but they were healthy and Mu Qing took personal joy in watching the man try to tough it out and force himself to eat them anyway. 

From the corner of his eye, Mu Qing could see sapphire eyes peek up at him in interest as he brought the dishes to the kitchen island and set them down. It seems as if the small thing had already begun to make itself at home and start exploring. 

He looked up. 

Xie Lian smiled back. 

Mu Qing stubbornly averted his gaze and shoveled rice onto each plate before grabbing chopsticks and spoons for the three of them. Maybe if he busied himself with setting up for dinner, his hardheaded roommate would drop the subject. Dealing with Feng Xin’s stupid face as he jovially pulled a chair up to the kitchen island was almost tolerable compared to Xie Lian’s silent begging. 

Sure, the man could handle rejection—it’s not as if he would ever push someone’s boundaries after a hard no—but having to tell Xie Lian “no,” was the same as asking Mu Qing to tell some kid that Santa wasn’t real. Easy in theory, but dealing with the knowledge that he was the bearer of bad news? Not so much. 

After a few more moments of fidgeting with placemats, Mu Qing dared to look up again.

The fucker never stopped smiling.

Sighing in defeat, he sat himself down and waved in the general direction of the couch. 

“Keep him out of my room, and we have a deal.”

He could practically feel the energy of their small apartment shift as his roommate’s face lit up. Xie Lian wasn’t one for raucous, incendiary emotions—even as a kid, he never took it upon himself to shriek or whoop loudly in joy—but his excitement was palpable nonetheless.

“Oh thank you, Mu Qing! You’ll get used to him in no time, I swear. He’s super friendly, he was even okay with me carrying him all the way home while I walked—”

“If I see any cat hairs in my cooking, I’m throwing him out the window.”

Sunlight filtered through the half-open blinds of the shop and bled streaks of gold across Xie Lian’s work table as he busied himself by carefully trimming chamomile stems before giving them a home in their new container. 

It was Ruoye’s first time accompanying him to work and, much to Xie Lian’s delight, he had been giving him zero issues at all. Instead of batting at every stem in his reach like Mu Qing said he would, the cat had taken a liking to the feeling of the sun warming his fur. Wherever there weren’t stray leaves or petals, he took it upon himself to sprawl out on his back, tail languidly lashing back and forth as he watched Xie Lian work. 

His current client had requested a bouquet for the bride of a wedding. When they both sat down to talk about the specifics, he learned how the two had come to meet and chose the flowers accordingly. Chamomiles for patience in adversity, and pink camellias to represent a deep longing. These two flowers combined with white clovers as fillers for the bouquet—a plea for the receiver to think of the giver—gave a quiet retelling of how the groom and bride had met and continued to fall for each other despite unkind circumstances. 

It pulled at his heartstrings, really.

There was just something about being able to pull together a piece that would be part of such a defining and joyful moment for so many people that made his heart smile. And so he stood there, painstakingly making sure every bloom sat just right. Xie Lian loved weddings—even more so when he was able to make an arrangement that conveyed a couple’s story.

He took a step back to admire his work and began to get lost in his thoughts—maybe he had time to run out and buy Ruoye a small bed he could use at the shop…?—when he heard the door chime ring up front. 

“I’ll be there in just a minute!” He patted his hands dry on his apron before giving Ruoye a quick pat on the head—after getting over the initial shock of such loud ringing, the cat had quickly grown desensitized to customers entering the shop and started to take the sound as a signal to accompany Xie Lian as he made his way toward the front. Was his client here for pickup already? He had told her it wouldn’t be ready for another couple of days.

Instead of a rather warm-spirited and peppy woman with brown hair and sun-kissed skin who wore whites and blues, Xie Lian found himself faced with a gentleman who looked to be entirely the opposite. 

