#I linked all the songs in the post upon first mention please consider listening to all of them if you haven't they're all very good

[seb-owns-these-tatas]

7th Dimension | Gojo Satoru Multi-Fic (Chapter 8)

7TH DIMENSION MASTERLIST

PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER 7.9

7TH DIMENSION WATTPAD VERSION/LINK (I am entirely ahead on this site now. 7th Dimension on Wattpad has now accumulated more than 10 chapters even before I published this one tonight. There are minimal scenes back in the previous chapters which has been altered there, so sorry about to those who only read my updates through Tumblr because there might be some differences in Satoru’s characteristics which has been changed on Wattpad already, yet y'all are bound to read the altercations in further chapters. Heehee.)

。。+゜゜。。+゜゜。。+゜゜。。+゜゜。。+゜゜。。+゜゜。。

Characters: Gojo Satoru x Small!Naive!Fem!Foreign!Reader | THIS IS A MULTI-CHAPTER FIC. THIS IS AN X READER FANFIC WHO HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO THE DIMENSION OF JUJUTSU KAISEN | (Trust me, you'll live. I hope?)

Summary: A day spent with Satoru had built and concocted rainbows and butterflies. Until he had to pull out another mischievous stunt beneath his blindfolds that ticked you to the bones, leaving you in a flustering mess and with a broken promise that you've believed him to be ignorant of. Or so you thought?

Warnings: Gojo being Gojo. Quick story tellin' upon what happened during the intimate apparel moment you had with him that he has forced you in back on the previous chapters. LMAO. Maki Zenin has been introduced in this chapter. Gojo wouldn't be physically present for this chapter and on the next too. But he has his scenes. Heehee. Y'all better miss him when he comes back. We're giving the spotlight to his students for the mean time. Y/N, Y/L/N means the input of your name and then your last name. It's just for one dialogue mentioned by Megumi, though. Heehee. Megumi GIF's! <3 

A/N: Here's chapter 8 that I promised! If y'all have any suggestions for songs that are fit for 7th Dimension, please don't hesitate to comment, message or tell me! I'm open for any songs to listen to whenever I'm writing! <3 Thank you so much! Also wanna include a playlist chapter for this fanfic book we have. <3 

7th Dimension Taglist: @dailystsg (Send me an ask or message if you want to be added or removed, bb’s!)

FEEDBACKS HELP A LOT FOR A WRITER. REBLOGS AND COMMENTS MAKE MY HEART TINGLE AND SQUEAL, ISTG. 💙 I DO APPRECIATE THEM ALL. Your feedbacks and kind words makes me forget the fatigue that I'm in!

SORRY IF THERE ARE LOTS OF TYPOS AND GRAMMAR ERRORS WITH EVERY CHAPTER I WRITE. I ain't a professional writer! I'm just a potato-hoe! LMAO.

Words: 6.8k+

Disclaimer: PNG's or pictures used in edits, also those posted are not mine especially the GIF's. (I dunno how to make GIF's 😭) (Other Megumi Fushiguro GIFs are from ydotome here on Tumblr! <3 Credits to the users!) I only own the plot of 7th Dimension. But, not Jujutsu Kaisen's storyline and the characters themselves. OG characters are created by me and will be stated during my brief author's notes. I apologize for the typos or grammatical errors by the way! English isn't my first language so I'm so sorry in advance! Character development and personalities are based from my understanding and how I want them to be for the sake of the story.

"GO-JO SA-TO-RUUUUU! WHERE-THE-HECK-ARE-YOU-HIDING?!"

Per vowel had been a heap of emotional amalgams. Those of which considered sentiments of a shamed woman. You've run an expectation from the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer, wrapping your mind over the experiences and bond you had with Satoru Gojo. His arrogant and cheeky character being brought to light after such an enthralling engagement of a day. This mental picture you had of him bordered with rainbows, bliss and dreams---that was merely fictitious.

For the reason of one stunt he mischievously pulled today. Those impressions had been thrown in the dumps, tied along through wraps of dark, sable plastic bags and had been chomped by disgusting rats.

A fantasy that should've been considered as your hapless delusions.

He'd made you eat crow, his actions placing you in a seat filled with abash and realization that those conceptualization will forever just be a folktale ought to be a thorough fib and a shaggy-dog story.

In account of Satoru's stunt that he just pulled under those foolish clothing that covered his damn heavenly eyes, you were going ape. The anger seen from Inside Out that was shown and created by Disney had been an elaborated representation of who you are right now. The Tiny-Chan who'd went berserk and trying to pin-point where your target was.

You were obviously the victim here. It wasn't Satoru, no.

Hence, standing in the middle of a large track and field wasn't enough to track down the menace. Once you were in a towering---tiny rage and in ones chagrin, the determination was set unrelented. By hook or by crook, you were ticking this down on your bribery notes you had for Satoru. Alongside, thinking of his broken promise as another of your protection rackets you had for him.

"I'M BURNING YOU ALIVE, YOU ANNOYING BLINDFOLDED IDIOT! JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE!"

In the midst of rousing from your day. The sunlight irradiating panels of warm beam across your face despite of remembering how you've left it closed last night. Your wonderment quickly has been given an answer to when you've been greeted by your stuffed cat toy who was neatly placed on the end of your bed. You were still sleepy-eyed, blinking through your awakened slumber. Blurry vision adapting along a morning you've hoped to be peaceful even just for the time being.

Just for at least the moment you haven't stepped foot outside Satoru's dormitory room because he might be lurking around somewhere.

Yet, the hope has just been a chasm of shattered dreams when your prized possession named 'Toru' had such a patterned, flowery piece of Granny-panties worn across its head; delineating it as a form of blindfold---much to his sheer jolly and persistent belief that you've chosen the white cat in hopes of remembering him when he wasn't around. It stretched across its poor head, squeezing it as if 'Toru' was being suffocated.

Death from Granny Panties it was then.

Waking up to that alone was enough to consider why you've even thought that Satoru was capable of holding a green flag alongside the red.

But, you were caught raising the red flag and probably screaming his full name on your pillow when you've seen a pre-recorded device that rested upon the bed-side table. Curiosity killed the cat---it even spoiled the broth; the fantasy of a dream you've wished to have once you've pressed play.

Thus, through gritted teeth, you've listened. The device being placed on your ear and you've felt a mixture of emotions rush through you. "Now, now. Don't be shy---," Satoru's recorded voiced inflamed the ignominy of a half-meant blague, egging on to the reaction he had gotten since that train escapades you both had. Not gonna lie, but he'd gotten you on the first half of his pause. His silvery pitch stimulating that warmth spreading through your belly when the second half of his pre-recorded message had your fingers tightly clutching onto the device like you were bound to hurl them away.

"---Feel free to wear it, Tiny-Chan. Hehehe. Don't miss me too much, alright?"

You were actually kicking your feet underneath the duvet like a spoiled and pettish kid.

Satoru even stoked your infuriation up. His stunts never ended with that. He was known to be ambitious, having this certain desire to top off more than what was expectant of him. You've thought he would've been lenient towards you, perceiving that mercy he had for his students had already been a special prize earned for you.

Yet, you were wrong.

Satoru had taken all of your underwear that has already been washed and were newly bought by him. The embarrassment you've gathered with every type of intimate apparel that he had criticized and joyously taken part in. Others being handpicked by the Strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer as if he acted that he would get a fortunate stroke of serendipity over seeing you in it.

You've convinced yourself that he was the financer and let him sort what he thought would float your boat.

His choices were safe because he'd taken at least every type and choice along the basket you've held. From an intimate apparel that you would surely wear till the peppery hot ones. Downright naughty and obscene enough for you to think twice, making you stop in your tracks as you've did a double take; a double-check on the apparels alone.

The blistering heat traveling towards your face when you've given each a thorough inspection, your expressions pulling your face into a blend of horror and embarrassment.

It was entirely surprising that despite of how he was haphazardly selecting which was which, the sizes were actually damn right.

Because the perverted idiot has coaxed you into telling your vital statistics to him.

He even got to the point of slipping a risquè lingerie without even being aware of it until it was finally in a heap of intimate apparels that the cashier has randomly dropped off in one go which earned a whisper grumble of your native language once you've deliberately took a side-step to hid behind Satoru's gigantuan height to cast a shadow upon your humiliation.

If only you were in your dimension---you wouldn't have been this much of a beggar.

This third stunt he pulled sent you in a fit of rage because he has left you with nothing but those Granny-Pannies he had worn over Neko-san. How maddened you were after seeing the drawer that were once filled with new set of undergarments after having a neat, calming shower and expecting that he wouldn't make your hackles rise more, you've completely underestimated the Strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer alive.

Gojo had left you nothing but those granny-pannies and a bra that matched with the pattern of it. Highly remembering that you had not bought nor had the possibility that he had slip them in the basket aside from the coveted lingerie you had no idea in.

Which resulted why you screaming your lungs out in the middle of Tokyo Jujutsu High's Track N' Field like a berserk woman, hunting down Satoru through high and low, knowing damn well that he teleports wasn't helping the idea that he did not want to be seen nor remembered the promise he made in the middle of your supposed to be slumber.

"Tiny-Chan!"

You were seated on the side of your bed. Ready to have the nap of your life when Satoru suddenly popped in like a bubble in front of you. The blindfolded man-child just used his teleportation abilities like he had already been using them from the start without prevarication. He was now garbed in his usual Jujutsu uniform. His Stygian blindfolds over his eyes as if he had work or had been working after that rendezvous you've had with him, this succeeding ventures had been after the meeting he had with that particular principal and the old man he was pertaining to back at the time being.

"What the---really!---don't you know how to knock, Satoru?!" you've held onto your chest, your heart beating fast and not knowing if it was because of the fact that he surprised you or was it because of his unsolicited presence around the room.

It was probably both. Since you weren't entirely acceptant over the idea that people had the privilege to pop around and second was the actuality that his presence alone had been too compelling for the heart that he was inured to this unwelcomed invite to his---well...---own quarters.

"Oi, Isn't this my room to start with?" Satoru retorted, sending the question back in a beguiled, contemptuous resonance of his voice. He'd brought a finger, pointing towards the ceiling to quip his sarcasm as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "---You're technically the trespasser here."

You've opened your mouth to speak but called a halt to it, giving him a shrug of your shoulder instead. This period of lethargy taking a toll on you, worn to a frazzle to even retaliate to his accustomed teasing here and there.

Again, this came forth to be the new normal for you when you've began to exhibit your presence from the moment you've stepped foot on Satoru's dimension. If earth---the one you lived in for years had everyone adapting to their dilemma of habituating to COVID-19's new normal--- Perhaps, in the actuality of Satoru's world, he was the plague needed to be adapted.

Such a wonderful, stellar, headache of a plague indeed.

"Whatever. It's like...past midnight already. What do you want?"

Satoru was wasting his time---your time---into hemming and hawing before actually being forthright, gaping up at the ceiling and trying to mentally word out what he wanted to say with a lingering hum. "Hm..." he trailed off, a thick finger situated under his chin while he began to mule over the idea he had, "I want breakfast tomorrow."

You've given him a lethargic blink of an eye, those random conversations and discussions you had with him seeming to bore inside your mind that you had to mention again, "I remembered you told me you knew how to cook on your own."

Hence, the white-haired Jujutsu Sorcerer was---obviously---proud at that. Satoru even told you and by meaning of telling, he gladly emphasized that he could do a lot of things---Anything. Gojo bragged to make it clear, which is why it was making you wonder why you were being asked to cook for him aside from his sweets that he has always been selfish of, keeping them all for him to take and devour.

"Yep! Hehe. Your ruptured head's recovering then! I'm glad you remembered how I could do a lot of things!" Satoru chuckled. You've never noticed that he feigned the awkwardness that seem to strain along his words with a laugh, like a kid being caught for lying or for whatever he wanted to actually say.

"It's because you just basically told me about it this morning when we were out for shopping," you raised a brow, wanting him to continue further. A solid reasoning that could get you to say yes as you added, "---What's in it for me if I do so?"

That sounded like a curt query. The first dulled reply he had gotten out of you today. This out of the blue visit he had was eating away at him. Satoru was mentally blaming your obstinate reasoning over all. Whether you had trust issues, he had no idea. It appeared like you always needed evidences through your words---his words---to believe a fact. He seemed to be dwelling this casual conversation too much with you because of a timbre that he had an aversion to but he just could not get the proper words out of his mouth verbally tonight.

Did he do something wrong?

The Strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer began to putter around his old room, wandering towards a vacant area within his chambers that his own, impulsive footing has brought him in before he could even come to realize. He'd graciously leaned on the wall with the need to cross his arms in his snazzy posture.

"Well, I just want you to cook breakfast for me. Although, I'm not craving for anything sweet tomorrow. Perhaps, after. I probably would. So, what do ya' say, huh?"

Reveling more in such a sapped state made you more nonchalant than ever. The most offhand chatter he ever experienced with you. It made his lukewarm conversations he had with Nanami Kento sound better than this enervated discourse he was having. Had he visited you in a wrong time then? Were you sick? Had you experienced another mindwrecking headache again?

What was he even saying? His mouth forced the urge to frown from his concealed, latent thoughts. Another discovery, one that left him slightly perturbed through that sheltered cage he never wanted to rattle. Though, he'd also learned and caught sight of your bare, fretful toes shaded beneath the ends of your Pajamas that were of a flurry, grazing against each other as time passed by with him.

You were knackered and anxious at the same time.

"Kay, Satoru."

Satoru blinked from beneath his blindfolds, his hands that were now inside his pockets seeming to cease from aimlessly touching the fabrics and his possessions inside when he'd heard that totally bushed out whisper of yours, the bonny obedience---an off the record finding that he'd somehow perceived to be oddly captivating have dragged that significant heat towards that deepest parts of him.

It traversed towards bizarre points ought to be tinted in hues. This fuzzy feeling of his scattering in positions he was not ready for. An intricate sentiment that was filled of recondite senses; more so than what a battle of Jujutsu could ever bring him in.

"Kay? As simple as that? Uh---Alright, alright. You're not complaining this time? Not even a single one? No rebuttal or anything?"

He'd taken a fat pause, seeming to be taken to a spot that made his side unfavorable when it never---ever---happened before. Satoru knew he should've thought twice despite of not acquiring the said word from the dictionary. This whole weary discussion he was having had been purely adverse from his rash decisions of his inability to catch some z's since the last few months.

It had become dreadful. Tiring to be honest because the longest snooze he had was at least a maximum of two to three hours tops.

He was entirely aware that you were in your most jaded condition. Definitely a shedload of your pooped state that Satoru has encountered for the very first time. You were slothful upon blinking, cutesy as he ever did inattentively identified while waiting for him to say anything else. Was it this unsettling feeling that left him uncomfortable now when you weren't talking a lot?

Satoru Gojo wanted you talking. He was bent on for you to throw things at him. A tissue paper, a pillow or anything at least, much to his surreal proclivity. The white-haired Jujutsu Sorcerer subtly desired for your piqued retaliations for his rash, annoying gestures and habits.

Yet, this wasn't what he has mentally pictured to be in when he had impulsively welcomed himself to announce his presence to your fatigued form.

"Don't forget to save a portion of meal for you too." Satoru added as a matter of fact, not getting the right words out of his mouth that earned an indistinct, shaky grin from the latter.

A tottering grin?

It was a far-fetched idea. One that was impossible for the Strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer but he felt it.

You raised both of your brows, certainly leaving you skeptical into thinking that you would cook only for him when it wasn't even his precious sweetmeats to begin with, "You think I'm going to cook only for you? Hey, I've learned from my mistakes over how you're not bound on sharing yours. You're an uncharitable, guy."

He chuckled underneath that subtle, miniscule, waver of his breath, "You sure know that only happens with my sweets, Tiny-Chan." pause. "---says the penny-pinching, parsimonous girl who's cheap as heck when it's not even her money to begin with. Look at all these bags scattered around." Gojo simply flicked a wrist to gesture towards the chaotic paper bags, those that were of a higgledy-piggledy mountain of them casted off on one corner. His slovenly speech continuing on, "---yet, to think that you're calling me uncharitable?"

"Oh, hush. I'm done arguing about that tonight. I'll deal with you tomorrow. Kay? Sweet dreams!" It was short. Blunt. Impassive which had been contrast to that keyed up heart dancing to the Macarena when Satoru had visited you during the night, unprompted.

This contrasting fusion inhabiting more to your jaded silence that waited with bated breath. You were trying to finish the conversation with him, his presence that has always created rattles after rattles for your heart. Every minute of the day and every time you were adapting, it seemed like it was becoming easier to control it all through an exterior, a veneer composure masked from the outside. But, in all sincerity---you were internally rickety whenever he was around and whenever you were entirely conscious of him.

With all possible haste, you've pulled the hem of the duvet over your head, turning your body away from the Jujutsu Sorcerer who tarried a bit longer than he intended to. He'd deliberated towards your answer that went straight over your shoulder, literally and figuratively. He'd stared with wonder, caught from the rude awakening that you've tried to cease in between the nightly discussion you were having with him.

Guess Satoru had to goof off on other things instead to surpass this insomnia he was having.

"E-Eh? But---you're gonna' cook breakfast for me, right?" his mouth was unable to fight the frown off his face from being shunned to the side, thwarted by the brief end of a conversation that he was experiencing from his Tiny-chan. He'd impatiently waited for a little while before gaining nothing but your intentional silence in return, "---It's a promise then! Goodnight! See you tomorrow! Hehe!" Gojo sent a feigned, final beam before he'd clasped his hands together, popping off like a bubble like how he'd popped in as quick as how he'd appeared was as brisk as how he had left.

You'd breathed out a sigh of relief, stretching out your folded, rubbery legs from the fetus position you were in once you were tucked in your own bundle of unpigmented color of a duvet.

Satoru simply did not want to eat alone. This anomalous instinct of keeping you around at all costs, seizing you under the tutelage of his influential existence. He actually had just taken a fancyto have breakfast with you and his attempt over saying the exact words were futile to his damned surprise.Though, he was satisfied over the results of this unwanted visit he planned because it still had you cooking for him, brewing another planned bonding and schedule of a rendezvous he'd covertly anticipated for.

Until his world needed him again and again, aspiring to pour cold water over this morning meal he had in mind.

"Megumi."

Maki Zenin, currently a second-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High. She was born as a non-sorcerer in one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families and has been constantly mistreated which lead to her own ousting from the Zenin clan. She held onto her wooden stick made to use for training that hung over her shoulders. Her hazel peepers criticizing your form over the middle of the wide-reaching field, a nameless woman who was screaming where the heck was Gojo Satoru hiding.

Megumi sat along the cemented stairs, watching you with an impassive expression on his face. Probably judging why you were screaming in the middle of it all and was musing the cause through your rampage that was certainly out of the blue.

"Zenin-Senpai." he acknowledged her with a lethargic drawl of his voice. He was inert upon blinking to himself when they were a witness of those child-like stomps you were giving to the poor ground as you peered up at the sky. The next yelling filled with native phrases they couldn't decipher.

"Thought, I told you to never call me that," pause. "---There's a mad, foreign woman screaming the blindfolded dumbass's name like a haunted prayer."

Maki stated as a matter of fact, another one of Satoru's students who doesn't seem to respect him as a person due to his renowned very goofy attitude of his, even as he was her teacher and senior. The young second year student pondered upon who you were, "What did he do now?" she'd taken a pause, scrutinizing you from head to foot through her eyeglasses that allowed her to see cursed-spirits. She'd considered your height and judged your existence to be more on the younger side, "---Is she a new first year?"

"Huh?" Megumi was caught off guard at that as he had given Maki a glance, shaking his head to correct her, "---No. That's Eigo-San."

"Eigo-San?" she'd responded in utmost curiosity for the sobriquet given, her eyebrows furrowed enough to express her befuddlement.

"Y/L/N, Y/N." Fushiguro continued further, stabilizing the context of his information with the right details as he played with fingers, keeping them together as they've given you both their gazes. Gojo's name being repeatedly called out loud in the middle of all in piqued repetition.

"---A woman who happened to come from another dimension. No identity other than a name."

Maki has given him a glance of the dubiety for such a ridiculous viewpoint and theory. This source of amazement never to be expected by such an occurrence that was bound to happen, "Expect that you'll be seeing her a lot. She's always with Gojo-Sensei. She doesn't have a choice because she doesn't have anyone else aside from him."

She had her mouth ajar for a moment, trying to get that whammy of an information gradually taking its process inside her brain before she gave Megumi a grin, "That happens now too? Travelling from one world and to the other?---" pause. "---Is there actually another dimension aside from the one we're standing on right now? The world sure is changing then." Maki drawled the end of her words a little, disbelief framing her face as the wind hits her face. The short ponytail for her sage green hair that she'd fixed for herself swaying along the breeze of Tokyo Jujutsu High.

"It's only Gojo-Sensei who she understands miraculously. Though, he speaks the same language as we do. Then, vice versa. It's weird to say. Very." Megumi added another fact for her to get to know you better and be accustomed by the possibility that you would be seen around by hook or by crook. Sooner or later to be introduced to her because you were somehow always with their teacher 24/7.

"Any abilities she could wield?" she asked, curious and wondering if Gojo had taken you in the institute because you had a potential.

Maki was sure you had at least the idea of the Jujutsu Society or even the possibility you could train an ability. She hoped to train with you as well, probably play around a bit as she found you lowkey adorable for such guts over cursing Gojo's name like a haunted prayer as if you could even get to touch him physically. Never expecting such exasperation coming from someone so miniscule.

"Probably Gojo-Sensei's attention. She gets it all. He bugs the heck out of her whenever he could. If she's around, it's as if she's the only one he sees. Finally, someone who could keep him distracted besides annoying us all whenever he wants."

Maki snickered to herself. Well, that was an ability she'd never expected. It was a skill indeed. Probably a talent sent from the heavens above because everyone damn knew and was damn sapped from the sensei's constant need upon creating ruckus upon ruckus.

Everybody would get to have the break they deserved then.

"---Aside from that, none. She's a non-sorcerer but not an aspiring Jujutsu Sorcerer. Also, she seems to act like an idiot just like sensei from time to time." The people that Gojo antagonizes nonstop were probably applauding and cheering for your existence, perhaps kneeling before you like a gem sent from above, Maki silently thought to herself.

All those thoughts inside her head has been kept to herself as she silently listened and comprehended to Megumi's school of thought, humming to his response as she nodded, "Hm. Her existence is interesting then."

She thought he was done with his notions until Megumi decided to add more to his theories. The hearsays that begun since the moment you've been transferred to their world as Ijichi somehow had accidentally slipped an information out or two when he'd explained their latest assignments for them. During the middle of his drive, Kiyotaka run his mouth off before he could even realize that Megumi were critically analyzing through it all.

"But, I've...somehow gotten a gist of why she's being kept around, I suppose." he dragged on, hearing you scream another of Gojo's full name out in the heat of the sun, "---Gojo-Sensei believes that this woman might be a clairvoyant for the Jujutsu Society. I have no idea why so."

Maki's ears instantly perked up at that.

Without doubt, that sounded like a functional ability. Another skill that could be considered impressive somehow. Did you also have cursed energy? She had no idea over how your fortune telling worked and thought it through if there was one in the Jujutsu Society who held such.

