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dream-a-little-bigger-x · 4 years ago

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Quarantine Lovers (Part Two) | Charlie Gillespie

Part 2 in the “Life in Quarantine with Charlie” / “Quarantine Lovers” series! You can find part 1 HERE!! Hope you like this!

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader

Warnings: Implication of sex, more sexually tinted scenes

A/N: I used some songs in this one too, none of which are mine. Full credit for those go to the creators of the songs!

How Can I Say No To This?

So far, quarantine with Charlie has been a blast. Though things are scary and you both get a little anxious at times, you still have each other, and for now, that’s all that counts. It’s all you have. But it’s more than enough.

One day, when Charlie has back-to-back interviews, you -- being bored as hell -- figured it would be fun to surprise Charlie and you knew exactly how. There was only one person you could call to help you with it. Tori Caro. The two of you had talked on FaceTime before when Charlie had a bit of a reunion over Zoom with all of them and all of them wanted to meet you after Madi, Owen and Jeremy told everyone about you.

“Hey, girl!” you greet when the girl appears on your phone screen. “Hey, Peaches!” she greets back, her smile nearly reaching her ears. “What’s up?” She settles herself onto her bed, leaning against the bedframe whilst holding her phone up to her face.

“I am extremely bored and Charlie’s doing interviews all day, but I kind of had the idea to surprise him, which I need your help for.” Her eyebrows raise in intrigue. “Do spill.” You place your phone on the coffee table, letting it balance against a glass of water.

“I want you to teach me Madi’s part of the choreo to Perfect Harmony, so when we listen to music while cooking tonight, I might be able to surprise him by doing the dance with him?” You explain, then laugh at yourself. “That sounds lame, doesn’t it?”

“What? No! Not at all! I think it’s cute! I’ll definitely help you!” And with that said, the two of you spend about an hour teaching the choreography. “I bet he’s going to be extremely surprised by this, Y/N!” You giggle at her compliment, panting a little from the exertion.

“Thanks, Tori!” You say when you hear the door to the studio/office open. You quickly take a seat on the sofa, grabbing your phone with you and sipping from the glass of water.

“Please, film it when you do it!” she tells you, and you just simply nod vigorously. When Charlie enters the living room, you look up, offering him a smile.

“Who are you talking to?” he asks with a smile before sitting down next to you and glancing at the screen himself. “Tori!” he exclaims excitedly, his face lighting up entirely.

“Charlie!” Tori retorts, matching his level of enthusiasm. “How were interviews?” He wraps an arm around you as you lean further into his body, a habit you’ve accumulated over the course of being together.

“Great! We’ve played a couple games as well. It was good fun!” He explains. Though there’s a smile on his face, you can tell he’s tired and would rather curl up on the sofa with you.

“Hey, Tori. We’re gonna go, start on dinner and stuff,” you tell her, to which she shoots you a knowing look. “Thanks for helping me out.”

“Helping you out with what?” Charlie asks, his fingers trailing up and down your arm.

“Uhm… She helped me pick an outfit for our date tomorrow,” you lie. It’s a plausible lie. Ever since getting to know Charlie’s friends and cast members, you’ve been calling or texting the girls from the cast to ask for help with stuff like that.

“Aw, that’s cute!” he says with that same, excited, beaming smile on his face. “You could come in pj’s for all I care, and you’d still look gorgeous to me.” Tori pouts at this, and awes loudly.

“Alright, we’re gonna go and make dinner,” you say, patting Charlie’s thigh twice. “See ya, Tori!” You offer her a wave and the brightest of your smiles, Charlie doing the exact same.

“Bye, Peaches!” You hang up the phone and get up from the sofa, turning to Charlie and reaching your hands out to help him up.

“Do we have to cook? Can’t we order something?” he whines, placing his hands in yours. You pull him up to his feet, but don’t really move, causing there to be no space between you.

“We’ve ordered last night,” you remind him and lace your fingers with his. “Besides, I already bought everything from the shops!” He widens his eyes, faking shock. “Yes, I went to the frontlines, to the most dangerous place on earth at the moment!” You retort dramatically before a giggle escapes you. Charlie lets out an airy laugh before dipping down and kissing you on the lips.

“Alright, let’s get cooking!” He leads you towards the kitchen and starts grabbing everything the two of you need whilst you turn on the music. You’ve made a lockdown playlist together with all of your favorite songs, including the entire Julie and The Phantoms soundtrack, which is what it starts with; Now or Never. You quickly queue up a couple other songs before adding Perfect Harmony to that list too. The two of you sing along softly at first, until the chorus hit and you’re belting the lyrics at the top of your lungs. This has occurred a few times during lockdown already; the sing-and-dance-along parties in your pj’s or during cooking.

By the time your pasta is cooking and still has about five minutes left, Perfect Harmony chimes through the speakers. Now’s your time to surprise him.

“Step into my world Bittersweet love story 'bout a girl Shook me to the core Voice like an angel I've never heard before”

You turn him around and grab his hands, doing the choreography Tori has taught you today. He’s surprised, but dances along as if on automatic.

“Here in front of me They're shining so much brighter Than I have ever seen Life can be so mean But when he goes, I know he doesn't leave”

You push him away to the living room where he has a little more space to do the floor work he did on the show, and does it flawlessly.

“The truth is finally breaking through Two worlds collide when I'm with you Our voices rise and soar so high We come to life when we're In perfect harmony”

He picks you up into the lift with ease, as though you’re as light as a feather.

“Whoa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa Perfect harmony”

He looks at you in pure surprise and delight, softly singing the lyrics along with the audio.

“Whoa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa Perfect harmony”

“Is that what Tori actually helped you with?” he asks when you reach the part without choreography since the song was cut shorter in the show. He’s still holding onto your hands.

“Yup,” you reply with a cheesy smile. “I was bored and wanted to learn that dance anyway since you and Madi made it look so cool on the show… Plus, I wanted to surprise you after your long day of interviews.” A tender chuckle erupts from his mouth as he shakes his head in disbelief.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he kisses your knuckles before turning you around, so you’re with your back pressed against his chest, and throws your hands up, continuing the choreo.

“We say we're friends we play pretend You're more to me we create Perfect harmony”

He twirls you out and away from him until you reach the wall you carefully place your hands onto to stop yourself.

“That’s such a fun choreo,” you say as you turn back to the pasta to check how it’s doing.

“Yeah, I know,” he agrees whilst walking up to you and wrapping his arms around your waist from behind. “Can I tell you a secret?” he whispers in your ear, then presses a kiss underneath it.

“Of course,” you whisper back, trying to keep your composure.

“I like dancing with you better than with Madi,” he lets out a giggle after, and it’s the cutest thing you ever did hear. “Don’t tell her.” You turn around, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him on the mouth softly.

“My lips are sealed,” you say and kiss him once again. “With a kiss.” He plants his lips on yours again, for a longer, more passionate kiss this time. “Time for dinner,” you mumble against his lips.

“I prefer starting with dessert,” he says. You giggle at his comeback, and squeal when he picks you up and brings you to the living room.

“Charlie!” you protest, detaching your lips, “At least let me put the food off the stove so it doesn’t burn?” He retraces his steps backwards, and plops you back on your feet, so you can take care of the food. “All right, we’re good to go,” you say as you turn to him. “Catch me.” With no time left to think, you jump into his arms, wrapping your legs around his waist as you resume the passionate kiss from before. For once, you don’t mind starting with dessert before dinner. You’ve been bored all day without him, the least he could do is make it up to you… In bed…

“People are asking to go live on Insta,” you tell Charlie when the two of you are back in the kitchen, heating up the food you’d left out. You didn’t even bother to put proper clothes on. You just grabbed the closest thing you found, which is Charlie’s Canada sweatshirt.

“Yeah, sure, we could eat whilst chatting to them…” he says, grabbing two plates. After being introduced to the rest of the cast, you’ve been interacting with them a lot more on social media, and -- along with Madi’s blabbing in interviews about Charlie’s secret quarantine partner-- the fans have figured out it was you. And that the two of you are, in fact dating. Especially since Meghan, Charlie’s sister, couldn’t help but jokingly call you ‘sister-in-law’ when commenting on one of your pictures on Instagram.

Charlie hands you his phone for you to set up the live whilst he grabs dinner from the microwave.

“Okay, we’re live!” you exclaim when Charlie hands you the plate and a fork. “Thank, babe.” He takes a seat next to you on the couch and sets his plate on his lap.

“Hello, people!” He greets the now about 1k people watching the live. You watch as a dozen of comments yell back at you that the two of you ‘definitely just had sex!’, and can’t help but giggle at that. “Do you guys have any questions for us?”

At the same time, Alexander Hamilton from the musical Hamilton starts playing through the speakers. You’d forgotten to turn the music off, but it’s quite nice having background noise all the time.

You gasp, capturing Charlie’s attention, and start singing along flawlessly.

“The ten-dollar founding father without a father Got a lot farther by working a lot harder By being a lot smarter By being a self-starter By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter”

Charlie looks at you with a surprised smirk on his face while the comments about Hamilton start streaming in, neither of you paying attention.

“And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away Across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter”

You smile down at your boyfriend as he simply watches you in admiration while stuffing his mouth with pasta.

“Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain”

The song goes on, but you turn to the phone to see what everyone’s been saying. You laugh when your eyes catch a comment.

“Someone said ‘Get someone who looks at you the same way Charlie looks at Y/N’.” Others asked if you could do the rap from Guns & Ships, to which you replied with a determined “Yes! And Satisfied too!”

“We’ve watched the movie on Disney Plus about a dozen times. Of course she knows it!” Charlie adds after swallowing his pasta. “Now eat your pasta before it gets cold!” You comply and eat your food whilst answering some of the questions here and there. Some of them are about Julie and The Phantoms, which Charlie answers, and others are about your relationship. Most of them want to know how you two met and how lockdown is going for you guys. All of which you answer very honestly, chiming in to add something when the other’s answering.

“Ooh! Tori’s here!” you notice, “Hi, Tori! I’m sorry I didn’t film the surprise!” Tori comments, ‘BOO!’ in all caps, which makes you chuckle. And then all the questions about the surprise started flooding in. “Tori taught me the Perfect Harmony dance, and I surprised him with it when we were making dinner.”

Everyone’s telling you to do it again, including Tori, so, you obey and put the song on again, showing what you did earlier that evening.

“AMAZING!” Tori comments with a bunch of hearts plastered behind it. Some other fans comment something along those lines as well, others tell you they liked it better with Madi, but the bigger part of the comments tell you they think otherwise.

Then, a One Direction starts to play, and you can’t help but sing and dance along from the couch, which gives you an idea.

“Babe!” you exclaim, gripping his bicep, “We should show them what we do in Quarantine when we’re cooking meals!” Charlie chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. “Yes! Come on!” You turn to the phone again. “Guys! Tell Charlie we have to show you what we do whenever we need a break from work or we’re cooking together!” Comments flood into the box at a fast speed, all of them saying “DO IT CHARLIE!”.

So, with a groan, he gets up from the couch, taking the phone with him and placing it a bit higher, so you’re both in shot completely.

“But I need you guys to vibe along, okay?” Comments of assent pile in, and Charlie turns the volume up a little whilst you get up too. The both of you start singing and dancing along to the One Direction song, knowing everyone at home is dancing with you. After that song, Dead Girl Walking from the Heathers musical starts playing.

“Oh! Where are my Heathers fans?!” you ask the audience, glancing at the phone for all the Heathers comments to come in. “I saw the West End version when I was in London in 2018!” You tell them, and Charlie, though he knows that.

“Yeah, I know, babe,” he tells you with a smile before you turn back to him, standing in front of him with barely any space between you. He towers over you, like he always does, and it would normally get you weak in the knees, but not this time. Not with this song playing.

“Ssh…” You press your finger to his lips, a teasing smirk tugging at your lips.

“Had to see you hope I didn’t wake you See I decided I must ride you ‘til I break you”

You wiggle your eyebrows, both of you knowing that already happened earlier.

“‘Cause Heather says I gots to go You’re my last meal on death row Shut your mouth And lose them tighty-whities!”

Charlie knew you could sing, but he had no clue you could hit notes this high.

“Come on! Tonight I'm yours I'm your dead girl walkin' Get on all fours Kiss this dead girl walkin' Let's go, you know the drill I'm hot and pissed and on the pill Bow down to the will of a dead girl walking!”

You see Charlie swallow visibly, glancing nervously at the phone filming all of this and decide to stop before he completely melts down into a puddle of sweat. Now or Never begins to play when you skip to the next song.

Charlie’s demeanor suddenly changes and fully starts rocking out now, forgetting anything just happened mere seconds ago. You follow his example and start jumping around like a hyper rabbit.

“When all the days felt black and white those were the best shades of my life!”

You throw your hands up in the air at this, stopping the jumping. “That’s my favorite line ever!” you exclaim loudly, making sure the viewers hear too.

Comments of agreement flash onto the screen as you and Charlie lapse into the bridge.

The next song is one of your favorite Hamilton songs to belt; Say No To This. Though not your favorite scene from the musical, it is still one of your favorite songs.

“You know this one, baby!” You say to Charlie.

“No, I can’t, I can’t do--” he cuts himself off and starts singing along with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“That’s when miss Mariah Reynolds walked into my life, she said,” he points at you, telling you to take over.

“I know you are a man of honor I'm so sorry to bother you at home But I don't know where to go, and I came here all alone”

“She said”

“My husband's doin' me wrong Beatin' me, cheatin' me, mistreatin' me Suddenly he's up and gone I don't have the means to go on”

He struggles with the next line, not knowing the musical quite as well as you do.

“You're too kind, sir,” you sing anyway with a smile on your face. He does know the next line.

“I gave her thirty bucks that I had socked away She lived a block away, she said”

“This one's mine, sir”

You try your best to imitate Jasmine Cephas-Jones’ husky, warm tone.

“Then I said, "Well, I should head back home She turned red, she led me to her bed Let her legs spread and said”

“Stay”

“Hey”

Then both of you started to sway back and forth, twirling around the living room, singing along to the ‘no’s and ‘go’s from the ensemble.

“Ooh! This is my favorite part!” you say excitedly, preparing yourself for the belts.

“No, sir”

“Half dressed, apologetic, a mess, she looked pathetic, she cried”

“Please don't go, sir”

“So was your whole story a setup?”

“I don't know about any letter”

“Stop crying God dammit, get up”

“I didn't know any better”

“I am ruined”

“Please don't leave me with him, helpless”

“I am helpless, how could I do this?”

“Just give him what he wants and you can have me”

“I don't want you, I don't want you”

“Whatever you want, if you pay You can stay”

You grasp Charlie’s bicep as a support to keep your balance while you throw your head back to belt out the note. This shuts Charlie up entirely, impressed with your singing abilities.

“I knew you could sing, but damn, babe, you got pipes!” He turns to the phone where fans voice their impression and awe, complimenting your voice.

Connecting with Charlie’s fans and doing things like this with Charlie is literally one of your favorite things you’ve ever done. There’s nothing better than rocking out with a bunch of friends, even if you don’t see 2k of them.

“Alright, guys,” Charlie says, turning down the volume after a few more songs, “We’re gonna go.” He wraps his arms around your waist from behind, placing his chin on your shoulder to peer at the screen. “Thank you for jamming out with us today! We’ll see you later!” You offer a smile and a wave before ending the livestream.

“That was fun!” You exclaim excitedly, bouncing up and down as you make sure to save the video onto his IGTV. Charlie turns you around, placing his hands on your hips and pressing a kiss to your forehead. When you’re done, you lock his phone and put it into his pocket, looking up at him with a happy smile on your face.

“Can you hit that last note again?” he asks with hope in his eyes.

“That gets you going, doesn’t it?” You wiggle your eyebrows as a teasing smirk creeps onto your face. He bites his bottom lip, which to be fair, gets you going. So, you cough and place your hands under his biceps on his ribcage, gripping at his shirt tightly. “Just give him what he wants and you can have me. Whatever you want, if you pay, you can stay!”

“We ought to get you on season two,” he whispers before crashing his lips onto yours for a passionate kiss that leads you straight to the bedroom again.

“How can I say no to this?” You mumble against his lips cheekily.

This lockdown and quarantine thing isn’t as bad as you thought it would be. If you’ve got Charlie by your side, you’re good to do anything.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg @thequirkybookaholic @bookdealer5 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @hemmingsness @iainttakingshitfromnobody @ifilwtmfc @angryknightstatesmantrash @kiss-themoongoodbye @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @gingerxarmy @lovesanimals @lolychu @perfectlywrongformend3s @luckylouiebug

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soundrooms · 3 years ago

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Soundrs: William Fields

My name is William Fields. I live in Arden, Delaware, just south of Philadelphia on the East Coast of the USA. I make non-functional, future-oriented electronic music.

My newest album is ➜ Bokuseki My 24-hour algorithmic music project is ➜ FieldsOS My website is ➜ https://williamfields.com/ On social media:

➜ Twitter

➜ Instagram Why do you make music? I played the drums for a bit as a kid, but otherwise I am self-taught. I grew up listening to a lot of different music, but hiphop was a big part of it. I discovered electronic music in high school and was hooked for life. For some reason it resonates with my brain. On a fundamental level, I suppose I make music because I enjoy the process and because the results are rewarding. Music provides me with an endless source of learning and exploration and problems to solve. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride. And maybe in some small way, it’s given me an opportunity to inspire others and leave the world a little better than I found it. On a practical level, music has given me the opportunity to connect with really great people around the world and to travel occasionally for shows, which adds some adventure and excitement to my life. What are your inspiration sources? Rhythm: Photek, Squarepusher, Untold, Rian Treanor, Mark Fell, Kindohm Sonics: Autechre, Drum and bass (Noisia & friends) Groove: J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Aoki Takamasa Improvisation: Jazz, Indian Classical Ideas: Brian Eno, John Cage, Thich Nhat Hanh, Yuval Noah Harari, Austin Kleon, George Saunders, Haruki Murakami, various podcasts, my good friend Qebo. Tell us something about your workflow. I am always working on my music system (my “instrument”): adding features, removing features, adjusting algorithms, refining, tweaking, etc. You could think of my system as a huge, complex modular patch with hundreds of modules, that has a nice UI, full generative capabilities, and easy state management, but at a tiny fraction of the cost and it fits in my backpack. I ♥ Computers In the process of working on my system, I will occasionally feel inspired by something, so I will hit record and improvise. Most of these improvisations are crap and get thrown away. But, occasionally something magical happens, and those recordings end up getting released. If I know I have a release coming up, I will sometimes have dedicated recording sessions. Some of my favorite releases (like Shackamaxon) have been recorded in the course of a single day. How would creative rituals benefit your workflow? Good question. I don’t practice any creative rituals. But, I’m pretty sure going for a vigorous walk beforehand is a good idea. Gets the blood flowing to the brain.

