#but if her and the team ever decide to style it bleached or blonde as an homage or easter egg or whatever

[dlzdrz]

And when in Season 3 Episode 1, Annabeth takes out her ski cap and reveals her newly bleached and blonde dyed butterfly locks, both nodding at her book description and showing the pass of time and character's growth with the contrast, all while giving Percy an anxiety attack because OhZeus she look so pretty but he hasn't talked to her in months and last time they saw each other she kind of kissed him on the cheek and now he doesn't know how to talk to her and she's expecting them to DANCE?? with each OTHER??? while he's been avoiding to overthinking about her even though he misses her so much????,

then what?

[itsunclebucky]

You’re Mine

Pairing: Beefy!Bucky x Reader

Requested by @rebelfleur22​ -  Okay reader (me 😂 i wish) and bucky  were dating for a long time but they broke up due to the fact that they grew apart but they still love each other, so at one of Tony's parties, bucky brings his new girlfriend to finally meet the Avengers and secretly annoy & make his ex jealous 😂 unknown to bucky his new girlfriend is a huge fan of reader (which she's also an avenger with super powers) and super nervous to meet her. So the guys are convincing the reader to be nice to her which eventually agrees even though she's still loves bucky. Can i please request one more thing 🙏🏻 i want it to be angsty with some sassy reader and if you don't mind having a smutty ending?

Warnings: Lots of angst, insults, argument, sassy reader, fluff, SMUT 18+ Oral sex (female receiving), squirting, unprotected sex, language, reconciliation. 

Word Count: 4457

A/N: Thank you so much for the request my love!!! I really hope you like it. I really can’t feel my fingers but it’s so worth it!!! There are references to One Tree Hill, the dance part was inspired by a clip from the vampire diaries and the argument was heavily inspired by an episode of Friends. Hope you enjoy :)

Bucky saw you smile a lot more these days and it broke his heart because he couldn't remember the last time you smiled as brightly as you did. 

You and Bucky had been in a very serious long term relationship. A relationship that was full of love, passion, trust but in the end, distance. You grew apart and decided it was better to remain friends than in a distant relationship with each other. 

Bucky still loved you very much. He loved you with every fiber of his body. He would never tell you, but when he started sleeping alone in his bed at night, the nightmares would return more frequently. And he would never tell you how many mornings he spent crouched down on the shower floor crying until his chest was physically hurting. 

And it's been 5 months since the breakup. He needed someone else to fill the void that was in his chest. He needed someone to love him again. And he thought his new girl Sima would be perfect. 

She was perfect. With her beautiful long curly blonde hair, her natural eyelashes, her flawless figure. A girl who looked after her nails and spent hours at the hair salon bleaching her hair. 

There was just a small problem. Sima might have been a gorgeous woman, but she wasn't you. 

It hurt more because though you both agreed on staying friends, you rarely talked to each other. He also noticed you had stopped following him on Instagram and though that burnt a hole in his chest, he couldn't find it in him to bring it up simply because it seemed so petty. 

But truthfully, the only reason you did was because of his happy posts and selfies on him smiling, the smile you didn't see on his face for a long time. Seeing Bucky so happy and thriving without you, it killed you from the inside out.

Each day, you had to force a smile on your face just so the team wouldn't worry about how you were coping with the breakup. Everyone knew how close you and Bucky were, how in love you were. And if they paid close attention, they would see the dark circles under your eyes. You were not coping well at all. 

You missed him and you still loved him, so very much. Each morning you would find yourself curled up into a ball on the side he used to sleep, cradling his pillow in your arms. You refused to wash the pillowcase since you could still smell the scent of his apple shampoo on it.

But it was all in the past, and you knew if you cried a river it wasn't going to bring you and Bucky back together. 

You were sat on the bar stool with your fingers wrapped around your hot cup of freshly made coffee talking to Steve about Tony's upcoming extravagant party.

"Do you really think he will invite lots of people this time?" You asked, nervously biting your lip. 

Steve shrugged and looked over his newspaper. "It's Tony." You nodded in agreement. 

"Hey Steve." Bucky greeted as he walked in. His white shirt pulled tightly across his muscles. 

"Good morning Buck." Steve greeted back but eyeing the two of you suspiciously. 

"Oh Buck. Thank you for wishing me a good morning." You said with sarcasm laced in your voice, cocking an eyebrow in his direction. "I'm so miserable without you here it's almost as if you are here." 

"And thank fuck for that." He replied almost instantly with an eye roll. 

You scoffed, amused and sipped your coffee. 

"Hey Steve." Bucky started, getting his attention. "Have you ever looked at your ex and wondered if you were drunk the entire relationship?" Bucky smirked. 

"Ha ha. Well you know what they say. If you're happy, thank your ex. At least I don't have to put up your excessive grunting when you're on top of me." 

"Y/N!" Steve warned. 

"Fuck you, you crazy bitch." Bucky scowled, hurrying up with making his coffee so he could leave. 

"That's enough you two!" Steve intervened, sensing an argument about to break out soon. 

"She started it." Bucky accused. 

"She started it." You mocked, angering Bucky more. 

"You know what Y/N. I'm fucking glad we broke up. You talk about my grunting, but you know what I'm grateful for? Not having to taste your disgusting fucking pussy and having to stick my cock in it anymore." 

"Oh yeah." You chuckled, standing up to follow Bucky into the common room where the rest of the avengers were seated on the large couches in the room. "I'm grateful for not having to fake my orgasms anymore and not having your disgusting shit smelling breath in my face." You barked back. 

"Ohhhh oh oh." Sam cackled from the couch, and immediately dipped his head when Bucky glared at him. Daring him to continue what he was going to say. 

"That makes two of us you arrogant bitch and if my breath was bad, it's only because of where my mouth was moments before I was on top of you. Oh and hey. Forgot to tell you, saw something that reminded me of you today. But then I flushed it and left the bathroom." Bucky clicked his tongue as he took a seat next to Wanda. 

You kept your facade up. Not wanting your friends to see what his words do to you. And you realized he called you a bitch twice. 

You stomped towards the door and stopped to turn around a final time. Bucky's eyebrows raised waiting for your final blow. 

"And just so you know. It's not that common, it doesn't happen to every guy and it IS A BIG DEAL!" You yelled, walking out of the common room and heading towards your room. 

In the distance, you heard Sam laugh and mock Bucky with a "I knew it old man!" 

You should have been delighted. You kicked him whilst he was down, but you didn't feel proud. The insults you threw at each other were harsh and you knew it. And you wondered if he meant everything he said. He probably did, right? If he didn't hate you before, he surely does now. 

Bucky sat on the couch bewildered. He wondered where this sudden argument came from but he knew it was your way of coping with the hurt. Because it was what you did best, to hide your true feelings, you would become this sassy little brat and he hated it, he hated your attitude. 

He was more shell shocked by the last insult you threw at him. It happened just once, he was really tired but he wanted to have sex. It didn't matter how hard you massaged his cock through his pants, he still couldn't get hard. You had told him it didn't matter, that he just needed a good night sleep and you could try the following night. 

He never once expected you to bring it up and use it against him. It was private, and he was pissed because you had said that in front of his friends and teammates. 

Bucky ignored the snickers around him. His phone buzzed in his pant pocket and he pulled it out, his face slightly lighting up when it was a text from Sima.

Sima: I'm outside. Are you ready to go shopping with me? ❤

Bucky quickly typed a reply back. 

Bucky: hi baby. Yes, give me a few minutes.

He left the heart out. He felt weird adding emojis to Sima's texts because his heart emojis were reserved for you only. 

Bucky quickly excused himself. Taking his cup to the kitchen and going to his room to throw on a jacket and give his teeth a quick brush. He then left the compound without saying goodbye to anyone.

He needed a suit for tonight's party. Tonight would also be the night he would introduce Sima to the team, to you. He was nervous and scared. He was scared about his conflicted feelings. 

You sat in your room alone, your back against the headboard staring at the wall in front of you. 

You were honestly not looking forward to the party tonight. Natasha had told you days ago she would stop by your room to give you one of her dresses and Wanda would come along to do your makeup and curl your hair. 

It was a futile attempt to try and get out of the party since Tony had made it clear you could be excused only if you died. Meaning, he was putting a lot of money into this party and it was mandatory that every single avenger in the compound had to be there, no ifs and no buts. 

Tony wasn't even a little bit sympathetic about your breakup. You recalled him saying "at least you'll find a real man now kid." 

Bucky was more than a man though. He was your light in the darkness of days. He cuddled your body close to his when you were sad for no reason. He was never cruel towards anyone. You believed he loved you as much as you loved him. But with his cruel words replaying themselves in the back of your mind, you begin to wonder about that like many other things.

You've been called a bitch many times in your life. Witch, weirdo, freak were among the list of names people had for you. 

You once had beautiful naturally brown hair. Until you absorbed a portion of Thanos's force, and over time it turned your hair completely white. The only thing stopping you from having a breakdown down was the fact Bucky really liked your beautiful hair. He said you reminded him of Khaleesi from his favorite TV show Game of Thrones. And when you styled it. Oh my God. Bucky was a goner. 

You curled up once again on the side he used to sleep. Cuddling his pillow against your chest as tear drops escaped. You sniffled once, and then the dam broke. 

You broke out into small sobs. Your eyes screwed shut tight. 

"I miss you Bucky." You cried out into your empty room. Those words repeatedly falling from your lips. You stayed like that until there was a brisk knock at the door. You peeled open your eyes opened and you were now shrouded in complete darkness. 

What time was it? The pillow was soaking wet from your tears and mucus. But you didn't care. 

The knock sounded again and you groaned.

"Come in." You yelled. The door opened and the light was turned on. You instinctively shielded your eyes from the sudden brightness. 

"Were you asleep?" Wanda's thick accent entered your ears. 

"No I was fucking skiing." You replied sarcastically, hiding your face in his pillow. 

"With Bucky's pillow?" Natasha snipped with a smirk. "Come on girl. Get up, we gotta get dressed and get down to Tony's party. So, up, up, up!" 

You groaned but pulled yourself up nonetheless. Natasha hung a dress on the hanger that was hanging from the little knobs on your closet doors. 

"Get showered." Natasha ordered and you didn't bother to fight her. You couldn't. You were just too exhausted emotionally. 

*************************************************

Bucky was standing in the corner of the party with Sima on his arm talking to Steve. The elevator doors dinged open and everyone's eyes were drawn to the three women who stepped out in linked arms. 

Natasha, Wanda and you. 

You were breathtaking in your gorgeous tight white dress. Your white hair curled to halfway down your back, and your minimal makeup really worked together. You looked exactly how he imagined you would on the day he would eventually marry you. 

"Oh my God. Is that Y/N???!" Sima asked Bucky, her eyes wide. Sima was a huge fan of yours. She saw what you could do with your powers. She was there to witness what you did to Thanos before he snapped his fingers. Sima admits you, and hoped one day you would be friends. But giving the current circumstances, she knew that was never possible. 

"Yes." Bucky sighed. Then an idea popped into his mind and he smirked. "Wanna meet her?" He winked and grabbed a hold of Sima's hand as they walked through the crowd towards you. 

Your face dropped considerably when you saw Bucky. Hand in hand with another woman. You recognized her as another avenger, on a different team. Your breath hitched when you saw how Bucky looked tonight. A tight all black suit, his hair slicked back into a tight man bun with that beautiful stubble on his face. 

"Good evening Y/L/N." Bucky greeted with no emotion on his face. "This is Sima, my girlfriend." 

The blonde girl reached her hand out for you to shake but you couldn't register anything that was going on around you. 

"Oh my gosh. It's such an honor to finally meet you." She grinned so excitedly but you just stared forward. Forcing one of your fake smiles on your face. 

"Ditto." You kept your hands by your side and Bucky was annoyed by your rudeness. Sima awkwardly retracted her hand and adjusted a bobby pin in her hair to hide her embarrassment. 

"Y/N. Sima was just-" 

"Excuse me." You cut Bucky off. Marching towards Natasha and hauling her to the nearest empty room. 

"What is going on?" Natasha asked, folding her arms across her chest. 

You scoffed and paced the room. Your heels click-clacked against the stone floors. 

"I CAN NOT believe it!" Your hands flew through your curls and tugged at the ends. 

"What? What are you talking about Y/N?" Natasha pressed. 

"That WHORE STOLE MY MAN. She's out there right now. Hanging from his arm like a fucking lazy sloth. Oh God have they fucked yet?!" 

"So? Y/N. It's been 5 months. Bucky is allowed to move on and so are you. I hate to break it to you honey but he's not your man anymore." 

"I don't want anyone else to have him and I know what you're gonna say. I know I'm being selfish but… it kills me Nat. He's killing me." 

"You still love him." Natasha stated more than asked. A nod of your head confirmed what she already knew. "Then babe if you really love him-" 

"Don't tell me to let him go because that could never happen." You deadpanned. 

"I was going to say - if you really love him. Go and get him before his relationship with what's-her-face gets too serious." 

Natasha was right. But dread filled you. After the words exchanged between you and Buck earlier, there was no way on this planet he would ever feel the same way about you again. 

Right? Wrong. When you stormed off with Natasha, Bucky had excused himself to see what was going on. He stopped outside the door and listened. He heard every word. 

He couldn't believe you still loved him. And he knew if the tables were switched and it was you here with another man, he would feel exactly the same way. 

But Sima. Oh God. What was he going to do about Sima. She seemed to already understand the war he was having in his mind. About making people happy, about doing what is right. Sima knew he loved you still, when they were together he would talk about you a lot and he wouldn't even realize. To save him the hurt, Sima walked up to him and hugged him tightly. 

"It's okay Bucky. Go get her. I just hope we can stay friends." She said in his ear and he hugged her tighter. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Hey, hey." Sima cupped his stubbed face and smiled. "You love her and you were right for each other." Bucky nodded with a small smile. They embraced for the last night and Sima decided to leave the party. 

Now all Bucky had to do was wait for you to come out from the room. And once you did, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear as you walked back into the party. Only to be grabbed to your wrist and your body colliding with someone. 

“Buck-let me go.” You scoffed, trying to break free. 

“Come on doll. Just one dance.” He smirked down at you. His hands holding onto your waist as you danced together. His cologne was intoxicating, but it was your favorite. “How are you?”

You scoffed once again and rolled your eyes. “Where is Sima?”

“Broke up amicably.” 

“Why?” Your brows furrowed. They seemed very happy together at the beginning of the party.

“That’s none of your business doll.” 

“Oh come on Buck. Don’t be an asshole. I’m not in the mood.”

“What are you in the mood for, pretty lady?” He flirted and you were confused. Where the hell was all of this coming from? Thor wasn’t at the party so it wasn’t the mead that was making him talk like this. 

Could be his hard dick that you found yourself brushing up against accidentally as you were dancing. 

“Hmm, let’s see. Sleeping naked on top of the covers.” You decided two could play this game. 

“That was my favorite.” He twirled you around and pulled you back against his chest and grounded his erected clothed cock into your ass. A gasp fell from your lips as you grinded slightly into him. 

“God, you’re so hard.” 