"Eh? Think she knows my future then? Should I ask her? Would she be quick to give me an answer?" Maki smirked, skeptical that she wanted to have her palm be read by you because of her undying curiosity.

"---Does it require any amount of cursed-energy to be used?"

Megumi shrugged to himself, sighing at the less than fifty percent that it wasn't possible as of the moment, "No. I doubt she's bound to know even that. I don't have an idea upon how it works for her. It's like she doesn't also understand what's happening at all. Gojo-sensei never tells a thing. Plus, she has an intense amount of amnesia that he's trying to help her with,---" he murmured under his breath, making it sound like you forgotten how to use your abilities. Never knowing that your abilities---this ability he was saying actually only supported sketches and not actually being read through a tarot card or lines on a person's palm if it was seen solely as how normal people perceived fortune-telling to be within the conventional aspect of it, "---if he's even helping her..."

Maki pulled a face before she shrugged to herself, leaving the issue alone to the first year students who initially knew you from the start. You've held a permanent scowl to your face. It felt utterly blazing due to the anger and humiliation you were feeling. The intimate set being worn right now underneath your clothes because of Gojo's ruse to wedge you further into this displeasure he had stowed you in.

Maki Zenin noticed you were coming for them, starting to saunter near. Primitively deciding that you were walking to have a conversation with her second nephew who had already been talking to you and had exchanged discussions every once in a while. She'd completely wanted to avoid you for now, perhaps because of the language that she was not fluent with.

"The girl's coming this way." she simply stated, making Fushiguro grumble from how he was being caught in a conversation with you again, a grimace on his face when you began walking towards them while Maki was preparing herself to skedaddle, "---Eh. You handle her. Panda and Toge's probably at the entrance already,"

Panda and Toge were already at Itadori's room. She knew that and even told Megumi about it. That was when he knew that his aunt was lying and just wanted to avoid having a discussion with a foreign person she didn't know yet.

Upon garnering a closer distance, approaching Megumi and a young woman with a tall, athletic built that has instantly kept you beady-eyed for her appearance and stature. You've given the green-haired woman a look. She had fringes of her sage green hair over her forehead with smaller strands which framed her cheeks, another beauty just like Nobara whom you had no idea why she was all acting hostile for your presence since the moment you were both introduced.

You had no idea but this woman who began to advance forward, technically about to pass by just screams the capacity and the prospective into becoming stronger than she intended to.

Until the moment you've blinked an eye, you've felt as if a large stone was enough to keep your mind stumbling from the short, quick image. The sudden agonizing pain that pooled along your temples from a blurred, fuzzy scene along your head that was ought to be interpreted to obfuscate what it really meant. It was colored. One which appeared to be of concrete reality.

A woman who had her skin incinerated and flawed but was strong enough whom had a weapon on her hand. Accompanied with circled glasses and shortened black hair, partnered by a black uniform and a cape that was attached to her shoulder blades.

You've ceased along your march, not being called out through words but acknowledged by the green-haired girl with a subtle indecipherable smile. Those thoughts in the back of your mind, wordless to begin with as it echoed from within, "That's strange. She wasn't even short haired to begin with."

Was that her in the future? or was it a different woman?

You've felt warm, liquid pool along your nostrils. Before you could even realize it, this tiny amount of crimson fluid began to drip down in a creeping pace. Hence, that was the moment you've known that the woman you've seen inside your head was indeed, her.

She didn't seem happy at all from that particular picture and you had no idea nor have any theories about what happened and why she ended up that way. You've kept your mouth shut. This thorough dwelling making you mentally muse on the idea if it was needed to be told to Satoru when he wasn't even around to start with.

Was she one of his students as well?

"Are you okay, Eigo-San?"

You've heard Megumi asked. As genuine as he wanted it to sound to be. The impassive tonality still hinting more to this unfeigned side he was sporting on. He had begun to walk your way, catching you off guard to say the least as the first year student was being the person who'd actually approached you right now to initiate a conversation.

He'd turned the volume of his phone to the highest as Megumi used Google Translate for you. His clothed arm that was garbed in his accustomed Jujutsu clothing. The descendant of the Zenin family outreached to keep his cellphone closer to be heard and patiently waited for the translator to speak, keeping you under tabs as you have been wiping your nose in discreet. Though, he had already seen it despite of your desire to conceal it from the latter.

Was it because of the brain damage you've had and it wasn't entirely healed yet? Megumi thought to himself, keeping his hunches to his head.

"I'm...fine. It's just the after effects of the...accident, I suppose." you've began, making it sound like you were trying to convince yourself and not him. You've eyed the green haired woman who was now out of sight, continuously patting your bleeding nose with the back of your hand, lucky that it stopped as it wasn't an ample amount of liquid which needed any tissue or handkerchief. It wasn't the type where it could be considered as over the top. Just a minimal amount.

"Who was she? The...girl with the ponytail?"

Megumi blinked to your sudden query, brushing it off like it was nothing, clueless for those unforeseen nose bleeds and for what it meant behind it all aside from Satoru who knew damn well now that it consisted of the idea that you were seeing something that would be of use or had been images from their dimension in which he highly believed of, or that---in which he self proclaimed---to be a result of his attractiveness that was too hot to bear.

"Ah. She's my aunt. Her name's Maki Zenin."

You've given it a subtle nod of understanding. Wordless as you ever been when you've felt the pain finally fading away. Maki Zenin. Her name does ring a bell somehow yet you had no idea where and why.

It definitely sounded like Sushi though.

"Where is he?" that 'he' that you were pertaining to, Megumi instantly knew who it was and minimally elucidated for you.

"Gojo-Sensei? He went on a business trip." he phlegmatically responded. Nevertheless, subtly scrutinizing you from beneath his thick eyelashes that you were oblivious for because of his indelible, impassive expressions.

"But, he promised---" you started, your face falling when you realized that he would probably take longer than expected when Satoru was concluded to be in the midst of whatever business trip he was taking.

Was this rendezvous he planned could even be considered as a promise or a demand from the latter?

Your words were discontinued and Fushiguro wondered why it was. He decided to prod further upon the topic of why you were screaming like a banshee in the middle of Tokyo Jujutsu High, "Did he do something by the way perhaps?" Megumi eventually changed the topic, reading through your expressions that you weren't going to continue your previous sentence, "---You've been screaming his name at the top of his lungs in the middle of the institute."

Thus, suddenly you've felt your face began to rocket through this flustering heat when you've remembered the reason in the first place.

"Well---Satoru---and, Well...I---We---ugh---we had---well---we---" you've stumbled upon your words, ending with a nervous giggle that the Shikigami user eventually had criticized and given a weird look to it.

He had gotten the wrong idea of putting two and two together. Especially since the part where you pointed out that shaky, embarrassed 'He' and 'I' again and again through the sentence formed and declared for him to hear. His accusations definitely a wide off the mark from the veracity of things.

You've seen Fushiguro's mouth mold into a tight grimace, the most expressive you've seen him in that instigated to your perusal, your mouth pursing through this odd expression he was having. His face gradually turning beet red and you pondered why.

"Have you eaten breakfast, Megumi?" you changed the topic after a long awkward pause between you both. The embarrassment dying down from the speechlessness that has occurred, but it was giving the impression like your humiliation passed on towards the black-haired first year student.

Megumi was dealing with this sudden awkwardness that you were unwary of, "Huh?" he questioned, doing a double take as he was holding onto the upper part of his uniform jacket, pulling them further to his mouth, taking a grip from saying anything more.

"---Hm."

Your discomfiture was now changed into sheer curiosity for whatever he was thinking. You've given him a knot of your brows, a smile beaming on your face as you were spontaneous to decide for him, "That was a no then! Come on!" you've began to walk back towards the path back to Tokyo Jujutsu High, passing by the juvenile upon trudging up the cemented stairs that he has been sitting on beforehand.

You've heard no footfall coming from behind, instigating that the first-year Jujutsu Sorcerer was pensive over the whole turn of events. Spinning on your heels and paving to give your attention at Megumi who was on a deadlock, standing still upon where he stood. You've second look behind when he didn't plan to move. With a persuasive and enthusiastic wave of your hand, you've tried to prevail on the idea further.

This abrupt goal of sharing time together with one of Satoru's trusted students, coming through a forethought of seeking answers to your undying curiosities of what was really happening to their world. The accurate ones that were to be gainful rather than the terse statements and jokes you were constantly receiving from Gojo whenever you were intrigued by the whole Jujutsu thing.

You were staring back at Megumi when he was just silently staring at you, unable to tell what was running inside the young man's mind from all the apathetic spirit he was relishing on, "Sea-Urchin! Let's go then! I'll cook something for you!" pause. "---are you really this slow?!"

"Says the one who's extremely and quickly exhausted with just twenty steps away upon trying to run off from Gojo-sensei." The black-haired juvenile mindlessly thought on the back of his mind as he could recall the first time he had seen you all petrified after the tree-branch incident. 

Fushiguro began to wander towards you with thorough speculation. You were garrulous from complaining how unrushed he was. He strolled alongside once he approached near, his phone now laying upon the palm of your hand as you've randomly talked about a lot of your randomized perceptions, jibber-jabbering through it all that you've even got to the point of telling that Gojo did not take a fancy over his Shiitake mushrooms in which the first year student was slightly staggered to know.

You were in the midst of your footslogs with the sea-urchin when you've heard Nobara call in such a boisterous volume from a distance.

"Fushiguro!" Kugisaki hollered with knotted brows, a fixated grimace warped along the exteriors of her pretty face, those tangerine colored eyes of hers landed on you, getting a gist she was not delighted enough to be around your presence at this certain moment.

There was something with you. This comfortable but irritating feeling. From the beginning that Satoru has introduced you and announced your existence to be all over the place---basically, on every side where their Sensei would be. Since the Hatagaya cursed-spirit incident, his students were positive that you were of someone that would be held accountable for whatever he needed or see to be of benefit if he made it clear to aid you away from cursed-spirits.

One ought to be perceived as someone who needed saving. It was probably that idea in which Nobara felt the revulsion for. A whole contradiction to her character as she was known to be a confident and brash young woman with an unshakable personality who takes great pride in being both a pretty girl and a strong fighter. How futile you were in a world where women needed to be strong.

It just had to be a woman like you that was transported to their world for no reason that Satoru's students could ever predict of as they were impervious of the shrouded rationality that fate has bestowed upon you that Satoru was totally keeping behind closed doors even with the trust that he had for them.

Although, this privy comfort being familiar somehow made it displeasing for her. She just couldn't grasp around it or why she was even having the need to feel this particular way. Though, it was no use for her to blame you because you were---a person who shouldn't have been teleported to their dimension from the start.

Kugisaki Nobara had caught up to the both of you, passing a glance as if you weren't there and deliberately stood beside Fushiguro, avoiding to graze clothes with you as she has bothered to ask the first-year student. This query obvious to be sent towards her friend.

"Can I come with?"

"Expect that you'll be seeing her a lot. She's always with Gojo-Sensei. She doesn't have a choice because she doesn't have anyone else aside from him." I'm cackling with this. Megumi's being sassy again, huh? you didn't have to be so---HAHAHAHAH 

Also, don't worry. Nobara's going to warm up to Tiny-Chan soon enough.

FEEDBACKS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED EVERYONE! LOVE LOTS FROM YOUR MAMA TATA! <3  

SEND AN ASK OR ANONYMOUSLY FANGIRL WITH ME? HEEHEE

[ranboo5]

Songs you associate with c!Technoblade?

[ID: A screenshot of Ranboo (streamer) from the Halloween irl stream, with his face fully buried in his hands]

I actually don't have much tbh like idk if it's just my taste but I can't really think of any songs I listen to that I associate with Technoblade In General (there are several that I associate bc they're in playlist narratives or they fit to specific things, but nothing that I can think of, like, in isolation as a Technoblade Song. Like there's a difference between a song I'd put on a narrative playlist for a character and a character song, yk?). It's odd bc I absolutely have blorbo from my shows disease but like it's gotta have something there and Technoblade is a very particular vibe that isn't really captured in most songs, including even songs ostensibly about him

Like I can't emphasize enough Fansongs About Techno don't always sound particularly Technocore to me in the way that I'd put them in a shitty unsorted YouTube playlist to peruse when I'm thinking like I have for Ranboo or for O5ver. Even fansongs I like and that I think are good fansongs, like The Blade by Thee Unknown (who also wrote the actual best Ranboo fansong that exists, Forget); The Blade is a SOLID song but it captures the mythical Technoblade much more than it does, yk, Technoblade, but idk what I would even look for regarding Technoblade songs in those qualities

Like w/ Ranboo songs I can name some traits that I kind of Look For w/ including like. Sounding dark or empty or frantic a lot of the time, some of that monotony, and even some specific musical qualities like Sleepwalk is a really good example for a song that Sounds Like Him, and the Old Secret/Dance of Thorns mashup is literally a fanmade mashup of two instrumentals from a completely different context but it Sounds Like Him, and I've gone on record he's a waltz music kind of guy, and I'm honestly kind of unsure what I would look for in terms of those qualities regarding Techno. I've also struggled with this while songwriting for him like I feel like there is a sell that exists somewhere in the musicality of the song and I just cannot pin down what it would be and I have these lyrics but the melody I have for them Just Sounds Wrong (and also I can't songwrite)

I suppose it'd be related to the stuff I talked abt in the CG5 song post? Woe to the People of Order by the Shiny Snivy and Injustice (the CG5 song) are kind of the only songs I can listen to and think Ah Yes Technoblade, and they're on kind of different ends of the scale

I think it's very much to do with like. The way they portray intensity? When I think about both Woe and Injustice and why both of them feel Technoblade-esque while The Blade doesn't it's always abt. The way they portray the intensity Techno brings to the table. Bc he does, and honestly, thinking about it, I think the particular intensity Technoblade carries and how he interacts with it and why it comes out and where is really core to Technoblade like, mechanically as a character. And both Woe and Injustice have that core without really that reveling? Like Woe being so solemn and ordered and formally phrased Immediately places you in This Is A Reflective Monologue mode. This is going to be about pain and contention. But even in the Mizz Fish cover which gets much more intense and (hang on I'm crying about Woe again) Produced:tm: at the end, the song never like... I CANNOT EVEN DESCRIBE IT but it maintains the way it handles its intensity throughout that feels a Lot like a Technomonologue in a way I think many things Fail To? Like it doesn't feel like genuine revelry it doesn't feel like mad divine rage it feels like. It feels like Hurt. Conscious and spiteful and lamenting but keeping-composed Hurt which I think is how little accompaniment there is to the whole thing

Both it and the Shiny Snivy original have no instrumental accompaniment, and the only things they do have are vocal harmonies that aren't vocal harmony sections they're single other vocal lines that harmonize and that's all there is to produce/fill it out; there's also Effects such as howling wind in the background which in conjunction w/ the name imply that this is like. Close to being diegetic like this is Very close to just straight up being sung in universe and it makes it feel much more personal and makes the order feel more personal and intentional which works with Techno's own attempt to maintain composure and calm when he's clearly upset in a lot of his monologues especially like yes he yells but he still does the Technoblade vc It's fine. I'm calm (VO: he was not calm) thing more often than not and this just works as gesturing to that

I go into how Injustice handles this in the post I linked earlier but to go further it doesn't

OH I GOT IT

IT'S AS A CONSEQUENCE

IT'S AS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE BOTH OF THEM HANDLE THE INTENSITY AS SOMETHING HE HAS TO TAKE ON IN SOME SENSES AS SOMETHING THAT IS A CONSEQUENCE OF HOW HE INTERACTS RATHER THAN SOMETHING HE SEEKS I'VE CRACKED THE FUCKING CODE. Neither Woe nor Injustice are apologetically regretful about the violence or consider it uncalled for but it is a perceived-necessary and responsive measure ("blood is the only way" "still my withering heart/Yearns for peace and mercy" "injustice I'll repay" and the ENTIRE PREMISE of Woe to the People of Order of it being A Response) that's it that's the thing that's all of it. That's the key that's the It's Not Revelry Or Rage it's RESPONSIVE. Technoblade's More Serious moments are RESPONSIVE it's not his default or casual state and both of them musically and lyrically Show This

TL;DR: - Techno songs are particularly hard to find or write for reasons I can't pinpoint - The best guess I have, based on the two fansongs I think unequivocally work, is about how they maintain a very particular handling of intensity that frames it as responsive rather than as a goal or a default state - Those two songs are Injustice and Woe to the People of Order and I don't really have anything more to offer I'm sorry :(

[taekooktimeline]

June 15-28, 2021

June 15-June 28, 2021 (released): Unfortunately, the BTS’ Japanese interviews only released in snippets to ARMY. I’m only ⅕ of the way to fluency in Japanese and it’s hard to get my dad to focus for long periods of time to translate for me. There is a spot I could understand and broke it down further. Because of all of the above, I’ve decided to compile one singular post showcasing some Taekook moments in the June released Japanese interviews, and I’ve had to rely on accounts who’ve provided the clips, instead of raw links. Please remember, again, this doesn’t mean I necessarily endorse or agree with all views of said accounts shared, but it’s always nice to see the clips to determine for yourself what is occuring. Because I can’t watch raw content for context, this post isn’t an analysis but a simple cumulation of TK moments in Japanese interviews. If there’s an error, due to the fact I had to watch snippets, please let me know so I can remain as accurate as possible! 💜I’m human so errors are always possible! 

Japan FC interviews - Tae praised Jk’s “your eyes tell” again as his favorite, and also said he immediately thought of Jk upon hearing “film out”. 

Another translation of “film out” -

https://twitter.com/thetkglobal/status/1404949439794466822?s=21

close up - https://twitter.com/taekookalbum/status/1405023091345006593?s=21 

https://twitter.com/taekook2601__/status/1404915148578562049?s=21 

Video - https://twitter.com/kyokoko24/status/1404920909358526468?s=21 https://twitter.com/taekook2601__/status/1404915758807797765?s=21

The members discuss their favorite BTS Japanese songs. Tae mentions “crystal snow” but also follows up at the end to praise “your eyes tell” again.   

https://twitter.com/modooborahae/status/1404990437044203522?s=21 

Tae and Jin do a copy / paste of Jk swaying - 

https://twitter.com/kookceptional/status/1405912811474067459?s=21

Another clip of Tae saying “your eyes tell” is his favorite -

https://twitter.com/thetkglobal/status/1404637499977175042?s=21

In the Smash interview, released June 24, 2021, Tae shares his typical morning routine. Jk corrects him and points out that Tae’s normal routine is to brush after drinking. Tae initially tried to say he brushes his teeth first, but backtracks and admits he sometimes does it the way Jk says. Jk listens attentively to the entire commentary, rather (cutely) dramatically interspersing “ohhh” and “mmmm” as Tae talks.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQke07_p3AB/?utm_medium=copy_link 

https://twitter.com/hani_paradise7/status/1408643569825595393?s=21 

BTS the best online showcase is aired on June 26, 2021. At one point the topic of underwear comes up and Tae playfully shushes the group by saying it’s a secret, though he concedes it’s black by saying “くろいです” / “kuroi desu” - it’s black. Jk freely volunteers his color underwear by saying “ぼくは今あおいいろです” - Boku wa ima aoi iro desu. This translates to “I am currently wearing the blue color”.

A breakdown of Jk’s sentence: 

Boku/ぼく is the male way of saying “I” (you can also say watashi/私 for “I”; Boku/ぼく is male usage only/denotes a male speaker)

Wa/は (は is actually “ha” in hiragana but is pronounced “wa” when being used as a particle topic marker)

Ima/今 - now

aoi/あおい - blue (blue is considered a true “I” ending adjective, so you can also just say Ao / あお for blue depending on usage in a sentence)

iro/いろ - color

desu/です is simply the polite way of ending the sentence, and could be read as “it is”.

Anyway, this interaction appears to simply be a cute and chaotic moment.

after Jk’s comment, Tae exclaims “ahh!”while pointing in his direction.

https://twitter.com/angel_hemaya/status/1409460954358636546?s=21

https://twitter.com/_k91230v_/status/1409501594048102400?s=21 

Taw was ranked #1 by ARMY as a beauty sleeper. He hilariously reenacted for the group how he falls asleep. 

According to translations, Jk comments that he did it beautifully.

At the end of the sequence of Tae falling asleep, when we see a panned out shot of the members, Jk can be seen smiling and clapping.

https://twitter.com/kookbbwi/status/1409455307986776065?s=21 https://twitter.com/_k91230v_/status/1409480618820313095?s=21 

https://twitter.com/_k91230v_/status/1409480618820313095?s=21 

Tae speaks in a cute way. Joon and Jk understood what Tae meant. 

https://twitter.com/thetkglobal/status/1409484891905945607?s=21 

Jk is ranked #1 of the 7 as “the best of lucky guys” so the members play rock, paper, scissors to test this ranking out. He loses and Tae says he’ll help him and summon an angel. Hobi, who had ranked #6, wins!  

https://twitter.com/vgukayo/status/1409518508078104579?s=21 https://twitter.com/_k91230v_/status/1409483150904872965?s=21 

There is debate if Jk called Tae “boo” and if it’s relevant / meaningful. Since I don’t speak Korean I won’t dissect the nuances of the language, but below is the clip. Please decide for yourself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQqmqnaIUvq/?utm_medium=copy_link

Jk says he likes the “V pose” which is a Tae signature since his stage name is V. Jk may or may not be making a double entendre by saying this, so please decide as you like. This is being added to archive for cuteness more so than relevancy. https://twitter.com/thetkglobal/status/1409462189568655360?s=21

Unfortunately, without raw links, I was unable to determine the context of this moment, so it is not being added for relevancy, merely to archive for cuteness, similar to the V pose above. Tae holding Jk photo cards -

https://twitter.com/_k91230v_/status/1409471973898342403?s=21

https://twitter.com/9597gif/status/1409502646562590725?s=21 

Again, I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to watch the entirety of raw links with subs, so this post may seem lacking, especially because the last few pieces are more so being added for cuteness than relevancy, but I hope the crux of the snippets shared are sufficient in showcasing Taekook’s continued close and precious bond.

[miracle-sham]

In the Atelier's Glow the Pupa Phoebus will Eclose.

| {Jasonette July 2021, Week 2, Day 10: Light} |

Chapter 2 of Sheltered by Darkness not yet Moths to the Flame.

| [Ao3 Link] | | [Masterlist Link] | | [Spotify Playlist Link] | | [Chapter 1] |

———

| Even when everything you know splits. When it splinters and shifts, like a chrysalis or a damaged cable. And you're left unfurling your wings, unable to yet fly—circuit broken, fuse melted—grounded, earthed. |

| The rest of the world keeps the current flowing through the wires of everyone else's circuit wings, and they're able to keep fluttering, unfettered by your frayed and exposed wires, even despite the threat you pose to their safety. Too blinded by the luminescence of those with power. |

| Word Count: 7,220. |

| Warnings/Tags: Cyberpunk/Criminal/Gang Au, Explicit Language/Swearing, Hacking, Breaking and Entering, Mentions of Guns, Gun Violence, Mentions of corrupt/shady businesses, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting, Brainwashing, Implied Brainwashing & Torture, Injury, Threats of Violence & Violence, Akumatised!Marinette, Fluff & Angst, Hurt with some Comfort, Angst With a Happy Ending, Gang/Team as family/family dynamics, Found Family. |

———

| A/N: First things first, make sure you've read the first chap before reading this. Second things second, this chapter is a chapter and half. And it's the final chapter! I hope this being 7k more than makes up for it being a day late to posting! I put a lot of love and time and effort into this, so I really hope you all enjoy. And for peak atmosphere, listen to Wonder World by Inova (first song on the playlist) during the first two parts, for optimum atmosphere! Not necessary if you'd prefer not to of course, but still. There's also a ton of light and butterfly symbolism stuffed in this, so try and see how much you can spot! |

| On a sidenote, this fic is dedicated to my friend Saf who listened to me ramble about this fic, and in turn rambled to me whenever I gave her sneak peak snippets. This wouldn't have ended up half as good as it did without her support! Also thanks to Weird for the support, compliments, reaction to the snippets, and kind words as well! And finally, thanks to everyone on the discord who was supportive and kind whenever I rambled in my author's channel! <3 |

| Also side note, Don’t Like? Don’t Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

———

Even when everything you know splits. When it splinters and shifts, like a chrysalis or a damaged cable. And you're left unfurling your wings, unable to yet fly—circuit broken, fuse melted—grounded, earthed.