Inky black hair was smartly slicked back into a high and tight ponytail, not a strand of hair out of place. Clothes as dark as night countered sharply with severe eyes and pale skin. Gold trim glinted against the black of his wool coat, nearly reaching the floor. And while his gaze wasn’t exactly frigid in the way he scanned the shop, nothing in his features made way for the implication of life. He was all harsh contrast and sharp angles. 

Save for the slight tinge of pink dusting his cheeks and nose that implied a brisk walk outside in the nippy autumn weather, he looked to be a walking corpse. 

“He Xuan!” Xie Lian’s eyes crescented as he smiled and took his hand to shake it, Ruoye still weaving in and out of his legs. Contrary to everything else about him, He Xuan’s palms gave off a pleasant heat. “You’re here for your order, right?” 

“Mn.” Other than a curt nod, the taller man didn’t contribute much more. His eyes only briefly lingered on Ruoye before he turned his attention back to the florist.

Xie Lian didn’t think much of his brevity—this was his third time ordering from the shop, and the rhythm of their exchange never deviated too far from yes or no questions—and made his way to the back again before wheeling out a two-tiered cart. 

Two arrangements sat atop the highest tier, while three sat on the bottom—all were in vessels of various heights and shapes. Each bouquet set a moody tone with near-black or burgundy petals and dark green ferns, with the only instances of bright color found in flesh-colored flowers interspersed throughout each piece for contrast. Both the flowers and He Xuan himself looked out of place in a store that had mostly warm, bright tones. 

“It’s not often I’m just given a color scheme and told to do whatever I want. Thank you for all the creative freedom,” Xie Lian said enthusiastically as he gently set each vase on the counter to ring them up. 

More freedom to do as he wished meant he could incorporate more unique flowers people didn’t typically order—sea hollies weren’t exactly the most popular compared to roses or tulips, and the snarly texture of contorted filbert branches wasn’t necessarily a crowd-pleaser either.  Using relatively unconventional materials drove up the cost of these arrangements, of course, but He Xuan had insisted that money wasn’t an issue during his first order. 

“There’s no need for thanks.” He Xuan’s tone was neither friendly nor antagonizing—it just was. “My boss enjoys your work. He says you have a keen eye for pieces that aren’t monotonous to the point of being an eyesore in the studio.” 

Unsure if he was to take that as a compliment, Xie Lian decided to change the line of conversation entirely as he punched in the necessary information to calculate the total, Ruoye looking over his shoulder as he perched on one of the shelves to his left. “You buy these for him as a gift? That’s quite nice of you.” 

“No, these are for display around the shop.” He Xuan sighed—the only other emotions he displayed other than apathy were either thinly veiled contempt or annoyance, and this was the former. “I’m his personal assistant. He sends me on errands or whatever suits his fancy.”

“Oh? Well, I assume my flowers suit his fancy, then. That seems like high praise, coming from him,” Xie Lian chuckled. 

“Very. He’s critical of other people’s works.” 

“Oh? Does he make a living as an art critic?”

He Xuan shrugged. “No. He’s an artist. Very highly acclaimed. Probably one of the best” It didn’t sound like he was bragging about his boss so much as he was begrudgingly telling the truth. 

“Well, it’s very flattering to receive praise from someone with so much skill,” Xie Lian replied with a smile on his face. “I’d love to see his work sometime.”

The black-clad man considered him for a moment. “I can talk to him about having you stop by.”

Xie Lian immediately backtracked and waved a hand dismissively.  “Oh no, I would hate to impose. I’m sure he’s a busy man if he’s sending you out so often.”

“Yeah. Busy,” He Xuan muttered under his breath and bent down a bit to peer at each of the arrangements set on the counter, eyes carefully analyzing Xie Lian’s work. 

After a few beats of silence with no words coming from the other, Xie Lian decided to busy himself by tidying up the drawers at the register to avoid rushing him. He was a relatively neat person—his upbringing didn’t give him a chance to be a slob—but try as he might, he could never avoid falling into the trappings of a junk drawer. There were wayward tealights, a pair of dull scissors he forgot to throw out, stamps, white ribbon, and… were those wilted leaves? God, that wouldn’t do—

“You’ve outdone yourself this time.” He Xuan cleared his throat as he stood back up and produced a wallet from his coat pocket. “How much do I owe you?” 