“Mmmm. And I’m bettin’ you’re soaking wet.” 

*************************************************

Your back hit the mattress with a loud grunt as Bucky hungrily crawled on top of you. Nibbling the sensitive skin on your pulse point and pulling your dress from your shoulders. 

Bucky traced his soft lips from your neck to your jawline and down your throat. Nipping and biting the skin before continuing his path down between the valley of your breasts. 

He took a nipple in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the erected bud and sucking it between his lips. His touch sent electrifying bolts through your body and your arousal was pooling in your panties.

You missed his touch. His lips on yours. It’s been 5 months since you’ve felt him and though you wished you could take your time with him, you were just far too horny for the slow and sensual sex. 

“Bucky please.” You begged, pushing his head further down your body. Bucky chuckled against your skin as his fingers hooked on your dress and pulled it down as he ventured more south. 

“Please what, doll?” He teased, kissing above your navel area before sinking down on the floor and pulling your dress completely off. Leaving you in just your white laced panties. 

“Don’t be a cocky fuckin’ bastard. I haven’t had sex in months and I need you.” You huffed impatiently. He was still chuckling against your skin and you were close to telling him to forget it. 

And you would have if it wasn’t for him pulling your panties down finally and growling at the evident arousal seeping through your lips.

“Jesus Christ baby. Got my mouth waterin’ here.” His large hands opened you up before him, his thumbs opened your lips as he ran his tongue from your warm soft clit down to your seeping entrance. The beautiful feeling of his warm delicious tongue caused you to clench around nothing. And Bucky absolutely loved watching your desperate hole contract.

His lips enclosed around your clit. His tongue swirling around the bundle. Your back arched off the bed and your heels dug into his shoulder blades as he ate you out like a starving man. 

The sinful sounds of your wetness against his mouth and his groaning were pornographic and you thrived off of it. You were so horny that it didn’t take you too long to reach the peak. And when you were close, you were a squirming mess trying to writher out of his strong grip. 

“BUCK!” You screamed loudly, your hands locked in his hair as your hips went flush against his mouth. He licked your clit with the pressure you liked. Driving you absolutely insane with need. A final lick and you were gone. Your hips jerked forward when he continued to lick from the intense orgasm and he drank every single drop that oozed out from your entrance. He watched it with great interest as it ran down between your butt cheeks to your puckered hole. 

Bucky groaned in delight as he pulled away from you. Looking down through your hooded eyes, your arousal soaked his stubble and cheek. You didn’t even realize you had squirted. You were embarrassed, but Bucky seemed to love it.

“You’re too dressed Buck.” You smirked and kept your legs opened.

“That I am.”

You sat up on your forearms and watched him undress himself. Throwing his clothes in all corners of the room. He climbed up on the bed and kneeled between your opened legs. Your legs wrapped around his waist as he walked on his knees to the top of the bed and laid you down on the pillow you used to sleep on. 

Bucky hooked your legs with his forearms and leaned forward. He teased your waiting cunt with the tip of his cock. 

“Doll, I don’t think you’ve ever been this wet before.” Bucky moaned as he watched his cock gather up your juices. 

“It’s been months for me Buck.” You closed your eyes and whimpered each time his tip skimmed over your tingling clit. “Please fuck me Buck.”

Something in him changed. His eyes turned from blue to a dark brown/black. His engorged tip prodded against your entrance and then he slid home. Both of you moaning at the familiarity of him filling you up. His pubic bone bumped against your clit, causing your cunt to clench around him. 

“Doll. I won’t last if you keep doin’ that.” He warned through gritted teeth. You loved how he was losing control already. And to be honest, so were you. 

Your insides were tingling as your walls hugged his hot cock tightly. It was almost like a welcome home hug, we’ve missed you. 

“Good. I don’t want you to make love to me Buck. I want you to fuck me! Hard and fast. Don’t be a fuckin’ pussy and just do it!” Your arms curled around his shoulders and he growled as he sat back and perched your legs on top of his shoulders. 

“You and your fuckin’ attitude. You want it hard and fast? You fuckin’ got it.” And with that, he snapped his hips into you with a fast and brutal pace. His balls playing ping-pong against the skin of your ass and the position you were in meant he easily grazed your fucking G-spot perfectly. So perfectly that your cunt was permanently clenched around him. Your thick white slick gathered on his pubic bone. He rocked the bed harshly, the brass headboard knocking against the wall behind you and the mattress squeaking under your weight. 

“Yes Buck! Come on baby just like that! Don’t stop.” You begged. Your skin covered in a sheen of sweat as you felt the tension rising in your tummy. “Fuck yes Buck. I’m so fucking close. Please don’t stop. Harder!” 

And harder he went. The consistent rhythmic knocking of the headboard and skin on skin rang in your ears. Bucky angled his hips slightly and that was it. That was where your spot was and he hit it. Every. Single. Thrust. 

“OH MY GODDDDD!!!” You screamed so loud that your voice cracked painfully. Tears spilled from the corner of your eyes as your hands massaged your breasts and pinched your nipples. “I’M CUMMING!” You announced. Not that it was necessary. Bucky could feel you were close and he went faster. A few more final hard thrusts and you were coming undone all over his cock. Your juices sprayed over his tummy and he moaned so fucking loudly you could have cummed again just from the erotic sound. Bucky was right behind you, spilling his hot cum deep in your tummy. You were both spent, looking at each other with love in your eyes and no signs of regret. Reluctantly, Bucky pulled out and you winced at the loss of contact. He walked in the bathroom and you heard the water running. A few moments later, he reappeared. His half-hard cock bobbing with every move he made. 

“I’m running a bath for us.” He said sweetly, placing a kiss to your forehead. You smiled and reached your hand out to stroke his cheek. 

“I’ve missed you.” You said truthfully. “I cried every night for you.”

“Oh doll. I’ve missed you too. And I’m never fuckin’ lettin’ you go again either.”

“I hope not.”

“You’re mine.” He dominantly said and you chuckled a little. “Don’t ruin the moment.” He warned and you chuckled again.

“Yes Sergeant.” You went to sit up and hiss. The ache in your groin was starting to catch up to you now. “Okay maybe you were too hard.”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to laugh. “I’m always hard doll.” 

You rolled your eyes. “I meant the sex.” 

“Well, you were yelling at me to fuck you hard and fast.” He shrugged.

“Just… take me to the bath please.” You playfully hit his shoulder. 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“Buck?” You mumbled into his neck as he carried you to the bathroom bridal style. Bucky hummed in response and you continued. “We’re back together, right?” 

Bucky sat you in the tub. The temperature of the water was just perfect and it immediately helped your aching muscles. Bucky climbed in behind you. His legs raised and he pulled you back in between them. Your back rested against his chest as he gathered bubbles on your tummy. 

“Maybe you didn’t hear me clearly Y/N. I said you were mine and I’m not letting you go again. So yes, we’re back together.”

Tags: @criminal-cookies​ @jobean12-blog​ @marvelgirl7​

[snspice-archive]

✰ || THE BAKERY is the fourth mini album by SNS, released by SM Entertainment on March 29th, 2021. It is available both physically and digitally, and features six songs, with “Apple Pie” being its title track. SNS promoted “Apple Pie” from March 30th to April 17th, also holding special stages for b-side tracks “Cherry on top” and “Stupid Cupid”. The girls were able to bring home 6 music show wins over the promotional period. They appeared on multiple variety shows and advertising campaigns, held four virtual fansigns, and held an online concert called “SUGAR DELIGHT”.

ALBUM PREVIEW // COLOR CODED LYRICS

✰ || TRACKLIST

APPLE PIE

STUPID CUPID

GIRLS LIKE US

BLUE

CREME

CHERRY ON TOP

✰ || ALBUM CONTENT

one disc + photobook (72 pages) + two random photocards out of eight + one out of six random member folded poster + one unfolder poster with tube + one out six random circle card + one out of six random recipes by yuri + one out of six random receipts with a message by a member 

✰ || SALES + ACHIEVEMENTS

this album was such a fun and fresh start to spring

critics and the public ate up the concept and overall presentation of the album

some people had strong opinions on the title track and thought it shouldn’t been switched with one of the b-sides

but overall it was a hit

Apple Pie” debuted at number 1 on korean music charts, it stayed in the top 3 until the end of their promotion cycle

“Cherry on top” debuted at number 5 on korean music charts, it stayed in the top 10 until the end of their promotion cycle

“Stupid Cupid” peaked at number 9 on melon

“Girls like us” peaked at number 12 on melon

“Blue ” peaked at number 27 on melon

“Creme’ peaked at number 43 on melon

the “Apple Pie” mv got 19.5 million views in the first 24 hours

"Apple Pie” received 6 music show wins 

✰ || PRODUCTION

"Apple Pie” was written and produced by sm’s in house production team, with only the smallest bit on input from mika

“Stupid Cupid”, “Cherry on top”, and “Girls like us” were all produced and heavily written by mika under the pseudonym m.ka

"Blue” was completely written and produced by piper. it was originally going to be released on her soundcloud but she decided to lend it to the mini

“Creme” was produced by m.ka and partially written by yuki

✰ || APPLE PIE STYLING

the outfits were so quirky and cute, very different from their previous concepts

not a single outfit ever feature pants, they were always in dresses or skirts

the addition of aprons were the most popular accessory options and were featured in over half of the outfits

if they weren’t in apron based dresses, they had sweets covering their body or looked like they worked in a candy shop 

aprons, big bows, fluffy tutu/skirts, bright pastel colors, stockings, etc were the most prominent accessories 

the girls were usually wearing their designated color in some way

all the girls had different shades and styles of blonde hair for both the mv and most of their first week of promotions

yuki bleached her hair for the first time ever in her life and got rid of her signature thick bangs, rocking a ashy blonde to pink ombre

mika and josie cut their hair short for the first time in their careers, as well as cutting cute whispy bangs

yuki was the first member to dye their hair, going a pretty shade of pink and debuting it on the 3rd

mika was next, showing off a vibrant orange bang look on the 5th

yuri went a mint green on the 7th and josie went a heavy blue on the 9th

piper dyed her hair a dark vibrant purple that featured magenta thick highlights on the 12th

soyee was the last one to dye her hair, going ashy blonde that faded into a multitude of rainbow colors on the 14th

✰ || ERA HIGHLIGHTS

first mini under sm!!

fans had a lot of anticipation for this mini considering it had to be pushed back due to piper’s injuries

she was good to go physically by their comeback stage but that didn’t stop sugar babies from showering her in love and concern

the concept and styling for this comeback had similar vibes to red velvet’s red side, orange caramel, and wjsn chocome, which a lot of fans from each group enjoyed

the comeback stage was decorated to look like a huge cupcake factory, it was so extravagant for no reason we love it

the merch for this omg!!!

they release cute little aprons that were color coordinated with each girls and featured their signature along the ribbon tie 

they also dropped baking starter kits that were designed around the girls and the mv :( it was so cute :(

sm gave them their first solo online concert!!

the girls had so much fun performing and interacting with fans, even if it was through a screen

they can’t wait to go on a world tour once the pandemic is settled and over :(

mika kept up her youtube channel show called ‘sugar plum slumber party!’. this time featuring members of wayv, exo, suju, and snsd

their vlive channel was heavily active, each girl was live basically everday they had so much fun

yuri got her own vlive+ show called “yuri! let’s bake!” and it was the cutest weekly baking show known to man. a sns member guest starred each week and they all had so much fun :(

yuki and piper once again had major tension which caused a lot of concerns with fans

piper avoided the topic at all cost when it was brought up and yuki just shrugged it off by blaming it on “roommate drama”

sm created a pop up “bakery truck” outside of the sm building that sold sweets and treats that the girls love

every once and a while, the girls would work a short shift within the food truck and meet with fans :(

overall a good era concept and chart wise but a lot of tension could be felt behind the scenes

[almostkoo]

How to Enjoy Your Summer and Mend a Relationship In Two Weeks

pairing: namjoon/reader word count: 7.5k

summary: 80′s!au,enemies to lovers! au, oc is a counselor at a summer camp, they don’t really like Namjoon, their friendship is a work in progress.

warnings: since it’s a 80′s au I did not go easy on the slang at all, apparently crop tops were a thing for guys so I took liberty with that one ;), namjoon and oc gets extremely petty with each other through this, namjoon’s a rich boy, oc roasts him for that a little.sorry for any grammatical errors, enjoy!!

Summertime was perhaps without a doubt your favorite season. The air was thick and muggy as you stepped off the bus arriving at Oakpark Sleepaway Camp. Your hiking boots crunching against the dirt as the children ran around full of energy. Your hair already clung to the back of your neck with sweat, running your hands through your hair you gathered it and pulled it back, holding it back with a scrunchie. Oakpark Sleepaway Camp held a very special place in your heart as you had been attending the camp since you were eight. Begging your parents to finally let you venture off to the camp many of your classmates had come back some summer vacation bragging about how much fun Oakpark was.  

Fear of missing out was a bitch you suppose.

Over the past three summers since you had become a counselor at Oakpark, now here you were at your fourth and final summer before your freshman year of college. You bonded easily with the children and a lot of them clung to you. The familiar faces grouped around you, everyone happy to see the friends they made the summer prior. In the middle of the crowd stood a lone boy, big, wide doe eyes scanning the people around him as he clutched tightly on the straps of his Transformers duffle bag. Seeing your small pal from last summer you called out to him. “Jungkook!” You called out. He jumped at the sound of his name but his face quickly broke out into a smile and he called out your name before running to you and wrapping you in a tight hug.

“How has your year been buddy, it’s been awhile since I saw you!” You said gleefully.

“Well 5th grade wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I learned about the water cycle” he shrugged “how was your graduation?”

“Well about as good as any graduation could be at least I made it out unscathed.” you said, throwing an arm over your face for dramatic effect which earned a laugh from Jungkook. 

“I can’t wait to graduate. I'm absolutely over school.” 

“Well it could always be worse you could be-“

 Suddenly a loud, obnoxious laugh cut you off from not too far away behind you. Immediately you knew who the boisterous laugh belonged to. You turned around slightly glancing over your shoulder to sneak a glance. There he stood the very bane of your existence — Kim Namjoon.

Kim Namjoon had been annoying you ever since you were eleven. When he started attending the camp yearly after he moved and switched school districts, attending the very prestigious private school Landis Academy. The summer he strolled onto Oakpark’s campsite the whole air about the place changed. Something about the way he carried himself screamed arrogance and you couldn’t stand it. Everyone didn’t see it but you saw right through his facade as soon as you saw his crispy white Nikes hit the ground, decked in head to toe name brands clothes you couldn’t even afford a pair of socks from. He came in high and mighty ruining every summer since. Yet the children loved him and the adults at the camp adored him and his smile that with deep dimples to compliment it . Who gave him the right?   You snapped out of your train of thought when Jungkook dashed past you running to Namjoon to hear about whatever had the children crowding around him enthralled. Probably talking about physics to make himself look even smarter than he already is in front of the kids. I can’t believe he got Jungkook to flock over to him. You thought to yourself. The camp leader rounded everyone together with the sound of her whistle. The older lady Mrs. Bradshaw who ran the camp was decked in her all beige camping outfit with a big smile on her face. She greeted the campers, counselors and staff. As you stood there zoning out on what Mrs. Bradshaw was talking about you suddenly felt a presence looming behind you. With a scoff you acknowledged the nuisance behind you. 