How do you get in the zone? It usually takes me around fifteen minutes before things really start flowing. So the first few tracks of a session tend to be stiff and self-conscious. In a stressful live performance situation, I’ve found that a little bit of tequila helps! How do you start a track? These days, my tracks tend to start with a snapshot that is algorithmically generated by my music system. It is much better at finding interesting musical spaces than I am. So, I will sit there and hit the randomize button until something inspiring comes out. Then I will hit record and improvise with it. I also keep a collection of interesting snapshots that I can load at random. So sometimes I will flip through those until I find something good and improvise based on that. Do you have a special template? Yes! I never start from a blank slate. The template is everything. It is my instrument. It has been burned into my muscle memory. I can control the music without thinking about it. I have been working on it since 2012. The fundamental structure is: LEMUR (controller) ➜ Javascript (for state generation/capture/recall) ➜ REAPER (sequencing, synthesis, fx) REAPER is the core of my music system. It is where the sequences are generated, the synthesis is done, and the FX are applied.

The visuals are generated in real time, triggered by the music via MIDI. So there is very tight correlation between audio and visual events. I am not using audio analysis. The visuals are done in Javascript, running in Chromium. I use Visual Studio Code for development.

For the visuals I am mainly using three.js. Thank you Mr. Doob! On the music side, I am hugely indebted to Justin Frankel (REAPER) and the Surge Synth Team. What I do would not be possible without their amazing work. What do you put on the master channel? I try to put as little as possible on the master channel. I have some metering stuff like a spectrum analyzer, an oscilloscope, a goniometer, and a loudness meter. Other than that, the only thing is a waveshaper. It adds saturation, glues everything together nicely, and tames the peaks without reducing the impact of the transients. I’m not sure of the technical term, but it’s a special kind of waveshaper that folds over the waveform when it hits 0 dbFS instead of flat-topping it. How do you arrange and finish a track? I perform and record the music in real time to a single stereo pair. I don’t do any arrangement, layering, or multi-track editing after the fact. How do you store and organize your projects? When I record something, it goes onto the desktop and on to my phone. When I listen back to it later, if it has potential for release, I put it in a “Release Candidates” folder. Otherwise I throw it in the archive, probably never to be heard again. When it’s time to compile a release, I go through the “Release Candidates” folder and pick out my favorite stuff.

How do you take care of studio ergonomics? I work in software, so my physical studio setup is very minimal. I have a motorized standing desk, so I can easily switch between sitting and standing. Tell us something about your daily routine, how is your day structured, how do you make room for creativity? I work at a day job four days a week to make a living. I have Fridays off and focus on music. I’ve found that mornings are best for detail-oriented tasks like programming and critical listening related to the mix/mastering of my system. Afternoons seem to be best for improvising and recording. Sometimes I wonder if all this music stuff is just an elaborate excuse for me to play with computers. Having said that, I am always thinking about music, listening back to recordings, taking notes on my phone, and making small adjustments throughout the week. I don’t need a big chunk of time. I am able to work in small bits here and there. Also, sometimes while working my day job I set my system to auto-generate new music every thirty seconds. Occasionally something really good will happen and I’ll run over to my computer and hit “Save” so I can perform with it later. Share a quick producing tip. (1) Don’t start from scratch every time! Build your instrument. Practice with it. Develop your muscle memory so it becomes fast and intuitive. This approach helps you to develop your own voice, and it’s much more fun than laboring over a DAW for endless hours until you hate your own music! (2) Always level match when doing A/B comparisons. If a plugin is increasing gain by as little as 0.1 db, it will sound better to your ear, even if it is actually damaging the sound. (3) Process as close to the source as possible. Instead of putting it on the master, put it on a bus. Instead of putting it on a bus, put it directly on the track. Instead of processing the track, fix it directly in the synthesis. Share a link to an interesting website (doesn’t have to be music related). I just discovered the Solarpunk movement and I think it’s really inspiring. Here’s the ➜ Solarpunk manifesto. List ten sounds you are hearing right this moment : ) Cicadas Airplanes Cars in the distance Computer keyboard clacking as I type My own breathing That’s all I got. The cicadas are too loud!

Thank you William! Any other mad sound scientists out there?

#soundrs #william fields #interview #workflow #inspiration #creativity #music #musician #electronic music #generative music

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evera6234 · 4 years ago

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Gotham’s Salty WIP: Chapter II

CHAPTER I

RATING: T (Teen for cursing and stuff, this may change)

SUMMARY:

Basically, the typical Daminette with a bit of lime and spice. Borderline crack fic bc i cant without humor.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng goes to Gotham whilst carrying three years worth of emotional baggage, what she does with it, we don't know. Does she lug it around? Probably. Does she kick it off a skyscraper? Not probable, but maybe. Does she use it to drop kick an unsuspecting liar. Most definitely. ~~~> EDITED BY OLLIETHETURTLE ON AO3

Transferred from AO3.

Lemme know if u wanna be tagged

“Yeah, your signatures don’t line up…” says the man at the front desk. “You said your name was… Lila Rossi, right? I’m looking for a... Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

“Present,” an amused Marinette announces.

“No! There must have been a mistake. I personally talked to Brucie and his 4 sons, Jason Grayson, Tim Todd, Dick Drake and my precious Damibear!”

“Yeah no. That 100% didn’t happen. 100%,” the somewhat peeved front desk attendant grins.

“How dare you talk to Lila like that! What’s your name? Give me your manager's number!” Alya fumes in a french accent (A/N: total karen moment intentionally placed).

“My name is Andrew Winston, and my supervisor….”

“Hey Andrew, what’s poppin!” says a voice. After observation one could say that said voice comes from a tall muscular man, with a white streak in his hair, wearing a leather jacket.

“My blood vessels, Jason. My blood vessels. Why are you here? You weren’t supposed to be here today.”

“Yeah, Dick broke his arm yesterday at home. He fell down the stairs. And since I am such an amazing brother, I decided that I would fill in for him today!”

“You were forced,” concludes Andrew as he scratches out Lila’s name off the previously mentioned thicc stack of papers with a black marker.

“Yup.”

“This is the class you are supposed to caddy around WE. And they seem to be a bit peeved right now.”

Jason sighs, “Ok. what’s the issue…”

“They are saying that Lila Rossi, here” Andrew points to Lila, then looks down at his notes “says she spoke to a Brucie, a Jason Grayson, a Tim Todd, a Dick Drake and her precious Damibear to set up this field trip. My info here says that a girl named Marinette Dupain-Cheng set this trip up but they don’t believe me.” Andrew nonchalantly continues “Speaking of which, Marinette please sign on all the starred lines. Lila and her friend already filled out everything else.”

“Tim Todd!” Jason chokes.

¬`

The tour had slowed down in the corridors of Wayne Enterprises as Jason let the students go on a quick bathroom and water break. Lila had left for the bathroom, and it is safe to say that Marinette learnt her lesson to avoid bathroom confrontations with Lila. They were never fun, and right now she doesn’t think she can handle a wet shirt in winter.

“Really, Marinette. You take credit for all of Lila’s hard work,” says Kim passing by.

“Do you have any idea how hard Lila worked on this, and you know she hardly has any time to spare.” Max pitches in.

“Yeah. Lila worked so fucking hard concocting the names Jason Grayson, Tim Todd and Dick Drake. Sounds like the revamped cast to The Three Stooges,” Chloe crackles giggling.

“I sure wonder how Tim Todd and Jason Grayson are today? Are they well?” Marinette questions sarcastically.

“Absolutely fucking amazing after hearing that!” Jason wheezes, overhearing the conversation. Jason gave Marinette a knowing look that confirmed an earlier inference. This Jason was Jason Todd. This was priceless.

Adrien’s eyes narrow on his angered face. “What was she doing.” “She promised to take the high road.” “She only needs me, I’m her best friend.” He watched the situation from a distance, unnoticed by Marinette. But as sly he is, he did not slip Jason’s radar.

“So y’all, 1:30pm. That means, Lunch time! Right and you’ll be at the cafeteria, I’ll be joining you guy in about 15 minutes. So fuel up. Remember to show your IDs, lunch is on the house! Bon appetit!” Jason cheerfully announced as bows dramatically (like actors at the end of a play) and he turns around.

A bit into lunch Mrs. Bustier came up to Marinette and Chloe’s table. “Marinette, can I talk to you?” asks Mrs. Bustier.

“Can I come too, Mrs. Bustier?” asks Chloe suspiciously

“No, Chloe. This is just in between Marinette and I, sorry.” Mrs. Bustier replies sternly.

“It’s okay, Chloe. I’ll be fine,” reassured the ladybug holder, squeezing the bee holder’s hand.

“Ok, fine. Let me know if something happens.” Then Chloe leans in to whisper to Marinette, “Audio record it, just in case.” Marinette nods.

“Ok, Mrs. Bustier. I’m coming!” replies the bluenette happily as she follows Mrs. Bustier away from the crowd.

Adrien, from his table with Nino, Alya and Lila watched, “Hey guys, I need to go to the bathroom,” he said before standing up.

“Marinette you should be setting an example for the class. What you did today, making fun of Lila was wrong,” Mrs. Bustier frowned. “You of all people know Lila's condition and you should be more accepting of her.” Disappointed, Mrs. Bustier continues, “I expect you to apologize to her before we head back to the hotel.”

“With all respect, no thank you. I will not apologize for my actions,” Marinette sternly begins. “Does the school have any medical record of her illness?” Marinette asks. “Why should I allow her to take credit for my hard work? And why do I have to be the model student who is obligated to be kind to everyone, when no one ever is to me?” Marinette, now more frustrated than before, questions the teacher. She felt a storm of emotion begin to stir.

“Because you are the class representative! It is your responsibility to lead the class with your example! Lila is a student with needs, she needs to feel accepted by all her classmates and it is your job to fulfill her needs.”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Bustier, but sometimes I can’t shove a square in a circle. Sometimes I can’t do things. Lila is lying, and I can’t lie with her. I will not lie.i will not pretend to like her. And why must I be responsible for all the students in class, but receive no respect for it. Receive nothing but hate and insults. How is that fair for me?” Tears begin to collect in Marinette’s eyes. Mrs. Bustier, for the longest time, has been one of Marinette’s favourite teachers. The fact that right now Mrs. Bustier, couldn’t give less of a shit about her feeling hurt.

“I understand but what about Lila’s feelings? I cannot let you bully Lila. You are being selfish right now, I never thought you could act like this. I am disappointed in you.” Mrs. Bustier finishes as she walks away.

“What about MY feelings. What about me, what’s so wrong with me being selfish every once in a while. Have you ever looked into my family’s bullying complaints against Lila? What about me?” Marinette cries desperately, as Mrs. Bustier walks away. “Why is everyone ignoring me?”

“The real question here is, why are you ignoring me?” growled a voice from behind Marinette. “I thought you promised me to take the high road.” Marinette’s eyes widen as she realizes who’s talking to her.

“I never promised, Adrien. Not once. I can’t keep silent and alone for longer.”

“You are not alone, you have me. And I even LET you talk with Chloe.”

“Yes, I have Chloe and thank you your majesty for letting me communicate with another human being. And no, Adrien I do not have you,” Marinette raises her voice. “Lila has you, you only talk to me in secret. You let Lila lie, you let her hang off your pretty model arms when she wills. You are and were never on my side.”

“So you really are jealous?”

Marinette, delirious with anger frustration, her voice laced with contempt, “No, never.”

He looks down at Marinette and smiles “Stop lying Marinette.”

“I’m not.” Adrien looks back at Marinette, as if he knows something as he too stalks away. “I’M NOT!” Marinette yells.

“So she said that she talked to Brucie, Jason Grayson, Tim Todd, a Dick Drake and her precious Damibear!” Jason nearly on his side from laughing too hard.

“DAMIBEAR!” Tim howled in laughter, with his hands wrapped around his torso to somehow hold his ribcage together. Both brother’s are laughing their asses off in Tim’s office.

“I KNOW!”

“Are we gonna tell him?” Tim begins to ask before he interrupts himself, “No! We are not. What we are going to do is call him that and let him figure it out, sooner or later he will meet the class and when he does…”

Jason let the scenario Tim described play in his head, “YES! You now speak my wavelength, to be honest maybe Lila wasn’t lying. You may be a Todd.”

“No fucking way am I one. By the way, you should check on the class, how long has it been since you left them?”

“Shit! Twenty minutes! Farewell, dear Replacement.”

“Have fun, report back on any juicy lies, specifically ones about sweet baby Damibear or even Brucie.”

“What the fuck was that?” thought Jason as he heard two people arguing in a secluded hallway, “Marinette?” he thought when he saw the girl, immediately putting a name to the face. But he didn’t know the boy. Jason whipped out his phone and quickly took a picture of the situation, making sure to get a clear shot of the boy’s face. For research purposes.

Gunz Blazin: Hey Tim Todd

Gunz Blazin: Can you gimme a background check for this guy

(*attaches a cropped image of the mystery boy’s face*)

Boy Wonder: ???Tim Todd???

Replacement: I gotchu fam.

Boy Wonder: ???fam???

Boy Wonder: ???

Boy Wonder: Can I be a Todd too

Replacement: No you're a Drake

Jason heard a voice coming from behind him, “That’s Adrien Agreste.”

Jason turns his head to look at the boy again and hears more of the conversation. He turns back and she’s a tall-ish blonde girl with blue eyes. “You are? Marinette’s friend?”

“Yes.”

“And he is not Marinette’s friend?”

“He absolutely is not Marinette’s friend. He’s the ass-hat who thinks he owns Marinette. Are you SURE I can’t punch him in the face?”

“Yes.”

“What if I just break his nose a little.” (Requested by Ollietheturtle, my new dear editor)

“As an employee of Wayne Enterprises, I’m supposed to say no, but in all honestly I kinda wanna do that myself…”

TAG LIST: @jeminiikrystal @demonicbusiness @i-am-ironic @woe-is-me0 @miracleofadisaster @clumsy-owl-4178 @onmywaytoloveyou

#daminette #dcu x mlb #class salt #adrien salt #lila salt #alya salt #maribat #Marinette deserves better #dc x miraculous #chloe redemption #we love chloe in this house #cross posted on ao3 #ozmav #ml salt #damian x marinette

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neoheros · 5 years ago

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how would haikyuu boys handle falling for someone out of their league? feat. kuroo tetsuro + iwaizumi hajime

kuroo tetsuro

the way i see it, if kuroo is crushing on anybody it’ll most likely be on someone he’s either been close to for a while now or someone who’s really caught his attention in a big boom bam kind of way

when it came to you, it was a mix of both

he knew you from class but never really talked to you since there wasn’t any reason to

but then one 2 am ramen venture in the nearest 7/11 later, the two of you officially met

it was so weird for you to see a classmate in the same convenient store at 2 in the morning buying hot patches and gatorade

you: so are you a really energetic murderer or is that for the volleyball thing

kuroo: somewhere along both but i keep the volleyball part a secret

kuroo was certain that the minute those words came out of your mouth he was GONE

a one way ticket to having the fattest crush on you

he only wanted to get something for the cold since he couldn’t fall asleep and instead he’s met someone from class who’s way too cute in pajamas with yakult and ramen on hand

kuroo: i’ve never had that kind of ramen before

you: if you don’t murder me then i’ll share

kuroo, smiling: you took out the best part

you: i am the best part

after that night, kuroo’s pretty sure that you singlehandedly derailed his thoughts and emotions in a snap

he’d see you wave at him in the halls and sometimes when he’s not too busy you’d let him sit with you at lunch

it was definitely weird to be friends with him since he’s never really talked to you before but the day you two exchanged numbers and the first thing he sent you was a tiktok, you knew how much you’d like being close to him

you’d spent nights on end facetiming or sending each other funny links and tiktoks and it always felt like you could talk about anything

lots of repeats of 2 am in the same 7/11 spot where you two had your first encounter and each time it’s just get more and more memorable

kuroo: the more i see you, the more tired you look

you: i told my aunt who has a modeling agency about you ❤️ she said no 😌

you two became best friends in no time and even though you told him countless times how much you hated the smell of sweat and getting hit in the face by a ball you never failed to attend all his practices and matches

kenma: are you two dating

kuroo: no

kenma: are you lying

kuroo, sighing: i wish :/

when kenma pointed out the obvious that you two should be dating, he was just hit with an overwhelming feeling in his chest

he thought about it and honestly? the more he did the more he felt like he didn’t have a shot

you were so nice and kind, the teacher’s go to when they need help, and he’s basically seen you turn down 2 guys in the midst of walking home together

yaku: we know you’re lame and stuff but shoot your shot y’know

kuroo: how am i friends with you

so one day he decides that he’s just had about enough from staring at you from afar !!! he’s gonna try his luck and if he strikes out then so be it

it was 3 in the afternoon and they didn’t have practice so he asked you to come over— which at this point, something you did every so often

it was chill at first, the two of you watching a movie in the living room together but then he gets up from his seat

a goofy smile on his face as he says, “let’s make a tiktok,”

you’re confused but you agree nonetheless

the two of you have made tiktoks in the past but they usually stayed in the drafts because you never could get past one without breaking into laughter

he never told you the sound or what tiktok to make but as he put his phone against the kitchen cupboard a smile immediately broke into your face

you look at him and he’s anxious which by nature also made you anxious

the audio played and you really didn’t recognize it, you curse yourself for being so out of loop in the latest fyp trends

he stares at the camera as the song played and you’re unsure of what to do except laugh

he turns to you when the beat drops, and your smile becomes nervous with confused eyes

you are out of my league

he mouths along with the song, the smile on his face matching yours as you let out a brighter grin

you realize what he just said and you laugh, softly hitting his arm, “i am not!”