The rest of the world keeps the current flowing through the wires of everyone else's circuit wings, and they're able to keep fluttering, unfettered by your frayed and exposed wires, even despite the threat you pose to their safety. Too blinded by the luminescence of those with power.

Broken wires cause lights to flicker and dim. They don't glow as brightly as they could—as they should. They crackle and buzz and burn and scorch and smoke, causing only destruction; when light should only be used for creation.

That's why the Atelier Agreste specialise in fixing broken wings and wires. The brightness of tomorrow splinters the darkness of today, the business proclaims.

And Marinette Dupain-Cheng is merely the latest of the poor misguided larvae, with their shade-like masks and unfortunate frayed wires, to be rehabilitated into an enlightened pupa under Gabriel Agreste's watchful care.

Truly, the discarding of a mask that kept the Pupa in the dark, and the Pupa's embracement of the Atelier's radiant glow marks a wondrous occasion indeed.

How glorious it will be, an unveiling of the newest Atelier Agreste designer's début? The welcoming of a new Papillon among the ranks, especially one that shines so brightly. Phoebus, like the butterfly and the god of light. What a fitting name for the butterfly that will glow like the sun.

———

Marinette—no, not Marinette, she is Phoebus. She is light, and her glow has been fixed.

Stitch by stitch, she sews herself a collection of chrysalises. To represent her transformation that has been nurtured by the Atelier, Monsieur Agreste had said.

Stitch by stitch by stitch. She must make him proud, he's done so much for her. He saved her from the darkness, showed her the light and how to glow just as brightly herself. She owes him everything.

Stitch by stitch by stitch by stitch. Lila—no, Rubi, after Macrothylacia Rubi, the Fox Moth—visits sometimes. She's pretty, and likes to keep Phoebus company, telling her all about the incredible things Rubi has done and people Rubi has met. She's like Phoebus, taken in and nurtured by the Atelier Agreste. Phoebus hopes Rubi will be one of her chrysalis models.

Stitch. And anchor, and anchor, then up. Snip. Snip. Snip.

Phoebus hears the sound of the studio door opening but she does not stop. Her chrysalises must be perfect, she must finish them in time. Thread the needle and anchor.

Footsteps stride across the studio floor but still Phoebus does not stray her attention from her work. Stitch by stitch.

“Good morning, Pupa, I hope the final preparations for your début are going accordingly.” Monsieur Agreste greets.

Her hands still, work halting. The Pupa Phoebus turns away from the fashion piece before her, and smiles, as brightly as her namesake, up at him. “It is.”

There's a hollowness inside her. And smiling at him makes the hollowness ache but Phoebus does not know why. Monsieur Agreste does not like it when she asks bad-dark-broken-frayed questions like that, so she says nothing more and nothing less. She will be his perfect protégé. He said so, and so she must.

He nods approvingly. “Good. I expect only perfection from you and your work. Do not forget, once the fashion show starts it will mark your eclosion into my Atelier once and for all.”

The Pupa Phoebus nods her head, eyes shining almost too brightly in the studio's lights.“I will ensure everything is to perfection for my début.”

Her actions and words are as doll-like as her title. For she was once named Marinette, which is close to Marionette. Marionettes are dolls. And Pupa once meant doll. Like a doll, she is so painfully hollow inside. But like a doll, she is perfect. She must be.

Monsieur Agreste does not sneer at her but his lips curl in a way that makes the darkness inside her claim he is mocking her.

“The set designers have informed me the catwalk has been transformed into the river Lethe. Isn't it rather fitting?” He pauses, watching her with sharp eyes for her reaction.

She nods. That is what she is supposed to do. It is fitting because he has said so. And Monsieur Agreste is always right.

“After all,” he continues, seemingly satisfied with her response, “it was once believed that the dead may only be reincarnated upon drinking from the Lethe and giving up their memories. And you gave up your memories of pain to be reformed as a butterfly that will shine ever so brightly, my protégé.”

“Oh,” Phoebus responds, tilting her head to one side as her smile wavers for but a fraction of a second. There's something flickering in the back of her head, behind her eyes; splintered memories, nothing substantial but the ghosts—Fantômes, the darkness whispers—of them linger.

The taste of iron, harsh white lights, cold glowing white strands chaining her fragile wire wings to the ground, lights—so many dancing lights, and the sharp electric zaps. She shouldn't try to parse what they mean, what they herald. Remembering the Before is bad, when she was a poor unfortunate Larva who fell through the cracks into the shadows and gutters. She is a Pupa now, and Pupa change. They become better, brighter, than they ever could achieve as Larvae.

Monsieur Agreste picks up on her moment of lapse, his eyes narrowing in what must be concern. “Is something wrong, Pupa?”

Phoebus shakes her head. “I am just anticipating how my début will go.”

He hums, unconvinced.

Understandable—she is not meant to lie, not to him. It is not how a Pupa should act.

“Perhaps you should take a break so we can ensure you've not damaged your light by working so hard. It wouldn't do to have your glow flicker and dim mid-début.” Monsieur Agreste states, pulling his tablet out already to schedule a check-up.

The Pupa Phoebus widens her bright yet hollow smile. “Oh, that is a good idea! A break would be most appreciated, Monsieur Agreste!”

Monsieur Agreste does not laugh but he huffs in what must be amusement. “How unfortunate that it took so long to rescue and take you under my wing. You will do well as one of my Papillons here.” He pauses to adjust his glasses, the light shining on them in a way that makes the lenses appear opaque. “I didn't think I'd get another specimen such as yourself, so perfectly adapted for becoming a Pupa and then a Papillon.”

His not-sneer unfurls into a grin, one that makes the darkness whisper danger. He steps around her, to get a different angle view of her work, and stares pointedly at the fine detailing. “It is a great shame that my son and my nephew have both become wretched larvae like you once were, instead of wonderful Pupae like you've now become.”

“You deserve a better son and nephew, Monsieur Agreste.” Phoebus recites from the script burnt into her mind, though she does not remember when or why she memorised it.

“I do, don't I.” Monsieur Agreste considers in contempt. “That can easily be achieved as soon as my men rescue him from the clutches of those vile Larvae. We believe the ones who held you captive and forced you to work for them, are the same ones who hold both my son and nephew now.”

“Oh.” Phoebus responds, getting the feel that Monsieur Agreste is testing her. Perhaps to ensure no feelings of Stockholm Syndrome remain for her previous captors? Yes, that must be it. How thoughtful and caring of Monsieur Agreste. “That is awful, hopefully, they can be saved soon!”

Monsieur Agreste hums, seemingly in agreement this time. “Hopefully indeed. And once we rescue them, they can then be taught to embrace the radiance my company brings to this world, just as you were taught.”

He places a hand on her shoulder, and squeezes. “And you, my dear Pupa, can help my son and nephew stitch their Chrysalises. For they are both models, like Rubi. Wouldn't that be nice, two additional fellow Papillons for you to befriend, wouldn't that make you very happy?”

Phoebus nods at a perfectly acceptable speed to relay her happiness and excitement. “Yes! That would be wonderful! I would be so happy if that were to happen!”

And yet, the darkness inside her wails and grieves as she utters each word but Phoebus does not understand why.

“Good,” Monsieur Agreste states, “that is very good to hear. Now, I shall return when your break is ready.” He turns around and strides towards the door, stilling at the threshold. “My wife will prepare high tea for you to join her at, once your break is ready.”

The Pupa Phoebus nods, fingers twitching as she turns back to meticulously stitching her chrysalises. “Thank you, Monsieur Agreste, I cannot wait!”

He huffs in what must be amusement again, “I would hope so, Pupa.”

If she didn't know better, the Pupa Phoebus would wonder why the silver butterfly necklace feels more like shackles than a gift. Why the darkness begs her to break the chains.

———

Three months. Three fucking months. Of nothing. Not a whisper on the news or in the underground, no public proclamations of the capture of one of the co-leaders of the most notorious gangs in the city. Nothing, abso-fucking-lutely nothing. Three fucking months she's been gone and not a word about what happened.

Jason sits crouched on the sofa, head in his hands. A coffee is placed on the table in front of him, he can tell from the smell, and the sound of the liquid sloshing about inside the cardboard cup.

“Marinette used to like coffee…” Jason bemoans, half-serious, half-jokingly.

Something shatters in the next room over, the kitchen most likely from the sounds of it.

“Oh. My. Fucking. God. Jason!” Alix hiss-screeches, from the same place as the shattering, like an angry kitten on roller skates. “You've said that meme every day for the last month! I'm going to murder you!”

Adrien, who's been sitting on top of the side cabinets, throws his head forwards and barely manages to stifle the laugh by slapping a hand over his mouth. He wheezes for a few seconds as he gets his laughter, and breathing under control again.

Félix snorts from where he's curled up in a cushioned armchair. “Alix has a point, you know. We understand you miss her but as do we.”

“Shhh! You'll disturb him!” Roy shushes, grinning mischievously as he stands behind the sofa. Putting on his best David Attenborough impression, he begins to recite, “here we have the rare Jasonarches Toddamentum brooding in his natural habitat. Lamenting the loss of one of his pack, specifically his co-alpha—”

Jason whips around to face Roy and launches the nearest pillow from the sofa at him, before he can continue the mockumentary. “Co-alphas? Really? That's the best you could come up with! C'mon man!”

Yelping, Roy ducks but not quick enough as the pillow smacks him in the right shoulder and flops onto the floor.

Nodding mock sagely, Félix sighs. “We expected better from you, Roy.”

“Yeah, Roy.” Kori teases, passing a second coffee in her hands over to him.

Placing a hand over his heart, Roy gasps. “Wow! The betrayal!” he complains as he grabs at the coffee and cradles it to his chest with the other. “And thanks, Kori! For the coffee, not the betrayal!”

“Ah, friends?” Markov calls cautiously as he hovers into the room, anxiety lacing his robotic voice, claws fiddling with the corner of what looks to be an envelope.

Immediately the jovial atmosphere splinters and everyone stills. Everyone except Artemis and Alix who walk, and roll into the room respectively, at that precise moment. Both hovering by the respective door frames they entered through, coincidentally opposite each other. Artemis crosses her arms, whilst Alix grabs the door frame with one hand to steady herself.

Jason tenses and glances over at the little AI. “Everything okay, Markov?”

Markov fretfully swings his claw arm around. “One of our couriers was handed a letter.”

“Did they bring it here?” Jason questions, brows furrowing in worry.

Markov shakes his head. “The courier handed it to a third-party forger, and created the forgery I am now holding. It is addressed to Adrien, and Félix.”

Adrien sucks in a sharp breath, he turns to exchange a look with Félix. “You don't think it's…” He trails off, unwilling to say it out loud in case it makes it any more likely.

Grimacing, Félix nods. “It has to be. It was rather publicly known when you were "kidnapped",” he states, making quotation marks with his fingers as he stressed the word, “by this gang. Less so when you spearheaded my "kidnapping", with them.”

“Yeah… that's. We didn't think that through.” Adrien admits, scrunching his mouth up in concern. “But! If that didn't happen, I wouldn't have gotten to use Cheval Mallet as my vigilante name, which is a plus at least!”

Félix huffs bitterly. “Oh, because getting to use a vigilante name that fits thematically is completely and utterly worth getting targeted by the Big Butterfly himself?”

“In my defence—” Adrien starts, only to shut his mouth again as words fail him. “Nevermind, you've got a point.”

Jason clicks his tongue. “More importantly, we need to decide what we're doing about this.”

“We need to actually see what is inside the envelope, first.” Félix counters, marching over to Markov.

Markov dips in the air in lieu of a nod and extends his claw-arm to hand Félix the envelope. “Here you go, friend!”

“Thank you, Markov.” Félix responds, nodding his head to the little AI as he takes the extended envelope. He marches back over to Adrien and slips out the disguised knife pen out of his pocket, before carefully slicing the top of the envelope open like one would do with a letter opener. Plucking the letter from inside, he holds it at an angle so only he and Adrien can read what has been written.

Seconds pass.

Swearing under his breath, Adrien glances up at Jason with panic clear in his eyes. “It's… it's from Kagami. She's been compromised, the Big Butterfly knows she was in contact with us. He and her mother have forced her to invite us to the Big Butterfly's upcoming fashion show…”

“She's worried that it's a trap, to capture us both so that they can… do to us what they did to my mother, and all of his Papillons.” Félix continues in Adrien's stead, barely able to conceal the dawning horror on his face.

Artemis moves towards them and asks as softly as she can, brows furrowing in concern. “And what exactly, did they do to your mother?”

He swallows a breath of air thickly. “Adrien's mother went missing a few years ago. And so my mother and I visited Adrien and his sperm donor as we were all grieving. However, I started to notice things seemed off and before either of us realised, the Big Butterfly was parading my mother around in front of the news and media pretending she was her twin sister instead. Even at home, she started treating me like Adrien's mother had.”

“What the fuck! Are you saying the Big Butterfly brainwashed your mom?” Jason exclaims, eyes wide with a mixture of horror, disgust, and alarm.

“Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. The Big Butterfly brainwashed my mum into believing she was Aunt Emilie, purely so that he could keep appearances up in front of the cameras.” Félix confirms, hands balled into fists and shaking ever so slightly. “When Adrien got out and joined here, I stumbled across the Big Butterfly's plans to replace Adrien by doing the same to me. If you all hadn't helped me get out in time…” He chokes up, unable to get the next words out of his mouth.

“That is truly despicable. I'm sorry.” Artemis apologises, looking equally disturbed by the information.

“Shit.” Roy mutters, glancing between Félix and Adrien. “What do we do? We can't just let another innocent get fucking brainwashed!”

Kori purses her lips. “I think,” she starts, giving an understanding look at the two, “we should let Adrien and Félix decide. They are the most familiar with the Big Butterfly, this Kagami, and the situation as a whole.”

Clearing her throat, Alix roller skates a little closer to others. “Guys, you don't think…” she trails off, trying to find her words but also torn over whether saying it out loud will make it true, “you don't think that's what's happened to Marinette? It would explain why we've heard nothing from her or Roaar since she disappeared.”

“Holy fucking shit! I'm going to burn that fucking bastard and his fucking fashion show to the ground if he fucking dared!” Hisses Jason, his eyes flaring toxic green as the fury of the Lazarus Pit burns in his veins. He digs his nails into the fabric of the sofa and his lips curl into a near-frenzied snarl.

“Woah, woah! Jason, calm the fuck down! That might not be what's happened!” Roy intercepts, grabbing Jason by the shoulder.

Jason turns to glare at Roy. “But it also might be what happened to her!”

“We should go.” Adrien cuts in sharply, “Max can get the rest of you in via hacking. Félix and I will be the distraction, and I'll bring Kaalki so we have a quick escape in case things go wrong. Whilst everyone else who goes to the show needs to focus on getting Kagami out. Then once that's done, we can try and look for anything that suggests they've got Marinette. And if we find Marinette, we get her out as well.”

Félix nods. “That's a good enough plan for me.”

Smiling bitterly, Adrien tilts his head to one side. “So, who else is up for crashing the show?”

Kori, Roy, Artemis, and Alix all exchange glances before nodding.

“Max and I are in!” Markov pipes up, hovering up in a swing.

“That leaves, who's telling Luka, and Bizarro they're holding down the fort this time?” Jason mutters.

“Dibs not it!” Everyone but Artemis calls out.

She rolls her eyes at the antics of the others. “I will tell the two of them their roles for this mission. Don't worry.”

Jason hums. “We could also probably call in a favour with the Sparrow kid that you,” he nods towards Adrien, “and Marinette befriended. Not to hold down the fort but to help cover us at the fashion show?”

“Oh! I'm sure Sparrow will be more than happy to help! That's a great idea!” Adrien cheers, perking up slightly.

Moving over to the coffee table, Félix places the letter down in the centre. “Right. Let's get ourselves ready to crash a fashion show.”

———

Adrien and Félix both don a light disguise. One that's easy enough to recognise them on a closer inspection but subtle enough to not attract immediate attention.

The others, in heavier disguises, had arrived early and gotten in already—split between two teams. One with hacked tickets, and the other through breaking and entering, the gang's speciality. Sparrow had also been more than happy to help and had roped in a few others from their gang, the Quantic Kids, into helping watch the outside of the building.

Leaving Félix and Adrien to arrive together, separate from the rest of the gang; they make sure to arrive slightly late to try and avoid the worst of the crowds. Approaching the doors, they hand over their tickets and try to appear as nonchalant as possible.

The nearest android guard eyes their tickets and puts out a hand. “Wait.”

“Is there something wrong with our tickets, sir?” Félix asks, smiling sweetly enough to hide the undercurrent of threat.

The android guard nods their head at another then looks the two up and down in a scrutinising—analysing fashion. “We have explicit orders to escort anyone with these tickets to the seats.”

Adrien grimaces. “Understood, lead the way then.”

The android guards exchange nods once more, then the one slightly further away pulls out a radio and starts quietly reporting into it, too low for either Félix or Adrien to catch anything. Useful or otherwise.

“Follow me.” Says the nearer one as they start walking away.

Félix sighs and lightly knocks shoulders with Adrien as a reminder of solidarity as well as to get ready. Waiting for only a second, they both start following after the guard. Félix adjusts the secret mic and camera attached to his tie, ensuring that it was now transmitting its feed to Max and Markov, as well as Luka back at base.

Next to him, Adrien does the same with his own tie and attached secret mic and camera.

They're led down a few hallways, up a couple of winding staircases, and down a few more hallways before the guard stops outside a door with a metal sign on it reading: Private.

“Your seats are through here.” The android guard says, slotting a keycard into the door, causing a glowing keypad panel to open up in the centre. Then, the android guard scans a digital code into the door and the door swings open before it.

Adrien nods to the android guard and tugs Félix after him as he strides across the threshold, head held high.

There's a shriek, as they pass through the door, and a body slams into Adrien and it's only thanks to his vigilante instincts that he doesn't drop the body.

“Oh, Adrikins!” Chloé cries out, hugging him tightly. “I can't believe you're back!” She lets go of him for a second to step back and check out his outfit. “Urgh, you could do with some better clothes though. It's fine,” she says, waving a hand, “after today's show we can go on a shopping trip together!”

Adrien smiles awkwardly and unconvincingly responds, “yeah… it's nice to see you again too, Chloé.”

Félix, the traitor, snickers at Adrien's predicament and steps around the two to fully enter the room. The android guard does not follow, and the door shuts automatically behind them.

Inside, is a private bar and lounge with double doors on the far wall, opposite the 'Private' entry door.

Kagami glances up from her place from the sofa against the wall with the double doors. She raises an eyebrow. “It is good to see that you made it here safely.”

“As safe as we could.” Félix grunts, delicately dropping into the seat next to her on the sofa.

She hums, tuning out Chloé's screeching with practised ease. “How are the horse-related magic tricks you were working on going?”

“Pretty well, though I don't suppose Father will be all too pleased with the one I plan to practise tonight,” Félix responds.

Kagami relaxes her shoulders in relief for a split second. “Oh? And what sort of magic trick is it?”

“I've dubbed it: Call a Key. And it's like those pull a rabbit from a hat tricks but with a horse from a hoop.” He says, drawing a circle in the air. A circle that just so happens to be the same size and shape as Kaalki's average portals.

“I see,” Kagami says, nodding, “well, perhaps after tonight's show, you won't mind showing me it so far?”

Félix grins, “I'd love to, Kagami.”

Their conversation lulls into silence, so Félix hops off the sofa and goes over to the private bar to fix himself and Adrien some drinks. Seeing as Chloé was showing no signs of letting his cousin go at the moment. A potential hazard for the plan, he worries. With drinks in hand, he rejoins Kagami by the sofa.

An announcement rings out over the loudspeakers on the walls as the double doors swing open in a slow and controlled manner.

“That, is our cue that the show will be starting soon,” Kagami mutters to him. She takes a deep breath and raises her voice, “Chloé, Adrien, it is time we take our seats for the show.”

Chloé squeals, forcefully dragging Adrien across the private lounge and through onto the balcony where their booth seats are.

Sighing, Félix follows after the two with Kagami a few steps behind him.

“Oh, I'm so glad you managed to make it to today's fashion show, Adrikins!” Chloé exclaims, clutching at Adrien's arm like a hawk and gesturing wildly with the other. “It's so nice of your daddy to hold this show in the theatre so we could have a private booth together to watch the show! And it's going to be a really special show from what I've overheard, Gabriel's débuting a new and upcoming fashion designer! Isn't that so exciting, I'm sure your daddy will let you model for them now that you're back! After all,” she scoffs, “he's letting that peasant fox model for the designer today.”

“Is that so?” Adrien responds, glancing at Félix with deep-seated worry etched into his stare.

Félix clenches his fists and takes a deep breath.

Frowning, Kagami taps Félix on the arm and sends him a questioning glance.

“We'll explain it later.” He mumbles quietly enough for her to just hear.

Below them, the sounds of people taking their seats echoes. A few minutes pass, Félix and Kagami make minor small talk whilst Adrien is forced to listen to Chloé prattle on.

The main lights dim and then go out, plunging the room into darkness. The curtains rise, from the sounds of the heavy and large swathes of fabric moving on the pulleys.

Classical music starts playing—not unlike the music Adrien used to learn on the piano. And one by one, the lights in the shape of asphodels flicker to life on the stage, illuminating a sea of the flowers surrounding a catwalk designed like a river carving through the land. White marble Greco-Esque pillars and arches litter the flower fields. Framing the scene, is the blank white wall at the back of the catwalk and stage. The lighting shifts to cast spotlights on the wall behind the catwalk.

Félix tunes out the rest of the show starting, instead putting all his focus in searching for any security watching their booth, as well as for any sign of Marinette.

The show continues on, slowly models wearing pieces designed like asphodels, butterflies, and cocoons or chrysalises strut up and down the catwalk. The spotlights follow them, making the pieces and models appear to glow under the light.

Luckily, there's no obvious security paying attention to their booth. But that doesn't mean they're in the clear, for all they know, Gabriel could have bugged the place to the rafters. They had worked out before entering, that they'd have to leave before the end of the show. Otherwise, they'd most likely be captured and brainwashed just like Félix's mum.

A new announcement from the stage gives both Adrien and Félix pause, neither having fully caught what was said other than mentions of the reveal of the designer. They tense and try to hide the signs of their anxious anticipation. The flickering flame of hope in their chests threatens to extinguish from the worry that this could be what they feared it to be.