“What do you want Namjoon?” You whispered annoyed trying not to draw attention to the two of you. “Just wanted to ask how your year went.” he asked. You could hear the insincerity laced in his words. “Gag me with a spoon. You do not care at all how my year went. If anything you probably sought me out to brag about what college you got accepted to, you pest.” “Not even. I genuinely wanted to know.” You glanced over at Namjoon and to your dismay he had his attention directly on you. You noticed he had his hair styled different not that you paid him any attention the past few summers he had let his hair grow a little longer sporting a mullet. You couldn’t help but scoff at the expensive Ray Bans perched in his bleach blonde locks. “It was fine. I hoped for once you would take summer off and not show up but I guess we can’t always get what we want.” “What makes you think I wanted to see you either. Here I am trying to be the bigger person and approach you first to start anew as we go into adulthood but I guess we can’t always get what we want.” He said, repeating your last sentence back to you. “Oh God, don’t have a cow Namjoon, you are not that into the idea of us being all chummy with each other.” “You wouldn’t know, dweeb,” he sneered. You rolled your eyes turning your attention back to the front where Mrs. Bradshaw was wrapping up her speech to everyone. She was about to announce the small groups of campers every counselor was responsible for and what side of the camp they would be on. The piece of land Oakpark resided on was essentially an island with water in the middle separating the two sides, Northwood and Southwood. You zoned back in right as Mrs. Brunswick was ending her list.

She announced you would be in charge of the Butterfly Tribe with Seokjin, Hoseok and Yoongi. She turned to Namjoon, not hiding the favoritism in her voice as she announced him and the Chipmunk Tribe leader with Jimin,Taehyung and Jungkook. Karma couldn’t be more in your favor. The summer prior all six of the named children had attended. Your group was pretty mellow with the exception of Hoseok who was just a walking ray of sunshine and could seemingly never run out of energy. Namjoon’s group on the other hand. Jimin and Taehyung got paired together last summer. The two were a pair of troublemakers to the highest degree. How they managed to get paired together was beyond you. They weren’t in your group and that’s all you had to worry about. But the fact that they were in Namjoon’s group. These next two weeks were going to be very interesting. 💨 The first week of camp hadn’t been so bad. So far it had been the usual. Questionable food (besides the apple pie served for dessert). Relay races and arts and crafts. Somehow within a week you and Namjoon had found a way to put your respective groups of children against each other. Your group had proven successful in many of the camps activities. Although something must’ve happened because on Thursday, Jungkook had completely dusted your team in the relay race. You sat around the other counselors at dinner chatting about everything under the sun. The downside of being away from home was the fact that many of you all were missing your weekly programs. You weren’t too upset you had brought your Walkman to pass by the time. Between the energetic kiddos and Namjoon driving you up a wall Madonna was gonna keep you sane until you returned home. In the middle of picking up a forkful of meatloaf. The lights flickered out eliciting a outbreak of screams from the kids. Quickly the adults grabbed lanterns and huge flashlights as they browsed everyone in attendance doing a headcount. Afterwards Mrs. Bradshaw spoke into a megaphone to grab everyone's attention. “Okay everyone. The lights are out on both sides of the camp, to be safe we’re gonna have all of the campers and counselors sleep in the mess hall tonight. Just in case the lights don’t come back on in the middle of the night it would be safer to have everyone in one spot. We’re gonna have everyone move in groups of eight. Two counselors and six campers. So everyone can grab their sleeping bags and toiletries they might need through the rest of the evening.” Fuck. You thought. Hopefully I’ll get paired up with one of the girls.

Dread fell on your shoulders when you heard yours and Namjoons names called together. “You both have all boys in your groups right?” she practically screamed into the already loud megaphone. You blanked, mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. “Yeah! Do you want us to take our campers to the cabins?” He called back to her. You looked across the mess hall to where one of the staff was holding a flashlight, illuminating Namjoon’s face. You glared at him and you saw him smiling. “Barf me out the universe has it out for me.” you mumbled under your breath. The sudden glare from the flashlight caught you off guard making you flinch. “Is that okay with you?” Mrs. Bradshaw asked. “Radical! Thanks for the suggestion!” You tried to make the cringe expression on your face look less like a grimace and more like a true smile. “Great tubular,” she said, earning groans from the youth in the mess hall. “Gather your campers and come to the front to get a lantern.” You groaned quietly, looping your legs out from under the bench. You made your way to the front where you met up with Namjoon. Mrs. Bradshaw held out a single lantern. “We have to split the lanterns so you two have to decide which one of you want to carry it.” “I’ll carry it.” You and Namjoon said in unison. Both of your heads snapped to each other as you slightly glared at each other. “I’ll rock, paper, scissors you for it.” Namjoon smugly, offered. “No I said I’ll carry it.” you sneered. Gently grabbing the lantern from Mrs. Bradshaw’s grasp. Surprisingly Namjoon didn’t put up a fight. You let out a whistle calling you campers to you as Namjoon gathered together his campers too as you both left the mess hall. 💨 You and Namjoon started the trek to the boys cabin. Thankfully both groups were on the Northwood side. Both of you stood in the doorway waiting for the boys to gather their sleeping bags and to change into their pajamas. You looked out at the lake that was crystal clear. Sighing you felt your face scrunch up as you swatted away what had to be the 20th mosquito that evening. Namjoon let out a soft chuckle, you narrowed your eyes at him.

“What’s so funny? You wouldn’t like it if mosquitoes were flocking towards you either.” You said, irritated. 

“I’m honestly surprised they’re around you in the first place I thought they tended to fly around sweeter scents; if being bitter was a scent you’d probably radiate it.” He spat.

“Bag it. I don’t even know why I address your presence in the first place, twerp.” You moved out of the doorway, desperate to move as far away from Namjoon’s bothersome self. You went to take a step attempting to dodge a mud pile in front of you, underestimating the leap you took, you felt the grip of your Keds give and right as you anticipated the fall a pair of strong arms came from behind you wrapping themselves under yours pulling you back away from the mud. Quickly you pushed yourself back off of Namjoon when you got your footing. “Jeez I can’t even get a thank you from saving you from wiping out? I could’ve totally let you slip and walk around with a muddy ass.” You hesitated on the apology. Thinking to yourself you knew if your grandmother was here she would’ve whacked you for not showing common decency in the first place.

“Thanks, Namjoon.” The apology came out through a struggle between your gritted teeth. You looked at Namjoon who stood back in his original spot, leaning on the doorframe. “See that wasn’t so hard. See now I’m gonna help you out and attempt to show you how manners work. Watch this,” he held his hand up underneath his mouth. “No problem.” He smiled big making his deep dimples show themselves. It was a crime such beautiful features had to be on him with that personality inside. The universe sure had an interesting way of doing things.

Quickly the kids came out of the cabin dressed in their pajamas various assorted characters displayed on them. Next you all made your way to the counselors cabins to grab your belongings. You grabbed your sleeping bag and pajamas, opting to change when everyone made it back to the mess hall so everyone wouldn’t be waiting any longer as the sun started going down. Namjoon and the boys stood outside with their belongings waiting . As soon as the boys laid eyes on your sleeping bag they erupted into a fit of laughter.

“Alright dweebs, knock it off its not that funny.” you scoffed, placing a hand on your hip. As the laughter continued. The only one who remained with a straight face was Jungkook and Namjoon.

“Ew is that Care Bears? You’re going to college? With that colorful, glittery mess?” Taehyung asked, in between breaths as he laughed. Your shoulders slumped as you sighed again throwing your head back. You couldn’t believe you were about to be obliterated by a 7th grader.

“Care Bears are better than those grody Thundercats you have all plastered on your pajamas.” You shot back at the boy. 

“Take it back! Thundercats are cool!” Jimin said, coming to his friend's defense.

“Alright that’s enough. Thundercats are trash. Let’s head back to the mess hall.” Namjoon said, turning on his heels as he adjusted his sleeping bag securely under his arms. You felt a small grin spread on your face, you were shocked that Namjoon came to your defense but decided not to sweat it. It’s not a big deal. You told yourself.

💨 Back at the mess hall you returned from the bathroom, decked in your older brothers G.I Joe shirt and a pair of shorts. Many of the children were playing around the mess hall. Some playing board games and others talking amongst themselves. 

You looked around to find somewhere to lay your sleeping bag down at. Everyones was lined around the wall of the mess hall. As you scanned around the hall there was only a spot between the two of the boys and one by a black sleeping bag laid out haphazardly by the wall and the corner of the wall. Weighing the options you figured that sleeping in between two of the boys would have been worse than sleeping in the corner by the random owner of the bag. You’d be damned if you had to spend the night between boys cracking fart jokes and talking about God knows what gross little boys talk about. Walking over to the bag, you scooted it over a little to lay out your beloved beat up Care Bears sleeping bag. Laying on top of it you grabbed your Walkman and fished through your bag you brought from under your bunk to pull out your mixtape one of your best friends made for you before you left, adjusting your headphones over your head. You grabbed one of the murder mystery novels you packed letting your music play as you leaned against the wall curling up as comfortably as possible you closed out the outside world to dive into the book.

Right when the story was starting to pick up you felt something nudge against your arm. You pulled one of cuffs back away from your ears you looked up at the source and almost choked on your own spit. The source of the nudging came from Namjoon who stood above you dressed in a cropped short sleeved jersey and a pair of plaid pajama pants. He held a book as to his side as he peered down at you with a puzzled expression on his face. “Can I help you?” you sneered.

“Umh, may I ask as to why you’re in my spot?” Namjoon asked. You jumped , smacking your head not so softly against the wall, headphones falling off your head in the process. Namjoon flinched back at the sound of your head against the wood.

“Your spot? I don’t see a placeholder with Kim Namjoon on it anywhere.” you frowned.

“Is your head okay?” he asked, reaching for you slightly.

“ My head is fine. Look if you think I’m going to give up this cozy spot by the wall you are for sure mistaken.” 

“I’m not about to childishly argue with you over the spot. If I wanted to I’d wait for you to fall asleep first and slide you across the floor away from it.” “You wouldn’t.” You challenged him. Namjoon said something that you couldn’t make out. You had given him the once over and from where he stood and where you sat on the ground you could see almost straight up his top giving you a perfect view at his toned stomach, your mind went blank for a brief moment until you felt another nudge against your arm. Namjoon smiled down at you.

“See something you like?” He asked, as he lifted his arms over his head stretching dramatically causing his shirt to rise up even higher. You quickly turned away from him, knowing he was trying to bait you.

“Gag me with a spoon, nobody wants to look at you.” you rolled your eyes at him. He sat down on his sleeping bag next to you.

“Can’t you go sleep outside the bathroom? Do you have to sleep right here?” you questioned.

“Is there a window by the bathroom? No I didn’t think so.” You rolled your eyes at his statement. “What does it matter for? It’s not even that hot outside plus you’re half dressed anyways.” You gestured at the jersey he wore.

“It is 88 degrees right now just be lucky I didn’t put on a pair of shorts. I saw how you were looking at me last Thursday when we all played Marco Polo in the lake.” You felt a warm wave quickly come over you.

You felt embarrassed that Namjoon had noticed you in the first place watching him. While you had opted to stay with Yoongi who was adamant that alligators housed the waters over by the tire swings, your eyes couldn’t help to fall on Namjoon multiple times in that afternoon. He donned striped neon lime swim trunks. The color complimented his golden complexion and the trunks themselves showcased his thick, firm legs and had you going slack jawed many times throughout the day. It wasn’t your fault Namjoon just so happened to be as handsome as he was with such a shitty personality.

Even though you attempted to be quick enough to not catch his eyes it appeared you weren’t. “Sit on it. Like I said earlier, nobody is looking at you all like that. Don’t be so full of yourself loser nerd.” you scoffed, deflecting his previous statement.

“If I’m a loser nerd you are too, because here we are two loser nerds both reading a book in the middle of the summer.” Namjoon picked up his book, reaching into the pocket of his pajamas he pulled out a pair of thick lensed glasses. He put them on, flipping through the book to find where he left off at.

“See now you’re definitely a nerd. Look at your pop bottle glasses. I would’ve said they were for style but based on the lenses I think you’d actually need them.” you chuckled. Namjoon’s shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh. He turned in your, the bridge of his glasses slid down to the tip of his nose as he looked over the rim at you.

“What’s your damage?” He asked. You could hear his words dripping with irritation.

“My damage?” You asked, you sat up off the wall facing him. “When you first came to this camp you walked in all stuck up like you owned the place. You thumbed your nose at me from the moment you saw me. Why would I ever like someone like you?” Namjoon opened his mouth to defend himself, when you cut him off again.

“Then to make matters worse I didn’t even speak to you. I didn’t acknowledge you. You put crickets in my bunk one summer and the next summer you trashed my paper mache lantern. I was going to give that to my grandmother when I got back home and I couldn’t thank you very much.” You tried, holding back the tears that threatened to spill.

When you first saw Namjoon all those summers ago. Yes, you would admit that you did have a crush on him. He was probably the first crush you had on another person since being exposed to the public. Between all the relationships you had at school for some odd reason your mind would always trail back to Namjoon. But when he started all the pranks it kind of faded away. You didn’t really know what you had done to get him to dislike you the way he did but you knew it bothered you to the core. “I never hated you,” he confirmed. Confusion quickly spread across your features as you finally pulled the headphones off your head.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Explain what all that bullshit was these past summers, quickly.”

“I don’t hate you. I never did. I—“ he sighed. “I was younger and I liked you, okay? I admired you. I thought you were cute. Given that I didn’t do my best to say that. I didn’t know at first it was the feeling I felt for you and by the time I realized what it was I had dug myself into a hole too deep. I felt like you would have never liked me at this point and I had to keep it going.” He admitted. Your eyes darted around the room looking at anything that wasn’t Namjoon. You didn’t know how to process the thoughts racing around your mind. Were you mad? Yes, but even more confused. The paper mache lantern had really pissed you off when it happened and even though you made another one it still wasn’t as good as the first one which really bummed you out. Namjoon softly called out your name. You looked back at him. He fiddled with his glasses that now laid in his hands. “I really fucking loved that lantern you know.” You attempted to crack a joke. You could tell Namjoon wasn’t sure if he should laugh back or not. 

“I am so sorry for that.”

“No no it’s okay. I mean don’t get me wrong the first one was purple and my grandmother's favorite color is purple and I had to give her a green one but that’s neither here nor there. Why did you do all that stuff? Why not just say you had a crush on me?” Namjoon’s eyes bucked in shock.

“Be honest would you have talked to me?” 

You opened your mouth hesitating before you spoke. “I mean.” You let your words trailed off. “Exactly my point.”