he pulls you into a hug as the video played, the song looping in the process

he’s laughing as he hugs you, “yes, you are.”

you look up at him, pressing a soft quick kiss on his lips and when you pull back, you’re sure he’s got the stupidest grin on his face

kuroo: i can’t believe we had our first kiss on camera

you: i can’t believe i kissed the lamest boy in school

iwaizumi hajime

being friends with iwaizumi immediately means being friends with oikawa too

it’s okay though, you love them both

you forgot when the three of you became that close but at one point in your life, two boys came running around your local playground and hit you with a ball and the rest was history

later on you guys find out that all three of your moms were close also and everything felt like it just clicked yk?

you go to school with them and it’s pretty ditzy how they force you to go to all their volleyball practices and tournaments

you: i don’t want to go

iwaizumi: but we’re not asking you to

oikawa: we’re TELLING you

you’re close to both of them in a level that they’re like your brothers and they knew that

oikawa was really flattered when you mentioned that and he went on and on about how he’s gonna be the best fake brother you can look up to

iwa however ? nah fam he was silent

and (unfortunately for him) oikawa noticed

iwaizumi wasn’t sure why he felt a bit uncomfortable when you told them how you thought of them as family but all he knew was that he had the most bothered look when you said it

oikawa: omfg you’ve got a crush this is so exciting

iwaizumi: a what

it didn’t surprise him that much when his friend told him the possibility of crushing on you because to be honest? it was weird enough to not like you like that

it takes a while for him to get used to the idea but then it clicks and he realizes

all the times he’d take off his jacket in the freezing weather just to give to you

the days when you’d fall asleep on the corner of the gym so he can walk you home

even those annoying 3 am starbucks trip you’d never stop bugging him about until he agrees

now he’s irritated and flustered because all this time when he felt an overwhelming urge to punch the guy that’s been relentlessly hitting on you it was actually because of what he felt about you

oikawa: nope that one was definitely your anger management issues

at this point everyone in the team basically knows about how hard he’s pining even when he’s sure it’s not that obvious?

and it’s true !! he’s really fricken discrete with the entire thing that you feel like he’s physically repulsed by the idea

he had a sharp tongue and he certainly didn’t hold back on comments but whenever you wouldn’t notice, he’d have a soft gaze at you matched with a tiny light red dusting across his face

kunimi and kindaichi had to tell him that if he didn’t do anything about his feelings he’d risk the chance of seeing you date someone else and Boy ! he did Not like that

some guy trying to ask you out: h–hey

iwaizumi, staring them down as he stands next to you:

the guy trying to ask you out: bro nvm lol

you were sick of it !!!!!!!!! even your guy friends were starting to get too scared to be seen with you and you’re just like ?????????

you: stop making my friends too scared to talk to me

iwaizumi, irritated: you said you saw me as an older brother, this is what they do !!

you: when i said that i obviously meant it as a joke ?? brothers are cool not MEAN

iwaizumi: wait what

HE !!!!!! was ecstatic !!! but in his own iwa way so he had to play it cool !!!!

this was it !! he finally had the chance to shoot his shot !!!

so before his confidence could water down, he texted you immediately if you’d be cool with him driving you to school tomorrow

you: omg iwa never offers to do that, thank you sm body snatching alien <3

iwaizumi: due to personal reasons i will be passing away

he arrives at your house at 7 and he’s very nervous because even though he has a plan on what to do, it’s your reaction he didn’t know how to handle

once you got in his car, you were suspiciously quiet and the brim of your nose was oddly coated in a red hue

before he starts to drive, you stop him, a shy smile on your face, one that is easily out favored by your mischievous one

“let’s make a tiktok,” you tell him, and if it was any other time he’d 100% tell you no, but it was 7 in the morning and the sun had just come up and you looked so adorable he just couldn’t resist

he looks aside, softly muttering, “fine.”

you put your phone on the dashboard of his car, softly pressing play as the song started

iwa recognized this song, in fact, he loved this song

he didn’t know much about tiktok but he was very familiar with the ones that oikawa would send him at 4 am

and one of them happened to be this exact trend

his face flushes a dark red as he realizes what you’re about to do and you’ve got a silly grin on your face as you’re looking at him

you are out of my league

you laugh as you mouth it, pointing to him when you looked at the camera again

he playfully rolls his eyes, nudging you a bit to look at him

“you’re so stupid,” he tells you with a smile and you’re still laughing from the song

the rest of the song plays, and he’s got his eyes on you the whole time like !!!!!

you spend the rest of the morning repeating the song over and over again and it’s just you and iwa pointing at each other whenever that specific line comes up it’s 🥺

when you arrive at school, before you unbuckle your seatbelt, he takes your hand and pulls you close, giving you a quick peck on the forehead

you: does this mean you’d finally go with me to starbucks whenever

iwaizumi: no but that’s a nice try ❤️

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snakeymay · 4 years ago

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I really mess up how to edit texts on tumblr, but I hope these skills come in time.

Modern AU: You live with a vinland saga character, as their s/o.

Askeladd

⚔️ He wakes up first, but at the weekends he sleeps till noon.

⚔️ He never has breakfast, only some good coffee.

⚔️ But if you put some effort and make breakfast for him he will think he is blessed.

⚔️ When you do household chores, he likes watching you doing your things and smirking, especially when you bend.

⚔️ He is a simple man, he loves butts.

⚔️ He doesn’t like helping at home, he gets too tired from his job, but if you ask him, Askeladd never refuses.

⚔️ You walk a lot in parks or just wandering through the city.

⚔️ Askeladd is a big chatterbox. But you love his stories, especially when he tells you about his collegues.

⚔️ You often watch history movies. Askeladd always adds some commentary and describes you facts from history. At those moments you just look at him in awe, his eyes shine from enthusiasm. You like him like that.

⚔️ He has high sex drive on Sundays. You always have sex - it is a tradition, more than going to church.

⚔️ He is a gentleman. Buys you expensive gifts, but usually, before it, he teases you a lot.

“ Are you sure you want that necklace? Oh, you look great and without it!”

⚔️ You pout and he laughs “ my girl, don’t react like I do it for the first time”

⚔️ You have a son. He is 4.

⚔️ He looks like Askeladd, especially with his bushy eyebrows and cunning look.

⚔️ But that boy is mommy‘s boy.

⚔️ Askeladd understands it and makes your son feel jealous. He can come and purposely hug you. The boy rushes back to you and tries to separate you and daddy.

⚔️ „ Dad, she is my mom!“

⚔️“ Ow, little thing. And I am your dad, I made you!“

⚔️ The boy embraces you and Askeladd bursts with laugh. He takes the son on his arms and says „ Take care of your mother, ok?“

⚔️ „ I won‘t let you down“

Snake

🐍 Snake has deep dreams so he never hears his alarm clocks in the mornings. But you do. You have to wake up to turn it off and wake Snake up. He is pretty obsinate so this process takes you at least 15 minutes.

🐍 You cook his breakfast. Always.

🐍 Snake is a breadwinner. He is traditional, so he doesn’t like his s/o working. You take care of home and this is enough. He helps you though.

🐍 You ask him to change his job but he refuses.

🐍 As I said, he is stubborn.

🐍 Snake buys alö food you like. He really spoils you.

🐍 You walk your dog out together.

🐍 When he is in a bad mood, he grumbles - you call him Sverkell.

🐍 Now Roald thinks he was too much with that old man.

🐍 Snake had tattoes on his arms. On of them was chosen by you.

🐍 He also has a bike, so when you go for a ride, you sit behind him and embrace his torso.

🐍 Usually he brings you to a coffee shop, you have some coffee and have your time together, enjoying the views of the town you live in.

🐍 „ I wish these moments last a bit longer then they actually do“ he whispers.

🐍 „ Me too“ you smile and peck his bristle covered cheek. He turns to you and kisses your soft lips. You blush and he smirks.

Thorkell

🪓 This man is a big child.

🪓LITERALLY A BIG CHILD.

🪓 Thorkell doesn’t cook or anything in the morning, but he throws rubbish away and walks with 2 of your dogs.

🪓Yet you take care of him.

🪓 Gets happy when you cook pancakes.

🪓 Always demands a kiss before he goes away to work.

🪓 You can‘t reach him so he bends to you or just grabs your waist and raises you to him.

🪓 He makes sloppy kisses ( i said it)

🪓 Sends you messages with memes.

🪓 Always types with mistakes.

🪓 So he mostly sends you audios.

🪓 He picks you up after your job and you go to a restaurant.

🪓 But he still loves your home cooking the most.

🪓 Sometimes he asks his sassy nephew Thorfinn to take care of your son and you go to a hotel, to have rest.

🪓 You know what I mean.

Adult! Thorfinn

🗡 Thorfinn is the most caring. He is a ready husband materials.

🗡 Mostly he cooks beeakfast, and you make dinners together.

🗡He taught you some famous Icelandic dishes. You don’t like them much but you cook them just for him.

🗡 Because you love him.

🗡 Thorfinn is empathic, he always understands what you feel.

🗡 So he is always by your side to support you.

🗡 You live in a big village. You plant some unpretentious greens and he builds some objects in your backyard.

🗡 He made swings for you and your daughter.

🗡 Thorfinn loves hugging you from behind and smell your hair. But your little daughter always comes up and cries: „ I want a hug too, daddy!“

🗡 Yes, she is daddy‘s girl.

🗡 Once in a week you drive to the nearest city and buy some clothes and stuff.

🗡 Thorfinn is generous. He lets you buy anythings you like, he trusts you and, well, he is a man who loves spoiling his woman.

🗡 On Fridays Thorfinn takes you to the bar with Einar, Bug eyes and other mates of his. You always have a good company.

🗡 You are not only his lover, you are his best friends. So you know a lot about his past. You have never reproached hims, but supported.

🗡 Well, he adores you for that.

#snake headcanon #askeladd headcanon #askeladd #thorfinn #vinland saga #thorkell #lucius artorius castus

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thenightling · 4 years ago

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The Dreaming: waking Hours issue 11 review

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here. First the good.

Daniel was actually portrayed as competent and compassionate. Hurray!

Too bad those sparks of intelligence from Daniel don’t seem to last very long when he’s not being written by Neil.

Also I was right that Heather is trans and that was not treated as a major plot point. More on that later.

Though I have to wonder, with all her power, why she transitioned medically instead of magically. I imagine if she used magick to transition she wouldn't need permanent hormone medication. I know it helps to represent the real trans condition but sometimes you want a little convenient magical escapism of making it easier.

Now for the picking apart / bad stuff.

Though G. Willow Wilson is well-versed in faery lore enough to know the rules about true names and concepts like The Unseelie I am afraid she mishandles them a bit. For example she treats the Unseelie like this one specific faceless type of fae instead of an entire fae court of dark fae that usually entails goblins, trolls, drow, imps, etc.

She also doesn’t seem to know that in most depictions of Oberon and Titania they were nonchalant and very familiar with each other’s infidelities. Oberon should not have been surprised (especially this far into things) that Titania slept with Morpheus.

Titania all but bluntly spelt it out at The Wake. I am fairly certain Oberon was there. Where was he when she spoke? Drinking in the back?

In some faery lore Nuala was Oberon’s lover. I had figured that was the reason Titania saw to it she was given as a gift to Morpheus. It was both a means to possibly get rid of her or if Morpheus didn’t accept the gift (she must have known his anti-slavery stance) it would have given a justifiable excuse for the Fae to go to war with The Dreaming and potentially lay claim to the key to Hell in Season of Mists.

Even Disney’s Gargoyles acknowledged this aspect of their character dynamic. When Oberon learned that Titania had a half-human child in the episode The Gathering Part 1 of Disney’s Gargoyles his response was (while grinning and chuckling) “Mother?! Titania, what HAVE you been up to?”

In the Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it was pretty clear that Oberon wanted Titania to sleep with Bottom while he had an ass’s head (blatant metaphor) as a means to humiliate her.

Moving on.

Yes, I was right that Heather is trans. I am very glad it was not a major plot point before now. However, the way her “True name” was handled wasn’t as good as I had hoped. I had hoped that the fact that she chose the name Heather After that this has become her true name. But the implication here is her deadname could have been used as her true name. That bothers me.

I always figured true names (the name that can be used to summon and bind a magick user or supernatural creature) didn’t necessarily have to be the name you had at birth. For example Vlad III of Wallachia is more well known as Drakulya (Dracula), the name he chose for himself as a patronymic homage to his father and so got used as his own house name.

In the 1985 Fright Night the character of Peter Vincent at first said “That isn’t even my real name.” But after he undergoes considerable character growth and puts protecting others before his own fear he starts saying “I AM Peter Vincent, the great vampire killer!” The persona became his true name.

True names are NOT necessarily the name you had at birth. This is part of why I feel the previous aspect of Dream may have Morpheus as as close to a true name as he’s got. That’s why he’s credited as Lord Morpheus instead of Dream in The Sandman audio drama and calling out to him by the name Morpheus is how he came to rescue Rose from Funland in The Sandman: The Doll’s House.

So anyway, I’m conflicted about this scene in The Dreaming: Waking Hours. I’m glad the deadname didn’t work as the true name but I would have felt better of Heather had become her true name. That would have, in my opinion, been more satisfying than “There’s no such thing as a true name.”

Something else that bugged me... All the ham-handed anti-monarchy commentary. In real life monarchies are not great buuut we’re talking about the faerie court here. They’re not human. Can you even imagine what the goblins would vote for if they had a democracy? “Okay, that’s 97% in favor of abducting every infant in Manhattan. And 3% wrote in ‘Chilli dogs.’ I didn’t know they could spell...”

It’s become a little embarrassing to me how every fantasy written by Americans has become anti-monarchy. Disney’s Descendants, Once Upon a time’s finale (they voted...), Game of Thrones’ ending, because having any sort of vote in a world that never had any before would totally work out well at that point in their culture.... Even on Tumblr I came across someone who thought they could “fix” the “Dumpster fire” that is Nightmare before Christmas by having the mayor strip Jack Skellington of his Pumpkin King title as punishment for what he did to Christmas since “You can’t learn your lesson if you do wrong without punishment.” Frankly, I’m tired of the anti-monarchy stuff where it doesn’t actually work.

And the deliberately weak argument written for Titania of “But I’m Beautiful and Ancient!” Also what’s with the weird almost-fetishism that she’s still wearing those manacle cuffs? Why didn’t Oberon or even Nuala take those off of her yet since they’re working together?

This is interesting because right here in the final page Heather quotes the very spell that invoked Morpheus. I have been mentally conditioned that every time I see black talk bubbles with white text in a Sandman universe comic my first thought is “Morpheus?” even though we have already seen it used for other characters in things like the Dan Watters run of Lucifer.

But the combination of quoting the invocation spell that trapped Morpheus, the talk bubble, and the golden thread (that resembles Morpheus’ life thread) has me intrigued and I don’t want to get my hopes up at the possibilities.

And still, for all my nitpicking, this IS the best version of The Dreaming to date.

I love Heather. I think she’s very well written. She’s the best original character of any Sandman spin-off. I just think the anti-monarchy ranting is very misplaced in the realm of Faerie. Think of what their parliament would consist of. It’s like the minion of Jadis, The White Witch from Chronicles of Narnia, combined with the goblin muppets from Labyrinth, and the fae from Lost Girl combined.

#The Dreaming #The Dreaming: Waking Hours #The Sandman Universe

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redrabbitspod · 5 years ago

Photo

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ROLLING STONE HERE:

(full, designed article. But if you don’t want to follow a magazine layout, read the transcript. Art by @bloodydamnit)

TRANSCRIPT BELOW THE CUT

Red Rabbits: The Rolling Stone Interview

Featuring Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten, and the Red Rabbits Team

By Angie Rodner

On a chilly Monday, Neil Josten and Andrew Minyard are standing side by side, looking at something on Andrew’s phone in our New York, Rolling Stone headquarters. The rest of the Red Rabbits team, consisting of Dan Wilds, Seth Gordon, Renee Walker, Robin Cross, Allison Reynolds, and pro Exy legend/honorable mention Matt Boyd, orbit around them. It's an interesting scene to take in, to say the least. No matter what they seem to be talking about, they all defer to the two hosts without any of them seeming to acknowledge it.

I was lucky enough to sit down with all eight of them, and I’m not ashamed to say I’m a fan of the podcast and I’ve followed since Season 1. The story of Andrew and Neil (formerly known as Nathaniel Wesnisnki, the son of the Nathan Wesninski or the Butcher of Baltimore), and the revelation of their connection they’d shared as kids, was better than any true crime podcast I’d ever listened to.

Now, the team takes on what they’ve dubbed ‘The Case of the Newark 9’ for their second season. It’s a case based around the hunt for a man known only as ‘Steven’, who they believe is responsible for a series of kidnappings and murders of young girls in and around the Newark area. They’re joined by Robin Cross, a victim and survivor of Steven’s, who is helping them investigate the case.

I sat down with Robin and the other women of Red Rabbits first.

What’s it been like to work on this podcast together? Was it strange to go from looking for Neil, to having him in the studio, to watching him and Andrew form the relationship they have?

Dan: It was strange, because in all honesty, it wasn’t strange. Does that make sense? None of us knew about the meeting they had as kids, but when Andrew finally told us, everything made a lot more sense. Really, they belong together. It was much weirder when they first got back and hadn’t acknowledged what was between them yet. We were all just kinda like... are y’all not seeing what we’re seeing?

Renee: They got there eventually.

How have things changed from Season 1 to Season 2? The cases are obviously different, but they still involve missing children. What’s the atmosphere like around the studio?

Dan: Tense.

Allison: I’m not even there that often and I can still feel it.