“It’ll be four hundred and twenty-five today.” 

He raised a brow at him, which was probably his version of openly gawking at someone. “That prices each arrangement under one hundred.” 

“Correct.”

“The simplest ones you’ve done before are worth at least ninety.”

“Well I would actually sell each of these for upwards of ninety-five dollars—what with the rarer flowers and all—but since you’ve been ordering so much from here, I decided to just bundle it and price them at eighty-five each.”

He Xuan’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly. “You are grossly underselling yourself. We’ll pay the full amount.”

“No, I really don’t mind.” Xie Lian waved away the notion, suddenly feeling sheepish under his deadpan stare. “You’ve been such a loyal customer over the past couple of months—”

“I insist,”  the taller man interrupted as he handed his card to him and proceeded to rifle through the bills in his wallet. “If you aren’t willing to charge full price, I’ll add tip to compensate.”

“Ah…” he trailed off, unsure of how else to decline without sounding rude. He Xuan took that as an invitation to continue talking and pointed out the least opulent arrangement out of the five. 

“What you do is artistry.” There were no layers of awe or sugarcoating to be found in his voice. Just as He Xuan pointed out his boss’s apparent skill as an artist with zero embellishments, he appraised Xie Lian’s skill (skill??) as a florist as if it was a simple fact of life.

“I wouldn’t consider myself an artist.” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “This is just a hobby I happen to be making money off of, really.”

“It isn’t even a question of using rare flowers or not.” He Xuan continued as if he didn’t hear him. “This piece has more typical flowers, yet you clearly know what you’re doing with its composition. The height, sizing, and colors complement each other, and by adding filler plants with more structure, you made a vertical arrangement with an angular feel without having to fight against the organic form of the flowers. You should be pricing for your skill, and all the time you’ve spent honing it.” He stopped to consider the arrangement again. 

“This one is easily worth one hundred or more.”

Xie Lian was absolutely dumbfounded for a few seconds before he found his words. 

“This is the most you’ve talked during a pickup, and it sounds to me like you have a keen eye for art just like your boss,” he jibed at He Xuan with a chuckle as he ran the card through and made to grab his receipt from the printer. 

“So you admit it’s art.” His tone was still hard—almost abrasive with its ever-present underlying current of annoyance—but Xie Lian found this to be the friendliest he’s been and decided to take his words for what they were. 

Once the transaction had been completed and He Xuan was able to (very carefully) load the flowers into his car, Xie Lian returned to the register and reached up to give Ruoye a scratch behind the ears. 

He slowly blinked his eyes at Xie Lian as a low, pleasant rumble sounded from his chest. 

“You’ve been so good today,” he cooed as he began to give the cat full-body pets. “I oughta get you some treats. Maybe a bed so you have your own spot at the shop.” 

Ruoye continued purring.

Next>

[renee-ruby-j]

[image description: a purple banner that has the words "work in progress" on it. end of description]

@ternaryflower53 inspired this with a lovely comment on the boudoir photoshoot fic appreciating my personal favorite bit to write: supportive big sister Thalia!

I proceeded to run away with it. Whoops.

Without further ado:

Untitled Thundersibs Coming-Out Fic!

Hey. There's something important I need to tell you. Can you come over sometime soon? Don't worry; I'm okay.

Thalia tries not to let herself catastrophize as she drives, but it's surprisingly difficult. Typically, when Jason needs to talk, he'll just use his key: she'll find him in her kitchen banging a tray of macarons on the counter, and he'll get whatever it is out of his system while he bakes and leave the treats with her to distribute among the girls at the shelter. 

He's nervous about something. Nervous about her reaction. He wanted to prepare in advance, be on his home turf. 