The lights and spotlights on stage all dim; whilst the music fades to a quieter volume. The almost deafening echoing clack-clack-clack of heels against the catwalk seems so much louder than when the models in heels had been walking across it.

Félix holds his breath and clasps his hands together tightly. Adrien leans forwards to get a better look over at the stage. They should be nudging Kagami and getting ready to go by now but they can't will themselves to look away. Like a tragedy; a car catching fire and about to crash.

A figure in a chrysalis dress steps onto the catwalk. Step by step by step, they slowly walk to the end of the catwalk. The faint glow of the lights still perfectly illuminates the figure's face though.

And Adrien's heart stops. “No!”

“What? Is that—?” Chloé starts, only to be interrupted by the cacophonous roar of a standing ovation from the rest of the audience.

Félix, Adrien, and Kagami all pale in horror.

“That's… that's Marinette.” Kagami whispers to Félix, her panic thinly veiled.

Stiffly, Félix nods and swallows a breath of air thickly. “So. Minor change of plans.”

“I can see why.” Kagami responds automatically, in horror.

On the catwalk below, the dress shimmers and appears to crack. Shadowy mist seeping from the cracks is followed by a blinding glow eviscerating the darkness. From the cracks, the outer layers of the dress splinter away, and the layers below begin to unfurl. Bright white, beautiful butterfly wings edged with black and the odd symmetrical red spots.

Gabriel Agreste, Papillon, joins her on the stage. “Isn't this such a momentous and wonderful occasion? Tonight, we have witnessed the eclosion of a new Papillon within the Atelier Agreste. And I'm delighted by the bright welcome Phoebus has received.”

At the call of her Papillon name, Phoebus bows.

Félix's heartbeat pounds in his ears, nearly drowning out Gabriel's words.

Before he, or Adrien, can react, there's a buzzing in his ear from the disguised earpiece comms.

“Félix. Adrien. Get Kagami and get out! Now!” Max's voice filters through, “they're sending a reinforcement of guards towards your location. I'll try to hack them but it'll be close!”

Standing abruptly, Adrien yanks himself away from Chloé's death grip.

“Wha—Adrikins!” She protests, still too shocked by the revelation of the new designer having been Marinette, to try and stop him.

Adrien backs away into the private lounge, flushing red with embarrassment. “Sorry Chloé, I-uh… need to use the men's room. Be-right-back!”

He turns heel and makes his way over to the opposite door and yanks it open.

Félix stares at Adrien in disbelief before nodding at Kagami and grabbing her by the arm. He does not so much run, as speed walk after Adrien.

The second all three of them are clear of the private door's threshold, Kagami kicks her foot back to shut the door behind them. The three then start sprinting down the halls.

The hidden earpiece crackles again. “You three and Jason are the nearest to the backstage where Marinette will be soon. I'll lead the four of you towards the location, just follow my directions and don't do anything stupid once Jason joins you.”

“No promises,” Adrien mutters in response. “I'm seriously considering committing patricide at this point.”

Max doesn't immediately respond, presumably having switched channels to help deal with the others, or get out himself.

Less than a minute later, the earpiece crackles again, but this time it's Luka who starts relaying the directions to the backstage whilst keeping them updated on both human and android guards as well as security camera positions.

“You're halfway there, Jason should be just through the third door on the right.” Luka informs, sounding calm but they know him too well to not hear the veneer of fury beneath every word.

Adrien yanks open the third door on the right open, and lo and behold, Jason is sprinting past the open door in the corridor it leads to.

“Wait up!” Félix hisses after Jason.

It seems Jason manages to hear him and skids on the balls of his steel-toed boots, scratching up the wooden flooring, to stare at them with his green eyes blazing. “Alix was fucking right.” He bites out.

“We are coming with you, to save her.” Kagami states, looking equally furious.

Jason cocks his head to the side. “Then c'mon, we need to run.”

The four exchange nods and glances and burst into a sprint down the hallway, following Luka's directions.

Direction after direction after direction. It feels like Luka relays to them hundreds of those endless directions before the four of them reach a long hallway with double doors at the end that has a large sign above it, labelled: Backstage.

Skidding to a stop again, Jason holds out an arm to stop the others as well. “As much as I want to run in, laser guns a-blazin', who knows what kinda fucking security shit they've got ready for us.”

Adrien grimaces. “But they knew we didn't know that they have Marinette. So why would they prepare security for us rescuing her when they're trying to capture us?”

“Have you forgotten how much security the Big Butterfly placed around my mother, after brainwashing her? Public spectacles like this always involve far too much security around the shining star of the show!” Félix spits acerbically, fists shaking, breathing shallow.

Adrien places a hand on his shoulder. “Worst case situation, we can get Kaalki to get us out and we can try and rescue Marinette another time.”

Jason scowls. “If we're forced to do that, I want to shoot that fucker's skull in first.”

“Technically, shouldn't Adrien get right of shooting him before you?” Kagami asks, half-smiling that awkward smile of hers.

Huffing, Jason nods to Adrien. “Fine, but I dibs second shot then. And if you go for the skull, I'm shooting that bastard in the fucking dick.”

Adrien makes a choking noise and doubles over, barely managing to stifle his laughter. He takes a few deep breaths and wipes tears away from his eyes. “Deal!” He wheezes, “please, I'd like nothing more than for you to get the second shot and do that!”

“Good fucking choice,” Jason mutters in response, a cheeky grin crossing his face for but a second before it falls back to the furious snarl. “Now, let's see what's behind the doors and get our anthill tiger back!”

The earpieces Jason, Félix, and Adrien are wearing, buzz again. “Might want to hurry up.” Luka smoothly informs. “Three human guards are coming your way. And as far as Max can see through his hacking, there's no android guards or drones backstage.” He pauses, “the rest of our gang won't be able to reach you four in time, neither will Sparrow's. You're going solo.”

The four exchange quick glances among themselves. “That's a risk we're willing to take if it means getting Marinette back.”

“I'll keep you updated on any changes. Break a leg or three, especially try to break the Big Butterfly's legs if you can.” Luka responds.

Jason snorts. “We'll try our best.”

The channel goes silent, as Jason quietly opens the backstage doors and the four of them sneak through.

———

The show has ended, by the time the four of them arrive through the backstage doors. Jason spots a rack of clothes and gestures to the others to follow him as he creeps over to hide behind it.

She's there. Marinette—or Phoebus, as the Big Butterfly had called her. There in the centre of the backstage. Standing stock-still. Still dressed in that fucking chrysalis—butterfly dress. Like a creepy human-sized doll.

Jason focuses on his breathing, in and out, in and out, in and out. Trying not to let the sickly radioactive green flood his vision and veins.

He freezes as he watches the Big Butterfly himself stride up to her and circle her like a vulture.

“You did very well today, Phoebus.” The Big Butterfly says, with a sneer on his face. “Unfortunately, my son and Nephew have so rudely absconded from their booth before the show ended.”

The Papillon Phoebus dips her head, and ever so hollowly sounding, replies, “that is most unfortunate.”

It takes all Jason's concentration to not be sick at how empty she sounds and acts. He glances at the others and Kagami, Adrien, and Félix all look sickened by the sight.

The Big Butterfly's sneer morphs into a scowl. “It is indeed. However, Mademoiselle Bourgeois was able to inform us of something very interesting.”

Tilting her head to one side, the Papillon Phoebus stares blankly at him. “Oh?”

“Apparently, my son had quite the reaction to the sight of you on stage, my Papillon. Isn't that interesting.” The Big Butterfly taunts.

She blinks at him then nods slowly and stiffly. “Yes. That is very interesting, Monsieur Agreste.”

His scowl curls into a victorious sneer. “That's what I thought, my dear Papillon.”

Jason shakes, he can't watch any more of this fucking creepy-ass bastard messing with his gang co-leader. He whips both of his recently upgraded guns from their holsters and grips the handles with whitening knuckles.

Before the others can think to stop him, Jason dives out of cover and shoots his twin guns. Pew-pew!

The laser bolts slam into the back of the Big Butterfly, frying two circles into his suit and melting the material to his skin.

The Big Butterfly screams in pain and fury. He pivots in place to turn and glare at where the shots had come from. The light flashes across his glasses again, making the lenses appear opaque. As his gaze latches onto Jason, his victorious sneer splits and twists and unfurls into a monstrous smirk. He starts to laugh, like poison bubbling and frothing from his lips.

And as the Big Butterfly does, Jason catches sight of the glint of small purple flapping around the Papillon Phoebus'—Marinette's—neck.

The bubbling and frothing poison of an Akuma's transformation swirls around her, staining every speck of her and forming a glimmering chrysalis once more.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Jason chants under his breath. Eyes wide with instant regret, he taps his earpiece. “We fucked up! Holy fucking shit, we fucked up!”

“What?!” Comes the frantic response from Luka. “What do you mean? What's happened? What did you do?”

Jason laughs nervously, “she's an Akuma! She's been fucking akumatised.”

“Hold on as long as possible, the others got swarmed by guards and can't reach you yet.” Luka frets.

At that, Kagami, Adrien, and Félix all burst out from behind the clothes rack, each with laser pistols also in hand. Zap-zap-zap.

The three more shots ring out but only one hits, Adrien and Félix both shaking too much for theirs to land.

“We shall try.” Félix responds to Luka.

The chrysalis-Akuma-poison coalesces around the Papillon Phoebus before cracking and dripping away. Revealing two large butterfly wings exactly like the dress. Phoebus wings. She flutters her wings and begins to float a metre or so above the ground.

“Fuck!” Jason curses, and behind him he can hear the other three echoing the sentiment. He stares at the purple butterfly chain around her throat. “Akuma is in the necklace!”

A bright light, not dissimilar to a flashbang, pops off. Immediately blinding all four of them.

“Capture them!” The Big Butterfly orders.

Kagami yelps.

The blindness caused by the light fades, and Adrien gasps. Jason swears under his breath again, and he and Félix both fire off more shots. This time towards the Akuma object, as the Big Butterfly has vanished.

Cocooned to the ground, Kagami squirms, trying to free herself from the Akuma's trap.

“Fucking shit!” Jason helpfully says on the earpiece channel. “She's trying to fucking capture us for the fucking bastard! And he's disappeared!” He bodily throws himself to the ground to dodge a mote of brilliant radiance lancing towards him.

The Papillon Phoebus tilts her head to the side, wings glittering with bright golden light like her namesake. Safely blocking the laser blasts towards her object with her massive wings.

Thankfully, only one of Kagami's hands is trapped. And not the one with the gun. As quietly as possible, she shoots the gun to slice through the cocoon and free herself.

The wings start to glow brighter and brighter and brighter.

“Flashbang!” Jason yells, diving behind cover in the form of a cluster of mannequins and slapping a hand over his eyes.

Kagami grabs Adrien and the two duck behind a different rack of clothes. Whilst Félix leaps over a stack of boxes and hides there.

The radiance flares once more, but fails to blind any of them.

“We need to shoot the object. I'll draw the attention at the front. Kagami, get behind and get ready to shoot her in the back as a distraction. Adrien and Félix, you two flank her on opposite sides.” Jason plans quietly into the earpiece channel.

Jason leaves his hiding spot first, vaulting over the cluster of mannequins and shoots a laser bolt at the Papillon Phoebus' necklace again. It's blocked by the wings, as to be expected.

Félix leaps back over the stack of boxes and flanks the Papillon Phoebus on the right. Whilst Adrien rolls out from behind the clothes rack and flanks on the left.

The three in position, shoot simultaneously at the Akuma, as to distract her.

Kagami bolts from her hiding spot and flanks behind the Papillon Phoebus.

The wings start to flutter and glow brighter once more.

“Now!” Jason yells.

Zap!

The blast slams into the Papillon Phoebus' back, right between where her wings connect to her shoulder blades. Instinctively she splays her wings out in pain and curls backwards.

Zap-zap!

Two more blasts slam into her, one in each wingtip.

Zap!

Finally, Jason shoots last and his aim is true. Crackle-snap!

The blast sears through the chain necklace, warping the metal and snapping it in twain.

The two parts of the object clatter to the ground and a purple butterfly claws itself out from the broken chains.

Jason spins his gun in his hand and shoots a final laser straight through the moth. Burning a perfect hole through its wings and killing it instantly. Purple Akuma-goop leaks from its injuries and then fades, leaving behind the scorched corpse of what was once a white butterfly.

He sighs in relief, and quickly taps his earpiece. “Akuma dealt with.”

As he says that, the Akuma de-transforms midair and Marinette collapses to the ground. Limp, like a puppet with their strings cut or a discarded doll—a cracked Pupa.

“Thank fuck.” Luka's responds over the channel, sounding tired.

Jason drags a hand down his face. The green poisoning his vision dissipates for the time being, and he hurries over to Marinette. Ever so carefully, he scoops her into his arms—bridal style—and pulls her close to his chest.

Kagami drops to her knees and breathes.

Adrien weakly punches the air with his gun in hand. “Wooh! Luka, we're calling a key home. Disable security please?”

Félix snorts, moving back to lean against the stack of boxes.

“No need, there's no security cameras backstage. I'll hear your songs when you back at base.” Luka relays, tone light with happiness and relief despite the tiredness. “The others have dealt with the guards, so they're on their way back too.”

Adrien transforms with Kaalki, becoming Cheval Mallet. He walks over to Kagami and offers her a hand. Félix, and Jason with Marinette unconscious in his arms join them.

The portal opens up before them, and they walk through together. Today, they've won another battle. Tomorrow they'll try to find out what has been done to Marinette. But tonight, tonight all the conscious members of the gang huddle together in the lounge. And among themselves, they build a pillow and blanket fort, and relax.

They're all together, and they're all safe, for once.

———

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little fic! Comments, likes, and reblogs are much appreciated! |

| So title dissection, Atelier meaning Fashion Studio comes from the Latin "Astula" meaning "Splinter", Astula also is the Genus for the flower Asphodel. Phoebus as mentioned in the fic is the god of light but it also means "Bright". Eclose is the leaving of a cocoon/chrysalis. Pupa is another term for cocoon/chrysalis when the butterfly/moth becomes soup and goes through metamorphosis. But it also comes from the Latin meaning Girl or Doll. So In the Fashion Studio's Glow, the Bright/Light Doll will be Released. |

| Fun Fact: Larva/Larvae mean Mask or Ghost in Latin. Also the suffix "Arches" means Leader/Ruler. So Jasonarches means Jason-Leader :3 |

| Also feel free to send me any comments with any questions you have regarding this fic, I'll be more than happy to answer! |

| @jasonette-july-event |

[lucky-sevens]

on doctor carmilla and her relationship to the mechanisms

welcome to my carmilla analysis post! all her lore is too big a subject to handle in one post, so i’m starting with this more specific one and seeing where it goes!

the main thing i’m going to be talking about here is the fan interpretation of her. i’ve collected all the evidence that supports fanon carmilla*, and i’m going to use it to discuss why fandom interpretation, while it has a basis, could be better done/more accurate to the character. i’m collecting evidence here both to support the fan interpretation and criticize it; this is very much not a discourse post, it’s an analysis post!

*i’m defining this as unnecessary experiments on and/or further abuse of the mechanisms.

(that being said, please don’t make her racist/ableist/homophobic; i’ve seen far too much of that, and it makes me incredibly uncomfortable as she is a disabled japanese lesbian and is also most likely trans. i mostly see this in modern aus, but it’s in ‘canon compliant’ works as well- the largest offender here is the popular headcanon that she forced jonny to change his accent to a british one, which for what i hope are obvious reasons given this section doesn’t sit right with me.)

rest under the cut! warnings for medical trauma, including non-consensual drugging and mind alteration, and discussions of abuse (both from a parental figure and from a significant other). it gets heavy; please stay safe!

first off: this isn’t really on the lore of her backstory, but i will touch upon that occasionally as it’s important to understanding her character! i would really suggest to listening to exhumed and (un)plugged (bandcamp / youtube) and ageha (prototype edition) (bandcamp / youtube) and reading her wiki page to get a grasp of the deeper lore; not necessarily before reading this, but definitely if you’re planning to make her a major character in your work.  

we only have two first-hand sources into carmilla’s interactions with the mechanisms; lashings (part one / part two / transcript) and homesick (video / transcript). in both of those, we see that the mechanisms- or at least jonny and nastya- are very uncomfortable with and/or afraid of her. lashings has a few examples of this, regarding nastya; her tone is noticeably quiet and cold whenever she speaks to carmilla and near the end of the show, carmilla hugs her from behind without warning, making her freeze up. 

homesick is even clearer in this regard- after the song is performed, carmilla and jonny have this exchange, which i’ve copied from the transcript in its entirety as it’s all potentially relevant.

[JONNY] (very, legitimately afraid) ALRIGHT ALRIGHT- Stop stop stop stop stop, whoa whoa whoa okay okay okay- I can’t take it anymore! Are you going to kill us or not? Cause I’m (stuttering)- It’s lovely when we’re playing songs, and it's great. But we shot- well, one of us, shot you out of an airlock, and I wanna know. What are you going to do to us? Other than killing me?

[DOC C] Now is not the time, Jonny, I’m feeling a bit tetchy.

[JONNY] Watch it. You’re- you’re planning something. Something. 

[DOC C] Medication time.

[JONNY] Yes-- (cutoff)

the video ends here. the lines at the end are most likely a leadup to the song welcome to medi bay co, but given carmilla’s tone in the recording, it could also be a threat towards him. this implies she has non-consensually drugged him in the past. his conviction that she was going to kill him also suggests that that has happened as well.

from this, we can conclude carmilla’s actions in the common fanon are not out of character, but her motives and thoughts towards the mechanisms could often be considered so. the default motivation for her seems to be to experiment- she’s driven out of boredom or curiosity, and is simply using the mechanisms as test subjects. there are a few cases to directly cite in canon of her experimenting on someone (out of something other than necessity so that they survived)- the first one is from exhumed, and is not in reference to the mechanisms, but instead a clone of herself (x). (i won’t elaborate too much on the post i linked as a source here, but it’s very interesting and i’d suggest giving it a read!)

doesn’t fit too much here, but you know what does?

Highly amused by the moral ambiguity of the events leading to his supposed demise – where both Brian and the priest believed themselves to have the moral high ground, she rebuilt Brian with a slight modification – an inbuilt morality core, with two settings.

brian’s switch. the bio straight-up says she made it out of amusement, which is a huge issue as anyone can flip it (except brian himself; don’t have the source on hand, but there was a post a while back that mentioned it was on the small of his back, which he can’t reach) and it changes his entire mindset!

however! this is the only case of something like this happening!

maki has said that carmilla cared for the mechanisms, and considered them her adopted children. while the evidence i’ve noted earlier almost becomes worse with that knowledge, it’s a different mindset than test subjects.

this is getting into a bit more of personal thoughts/headcanons, but we know carmilla had a lot of trouble with healthy relationships, including familial ones. she could wholeheartedly care about the mechanisms, and just not know how to form an actually positive relationship with them. in addition, if you view my personal headcanon that carmilla made loreli into a vampire instead of the other way round, she sure does have a problem with people she’s attached to dying, doesn’t she? she’s more sympathetic in general than she tends to be painted, and she has had good interactions with the mechanisms. (mostly drawing on what maki has said on the mechscord for this- sadly, invites are currently closed).

not elaborating on it too much here, as there’s a lot to unpack vis a vis lore and red stringing, but it’s also likely that carmilla does grow and change and get better as a person- she left the mechanisms most likely of her own volition, as maki has said she ‘didn’t leave via the airlock’, and made an active effort to fix her past mistakes. this is in contrast to the other mechanisms (except possibly brian) who never make any kind of effort to stop being terrible people. (may write a meta/lore explanation on this eventually, but it’s too large a topic to cover here!)

tl;dr: carmilla was abusive towards the mechanisms, but she was more likely to be well-meaning, rather than bored or curious.

[1dcraftawards]

November Author of the Month...

Drumroll please.... our November Author of the Month is none other than the incredibly talented...

@all-things-fic ! 

Congratulations to a wonderful author, Liz! You can check out our interview with her below!

1.Did you start writing fanfiction for One Direction, or was there another fandom that you wrote fanfiction for before this?

I have one fic that I wrote for One Direction Fanfic Archive, that will never see the light of day. It was really awful, but everyone starts somewhere. I’ve shared it with two people on Tumblr and we just laughed about it.

I’ve also written a Niall Horan fic which has been flagged for how explicit it is, which is quite laughable as it’s tame in comparison to the Harry stuff (eek!)

2. How old were you when you started writing fanfiction?

I was a teenager when I first started writing fics. I don’t know if I would consider it “proper” fanfic though as it was riddled with cliches.

3. What’s been your favorite fic that you’ve written to work on so far?

For the longest time I was proud of the second part of Divorce Harry and specifically the second part. It just felt real to write. I can’t even explain what it is about that piece.

I think at the time it stemmed from an ask I received where I was asked if I was a parent - I’m not - but this someone said I portrayed aspects of a marriage and how children can tip the balance really well.

The sheer bitterness of two people in love and the juxtaposed feeling it brings was an interesting dynamic. Being bitter and in love? How? It happens. You love someone, but bloody hell don’t you hate at the same time.

And I think on the hand Quarantine Harry is the opposite side of the same coin. I love it because it’s so happy. When you’re smitten and basking. Your baby waking you up at 3am and meeting your husband on the landing with the freshly made bottle is a time to enjoy because you’re doing it together.

But soon enough the third child is sprawled out in your kingsize bed and their foot is pressed against your ribs and you're tired. This isn’t me saying the two stories are linked (I do get those theories quite a lot haha)

4. Do you prefer AU or OU?

Definitely more of an OU gal. I’m massively into writing things “realistically” because I think it’s so relatable and helps draw readers in more so. Especially if the writing uses and references visuals that readers are aware of.

5. What’s your favorite trope to write?

Would we call a long-term relationship / established relationship a trope? If so then this is my favourite. Writing characters who know how to push each other’s buttons, knowing what they can and can’t say to get the other going. Being able to write two people who can share as little as a glance and know what the other is feeling.

Sprinkle a bit of angst on the top for good measure.

That’s my kryptonite.

6. What’s your ideal space to write in?

I tend to write when I’m in bed quite a bit, usually really late at night and on my phone rather than my laptop. Often lying in the dark. Sometimes first thing in a morning.

7. How do you get motivation to write?

This one made me laugh considering I’m unable to finish a single piece of writing at the minute.

Pictures are quite inspiring. New images of Harry can usually start something in me. The images of him in the whacky joggers for example from set have inspired a scene in Quarantine Harry (who knows for which part just yet!).

8. Do you typically like to listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to?

Very rarely listen to anything when I write, I tend to like silence really. Sometimes this is so I can dictate into my phone.

9. Your dialogue is some of the best I’ve ever read on tumblr, how do you plan conversations in your fics?

Thank you for the compliment, it’s really nice to read that you think so highly of my dialogue. I don’t really plan them - conversations or my fics. I’m quite visual in how I write, so anything that you’ve read I’ve most likely had it play out in my mind and typed it as it’s moved. For dialogue I tend to speak out loud as I’m typing to try and get the pacing right for the conversation.

No, I don’t try to do a Manc accent… Just in case anyone is wondering haha!