“Aren’t you like smart enough to know a lot of people don’t like when people pick on them trying to ‘express’ their feelings for others. It’s the 80’s people hate that now. Maybe our parents would have liked that.” You said, pulling on a loose string of your shirt. Namjoon softly called your name. When you looked at him he was looking down at his hands again. “You can’t just treat anyone how you want and expect them to come around when you call yourself having an epiphany.” you sighed. There was a lot to think about. In the entirety of the time you knew Kim Namjoon he had been nothing but a jerk and that’s years of knowing someone it’s a lot to erase about someone. 

“ I can’t stress this enough I am so sorry and I know that years of us going back and forth can’t be erased but maybe if you give me a chance maybe we can start anew?” Namjoon reached out to hold your hand. You looked at your hands intertwined and then up at his eyes. Dark, amber eyes peered into yours. Pleading for a you to take a gamble. You slowly pulled your hand out of Namjoon’s grip, his full lips forming a soft frown. 

“I don’t know Namjoon. I’d have to think about it.” you replied to him. He let out a sigh, seemingly not out of frustration but something else you couldn’t read.

“I understand. If I was in your shoes I most likely wouldn’t have been able to make a decision on the fly like that either. I probably shouldn’t have even brought it up.” You wanted to attempt to console Namjoon, who in the whole time you had known him you’d never seen him like this. Sad and possibly heartbroken. Your feelings were all over the place. You felt like someone had thrown all of your emotions into a pan like ingredients ready to be scrambled like Sunday breakfast.

“I’ll let you know how I’m feeling when I find out myself.” you wrapped your headphones around your Walkman and closed your book up. You laid back down on top of your sleeping bag. Staring at the wall you let your thoughts all hit you fully at once. There was a huge chance that you weren’t getting any sleep tonight after Namjoon’s confession. 💨

You woke up to someone tapping your shoulder. Your eyes opened as you checked your surroundings, forgetting about the power outage from the night before. Namjoon kneeled in front of you.

“Good morning, breakfast started being served. I didn’t want you to miss it.” he said.

“Uh thanks?” you yawned, your answer coming off more like a question. You slowly sat up rubbing at your eyes. You stood up gathering your belongings together. Namjoon cleared his throat from behind you. You turned around giving him your attention, with a puzzled expression.

“I was- umh wondering maybe- umh did you want to sit with me while we eat?” he asked. Anxiousness rolled off of him in waves. His posture was slightly slumped, as he picked at the hem of his jersey, eyes examining the wood floors. You gave it a quick thought. “I mean.” you dragged. Namjoon instantly perked up.

“I don’t want to pressure you-”

“No it’s okay I don’t feel pressured. I’ll eat breakfast with you.” Namjoon’s face contorted into a grin.

“I wasn’t expecting you to say yes” you heard him say quickly under his breath. “Okay.” you two stood there for a second as the goofy grin on Namjoon’s face didn’t budge.

“So are we gonna get our plates or?” you asked. “Oh! Right, right. Let’s go then.” he turned, heading towards the food line.You two made your plates. You settled for a light breakfast. You and Namjoon sat down at the end of one of the long picnic table benches that lined the mess hall. You slowly toyed around with the assorted fruits in the foam bowl in front of you. No conversation took place between the two of you for at least five minutes. “Guess you aren’t good at starting a conversation with someone if you aren’t being a jerk huh?” you said, taking a bite out of cantaloupe. Namjoon opened his mouth to defend himself.

“No it’s just-”

“Namjoon I’m just fucking with you. I see the electricity still hasn't come back on.” you took into account the ceiling fans in the hall that usually by now would have been running, cooling down the humid place. “Yeah it’s kinda warm in here I probably should’ve slept in shorts. I’m starting to regret it.”

“Do you know what Mrs. Bradshaw has planned for today?I know it was supposed to be movie day.” “I think a dodgeball game.” Namjoon let out a breath, he moved his Cheerios around with his spoon.

“Dodgeball? With children? Not maybe volleyball or something. Wouldn’t that be less dangerous?” 

“Isn’t volleyball slightly more dangerous?”

“I knew a girl that got her arm broken while playing dodgeball.”

“Didn’t you play volleyball in high school? If we do end up playing I’m asking Mrs. Bradshaw to make you sit on the sidelines. It’s not fair to have a seasoned veteran playing against us amateurs.” Namjoon laughed. You tilted your head to the side in confusion as you looked at him.

“How did you know I played volleyball?” “You wore your volleyball shirt last summer I’m assuming it was yours. Plus Scoville played against my school this season.” he revealed. “I didn’t know we played Landis.” you said. Namjoon replicated the expression you gave him. “Question? How did you know I went to Landis?”

“I-”

Namjoon laughed at you. “Creeper.”

“No” you replied, firmly. “As prestigious as Landis is I would expect a Einstein such as yourself to go there. Couldn’t have us commoners rubbing off on the elite.” you joked.

“Einstein? I wouldn’t call myself all that.” he said, you could see a subtle blush creeping on his cheeks.

“We’re starting anew right? Accept the compliment.” you smiled and Namjoon mirrored you. 💨

Everyone stood in the gym. It was currently halfway through round two of dodgeball. You sat on the lowest level of the wooden bleachers talking with one of the other counselors, Sam, who had gotten out both times almost as quick as the rounds had started. 

Surprisingly Namjoon hadn’t gotten out in this round. The first round he had only gotten out because Jimin had thrown the ball at him and even though it hadn’t quite hit him. It rolled along the floor until it got stopped by the tip of Namjoon’s shoes. Jimin got too excited that he technically had gotten one of the counselors out that Namjoon didn’t really have the heart to tell him it wasn’t an actual out. So he took it in silence, trudging along to the spot next to you on the bleachers to keep you company.

Although you sat on the sidelines. The game was mildly interesting from some of the children who had a mean throw and the counselors mixed in who were playing hard with each other. You didn’t also mind the view that got provided with the game. Namjoon, who opted to wear a blue muscle tank and jean shorts. You allowed yourself to indulge in the sight you got. His biceps flexed as he cocked his arm back to throw the bright red rubber ball. You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you had been holding. Which Sam on the side of you had definitely noticed.

“So you’re finally admitting that Kim Namjoon is attractive?” Sam asked you. The question caught you off guard. 

“I haven’t even said anything about him.” you said, bashfully.

“I see the way you’ve been watching him out on the court. What type of front are you putting up?” Sam shook her head at you. You went to plead your case. When Sam started talking again.

“Then when he got out he came straight over to you. You were practically drooling over him. I bet you can’t even tell me what half of the conversation was about. Could you?”

To be quite honest, you probably couldn’t tell Sam what half of the conversation was about. Maybe it might’ve been about a- yeah you didn’t know what the conversation was about. You had found yourself multiple times while Namjoon was talking getting lost staring at him. For a few sentences you would give him eye contact then you looked at his nose fighting back a mean urge to take your index finger and boop it and anything he smiled and his dimples played peekaboo you found yourself sneaking glances. God forbid you looked down while he spoke,

Namjoon, while he was out for some reason didn’t sit on the bleachers like Sam did for instance, sitting upright. He leaned back like you did, getting comfortable while he rested. His thighs spread slightly as he chatted away to you. You had however snuck the quickest look in the world downwards when he adjusted his seating position, Your mind went absolutely TV static blank and your lips parted as you drew a quick breath. You had to straighten up quickly as you got a little worried if Namjoon noticed you checking him out he might’ve fallen into his old ways and teased you. “He was talking about- birds?” you asked Sam.

“Fuck no. He was talking about his graduation. Oh my God you are the worst.”

You leaned forward. “Are you serious? He wasn’t talking about birds? I heard something about a bird.”

“No” Sam giggled.”I can’t even get mad at you. Kim Namjoon is a total babe.” You heard the whistle blow signaling that someone was out again. You looked up to see who was out. This is what I get for talking him up. You thought to yourself. Namjoon strolled over in your direction with a big smile on his face. Who would be happy to be out of dodgeball? He sat on the side of you in the same cursed position. “So as I was saying then as I was giving my speech. One of the parents in the crowd lost it.” His words trailed off as you looked past him at Sam who was shaking her head at you. 💨

One by one the kids had gotten kicked out of the game. Until it was just counselors left. Then suddenly the worst case scenario could have happened as the last kid walked off the court. One of the counselors, a loud mouthed sixteen year old named Tony had suggested one of the most trash ideas in history.

“Mrs. Bradshaw! We should have the counselors play against each other !” he yelled. Before Mrs. Bradshaw could answer the question the kids erupted in cheers rooting for the idea. Mrs. Bradshaw looked at the rowdy children.

It’s not like you didn’t want to play dodgeball. But at least when the children were playing too. The ball got thrown softer because one there was a chance that one of the kids were throwing the ball which meant it wasn’t getting thrown hard and if a kid wasn’t throwing the ball it meant a counselor was throwing and they couldn’t throw the ball but so hard because of the kids. But now it was all fair game and you really didn’t want to get bruised.

“Well the children seem to like the idea. How about it?” she asked. The counselors really didn’t have an option. It’s not like Mrs. Bradshaw abused her power but.. she only asked to be decent. The counselors that were out got up off their various spots on the bleachers.

“Wait? Who’s gonna throw?” Tony asked. Fuck this kid. You thought as you zoned out to make your way to the wall. You heard Mrs. Bradshaw call your name.

“Huh?” you called.

“Namjoon suggested you throw since you played volleyball! You must be a good throw.” she said, cheerfully.

Fuck this kid. You thought again. Namjoon ran to you with the ball in his hands.

“Go get em tiger.” he said, lowering his voice. He handed you the ball, he jogged over to a spot against the wall. You felt your face heat up a little. You were a softie for words of encouragement. You tossed the ball in your hands. First to do was to get this little fucker Tony out for suggesting the idea in the first place. You cocked your arm getting ready to throw the ball in his direction. As soon as the ball left your hand he dashed away the ball smacked against the wall hard. 

It went like that back and forth for a while. Four people had gotten out so far. The fourth, Sam who you genuinely wasn’t trying to get out she just so happens to be on the side of Tony when the ball bounced off the wall and hit her arm. You mouthed her an apology that she brushed off with a smile, she was probably happy to sit down in all honesty. 

Tony rolled the ball back down the court to you and if you didn’t know better you would have assumed he was doing it mocking you. Knowing that you were trying to get him out. If this was volleyball instead you probably would have just said screw it and spiked the ball at his face. You rolled the ball around in your hands. You heard kids off on the bleachers cheering for you. It put a smile on your face. You looked to where Tony stood, he was on the side of Namjoon .When you locked eyes with Namjoon, he smiled and winked at you. You had to focus. This could be the throw that finally got Tony’s punk ass out,then you could finally stop seeing that shit eating grin leave his face. You took a deep breath. You swung your arm back, throwing it forward you released it propelling it. You closed your eyes before you could see it make it contact. But when you heard the sound of the ball smack against flesh you knew you hit him. A loud “Oh fuck” went through the gym, followed by a wave of gasps.

Wait, that didn’t sound like Tony. You expected to be met with the sight of Tony clutching his arm in pain but instead you saw Namjoon hunched over holding his face. You saw blood dripping through his fingers. Guilt hit you like a runaway train. Even Tony looked shocked. You ran over to Namjoon, frantically apologizing. 

“Take him to the infirmary.” Mrs. Bradshaw called from the other side.

“Namjoon, you gotta stand up and tilt your head back for me.” you said, rubbing his back. “I got it. I got it.” his voice came out nasally from him pinching his nose in an attempt to get the bleeding to stop. He stood up and groaned as you two made your way to the infirmary. 💨 Namjoon laid back on the examiners table with gauze in his nose trying to slow down the bleeding. The nurse at the camp seemed to be in awe of your toss. You have a very powerful throw. She complimented you and apologized to Namjoon for being on the receiving end of the ball. It had been ten minutes and he was still bleeding. Even though it was still a lot it was then it was less than what it was when he first got hit. You remained by his side, the guilt of accidentally hitting him that hard wouldn’t let you leave.

“Namjoon, I am so sorry for hitting you that hard. I swear it wasn’t on purpose.” you apologized again.

“Don’t feel bad this is just the universe delivering me my karma for being a dick to you all these years. The universe is balancing itself back out.” he joked.

“If anything it’s from when you told me break a leg before the relay races when I was fourteen and then I actually broke my ankle.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re still holding on to that?” he asked, tilting his head to look at you.

“I am most definitely still holding on to that.” 

Namjoon laughed and shook his head.”You are certainly a piece of work.” “That I may be.” You said, taking a spin. “Honestly I didn’t mean to hit you. I was trying to hit that twerp Tony.” You took Namjoon’s hand in yours.

“It’s okay. You’ve explained this to me at least fifteen times in the last ten minutes.” he rubbed, his thumb over yours. 

“It’s just that I feel bad. After our conversation got all heavy last night I didn’t want you to think that I did that to be spiteful.”

Namjoon sat up on the examiners table to look into your eyes. He smiled at you. He took a deep breath that didn’t really come off like a true deep breath and more like a content sigh. “The painkillers kicking in?” you chuckled.

“Yes” Namjoon nodded slowly “that’s besides the point. I guess it’s kind of my fault for suggesting a volleyball player throw during dodgeball. I set myself up for this one.” “No it was me being a dick to a teenager.” “Well if we sit here going back and forth between who;s fault we’ll probably never make it to freshman orientation.” he laughed. “How bout we both blame it on Tony?” you questioned, throwing up a pinky for him to loop his around. “You do pinky promises? I wouldn’t have expected you to.” he looped his pinky around yours. 

“There’s a lot you wouldn’t expect me to do.” you said, lowly. “Oh really?” Namjoon raised an eyebrow at you.

“Barf me out. Namjoon get your mind out of the gutter and get your priorities straight. You have a nose full of bloody gauze. You’re gross.” you shook your head at him. “It’s not that gross. Plus you caused this.”

“No remember the pinky promise said that Tony caused this.” Namjoon nodded his head remembering the agreement you two had just came to thirty seconds ago. “It’s almost dried up.” he pulled the stained gauze out of his nose, examining it. “Good maybe the guilt can leave me alone.” you mumbled. Namjoon took one of the clean gauzes wiping off his nose. 

“Did you give a thought to our conversation?” Namjoon asked, quietly. Had you? It had only been a night and some change. Well at least not a full night for you. You tended to have a habit of violently overthinking just about every aspect of your life. Now the situation with Namjoon magnified it. You barely got any sleep last night. Thinking about every encounter you had with him. Sure enough he could be a good person, the behavior had just seemed biased towards you. Starting off anew couldn’t be the worse decision. If push came to shove you two were going off to college. You could just stop talking to him and completely cut him off.

But did you really not want him around. You had to force yourself to look at him. You were worried about the expression he donned. When you looked at Namjoon he had a neutral expression on his face. You sighed.

“So how are we doing this? Phone calls? Letters? What?” you smiled.

“You’re giving me a chance?” he smiled back.

“One” you held your pointer finger up. “Only one. Be very careful with it.” you whispered, as if people were around to hear your conversation.