Robin: It is tense, but there’s also a sense of urgency. We know ‘Steven’ has another girl now, so it’s like every day that goes by is another day he has her... Another day we either find him, or we don’t.

Mm... I can’t imagine how difficult that is. However, with that being said, the NYPD have made it pretty clear that they aren’t buying what you guys are selling. How does that make you feel?

Robin: I don’t feel anything about the NYPD. My anger is better placed elsewhere. I am angry. But the police didn’t listen to me when I was a kid and trying to tell them important information. Why would they listen to me now?

Renee: I think we all try and take our cues from Robin. Andrew and Neil are very careful to include her and get her opinion on certain things before moving forward. We’re not letting this thing with the NYPD deter us.

Speaking of Robin then, what’s it like for you to have her on the team? As one of Steven’s victims that is, there with you in the studio?

Robin: Oh no. Say nice things about me.

Dan: Girl. [ laughs ] Honestly, she’s amazing. She’s my little sister and I’m not just saying that. I think we all kind of feel that way. I’ve never known a person as strong and determined as she is and I know - see she’s blushing! [ laughs again ]- I know she hates it when we talk about her like this, but it’s so true. She’s family now.

Renee: She is, and I think she brings a really unique perspective to the case. We have someone here who’s directly involved, who lived through it and can give us some idea of what the other girls went through. I think most people would really love to have that kind of resource during an investigation.

Allison: For sure. She’s even my muse for my fall line. Everything is going to be deep colors and fun modesty.

Seems like you’ve been properly inducted into the team, Robin.

Robin: [ smiling ] It feels amazing...

Now, last question. Are you confident you’ll find what you’re looking for?

All as one: Yes.

Speaking with the ladies was fun. They were easy and connected and you can tell that there was a real sisterhood in the studio that day. It was refreshing to see women supporting and helping each other thrive in such a competitive industry. There was a lot of laughter between them, and it was such a joy to be able to share it with them.

My next interviewees were Seth Gordon, ‘resident TFN sound engineer/IT guy/anything to do with technology’, as he tells it, and New York Lynxes starting backliner, Matt Boyd. When I tell you I laughed throughout this entire interview, I’m being completely sincere. There was something about the way the two bounced off each other that had me smiling and understanding why they are both so well-liked.

You guys are best friends aren’t you? I feel a bromance in this Chilli’s tonight.

Seth: Bet. Matt Boyd is my homie and BFFL. Do people still say that? Anyway, we have matching necklaces and everything.

Do you really?

Matt: No, not really, but I’d totally wear one if he gave it to me.

[ laughing ] Matt, how did you even end up here? I know you were friends with Neil, but I feel like the details on that are kind of murky.

Matt: I hit him with my truck. [ My jaw dropped ] No, really! I hit him with my truck in Midtown Manhattan when I was driving home. He refused to go to the hospital so I brought him back to my place to make sure he was okay. He didn’t leave after that.

Seth: Because you held him hostage? That’s the way I hear it.

Matt: Oh yeah, for sure. He takes up so little space, why not? [ laughs again ] No really, I did convince him to stay, but I just felt like he needed a friend. He was obviously running from something and he was scared. I just didn’t know from what or why at the time.

And when you found out?

Matt: Honestly? I just about shit myself, but it made so much sense. All the little questions I asked myself early on, finally had answers.

I saw the interview you and Dan did with Essence. You guys look amazing together.

Seth: They are amazing together. It’s gross.

Matt: Yeah, and you and Dion aren’t constantly fawning all over each other.

Is that Dion hovering nearby?

Seth: Yep, that’s my man. He’s amazing and fuckin’ fine as hell. Can I say fuck in this interview?

Sure.

Seth: He’s fuckin’ fine.

Seth, what’s it been like for you, putting together the shows? There’s been a lot of audio that’s hard for us as listeners to hear, and I’m sure there’s more we haven’t even heard.

Seth: There is.

What’s that like for you to have to go through it all?

Seth: Really hard sometimes. There was some stuff in Season 1 we didn’t air that seriously gave me nightmares. It’s worth it, though. We found Neil and I think we’ll find Steven.

Are both of you confident in that fact?

Seth: Positive.

Matt: I think if anyone can find him, it’s Andrew and Neil. They’re determined and they’ll keep looking no matter what.

I believe them.

Andrew and Neil were my last interview of the day, and a more determined pair I think I’ve ever met.

Here’s the thing readers: They’re connected. It might make me a poor journalist, but I don’t know how else to explain it. At one point during the interview, Neil reached over to squeeze Andrew’s arm. At another point, Andrew reached over to squeeze the back of Neil’s neck. They were obviously a comfort to and for each other, and it almost seemed like they borrowed strength. It was intense and being able to witness it has been one of my favorite moments in my career.

So, let’s talk about this season before we get into everything else. You’re looking for a man you believe to be responsible for the disappearances of multiple girls in the Newark area. Do you feel like you’re any closer to solving the mystery than you were at the beginning?

Neil: Absolutely. We’ve gotten some really great tips and we think we’ve narrowed some things down. We don’t want to get too deep into what we’ve got at the moment, because we’re still investigating. But we’re confident in what we have.

What’s it been like working with Robin? I was able to interview her earlier, and she’s really something.

Andrew: She’s been the best resource we have. She’s incredibly strong and unbelievably quick. She’s taken this terrible thing that happened to her and turned it into fire, and it’s been amazing to watch. Most of the information we have comes from her.

The interview you guys did with her was absolutely chilling. I cried three times listening to it. How do you handle hearing these things? I feel like it’d be really hard not to take it home with you.

Neil: Yeah. It’s hard sometimes.

Andrew, I want to touch on the interview Riko Moriyama just did with Kathy Ferdinand and your response. What was that like for you, hearing Riko wrongfully expose something like that on live television?

Andrew: It was… I was stunned, I guess. That information was supposed to be sealed. My name was redacted. So I have no idea how he even got details of the case.

You’ve talked before about being in the foster care system. It sounds like you had a pretty rocky childhood.

Andrew: Yes.

Neil, I know yours was no picnic either. Do you think that this kind of... shared trauma, I guess, is part of why you two work so well together?

Neil: Yeah, partly. When we met as kids, I think a bond was cemented. We both knew how horrible adults could be to children. But now that we’re older, I think more than a shared trauma, it’s a mutual respect for that trauma. We both have shit, you know? I told Matt this one time and I didn’t really understand how true it was until recently, but we both have baggage that we share. We take each other’s on to lighten the load for the other. But, there are times when it gets really fucking heavy, and I think recently we’ve figured out that it’s better to lean on each other when that happens, instead of trying to carry it all ourselves.

Why do you think Riko felt the need to call you two out like he did? I know he mentioned Neil possibly being manipulated into the relationship.

Neil: [laughs]

Andrew: I wish I could manipulate him into having better taste in music.

Neil: My taste in music is fine.

Andrew: It is absolutely not. And I don’t know why Riko feels the need to comment. I’d be interested to hear the reason. The things he said regarding Neil were ridiculous, and in his response, Neil has made sure to make that known. But the thing that really bothered me was his comments on mental health. He tried to basically call me unstable for seeking therapy and admitting that there came a point when I needed outside help. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in this country who seek out therapy every year. There’s no shame in it and I’m unsure as to why Riko believes there is. Honestly, I’m shocked the Moriyamas haven’t released a statement. He’s their mouthpiece, after all.

Do you think they should apologize?

Neil: Yes.

Andrew: I think they should at least clarify. I’ve already heard people are planning to protest their new documentary and I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to give my money to people who think I’m less of a person because I struggle sometimes.

Speaking of struggle, let’s move back to the case. I know the NYPD has been giving you grief over your claims that the person you’re looking for is the same person that’s taken Haylie Clark. Robin, especially, seems completely certain. How does it feel to know law enforcement doesn’t have your back on this?

Andrew: Familiar. They’ve never had my back before, so why would they start now?

Neil: I’ve dealt with too many crooked cops to really take it seriously. I have no idea what their motivations are and to be clear, I’m not saying I think they’re crooked - I’m just saying that in my experience, the help doesn’t always come like it’s supposed to.

The rest of the team seems pretty confident in you two. They all said they absolutely believe you’ll be able to find him. Is it hard sometimes, not to lose faith?

Andrew: It’s hard all the time. But it doesn’t matter. We have to keep moving forward. We aren’t going to stop until he and Haylie are found.

I think that’s really commendable and I look forward to seeing that happen. Now, tell me a bit about the team. Neil, since you came in at the end of Season 1, how did you find the dynamic as an outsider?

Neil: I didn’t really understand it in the beginning. Not really. It helped having Matt at my back for months prior, but I’ve never had the opportunity to make solid connections with people. So when I came into the studio, to this group of people who had known each other since college, it was overwhelming.

Andrew: That’s funny, seeing as how they like you better than me.

Neil: It’s all the charm and charisma.

[ laughing ] And now? You all seem really tight knit.

Neil: Now, yeah. We are. These people are my family.

Andrew?

Andrew: Yes?

Neil: She wants you to say something nice about the team.

Andrew: Every single one of them knows my coffee order, and it’s truly amazing that they can do what the interns cannot. [ he looks over at Neil, who’s tilting his head and raising his brows ] Oh, don’t look at me like that. Fine. We have a really strong team. I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing without them. Seth works harder than anyone I know, Dan keeps us all in line with just a look, Renee is the only reason I agreed to do this in the first place, Reynolds has a lot of money and she’s not afraid to use it for a cause she believes in, and Robin is the most inspiring person I’ve ever met.

And Matt?

Andrew: Who?

Neil: The guy that kept me alive for months while you were hunting me.

Andrew: [ rolls his eyes and shrugs ] He’s fine.

My take away from the interviews was this: these people will do whatever they need, in order to find their perpetrator. They believe in their cause, they hurt for these girls, and they’ll find justice for them in the end. They’re family, that much is clear, and I can’t wait to see how this ends. I can’t wait to say that I was there when it’s over.

Red Rabbits can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and GooglePlay. You can follow the website at redrabbitspod.tumblr.com and twitter @redrabbitspod.

And as the Red Rabbits team always says, “Keep Searching”. I know I will.

#red rabbits pod #aftg #andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #seth gordon #dan wilds #matt boyd #renee walker #allison reynolds #robin cross #article #media #rolling stone #interview

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tae-cup · 4 years ago

Text

The Analyst | Night Terrors (2)

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Summary: The prestigious department of police and investigations in Seoul, Korea, is called to the small town of Cape Springs in rural California. Nothing is quite what it seems here.

Warnings: Blood, violence, you know crime stuff? Fluffy stuff somehow

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Angst, a lil humor, sexual innuendos, BUT I S W E AR DON’T WRITE SMUT OKAY

Word Count: 8k Words (they just keep getting longer omg)

A/N: Let me know your thoughts! Any suspects? Just message me if you want to be tagged!

Thank you so much to @kingbewwy for helping with my story planning and ideas!!

Beautiful header by the wonderful @dnrequests

Other:

Series Masterlist

Normal Masterlist

Previous | Next

You were leaving class, head down, trying to stay out of the way of the students in front of you. Blending into the background was something that you wanted, but you also couldn’t hide your passion for forensic analysis. The entire process fascinated you, plus it was a job that had you easily disappearing from the public eye. You were taking biochemistry, toxicology, and criminal justice to bolster your dreams.

It was a normal day. Normal as it could be for you, anyway. You were currently interning at the local police station on a work study permit. You would go and observe how things worked in your free time, often shadowing the forensic analyst of the team. Jae-hwa was an older man with years of experience, yet no cases to use that experience on. The man would often grumble about the slowness of the town as he showed you how to work the equipment.

Today, you made your way to the station, shoulders drooping under the weight of your backpack.

“Y/N!” Your mentor called. “Come here, we want to introduce you to somebody.”

“Okay?” You dropped your bag in the office lounge and made your way to where you could hear his voice. He stood, a younger man next to him.

“This is Namjoon, he’s interning here as well now.”

You smiled warmly, Namjoon did the same. He had dimples, which you couldn’t help thinking were adorable.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Y/N, I hope we work well together.” You held out your hand and he shook it. His grip was firm, but not tight.

“Nice to meet you as well, and same to you.” He dipped his head in acknowledgement. He seemed cool, calm, and collected. He would make a great police chief. If it weren’t for that hair.You thought to yourself. His bright blue hair might be a little too...funky?

“I’ll let you two get acquainted.” The forensic autopsy technician passed you some money. “Here, go out to lunch or something.”

“Oh, it’s fine, I can pay.” You smiled, offering the cash back to him. You may be a broke college student, but you still refused handouts. The man sighed.

“Just take it, Y/N.” Then he left.

There was an awkward silence as you and the other intern stared at each other. He swallowed, you blinked a couple times. Finally, you cleared your throat.

“I guess we should get going, then I’ll show you around the station.” You announced, headed towards the exit. The blue haired male snapped out of his daze and raced after you.

“So what brings you here?” You asked, turning the corner and scanning the street before quickly crossing the road.

“You just jaywalked.” He brushed past your question. For some reason, his tone made you feel as if you’d just been convicted of murder. Your eyes darted around the block before turning to face him.

“And you have bright blue hair. Don’t point out the obvious. Besides, I don’t see any cops. What are you going to do, arrest me?” You rolled your eyes.

“My hair is perfectly fine- it was just a stupid dare, and anyway aren’t you supposed to be representing the station?”

“It’s not like I’m wearing a uniform or holding a sign screaming that I intern at the police department.” You pursed your lips. Why did he make you so nervous?

“Maybe not, but I am about to be a police chief.” He raised an eyebrow.

Your face went pale.

“What?”

“Yeah, I’m assembling the best of the best to create Bangtan Police Department. We’re going to take the police world by storm.” His chest puffed slightly in pride. You only laughed, watching his expression deflate.

“Namjoon you are hilarious. You’re so young. Just get through this internship and think over it again.” You patted his arm and continued walking down the street. He gaped, once again having to catch up to you.

“Excuse me, I’m sure you’re actually younger than me! And it’s true, it’s going to be great!”

“What are you going to do? Call out every person who jaywalks?” A small smile slid onto your face. He was not as amused.

“I’m going to help with solving murder cases, cold cases, help the poor, anything.”

“Uh huh.” You opened the door to the cafe. “Got any people in mind?”

“I have a couple friends. Yoongi is already known as a top notch investigator and he’s training a rookie named Taehyung, but they’re on board with joining.”

“Min Yoongi? The person who helped solve the murders of Hyun and In-sun?” You tilted your head in interest.

The murders of Hyun and In-sun were a famous case in Korea. The case itself was filled with weird holes and inconsistencies, along with the fact that the local police had been bribed. In the end, the case had gone cold until Min Yoongi came in and solved it within a month. It was...extraordinary. There was something different in the way that man’s mind worked.

“Yeah!” Namjoon nodded enthusiastically. “My father trained him.”

You narrowed your eyes, not believing his story.

“Okay, okay, who else?”

“Well, my second in command will be my long term partner and friend, Kim Seokjin. He’s a reasonable man with experience in the field as a police officer and investigative reporter.”

“Interesting, continue.”

The drinks arrived, condensation dripping off the glasses.

“Well, that’s all I have so far. I’m planning on recruiting more once we get more well known.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Okay, let me get this straight, lover boy.” You ignored his flushed his face at the nickname you just appointed. “You have four people and you want to start the world’s best investigative slash police team.”

“Yes.” He said, his voice softer and you could tell he was losing his energy. “But I still need an analyst.” He gave you a pointed look.

With a sigh, you studied the man. He had potential, he just needed to cultivate it. With a little growing and pushing, he’d make a great police chief. You sipped your water, mulling over the idea. It was definitely enticing, to offer yourself to him once you were done with your studies, but he was looking for the best of the best.

“You should ask Mr. Jae-hwa.” You decided.

“Who?”

“My mentor. Surely he introduced himself.”

“Well yeah, I remember him I-” He sheepishly ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay, he’s your mentor, right? So why don’t you just...join?”

“I’m inexperienced.” You frowned. “I’ve only been an intern for a year and studying for two.”

“Once you graduate.” He amended. “I think we’d work well together.”

You chuckled, thinking over the opportunity. It was a risk. Every police department was looking for a good forensic analyst, you could find a good job at an established department if you wanted. Still, the offer he was giving you was enticing. Being partners with him didn’t even seem so bad. Namjoon had a hunger inside him. A hunger to prove himself and you could see him going the distance. You picked up your menu, a little smile gracing your lips. You shook your head with amusement.

“You’re too hungry, Namjoon.”

You had been busy. You were already working on several cases and had traveled out to Daegu to personally investigate a case. It was about a head found in a car, the body found a few days later in a house. There was lots of blood. You placed the cotton swab into a tube and sealed it up to test later. Then you maneuvered around the crime scene, trying to avoid all the police doing their jobs. You had a habit of trying to shrink, to stay out of everyone’s way as much as possible.

That’s when Namjoon called you. You frowned. Isn’t he in America? You glanced at the time. 4:15 P.M. You sighed, picking it up. Typical, for him to call in the middle of the night.

“Namjoon, why the fuck are you calling me? You know I’m busy, as I said, you could just send your samples to the forensic analyst back at Bangtan….are you doubting my team’s capabilities?” You scoffed at his urgent tone. “There’s no reason for an ‘on site’ analyst.”

You put him onto speaker phone and stepped into your car.

“Yeah, we also have murders over here, what makes you so special?”

“And here I remembered you being so nice.” His muffled voice came through the speaker.

“Excuse me! I am nice! I just don’t enjoy being pulled away, I have an important job to do here too.” You complained to him, indicating and turning left.

“Please!” A new voice came through the phone, audio cracking and popping from bad connection.

“Taehyung, is that you?” Your eyebrows furrowed. “The connection is so poor here.” You glanced at your samples.

You could send these to your team and join Namjoon and the others. It had been a little under a week since you last saw them and your skin was just itching to be near them again. Perhaps it was a silly little crush, or crushes if you factored in the fact that there were seven of them. You didn’t think it possible, but here you were, pining after seven of your coworkers.