10. What is your writing process like?

I write what I see and then hope it fits. Honestly it’s pretty chaotic. The only time I tend to plan is when I’ve got a lot of different scenes written and I need to know if they’re suitable for an update or what order to place them.

Then I read through them and think about the characters and how they would be a certain time and move the documents into another document. Then I close all the tabs and cry cause my motivation is nonexistent.

11. What’s been your favorite scene to write from Quarantine Harry?

One that hasn’t been shared haha! I’m joking (maybe).

From part one my favourite bit has to be the part where she makes up with him by taking him a cuppa and he gets a dig in about how she hasn’t brought any biscuits with her. Also the bit where he says “come an’ love me” meaning he wants to cuddle. I’m quite conscious I don’t really ever write soppy fics, so when I’m writing “fluffy” aspects they’re more so everyday affections. Like, you know someone is properly in love with you when they’re doing the washing up cause you’re busy, or they’re taking out the bins on bin day. That kinda thing.

From part two absolutely the entirety of the morning where she takes the pregnancy test. That was the part I had as clear as day and I worked backwards to the opening scene. I really loved the idea of Harry knowing his partner is pregnant before said partner knows. Him knowing his lovers body like the back of his hand so much so that he’s able to pick up on the smallest of things.  I knew I had to write it.

And how he casually suggested she took the test, by pressing a kiss into her back. His face finding that test and then being an insufferable sod and pleased with himself cause he’s in the know about the outcome before the MC.

12. Is there a schedule you follow in terms of when you write? Or are you more impulsive and just write where and when you can?

So impulsive it’s actually embarrassing. I cringe at myself. I know I’ve mentioned this loads but I really write what I see. So if I’m not seeing anything, I’m not writing. It’s quite frustrating.

13. What is one thing you wish you would’ve known before you started writing?

To not talk about your writing before you’ve finished it. I feel like I massively let people down when I post sneak peeks and then I can’t deliver because life gets on top of me!

14. What do you prefer writing, multi-chaptered fics or one shots?

One shots and then if they develop into something more that can be exciting!

15. What's your secret to portraying such a complex and interesting relationship between your main characters??

Personal trauma…… *tumbleweed at another one of my poorly thought out jokes*

I’m a bit stumped on how to answer this one. I think being well read(ish) helps you create complex characters and relationships, not saying that I am but I’ve read a fair few books. Life in general helps too, sometimes personal relationships. Just growing up. My fic when I was younger was nowhere near the type of things I’m writing now but I’ve got a couple (okay, more than a couple!) of years on myself since then.

I think just apply your own lived experiences and call upon emotions you may have felt through certain times that you’re writing should you have experience it.

Partly I also think so many of us are a little bit nosy. Sometimes we all kinda want to be the fly on the wall in the home of couples to see if everything is a rosy as it seems or as intimate. Or whether it is just raw passion with a couple of arguments thrown in for good measure.

16. What Harry era/mood/look/vibe/song/etc. do you get most inspired by?

What’s weird is my favourite era of Harry is 2014, but I wouldn’t want to write him like that. The current Harry is quite marvellous. I’ve never known anyone like him, he really is fine wine (the real album title…. ‘we’ll be a fine wine’)

If you’re asking what mood I like to see him in, it’s either when he's pensive and looks a touch pissed off with a crease to his brow or when you watch his joke his eyes before he’s even said it and he’s amused/pleased with himself.

His current look, mainly late 2019/2020 is quite something (hence the quarantine fics)

I tend not to get inspired by his songs but my two faves if I had to pick would be Woman and TBSL. I think they’re massive Scorpio energy and would make great premises for a one shot sometime!

I’m not sure if I even answered this how you wanted it answer but hopefully it was something haha!

17. Who or what inspired you to start writing?

I’ve always loved writing, I think it’s because I do a lot of it with my line of work. The person that gave me the push on this site was actually an account called @meetyourmouths. The lovely Iz is no longer on tumblr but she wrote a Harry piece that just made me think ‘fuck it’ and I posted Practicing. If you go to that piece the authors note makes mention to Iz.

I would also say @stylishmuser was one of the first people to reach out to me and be encouraging which has always stuck with me. Massive love for, P and still talk to her all these years on.

I’m now sat here thinking about listing all the lovely lovely people who have been so nice to me both in regards to writing and outside of it and I’m conscious I’m not mentioning them. The troubles of being a bit of a people pleaser. Hopefully those people know I love ‘em… You know?

18. Some readers are wary of leaving feedback because they're unsure how the writer will take it, how do you personally like to receive feedback? Do you want to be critiqued, or would you like to just know if they did or didn't enjoy what they've read?

First thing I’d say is please don’t ever think as readers you can’t be negative. Sure there is a way to present the feedback to the author cause writing can be quite personal, but everyone has room for growth.

Just come chat to me. Can be about anything and everything. A simple ‘loved the update’ to ‘this bit was rubbish’. I’m open to all feedback.

One thing to remember is there are a lot of writers out there so there is something for everybody. If a fic isn’t for you there are tons out there waiting for you to go and grab ‘em!

19. Is writing a hobby or do you have aspirations of writing professionally outside of fanfiction?

I used to think it was mainly more so a hobby, and I do still lean towards this. However, now I’m not so sure. My problem is I tend to have long spells of not being able to find balance in my ‘real life’ job and the extra-curricular stuff.

I’m dragging myself here but I don’t think my fics have much plot to them. I’m more so about writing the everyday life and I don’t think there is a market for that really (unless you have something explosive happen somewhere).

20. And finally, What's your purpose for writing? What do you hope to accomplish?

For a while I wanted to write Harry being insufferably British. I found it quite hard to find writings that I thought wrote him using Britsh-isms (is this even a thing?) and types of phrases that are common over this side of the pond. I wanted to put that out there for someone who may have once felt like me.

Mostly,  I just want to put pieces out that take people elsewhere, even if only for a couple of minutes. A lot of the world is a bleak place, if you find my little corner on tumblr and it makes you smile, that’s achieved something, hasn't it?

[reel-em-in]

Pre-Production:

I feel that the pre-production for Coming Out Country went really well. We researched a few different things in relation to country music, but there was a big focus on the stereotypes held about the genre and those who listen to it, wether country always had ties to conservatism and right-leaning ideals, and examples of country artists that are/were more progressive or queer themselves. I also created a survey during pre-production which I posted in some groups online, as well as sending to people that I know. This was to find out a surface level view of the demographics of people who consider themselves fans of country music and wether these fans feel they had been treated unfairly within the country music fan base due to their identity. It also had a section for people who did not consider themselves fans of the genre, and instead they were asked what their feelings were towards country, if they disliked the genre they could tell me why, and what there stereotypes were about country music fans. This was interesting as something I noticed was that many of the stereotypes had their origins in classism (many felt that country fans were less educated and less progressive and suggested that this was due to their rural/less well-off upbringing).

We also conducted some zoom interviews during pre-production. With the group formulating questions to ask me. This allowed us to get an idea about the sorts of things I would be able to talk about in the film, and what was of interest to the group. This was very useful as country music is a special interest of mine so I would find anything about the topic to be interesting, whereas I understand that to the general populace it probably wouldn’t be that interesting. These interviews fed into the questions that would later be asked during the interviews during production.

I also spent a lot of time collecting the archive photographs. I managed to get a large selection of possible photos, whilst also learning that we have more photographs of agricultural machinery in the house than of me as a child. An amusing fact.

Production:

I feel that for the most part the production of our documentary was successful, though there are definitely a couple of things that I would improve upon.

Production began with me getting the b-roll footage of me working on the farm. This footage worked well within our documentary, though it is also something that I would have done differently had we not been in a pandemic. In a perfect world I would have liked to have had the group (or at least Luke as our DoP) come to the farm and film the b-roll footage properly with a camera. Though due to travel restrictions this was not possible. I had also left my camera in Edinburgh as I was not anticipating being home for so long. This meant that I had to film the b-roll footage on my phone, and ask my mum to be my camerawoman. Telling her what footage I needed, and then getting her to point and shoot. She now knows all about the rule of thirds!

Once I was back in Edinburgh, Luke and I shot the rest of the footage. We spent a few days in my flat filming the interviews as well as some of the songwriting process, and eventually the song. I think this worked really well as due to Luke being a friend of mine I felt much more able to open up in the interviews than I would have if someone I didn’t know that well had been the one asking questions. This meant that our doc took a much more personal direction than it was originally going to.

A lot of the song writing process was also filmed, though much of it wasn’t as it was a long process. I am pleased with the final song, though it was definitely difficult to write. Now that I have proved to myself that I can do it, I plan on writing more of my own music though.

We also recorded the song during this time, something that I think was really well done! I would have liked to record the song in a studio, but unfortunately to to time constraints and Covid restrictions this was not possible. With that being said I think the recording is of a really good quality for being recorded in my room, with sound equipment that Luke had access to.

Post Production:

The post production was also mostly successful, though once again there are a couple of improvements that could be made.

Beth began the editing process, putting together the first cut before I joined her for the rest of the editing process. I spent several days with Beth working on the edit, creating the narrative of the film from things that had been discussed in the interview. This was a difficult process as we had so much footage from the interviews with so many interesting points that deciding was to keep in the film and what to discard was a bit of a nightmare. I feel like what made it into the final cut worked really well though. We were working under more time constraints than initially planned due to other projects we were working on simultaneously, but each day we would send our cut to Sana and Leo for feedback, and act upon that feedback the next day.

One thing I would have done differently though is to have included the sound from the interviews underneath the archive photographs, as the lack of dialogue did impact the flow of the film. I don’t think this was too much of a problem, but having dialogue there would have definitely improved the final film.

Once we had picture lock, we sent everything off to Jess for the sound design. This was also done with more time constraints than we would have liked, but I feel that it was mostly successful. I think that the levels of the mix were great for the most part, and the different audio clips blended into one another nicely. Without any noticeable or jarring cuts. Though Leo mentioned that the water sounds over the archive photograph of me sitting by a pond was somewhat jarring. If we were to revisit the sound design I think that this could be fixed by either bringing it lower in the mix, or by adding similar linking sound effects to the other archive photographs. Or perhaps a mixture of both.

The final step of the post production process was to send it to Luke for colour grading, and for Luke and I to add the titles. The colour grading was really well done, and made the film link together much more than in our non-graded cut. The titles and credits were inspired by westerns, something that I think worked well within our film both through its thematic links to country as well as through the fun and quirky atmosphere it created. We also chose to have the credits appear in time with the final part of the song, and be in the colours of the trans pride flag.

A couple of other things I would have changed during post-production I should have done during this final step. The first is that I would have liked to have added subtitles to the song, as the lyrics draw on a lot of the topics discussed during the film. The use of subtitles would have been a great way to draw attention to this. The second thing I would change is the way that I am credited. I realised after submitting the film that at no point do we introduce the character that is the focus, for all the viewer knows this is just some dude with green hair and no name. Even if I didn’t include a name or anything earlier in the film, it would have been a good idea to have clarity given in the credits by perhaps saying ‘starring and directed by’ or something similar.

Overall:

Overall I feel that Coming Out Country was a success, both in terms of the final film, and the fun that we had making it. It is also a project that I plan to improve by acting on feedback from the crit, as I want to make sure it is as good as it can be and can be added to my portfolio.

Feedback From the Crit:

I know that some of this was covered in the rest of this post, but I have included it anyway :)

Sana:

What Worked Well:

The hand held footage on the farm

The structure

That it took a more personal route than originally intended

What Could Be Improved:

The cutting back and forth between interview, archive, and b-roll didn’t work as well. It would have been nice to remain with the b-roll for longer

It would have been good if my grandfather had been reintroduced into the narrative again, later in the film

The archive photographs could have been used more effectively. Some of them feel as though they were added a bit randomly

Leo:

“This is a really enjoyable film for people who know Tom, and don’t know much about country music. If you touch up the edit a bit it can also be a really enjoyable film for people who don’t know Tom, but enjoy country music.”

What Worked Well:

Fun to watch and listen to

Luke was included as a character (both visually and through audio), but he did not feel overbearing. The choice to not include his face even when he was on screen playing guitar was well made.

The titles

The song was well written and recorded

What Could Be Improved:

Dialogue should have ran under the archive photographs

The water sounds were a bit jarring

The narrative ‘sections’ could have been made to intertwine more, rather than being in distinct blocks

The Class:

What Worked Well:

It was fun to watch

It represented who I was well (it’s just a shame if people didn’t already know me they wouldn’t have known who the person represented was).

What Could Be Improved:

Could have played more on the juxtaposition between the country stereotype of right wing ideologies and my identity

It could have been interesting to have my trans identity act as more of a reveal

[arabian-bloodstream]

Gendrya Confirmation, Bitches!

OK, so technically, no, it's not confirmed, but I'm taking this bit of detective work on my part as confirmation, damnit! (Not that I didn't already 100% believe that Gendrya was happening and have been pretty darn firm in that belief all along.) So before I jump to that, I need to set it up and so I shall...

Alrighty then, I wrote a post full of happy-happy-joy-joy, entitled: "Oh, my precious babies! So endgame!" a few weeks ago. I wrote this after the episode when most of the Gendrya fanbase was not very happy. You know, that would be episode 04, yeah, the one when Gendry dropped to his knee and proposed and Arya was all, 'Nah, I'm good' and went back to her target practice while his little heart crumpled to a million pieces before our very eyes. Yeah, that one.

Meanwhile, I was all "YES!" at the end of episode because my precious babies were clearly endgame in my eyes! True story, look at the date on that linked post. So the main reason why I felt so positive about Arya and Gendry after episode 04 was because of the first scene with the Hound and the final scene with the Hound. As I wrote in that post:

In the first scene, Gendry and the Hound were at the feast celebrating the North’s victory over the undead–Arya’s victory. And, of course, Arya was nowhere to be found.

  Gendry: Have you seen Arya?   The Hound: You can still smell the burning bodies and that’s where your head is at?   Gendry: I just want to thank her–   The Hound: I’m sure you do.   Gendry: Look, it’s not about that.   The Hound: Of course it’s about that, you twat. Why shouldn’t it be? The dead are dead. You’re not.

The Hound made it pretty clear he was well aware that Gendry wanted to *be* with Arya and when Gendry tried to deny it, the Hound called him on it and, surprisingly, pointed out that it was exactly what he should be doing. Now, let’s make this clear. Gendry wanted to celebrate LIFE with *Arya* and the Hound flat-out told him that such was exactly the thing he should be doing.

Contrast this with the final conversation the Hound has in the episode.

    Arya: You’re heading to King’s Landing.     The Hound: I have some unfinished business.     Arya: Me too.     The Hound: I don’t plan on coming back.     Arya: Neither do I.

So we have the show using The Hound to illustrate that *Gendry* is life as Gendry wanted to celebrate life with Arya–who you remember was “celebrating” by shooting arrows at a target–and on the opposite spectrum, that Arya has indeed once more chosen a life of death. Now, at the end of that discussion, he also asked that if he needs her to kill him, will she just leave him to not die again and she said probably… which means, that they probably will wind up in a situation like that, but this time she will give him mercy. However, before she does, he’ll tell her to choose life. Something like: Go get that blacksmith cunt that’s always mooning over you and have lots of black-haired babies with him. Don’t be like me. Don’t chase death your whole life. Live.

I later expounded exclusively on that theme in greater detail here in a post (not surprisingly) titled: Arya's Choice. In that one, I discussed the entangling of the Hound and Gendry in Arya's storyline throughout season 08 going back to their reunions with her taking place together. In this meta, I wrote:

The reason that Arya’s first scene with Gendry and the Hound was done TOGETHER [...] is because they represent opposite choices of her life going forth.

The Hound is death.

Gendry is life.

It’s all tied up together. Gendry (life) chose to walk away from her all those years away, and then Arya ran away and was captured by the Hound (death). Now Gendry (life) offered himself to her, but she chose to walk away and met up with the Hound (death). It’s eventually going to come down to Arya making the choice herself to walk away from death–which I believe that the Hound will push her to do–and choose life, choose Gendry.

As noted above, I even gave him some dialogue when I did think that Arya would give him mercy. (Although to be fair, I thought that Arya would do so because everyone around me kept saying she would do so. I hadn't really thought that would happen before it kept getting pushed at me. :shrugs:) But the main thing is that I thought he would give her the push to live comparing his life to hers. No, he didn't mention anything about Gendry--nor (and I can't believe I'm saying this because I'm not particularly fond of the word, but coming from Sandor Clegane it was always hilariously used) did a 'cunt' come from him all season long. He died without uttering it even once. Sad.

Anyhoo. Comparing part of my "something like this" dialogue for his parting words to Arya with what he actually said? I think I nailed it pretty closely.

My words: Don’t be like me. Don’t chase death your whole life. Live. His words: You think you've wanted revenge a long time? I've been after it all my life. It's all I care about and look at me. LOOK AT ME! You want to be like me? You come with me, you die here.

Same point getting across there. And this is what David Benioff said about the scene itself "Inside the Episode” that was on Youtube right after the show aired.

It's a small scene, but it's also, for us, one of the most important scenes in the whole episode because it's the culmination of their story together. The road to vengeance always ends in one place. Which is what the Hound is saying to her here. "I've made my choice a long time ago, and this can only end in one possible way for me. But for you, you have so many other options.

The Hound has genuinely come to have affection for Arya. I think he loves her, as much as he's capable of loving someone. And he knows that if she comes with him at this point, she's not gonna make it out of there.

So, yeah... Nailed it! And if the Hound is death... then doesn't that then make Gendry life considering how they’ve so closely entangled the two characters with Arya this season? Especially with the contrasts? Not only the conversations in episode 04, but Arya choosing to not spend her final hours with the miserable old shits (The Hound, and yes, Beric, but the Hound was the key one there) but instead having sex with Gendry. And sex well, its main purpose is to, you know, create life. And then there’s the first time she saw them both this season in episode 01, “Winterfell,” Arya spied the Hound and then Gendry arrive. The Hound rode in upon a black horse. Gendry? A white horse.

After she turned down Gendry's proposal--in my analysis, rejecting life--and joined the Hound on the road to King's Landing to commit regicide, expecting to not come out of it alive--accepting death--she rode a black horse.

After listening to Sandor's words, after choosing to let Cersei die by a means other than her hand, running through the streets of death and chaos, fighting to live, fighting to try and help others live, surviving because the God of Death declared that no, my former pupil, death was not happening, not today, Arya Stark stood amidst all of that death and she stood in the light. The sun shone upon her and she saw a way out of that darkness, away from all of that death, back to life. She saw a white horse.

And she rode on that white horse away from death. To life? To Gendry? I think so.

Now, taking all of that into account, the Arya and the tangling of Gendry and the Hound--which just had to definitively be deliberate--here's where my little detective work brought me to my final definitive GENDRYA CONFIRMATION, BITCHES! moment.  In early Spring, D.B. Weiss and Daniel Benioff helped create a new Spotify playlist: Game of Thrones: The End Is Coming. Upon doing so, they told For the Record in an email, “The answer to the ending is one hundred percent hidden in the playlist choices. No one will believe us, but it’s true.”

Well, a friend of mine and I have been going through each song to try and guess which songs apply to which characters and situations as we're heading into the final inning. And then I got to one particular song and I literally said: "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! GENDRYA CONFIMRATION, BITCHES!" And this is why.

This is from the official Game of Thrones Youtube channel: It is titled: Game of Thrones | Season 8 Episode 5 | The Hound's Gift (HBO).  The description of the video is: Maisie Williams explains Arya's choice. Yeah, you read that right. Uh huh, please do make note that my post written a week or so ago about the Hound = Death and Gendry = Life, and that Arya will choose life (thus Gendry) was titled "Arya's Choice" and I done wrote that on May 06, 2019! I'm just saying. Ahem, anyhoo. So, the video has Maisie talking about the "gift" that the Hound gives Arya.

This is a really important moment, the Hound realizing that "I don't think this kid knows what she's gonna get into." And turning around and giving her this incredible gift, which is the second ticket to a new life.

He's wanted revenge his entire life, and do you wanna be like him? "Is that what you want?" Just a moment in Arya where all those emotions that she’s been trying to suppress and trying to ignore and trying to focus on the task at hand all bubble up again, and this man who she cares so much about and has learned so much from and admires so much turned around and says ‘You don’t want this. You—you go.' She realizes there is another way. There is another life that she could have.

We tell real stories about real people and in this season, Arya decides against being that character that people love, and she decides to, to take her life into her own hands and take control of what she wants.

Let's break what she says down a bit first. Obviously, all of this lines completely up with where I've seen this going. Arya steps away from the whole list-friendly, death-first Arya-'assassin' that "people love." And it makes me sad that Maisie does know that so many people do love that iteration of Arya. It makes me so sad because Arya is so, so much more. *sigh*

The reaction to the idea of Arya having sex, showing interest in *that* kind of relationship--because no, it wasn't all just about the fact that it was watching a girl we watched grow up, there was definitely a lot of... but that's not Arya!, she's an assassin-baby!--shows that she definitely has a point. Still, what she says here makes it quite clear that, yes, Arya IS going to step away from that. Having Sandor basically say to her that she doesn't want to be a miserable old shit like him was a real wake-up call.

Her first "ticket" to life was obviously the coin from Jaqen Hagar. This is her second, and getting that from the Hound who has seen and been through so much shit with Arya, plus seeing the devastating horror of rampant death and destruction all around her has brought that message home loud and clear. She does not want that life, his life. Which is death. She is choosing now to take what she wants. And what does she want? Well, that brings me (finally!) to that OMG! moment.

Remember what I said above about the Game of Thrones spotify list and those clues that D&D talked about. Well, while going through the songs, and having watched this particular video clip the day before, I was pretty damn shook when I got to the end of "No One Knows" By Queens of the Stone Age. Here are the complete lyrics. However, what I want to focus on is the chorus and the outro as we close out the song.

[Chorus] And I realize you're mine Indeed a fool am I And I realize you're mine Indeed a fool am I Ahh

[Outro] Heaven smiles above me What a gift here below But no one knows A gift that you give to me No one knows

That's right.

"What a gift here below, but no one knows. A gift that you give to me. No one knows."

The Hound gave Arya a gift. Arya was No One.

Thus my "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! GENDRYA CONFIMRATION, BITCHES!"

Yeah. They are the ship that is promised. BOOYAH!

(Plus, yeah, all of the other reasons I’ve talked about ad nauseum over the last month!)

[kim-seungmine]

excerpt: when it’s past midnight

title: when it’s past midnight

characters: reader x han jisung of stray kids (feat. kim woojin, lee felix, and lee minho of stray kids + shin ryujin of itzy)

genre: if i could add a spinning, glittery gif of “slice-of-life” then i would, romance, radio DJ!AU, let’s appreciate jisung’s talking voice y’all.

word count: -

warnings: cursing, mentions of drinking

synopsis: jisung is lost but he found you--who are hiding and don’t want to be found. 

a/n: posting an excerpt once again because i need more motivation to write in the midst of my current schedule. and it’s because im just so impatient at myself and want to share with you. 

UPDATE: FULL VER IS UP! Please search my masterlist on my bio bc I can't put links here

-

Han Jisung fell in love.