“I promise you I will. I’ll call you even if I have to sacrifice my quarters for the wash to talk to you. I’ve got years of lost time to make up for.” he grabbed both of your hands, holding them tightly. You swung your arms. “I promise to write you letters I’ll use the finest of bic ink pens for you.” Namjoon laughed at you. “Can I ask you a question?” you hummed in response. “Can I kiss you?” you blinked a couple of times. Kiss? The word ran through your brain like headlines at the bottom of the screen during the 6 o’ clock news. “I’m sorry. Am I being too forward? Is it too soon? I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” Namjoon rambled. He was in the middle of still vocalizing his thoughts when you cut him off with a quick peck. Namjoon jumped back away from you. You jumped back too.

“Wait was I being too forward? I thought you wanted a kiss?” you asked, smacking him lightly on the arm.

“No no I did. It’s just I was talking I thought you would have let me finish talking first. It caught me off guard. Wait let’s try that again I’m ready now.” Namjoon puckered up and leaned in. You stopped his mouth holding up your hand.He opened his eyes looking at you in confusion.

“We got the rest of the summer to get it right.” you said.

“The rest of the summer?”

“Oh I’m sorry did you think I was gonna run up my parents bill talking on the phone with you every day. We all don’t come from money.” you said.

“Alright now. If I had to I’d foot the bill.” 

You laughed. “Jeez louise, Namjoon just drive to my house, it's not that serious.” 

“You got it, tiger.” he wrapped your fingers up in a pinky promise that he pressed a kiss to.

Summer was definitely your favorite season.

[songwheein]

ready for the whirlwind that is winnie song? she’s ( somewhat ) under the cut. it will probably take me a little time to dev a connections page, but i’m excited to be here and work out what’s going on between her and everyone else.

[ JEON SO-YEON, SHE/HER, CISFEMALE ] | [ WHEE-IN “WINNIE” SONG ] just threw their bags into the car. With [ "FOREVER” BY FLETCHER ] and the AC blasting, they depart [ LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ] with a [ VIETNAMESE COLD BREW ] in their hand. Off to see their high school friends who know them as [ WINNIE ] when they’re really [ THE DANCER ] now. The past five years, they’ve been [ BLOWING OFF COLLEGE, PURSUING DANCE PROFESSIONALLY AND FALLING IN LOVE TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT ] and it’s been pretty [ SOUL-NOURISHING ]. A few of the other pact members might be surprised by [ HER HAND TATTOOS, BLEACH BLONDE HAIR AND WELL-WORN COMPOSITION BOOK FILLED WITH HANDWRITTEN SHEET MUSIC  ].

kennedy was cool, she guesses. she was nice. she was perfectly nice-- a sweet girl. winnie enjoyed her company during cheer practice, and it was nice to have the excuse of “sleeping over” with kennedy when she wanted to spend extra time with beckett. but have you ever met someone like, too nice? that’s almost how it felt back then. no one was actually that nice and that sweet and that welcoming. call her a bitch, but you’d have to be an idiot. ( okay, so kennedy probably wasn’t an idiot, but winnie didn’t really grasp that when she started dating one twin she kind of dated both twins, and that was not the kind of relationship she’d been looking for at the time. and then she went and fucking disappeared and when you lose one twin you lose both, too. so... there might be some resentment there. ) they could talk and laugh and joke around and dance together. kennedy was an absolutely fine friend, but that’s sort of... it? she does have kennedy fucking off to god knows where to sort of thank for the kick in the ass she needed to start living her life on her terms-- but maybe kennedy’s the last person winnie’s keeping her huntington beach promise for.

the only reason winnie holds onto almost anything about herself from high school is to know that she can. she can be that person her parents wanted her to be. she can get decent grades. she can juggle a lot of extracurriculars. she can be pretty and popular and in-demand. she can be the best of the best. but that’s not what she wants. high school taught her that the only expectations she wants to live her life meeting-- exceeding-- are her own, whatever the cost may be. the only thing she really can’t shake ( and maybe doesn’t want to ) is her propensity for falling in love. she can’t help it.

winnie was born the second daughter of a well to-do korean american family. her father is a cardiologist, and her mother still runs a very successful, small restaurant in naperville using her all her grandmother’s recipes from korea.

growing up, she was taught to want to continue the family legacy of excellence and achievement. her parents weren’t some kind of stereotype, obsessed with nothing but grades, but they wanted the best for her. and their belief was that you had to be the best to get the best. so she was enrolled in dance classes and voice lessons and piano lessons and violin lessons and swim lessons and... what else was there? she’s probably taken the lesson at least once.

high school was, in a way, the most freedom she’d had from her parents to that point in her life. she was in enough clubs and activities to give her free time on-campus, and her older sister was living at home while studying pre-med and ate up a lot of her parents’ attention. it was the perfect storm for her to start trying to find ways to test her limits. what could she get away with? she could have a boyfriend! ( she could hook up with someone very much not her boyfriend! ) she could lie and say she was spending the night with a cheer teammate! ( she could actually spend the night with her boyfriend! ) she could get really brave and try to put temp dye in her hair that one time at an actual slumber party only to get grounded for three weeks! ( parents, amirite? )

of all the avenues she’d pursued over the course of her very young life, dance was the one she took to the most quickly. it spoke to her long before anything else-- even love-- ever did. she felt a lot when she danced, and she felt a lot very clearly. she could understand it all better. she could explain it all better. she was good at it-- truly good-- and it was never something she had to compete with her sister for.

once kennedy disappeared and everything fell apart, winnie sort of realized that... high school is... well, it’s all kind of bullshit, isn’t it? all of it. the rules. the expectations. the boxes everyone’s in all the time. they’d all been living the lives their families and their friends and their teachers and their TVs had been telling them they should live, and their world still shattered. their little CW dream team couldn’t last, so what and they all be doing it for? what had she been doing it for? if she up and died tomorrow, would her life have been fulfilled doing everything her parents wanted her to? hell no.

so she decided to do what she wanted to do. no college. just music. she went from illinois to nashville first. then to atlanta. then new orleans. ( there was this one especially hot summer in new york city when she realized that she hella, totally gay these days. ) then, finally, los angeles. from dance studio to dance studio, she’s learned so much. grown even more. no more boxes. no more restrictions.

did you know she’s even composing her own music these days?

she still has the same instagram account she used in high school, but she hasn’t posted to it in several years. it wasn’t difficult to lose touch with the group. the traumabonding of kennedy’s disappearance was easy enough for all of them to run from, scattering to the wind and across the country. honestly? part of her needed to shed them as much as she needed to shed the weight of her parents’ control. still. there are some people she misses. some people she wonders about. some people she’s occasionally insta-stalked over the years. 

( deep, deep down she’s nervous to find out if her friends still recognize her and if they’ll like who she’s discovered she is. the transformation has strained her family to a degree, and she doesn’t know if there’s anything from home she can well and truly salvage if she’s not the winnie she was then. )

she’s currently living with two roommates in a macarthur park apartment and loving every minute of it, supplementing her income from teaching dance classes and choreographing for local events with an ever-growing tiktok following. one of her roommates is a food blogger whose youtube channel pretty much pays his rent, and the influencer action just seemed too easy to pass up.

her look and style have completely evolved since high school. once upon a time she was a very traditional girl. no dyed hair. no piercings (except her earlobes). definitely no tattoos. a very muted and soft wardrobe, delicate and feminine and classic. as time has gone on, she’s developed an affinity for a more modern style. her clothes are louder. they’re more versatile. she can roll from high-end hyperfemme one day to streetwear futch the next. her hair is just as changeable, though she typically leaves it blonde. and tattoos? she has more than she can count now. some big pieces, a lot of small, dainty ones. ( the day she came home with her first visible tattoo, her mom sent her to room. she’d been twenty. )

her cat, jelly, goes with her everywhere she goes. you seen a cat on the beach before? be prepared.

[passionfruitys]

strike a chord.  pairing. terudai  chapters. 1/?  rating. m  summary. terushima yuuji is the lead singer of rock band FERAL that debuted a year ago. he's known as a playboy, a wild child, unpredictable and electric. no one can tie him down and his only love is the music he makes with his bandmates. he doesn't see himself ever tying himself down to anything or anyone else. then comes in sawamura daichi, a normal college student who doesn't care about the entertainment industry or any flair or fanfare terushima has to offer. at first, terushima's interested because daichi's so uninterested. but soon, terushima finds that daichi and all his normalcy are more than just a game for him to play with until he gets bored.but is he in love? no absolutely not. never. think again!

Someone was in his bed.

A female someone, if the smell of perfume and the taste of curly hair jammed in his mouth was any indication to go by. His eyes cracked open slowly, sleep and eye gunk weighing them down. Beside him was someone he didn’t recognize. A normal reaction would be to freak out. For Terushima Yuuji, waking up in a bed with a stranger was a normal Wednesday morning routine.

“Go home,” he croaked.

The girl beside him stirred, yawned, and opened her eyes. “Go home ,” he pressed.

She scowled. The smeared lipstick made her less intimidating.  “What do you mean go home? You’re the one who brought me here! Begged me, no less.”

“Sounds fake,” he yawned, turning onto his side so his back was now facing towards her. She sputtered, called him some not so pretty names , then stormed out his room. Hopefully with all her things in tow. If not he’d have his manager mail them to her.

Well, probably not since he didn’t know her name or where she lived or what her favorite color was. But it was the thought that counted.

He sighed, now able to properly sprawl out on his bed. Maybe he’d crawl out of bed to bring his guitar in for a snuggle. Mornings were definitely meant for solo missions where he could just exist and sink into the mattress and bury under pillows. He was drifting back to sleep when his door opened and someone sat on his bed.

“Morning, princess.”

“Die, Bobata.”

“Rude!” Bobata chirped, crossing his legs and leaning his weight against Tersuhima’s side. Terushima frowned and reached blindly for his friend to push him off but to no avail. “I come in here, minimizing your damage by the way, and wake up you yet I’m treated with such hostility? Being your best friend has no perks!”

“What damage did you minimize?”

“Youko-chan. The model you rudely kicked out of bed after nicely asking her to get into it last night.”

“That was her name,” he vaguely remembered meeting her last night. In the band’s usual night hangout. He remembered her voice in his ears and his hand on her thigh and then her tongue in his mouth and after that it was all darkness.

Again, literally a typical wednesday night for him.

Realizing that sleep was no longer an option, Terushima pushed himself up into a sitting position. He blinked sleep from his eyes, yawning.  His hair was all over the place, bleach blond kicked up towards the ceiling in all sorts of directions like lightning bolts. He glanced at Bobata who was texting on his phone. “You going for her next?”

“Nah,” Bobata clucked his tongue, “Not my type. I like a challenge.”

“Are you saying I can only get them easy?” he shot back, but there’s no real malice in his tone. Not like his next yawn did anything to help make him sound more aggressive.  

“I would never allude to such a thing,” his tone was airy but the shit-eating grin on his face said otherwise. Terushima flipped him off and rolled out of bed. He scanned his room and sighed. His pants were at the door and his shirt was on a chair. At least Kyou--Youko-chan had gotten her stuff before storming out. He scratched at his stomach as he headed for the shower. He smelt like sex and felt like booze replaced the blood in his veins.

“We have our meeting in 10 minutes, by the way!”

“Cool so I’m showing up late, thanks for letting them know!” Terushima hollered before heading into the shower. He was pretty sure he heard Bobata yell fuck you, a perfect harmony to the chaotic laughter that bubbled from his throat in response.

*

As promised, Terushima arrived to their meeting 30 minutes later. But it’s fine because he no longer felt like ass and he was stepping out . Hair styled, earrings polished, leather jacket looked just beat up enough to be vintage but with the price tag to show it was definitely modern and expensive as anything. He strolled into their meeting room with his hands in his pockets and a grin on his lips.

“Hello friends! What’s popping?”

“You’re late ,” his manager, Kagami, cut no corners with him. Kagami was the band’s manager, and then some. Sometimes team dad, sometimes team mom , and Terushima’s well... guardian? Savior? He didn’t know what title appropriately fit Kagami and no words could really describe it. Kagami was gruff, tall and well built--could fill out suits with ease. He always had his hair styled and cut short, curling around his ears. And his lips were generally slotted in a frown. Mostly from stress, but for the most part because Kagami and happiness were never synonymous in any context.

Which was why Terushima enjoyed fucking with him the most. “Ah, am I? Technically time doesn’t really exist so if we’re following that logic I’m really on time. Because, you know, it’s a social construct.”

“He’s not wrong,” Bobata chimed from his chair, now playing with a DS that oddly looked like--

“Oi! Is that mine?” Terushima lunged across the table and reached for his DS. Bobata moved just in time, pushing his rolling chair back with a cackle and a spin. “Bastard how could you take my shit like that!”

“You left me unsupervised. I’m not responsible for your missing property because of your lack of caring. Also I beat the gym leader for you. You’re welcome.”

“I wanted to beat the gym leader!”

“You’re the only one in our group who hasn’t beaten her yet,” Takeharu hummed, drumming his fingers on top of the table. “She’s the easiest one in the game, dude!”

“Isn’t it because, and I quote, she’s too cute to fight~  I want to make her my wife not another step on my way to victory ahhh~ ” Arata also commented, chin in hands and pencil perched on top his pursed lips.

Rintaro yawned, “Isn’t it just because he sucks at Pokemon?”

“You shut your damn--!” Terushima got cut off by Kagami’s sharp whistle that brought the entire group back to focus. Kagami lowered his hands and clasped them together in front of him. “You could have just said shut up. That works like, every time.”

“Act like animals, be treated like animals.” was Kagami’s simple response.

“That was deep--” came Bobata from the side.

“Anyways,” Kagami continued, “You’re late. You know the rules and no excuses. Sit down so we can finish this meeting and get into the studio.”

“Kaaaaay!” Terushima sat down in his chair but immediately rolled over so he was sitting next to Kagami. He rested his chin on the man’s shoulders and hummed. “Lay it on us, Kags!”

Kagami exhaled slowly and started running off their itinerary for the day. FERAL had a studio recording session today in the afternoon. After that a reporter from Rokkyou was scheduled to get an inside scoop on a typical session in the studio with the band, plus some hints about their next album. Following that would be a photoshoot for the cover and then solo activities.

“And Yuuji,” Kagami flipped to the next page, “You’ll be coming with me to meet the dean of the university we’ll be performing at next week.”

“Why me!”

“Because you’re the leader of FERAL. The face of the group. And the only one free at that time to come meet with me.” Kagami replied evenly. “If I could take someone else, I would.”

“Ouch, that’s rough. You could have said because I was your favorite.”

“And lie?” Terushima gasped, snickers and whistles erupted around the room. He pouted and Kagami grinned. “Favoritism isn’t a tenant I practice.”

“Sounds fake ,” Terushima heard Arata say. He opened his mouth to make a very witty and well thought out remark when Kagami cut in.

“Don’t start,” he warned Terushima. Then he turned to the rest of the group. “Today’s studio session is all out. We hit the ground running the minute we’re in there. Our album release is scheduled next week and I want everyone sounding like they’re pros. ” he made eye contact with every band member before locking eyes with Terushima, who had sat back now that conversation had turned serious. “You guys were an experiment, and you’ve passed your first trial. We can’t afford any mistakes on our second run. Go it?”