"He is not dying," Thalia mutters to herself, her jaw clenched. "If he were dying, they would have found it when they were testing him last year. It's just the fibro. He's just too tired to come to you." 

That line of thinking is better, but it still doesn't help much. Ever since his most recent knee surgery, Jason has been feeling sickly and under the weather; on bad days, he can't even stand to be touched without flinching, which throws most of Thalia's methods of comforting him out the window and leaves her helpless. 

There's nothing she can do to fix his pain. She can't soothe it away with a kiss. She wishes desperately that she could take it from him, suffer it so he doesn't have to. He's suffered more than enough already. 

She pulls into his driveway, her heart fluttering in her throat like a terrified hummingbird, and parks Medusa behind Jason's blue minivan. There's a bumper sticker on the back. 

If you can read this, you're too f**king close!

It probably came from Nico, whose PT cruiser is next to Percy's bike in the open garage. Of course they're both home; Nico doesn't have class on Fridays, and Percy's on the closing shift at Spectrum. 

"Stop it," Thalia whispers to herself. "If it was something bad, he wouldn't have told you he's okay. Calm down." 

(She doesn't quite believe herself. Jason's not exactly the type to let on when something's wrong; telling her not to worry is almost reflexive for him, at this point.) 

If it is bad, he'll need her. That thought is enough to kick her into movement. 

Her mind races as she gets out of the car and squelches through the mud to the front porch. It's a good thing she wore boots today, but she always forgets how much colder it is outside the city, and her black jean jacket is too thin for the salty air. 

At least it gives her a reason to be trembling slightly as she rings the doorbell. 

Percy's the one who answers. He's flushed, but he's smiling as he pulls open the door, paneled in stained glass, which is a good sign. If something was wrong, he'd know, possibly even before Jason did. 

"Shoes off so Nico doesn't kill me," he says cheerfully, dragging her into a hug once she's inside. "Your baby's just getting dressed. We were thinking we'd have coffee here, then hit the new Thai place downtown, if that's cool with you."

The embrace lingers for a second, and Thalia pretends she doesn't appreciate the warmth. She nods against Percy's shoulder, clears her throat and steps back. 

"Are you making the coffee?" 

"Of course I am." Percy heads for the kitchen while Thalia crouches down to unlace her boots, calling over his shoulder so she can still hear. "I'm only banned from touching the espresso machine before ten in the morning, and it's past noon. Mocha, right? Double shot, half and half?" 

He says it casually, but it's proof that she's not hiding her tension. They're a lot alike in a lot of ways, including their caffeine habits; he knows it'll calm her down, but he also knows she'd rather not admit it. 

"Sounds good," she answers, glad he can't see her smile. 

She leaves her muddy boots by the door and pads into the living room on socked feet. The couch is empty. She can hear new wave music upstairs (probably Nico in his study), movement from Jason and Percy's bedroom just down the hall, and the hissing of steam from the kitchen. 

It's okay. He's okay. He's fine. 

The door to Jason's room opens. She hears the jangling of a collar and her baby brother's sweet, soft voice as he talks to the dog. She can't quite make out the words, but she can tell that she was right; he's nervous. 

She wants to get up and run to him, throw her arms around him and pull him tight and tell him everything will be okay. She forces herself to let him gather whatever courage he needs to, to wait for him to come to her. 

She sees Mrs. O'Leary first, her huge tongue lolling from her mouth as she trots into the living room entryway. Jason follows closely behind, using her to brace his weight. 

No. To brace her weight. 

That's a woman, standing shyly in the doorway with her dog at her side. 

She's tall, with long blonde hair that falls in soft waves over her shoulders. The dress she's wearing is simple, but elegant, made of white fabric patterned in pink and purple roses. Her feet are bare; the dress looks handmade, but shoes are going to be a little trickier for her, as big as she is. 

Her eyes, lined with gray liner and shimmering with pearlescent silver shadow, are wide and lovely and terrified. 