“Fine!” You cried over their voices shouting into the phone. You parked in front of your hotel. You were already clearing your schedule and arranging for the samples to be sent to your team of analysts. “I’ll be there in two days, just please grab some blood swabs for me.” You huffed, hanging up.

You pressed your forehead to the wheel of the car, a sigh escaping your lips as you pressed your eyes shut. These boys were already giving you a headache and you weren’t even with them yet.

Two days later, a Tuesday, you set your bags down in the empty lobby of the Cape Springs police station. You arrived like the plague doctor, briefcase and everything, the fading sun behind you. The dust made you want to sneeze, your nose scrunching up as you fought the urge. You decided to go straight to the police station, y’know, for funsies; and also to surprise them. The hard suitcase that held your equipment was in hand as you sneakily made your way through the building.

You could hear the murmur of their voices and you turned right down a short hallway. There was an open door that led to a conference room with a large round table. Eight chairs were pulled up, one empty, a ninth chair in the corner occupied by a small looking girl. She was eagerly taking notes of the conversation.

“Once Y/N arrives, we can finally look over the samples. My best guess is Rohypnol but you never know, it could be something less traceable, like oxygen injected into the bloodstream.” Namjoon declared.

“But we’ve never found any discarded needles, that seems nonsensical.” Jimin pointed out.

“Rohypnol is a good guess, based on the reports you sent in.” You leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. A sly smile graced your lips.

Startled, eight heads turned to face you. Seven smiles broke out.

“Y/N! You’re finally here!” Taehyung jumped up, Jungkook following suit. You opened your arms, used to their tag team hugs.

You peer over the taller men’s shoulders, just barely, to catch Namjoon smiling with, perhaps, relief. Jin was observing the sight, amusement evident in his posture, Hoseok was quick to wait behind Jimin who was also awaiting your hug. Then there was Yoongi who didn’t seem bothered at all, yielding no reaction.

You weren’t exactly disappointed, this was his usual behavior, but it was surprising. Time to fix that attitude. You had always been a motherly figure, despite your lack of interest in having children. The two younger ones pulled away and before Jimin and Hoseok could launch forward, you put up a hand to stop them.

“Yoongi.” You barked harshly, placing your hands on your hips. He groaned loudly, like a reluctant teenager. “Is that any way to greet your mother?” You frowned in mock disapproval. “Come give me a hug.” You opened your arms up to him and made a grabbing motion with your fingers.

“You’re not my mother, I’m way older than you.” He grumbled, standing and giving you a quick hug. You flushed proudly. Everyone, you included, knew Yoongi would follow your orders, begrudgingly, yes, but he would still follow them no matter what. He held a deep respect for you, despite being four years older. You never knew where it came from, but it was there.

After the awkward hug, Jimin and Hoseok embraced you. They giggled and easily snitched on the misbehavior of their friends, receiving annoyed shouts from the other boys.

“Taehyung!” You cried, horrified. “Is it true you’ve only been eating french toast for all your meals?!”

“That’s not completely true. I ate regular toast once when they were out of ingredients for french toast.” Taehyung said grimly, his face without a trace of humor. You just huffed and turned to the remaining people.

The girl was visibly startled by all the commotion and she stood next to Jin and Namjoon. A little too close. Your eyes narrowed, but you shook your head. You needed to focus on the task at hand.

There was still a twinge of jealousy. You were the only female in the inner circle, the best of the best. The eight wonders of the crime world. Each specializing in a different area, constantly called upon for the biggest of mysteries. Every single one, without fail, ended with a stamp on the file; Case solved.

“And who is this?” You tried to hide the slightest twinge of jealousy in your gut. She seemed to be a perfectly nice girl, a bit fragile looking, but someone with the face of an angel. She looks like she wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“This is Hae-won.” Jungkook grinned. “She’s my age and she’s here to study the process!” He explained excitedly.

“That’s great, Jungkook. Lovely to meet you, Hae-won.” You passed off her slight narrowing of eyes to a trick of the light. After all, the sun was coming in low at this hour and it could have been shining in her eyes. You held up the hard suitcase that had your heavy equipment. “Where can I set up my equipment?”

“O-over here.” Hae-won stuttered, rushing ahead to show you the old forensic room. “We haven’t had the need for it in a while, I’m sorry it’s so dusty.” She apologized, dipping her head in embarrassment.

“It’s perfect, thank you.” You bowed to her and she left the room to leave you to set up.

You took out your plastic test tubes, ziplocs, microscope, and petri dishes. Then you checked to make sure your camera wasn’t scratched before throwing open the blinds. The window was facing the opposite direction from the sun so all you could see was a long shadow hitting the building next door.

“Joonie?” You barked from your room. You made a note to pick up wipes to clean up the place.

“Yes?” His footsteps pounded down the hallway and then skidded to a halt outside the door.

“Did you get the blood samples like I asked?” You asked, a cheery tone to your voice.

“Yes, but can’t you wait? I know you’re a workaholic, but we’re heading out to the diner for some dinner.”

“No wonder you guys haven’t been able to solve anything.” You rolled your eyes.

“First of all!” Namjoon sputtered, “Betty’s diner has excellent food and second of all, we need to eat, unlike you. You’re like a vampire, you only need blood to survive.”

“I enjoy my work.” You said dryly, giving him a hard look, fingertips pressed together.

“Yeah, yeah, just a little too much.”

“If this is your way of asking me to live a little, I will have you know that my work is very fulfilling.” Especially when I get to work 24/7 with you guys.

Namjoon sighed and crossed his arms. “You will only get the samples once we go out for food. You will eat at all mealtimes and that’s an order.”

“Fine.” You grumbled, turning around to take out the last lense. “Who else is going to supervise that Tae gets a balanced diet?”

“That’s the spirit.”

He turned to leave, but he lingered in the doorway. His hand rested on the wooden door frame, tethering him to the room. You admired the way his smooth brown hair looked as it became dusk.

It had taken forever, but you had convinced him to stop dying it blue in college. It’s damaging the hell out of your roots and how is anyone going to take you seriously with vibrant blue hair? That’s what you had said. He had relented after some push back and now you were blessed to see his beautiful hazel brown hair.

“By the way, we missed you.” Namjoon murmured softly, you almost didn’t catch it. It was a surprise, but the fearless police chief had a soft voice, one that could easily be missed if you weren’t listening.

“I was gone for under a week before you needed my help.”

His lips quirked into a smile, hand slipping from the door frame as he retreated back to the meeting room.

You decided Hae-won didn’t talk much. You tried to engage her in conversation, but she had responded half-heartedly several times and you gave up trying to push it. A part of you had hoped you would become friends, maybe talk about something other than the murders. Because contrary to popular belief, you weren’t a complete workaholic. Which, now that you thought about it, Namjoon was being a huge ass hypocrite.

Whenever you were on a job with the other seven men, all they could talk about was the case and if they were going to drag you out to dinner, you didn’t want to be regaled with tales of disembodied heads and people being cut open. It just wasn’t polite.

“Hae-won, what did you order?” You asked, trying to include the girl who seemed to shrink with every passing minute.

She avoided your gaze, mumbling something to the table, or it may have been to you. You couldn’t tell because she refused to look anywhere except the ground.

“She said she ordered a burger.” Jungkook nodded at you. You raised an eyebrow.

“She can tell me that herself, yeah?” You didn’t mean it so harshly, it just came out that way.

“Hae-won is just a little shy!” Taehyung interjected, rushing to the girl’s defense. You just narrowed your eyes further.

“And what did you say she was studying to be?” You weren’t an interrogator or investigator by any means, but you had seen Yoongi and Taehyung at work before.

“An interrogation officer.” Yoongi drawled, taking a sip of his water and looking like he wished it were alcohol instead.

“Interesting.” You murmured. Maybe she was just nervous about meeting new people, but she would have to get over that quickly if she wanted to last.

“Oh yeah, I found something at the crime scene yesterday. I wanted to check again.” Jimin said, bringing the conversation back.

“And?” Namjoon looked expectantly at him.

“Well it was after we went to retrieve the samples for Y/N and…” He shook his head. “I think it’s better to discuss it in detail in the meeting tomorrow.” He sighed. “I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Too bad we didn’t bring in a forensic autopsy technician.” Taehyung sighed, head resting on Jimin’s shoulder.

It made the man tense, but Taehyung had never been good at reading the room. Namjoon kicked the poor boy under the table, making him jolt upright with an awkward chuckle. Small town, things are different here. It was like the token red dot in a sea of blue.

“I interned under a forensic autopsy technician. I don’t know much, but I understand the process.” You cracked your knuckles, already trying to recall the steps you’d seen Jae-hwa, your mentor, go through. Namjoon nodded along with your statement, having worked alongside you.

“Of course our very own specialist isn’t just experienced in one area.” Jungkook puffed his chest out and you tried to hide the flutter in your heart and the heat crawling up your neck.

“Can I visit the crime scene tomorrow?” You asked, though you would even if they told you no.

“Yes, of course. Do it before the meeting so you can discuss your findings.” Jin nodded.

“When is the meeting?” You were exhausted, jetlag wearing you down.

“2:00 P.M. tomorrow.”

“Okay.” You made a mental note of it. “I’ll be there. Would anyone like to join me?”

“Uh, yeah.” Jimin quickly raised his hand. “I’d like to check it out more.”

“I’ll go too.” Hoseok said, having not spoken much, which was odd for the hyper police officer.

He had spent the time whispering things to Hae-won. It looked like they were in their own little fantasy, their own fan club. For some reason, your blood began to boil at the thought. Calm down. It’s nothing. There’s nothing going on here. You’ve known these boys forever. If anyone is going to be with them, it’ll be you. The last sentence in your mental monologue made you internally slap yourself. How can you think like that? Just shut up and do your job.

Right, maybe your job could distract you from whatever feelings you had towards your incredibly handsome coworkers. Besides, they had a job to do too. The last thing on their minds should be their love life, so the same should apply to you.

“I have french toast?” The waiter asked. You turned your head to face Taehyung so fast you almost got whiplash.

“You bastard, you said you were getting the hamburger.”

He just grinned evilly and leaned over the table to take his plate.

You had seen plenty of dead bodies before, but usually it was easier when they were cleaned up. God, it was like no one understood how autopsies worked in this place. You couldn’t just deal with this bloodied corpse, you need to be able to see and analyse the wound.

Having Namjoon there helped you with your frustration as you swiped at the blood staining the victim’s, Hak-kun, neck. You ignored the goosebumps that broke out when your finger brushed over his very cold and very dead skin. Namjoon looked more disturbed while you held a calm facade.

Right, he’d seen Hak-kun alive and breathing just days prior. The man had seen him warm and full of blood pumping through his heart. The contrast must be disconcerting.

“Namjoon, you really don’t have to be here.” You said softly. You may be a dumb ass sometimes when it came to emotions, but you weren’t heartless. Besides, you could feel the waves of anxiety rolling off him.

Ever the brave chief, he shook his head and took a step closer.

“It’s fine, really.” He swallowed thickly in a way that screamed definitely not fine. “I want to help.”

He could be a real help, you knew that, but your guilt won out. “No it’s okay, I insist. Actually, it would be better if you left while I examined the body.”

“I don’t believe you.” There wasn’t a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Okay, fine, but just stand where you won’t be in the way and take note of everything I say.” You quickly amend. Once Namjoon pulls the ‘I don’t believe you’ card, there’s no escaping his words.

“Alright.” He seemed content with that.

You picked up your scissors to get ready to cut away at the dirtied fabric. You took another moment to look at him. He was standing dutifully, a pen and notepad in hand. He waited expectantly.

“If this becomes too much for you to watch, I won’t fault you for leaving.” Your eyes clouded over in sympathy. He scoffed.

“You underestimate your chief.”

“If you say so.” You then set to cutting away the strips of cloth that covered the abdomen. You took a moment to search for bruising. You found none. “No bruising visible on abdomen, though I speculate there are some on the back, according to Jimin’s description.” Your voice was monotone, calm, without a single waver.

“The neck has been cut deep. I can guess that the killer is experienced. It’s a clean cut, straight down and cutting through the sternocleidomastoid.” You leaned down, surveying for any other nicks.

“I see no other points of contact, the neck being the only surface bloodied. No extra cuts, it’s not messy.” You rolled the body over and cut away the back. Your eyebrows furrowed together. Your lack of speaking caused Namjoon to look up.

He eyed the bruises warily as you moved more cloth aside.

“There is severe bruising along the vertebrae.” You dictated, eyeing the dark spots along the spine. “Most likely caused by dragging. There are other bruises, they look roughly the size of fingerprints.”

You took out the tape set on the tray beside you and pressed a strip to one of the dark spots. “I’ll analyse this, see if there’s any fingerprints. From where they’re located and from the bruising, I can guess that the killer is smaller in stature. Most likely having to drag the victim to his final resting place, unable to support his weight.” You thought for a moment. “That’s enough for now.”

You cut some fabric and placed them in ziploc bags. Then you wheeled the body back into a cold storage unit. You cleaned up your workstation and then left Namjoon trailing behind you.

“How did you figure all that out?” He asked after a moment.

“Those are just my guesses, they aren’t the law.” You smiled gently. “I’m trained to give my best guesses.” You walked ahead. “Now, let’s go visit that crime scene.”

The ground was free of blood. You had even gotten on your stomach to check and found nothing. This could only mean that Hak-kun was murdered in his car. That also made little sense and his positioning was confusing as well. He had been resting against the dashboard, looking peacefully asleep. It was also odd how he even managed to get into his car. A small town like this didn’t have security cameras up and around so that could give no answers.

The only traces of blood were in the car. Drugs must have played a part in this, why else didn’t he fight back? Your stomach turned. This was definitely an odd case. The murders were cold, calculated, well thought out and tracks well covered. It was exceptionally easy to get away with these in such a small town.

You arrived back at the police station to see if your samples were done. They were, and the results were not surprising. Rohypnol. Most commonly known as the date rape drug, it acted fast to immobilize an unsuspecting person. You printed out the results, because thank god they had wifi here at least, and left for the meeting.

The meeting room wasn’t big and with nine of you in it, the walls were suffocatingly close.

“Okay, let’s begin.” Namjoon said as everyone settled into their seats. Hae-won took the seat in the corner. “Jimin, start.”

The detective nodded to his superior and turned to grab his briefcase off the floor. He placed it on the table with a thump. Everyone in the room waited with bated breath. The pink haired man pulled on blue plastic gloves and took out a plastic bag. Inside of it was a beret. It was black with a little gold button in the center. It could be considered cute if it wasn’t found at a murder sight.

“I was looking around and I accidentally bumped open the glove compartment. I found this.” He explained, pulling it out with a gloved hand and turning it to show everyone. Hae-won let out a small gasp.

“That’s mine!” She squeaked. “It went missing a few days ago.”

You exchanged a worried look with your coworkers. Carefully, you placed your files on the table and stood. You crouched in front of her, the men watching you. You placed your hands on hers; she was trembling.

“Hae-won, love.” You smiled softly. “You realize this incriminates you, yes?”

She shook her head violently and pulled her hands away from you. In her eyes, you didn’t see any sign of a killer. You only saw a scared girl, a shaking, terrified out of her mind, girl.

“I-I didn’t-didn’t-” She stuttered, breathless.

Jungkook quickly jumped up, rushing over to comfort the girl. You were pushed aside and you tried your best to keep a frown off your face. You settled for an impassive look.

“Y/N! How could you suggest such a thing, can’t you see Hae-won wouldn’t even hurt a fly. She’s scared of walking home alone at night, you think she’s going to murder five people?” Jungkook seethed. You ignored the rage boiling in your stomach.

“It’s proper procedure, she needs to know.” You tutted.

“And you’re being heartless.” Jungkook hissed. You were taken aback, lips pressing into a thin line.

“I’m doing my job, Jeon.” You said coldly. “Listen, I read the case file, I know you found Hak-kun’s tie and then he was murdered, so there’s a possibility that these talismans are a sign of who is next.” You pointed to the beret as you spoke, trying to shrug off your pain.

“In that case, we need Hae-won under constant surveillance when Saturday rolls around.” Jin said. Instantly they all looked to Hoseok.

“What? Why me?” The man furrowed his eyebrows.

“Have you forgotten? You’re one of the only formally trained and active police officers we have. Jin is too old.” Yoongi smirked.

“Excuse me!” Jin gaped, mouth opening and closing to find a response.

“And if she is the murderer, then we can watch her carefully.” Namjoon turned to you, seeing if this placated you. It wasn’t like you needed to be satisfied by any agreement. You were just doing your damn job, why couldn’t they?

“I have no problem with that.” You sat down in your chair. “Anyway,” You opened your file as the room went back to order. “I found, very obviously, traces of Rohypnol. The victim was definitely drugged, the question is how.”

“All the evidence we have is the glass of spilt water we found. I can only guess he took it voluntarily.” Jin pointed out.

“Well, didn’t he mention having a headache in that tape? He could have easily been convinced.” Jimin leaned back, crossing his arms. There was a tense silence as everyone worked to put pieces together.

“There has to be a motive, there hasn’t to be a reason these people are connected.” You drummed your fingers on the table restlessly.

You didn’t want to be suspicious of Jin, but you were. If he wasn’t the murderer, was it possible he was involved with them? He was the last one in the surveillance room. You didn’t want to accuse him and you were busy denying it to yourself, but it was a possibility. Surely, Yoongi and Taehyung had thought of it as well and brushed it off.

“Hyung, don’t you think that it’s odd that the footage was looping.” Jungkook turned to Jin. “Isn’t security footage one of your specialties? You stayed late, you didn’t notice that he was looping?”

The second in command narrowed his eyes at the young male. “Are you suggesting I have something to do with this?”

There was an intense stare off as they glared at each other. Namjoon reached up to put a hand on his partner’s shoulder and Taehyung frowned at Jungkook. These seven men were the only ones you could trust in a case, what happens when that comes into question? The distrust would run rampant. Namjoon must have been on the same thought line as you because he broke the stare off by clearing his throat.

“Absolutely not, it would make no sense and Seokjin has been nothing but loyal all these years. He has no motive and he’s a trustworthy man.”