Everyone nodded. Terushima double nodded. His legs bounced up and down with unbridled excitement. Going to the studio, just the idea of it alone, could always boil his blood like no other. “Alright bet,” he jumped out of his chair. “What are we sitting around for? Let’s get started.”

*

Slipping the strap of his guitar over his shoulder would never stop feeling so natural. A kiss could never compare to the pure electricity that ran down Terushima’s spine from his lips touching the metal of the mic. He strummed his guitar, adjusting the nobs at the end as he tuned. The rest of his band mates got into position. Bobata on the second guitar, his right hand man. Arata on piano. Takeharu on drums. And Rintaro on bass. Together they made the band FERAL the powerhouse, rock group of 2018 that they were.

They were, in every essence of the word, just as wild as their band name described. The music they produced always jostled social norms, boundaries. Their first album, JUNGLE WARS was an eclectic mashup of different genres. The men trying out find out what genre they liked best only to decide they wanted everything. It was, as Kagami had described it, an experiment. The band’s existence was a whim by the president who wanted to try something totally . . . unpredictable.

And unpredictable they were. FERAL quickly gained notoriety for their outbursts. No TV host or interviewer could guess what they would say or do or think next. The president said that sort of electric movement, haphazard and dangerous, was just what the music world was missing. Terushima didn’t really get it. He assumed the entertainment industry was used to people who followed social conventions to the letter. Yet, when he gazed around the studio at the guys who had quickly become family in the past months since their debut, all he could see were people who loved making music more than anything else in the world. Fuck everything else.

They were fun, a true and unadulterated riot to be around. Being with them, his band, was like waking up to a different adventure everyday. Sure, they definitely gave their manager a chronic headache but they were living their best lives while doing so.

“Alright boys,” Kagami’s voice crackled over the speakers. “We’re going to do the first half of the album today due to our schedule. So, go ahead.” he leaned back, arms crossed, and suddenly the ball was in their court.

Terushima grinned. “Okay. Let’s do the first song. I wanna try a new opening I thought of last night.”

“Before or after you hooked up with Touko-chan,” Takeharu asked.

“Youko-chan,” Bobata corrected.

Rintaro scrunched up his face, “Seriously dude we just changed the opening two days ago!”

“Before!” Terushima responded. “Also, I know. But I woke up yesterday and hated it so I decided to change it before we went out. I was gonna tell you guys then I...forgot.”

“Cool, cool, love being kept in the roller coaster loop that’s your mind,” Bobata strummed a few chords on his guitar. “So you gonna play it or what?”

“Yup,” Terushima took his stance by the microphone and gave Kagami the thumbs up that they were going to start. Kagami pressed a button and the light above the glass window separating them from outside the booth switched from offline to recording.

The thing about FERAL was that they never played the same track twice. So rather than having a track play and them sing over or play over it, they would hit the recording button and capture whatever magic bloomed from the chaos.

For another band, such a tactic was risky as hell with the potential to end in disaster. Never for FERAL and not if Terushima Yuuij had anything to say about it.

He was excited, itching to show everyone what he’d come up with. The idea had struck him last night after taking a shot of tequila right out of the gates. The same burning, explosive, throat-scarring sting of the shot reverberated with the kind of sound he wanted for their first song. Their opening song, the very first thing their fans would hear once they started the album. He wanted that same feeling--a burning that hit you right to your bones and sat with you for the rest of the night.

He steadied himself. His grin was pure electricity.

The first chord he played was powerful. Loud and sharp , the note rattled everyone to their bones. Then, Terushima swiftly went into several chords, his fingers flying up and down the neck of his guitar. Explosive and reverberating, the sound only lasted a minute but when he was done his fingers were tingling and his lips--they were pulled in the most satisfying , crazed grin. He turned his head and looked back at his bandmates who were all mirroring his grin.

“Whatever the hell that was I’m here for it,” Kagami’s voice crackled once more. “Guys? Think you can piggyback off that?”

“Say no more,” Bobata replied. He turned to Terushima, “You’re a genius sometimes, dude.”

“Thanks, I know.”

After that, the session went on pretty much the same way. The band worked together in chaotic harmony. Someone would change a line, a verse, would hate a phrase of lyrics one minute and completely rewrite a bridge or chorus. By the time the reporter from Rokkyou came through the boys had utterly changed their first sound for their upcoming album.

“Now, FERAL’s known for their pretty unorthodox method of songwriting,” the interviewer, Shou, talked with his hands a lot. His smile was wide, stretched across his face, so much so that Terushima felt his mouth hurting in sympathy. The band had left the studio to sit outside on the benches, taking a much needed water break as they tackled the second portion of their schedule. “Can you tell us a little more about that? I’m sure your fans are dying to get inside that head of yours.”

“Pretty sure that’s not all they’re dying to get inside of,” Terushima muttered low enough that Rintaro snorted. Bobata, who by default was the most mature out of the five took to answering the question.

“Ah, it’s pretty--I don’t even know how to describe it… all over the place? We pretty much creative freedom to do whatever we want and we normally don’t leave the studio until we’re all happy with the sound we’ve made.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Terushima leaned in, arm slung over Bobata’s shoulder. “You see, our albums all have bits and pieces of our own style and ideas. But that’s ‘cause we work so hard to get the right mesh. We could spend hours on a song one day then the next we hate it so we start all over again. But we never end with what we started which I think is pretty cool.”

“How does that even work? If you don’t mind me asking. Surely you guys must worry that you could spend all that time in the studio and end up with nothing?”

The band members exchanged glances. “Nah not really,” Takeharu answered, his tone light. “Our producer wouldn’t let us do what we do if we didn’t get results. We’re a mess, but we’re an orchestrated mess. His words, not mine.”

“We’re also at the mercy of Terushima Yuuji,” Rintaro added with a smirk. “Just the other day the dude walks in saying: GUYS WE’RE CHANGING SONGS 1-5 ON THE ALBUM! Which is like, over half the album and we stayed in there for two days trying to match this dude’s pace.”

“Hey sometimes a tune just doesn’t vibe anymore!” Terushima huffed. The snickers that erupted lightly ruffled him. He frowned and pointed a finger towards Rintaro. “Sides you’re so stuck up with perfection if you don’t get the beat right we have to start all over.”

“It’s called setting the bar .”

“No it’s called being anally retentive.”

“Oh my God he really just said that out loud,” Arata put his face in his hands, slowly shaking his head.

Terushima didn’t care, because now he was engaged in banter with Rintaro with Bobata as the chaotic neutral that neither egged nor stopped them from going at each other’s necks. The reporter could get all this done and publish how much of a highly functioning discord they were. As long as he was able to get the last word in, regardless, he didn't really care. Arata sat in the corner, tired as all hell while Takeharu sneakily captured it all on his phone.

Shou, sadly, was left to navigate himself through the wild that was FERAL .

“AND ANOTHER THING--!”

“Enough, Yuuji.” Kagami’s stern voice cut through their antics. The boys settled down, Terushima even more so sinking into his chair with a pout.  Kagami sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I apologize for them. They’re hooligans.”

“Rude,” Bobata said under his breath. Terushima butted him with his elbow. He jumped with a yelp only to be met with Terushima’s childish but oh so satisfied grinned. “ Whipped .”

“Eat my ass,” he whispered in return. He turned to Shou who seemed to have survived their trip in the wild. He was still all smiles and laughter, apparently amused by their display. Good, another positive review for them. Terushima grinned only to feel it falter as Shou asked his next question.

“Alright. So as I’m sure you guys know, you’ve repped quite the name for yourself as being Japan’s resident new bad boys.”

“Oh word?” Terushima’s smirk was lazy. “We wear leather pants one time and suddenly we’re hooligans!”

“I wouldn’t say it was just the pants,” Shou continued, eyebrow raised. “If there’s a party in the city there’s no doubt one or all of you won’t make an appearance. Or cause a scene somewhere . Japan’s hooked on you guys! Saying whatever you want, doing whatever you want. Especially you, Terushima-san.”

Shou’s eyes cut to him and Terushima, relaxed against the couch, raised an eyebrow. “Tabloids love writing about your many exploits, romantically or otherwise. You’ve capitalized yourself on being this wild, playboy who takes no names and all the prisoners.”

“I dunno if I liked how you said that,” Terushima joked, but he didn’t deny it. He was all for strings when they weren’t attached. Tersuhima and commitment were like night and day. Never to touch, never to coexist in the same realm, always to miss each other by running parallel lines. This wasn’t the first time a reporter commented on his exploits, it probably wouldn’t be the last either. So he laughed it off, as he usually did.

He let the world paint him as a playboy. Getting upset every time someone brought it up would be stupid.

Shou didn’t look too perturbed. Asshole. “Sorry, sorry. I can rephrase if you like. What I want to know, if we’re going to be honest, is if you ever see yourself falling in love? Surely you must have met someone in this industry that’s caught your interest for the long run.”

All five of them looked at one another before breaking out into laughter. Terushima laughed the hardest. He clutched his stomach and hollered, tears forming at his eyes. Then they felt ice on their backs and a cough that no doubt came from Kagami. The men gathered their wits, Terushima being the last to come down from his high before answering the question.

“Love? Yeah no, not in this century dude. Unless it’s to the music I’m never getting married. But that’s just me, Arata over there is a huge hopeless romantic. Lemme tell you about this female singer he’s hilariously in love with but she doesn’t even know his name,” it’s so easy to deflect, to move the attention from him and his behavior to someone else. Arata sputtered and Bobata beside him snorted. Though Terushima catches the quick side glance he sends his way. Terushima, of course, ignored it. There was nothing to talk about, and he wasn’t bothered by the question. His life was on display, of course people were going to poke holes.

That’s why he always smiled and waved and gave them what they expected. No need in putting in extra effort to do otherwise.

*

Terushima kicked his feet up into the dashboard, arms resting behind his head as Kagami drove them to the university FERAL would be performing at next week. He shot a glance at his manager who kept concentrated on the road. Even as Terushima haphazardly changed songs on the radio through his phone every thirty seconds.

“Seriously can’t you drop me off at home? I don’t wanna go!”

“You’re being a child,” Kagami chided, not having any of Terushima’s bullshit today or tomorrow or the day after that.

Terushima frowned (read, pouted). “I’m not! I’m tired! I worked and slaved long hard hours in the studio! Got grilled by a reporter! And now you won’t even treat me to food!”

“We’re getting fed once we get there. You also ate five minutes ago.”

“I’m a growing boy, Kags!”

“You’re twenty.”

“A growing twenty-year old boy!”

Kagami shook his head, chuckling despite himself. Terushima beamed, proud of himself for getting the stoic Kagami to crack even if it was only a little bit. Honestly he was happy to accompany his manager on the trip. He owed Kagami a lot. He dealt with a lot of his bullshit over the years even before his debut. If it weren’t for Kagami he had no idea where he’d be right now. Surely not living in a nice place surrounded by people, fed, warm…

Terushima skipped to the next song.

“Remember my rule?” Kagami asked as they made a right turn. Terushima caught the sign for the university, Sendai University 3km away as they did.

“Uhhhh, no sex before marriage?”

“I’m fairly sure you already broke that but no.”

“Say my prayers before bedtime?”

“Do you get off on being difficult?”

“Yes, incredibly. It’s my kink.” Terushima stuck his tongue out, tongue ring flashes while Kagami’s grip on the wheel tightened. Riling him up would never not be fun. “Sorry about the songs! You know I get bored easily. I can only focus for like, fifteen seconds before the part I like plays and I wanna move on.”

“It’s amazing how your mind works,” there was a pause and then Kagami quickly glanced at Terushima. “How are you feeling?”

There was an undercurrent to his words. Terushima’s mind flashed to the interview and he shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I know what I’m doing and how people like to talk. If it gets us more attention that’s a good thing, yeah?”

“Not at the expense of reducing yourself to…”

“Kagami, seriously. It’s all good. I claim my man whoreness,” he smiled lazily and scrubbed through the song to get to his favorite part. The piano grew louder, the drums softly following suit, and the singer’s voice rising with the crescendo. “Honestly it could be worse. I don’t even wanna know how they’d treat me if I were a girl.”

“All hail the patriarchy,” Kagami’s tone oozed sarcasm. Terushima laughed and changed the song again which caused Kagami to growl and Terushima to laugh even harder.

By the time they pulled into the parking lot Kagami had angrily jammed the off button on his radio and almost confiscated Terushima’s phone. But he was took quick. He unbuckled himself and leapt out of the car, stretching his arms out wide as the spring sun hit him square in the face.

“Wow, nice campus,” Terushima whistled, watching as college students mingled and chatted amongst one another. Terushima was concealed with the stereotypical civilian starter pack: a hoodie, hat, and shades.

Sendai University was large, with white buildings separated by lush green grass with sidewalks running in between. College, a world in the past that Terushima was assaulted with constantly. Now, that time period and the entire prospect seemed like a far off, blurry dream. He never thought he’d end up on a campus. Granted, he’s here for his job but still…

“Our guide is meeting us in the gymnasium.” Kagami adjusted his tie, loosening it around the neck.

“Why the gym?” last time he checked they were performing in an outside venue provided by the college.

“You’ll see,” Terushima was not a fan of such a cryptic message but his curiosity was winning him over. He followed with a grumble as Kagami led him towards the gym. He seemed to know his way around, and Terushima was scratching back in his memory if a conversation ever popped up about Kagami’s university days. He knew being a manager wasn’t his first choice. But the blanks weren’t being filled…

They arrived at the gym and the first thing Terushima heard was the sound of sneakers squeaking against the floor. He immediately flashed back to highschool. To days where his jersey was soaked and his muscles were sore and he stood on a court surrounded by teammates that felt more like family than his own.

He’s grabbed out of his thoughts by the sharp sound of a whistle cutting through the air. Terushima watched as the volleyball players huddled together around someone, probably their captain. He said something that got the men energized before they all broke apart to clean up. Only the captain remained, who was approached by some old guy. The coach maybe? They exchanged words when Kagami called after them.

“Yo, Ukai!” Kagami hollered. Terushima watched as Ukai, some blond dude, turned his head. The minute their eyes met Ukai’s face broke out into a brilliant smile and he hustled over to Kagami for a hug.

“Kagami! It’s been ages, buddy!”

Kagami patted his back. “I know. Work’s been time consuming, but I’m glad we can cross paths like this. Thank you for meeting with us.”

“No man, I should be thanking you.” Ukai pulled back and patted him on the shoulder. “The fact that your band could perform at our school’s music festival is… honestly amazing. The principal hasn’t stopped kissing my ass since! Honestly this year’s Christmas bonus is looking pretty hefty and I have you to thank for that.”

“You two know each other?” Terushima asked, still shaken up from seeing Kagami actually hug someone.

“Ah, right. Introductions are in order. Yuuji this is Ukai Keishin A friend from my university days. He’s the volleyball coach here.”