The instant relief is so strong that Thalia bursts out laughing without meaning to. Before her sister (holy shit, she has a sister) can get the wrong idea, Thalia springs to her feet and strides over and hugs her, as tightly as she can. 

"Oh, honey, I thought— you scared the fuck out of me; I thought you were going to tell me something was wrong!" 

All at once, her baby sibling relaxes like a popped balloon. Mostly, anyway; her arms stay where they are, locked tight around Thalia's waist. 

"I don't know why I was nervous about how you'd react. Percy kept telling me it would be okay. I should have listened to him." 

"Rubes, we've been over this. That's your dad's fault, not yours." 

Thalia turns her head. Percy's in the opposite doorway, beaming from ear to ear, a mug in each hand. He looks proud, besotted and a little smug, and for once, she has absolutely no desire to question his ego. 

"Rubes?" 

"She goes by Ruby when she's in Girl Mode," Percy explains, venturing fully into the living room. "Two doubleshot mochas for my favorite pair of sisters." He sets the mugs on coasters to protect the coffee table and heads back into the kitchen, whistling something upbeat and in a major key. 

"Which isn't all the time," Ruby adds, blushing. "I'm trying out 'genderfluid' as a label, but I know for sure I'm nonbinary. I still have Jason days." 

"But sometimes, you have Ruby days, too," Thalia finishes, startled to hear herself choking up a little. She reaches up and gently cups Ruby's cheek. "Which is a beautiful name for my beautiful baby sister." 

"Tell her the rest," Percy calls, over the sounds of making his own coffee. 

Ruby takes Thalia's hand and leads them to the couch, Mrs. O'Leary following obediently beside her. 

Her eyes are misty. Thalia's heart thuds in her chest at the open emotion. 

"Actually, Ruby's my middle name. My first name is Renée, after the best mom a girl could ever ask for." 

The world stops spinning. All that exists is their hands, squeezing tight. 

Up until this moment, Thalia has mostly heard that name spoken in anger. Thalia Renée, are you listening to me? 

This time, this one single utterance, erases all of those memories and leaves behind nothing but joy. 

She breaks down sobbing, beyond any words more complex than I love you, thank you, I'm so happy for you. Ruby indulges all of it, laughing and trembling from what must be a ridiculous amount of left-over adrenaline, never loosening her grip. 

Mrs. O'Leary, bless her, even puts her enormous paw in Thalia's lap as though to console her. Not that she needs consolation; it's just that an emotion this huge can't help but spill over. 

The best mom a girl could ever ask for. 

"I guess I must have done a decent job," she sniffs after a few minutes, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. "I raised a pretty fucking kickass daughter, anyway." 

Ruby (it suits her; elegant and ladylike and vibrant) just beams back at her, still holding her hand. 

[spooke-mon]

um. ray, why are you banned from the nimbasa city subway.

OK SO LIKE. a whole lot of things went wrong all at once-

I was taking the train to get to my (at the time) girlfriend's house and it was her birthday so i had illegal fireworks obviously. I made them myself and was very proud to show her because she loves fireworks and we were gonna set em off in the middle of fuckoff nowhere anville town Yknow for her birthday. just keep this bit in mind it's important i swear.

I also like tinkering with cool tech to put Sparx in, and sometimes i let him choose what to possess. he was DEAD SET on this toaster, and I wasn't going to stop him yknow? because he's my buddy, and I also really like toast. So he was in the toaster, getting a feel before we would brainstorm any changes to make to it together. Frankly i was thinking about making it run doom but he thought it was too on the nose. I don't care, it was for the bit.

UM and he was in my bag because the train station is really busy and he doesn't like people, and i guess some of the fireworks ended up In The Sparx Toaster, and I got onto the train car and someone pushed me and i dropped my bag and sparx rolled out of the bag and he got scared and that's why i'm not allowed in the nimbasa subway station anymore.