“I just think it’s something to ponder over.” The glorified coffee boy said.

“No. We don’t throw accusations around like that, Jeon.” Yoongi turned to scold the maknae. The boy simply shrugged, swiping his bangs off his face.

“It’s odd, that’s all.” He shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the redness of Seokjin’s face.

Your eyes surveyed the room, noting the tense posture of Jin, the frown still plastered on Taehyung’s lips, the laid back nature of Yoongi, Hoseok’s arm around Jimin, and you decided to break it up.

“Okay, that’s enough. Apologize, Jeon.” You said sternly. The young man, who had been so confident a second before, now looked like a kicked puppy.

“I’m doing my job.”

“You don’t have a job here.” Namjoon drawled.

Jungkook’s face lit up red, embarrassment taking over.

“Yah! We let you sit here and then you go and accuse our second!” Taehyung shouted, jumping up. Jungkook scrambled back as the tall man stalked over to him.

“Kim Taehyung, sit the fuck back down.” You hissed. “And you too, Jungkook.”

They both halted immediately and sat back down. Taehyung swallowed.

“You guys are acting like children.” You huffed. “Now, let me continue.” You took out some papers and shuffled them. “First, it was a clean job. The stroke was purposeful along the jugular. There were no other signs of struggle except the bruises on his back, which could be attributed to being dragged along the pavement. I found no other DNA except Hak-kun’s.” You read.

“The killer was very clean indeed.” Namjoon responded, everyone remained silent. The tensions falling over the room like a thick blanket.

“Okay, I can’t think in this tension. You guys work your shit out, I’m going to look over the tapes again.” Yoongi stood and promptly left.

Your eyes trailed his figure as he stormed down the hall. The door to the room currently dubbed the ‘investigator’s nest’ slammed shut. Taehyung sighed and some of the tension left the room when he stood as well.

“I better go check up on him and work through some files.” He announced, not waiting for Namjoon to dismiss him before he left. You could hear him padding softly down the hall and knocking on the door.

The others gradually stood, making up some excuse or another before it was just you, sitting dumbfounded along with Namjoon, and Hae-won. There was a long, drawn out, silence that stretched between you three. You were an unlikely trio with no Jungkook to bridge the gap. You just stood and left, no further words needed. Besides, you wanted to test for fingerprints on the fabric.

Down the hallway, to the left, the Investigator’s Nest was closed to prying eyes. Taehyung sat on the floor, surrounded by old case files and manila folders. Yoongi sat at the desk, earbuds in as he listened to the tapes once more.

“You know, hyung, no matter how many times you listen to those tapes, nothing new is going to come up. Hak-kun obviously isn’t guilty.” Taehyung said, picking up a paper and reading it. The head investigator didn’t look up from the screen, but he did take an earbud out.

“I don’t think he’s guilty, I’m just wondering if he knew who it was. Maybe that’s why he so willingly took the drugs, maybe he recognized them.”

“You and I have both listened to those tapes so many times I could recite every line from memory.” Taehyung grumbled. He stretched out his legs, avoiding the neat stacks he had littered around.

“I know, I know.” Yoongi sighed and lightly slapped his face to stay awake. His eyes hurt.

“And we both know that he doesn’t mention anyone other than Mun-hee.”

“Maybe he was working with the killer?”

“Why would he be dead now then?”

“I. Don’t. Know.” Yoongi said through gritted teeth.

“Hyung…” The younger male stood and walked over standing behind him. His slender fingers started kneading Yoongi’s shoulders.

Taehyung had been feeling lonely, just a little. Though Yoongi and him slept together, the older man rarely showed his affections. It was the opposite to Taehyung’s openly affectionate personality. Now that they were in a small town, the prejudice was palpable everytime they hugged so Yoongi had basically cut him off from that as well.

“What’s wrong, Tae?” Of course he knew something was up with his young lover.

Yoongi had learned over the years how Taehyung ticked, how he functioned. He knew he had been somewhat neglectful, but he was more concerned about being beat up if the town found out about them.

“You know you haven’t kissed me since we arrived at the airport?” Taehyung murmured in Yoongi’s ear. It would be seductive if Taehyung didn’t genuinely want a kiss. Instead, it came across more whiny.

The investigator sighed and turned around in his chair to look over the taller man. He placed his hands on his hips.

“Is that really all you want?” He fought to keep the flush off his face.

Taehyung nodded wordlessly, leaning down, but Yoongi spotted an odd file on the ground. He moved his head, causing Taehyung to shout in anguish as he just missed his lips.

“In a moment, Tae.” Yoongi stood abruptly, causing Taehyung to stumble back a few steps.

The other man looked hurt, opening his mouth to say something when he saw Yoongi bend down to pick up a file. The head investigator opened the file, flipping through it until he suddenly stopped.

“What is it, Yoongs?” Taehyung peered over the man’s shoulder, but he turned the other way. With a huff, he stood back, studying Yoongi’s face.

“I found something interesting.” His eyes were focused on one spot, one picture.

A girl, her throat slit, blood pooling on the dashboard. She looked like she fell asleep at the wheel. Her hair splayed around her head, soaked in her own red liquid. His eyes trailed up the page. It was dated two years before. The picture was labeled ‘People V.S. Paek Cho, exhibit A’. He flipped to the next page. There was a newspaper article cut out. He examined it, frowning.

“Farmer Chung-hee’s daughter, Joo-Eun, found dead in her car, Rohypnol in her system. Officers claim there was no sign of sexual trauma, however. Paek Cho, an accomplished student and outstanding citizen is convicted of her murder…” Yoongi murmured, reading over the article.

“....Father had to be dragged out of the room by officers once the sentence was read out. An anonymous friend of Joo-Eun testifies against Paek Cho, stating ‘he always gave them the creeps’. Paek Cho receives one year of community service after being convicted of collusion in the murder, but in the end there was not enough evidence to convict the young man of first degree murder or even manslaughter.” He stopped, reading the last sentence in his mind. It’s odd, considering the amount of indisputable evidence stacked against Mr. Paek. His mind was racing with possibilities.

These murders and the murder of Joo-Eun held a shocking resemblance. It could be a way to get back at the town, but the only person mentioned who would have such a motive would be Chung-hee, the farmer, and no one in town had even mentioned him. He threw the file onto the desk.

“Taehyung, tell me what you see.”

The dark haired man picked up the file and flipped through it. “Oh.” was all he said.

His eyes were surveying the same picture, the article, everything.

“Why is the file so empty?” He murmured. He then skipped to the last few pages. “Wait.” He took out the article and placed it carefully down. The paper was old and worn.

“What is it?” Yoongi leaned over, placing his hands on the desk.

“It says here that Mun-hee was a juror at the trial, so was our Jane Doe.” Taehyung pointed to their names.

Yoongi’s eyes snapped up to meet Taehyung’s.

“Taehyung, we need those court documents, now.”

Slam. A thick binder of papers was dropped onto the desks. Jin looked up from his studies, Namjoon leaning over him as they spoke in hushed voices. Jimin was joking about something with Hoseok and Hae-won, who was now under 24/7 surveillance. You stood to the side, talking to Jungkook about your results and also trying to give him some pointers on holding his tongue.

Everyone’s eyes trailed to Taehyung and Yoongi’s panting forms in the doorway then to the binder on the desk. Dust flew from underneath, making Taehyung cough, the sound turning to a wheeze because of how out of breath he was.

“Did you guys just run a marathon or something?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Shut up, Y/N. You know I would never put myself through such torture.” Yoongi scoffed.

“We went to town hall to retrieve some court documents.” Taehyung explained quickly. He then went on to explain their previous discussion in detail, Yoongi chiming in every so often.

“Hae-won, are you alright?” Namjoon interrupted, looking at the trembling girl. She looked like she was panicking, sweat beading on her forehead.

“It’s just not right! They let Cho off so easily, it’s not justice, it’s against everything the law stands for.” She cried out, literally shaking with rage as she spoke. You, along with everyone else, were surprised by her outburst. Hae-won was a curious creature, hm?

“Were you a part of the case?” You prodded, subtly asking why she was so worked up. There would be no other reason for these emotions.

She had such bitterness apparent in her eyes. You watched her carefully, eyes drinking in her movements. You took note of the slightest twitch in her fingers, the crescent prints she left in the palms of her hands, the way her lips tugged downwards.

“N-no.” She said, her voice reverted to the quiet girl you all knew her as. She sat back down, taking in a shaky breath. “I just love this town, this is a sore spot for a lot of the good people in town.” She said sweetly.

“But you knew the jury members?” Jin asked.

“Yes, I...I went to school with them. We were seniors, a lot of us were 18 and the town is small, they don’t have a big pool of choices for jury members.” She explained.

“Right.” Yoongi nodded, seemingly understanding. He then turned his attention to the file in front of him and you did the same. “It looks like, just as we suspected, Hak-kun, Mun-hee, Jane Doe, and the two previous murders were jury members.”

“Poor Chung-hee was never the same after that trial.” Hae-won suddenly said, her voice ladened with pain. “He lives alone now, outside of town; doesn’t speak to anyone, refuses to even look the folks here in the eye.”

Once again, your attention drifted back to Hae-won.

“Did you know her, Joo-Eun?” You asked the girl.

“Yeah, but only a little. We went to the same high school, but she was always nice!” Hae-won said. “I just remember once she came out to meet me when I was about to head home. It was winter and the sun set early, you know? So anyway, it was getting dark and I remember how she grabbed my arm, her face pale. She said to me ‘I think someone is following me, please walk home with me.’ I didn’t think much of it. We don’t have any creepers, you know? But Paek Cho was always off.” She shrugged. Then suddenly she looked stricken, like she didn’t mean to say that much. The dark haired girl covered her face with her hands.

“Can you tell us anything else?” You asked softly.

“I’m sorry, I don’t-I don’t remember. I think she asked me to walk her home from a party once but I refused.” She sighed. “Then she was dead the next day. I was too busy studying for my finals.”

She may have been a harmless bystander, but it was obvious this weighed on her. “I often think about how I was the last person she contacted. I barely knew her and suddenly I was roped in.” She looked close to tears so you went over and hugged her.

The others remained silent, watching the interaction. Namjoon felt his heart flutter when you made eye contact with him. He couldn’t help imagining your arms wrapped around him.

“You said Chung-hee remained outside of town?” Namjoon questioned, not daring to take a step. He was worried he would throw off the delicate balance of tension in the room.

“Yes, but he’s not the murderer! He wouldn’t hurt anyone, he’s just a little grumpy, a real loner.” Hae-won cried.

“How are you connected with him, Hae-won?” Yoongi asked, his voice gentle, but prying.

“I’ve just-I used to buy my produce fresh from him.” She answered easily. “He was always kind.”

Yoongi nodded at her response.

“Jungkook, please take Hae-won out for some fresh air. It’s stuffy and dusty in here, it can’t be helping the situation.” Jin said factually. Jungkook nodded, despite their earlier differences, he still listened to his superior.

Once they were gone, you all stared at each other.

“Okay, I’ll say it then.” Taehyung broke the silence. “Chung-hee is the most obvious suspect here. He fits all the descriptions, he has a motive, he doesn’t speak to anyone in town.”

“But Hae-won said-” Hoseok began.

“I don’t give a rats ass about what Hae-won said.” Yoongi interrupted. “We need to investigate him.”

“It just doesn’t feel right. Something about it isn’t right, but it wouldn’t hurt to check it out, I suppose.” Hoseok relented. You noted that he spent a lot of time giving in to the others. It could be that he had an inferiority complex, being seen as your run of the mill police officer.

“Hoseok, you have opinions too, we’re okay with hearing them out, right Yoongi?” Jimin seemed to follow your thoughts.

“Uh, uh, right.” Hoseok murmured, suddenly bashful now that the spotlight was on him.

He realized that he so rarely was asked what he thought. The man spent a lot of time just following their orders; he trusted them wholly and completely. His faith had never wavered in his partners, his coworkers, his lovers. It felt unreasonable, rude, and downgrading if he tried to bring up his lowly opinions; as if he was tainting their genius by bringing his own stupidity into it. After all, he never finished college. He went straight to the police academy, deciding school just wasn’t for him.

“I just, Chung-hee doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to-to do such a petty thing.” He tried to explain his gut feeling.

“We don’t know what kind of person he is, yet, Hobi.” Jin narrowed his eyes, almost accusing him of colluding with the murderer.

Once again, Hoseok was reminded of his inferiority. Of course, of course. But then an angel sang and came to his defense.

“I have to agree with Hobi.” You said firmly. “My mind is saying ‘it’s obviously him’, but my gut is telling me no.”

Hoseok was...shocked. No one really defended him in these sorts of discussions. It felt out of character for you to do such a thing, often found laughing alongside the others.

“As much as I respect your gut, Y/N.” Taehyung began, a condescending tone dripping from his words, “This is our job. We can’t just not investigate people who are obviously linked to a crime.”

“But in what way? Because this poor man’s daughter was murdered two years ago? You think that’s enough to implicate him in a crime today?”

“No! But you’re missing the point!” Taehyung hissed, running a hand through his hair. “It wouldn’t be a big deal if the crime wasn’t exactly the same.”

You sighed, giving up your fight as your gut twisted. Poor Chung-hee, a farmer who probably just wanted to live his life and get far away from the law, was about to be dragged into another mess.

“Hoseok, go get Kookie and Hae-won. We leave tomorrow.” Namjoon’s eyes were cold, not a hint of emotion betrayed in his stance. “Dismissed.”

You turned away, taking Hoseok’s arm in yours.

“I hope you’re doing the right thing, Namjoon.” Venom fell from your lips. You turned away and followed Hoseok out the door.

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Taglist: @lovelyseomin

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pappydaddy · 4 years ago

Text

I Wanna Know What It’s Like (f.w.)

A/N: So, I am going to start making new Masterlists and today I was supposed to start them, but I’ve had this idea for an imagine in my head for weeks now so I am writing it instead. I also couldn’t choose who to write this for so I’m doing multiple variations of this for different characters and stuff. I decided to do Fred first bc my other Fred imagine was really sad so this is a way to make up for that unnecessary sadness.

I am also testing out a new scene divider, idk if I’ll like it, but we’ll see! This is a repost bc the tags weren’t working the first time a posted which was upsetting and I really hope that they work this time. This is another repost (last one for a while if this one doesn’t get any feedback or the tags don’t work).

Anyway, Enjoy!

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Gryffindor!Reader

Fandom: Harry Potter

Inspo: The Tik Tok audio for Let’s Be Friends by Emily Osment, links to the song below so you don’t have to search for it like I had to 😂

- The song the Tik Tok audio is cut from - Slowed version I found and really like

Warnings: None except making out I guess. Some NSFW hints and thoughts. Like downright sinful thoughts. Hints towards a kinky reader? (Is that even a warning? And is wanting to be completely railed a kink? Is it?)

masterlist | taglist | wips | navigation - my gif -

Y/n couldn’t seem to pull her eyes from the red-head seated next to his identical twin. The pair of them sitting farther down the Gryffindor table than Y/n and her friends. The hall was silent as all the students were working on their essays, being monitored by Snape, but the greasy Potions Master nor the rules silenced the twins - them having found a loophole that let them annoy the largely hated Professor. There was a rule about no talking, but he couldn’t punish them if they never spoke actual words, could he? From where she sat, she could hear their loud grunts and hums from their wordless conversation with each other.

She didn’t understand the sudden fascination with the Weasley boy. It confused her since when she had left Hogwarts last year, she found him annoying, but alas, once she laid eyes on him for the first time this year at the Welcoming Feast, something had changed. She definitely couldn’t pin-point it to save her soul. Maybe it was the fact that he had grown his hair out, but then she’d also be attracted to his twin since he had done the same. Could it have been that she finally developed her attraction to bad boys? Was she looking to spice up her dating life since her past boyfriends had been quite lackluster with their golden-boy attitudes? Whatever it was, it made her question her sanity since this was Fred Weasley she was talking about. The same boy who decided it would be funny to throw a large Dungbomb into her dorm in First Year. She had stunk for a good two weeks along with the only other girl that was in her room at the time.

“L/n,” The monotone drawl of Snape made her feel like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water over her - which she was thankful for since she could sense her thoughts for the red-head were about to take a steamier turn. Gulping, she slowly turned her head to look at the scowling man donned in black. “I suspect that you’re done your essay already since you certainly do not look like you’re working on it anymore. Didn’t take you to be too keen about potions based on your unsuccessful potion brewing.” His voice was slow and sharp, showing that he was not in the mood to even be pleasant to Gryffindors.

“Almost, sir. Just a bit distracted. Sorry, Professor.” She shrunk under his hardening glare, realizing that he probably didn’t want her to answer his statement.

“Five points from Gryffindor for talking, L/n.” Snape sneered making Y/n’s jaw fall in shock. Her eyes stared up at him in disbelief. He was the one who talked to her first!

“But I was just-”

“Another five points from Gryffindor, need I take more?” Snape asked in a threatening tone, his frame seeming to grow and tower over the girl, intimidating her. She gulped, shaking her head nervously, remaining silent. She might not be someone who thought things through before acting, but she certainly did learn from her mistakes - usually after the second time. With a nod and a flick of his long cloak, Snape stalked along the table, glaring at the Weasley twins as they continued on with their nonsense, pushing his buttons as he waited for the moment one of them slipped up. Huffing as she casted one last glance towards Fred, she couldn’t help letting the question slip through her lips.

“When did he get hot?” Her eyes widened when she realized she muttered the words out loud. Her friends looked up from their own essays, snickering at the red-faced Gryffindor. A few other Gryffindors looked up at the girl in confusion, but she noticed that her quiet voice hadn’t reached the students near the Twins. She let out the breath she held, thinking that she was safe from embarrassment from Fred hearing and Snape hearing, but her false sense of security was yanked out from under her.

“Another five points from Gryffindor, Miss L/n!” She cringed, peeking up to see Snape glaring at her from the middle of the Great Hall. A groan emitted from her before her forehead fell against where she thought her pile of parchment and books were only for it to thud against the wooden table harshly. She didn’t react, only hissing and scrunching her face in pain but otherwise keeping her head down.