“That’s me, Kagami and I go way back. When he told me you guys would be performing here I couldn’t resist hitting him up again. Ah,” Ukai turned around, back to the captain who was still in the gym doing a workout. “Daichi! Come over here for a minute.”

Daichi, Terushima figured, was built like a house. Broad shoulders and impressive muscles, especially in his arms. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to the shoulders so as he ran, and his arms moved, Terushima could catch the glimpse of subtle flexing. He was taller than him, that’s for sure, and the way he carried himself as he strode over to them exuded casual confidence.

This man was sure of himself, grounded in whatever concept or idea of his being he held true.

Terushima lowered his shades and whistled, “Oh you’re cute.”

“Yuuji!” Kagami hissed. Daichi blinked and Ukai choked on his laugh. “I’m sorry. He has no filter.”

“Wrong. I have a filter i just don’t use it.”

“Which is a problem .”

Terushima’s grin was lazy as he, without shame, gave Daichi a once over. Daichi remained unphased, matching Terushima’s gaze. Terushima’s grin only increased. Would he break? Would he show discomfort? Or would he go on seemingly unphased by his behavior? The possibilities were endless and Terushima hoped he wouldn’t disappoint.

Daichi, after a beat, simply grinned with his eyes closed.   “Oh this is your friend, Ukai-san? A pleasure,” he bowed slightly to Kagami who bowed back in return. When he opened his eyes the gaze he gave Terushima was brutal. Burnt, empty embers that held no amusement in their gaze. It rocked him to his core and he was frozen up until Daichi bowed towards him.

“And you’re Terushima Yuuji?”  the way he said his name made ice prickle on Terushima’s skin. As if saying his name bored him, tasted like acid, or was a waste of breath to even utter.

Oh. Well then.

Terushima didn’t bother bowing back, hands in his pocket. “Yup. Lead singer of FERAL and Japan’s resident bad boy hottie at your service.”

“With all due respect I think I’ll stick to calling you Terushima-san.” Dachi’s voice was clipped. Terushima’s lips twitched.

“You can call me whatever you like, babe~” Flirting came as easily as breathing to Terushima and really, he wanted to see Daichi crack, twitch, do something but Daichi was impenetrable. It was like Terushima’s words were going in one ear and out the other.

“Okaay uh, well!” Ukai cut in, clearing his throat. “Daichi like we talked about you’re gonna take Terushima on a quick tour around campus. I’ll catch up with Kagami and we’ll meet back here in an hour to meet with the principal about the concert.”

Terushima wanted to claw out his eyeballs. He’d much rather explore the campus on his own, or with Kagami, rather than Daichi. Sure, teasing him would be fun just to see how many cracks (if at all) he could put into that armor but at the same time the dude seemed like a stick in the mud. No fun and definitely a pain in the ass if and when Terushima got into trouble. However, he knew Kagami wouldn’t let him roam free without some form of leash. And, when he looked back at his manager, Kagami looked pretty pumped to hang out with an old friend.

The things I do for the people I love, he sighed, jamming his hands in his pockets and pushing his shades back up his nose. “Yeah okay. Whatever. Let’s get this show on the road.” Terushima drawled.

Kagami nodded, “Right. Enjoy your tour and don’t give Daichi too much trouble, Yuuji. I’ll see you in an hour.” he turned and Ukai threw an arm over his shoulder as the two fell into comfortable chattering over the past, the present, the future, the whatever it was two old men talked about when they reunited after years apart.

They left Daichi and Terushima in awkward, uncomfortable silence. Terushima looked down at his adidas then back to Daichi. “So, the tour?”

Daichi nodded, it was a tight jerky movement. Man this dude really didn’t like him. Who knew a little flirting was enough to set him on edge? “Right. Can I shower really fast, and then we can go?”

It’s on the tip of Terushima’s pierced tongue to offer assistance. And the voice in his mind that sounded oddly like Kagami told him to hold back but alas, Terushima was a man of no restraint so his flirtation fell easily from his lips. “Sure. Mind if I tag along?”

“Very much so,” Daichi had this way of saying things so politely yet so sharply. Like he’d stab you and smile through it all as you bled out onto the floor. Terushima laughed, watching Daichi turn on his heel and head for the showers.  

This tour would either end up being the death of him, the death of Daichi, or the death of them both and honestly? He was kinda looking forward to it.

[dawnasiler]

Scarlett Johansson, Before and After

"I definitely believe in plastic surgery. I don't want to be an old hag. There's no fun in that."

That's how Scarlett Johansson felt way back in 2004, according to an interview with B Magazine.

But only a few years later, she denied EVER having plastic surgery herself. After a 2007 Us Weekly article suggested otherwise, she issued a statement calling the claims "outrageous and defamatory," and even threatened legal action (not that a lawsuit ever materialized).

Still, the Lost in Translation star, now 34, has been followed by plastic surgery rumours to this day.

With her green eyes, blonde hair and bee-stung lips, I've always considered Scarlett to be one of the most unique beauties in Hollywood. Is it really possible to win the genetic lottery and end up with her particular combination of features?!

Let's take a look at her transformation over the years to see if we can find out!

Scarlett in 1997

Scarlett Johansson at a 1997 photoshoot.

First up is this pic from a late '90s photoshoot, taken when Scarlett was only 12 years old. She'd already been acting for three years at this point! Not only can we see her natural nose, but also her natural hair colour (which was not blonde, but a light ash brown). 

Scarlett in 1998

Scarlett Johansson at the 1998 Salute to American Heroes to Benefit the Fresh Air Fund.

At age 13, the only change was that her became a little darker, and she slicked on a very '90s shade of lipstick (perhaps MAC Twig?). This was prior to having any cosmetic dentistry work, so she does not yet have that perfect "Hollywood" smile.

Scarlett in 1999

Scarlett Johansson at the 1999 premiere of 'Blast from the Past.'

The late '90s also saw Gwen Stefani turning bindis into a trend (which would definitely NOT be cool in 2019). Scarlett got on board, pairing hers with some pale lilac eyeshadow. 

Scarlett in 2000

Scarlett Johansson at the 2000 premiere of 'The Beach.'

So, here it is... the photo that Us Weekly used as evidence of Scarlett's "nip and tuck." The lighting is particularly harsh on the contours of her nose, I'll give her that. But can lighting alone account for the differences compared to later photos? I don't think so!

Scarlett Johansson at a 2000 Max Azria show.

Here's another shot from the same month, but with much softer lighting. Nope, still doesn't look like the same nose she has today! Her lips, on the other hand, do match. As you can see in these early photos, they were ALWAYS super plump—even when she was a teenager!

Scarlett in 2001

Scarlett Johansson at the 2001 Hollywood Film Festival.

By the time she debuted in Ghost World at 17, her appearance had really changed. Yes, she's wearing a lot more makeup (including the dark "ring around the lips" lip liner that was an actual thing back then). But it might not be JUST makeup. I'm wondering if her nose isn't a little bit less prominent here! 

Scarlett in 2002

Scarlett Johansson at the 2002 premiere of 'Eight Legged Freaks.'

This shot confirms my suspicions. All of a sudden, Scarlett's career was taking off, and she emerged on the red carpet with a much more groomed, grown-up appearance. There's the vibrant red hair, sophisticated makeup, and a nose ring to accentuate what looks like a newly reshaped nose. 

Scarlett in 2003

Scarlett Johansson at the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards.

Oh yes, once upon a time, Scarlett had a mullet. ("There was a total party going on in the back of my head!" she recalled. "I had a 'mullet pride' shirt that I wore.") My memory's a little fuzzy, but I don't think this wispy 'do was ever hair goals, even back then!

Scarlett Johansson at a 2003 Cynthia Rowley show.

Speaking of weird hairstyles... the same year, she also stepped out in these blonde ringlets, paired with over-the-top false lashes and glossy hot pink lips. Again, I want to point out that her features seem a little more in balance compared to when she was younger. My guess is she underwent a rhinoplasty around 2001 or 2002, before Lost in Translation made her a box office sensation.

Scarlett in 2004

Scarlett Johansson at the 2004 premiere of 'A Love Song for Bobby Long.'

At age 20, Scarlett took her hair even lighter, to a platinum blonde—a shade that really brings out her star quality. She also ditched the kooky makeup and hairstyles, likely securing a better styling team from here on out. Again, her nose has a different shape compared to before, but I would argue that this isn't her "final" nose, either. 

Scarlett in 2005

Scarlett Johansson at the 2005 premiere of 'Match Point.'

Remember this phase, when Scarlett was all about the old Hollywood glamour? She always did some sort of retro curls with a red lip, barely-there eye makeup and a low-cut dress. By this point, she had upgraded her smile to make it straighter and more even. But take a look at her nose here, and then compare it to the next shot....

Scarlett in 2006

Scarlett Johansson at the 2006 Golden Globe Awards.

Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Her nose is suddenly much narrower, which makes her eyes and lips stand out even more. Not that anyone probably noticed, when she was wearing this dress!

Scarlett in 2007

Scarlett Johansson at the 2007 Louis Vuitton Love Party.

Next, she switched things up with an extreme bleached blonde, worn straight and pinned off her face. Keep in mind that this was the same year that the nose job allegations started, thanks to Us Weekly. (And that makes perfect sense, looking at these photos!)

Scarlett in 2008

Scarlett Johansson at the 2008 premiere of 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona.'

Then, it was back to a more low-key look in 2008, albeit with a slight vintage flair. The red lipstick shows off her naturally full lips and near-perfect smile, and the darker roots make her blonde colour look natural.

Scarlett in 2009

Scarlett Johansson at the 2009 premiere of 'He's Just Not That Into You.'

Before securing her role as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, Scarlett dyed her hair dark auburn, which she attributed to a "subconscious" hope that "they'd give me a call." Since her skin tone is neutral, she pulls it off every bit as well as the blonde.

Scarlett in 2010

Scarlett Johansson at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.

But it wasn't long before Scarlett returned to her signature blonde, this time with a warm golden hue. She rocked it with frizzy, messy waves—texture was a big deal in the early '10s—and lots of black liner. 

Scarlett in 2011

Scarlett Johansson at the 2011 Academy Awards.

Who could forget Scarlett's bob? She was way ahead of the current trend with this choppy, piecey 'do (and probably inspired countless women's haircuts over the years!). Her hair colour was a little darker here, and I appreciate that her teeth weren't blindingly white... yet.

Scarlett Johansson at the 2011 Disney D23 Expo.

Later that year, as her bob was growing out, the dark hair resurfaced—this time, as more of a cherry red than an auburn. (Is there any hair colour this woman doesn't look amazing in? The answer is no!)

Scarlett in 2012

Scarlett Johansson at the 2012 London premiere of 'The Avengers.'

Within a year, Scarlett had ditched the red dye and grown out her bob enough to pull it up into this braided updo—all the better to show off her perfectly proportioned features. She was 28 at this time.

Scarlett in 2013

Scarlett Johansson at Comic-Con 2013.

Next, she showed off a full mane of golden blonde waves, I'm guessing with the help of a few extensions. Of all the hair colours she's tried, this one is my favourite! Smoky, winged out eyeliner makes her eyes pop.

Scarlett in 2014

Scarlett Johansson at the 2014 London premiere of 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier.'

With her hair in smooth waves and a vampy colour on her lips, this look is reminiscent of Scarlett's old Hollywood style era from the mid-'00s. She was also pregnant here, and it was her last hurrah with long hair for a while....

Scarlett Johansson at the 2014 Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser.

Talk about a radical change! Just like that, Scarlett chopped off her long locks. This was taken just two months after she gave birth to her daughter—but it's far from the typical "Mom" cut. (She wouldn't rock Mom hair until 2018!)

Scarlett in 2015

Scarlett Johansson at the 2015 Independent Spirit Awards.

In 2015, she took her short cut even shorter, shaving the sides and then bleaching the top a cool light blonde. Even if you're not a fan of the pixie, there's no denying that it puts even more focus on her uniquely beautiful features and flawless skin.

Scarlett in 2016

Scarlett Johansson at the 2016 Toronto premiere of 'Sing.'

In 2016, it seemed like Scarlett was ready to grow out her pixie. Most people have to go through an awkward stage, but there's no evidence of that here. The big waves, honey blonde colour and retro cat eyes look incredible on her.

Scarlett in 2017

Scarlett Johansson at the 2017 New York premiere of 'Ghost in the Shell.'

But at age 33, she renewed her commitment to short hair by buzzing off the sides again and slicking it all back with copious amounts of hair gel. I can't say I'm a fan of this new, "tough" look, but at least she pulls if off better than Katy Perry!

Scarlett in 2018

Scarlett Johansson at the 2018 Met Gala.

Finally, Scarlett began growing her hair out the following year, and at the same time, decided to dye it a rich, chocolatey brown. (And no, it wasn't even for Avengers: Endgame.) Honestly, it looks like a helmet!

Scarlett in 2019

Scarlett Johansson at the 2019 premiere of 'Jojo Rabbit.'

That brings us to 2019, and Scarlett's hair is back on track! She traded the brown for her go-to blonde (this time, with dark roots), and most likely used extensions to add length and volume. Also, notice her teeth. Not only have they been brightened, but they are now completely even and uniform in size.

Scarlett Johansson Before and After

Scarlett Johansson in 1997 (left) and in 2019 (right).

Scarlett may insist she's all-natural, but looking at her photos side by side, there's no denying that a couple features have changed. Even in different lighting situations, with different hair colours and makeup applications, you can STILL see them.

For one thing, her teeth have been made over with whitening treatments and porcelain veneers. It's now that dazzling, perfect smile that you only see on celebrities.

The main alteration, however, was to her nose—just like so many other Hollywood stars. 

I'm going to venture a guess that she had not one, but TWO rhinoplasties. The first one would have been done before 2003, when she wasn't on anybody's radar. The second was an even more skillful refinement, done around 2005, right before she became a household name.

"Scarlett's work is certainly minimal, but it should belong on a list of the best nose surgeries ever done on a celebrity," says Dr. Jeffrey Rawnsley. 

"The biggest difference is in the bridge. As you can see, her original bridge was thick, leading all the way up to her brow. The result made the nose look too large for her small and delicate face. The new bridge is distinctly thinner and definitely goes well with her other features. The tip of her nose was rather bulbous, giving it the unfortunately named 'piggy look' when combined with the thick bridge. Very little work was done on the tip, however. Just small changes to refine it were used and the shape itself wasn't changed at all. That's how she still has the same nose but with just more delicate details."

Her lips, on the other hand, have had undergone zero cosmetic enhancements. 

"A lot of patients ask me to make their lips look like Scarlett's," says Dr. Anthony Youn, "but it's impossible for a plastic surgeon to create perfection like this." 

How do you feel about Scarlett's beauty evolution? Which of these looks is your favourite? What "beauty work" do you think she's had done?

Scarlett Johansson, Before and After syndicated from The Skincare Edit

[common-mushroom]

Headcanons for bachelors/bachelorettes old hairstyles/colors, maybe when they were kids

HERE FOR THIS.