It shouldn’t be a problem. It should be a blessing, even, but not when he didn’t know what to do with his life. Not when he was a disappointment, both to himself and the world. Two years ago he wouldn’t even imagine himself saying this, but army was probably better than real life. Being away from the university for two years did cause him to forget literally everything he studied, but when he was there, it was fine. He would meet his friends to talk about it, and his seniors would give them advice. The cycle repeated for his whole service and during that time, he believed everything would be fine.

Now that he was back, it felt different. He felt lost, and his friends who shared the same struggle were now pretending to do better than they actually were. Jisung was lost, but he was also in love. He wasn’t even sure if love was the right word, he just hoped that you would give him a cha—

What the hell are you talking about?

In the middle of all the mess, there was one thing he believed.

Jisung loved you, probably at first sight and although he tried to dismiss it then, now he was sure he loved you. And it all started a minute after midnight.

 -

October 2020

“So you’re not going back? What the hell man, we had a deal!” Woojin deadpanned as Felix let out a dejected sigh. “I thought you would consider coming back,” he said. Jisung shrugged, ready to provide pathetic reasons when he suddenly got an idea. 

“Woojin,” he began. “Can I host with your current DJ? They are amazing and I definitely don’t want to replace them. But can you please let me host with them? Just to say goodbye, for old time’s sake.”

Jisung suddenly felt so excited. Why hadn’t he thought about this before? He was completely away by the way you carried the broadcast, by how you conveyed your thoughts, and by the sound of your laugh (but nobody needed to know). He wanted to meet you just this once while saying goodbye to the thing that he probably loved the most.

“I don’t know, Jisung. Y/N has already submitted the script for today’s broadcast last night—”

“Unlike you who submit scripts 2 hours before broadcast.”

“Thanks for the reminder, Felix.”

Woojin raised his hand, effectively shutting Jisung and Felix up. “I planned to add one more show for When It’s Past Midnight because we’ve been getting good reviews, even from the lecturers. In fact, the faculty is willing to give us more budget,” he informed. “I want you and Y/N to host on different days, but if your decision is final—”

“You’ll let me host with them, right?”

“Will anyone let me finish talking?!”

“Sorry.”

Woojin rolled his eyes, not bothering to continue and just went straight to the recording room. “Hey,” he called out. He looked unsure of himself, which was something new because he was that type of leader who always exuded confidence and wisdom. “What is it?” you asked as Jisung pushed him inside.

You frowned upon seeing Jisung, while he tried to remember if he had seen you before. He noticed that you took a glance at the framed photo of Woojin, Felix, and him on the wall before you realized that this was Han Jisung himself . Well, he still looked pretty much the same, except his hair was no longer blond.

“Jisung is back, and he missed the radio so much. Would you mind if he hosts together with you?” Woojin continued, nudging Jisung to introduce himself to you. “But I thought I was his replacement?” you reminded him.

Jisung extended his hand to you, and he was pleasantly surprised with how firm your handshake was. He hated people who gave half-hearted handshakes, although strong handshakes couldn’t guarantee that someone wouldn’t be an asshole.

“I listened to the broadcast last night, and man you’re so good at this! The listeners love you. I wouldn’t want to change that,” he praised. “I just want to co-host with you once—for old time’s sake—and then I’m out. Gotta catch up with all my classes.”

You looked at Woojin who still seemed conflicted. “See, Y/N, I know you’ve prepared everything for tonight and having Jisung here changes everything, but is it okay with you if he’s joining the broadcast today?”

“The original DJ for ‘When It’s Past Midnight’ is here, how can I not let him?” You smiled, patting the empty seat beside you. Jisung sat down immediately, giving Woojin a smug look. “See? Nobody can resist me,” he boasted.

Woojin rolled his eyes. “Y/N’s just being polite. Just finish quickly and go back to studying. Nobody remembers you anyways.”

You passed Jisung your script as Felix knocked on the glass door. “We’re starting in 10, 9, 8, 7...”

The show’s theme song—Woojin composed it himself—played in the background. Jisung wore his headphones, tapping his hands on the table according to the beat. He looked like fish in his natural habitat no matter how much he tried to hide how comfortable he was with all of this.

“When it’s past midnight, your mind runs wild and wonders if there’s someone out there who’s willing to listen to you. That person is me Y/N and today we have a special guest.”

[aria-chicken-flugget]

Things Can Only Get Better - Guren X Reader / Mika X Reader

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences (ao3)

Category: F/M (some eventual M/M)

Fandom: 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End

Summary: It starts in 1983, you transfer schools for your Junior year of high school but no one knows why. Yuu’s been getting into trouble a lot without you and Mika, his two best friends growing up in the orphanage – you find out that Yuu spends a lot of time with Guren, a senior and notorious troublemaker who you don’t trust is a good influence on Yuu at all! What happens when you get to know Guren and his friends? What’s he hiding? Why is Mika not there? Find out in this 80s inspired extravaganza of highschool Romances, music and more!

*Title of the work inspired from Howard Jones’s hit of 1985*

Haven’t read the first chapter and want to? -

Link to the first chapter here on tumblr.

Link to further chapters on ao3 here.

Notes:

(F/S) = Favourite subject – (R/S) = Random Subject

I hope you enjoy this chapter my lovelies! It’s not beta read so please excuse mistakes.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

                                 Chapter Two: Shout at The Devil

“What’s this? Don’t tell me someone actually wants to date you, Amane?”

You both broke your embrace to see the bored face of a tall, punky pink haired guy with glasses, holding the hand of a young girl with similar features. You wondered where you’d seen this guy before. They stood before your seated position upon the steps to the arcade on what appeared to be an intimate moment romantically, you rolled your eyes at his assumption. The little girl was smiling and dressed in a sweet, white ruffled dress with a matching bow holding lose, rose locks. He however was not smiling. He had studs in his ears as well as studs on a leather wrist band, clad in a casual black bomber jacket and khaki coloured jeans. Yuu stiffened with a glare,

“What are you doing here, Kimizuki?”

Shiho rolled his eyes,

“And they say I’m blind. I’m taking Mirai to the Arcade, dumbass. What’s it look like?”

Your lips tightened not only at his attitude but at the way he spoke in front of the little girl. Luckily, she wasn’t paying attention though, she was dragging her foot across the concrete in an attempt to entertain herself.

“It looks like you’ve been grounded, why else would you bring your sister here.”

Yuu smirked darkly and you frowned. Again, it didn’t look like Yuu but that Ichinose. It was then you’d realized where you’d seen the punky guy, he was that skater who almost knocked straight into you on your first day of joining Shinjuku high school. You were seconds from asserting as such, but Kimizuki had rolled his eyes and stated,

“I don’t have time for this.”

Before waltzing up the steps, guiding little Mirai. Yuu twisted around with a bark,

“Don’t start anything then, Jackass.”

Kimizuki half turned briefly as they reached the doors to the arcade,

“You know if I didn’t have Mirai, your ass would be grass right now.”

“Only losers rhyme in their threats, waistoid.”

Yuu scowled and Kimizuki balled his spare hand into a fist in a moment of rage before jabbing it to Yuu,

“We’ll see who the loser is when I kick your ass at school, Amane.”

Before stalking off through the doors of the arcade, not before offering Yuu a death glare. Yuu rolled his eyes as he turned his body back around away from the arcade. Your lips thinned, yep, this is definitely going to be a challenge, you thought to yourself.

***

You both walked along the sidewalk and reached the records store,

“This is where I work.”

Yuu beamed and you smiled in return, you both loved music. So did Mika. Better yet, Yuu actually had a job now. He held the door for you as you stepped into the store with mild awe. Rows of records lined like bookcases with band posters decorating the stone walls. You loved the edgy feel to the quaint store that was deluged in amber and red hues, it held the punk rock vibe of a basement venue. Dio’s metal track ‘Stand up and shout’ was playing in the background.

“This is great!”

You beamed and he scoffed a laugh, pointing at your attire of another soft cardigan and neat skirt and you rolled your eyes, giving him a shove as you both laughed.

“You’re late, brat.”

A husky voice boomed over the faint metal track in the back ground. Yuu’s smile dropped,

“Am not! I was on time!”

He shot back. Your eyes reflexively rolled as you saw who it was that spoke, as he emerged from behind the back of the store. None other than Guren Ichinose. He was donning a black leather jacket with studs and his raven locks were slicked back, save for a few runaways.

“You were two minutes late.”

Yuu frowned in thought and you found yourself rolling your eyes again as he furthered,

“Now I’m two minutes late for my cigarette break.”

“You can’t smoke in here?”

You asked without thinking, curiosity taking over and he allowed a sly smirk at your doe eyes,

“’Boss doesn’t like it.”

Huh. Weird, but fair enough. In that moment you recognized the jacket Guren was wearing. It’s the one Yuu had worn the other day at school. Guren raised his brows casually,

“Got a problem, Peach?”

Your furrowed brows knit together further as he stuck a cigarette between his lips. Clearly you’d looked displeased enough for him to catch onto your thought process. Apparently, you were unable to form a cohesive sentence as you staggered,

“That jacket –“

Pointing between the two boys, before scowling,

“Wait – Peach? -”

“Where d’ya think the idiot got the jacket from?”

Guren interrupted with a scoffed laugh, managing to sound cohesive with a cigarette between his lips. Your jaw dropped in that moment as he’d made his way outside, starting to light his cigarette as he swept passed. Your wide eyes trailed his wake before you huffed with the closing of the store’s front door. Yuu allowed a smile,

“He’s not so bad, once you get to know him.”

“He seems like a pain in the ass.”

You countered as you met Yuu’s gaze, he chuckled,

“Remind you of anyone?”

You quirked a brow,

“I hope you mean yourself.”

You remarked, making you both chuckle. But when you thought about it, you wondered how well Yuu could possibly know Ichinose. Not to mention how naive Yuu’s always been. You somehow just knew that there was this mysterious, dark aura around Ichinose, telling you that he had much to hide. And warning you to run away, even though it’s trying to lure you in.

***

Whilst you were there you were somehow roped into buying Yuu’s new favorite album.

“It’s the best rock music of ’83, I swear it.”

He lilted, fluttering his long lashes as he swayed you into buying ‘Shout at the Devil’ by Mötley Crüe. You liked rock but did you like it as much as Yuu? Unlikely. You laughed,

“What if I don’t like it?”

“You will!”

“But what if I don’t?”

You both laughed harder. You realized the song in the background of the store was now ‘Whip it’ by DEVO, a new wave synth-pop song from a couple of years or so before and you hopped up and down a moment,

“I love this song! This is more me, Yuu.”

You claimed playfully and he shook his head before insisting with a raised brow and a wave of the Mötley Crüe record,

“Ok, I’ll let you listen to my tape of it before, but I’m reserving this record for you.”

You laughed a cackle,

“You’re so stupid, Yuu.”

As you started to cave, he wore a victorious grin,

“You won’t regret it, I promise.”

“I better not.”

He laughed again before you noticed the time, gathering yourself to leave,

“It’s getting late, I better head. I’ll listen to it another time - see you at school?”

“Sure, cool. See ya.”

He waved with his smile that you were anxious you wouldn’t see. You were curious as to why the store was kept open so late, considering stores usually close by around 7pm latest. You saw Guren leaning against the building as you exited and offered a cursory glance as you walked by, only to be stopped by his words,

“You’re walking home?”

He asked, incredulous as he flicked a cigarette stub away. He thought the bike attached to the lamp post in front of the store was yours. You turned on your heel to face him with a mild, sarcastic scoff,

“Uh… yea?”

He allowed a stupid smile as he raised his brows, peeling himself from the brick wall of the store.

“Alone, at this time? You can’t live nearby.”

He stated confidently, hands in his pockets, and you retorted,

“How do you know where I live, did you stalk me or something?”

You wondered if you went too far, but he just laughed at your attitude. As he flicked his chin to you,

“One look at your clothes and I know you don’t.”

Your cheeks tinged rose at your cardigan and skirt combo and you held your arms a moment. Of course he was right, you didn’t live in Nagoya, you were just outside. He rolled his eyes but sighed, rubbing the back of his neck a moment before offering,

“Look, do you want a ride?”

Your eyes shot up to meet his and you were even more amazed at how his charming, violet eyes were sincere.

“I can get the little welp to watch the shop, I doubt he’d want you walking all that way.”

Your eyes shifted as the dusting of blush covered your cheeks again, causing Guren to tilt his head back with a small laugh,

“You didn’t tell him you were walking, did you?”

“No.”

You drew out petulantly. His smirk was starting to really irritate you now.

“D’you want the ride or not?”

He asked, his patience supposedly thinning and you huffed as you saw the darkening sky beside you, the street dimming with it with the fewer cars. You bit your lip, prompting him,

“Oh come on. No funny business, I swear.”

He spoke with a natural authoritative tone before he laughed, his hands up in a mock surrender. You fought the urge to smirk at his stupidity, giving him a skeptical once over before claiming,

“Fine. I’ll take the ride.”

***

“I thought you were offering me a ride?!”

You snapped, clenching your fists as you faced his stupid fucking smirk.

“I am. Here.”

He said innocently as he gestured to the push bike to his left. You fought the urge to square up to him as you two stood out back. He’d come back with a push bike?

“What are you, twelve?”

You spat only for him to break out into a boyish grin. You rolled your eyes,

“I thought you were driving?!”

You asked, astounded at his nonchalance. He shrugged,

“I never said I was driving.”

“What?!”

“I don’t drive.”

“WHAT?!”

He’d turned on his heel to stalk off,

“'Later!”

He called over his shoulder as he wandered off in the opposite direction to the store.

“So, you got Yuu to watch the shop just so you could slack?!”

You hollered to his back, eyes sending daggers.

“Yup.”

He called without looking back. You growled.

“What about your bike? How are you gonna get home now?”

You asked tersely but he only laughed as he carried on walking, making you even angrier.

“Ichinose? Ichinose! HEY IDIOT!… Dammit.”

You called irritably, only to be ignored until he left, causing you to grumble.

“Jackass.”

You muttered darkly as you mounted the stupid bike to get home.

“’No funny business’ my ass.”

You scoffed as you began to pedal.

***

You rode the bike back to school in order to give it back to the idiot Ichinose but quickly realized you didn’t know how to find him. He was a senior so he wasn’t in your classes, unless I find him somehow at lunch? I could ask Yuu? Ugh, I really don’t like the idea of Yuu being around that guy, he’s so shady. You grumbled to yourself, chaining the bike to the bike stands outside the school in a huff, just hoping you’d bump into him to tell him you have his bike. Although, knowing your luck, you knew you’d see him again.

***

“You’ll be transferring to the senior class for (F/S), and for (R/S) as well, due to your abilities simply excelling expectation, Miss (L/N).”

Mr. F. Bathory beamed in his weirdly over-excited manor, silver hair slicked behind him in a ponytail, hands intertwined in front of his chest, a lazy smirk that sent uncomfortable shivers down your spine. Looks like I could see Guren sooner than I hoped, you thought with a disappointed sigh. Mr. Bathory took you to your new (R/S) class and low and behold, Idiot Ichinose was actually there even in a class. He had an infamous reputation to skip nowadays supposedly. However, when you entered the classroom you’d cringed for an entirely different reason - It was chaos. The teacher wasn’t there for whatever reason, and there were tables on their sides, papers strewn along with random books and pencils littering the floor. Some guy with seaweed coloured hair in a red letterman jacket was being held back as he laughed a guttural chuckle, Ichinose being held back by Goshi and an ash blonde you didn’t know but recognized as their friend.

“Now, now, what’s this ruckus for? Hmm?”

Mr. Bathory asked from the door frame with a voice of honey coated ice-shards. They all dropped their hold on the two, Ichinose broke free with an abrupt jutt of his shoulders, whilst the other seemed in pretty bad shape… you could hardly make out his features they were so swollen and blood congealed. Guren’s ear was bleeding but the other guy had an eye already swelling shut. Despite this, he was smiling malevolently. It was almost creepy. Maybe he’s some kind of freak masochist, you scrunched your nose. In any case, it was abundantly clear that he’d wanted a rise out of Guren. And he got one. The ash blonde stepped forward and dipped his head,

“I apologize for the mess, Mr. Bathory. We will clean it immediately.”

You couldn’t help but raise a brow at how polite he is, being affiliated with Ichinose and Goshi.

“Whilst I appreciate your efforts, Shinya, that’s not what I asked.”

That same voice was back, threatening and he offered a small smile that didn’t touch his blazing eyes. When all were reluctant to answer, Ferid warned,

“My patience is wearing thin.”

“The psycho attacked me.”

The pummelled masochist stated with that same eerie smile.

“What?!”

Guren bellowed, almost lunging for him again if it weren’t for Goshi blocking him. You cringed, why is he still winding Guren up?  Better yet, what could he have possibly said to get Ichinose so angry? Ferid started tutting,

“Uh-uh, stop that. I’ll offer one last chance for you to explain yourselves for making such a scene before your teacher’s arrival – in fact, I’m surprised no one reported their absence, as they should have arrived by now. And you all know the drill.”

A unanimous sigh filled the room before Goshi stepped forward and admitted,

“It got out of hand when these two started trash talking, stuff like family and…”

Goshi winced with a side glance before meeting Ferid’s piercing gaze.

“And Mahiru.”

Ferid’s brows raised and he shifted his gaze for a split second before recomposing,

“I see.”

A heavy silence fell as you observed those in the room, most either solemn or exhausted. Or they were that guy who fought Ichinose. Either way, it was clear that whoever Mahiru was, it was a sore topic for all of them. The thought made a wave of compassion wash over you and you dared not ask why. Ferid measured the silence for an excruciating moment before announcing.

“I want this cleaned up. Now. You –“

He pointed at one of the guys holding back the masochist in the letterman.

“Take Hiiragi to the infirmary.”

He ordered and it was done. They brushed passed, this Hiiragi slumped over the shoulders of his escort, blood narrowly missed spluttering over you as they clambered passed and you fought your gag reflex.

“Ichinose. My office.”

Guren was still out of breath and his lavender eyes had still somehow darkened when meeting Ferid’s gaze. Mr. Bathory offered one last glance at the room before adding,

“I look forward to seeing you all this Saturday, in detention.”

A collective groan emanated from them all, which their sudden winces that followed indicated they instantly regretted the outburst. Mr. Bathory slowly turned to the class with a cocked brow,

“For that, add another Saturday. All of you.”

“What?! –“

“No way! –“

“I have plans! –“

A chorus of complaints ensued before his gaze darkened,

“Want there to be a third Saturday?”

With that threateningly silky voice. You’d realized you’d been biting your lip, having felt a small pang of sympathy for the class, after all they weren’t all involved in the fight. You tried,

“Sir? With all due respect, not everyone was involved. I think that’s why they’re upset.”

He seemed to consider your attempt at diplomacy for a second, only to smile cunningly whilst bending to your height to level with your gaze,

“Well you can ponder on that when you join them this Saturday.”

Your jaw dropped -  WHAT?! I got a Saturday detention for that?! You’ve never had a Saturday detention in your life. He smiled at your racing thoughts before rising to watch the class and caught the glares of many before stating to you,

“Welcome to the senior class, Miss (L/N).”

Before he swept out of the dilapidated class. You found yourself watching Ichinose as he swept up his denim sleeveless jacket before glancing at you and leaving the rest of you to clean up his and Hiiragi’s mess.

“AFTER that classroom is clean, Ichinose.”

You heard Mr. Bathory’s command from in the halls and recoiled as it was shortly followed by a hissed string of cusses from Ichinose upon his agitated return.

“I never thought you’d actually listen.”

Shinya teased Ichinose which flabbergasted you, he was clearly not in the mood for banter. Guren gave him a murderous glance but otherwise ignored him. Goshi laughed,

“It’s only ‘cause it’s Ferid fucking Bathory. That dude is evil with punishments I’m telling you, we got off easy as.”

After a dumb moment of watching Ichinose picking up a desk to place it, you shook yourself out of it to help them.

Notes:

*Chapter Title inspired by Mötley Crüe’s 1983 hit and album of the same name*

[okaywhateverokayyes]

To Always Forgive Me

Prompt: Isobel asks Alex to stop Michael from doing something rash, because of course he is. (Post 1x04); includes flashbacks in Alex’s POV

Alex rubs behind Toby’s ears, an easy smile settles on his face as the dog kneels bemusedly beside him, laying against his thigh as he ran his hand down his back. He leans over to press his lips against the paw resting on the sole of his shoe, gentle as he sets his foot down.

A jeep pulls into his driveway, a familiar army surplus. Isobel is swift as she slams the door, striding in his direction, offering a smile as an afterthought rather than out of convention.

“You need to stop Michael.”

Alex blinks.

Alex stands up hastily, his knee buckling from under him as a result of his swiftness. He winces as he shoves his crane into the soot, gawkily kneeling on one foot whilst he rests his elbow on the other.

Isobel was at his side, gripping him as she bolsters his weight as he moves to the timber porch post and rests against them. He was haggard as he caught his breath.

“Thanks.” He says, responsively.

She flicks her wrist, off-handedly. Isobel fixates on him, naturally, yet it does nothing but make Alex answer her glance with an apologetic smile.

“Is he leaving town?” He inquires.

Isobel shakes her head, pursing her lips as if what he had said was preferable to what Michael was about to do. “Something stupider. Unnecessary. Dangerous.” She adds, drawing her brows inward. “So, stop him.”

Alex’s apologetic smile fades into a slightly uncertain one.

“What do you think I can-?”

Isobel adopts a slightly altered pose, crossing her arms briskly across her chest. “Alex.” She says, impatiently, “We don’t have time to go back and forth.”

“Isobel, you and I both know that when he sets his mind onto something, he’s going to go through with it.” He snaps, wanting to add ‘Whether we like it or not’ but settles against it.

Isobel considers this. “You and I both know that’s not true,” she says with a familiarity that precluded Alex, “Please, do me this favor.”

If he was being honest, he didn’t need to be impelled. The thought of Michael having done something out of sheer indignation was emblematic of Guerin.

Alex accedes deferentially.

He ends up at Crashdown café, Isobel paying for his roast beef sandwich as consolation- as if he needed any; just to consume time, as needed, she ordered a fudge-blast off, orbit rings and a shower malt. When the order came in, Isobel had taken a bite of each, a cursory sip and dunked the ring into hot fudge.

Alex begrudgingly takes a bite of his sandwich. It tasted insipid. Or, maybe the flavor was unable to be savored by his parched mouth and numb tongue. His thoughts wavered nervously, fingers trembling as he pressed them in between his legs. His chest throbbed.

Shit. The idea that Guerin was about to do something shortsighted, inflamed him. Because, shit. Why did he decide it upon himself to be crucified and vilified?

No, he decides, Guerin probably thought it over a thousand-and-one timesbefore considering doing anything that put himself, Isobel or Max at risk. He was just that thorough with his decisions. When the past itches to resurface, Alex clears his throat.

Isobel scrunches up her nose, batting away at the waitress-Madeline- who appears by their table to refill their water. Alex offers an apologetic smile in return as she stilts on her heel to turn, rattled.

The thudof a glass slamming against the table has Alex whisk his head in that direction. “Are you-“

“There’s not enough acetone in this god forsaken world for my headache,” she rubs at her temple. “Never enough.” She’s gruff as she scoops a spoon of the malt, only to pause momentarily when her eyes catch onto something-not her particular choice of word which has Alex drawing his brows inwards-but someone.

Isobel waves her hand distinctly, flicking her wrist as to get their attention.