_____________________________________________________________________

Saturday was the day of relaxation. Where you ignore all your problems like the load of homework you had due on Monday. The day was designed for this, putting everything off and worrying about it on Sunday when you had a pile of work that needed to be done in the single day. Y/n was the queen of blissful Saturday ignorance which is why it was so surprising to see her sitting outside, staring blankly at the lake (at least they thought it was the lake) as she clearly worried about something. Her friends, in turn, ended up breaking their Saturday tradition to worry about their friend.

In reality, Y/n wasn’t staring at a wall and she really wasn’t worried about anything. As her and her friends sat under the shade of a large tree, the Weasley Twins were tossing something into the lake. She was sure they were up to something, but that wasn’t on her mind. What was on her mind was the fact that she was still trying to figure out why she liked Fred Weasley. She had figured her feelings for the boy when she saw him flirting with some random Ravenclaw Prefect to create a distraction for George to slip past the Prefect and place their product in her bag that sat on the floor by her feet. Before realizing what the two masterminds had plotted, she felt a wave of unfamiliar anger flaring in the pit of her stomach - something she later diagnosed as jealously.

Her thoughts were definitely clouded with steamy thoughts that could be the contents of a dirty movie. As her eyes scanned over the tall boy standing at the shore of the lake, laughing mischievously with his twin, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was different than her past experiences. He was a flirt, he talked a big game, but when it got down to it, did he really know how to please her? Did he know how to make her scream louder than she ever has? Would he be scared to hurt her or would he not think twice to push her into the mattress and completely destroy her? “Y/n!” Her friend shoved her, making her almost topple over. Snapping her once glazed-over eyes to her friend, she saw her friend group blinking at her expectantly.

“What,” She asked, clearing her throat when her words came out too high to be played off as normal. The friend that had pushed her shared a concerned look with the others before looking back at the wide-eyed girl whose cheeks had become tinted with pink when she retraced her thoughts. “What do you want Cami?”

“We were talking about Cedric and asked you a question-” Another friend, Alyssa, popped into the conversation. Cedric, Hogwarts Heartthrob and Golden-boy. When Y/n broke up with Roger Davis, they were sure her and Cedric would pair up, they were the most attractive students at Hogwarts, they would be the power couple - it must have been destined. Y/n was even convinced that they would end up dating this year, but once she caught sight of Fred, that all went out the window. She wasn’t entirely convinced that it was entirely the oldest twin’s doing since when Y/n saw Cedric on the platform before boarding the train, she questioned what all the fawning was about. Sure, he was attractive, but he was too good. If she had dated him, she’d probably end up bored of the relationship just like the others.

“Repeated it ten times, too.” Her Hufflepuff friend, Sophie, spoke up.

“We wanted to know when you guys were going to get together? Word has it, Cho and him have been talking, you might want to jump on him when you have a chance! Ask him to the Yule Ball!” Cami regained control of the conversation. Y/n shrugged, opening her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by her other friend pointing off towards the lake.

“Look! Janet Green is going to ask Fred to the Yule Ball,” Alyssa exclaimed in a hushed, gossipy voice. Y/n instantly looked towards the lake to see the same Ravenclaw Prefect Fred flirted with approaching the snickering twins. “I heard she’s been plucking up the courage for days. Poor girl, hope he says yes. It’d be awfully embarrassing to be turned down after it’s all she’s been talking about!” She gushed in a fake sympathetic tone. She lived for drama and gossip, no matter what Fred answered, it’d be good for her since she’d be able to spread the news.

The group watched, Y/n hoping that Fred would say no. Janet started to talk, nervously playing with the ring on her pointer finger as she talked to him, George watching with a playful smirk on his face still. Y/n took in the younger twin’s form, seeing his shoulders shaking ever so slightly with smothered laughter, the smirk on his face saying that he knew the answer his brother was going to give. Y/n furrowed her brows as he obviously enjoyed the situation his brother was being placed in. “I can’t watch this-” Sophie gasped, being cut off.

“Be quiet, they’ll know we’re watching!” Alyssa hissed at her, whacking her with the muggle magazine her mother sent her. The snap of the magazine resulted in George flicking his eyes up to the group, all of their eyes widening, but his smirk just grew more and they could clearly see a sparkle in his eyes when he noticed Y/n staring intently down at the group. They could all see that his eyes stayed on her for a solid second, singling her out before he sent her a knowing wink before he looked back at his stammering twin.

“That,” Sophie breathed out. “Did not go well, poor girl.” She finished with a real sympathetic sigh.

“Yeah,” Alyssa let out a fake sigh before smiling brightly. “I’ve got to go tell Alicia Spinnet, she owes me ten sickles!” And with that, she scrambled up and was running towards the castle.

“Alyssa, no! You’ll embarrass the poor girl further!” Sophie gasped, chasing after her Gryffindor friend. Cami watched the two runoff, but Y/n couldn’t be bothered with them. She was too busy trying to decode what had just happened. From her thoughts to George’s wink. It was all like a secret code. She watched closely as George poked fun at Fred once the embarrassed Ravenclaw was far enough away. She hummed, noticing George trying to discretely point towards her as he tried to convince Fred of something. She could see Fred’s hair blowing slightly, the flaming hair looking smooth. Suddenly, her mind was clouded once again, imagining how it feels to have him press her up against a wall, her legs wrapped around his waist, their lips locked together in a heated kiss, their tongues invading each other’s mouth, her fingers tangled in the locks of fire-

“What are you doing, Y/n,” Cami asked, snapping her out of her daydream. She looked over at her friend to see her with furrowed brows. “You were,” She paused, looking disturbed by the next word she was going to say. “Moaning, I think?” She wasn’t even sure what Y/n was doing. Y/n would have normally flushed in embarrassment, but it seemed like her mind had a different plan. She wanted to know what the big deal about Fred Weasley was about. There must be something about him that she wanted, why else would she be plagued with these curiosities? She can’t even look at the guy without suddenly wondering something about him. She wanted to know how his lips tasted, to know if his hair was soft, if her fingers could glide right through his locks without getting caught on any tangles. She wanted to know everything her mind was wondering.

“I’m going to go get answers, that’s what.” She told her friend, making Cami more confused as she stood up, her eyes on Fred and George. George, seeing that Y/n was storming her way over, looking like she was on a mission quickly told his brother who seemed to freeze before turning around to see that his brother was telling the truth. After a second of shock, he plastered his normal smirk on his lips, but Y/n could see the nervousness in his eyes. She had studied that smirk since the beginning of the year after all.

Cami watched in shock and confusion as her friend marched up to Fred, standing in front of him. The tall boy looked down at her, his smirk still on his face (looking normal to her) as Y/n craned her neck to look at his face. “Hey, Fred.” Y/n smiled, completely unsure of how she was doing this. Her inner self was having a complete meltdown, her brain being overridden with confidence.

“Hello, Y/n.” He perked an eyebrow at the girl, feeling her confidence rolling from her, a stark difference from Janet a mere few minutes ago. She hummed, a smirk that she didn’t even know she could produce stretching onto her face. It was like she wasn’t even in control of her body, she was being driven by her sheer attraction to the boy standing in front of her.

“Let’s be friends so we can make out,” She came right out with it, Fred’s smirk falling as he nearly choked on his own spit, taken back by her statement. “You’re hot, I wanna know what it’d be like. We can go to the Yule Ball, sneak away to make out in a dark hallway,” She shrugged, her eyes glistening with the normal flirtatious sparkle Fred held in his. “Don’t you wanna know what it’d be like to make out with someone who has only been with good guys? Show me the wild side?” She stepped closer to him, her hand skimming his hip as she did so, her hip bone hitting just below his hip due to the height difference.

Fred was silent, his pupils completely blown as he processed what was going on. Her confidence faltered slightly, but she then remembered all the flirting tips she had read in Alyssa’s magazines. Walk away, leave them wanting more. She picked the dropped confidence up, adding more onto the surge she was miraculously given somehow. “If you want to take me up on the offer, you know where to find me.” She rolled up onto the balls of her feet, pressing a soft kiss to the skin close to Fred’s mouth while still being able to say it was the cheek before spinning around and sauntering back towards stunned Cami. It took everything in her to fight against her inner self that wanted to die right there not to drop the smirk, hoping that he’d come after her once he got over his shock.

The hand wrapping around her wrist didn’t surprise her, she almost knew it was coming. In a swift movement, she was whirled back around, facing Fred who panted slightly, a flirty smirk on his face as he gazed down at her. “I think I’ll take the offer,” He hummed, his eyes dropping down to look at her lips, his tongue swiping over his bottom lip hungrily. “You and me, the Yule Ball and a dark hallway, see you then.” He pressed a kiss to the very corner of her lips, regaining his confidence before releasing her wrist and walking back towards the lake where his brother smiled proudly. She watched him, the corners of her lips feeling the aftershocks of having his lips touch her. Cami walked up to stand beside her, looking at Fred and George as well.

“Guess you’re gonna need to get a really sexy dress now,” She commented, nodding absentmindedly. Y/n hummed in agreement, stunned that it had worked and that she had actually just did that. “Now I know why you’re a Gryffindor,” She added on before grabbing Y/n’s arm and dragging her back to the castle. “Come on, we need to make a list for possible dresses and Alyssa owes me the ten sickles Alicia is giving her.”

#fred weasley imagines #fred weasley x reader #snogging #tik tok #tik tok songs #fred weasley #snogging fred weasley #fred weasley imagines snogging #yule ball #harry potter and the goblet of fire #harry potter imagines #fred weasley x fem!reader #fred weasley x gryffindor!reader #fred weasley prefernces #fred weasley oneshot

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homeformyheart · 4 years ago

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until now - m!raleigh carrera x mc (plat)

author’s note: trying my hand at a shorter piece and for platinum – there will probably be at least one follow-up to this but both will stay as one-shots.

copyright: all characters owned by pixelberry studios. songs and lyrics owned by their respective creators. series/pairing: platinum – raleigh carrera x mc (cadence dorian); mentions of jessica clark (red carpet diaries mc) rating/warnings: 13+; swearing, infidelity, angst word count: 1.7k based on/prompt: “should’ve said no” by taylor swift summary: raleigh gets too drunk and too close to a fan and the only real relationship he’s ever had falls apart.

until now

cadence could recall exactly where she was the moment r&b’s timebomb blew up the internet. she couldn’t recall with detail how she felt or how she reacted in that immediate moment but she could describe the exact shade of brown from her morning latte that stained the open page of her notebook because she stared at it for a solid five minutes after the headlines broke. she was working on a new single for her upcoming album that needed an angsty, heartbreak vibe to balance the upbeat, love-focused songs she had already written. she had a few lines written (it’s strange to think the songs we used to sing / the smiles, the flowers, everything) but had been struggling with motivation to come up with anything more – after all, she hadn’t been heartbroken in a while.

she was happy in her relationship with raleigh and where she was in her career. her first world tour had been a huge success, with raleigh joining her on tour as often as he could. after her tour was over, he insisted he didn’t want to wake up in his apartment without her and it didn’t take long before cadence moved into his penthouse. a few months later, she was able to join raleigh for the beginning of his transformation world tour, his first album since deciding he could embrace the things he enjoyed from his sunset skatepark days, making it his most personal project to date. of course, whenever the music and obligations to the studio called her back to new york, they facetimed as much as they could.

dating cadence had given raleigh some of the “good boyfriend” brownie points with the public related to loyalty and affection. it helped that cadence defended him against unfair accusations and doubled down on how well he treated her to the media and their fans. and no matter what part of his reputation was theme-of-the-week over at the tabloids – shameless flirt, heartbreaker, wild card, adrenaline junkie, to name the popular ones – raleigh never gave anyone a reason to label him as a cheater and more importantly, never gave cadence any reason not to trust him. even in his fake relationships, raleigh made sure that that part of his reputation was sterling. until now.

her phone had buzzed non-stop when the news broke – to the point where she thought she was getting phone calls that sounded like a ticking time bomb but they were mostly texts and social media notifications. the headlines filled her feed one after another – “raleigh carerra cheats on cadence dorian!” “did ralence break-up?” “was cadence too boring for raleigh?” “cadence drives raleigh into arms of another woman!” – along with hundreds of theories painted by devastated and thirsty fans alike who picked apart every public appearance, interaction, social media post, and song lyric associated with the two of them for the past six months as if they could find incriminating clues and signs of a slowly fizzling relationship like amateur sleuths. cadence had to give them props – it’s not like she wouldn’t eventually do the same once she was ready to process the relationship; in some ways, the fans gave her a head start.

how was she supposed to react to this right now? the photos and videos definitely highlighted that sabrina simmons, who cadence vaguely recognized as a media-hungry and wannabe actress from one of raleigh’s older music videos, cozying up to and grinding on raleigh at a club in london, presumably the afterparty for the closing night of his tour. cadence could also point out every tell-tale sign that raleigh was drunk out of his mind; he was relishing in the attention from sabrina and being inappropriately handsy for someone in a well-known, committed relationship. what most people didn’t know, was that cadence could forgive that – raleigh was normally flirty and handsy and alcohol always exacerbated it. what she didn’t think she could forgive was the next thing she saw – or rather heard.

if cadence felt like she was close to either having a raging smash-everything-breakable-in-raleigh’s-apartment spree or an emotional-because-her-heart-was-actually-breaking meltdown, the audio clip that hit her inbox pushed her to the teetering edge of both. the recording was barely 15 seconds long but it was damning. given the circumstances, it was probably planted or planned by sabrina who wanted to catapult herself into internet fame by taking advantage of raleigh’s reputation. her voice could be heard asking him if he wanted to come back to her hotel room. the question didn’t matter to cadence though, because raleigh’s response – “fuck yes” – was clear as day and cadence knew it would haunt her for months to come.

[jessica: just saw the videos – u ok? i’m heading home to iowa for a break from work, come stay with me, no one will find you there]

cadence quickly typed out a text reply, grateful for the close friendship she had with jessica clarke, the actress-turned-director who directed the music video for her last single. there was only one call she needed to make. if anyone was already putting things in motion, it was fiona. right on cue, she picked up and before cadence could say two words, said, “i’m so sorry cadence. i’ve already got movers on the other line and hank’s on his way.”

“thanks fiona. i’m going to stay with jessica in iowa and lay low for a bit. raleigh is not allowed to find out where i am; i will get a new phone if i need to,” cadence said, calmly starting to pull out and sort her things from raleigh’s closet so the movers would know exactly what to pack while she ironed out a few more details with fiona.

raleigh was still way too drunk when his manager barged into his hotel room and forced him into the shower. he was very drunk when his security team had to half-drag him all the way to where the private jet was waiting at the airport. he was mostly drunk throughout the eight-hour flight back to new york and progressed to staggeringly hungover by the time he was in a private car heading back to his penthouse apartment. once raleigh felt like he was only massively hungover, he pulled out his phone to text cadence. he became only mostly hungover after seeing that his texts weren’t going through. in a matter of seconds, his now slightly hungover state took a backseat to the anxiety filling his stomach as he tried calling to no avail. he frowned as he opened his news feed. the headlines alone made his eyes widen but the videos were what sobered him up the rest of the way.

a new email in his inbox from cadence caught his eye. it was an audio clip and a straightforward message: just so we’re clear, our relationship is over.

cadence was halfway to the airport when she saw the incoming call from an unknown number. she knew it was probably raleigh since she had blocked his number, but she answered the call anyway. she knew she was going to need the closure, may as well get it out of the way.

“cadence? it’s me, please don’t hang up. i’m so sorry, babe. i have no idea what happened, believe me. i woke up in my own hotel room alone, i promise,” raleigh begged, the pit in his stomach had lodged itself in his throat, threatening to turn into tears.

she chose to ignore what he just said. if she let herself pull at that thread and dig into it further to see if it was the truth, she’d never be able to end things cleanly. “tell me this – was she worth it? was she worth this?” she asked, her voice hardened as a reminder to both herself and raleigh that he couldn’t sweet talk his way out of this one.

“of course not. i was black out drunk and don’t remember anything, i swear. all of the stuff in the videos and photos, it was all just—” raleigh’s voice softened, “a moment of weakness.”

“that’s convenient since i’m pretty sure this wasn’t an isolated moment,” cadence said in a clipped tone, examining her worn nail beds. she made a mental note to ask jessica for salon recommendations in her hometown. “do you honestly expect me to believe we could ever be the same?”

“i love you, cadence. i would never cheat on you, babe – you have to believe me,” raleigh pleaded, swallowing his pride at the fact that he was begging right now.

cadence let out a dry, humorless laugh. “i don’t have to do anything, those recordings speak for themselves. you should’ve known that what you did with her would get back to me. and you know what i think? you knew what you were doing. you actually had everything you could’ve ever wanted – the fame, fortune, and creative freedom that comes with success in this industry and something real with someone who cares about the real you, not the curated, fake version of you.”

she paused to take a deep breath and blink back the tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. keep it together, cadence, she told herself. “and it scared the shit out of you, didn’t it? it got too real for you because having something real and precious as love in your life also means you could lose it too. and even the thought of that happening made you feel so vulnerable that instead of treasuring and protecting it you decided to utterly destroy the only real relationship you’ve ever had. congratulations – you’ve perfected your bad boy reputation and collected the last trophy you needed, cheater.”

her words cut right through him. “i— i’m so sorry, cadence,” raleigh whispered into the phone. “i swear, i don’t remember saying yes to her or even doing anything with her. please just, tell me what i need to do to fix this.”

the audio recording replayed on loop in cadence’s mind. after a long pause, she whispered back, “you should’ve said no.” the finality of cadence’s tone was punctuated by the beep from his phone indicating she had hung up.

raleigh stood up from the couch where he had sat while on the phone with cadence. as he walked toward the bathroom, he finally looked around his apartment and realized that all of her stuff was gone. the apartment was empty, quiet, almost sterile with its clear surface areas and shiny, clean floors. it was like she had never lived here; his closet didn’t have the hint of jasmine from the perfume on her clothes, his sink counter was devoid of her jewelry and makeup, his music room wasn’t drowning in loose sheets of paper covered in her handwriting, and worst of all, the clothes she always borrowed of his, including his oversized tour shirts and sweatpants, were folded neatly on his bed.

he reached into the back corner of his closet, the side closest to the door, where no one ever stored or looked for anything until he found his gym bag. his felt around the old shirts in the bag until his fingers wrapped around a small, velvet box. he didn’t have to open it to recall the vivid five-carat emerald-cut diamond ring he had planned on proposing to cadence with. he held the box against his forehead, hand clenched around it, before throwing it as hard as he could out the bedroom door into the living room, twisting and turning his body from a crouching to an upright position in one smooth motion. maybe he should’ve been a baseball pitcher instead. it hit the far wall with a resounding thud.

the echo reverberated throughout his living room until it was met with silence, once again reminding him that he was utterly alone. and for the first time in a very long time, he cried. raleigh carrera had never been heartbroken before. until now.