“You shouldn’t have. An exodus bash, for me?” Guerin’s voice cuts through the unspoken uneasiness stretching between the table separating the two. Isobel hisses condemningly, eyes wavering from Michael to where Alex crouched, urgent.

Michael stills, abruptly. Alex doesn’t have to look up to see the grin falling off of his face. Two clenched fists are jabbed to his sides as he adjusts his tone, his attention elsewhere. “What did you do, Izzy?” It’s sharp, furious, on the verge of sounding irritated.

He feels secluded, unwelcome.

Alex bristles where he sat.

“I’ll leave you to it.” There’s a warning intonation. Isobel mouths ‘thank you’ in Alex’s direction, gripping Michael’s shoulder as she makes a beeline towards the crowded entrance.

Michael doesn’t move. There’s tenseness that settles in his posture. “Whatever she said to make you come here, forget it. She won’t hold it against you.” He says, his voice low and rough with restlessness.

Alex thumbs at the ham sticking out, biting his lip. His mouth begins to prickle with microscopic thorns that has him reaching for the glass of water. He takes a quiet sip, gulping, only to have the thistles penetrate outwards, his nerves ignited to the point where he jabs his curled hand into his thigh.

Cool hands are pressed against his. Alex flickers his eyes open, which he hadn’t noticed he had shut close. He watches as Michael sits across him. His gaze moves to their bridged hands near the empty glass. Ostensibly, he feels the air leave out the room yet he lets out a freeing exhale he doesn’t realize he’s holding in, until Michael pulls back.

“Sorry.” He whispers, face clipped as he settles into the booth, leans against the side towards the wall, a habit by now.

They hold each other’s gaze. Alex struggles to think of how to initiate, opens his mouth but clamps it back down. It’s almost unsettling how even after all this time, the thought of dissuading Guerin seemed not only impossible, but unwarranted. Unwelcoming.

The uncertainty of where Alex stood in their friendshiphad him reminiscing of his second tour. When he woke up, both panicked and dopey with painkillers, a terrible combination that lead to him flailing sideways off the hospital bed, unable to speak with his numb, heavy tongue. It took a solid ten minutes for the medics to convince him that he wasn’t dead, that he was on bay, that he was alive.

Just his leg, they heed to mention. The loss of his limb had him at first, dazed becausesurely, this must be a dream. When he first reached to ram his bruised fingers into the sheet of where his shin would have been, only to press into the mattress, he bit down on his tongue to repress the sob clamped in his throat.

Dead, he surely must be dead.

Everything afterwards was a blur. Sensibly present, inherently absent. Removed. Uninhabited. Gone. Two tours later, he wasn’t convinced that the torture he had slighted in the abyss of his mind had ever left.  

He was sure he was a word away from disintegrating.

“Don’t go.” Alex blurts forcefully, takes a deep breath and says, a little shakily, “Just, don’t go anywhere.” His lower lip trembles. He quickly bites it harshly.

Utter confusion met his comment. “What?”

“Idon’t want you to go,” he repeats, emphasizing the distinctive ‘I’ to make it evident that this was him, out of his own volition, saying it.

Michael reacts as if he is slapped. Because, ten years ago, he was the one to say that to Alex. It occurs to Alex that the tables have turned, the words are incendiary and suggestive of the manner in which they had fallen on deaf ears, his ears, back then.

“That’s not fair.” He grunts, drawing a sharp breath in. “Fuck you.”

Cold fear seizes Alex. He knows he’s being hypocritical. He knows that he has lost his agency, his right to ask Michael of something. It dawns upon him that it’s the only way he knows how to make him reconsider.

He bites the proverbial bullet as he recounts what needs to be said, “I felt too much pride back then to listen to you,” he answers a question that’s not asked but heavily weighing on the both of them, “I didn’t know-didn’t think that I could do what I wanted back then.”

Guerin is rigid, immobile, eyes glazed as he glares right into him. He says nothing, in return. It dawns upon Alex that the memories were all-too-clear and the numerous questions, all-left-unanswered.

“I didn’t tell you what happened that night because I didn’t want to hurt you anymore than I already had.”

Prom. He shows up empty-handed because he cancels last minute. Can’t go through with it. Hates how self-righteous his father feels as he takes a picture, that Alex was doing the right thing, by bringing someone, a girl,to the dance. He spurns when his father engages in a jovial chit-chat with her, as if she’s his saving grace. As if she’s fixing something, him, that needed to be fixed.

Alex lets her know in the parking lot of the school that he’s tired, not really interestedand tells her that he’s sorrybefore he asks her to get out, rigidly.

He hopes Michael does the same. Anger looms within him when he notices the blonde beside Guerin the entire night. She’s laughing at something he says, links their elbows together. Michael’s grinning ear to ear. It impales Alex. He leaves abruptly before the second song even plays. Doesn’t even realize that he has over 11 missed calls, from himthat night, until the day after, when he’s at the army reserve handing in his filled-out application.

He doesn’t check his voice-mail, not when he’s having his premature sendoff-get-together with his brothers and others, in the military personnel, people he wouldn’t have even known if it weren’t for his dad. Not when he received his order to mobilize at an operating base in Herat. Not when he takes the day off to say his goodbyes, to everyone but him. Not when he removes the sim from his phone and slips it behind the casing of a photo-frame.

He says things out of anger when Michael slips in through his window the day before he’s set to leave. Everything, forgotten, mostly burnt from his mind so he doesn’t have over 800 words that if unveiled, would have disintegrated him on the spot.

A pang goes through Alex. He knows that Michael hasn’t forgotten a single thing. It’s the way in which he grits down on his jaw, the jowls of his chin protruding out from under his skin. Michael stabs his fingers into the soles of his palms, his flesh turning white in the surrounding area. His face is void of any color. The blood rushes out and seeps under the fabric of his jacket.

The thing about Michael was, he never forgets. Even if he wanted to, it was impossible for him to. His worst burden, Alex notes. He has probably etched the words into the matrix of his bones, scorching it into his mind only to replay it repeatedly, distastefully-

Alex had the luxury of drawing a blank. It took years of practice but he was adept at it.

“I’m sorry, Michael.” He starts with, feeling immediately overcome by how long it’s taken him to even say it, “I’m sorry for everything.” Hopes it’s inherent that everything meant absolutely every. Single. Thing.

Michael is bitter as he scoffs, emotion making his voice tight. “You can’t do this.” He’s mostly speaking to himself. He rubs at his face as he laments into the palms of his hand. There’s defeat wearing thin on his shoulders; As if he’s imagined this exact conversation countless times but never concocted an outcome that would be sufficive enough to mitigate years of absolute agony he endured.

“You can’t do this,” he’s breathless as he repeats. He looks disoriented, reaches for the other glass of water and quaffs it down in futility. It doesn’t help.  Alex reaches instinctively towards Michael, recognizes the conflict, far-too familiar with it himself-but stills when Michael gets on his feet abruptly.

The sound cuts through raucous room, everyone’s head whipped in the direction of the thud.

“I need air,” Michael is tight with fury and hurt; wistful eyes meet his, albeit for a second, before Guerin strides out the dinner, his torment puncturing into every stomp he made.

Alex tosses his head back, lips pressed in a thin, exasperated line; Alex owed Michael a lot. He owed Michael so much more than a mere apology. He owed him his time, his space and him.

Alex felt the familiar light-headedness, knows what’s to come. The detachment, the inhibition, the folds enclosing the locked void in his mind, threatening to unfold.

He reaches into his pocket, throws two bills of twenty, somehow makes it into his truck, drives out of town, into his driveway, into his room. He goes to close the blinds, removes the comforter off of his bed and kicks off his shoes.

Toby is scratching on the door to his room. He’s locked out. The scratching is incessant but not painful to Alex’s heightened hearing. He settles furthest away from the window, curls up on the wood floor with a blanket and his elbow, to support his head.

He has his phone beside him, has it on silent but watches the screen keenly. His eyes are heavy, lids looming lower. Alex presses his nose to the floor, breathes in the musk and concentrates on the splinters in the footboard slat.

It’s only when Isobel sends him a wordy ‘thank you, thank you, thank you…’ message does Alex succumb to his exhaustion.

[prettyunicornmimi]

Let’s talk about the album “The connected”

I should say that this album differs from all the others very greatly. Besides, when we listen to the songs, we can say that some of them are so unusual for k-pop that it makes our “foreign hearts” beat faster. If you listen to k-pop songs, any songs, there is often something similiar in most of them (maybe melodies, arrangement, tunes and etc.) but here we have the album which consists of VERY VARIOUS types of music, and even genres, I think, are a little different. That’s why fans were really amazed after listening to the preview. So let’s look at this album more detailed (of course, my opinion is rather subjective but all the same)

Jealousy. I was talking about this song in one of my posts, so if you are interested, just follow the link http://prettyunicornmimi.tumblr.com/post/172438889685/k-pop-fans-bloggers-especially-monbebes-lets

Destroyer. The song which wins the hearts of all people who hear it, no matter whether he or she is a monbebe or not. We could feel it as soon as we had watched the music film with the part of this song. There were (and still there are) a lot of comments that “Destroyer” must have become the main one because it’s very strong, but I’ve already explained in one of my previous posts why it’s not the main one. So let’s talk about “Destroyer”

What amazed everyone (me either) in this song is the melody, tunes and sounds. This kind of songs is very rare. We, as foreing fans, heard some rock sounds that it’s not typical for k-pop songs. And when we look at the name “Destroyer”, it already warns us about something strong. This song is similiar to the ones which we are used to hearing in our countries but not in Korea. Rock sounds make it real pleasant and familiar to our ears, so that’s why exactly foreign fans voted for this song as the main. As for lyrics, at the first sight it seems to be rather usual (again about love and so on), BUT among typical words about love you can find something which makes you look at this song from the other side. For example, for me they are “I’m confused if I lose everything”; “Leave the time, I was full of regrets”; “Trust your fate, trust us, I believe in my sincerity and i won’t change” and etc. So we see that this song tells us not only about deep love feelings but it’s a kind of message for us that we can rely on boys because they can be destroyers of our cruel destiny and fate and we are all connected.

Falling/Heavy rain. To be honest, after the preview i was thinking that this would be a typical korean song. BUT I was pleasantly surprised. This song amazingly combines swag style of Monsta X and just pop-music. The beats are strong that makes you shake your body. BTW, the lyrics are more calling than sensitive and i think it perfectly shows Monsta X’s style and spirit. It’s enough to listen to this song once and you can’t help moving all day. Unfortunately, I don’t have more to say about this song.

Crazy in love. From the title we again get a kind of impression (especially for ones who have just engaged in k-pop) that this song will just tell us a story about love, love feelings, love thoughts and all other sort of things connected with love. We consider this song to be sentimental, sensitive, very slow and in some cases even mawkish and saccharine. HOWEVER rap-line (our precious I.M and Jooheon) make this song sound very pleasant for ears even if you are not a fan of this kind of song like me. It sounds smooth telling us a story about the person who was so crazy in love that he could even let his ego behind and etc. (Sorry if there is not much information) Here I especially adore rap-line.

Lost in the dream. The second song in this album which even KILLED fans (BTW, from different fandoms). 98% of fans has in their lists of favourite songs of this album excatly “Lost in the dream”. So what is so special in this song?

Firstly, I think it’s line distribution. Monsta X is very famous for their funny line distribution (I’m talking about Hyungwon and Minhyuk) but here we see that everyone has rather equal and normal line distribution if we take into consideration the vocal abilities of all members.

Secondly, this song perfectly demonstrates strong sides of each member. Kihyun shows us his incredible vocal abilities and talents, the same we can notice when Shownu is singing. Wonho with his a little husky voice adds some even rocky tunes. Minhyuk and Hyungwon (being not VERY good at singing, but i still consider their voices to be wonderful) sound very great and not-fans can’t decide who in this group suffers from deprivation of lines. As for rap-lines, we see exactly Jooheon’s style and I.M’s style: Jooheon’s rap is slower but strong and roaring, I.M’s is fast but sexy and deep.

Thirdly, the melody and the tune. This song sounds really strong (the same feeling we have while listening to “Destroyer”), especially beats make it sound very unusual and differ this song from the others very much.

Fourthly, at the first sight lyrics seem to be rather weak for such a song but if you read the lyrics carefully, you will find out that this song touches upon the problem of distinguish between a dream and a reality. Very possibly, that some of you, just like me, sometimes confuse dreams and the reality, want to stay in the dream or vice versa escape. All in all, it’s an incredible song which has a lot of pluses and its style is very interesting and powerful.

If only. The song which is written by our precious Wonho. Wonho tends to write sensitive songs about love difficulties and problems. What is special about this song? Music itself has cheerful mood but the lyrics tell us about pain. The song is full of life and emotions, it shows us that there is always something sad in happines and vice versa. In comparison with “From Zero”, “If only” has more deep lyrics and many people can find themselves in these lines. BTW, it’s amazing how rap-line sounds. They sound as if they are not rappers but vocalists. WHAT TALENTED BOYS AWWW (i couldn’t get over my admiration). But as I mentioned above I can’t say more about such kind of the song.

Special. The song which is written by our incredible Jooheon. Here we can notice exactly Jooheon’s style in lyrics, melodies, arrangement and etc. I get the impression that here Jooheon tried to show people what kind of group Monsta X is. Especially “I’m a special baby” (i connect their frequent use of the word “baby” with our fandom which as far as i know in French means “my baby”) “Here come Monsta, get out of the way” and etc.

All in all, I should say that this album is a success. It combines a lot of unusual for k-pop genres, styles. But, to be honest, I was a little sad that the main idea of all this songs goes round love but not life, difficulties, problems themselves. However, I mentioned it already that only two songs are written by boys, btw, only producers and company's directors choose and decide what songs to release. So we can see that boys can influence the choice of songs very much.

Love them, please. Support them. They deserve this!

Thanks for your attention! Please share your opinion, ask questions, make reblogs, do whatever you want!

[char27martin]

20 Best Songs for Writers and About Writing: The Ultimate Writing Mixtape

Recently, I had iTunes on random and a couple songs played back-to-back that had lines about writing. It didn’t take long for me to wonder, “What are the best songs for writers and about writing?” So I started making my own list, and I put out a call on Facebook and Twitter (find my handles below if you love being part of such conversations).

Anyway, this post puts together my ultimate writing mixtape of the best 20 songs for and about writers and the process of writing. Sure, there are many other great songs about the subject, and please share them in the comments below. But this is the mix I’m going to start rocking on my way to and from writer conferences, open mics, and writing retreats.

Just click the links below to listen to the songs on YouTube.

*****

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The great thing about Writer’s Market Deluxe Edition is that writers get the same printed version of Writer’s Market they love along with an activation code for a one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com. And the 2018 edition is now available for pre-order.

Click to continue.

*****

20 Best Songs for Writers and About Writing Mixtape

Track 1: “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” by Fats Waller

This is the perfect intro track with a bit of an instrumental opening before getting into the lyrics, which include, “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter and make believe it came from you.” The song was composed by Fred E. Ahlert and Joe Young in 1935 and made popular by Waller. But it’s been covered by a range of artists, including Billy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat “King” Cole, Willie Nelson, Anne Murray, Linda Scott, and Paul McCartney–just to name a few.

Track 2: “I Could Write a Book,” by Dinah Washington

There are two ways to make a transition on a mixtape: smooth or jarring. Both are effective, but I prefer smooth early on in a mix. Enter this wonderful version of “I Could Write a Book,” which was a tune in the Rodgers & Hart 1940 musical Pal Joey. I first heard Harry Connick’s version from When Harry Met Sally…, but a range of artists have performed this song as well, including Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, and Miles Davis.

Track 3: “Dancing in the Dark,” by Bruce Springsteen

According to the Boss, “you can’t start a fire without a spark.” So here we go. The biggest hit off the bestselling album (Born in the U.S.A.) of Bruce Springsteen’s career, “Dancing in the Dark” includes the line that he’s “sick of sitting around here trying to write this book.” Musically, this song jump starts the mix with synths, quick beats, and that fade out sax.

Track 4: “Write About Love,” by Belle and Sebastian

Anyone who has participated in either my April or November poem-a-day challenges knows how I feel about love poems. So of course, Belle and Sebastian’s song “Write About Love” from the album titled Write About Love had to make the cut. In addition to the writing theme, it keeps the upbeat momentum of the early mixtape.

Track 5: “The Engine Driver,” by the Decemberists

Track five slows things down a little, and it plays with the theme of love while taking it’s time getting to the writing reference in the song. But the chorus slams home with, “I am a writer, writer of fictions … and I’ve written pages upon pages trying to rid you from my bones.” Once you hear this song, it stays. Click here for a pretty cool analysis of the song.

Track 6: “Poetry Man,” by Phoebe Snow

Transition time: From slower and lonely to mellow and hopeful. A kind of summer afternoon song by Phoebe Snow about the poetry man, who “makes things alright.” The song actually hit number one on the Billboard‘s Easy Listening chart in 1975. In 2007, Queen Latifah covered the song for her Trav’lin’ Light album.

Track 7: “I Am a Rock,” by Simon and Garfunkel

As Paul Simon mentions in the opening of this performance, “This according to Arty is my most neurotic song.” This folk song plays off the previous song’s focus on poetry with the line, “I have my books and my poetry to protect me.” I’m sure more than a few poets and readers can relate to that sense of protection from loneliness and isolation. Released as a single in 1966, “I Am a Rock” rose to number three on the Billboard Top 100 list.

Track 8: “Wuthering Heights,” by Kate Bush

Kate Bush hit it big on her debut single, which she wrote at 18 and was based on the novel of the same name. “Wuthering Heights” was released in January 1978 and spent 4 weeks at the number one position of the UK Singles Chart. One interesting part of this song is that Bush lifted lines from Wuthering Heights character Catherine Earnshaw, including “Let me in! I’m so cold!” from the chorus. The song had two music videos; the other one can be viewed by clicking here.

Track 9: “Paperback Writer,” by the Beatles

After some slower (and more somber) songs, we switch up the mood and beat a little with the Beatles. “Paperback Writer” was written by Paul McCartney as a response to a challenge by an aunt, according to disc jockey Jimmy Savile, who asked him to write a single that didn’t have to do with love. Regardless of the inspiration, the song is written as a letter from an author to a publisher, making it relatable to writers everywhere.

Track 10: “Autobiography,” by Sloan

This song starts, “I’m bright and young and gifted in my autobiography; I figured who would know better than me?” I’ve always considered this song a little gem for writers, especially writers who have a life story to tell. This song comes off Sloan’s One Chord to Another album, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Track 11: “Hey Jack Kerouac,” by 10,000 Maniacs

In this performance, Natalie Merchant starts off by reading a brief biography of Jack Kerouac. Then, they jump into this song, which reads like a letter to Kerouac from the opening lines, “Hey Jack Kerouac, I think of your mother and the tears she cried, she cried for none other…” A song about a literary figure and the life of an artist.

Track 12: “Everyday I Write the Book,” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions

For mixtape purposes, I consider this a response track to the previous song. This song was the first hit for Costello and the Attractions in the U.S. It uses the process of writing a book as a metaphor for love and a relationship. One part sings, “Chapter One, we didn’t really get along; Chapter Two, I think I fell in love with you…” Costello himself referred to it as a “bad Smokey Robinson song.”

Track 13: “Unwritten,” by Natasha Bedingfield

I have to admit; I didn’t think this song would be a good fit. But hey, sometimes that’s the magic of a mixtape: Each song raises the others. But I love lyrics like, “Staring at the blank page before you” and “Today is when your book begins.” It hit number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006; so there are at least a few others out there who dig it too.

Track 14: “Word Crimes,” by Weird Al Yankovic

As long as we’re getting into weird territory, it’s time to slip in Weird Al and maybe the best grammar-related song ever. A parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” “Word Crimes” has too many lines to do it justice in a short blurb. But it breaks down the proper use of “it’s” and “its,” in addition to talking about the best time to use the world “literally.”

Track 15: “Oxford Comma,” by Vampire Weekend

From a song about grammar to a song that focuses on one of the more contentious grammar issues of all-time: the Oxford comma. Use it? Don’t use it? In this song, Vampire Weekend seems to be saying, “who cares?” Writers, that’s who! Am I right?

Track 16: “Writers Retreat,” by Lloyd Cole

This is when you know we’re getting real on this mixtape: grammar, Oxford commas, and writing retreats? Heck yeah! This is the writing life. In this song, Cole laments how he won’t be there when his lover returns from the writers retreat. From the chorus: “You can write a book while falling apart.”

Track 17: “I’ll Be Your Sylvia Plath,” by Laurel Brauns

This is a sweet, little connector song between the few rollicking romps before it and the final three of this writing music mix. I wish I could share more about this song and the artist, but it was really unknown to me before being recommended on Facebook. The power of social media!

Track 18: “Romeo and Juliet,” by Dire Straits

Considered a classic song by many, “Romeo and Juliet” riffs off the Shakespearean play of the same name. The Dire Straits version is amazing, but I also love the one by the Indigo Girls (listen here). This song is for the literary minded, the broken hearted, and people who just like great music.

Track 19: “BMFA,” by Martha Wainwright

The actual title for this song is a little censored, but multiple folks recommended the song on social media. And I like it. So I’m including it. The song’s opening line is, “Poetry’s no place for a heart that’s a whore.” And eventually there is quite a bit of swearing. If that’s too much, skip this track so the kids can’t hear it. If it’s not, turn up the volume and sing along.

Track 20: “Box Full of Letters,” by Wilco

This is what I call a framing song. The first and final track are both about letter writing. Ha! But seriously, this is a great track that begins, “Got a box full of letters, I think you might like to read…but they’re all addressed to me.” Also, “I just can’t find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read.” And honestly, that about sums up how I often feel as a writer.

*****

Robert Lee Brewer

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market and Writer’s Market, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and a poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.

He loves writing and music; so this is like his favorite blog post ever.

Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer. Or follow him on Facebook here.

*****

Find more great posts here:

How to Build Your Own E-mail List.

Improve Your Writing Platform in 30 Days.

5 Writing Rules Everyone Should Know.

The post 20 Best Songs for Writers and About Writing: The Ultimate Writing Mixtape appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/20-best-songs-writers-writing-ultimate-writing-mixtape

[consulting-caffrey]

Fanfiction Questions!