* * * * * mentions: @raleigh-edward; @dulceghernandez; @thegreentwin; @kat-tia801; @otherworldlypresents; @brycesgirl; @robintora;

#reposting for new blog #choices #pb choices #playchoices #raleigh carrera #raleigh x mc #raleigh carrera x mc #cadence dorian #raleigh x cadence #choices fanfic #choices fanfics #playchoices fanfiction #my writing #not twc #choices platinum #choices fic writers creations #raleigh carrera x cadence dorian #my choices fics

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doomedandstoned · 4 years ago

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Spelljammer Reveal Trippy New Vid, Talk ‘Abyssal Trip’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

Interview by Billy Goate

Cover Art by Aaron Cahill

Our week of big interviews continues as we meet up with the ethereal doom outfit from Stockholm SPELLJAMMER and premiere a new music video, from their just released second LP, dropped only weeks ago on RidingEasy Records and now the number one album on the Doom Charts.

'Abyssal Trip' (2021) is an enthralling listen from edge to center, with lavish textures, deep thematic content, and unforgettably emotive atmosphere that will stick with you for life. Enjoy it as you read the revealing conversation with Niklas Olsson (guitar, vox) and Robert Sörling (guitar) that follows as we unpack their steller new spin, talk nerdy gear shit, and contemplate humanity's fate.

And now, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to bring you the world premiere of the brand new video for that epic third track, "Among The Holy."

Give ear...

Spelljammer - Among The Holy (music video)

You guys have been a band now for damn near 15 years, maybe longer. Most bands don't make it past two years! What is the "key" to the band staying together for so long and continuing to find inspiration for creating new music?

Rob: I don’t think it’s been 15 years just yet but we are getting there, haha. None the less - that’s a really interesting question! Nik and I started the band much because we share the same taste in music, film and, well, art in general. I think that's the core keeping it all together. Also, there have been a few constellations of band members over the years, all with their own dynamic. I think these kinds of changes, and the new directions of the music because of that, is part of the inspiration. Maybe another reason is that we all live in different cities and because of that sometimes a lot of time passes between rehearsals, writing sessions and such, making us always craving for new Spelljammer jams and songs.

Nik: The craving yes. And another reason I think is the fact that we’ve never really been in a rush to get anywhere. Anything Spelljammer, the music included, takes time. If we had been set on making it, this thing probably would have fallen apart a long time ago.

Abyssal Trip by Spelljammer

How did the theme for Abyssal Trip originate?

Nik: I have always been more drawn to the feelings or emotions you get from a riff or piece of music than to any theme of a lyric. But I would say that any themes came in at the lyrics state, which is at the end of the process. But the themes aren’t that specific to any of the albums. I think I cast a pretty wide net in the beginning and stuck to it. For the next album perhaps we will venture more into unchartered waters. We’ll see.

What fascinates you about the Great Abyss of the ocean?

Nik: I totally get that the word abyss conjures up images of ocean trenches and, yes, the ocean is a fascinating and to a large extent undiscovered place. However, when I wrote that I wasn’t necessarily thinking of the ocean but more the abyss of our own minds. But I think it’s a word that evokes many things, like despair and doom, and it is of course totally open to interpretation.

Is mankind doomed or do we have time to correct our course?

Nik: I’m not as pessimistic of a person as the lyrics may suggest. I think we will be here on earth for a long time. Mankind is clever (perhaps too clever for her own good) even if there are a lot of people hell-bent on trying to screw up everything for everybody else.

Rob: Yes, and considering how ignorant and careless (some) people are acting during this pandemic, at least over here, makes you wonder if there’s any hope at all.

Nik: People are the worst. Ultimately, though, none of it matters because we’re all doomed.

Have you guys seen any good movies/documentaries or read any good books lately that inspired you or otherwise challenged your thinking about life, the present, or the future?

Rob: I can’t say that I’ve seen or read anything recently that challenged me significantly, I guess I’m getting too old to be that overwhelmed haha. The film A Ghost Story though was kind of cool though because it was different, slow and weird (in a good way), and for me it’s always inspiring to read/see/hear something that makes you think, "Man, I wish I had come up with that idea”.

Nik: Absolutely! Punch Drunk Love, Moon, and Office Space are definitely movies like that. I have watched so many movies and series through this pandemic and I can’t remember any of them right now. But I did just notice that there is a season 3 of Loudermilk on HBO! If you haven’t already, see it! I’m currently reading "Homeward Bound, The Life of Paul Simon” by Peter Ames Carlin. It’s a good read about one of my favorite musicians.

For recording this album, what kind of gear did you use and what production/engineering considerations did you have to take into account?

Rob: Since we did a remote recording in the countryside we had to use whatever stuff that we could fit into a couple of cars. I have a couple of old audio interfaces that I linked for a total of 16 channels. I also have a small collection of mics (nothing fancy) and we used them all and the rest was borrowed. We set up the drums in the living room and put the guitar and bass rigs as far away as we could (the adjacent rooms) to avoid bleed and just focused on getting the rhythm tracks done. The goal was to get us all in the same room and to catch the vibe from a relaxed rehearsal kind of situation. The bass rig used was a Orange Terror Bass and an Ampeg SVT 810 and the guitar was tracked through a Reval Mark I and/or Orange TH-100 and a Orange PPC 412. Of course there’s always some unforeseen problem lurking and this time it was the electricity in the old country house.

Nik: I don’t use many effects, just a fuzz. For this one I used a Supercollider from Earthbound Audio. It is exactly what the name suggests. That’s all you need really.

The album cover is amazing! It reminds me, in some strange way, of the creature in the old B-movie Robot Monster (1953). What's the story behind the artwork?

Nik: It definitely has a B-movie vibe that I really like. I’m afraid I can’t really tell you much about it other than the artist name is Aaron Cahill and you can find his stuff on Instagram under the name nghbrs.

I filmed your first US appearance at Psycho Las Vegas in 2016. Fans want to know: do you have ambitions of returning to North America once the world sorts out this pandemic?

Rob: Yes, that’s our first and only US appearance so far and we wouldn’t mind at all returning to Vegas or any other part of the US. For now it’s really hard making any plans at all. In fact, you would think that this kind of isolation would enhance creativity, and maybe for some it does, but for us it’s actually been the most unproductive period so far for Spelljammer. So I’m hoping that by the time this thing blows over we get the inspiration back both for writing/recording new music, and in time hopefully revisiting the US!

Nik: I agree, playing at Psycho Las Vegas was a blast. I hope we get another opportunity to come back some day.

Spelljammer at Psycho Las Vegas/a>

Some Buzz

“The vastness of everything is something that I think about a lot,” says Spelljammer bassist/vocalist Niklas Olsson. And it certainly shows in both the expansive, sludgy sounds and contemplative lyrics of the Stockholm, Sweden based trio. Following a 5-year break between their previous album, Ancient of Days — perhaps fittingly spent pondering said vastness — Spelljammer is back with an album that perfectly bridges the band’s earlier desert rock leanings and their later massive, slow-burning riffs.

'Abyssal Trip' (note: carefully reread that album title) takes its moniker from the perpetually dark, cold, oxygen-free zone at the bottom of the ocean. The 6-song, 44-minute album fittingly embodies that bleak realm with rumbling, oozing guitars intercut with dramatic melodic interludes. The songs take their time to unfurl, making them even more hypnotic. Likewise, the lyrics take a poetic approach to establishing the sonic scenery.

“The lyrical themes we address, like the ultimate doom of man, and the search and longing for new and better worlds, are still there,” Olsson says. “The concept of something undiscovered out there in vast emptiness is pretty much always present.”

The recording process for Abyssal Trip differs from previous releases in that the band — guitarist Robert Sörling, drummer Jonatan Rimsbo and Olsson — opted to capture the performances while holed up in the mental bathysphere of a house in the countryside near Stockholm. “The songs benefitted from the relaxed environment of being away from everything,” Olsson explains. Indeed, the album sounds confident and meticulously arranged, afforded by the band’s isolation. Sörling mixed the album and it was mastered by Monolord drummer Esben Willems at Berserk Audio.

Album opener “Bellwether” begins dramatically with a very slow, nearly minute-long fade in of rumbling distortion setting the stage for heavily distorted bass and guitar plucking out the lugubrious riff for another minute and a half before the drums begin, and likewise equally as long before vocals gurgle to the surface. “Lake” abruptly shifts gears, opening with an unusually fast gallop before rupturing into thundering doom that soon drops into a clean-tone Middle Eastern melodic breakdown.

The title track serves as the album centerpiece, opening with ominous film dialogue about blood sacrifice that launches into pummeling, detuned guitars rumbling over gut-punching drums and howling vocals hearkening to the proto-sludge of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” The dynamic relents briefly for a slow building clean guitar melody before all instruments lock into a jerking riff topped off by a trilling Iommi style lead. Throughout, Abyssal Trip is, just like its title suggests, an epic tour through desolate zones which yields much to discover.

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#D&S Debuts #D&S Interviews #Spelljammer #Stockholm #Sweden #doom #metal #doom metal #music video #HeavyBest2021 #RidingEasy Records #Doomed and Stoned

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sml8180 · 4 years ago

Text

CiN Behind the Scenes ~ Ch 3: Infiltration

Original Upload Date: 9 September, 2020

Length on Google Docs: ~11 pages

Docs Word Count: 3,651

Reference Tally: 3

NOTICE: This chapter contained content featuring Janus’ father, who is Homophobic and Transphobic. As such, he misgenders and dead-names Janus throughout their conversation, and things do get physical between them at the end of their argument. I’ll be putting bold notices by any sections talking about this content, so that you can skip those sections if you so choose.

1) This was, obviously, a pretty long chapter. I think the average chapter length for this story was around 8 or so pages, with a few breaking 10 pages, and at least one hitting 12+.

A) Fun Fact: This entire universe was originally going to be a 10-chapter idea and end at that. Obviously, I got really into it, considering Chaos is Normal on its own ended up 22 chapters.

2) You do not wanna know how much I looked into different types of hidden/wear-able cameras for this chapter. You really don’t. I did learn some really interesting stuff, though.

A) The cameras Remy and Remus wear in this chapter are based on some stuff I found. Technically speaking, neither camera (nor any of the others I feature later in the story) are really out of the realm of possibility in the real world. Maybe a bit advanced, but they could be possible.

3) The team trying to get cameras going and clear, along with audio stuff is honestly fun to write. Similar segments pop up in other chapters, and it’s always amusing to me, for some reason.

4) “I was born first and you know it, Remus” is a line I forgot I wrote, but adore, honestly.

A) My older brother and I have a 10-year gap in age, so I was literally winging every single sibling moment that goes down between the twins. Hopefully they mostly came out okay.

5) Apparently there’s still a typo in the original Doc that I managed to correct immediately before posing. Uh....

Dunno how I didn’t catch that going through before I got it into the Ao3 editor, but I did catch it before actually hitting Post on the chapter. So... At least there’s that?

6) I love writing Janus and Virgil being good friends/caring about one another. It’s just something I love.

7) Having Virgil and Janus get spotted by Remy and Remus (as well as by Logan, and Roman, via the camera feeds) is honestly something I originally didn’t really intend to put in. But, I felt like having these passing glimpses of the teens made things feel a little more connected when I went through and added it as an experiment, so I kept it in.

8) Giving Remy and Remus their various nicknames and codenames in this chapter was too fun.

A) Calling Remy “Sandman” was something I really wanted to do at some point in the story, and the opportunity seamlessly presented itself here, so I couldn’t resist.

B) Later in the chapter, Remus claims that members of the Venom Order (who all use a sort of codename, to protect their identities; hence why Virgil goes by Spider and Janus goes by Deceit) call him “Beetlejuice” literally came from the fact that while writing this chapter, I was listening to the “Beetlejuice” musical soundtrack a lot, and uh... Yeah, it kinda just happened from there. Opened up the perfect opportunity for a joke in a later chapter, too.

9) Logan having to divide their attention between the cameras, Remy and Remus’ audio, and having to listen to make sure Patton and Emile are alright is something I planned from the start of the story. I wanted this to happen at least once. Logan has been protective and even at times a bit paranoid over Patton’s safety for most of the boy’s life, and this is an example of them doing their best to make sure he’s safe, despite the fact they’re doing something extremely dangerous just upstairs.

10) I can’t help but headcanon that Janus almost always wears layers not just to help with dysphoria, but also because he fidgets with the top layer of his clothes when he gets nervous. As such, he has a lot of hoodies, jackets, and vests in his wardrobe.

A) He also wears layers because he just likes how it looks. Yes, this is me projecting. I like layered looks, okay?

NOTICE: This is where I’m covering the conversation between Janus and his father. This section does describe Transphobia, abuse, and emotionally-distant “parenting” (if you can call anything Janus’ father does parenting at all). There will be a second notice once we are beyond that particular section, so simply scroll to that point if you don’t wish to read these next few points.

11) I wrote Janus’ father as being a very cold sort of parent. If he weren’t a Homophobic, Transphobic, all-around piece of shit, he’d still be a bad parent. He hardly gives a damn when his son does well, and only ever really responds if he feels Janus has done something wrong (like, y’know, existing, since Janus is trans, and Joseph refuses to see him as his son).

12) Joseph repeatedly misgenders and dead-names Janus throughout the conversation, and it was really hard to write. I had to check my work several times to make sure things were “correct”, and I didn’t have any slips that Joseph wouldn’t make.

A) If any of you hated Joseph immediately once he opened his mouth, then I did my job. I wanted everyone to hate this asshole. I hated this asshole, and I created him. So, yeah, fuck Joseph “Viper” Prescott.

B) Luckily, I didn’t need to write a ton of Joseph in this story (and likely won’t need to in future stories), because I really hated him from the start, in the “I created you to be awful, and god damn, you are awful” way.

13) Janus telling Joseph off by saying “I am your son! If you can’t see that, then you’re fucking blind, old man!” was a line I wanted to include some form of from the start of the chapter, and it went through a few different iterations before I finally decided I liked this one best.

A) Also, Janus immediately realizing he went too far with that statement is intended to be a relatable moment (as we’ve probably all had that moment of, “I shouldn’t have said that”), but also intended to show that Janus knows how his father reacts to that kind of thing, and the resulting “Anxiety vs Might as well go all in” sort of conflict Janus has is there to hint that things really aren’t good at home, and it really has changed the way Janus tends to think and approach some situations.

14) Depicting the very quick emotional shifts with Joseph was another thing I had trouble with, but for a very different reason. I have ADHD (I don’t keep this secret, I’ve posted about it and make an effort to be open about the various ups and downs I deal with as a result), and it has a big impact on my writing style. It’s why I try to be descriptive (especially when it comes to places and character body language, expression, emotion, and clothing), since the details help me keep track of tone, location, and the like.

With Joseph, though, I had to throw some of that out the window. I try to keep emotional shifts for characters consistent, and at least hint to them coming up, to make it easier for myself (and other readers who might also have a hard time with sudden shifts and cues like that) to keep track of things. I couldn’t do that with Joseph. Because of how I wanted to portray him in this story (especially this chapter), I had to make things sudden. Hence the sudden and quick way he lashed out (though the inciting force is “clear”; he was angry concerning Janus’ comments), and the rapid shift to him once again being cold and stoic once he’d struck Janus and the teen was on the ground. It was hard to keep it draft-level quick, rather than going through and “refining” it.

NOTICE: We’re done talking about all the really bad stuff. There’s some talk of the aftermath, but all the really explicit things are out of the way, so it should be safe to continue.

15) Virgil is basically me at any gathering. Just, stick to the edges, people-watch, and silently panic if anyone approaches.

16) I think this is the closest Virgil gets to really flying off the handle in this story. I don’t think I ever have him get this close to going and physically fighting someone at any other point, and damn do I wish I had, honestly. Virgil is really protective of Janus, and seeing his friend (read: crush) in his current state sets him off. He’s still fuming when Janus gets his attention again and is clearly desperate to just get out of there, but he pulls himself together and helps Janus out, because he knows that going after Joseph won’t be the helpful thing in this situation.

17) Logan flexing their fingers before starting to really get to work once Remy patches them into the Order system is honestly something I have a habit of doing when I start writing, especially if it’s cold, since the joints in my hands tend to get stiff and lock up a little. Also, I really couldn’t resist the really obvious spy/hacker bit. The opportunity was right in front of me, and you all know by now I take the opportunities when they come.

18) I originally didn’t want to leave the chapter where it ended, since it was a pretty decent cliff-hanger and felt like an awkward stopping point at the time. That being said, I’m glad I did it. This and most of Chapter 4 were going to be one entity, but that would’ve ended up way longer (Chapter 4 ended up roughly 8 pages on its own), and it would’ve been a lot of fairly heavy content all in one go, so it was better broken up. It made me very glad for the little POV shifts throughout, because it gave me a clean place to cut the chapter apart and made it a little less awkward.

And, I think that’s about it for this one! This was a really long chapter (probably the longest I’d ever written as of when I wrote it), and it was full of stuff to help kick off future interactions in the story.

#Chaos Behind the Scenes #Chaos is Normal AU #Long Post #tw: transphobia #tw: abuse

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