A great big thank you to @tohavealifetimeoffun for letting me use these! 1. What was the first fandom you got involved in? Heartland. 2. What is your latest fandom? White Collar! 3. What is the best fandom you've ever been involved in? The best? That's tough. That's really tough. But in the end I have to go with White Collar. 4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms? Nope. Not a single one. 5. Which fandoms have you written fanfiction for? Mainly White Collar because I only started posting just before getting into that fandom seriously. Before that, it was Avengers. 6. List your OTP from each fandom you've been involved in. Heartland: Ty/Amy Iron Man: Pepper/Tony Avengers: Tony/Steve Supernatural: Dean/Lisa (judge me all you want, destiel shippers) White Collar: Neal/Sarah but hell, its hard to choose between that and Neal/Peter because COME ON that show is practically throwing it at us! 7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you've been in. Hoboy... Heartland: Amy/Soraya Uncharted: Chloe/Nadene Iron Man: Pepper/Natasha Avengers: Clint/Laura (I'm sorry but I can't. I will die for Clintasha) White Collar: Neal/Jones (I've seen it, I respect it, I admire from a distance, but I can't. Same with Neal/Diana) 8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom? Well, it started when I stumbled upon it on Netflix and thought one of the guys on there looked cute (I'll let you guess which one) and so I started watching it only to get bored partway through and I went galavanting in the Avengers fandom for a few years before coming back like "Hey I never finished that". And here I've stayed ever since. Stuck. Thanks, Jeff Eastin. 9. What are the best things about your current fandom? Even though the show has ended, the White Collar fandom is still alive and active. Its like we all still stick together and keep track of what Matt Bomer is up to these days like "hey, The Last Tycoon! Also I just wrote another White Collar fic haha pry this show from my cold dead hands". 10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don't write in? Nah, I don't stray far from White Collar. 11. Who is your current OTP? Gotta be Neal/Peter at the moment. I just love their bromance though. I know those two are like THE ship but I usually prefer Neal/Sarah, which for some reason isn't very well liked, I hear??? 12. Who is your current OT3? Um, the only OT3 I've ever had. Peter/Neal/El 13. Any NoTPs? Neal/Jones, Neal/June (what?), and I don't wanna say its a definite no, because I miiiiight consider Neal/Mozzie. And I have written Neal/Diana but I don't particularly like it. 14. Go on, who are your BroTPs? Peter/Neal of course, Neal/Mozzie 15. Is there any obscure ship that you love? Well not really. Neal/Kate, but I wouldn't call it obscure. 16. Are there any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike? Ehhhh not really. 17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favorite? Ty/Amy from Heartland and yes, I still love those two to bits. 18. What ship have you written the most about? Steve/Tony. Funny since I started out HATING those two together and it was EVERYWHERE all up in my face but then next thing I know I've got like fifty stories about them 19. Is there a ship you wish you could get behind but you just don't feel them? Neal/Mozzie. 20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking? Peter/Neal/El, like I said. I like it, I do. I've just never had an OT3 before and I think that's what threw me off a bit. 21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote? That would be a Heartland fic that took up an entire notebook. 22. Is there anything you regret writing? Eh... Sometimes. I regret writing things that I don't finish. 23. Name a fic you've written that you're especially fond of and explain why you like it. Neal Caffreys. Oh man I want to continue that little project forever. There are so many possibilities. 24. What fic so you desperately need to rewrite or edit? Ummmm probably Take Me Back To Normal. I need to offer more explanation and reason for my torture haha 25. What's your most popular fanfic? I haven't checked in a while but I believe it's Neal Caffreys. 26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles? Sometimes song lyrics or they just... come to me? 27. What do you hate more: coming up with titles or writing summaries? Summaries oh god... 28. If someone were to draw a piece of fan art for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of? Oooooooo It would be for a story that I'm currently working on (actually a chapter for Neal Caffreys but I really want to make it a full story) where Neal is a horseman. The picture would be Neal standing next to his horse, and the horse would look all badass and everything AGH! Please somebody. Also hey I do have a piece of fan art for my story Tale Me Back To Normal done by @kanarek13 and I love it so much 29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not? I do not. I am very good with English and writing so I can edit my own stuff. In fact, I prefer to. It just kinda feels lazy to pass a piece off to someone else to do that for me. 30. What inspires you to write? Well watching the show helps. Also reading fanfiction. 31. What's the nicest thing that someone has ever said about your writing? Oh gosh, that they go back and read it all the time so I should never take it down. That just made me so happy to hear. 32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band of music/genre does it for you? I cannot listen to music when I write. I like to have quiet so I can picture what I want better. If I have music on, I just end up drowning it out anyway. But music itself does inspire me sometimes. 33. Do you write one-shots, multi-chapter fics, or huuuge epics? Oneshots are what I try to stick to, but the multi-chapter thing is also okay. Huge epics? Lol not so much 34. What's the word count on your longest fic? Oh man I gotta go look this up... 35,038 ...Holy crap 35. Do you write drabble? If so, what do you write them about? Hmmm I think I've written maybe two drabble fics? I don't do them often because I like my h/c action torture awfulness. But I do like to get in Neal's head. 36. What's your favorite genre to write? Everybody whose read any of my stuff already knows it's hurt/comfort and angsty things. 37. First person or third person- What do you write in and why? Third person preferably. I just like to get a wider perspective, but with third person, you can also hone in on individuals and their thoughts. 38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs? Both? Obviously my fics are always almost 99% canon characters but I do have OCs that I like to slip in there. I have OCs that I use for RPing but you can find Finnigan Roderas here and there as well as Victor "Vito" Odell in For Your Entertainment. They're a couple of mine. I am a proud parent to at least three more. 39. What is your greatest strength as a writer? The way I can put myself in a scene and imagine all the details, mostly emotions, that go with it. 40. What do you struggle with the most in your writing? Well like I mentioned, I tend to write stories around one small thing I want to get out, and once that thing is out and I've created a mess, I just go "...what now? I didn't think this far ahead..." 41. List and link to five fanfics you are currently reading. Oh man I usually only read one at a time... But I'll put that one down and then add four that I read before it. Enemies http://archiveofourown.org/works/2290154 You Look Like A Koala http://archiveofourown.org/works/2329949 Somehow, Sundown http://archiveofourown.org/works/6159619 Wrong Time, Wrong Place http://archiveofourown.org/works/2435216 Love Lift Me Up http://archiveofourown.org/works/2503781 42. List and link to five fanfiction authors that are amazing. Now this I can do. pooh_collector http://archiveofourown.org/users/pooh_collector/pseuds/pooh_collector Sholio http://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/pseuds/Sholio Huntress79 http://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79 Ashley5627 http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashley5627/pseuds/Ashley5627 NYWCgirl http://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl 43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you? Definitely @kanarek13 and @archivistsrock Also @hirunoka and all the anons who keep encouraging me to write and keep writing~ 44. What ship do you feel needs more attention? Mozzie/Gina 45. What is your all time favorite fanfic? A week ago, I wouldn't have been able to tell you, but then I found Out of the Wastes by Sholio and I can't tell you how much I love it. Seriously. Go check it out. 46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why? Mmmmm... I don't know that I'd recommend any of them, but I guess Neal Caffreys is my pride and joy. That one. 47. Archive of our Own, Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, Fanfiction.net, or Tumblr- Where do you prefer to post and why? AO3 for sure. I like the setup and everyone on there seems nice so far (barring one strange incident). I used to post on FF but eh... A couple people on there really pissed me off. I'll leave it at that. 48. Do you care if people comment/reboot your writing? Why/Why not? I'm not sure what that means. Comments on my writing in a separate post? Rebooting my story to make a better version themselves? Idk I've never really experienced either of those things, if that's what this means. I guess maybe I wouldn't mind. Not sure. 49. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction? I got into writing it first because the idea came to me all on its own and I thought I was a genius. Then I believe my dear friend @tfwhancock was like "let me show you FF" and I was stuck there for months. 50. Rant or hush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go! I LOVE THAT IT EXISTS OH MY GOD YES I love that I can use characters that I love and write them and make them do what I want and just AGHHGGH I LOVE IT SO MUCH. It's so fun and exciting and just reading what people come up with is the most amazing thing! When you have to stop reading and just appreciate a line or a phrase like "oh that's good" Mmmmm love me that feeling~ Tagging: anyone who wants to do this!

[jodyedgarus]

25 Years Of Super Bowl Halftime Show Lineups, Ranked

On Sunday, tens of thousands of rabid football fans will descend upon Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII. They will consume lots of alcohol. They will paint their faces. They will scream and howl as the Patriots and Rams engage in brutal 22-man warfare with the highest possible stakes. Oh, and about two hours into this, they will all pause everything to watch a 12-minute Maroon 5 concert.

The Super Bowl halftime show has become the spectacle within the spectacle. It used to be filler entertainment while the players hydrated and tended to their wounds. Now it serves a higher purpose. It is about world peace, joy, introspection and even grief. It’s also sometimes about giant metallic lion puppets and dancing sharks.

How are we to interpret these hopelessly silly, desperately hopeful rituals? By ranking them, of course. At FiveThirtyEight, we don’t have the technology to make slideshows, but we do have math and a history of applying convoluted methodologies to questions that don’t really need answers. So let’s get started.

Methodology

First, we need to manage expectations: We are not ranking halftime performances, rather the sheer star power that the NFL assembled on stage each year. We’ll talk about how the shows went, but only in relation to their artists’ success on the Billboard Hot 100 chart before the Super Bowl. Our methodology favors shows with many artists because they’re more likely to excite an audience diverse in age and musical interests. Purists may have enjoyed the simplicity of seeing The Who perform without any interlopers in 2010, but anyone who wasn’t excited by a few 60-something British rockers playing their decades-old hits was left with bupkis.

We chose Michael Jackson’s 1993 halftime appearance as the starting point for our analysis. His performance — widely considered one of the best — is the beginning of the modern halftime show. Viewer ratings for the 1993 show exceeded ratings for the actual game, and a blueprint was formed for years ahead. To get a sense of how MJ changed the game, note that the previous year’s show included a salute to the 1992 Winter Olympics and a bunch of kids performing a rap arrangement of “Frosty the Snowman.”

To measure the success of the featured artists — excluding cameos from the likes of Jessica Simpson, who kicked off the 2004 show by asking the audience to “choose to party” — we created a metric called Performer Points. Our methodology for calculating these points is simple:

Artists are assigned points for each of their songs to make the Billboard Hot 100 list since the list began in August 1958.

A song appearing at No. 1 is worth 100 points.

A song at No. 100 is worth 1 point.

We count each week separately, so songs rack up points for staying on the chart.

Performers listed as the main artist on a track get full credit.

Featured artists or guest vocalists get only one-third of the song’s points.1

Performers get one-third of the points from their former band’s hits. That means Paul McCartney gets only a small boost from hits by the Beatles. The weights compound, so if an artist’s former band was merely featured on a song, the artist gets one-ninth of the song’s points.2

If any of that seems confusing, let’s look at an example featuring one of this year’s performers, Atlanta rapper Big Boi.

When we add up all the points, we can see how successful the artists were for every Super Bowl. Here’s what that looks like for the 2019 halftime performers.

Super Bowl LIII nets a respectable 65,065 total Performer Points. That’s seventh on our list of best Super Bowl lineups since 1993. We’ll see whether that translates to a memorable show on Sunday, but the past five years could give us a sense of whether our methodology has any predictive power.

  Rankings

It’s easy to dunk on the Black Eyed Peas, and their uninspiring halftime show in 2011 didn’t make it any harder. Fergie, will.i.am, Taboo (!) and apl.de.ap (!!) closed out their headlining set with “Where Is the Love?” on a giant stage shaped like, you guessed it, the word “Love.” The only problem was that part of the letter “v” was literally missing. Now at least we have some data to back up what everyone was thinking the next day: Usher should have headlined. By 2011, he had already reached Billboard’s top 103 with 14 tracks, including classics such as “My Boo” and “U Remind Me.” Usher went into the halftime show with almost twice as many Performer Points as the Peas, and though he performed one of his weaker hits, “OMG,” he still managed to hit every cue, leaping over will.i.am’s head and into our hearts.

I have a confession: I’ve always thought of the 2012 halftime show as “the one with Nicki Minaj.” Looking at the chart, it’s clear there’s recency bias at work — Minaj has become unavoidable since 2012. But at the time of the Super Bowl, her only top 10 hit4 was “Super Bass.” Madonna, on the other hand, stands on top of our individual power rankings with more than 59,000 Performer Points, thanks to her trove of hits dating back to the 1980s. Credit to Madge for almost single-handedly dragging this riot of grecian beefcakes and vogueing into the top five — Katy Perry and Lady Gaga could never.

I’m glad to see our formula isn’t totally set on picking shows from the past 10 years. The “Salute to Motown’s 40th Anniversary” in 1998 had all the intergenerational appeal that Madonna’s show was supposed to capture. The choreography seems a little hokey by today’s standards, but I could listen to this medley all day. Queen Latifah brings it, The Temptations sound fantastic, Boyz II Men gets a solid ballad in, Smokey covers all the old bases and Martha Reeves is so harmlessly, indescribably awful that you can’t help but smile knowing that social media didn’t exist back then.5

Super Bowl L — er, 50 — was billed as Coldplay’s performance, but the NFL let halftime show veterans Beyoncé and Bruno Mars “crash” it. This was a blessing for anyone not named Chris Martin. Both guest stars had more Performer Points than Coldplay, and they stomped away with the show. Beyoncé, dressed in a black leather homage to the Black Panthers, debuted6 “Formation” right there on the field and reminded us of just how powerful this 12-minute musical interlude can be.

We didn’t tweak the weights to get Nipplegate this high up, I promise. You can see on the chart why it’s such a good show. Janet Jackson was an appropriate headline pick, both in length of career and volume of hits. Nelly and P. Diddy were established emissaries from the rap genre, which the Super Bowl has rarely invited on stage. Justin Timberlake had teenybopper loyalty from his *NSYNC days and a new, prurient edge as a solo artist. And Kid Rock was … also there. Of course, nobody remembers anything about this show other than the words “wardrobe malfunction,” and I don’t think any chart could change that, so let’s leave things there.

You may be wondering where your favorite halftime show falls on the list. As we mentioned above, it’s a rough measure of the excitement people might have felt before the show began — Prince may be the best performer ever to take the halftime stage, but if you weren’t a fan, then there wasn’t much to anticipate. On the chart below, you can see how all the artists compare.

All the data we scraped also allows us to answer one final question: Which artists should the Super Bowl reach out to for the 2020 show? Assuming the league is aiming to please a range of viewers, we can grab the top 10 artists by Performer Points for each decade since 1990, as well as from the past two years for the Gen Z audience.

Drafting a Super Bowl halftime show fantasy lineup

Artists with the most Performer Points, by decade

1990-1999 2000-2009 2010-present 2017-present 1 Mariah Carey Nelly Drake Drake 2 Madonna Beyonce Rihanna Post Malone 3 Boyz II Men Ludacris Nicki Minaj Cardi B 4 Whitney Houston Kanye West Taylor Swift Kendrick Lamar 5 Janet Jackson P!nk Bruno Mars Khalid 6 Celine Dion Usher Maroon 5 Ed Sheeran 7 R. Kelly Rihanna Katy Perry Migos 8 TLC 50 Cent Chris Brown Imagine Dragons 9 Elton John Nickelback Lil Wayne Bruno Mars 10 Toni Braxton Alicia Keys Justin Bieber Halsey

Gray text indicates that the artist has already performed at a halftime show, that the artist has died or that a member of the group has died.

Unlike in the rest of the analysis, points earned as a member of a musical group do not count toward an artist’s individual points.

Source: Billboard

Drake would be the biggest get here for the NFL. Starting in May 2009, Drizzy held a spot somewhere on the Hot 100 for 430 weeks straight. Since 2010, he’s amassed 83,898 Performer Points. The closest runner-up in that table is Rihanna, who collected 48,153 points during the same period. If halftime producers haven’t already approached Drake, they’re sleeping on him.

It’s impossible to know who on our list has talked with the NFL. Stars are rarely as open about Super Bowl negotiations as Cardi B was this year, when one of her representatives told Page 6 that “she was not particularly interested in participating because of how she feels about Colin Kaepernick and the whole movement.” (Rihanna also reportedly declined to perform because of her support of Kaepernick.) Taylor Swift, for instance, seems like an obvious candidate. But she has shilled for Coca-Cola — a relationship that could be at risk if she were to perform in the halftime show that Pepsi has sponsored for seven years running.

Whomever the NFL picks next year, the pressure is on. Asking Maroon 5 to headline a show in Atlanta, a city abounding in talented rappers (Big Boi is the only homegrown artist on the bill), resulted in a social media backlash, and a petition with more than 100,000 signatures has urged the band to drop out to demonstrate solidarity with Kaepernick. USA Today even went so far as to publish an obituary for the halftime show as a cultural institution.

That seems a little premature to me. The Super Bowl has evolved before and could do it again. What used to be a variety show writ large, with inscrutable themes,7 Elvis impersonators and card tricks eventually embraced the market-certified success of singers like Michael Jackson and *NSYNC. The collective shrugs following picks like Coldplay, Justin Timberlake and Maroon 5, which has the second most Performer Points of any artist on our list, may herald the end of that era.8 The league has clearly taken note of this year’s controversy, announcing that the pregame press conference with Maroon 5 would not take place so that the artists could focus on their performance. What might come next for the halftime show is anybody’s guess, but one thing’s for certain: Everyone will be watching.

All images courtesy of Getty.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/25-years-of-super-bowl-halftime-show-lineups-ranked/

[ulyssessklein]

7 things every musician should do before releasing a single

In our current world of short attention spans, releasing music more frequently can play a significant factor in your success.

Platforms like Spotify and YouTube reward artists who put out songs and videos on a regular basis. Obviously you can’t (and shouldn’t) bang out a full album every two or three months, so instead: singles!

Whether you’re releasing singles as a means of building towards an EP or LP which includes those same songs or you’re stockpiling tracks and putting out standalone singles as a way of maintaining momentum between bigger projects, you have the opportunity to turn each single into an event…

It’s a moment to reconnect with or grow your audience.

It’s a low-risk chance to experiment with promotion strategies and learn what works (and doesn’t).

And best of all, putting out singles is fun.

I recently released a new single and had a blast planning the various elements of the launch.

I can’t say my newest single yielded fame and fortune, but I applied marketing concepts that I’m pretty sure will improve your campaign no matter what the state of your career or size of your fanbase. It’s “scalable” wisdom.

Lots of people messaged me saying they loved various aspects of the launch (and the song, thankfully), and one person even wrote saying “Wow, your whole marketing strategy for this song is dialed in!”

So I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice ; )

As you’re getting ready to release a new song, I think it’ll help to keep the following concepts in mind too.

The key to promoting your newest single

1. Set a timeline and be patient

Yes, part of the benefit of singles is that they’re low pressure and you can drop them quickly. But don’t be in TOO much of a rush. Plan ahead. Do it right. You won’t be able to launch this song again.

Depending on the scope of your campaign, you might even need three months of preparation.

Here are just some of the things you’ll need time to arrange:

Global distribution

Spotify pre-saves

Music video and lyric video production

Song premiere

Video premieres

Press

Cover artwork

Communicating with reps from your distributor, licensing agency, etc.

Show.co page to feature your video

2. Don’t promote until your fans can take action

There’s no point in sharing a picture of your cover artwork a month before the single is available if no one can click to access, save, buy, or share the tune. Before you go crazy trying to create anticipation, set up your pre-saves or pre-orders! Get the link, then share that link when you post updates about the release ahead of its drop date.

3. Find the hook and make everything swirl around it

Everywhere all the time, the world buzzes. It takes a lot to get us to pay attention, so repeated messaging is crucial. And as you’re blasting us with news about your latest single, your message will be amplified when there’s a hook beyond just “new song coming soon.”

What’s the story? The hook? The thing that makes people say “I GOTTA CHECK THIS OUT!?” If you have that, the rest of your promotion will fall into place.

For me, there was a loose connection between the lyrics of my song “Irretrievable Beauty” and Climate Change. A single Public Domain image of an old iceberg stood at the core of my marketing, and it would become the cover artwork, the background of my lyric video, and an important element in more than a dozen Instagram posts. The image was one of the first instances of supernatural photography, purporting to capture an iceberg in 1905 where a crystalline Virgin Mary rose from the water.

The mystery of that image and how it was doctored to propel a hoax all seemed to speak to the song title “Irretrievable Beauty,” as did the very nature of both icebergs and photography. So,… there was the kernel of my marketing. From there it was just a matter of expressing it in soundbites.

4. Find different ways to repeat the message

You’ve got your hook; now how are you going to cast it into the same waters over and over again without the fish getting bored of that same bobbing lure?

Switch the tone. You can communicate through:

hints and teases

direct requests (“Please listen on Spotify”)

images

videos

facts and backstory about the song

and more

The first thing I did was set up my Spotify pre-save campaign. Once I had the link, I started to slowly tease the cover artwork by splitting it up into nine smaller images for Instagram. When a viewer looked at my profile at the end of the week, all nine of the smaller images formed a grid revealing the full artwork. Every time I posted I would share the pre-save link.

I then shifted to a more direct approach for the pre-save campaign, but with a focus on an emotional appeal…

Once the song was released I put out a lyric video (on YouTube and Facebook) with tons of buried text — posing as a letter from the 22nd-Century — referring back to the origins of the photograph, and I placed it inside a Show.co video feature page to drive conversions outside of YouTube:

I also repeated that little hook “In 1905, the people saw something so mysterious you might say that it almost wasn’t there…” in a number of ways throughout the campaign: emails, tweets, etc.

Then I did the obvious things, like adding a Spotify player to my website announcement about the song:

The next thing I did was to take a bunch of phrases from the letter portion of the lyric video and place them over the cover art for more Instagram posts, like so…

New music video now live at http://bit.ly/2j7S2rZ (link in profile too) for my song “Irretrievable Beauty”. #chrisrobleymusic #singersongwriter #photography #mainemusic #iceberg #hoax #miracle #musicvideo #lyricvideo

A post shared by Chris Robley (@chrisrobley) on Nov 7, 2017 at 9:06pm PST

Lastly, I posted the complete text of the letter on Facebook.

In addition to changing up the tone of the message, it’s important to remember that you have many channels through which to communicate: social, website, email, live shows, etc.

There’s also print and online music media, blog premieres for your song or video, reviews, playlist placements, and more out-of-the-box options such as publicizing your music to any relevant corporations, non-profit organizations, or hobby groups that might resonate with your music or the topic of the song.

5. Get all your ducks in a row before the release

Again, there’s a lot of options for creatively communicating the message that you have a new song out. But it always amazes me how long it takes to compose an email newsletter or write a Facebook post. I think, oh, that’s just a couple minutes, and then suddenly an hour has gone by. For that reason, you’ll want to prepare all assets well ahead of the launch date so you can focus on promotion once the song is out (not worrying about video editing, Photoshop, copy-writing, etc.).

And as I mentioned above, be sure to notify your distributor, publicist, any industry contacts, licensing experts, and so forth, way in advance.

This also means you’ll need to have an easy way to share a private link to your single: SoundCloud, Bandcamp, etc.

6. Consider another angle to entice beyond the primary hook

The song might be enough. The story and hook might be enough. But there could be some casual fans who won’t make the leap and check out your song unless there’s some additional benefit (like a prize, a free t-shirt, etc.).

When I ran my Spotify pre-save campaign, I made it a contest too. I would choose two winners at random from the list of people who pre-saved the song and send them a t-shirt. In addition to sending this out through the usual means, I also ran a Facebook ad to a targeted group of people who like similar artists as me.

Think of what extras might make someone push the save, buy, or play button.

7. Be ready to do the grunt work

We dream of easy solutions — the service that will handle everything for you, the dream manager who will do all the work, the industry contact who holds the keys to your success — but there’s often no substitute for digging in, doing research, writing a trillion emails, bracing for rejection, and building upon the small relative percentage of wins we get.

This applies when you’re doing your own PR, radio promotion, or launching singles. It’s work. Staying up until 3am to promote a single might not be why you got into music, but it’s work that will lead some listeners TO your music — which IS the reason you got into this crazy game in the first place.

Any advice to add? How do you think about releasing singles? Let me know in the comments below.

The post 7 things every musician should do before releasing a single appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.