-A common headcanon for Seb is that he was a ginger as a kid, and I support that theory 110%. Although honestly, I could see him as more of a strawberry blonde growing up rather than straight-up red like Robin’s. I think he’d have started dying it literally the second he hit puberty–honestly emo kids are COMMITTED AF. He’s def been dying his hair black since he was, like, 13. 

-Maru’s lightish brown hair is natural. It’s been the same style since she came outta the womb tbh, and she’s never once changed it. The only thing she’s ever done is let it grow semi-long a few times over the years, only to cut it off to its usual length every time. Since she’s only half black, she didn’t inherit the coarse hair. She ended up with hair similar in texture to Robin’s (at least that’s how it looks to me from her portraits).

-Alex’s hair has stayed relatively stable over the years, but he didn’t know how to style it until a few years ago when he befriended Haley and she gave him some tips. Also he probably bleached and/or shaved it at some point in high school as part of a sports team thing because they always did shit like that as team bonding before big competitions and whatnot.

-Penny is a natural redhead, but she went blonde for a while because she was teased for being a ginger. Once she moved to Pelican Town with Pam, she stopped because she realized that nobody there would dare to make fun of her.

-Abigail has dyed her hair so many times over the years that nobody knows what her natural color really is. In reality, she grew up as a natural brunette, but as we all know, once she became an adult, the [SPOILER] wizard hair took over and she’s permanently purple now. She’s tried re-dying it black, red, pink, anything…but strangely, not a single color stays for longer than a day or two.

-Harvey’s hair was prob pretty normal for a while but he totes had his hair long (at least past his shoulders) when he was in college, at least as an undergrad. Once he went for his doctorate, he wanted to look professional so he’s kept it short since. After seeing Elliott, though, he secretly kicks himself for not letting it grow. It’s too late to get back into it now, though.

-Haley is a natural blonde but she bleaches it to make it blonder. She’s tried every product in the book but nothing makes her blonde enough except good old-fashioned bleach. She definitely participated in that hair trend of 2011-ish though, when everyone dyed a streak of their hair red, blue, or purple with hot kool-aid.

-Leah is a total hippie, as we all know, so there’s no way in hell she’s ever dyed her hair. Also she's been growing it since she was a girl and has only ever gotten it trimmed.

-Elliott...grew up with typical dude hair. He probably went to a private liberal arts college and, after being surrounded by unique people for so long, he decided he wanted to try something different. So he let it grow...and grow...and grow. The only way he knew he could pull it off is if he took really good care of it. He gets a lot of positive attention from people for it, and as an unapologetic attention whore (this isn’t an insult obviously, we all love him for being this way) he will never look back.

-Emily’s hair has been naturally blonde like Haley’s for most of her life, but she was tired of looking like everyone else and decided on a whim in her early 20′s to dye it a crazy color. She ended up loving the look and kept it ever since.

-Shane, before the depression hit him, loved hair gel a little too much (hello, faux hawk). After he came to live with Marnie, he stopped putting in effort because he didn't see any point if there was no one to impress. In my eyes...he’d gel his hair again when he started dating the farmer.

-Sam, in a similar vein, uses every hair product imaginable to give him the super saiyan look. He wore his hair that way once in high school on a dare and became popular for it so he kept wearing it, as an extended joke. After a while it just became habit and he considered it a crucial part of his identity. Also!! Before the spikes, he definitely flat ironed it every day to get that sweepy skater dude hair that was so common in the mid-2000s, lol. He’s probably experimented a few times with home hair dye kits as well, but we all know Sam, and we all know it never turned out.

[artificialqueens]

wingwomen ch1 (trixya, shalaska) - lale

Summary: Trixie was pretty sick of watching her best friend, Alaska, pine over the school weirdo, Sharon Needles. But when Sharon Needles made friends with the new girl from Russia, Trixie decided she was finally going to give Alaska the push she needed into Sharon’s arms – and, hopefully, herself into Katya’s.

A/N: Someone prompted yesterday: “Million dollar idea: high school au where alaska and trixie are cheerleaders+ best friends who get crushes on goth misfit sharon and weird nerdy Russian exchange student katya who also happen to be bffs and they have to wing woman their way into both of them getting gfs” and I couldn’t stop thinking about it!!! Expect updates all this week, and Girls Like Dollies will resume at the weekend as planned!

“How many more times is Alyssa going to make us run this damn cheer? The more times she makes us practice a four line chant, the more I think the stereotype of dumb cheerleaders isn’t quite so unrealistic.”

Trixie huffed out a laugh, trying to use one of her pom poms to fan herself. It was a warm summer day, and cheerleading practice had been dragging on for what felt like hours.

“You know how she gets when she gets to lead practice. Coco might be annoying, but at least she doesn’t make practice four hours long,” she replied, grinning over at her best friend. Alaska rolled her eyes, blowing upwards to try to brush a lock of hair away from her forehead.

“Trixie! Alaska! Are you even paying attention?” Alyssa shouted over at them, a hand on her hip and eyebrow raised.

“Yes, mama,” Alaska replied, shooting her a mock salute. Alyssa had been the head cheerleader the year before, but had been replaced by Coco Montrese that semester. It made for a slightly tense atmosphere in the team, and Alyssa definitely made the most of her opportunities to run practice when Coco was away. She was a good coach and an amazing dancer, but Trixie thought she’d make an even better drill sergeant with the way she instructed them.

Trixie looked over at Alaska, about to say as much to her, but found Alaska looking over at the bleachers. Trixie immediately knew why; there was a figure approaching them, her shock of bleach blonde hair making it easy for Trixie to identify her.

“Are you ever going to stop lusting after Sharon?” she asked, poking Alaska in the side.

“I’m not!” Alaska whined, pouting over at her before her eyes drifted back to Sharon. She’d sat down on the grass by the bleachers, brazenly lighting up a cigarette and scrolling through her phone.

“You’re so ridiculous. I don’t know why you don’t just talk to her,” Trixie said.

“I don’t have any classes with her!” Alaska protested.

“I do! I’ve told you I’ll talk to her for you if you’d let me,” Trixie said. Personally, she didn’t get what Alaska found so fascinating about Sharon. Sure, she had a distinct look, and that was something that Trixie more than anyone could appreciate. But she wasn’t particularly sociable, and spent most of the classes Trixie had with her doodling and resisting any kind of participation. Trixie never saw her at any parties or around the mall on the weekends. She didn’t seem to have a lot of friends, but it seemed to be by choice rather than anything else.

“I’m not twelve! I don’t need you to ask anyone out for me,” Alaska said.

“The way you’re crushing on her, you’d think you were twelve,” Trixie shot back.

“Why do you bully me like this?” Alaska whined, dragging out her words until they were more of a croak than anything.

“Because I love you, you dumb bitch,” Trixie replied easily. “Please, just talk to Sharon Needles. Either she’ll whisk you off your feet and you can make me jealous with your Disney happily-ever-after, or she’ll reject you and we can have an ice cream and movies night in our pyjamas and you can cry over romcoms.”

“You make it sound so appealing,” Alaska drawled. Trixie glared at her, doing her best to look intimidating. Alaska laughed. “I can’t ask her out, anyway. If I got a girlfriend, I’d be leaving you all alone in your spinsterhood,” she reasoned.

“Bitch!” Trixie squealed through her laughter.

“And again!” Alyssa shouted loudly, giving them both a death glare. Still laughing, Trixie lifted her pom poms, ready to go over the same chant for the hundredth time.

***

Trixie and Alaska hadn’t always been best friends. They’d gone through the same school system since Kindergarten, but never really gotten to know each other until Freshman year. Trixie was desperate to try out for the cheerleading team, but none of her friends had been interested. Kim had no sense of rhythm, Violet and Pearl laughed at the very idea of something as basic as cheerleading, and Fame had been too busy starting up her makeup channel to consider any extra activities. So Trixie had gone to tryouts alone, refusing to be intimidated by the more popular, athletic girls there.

Everyone knew who Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese were, and now that Alyssa’s protégés Laganja and Shangela had started high school as well the typical cheerleader clique seemed to be in full force. Trixie was scared she’d be turned away before she could even try out, but she was determined to try. The only other girl there who wasn’t already definite cheerleading material was Alaska, who Trixie had recognized from a few classes they’d shared over the years. She was gorgeous, with carefully styled huge hair and dark, arching brows, but she was still less intimidating than the other cheerleading girls.

“Hi, I’m Trixie,” she’d said, giving Alaska a cautious smile.

“I know,” she’d said. “I’m Alaska.”

“I know,” Trixie repeated, her smile growing. Alaska laughed.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a cheerleader,” she’d said. Trixie shrugged.

“I really like the outfits,” she’d said. That wasn’t all of it, of course. Trixie was fascinated by the cheerleaders, by the way people looked at them and the immediate power it seemed to give them from the moment they put on their uniform.

“I just wanna be a bitchy cheerleader,” Alaska had replied.

“It always looks so fun in the movies,” Trixie had agreed.

The tryouts had been long and arduous, with Alyssa more than taking them through their paces, and Trixie had been sure she had no chance at making the team. Alyssa had come over to the two of them at the end and Trixie had assumed she wanted to let them down in private.

“Will you come to every practice?” she’d asked bluntly.

“Yes,” Trixie had said, already feeling more hopeful.

“You won’t ditch us if you get asked out by a cute boy?” Alyssa had asked, hands on her hips.

“No,” Trixie had said truthfully.

“Then you’re in,” Alyssa had said. Trixie’s mouth dropped open.

“Really?” Alaska had said, sounding as surprised as Trixie felt.

“Sure. You showed up today, you tried hard. I like that,” Alyssa had said, her face softening. “Practice starts tomorrow. Do not be late.” With that, she’d turned on her heel and left them alone.

“Time to see if the outfit really does look good on you,” Alaska had said after a beat of shocked silence.

***

As it turned out, it looked fucking great on her. Trixie loved getting to wear her cheerleading uniform, and she loved being on the team even more than she’d expected. She’d thought the girls would be catty bitches – they were, but they surprised her by being more than catty bitches. Alyssa, it had turned out, was actually a total goofball when she wasn’t in drill sergeant mode, and Laganja and Gia had their own dopey charm about them. Even Coco could be nice when she wasn’t bickering incessantly with Alyssa. Trixie still had Kim, Violet, Pearl and Fame, but now she had her cheerleading girls too, and she and Alaska had become fast friends after the try-outs. Neither of them were as good dancers as the other cheerleaders, and they bonded over all the times they were relegated to the back of the group or the bottom of the pyramid.

Their friendship had been cemented Sophomore year, at a party after the first big game of the year. It had been the first big party they’d been invited to as part of the cheerleading team, and Trixie had ended up more than a little tipsy in her excitement over being at a real high school party.

“That guy definitely likes you. Look, he keeps looking over here,” Alaska had said, glancing over at one of the guys from the football team. Trixie followed her gaze, wrinkling her nose at the smirk the guy gave her.

“Eww,” she had said, pulling Alaska out of the crowded living room.

“What? Don’t you think he’s cute?” Alaska had asked, tottering behind her with beer sloshing out of her cup.

“No! Boys are gross,” Trixie had said, find her way outside and leaning against the wall. The world was starting to spin.

“You sound like a lesbian,” Alaska had said, tipping her head back to drain the rest of her drink.

“Well, maybe I am one!” Trixie had said, throwing her arms up dramatically. There was a moment of silence as Trixie realized what she’d said. It was the first time she’d told anyone, and she certainly hadn’t planned on drunkenly blurting it out to Alaska at a party.

“Really?” Alaska had asked, putting her cup down and looking at her seriously.

Maybe it was the alcohol buzzing through her system, but Trixie didn’t want to lie anymore. It was a liberating feeling – who cared if Alaska didn’t like it? That could be sober Trixie’s problem.

“Yeah,” she had said, tipping her chin up and looking at Alaska defiantly, daring her to be a bitch about it.

Instead, she had said, “me too.”

***

The rest had been history. Now, almost at the end of their Junior year, Trixie was out to her family and was the head of the LGBT club, and Alaska was still her best friend. Although, with the way she was pining so pathetically over Sharon Needles, Trixie was considering denouncing her.

“Okay, practice hasn’t even started and you’re already staring at her!” she said to Alaska in her most unimpressed tone. They were gathered on the grass outside and Alaska was staring over at the bleachers.

“Oh my lord,” Coco said from behind her, her bickering with Alyssa halted for the moment. “Sharon Needles has a friend!”

That was enough to get Trixie’s attention. She spun on the spot, eyebrows shooting up in surprise when she spotted a second girl sat beside Sharon.

Not only was there a girl sat beside Sharon Needles, but she was the most gorgeous girl Trixie had ever seen. She had masses of messy blonde curls and bright red lips, and she was wearing a hideous, multi-coloured dress that fanned out across her knees. She had a cigarette between her lips, but when she exhaled she laughed at something Sharon had said and Trixie saw she pearly white, perfectly straight teeth and a stunning smile.

“It’s that Russian girl! Katya Zingowadawada,” Alyssa said, coming over to gawk at the two girls with them – though, Trixie imagined, she and Alaska were looking at them for very different reasons to Alyssa.

“Is she new?” Trixie asked. She was sure she’d have noticed this girl before if not.

“She’s in Social Studies with me,” Alaska said, looking over at Trixie. She caught onto her expression and an amused smile spread across her lips. “Her family just moved over here.”

“Did you talk to her?” Trixie asked, making Alaska’s smile widen.

“Are you smitten, Trix?” she asked playfully. Trixie didn’t answer, too busy watching the girl – Katya – as she talked to Sharon. She turned to the side and Trixie got a glimpse of razor sharp cheekbones. They should have made her look severe, but somehow her face still seemed soft, friendly.

“Oh my god, you’re totally crushing on her! Okay, you’re never allowed to say anything about Sharon again, you’ve got a crush on Katya after 30 seconds of knowing she exists,” Alaska said, waving her pom pom in her face. Trixie pushed it away, scratching her nose where the fuzzy material had itched it.

“She’s gorgeous,” Trixie said, unable to filter her thoughts.

“This is pathetic. You want me to talk to her for you?” Alaska asked.

No!” Trixie yelped, finally turning to face her. “No, god, what would you even say? I’d look like a moron.”

“Pot, kettle,” Alaska said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Coco finally got their attention to get practice started, but Trixie was distracted the whole time. Katya and Sharon were still sat by the bleachers and Trixie kept stealing glances over at them. They must have gotten through at least five cigarettes each, which was normally the biggest turn off for Trixie, but somehow Katya managed to make smoking look, well…cool. Trixie was already fascinated by this gorgeous, strange girl, who’d chosen Sharon Needles of all people to hang out with.

When practice was finally over, Laganja dashed to the front of the group to get their attention.

“So, my parents think it’d be a really good idea for me to have a party after the game next week!” she announced. Trixie and Katya shared a look: Laganja parents were also her therapists, and some of their ‘good ideas’ for Laganja had proven questionable over the years. “They’re going away to a conference, so we can invite everyone to my house! Gia’s going to help me organize it all and it’s going to be amazing! Right, Gia?” she said, looking to her best friend for support.

“Absolutely,” Gia said, a vapid expression on her face as she twirled her long, thick ponytail around her finger.

“You should invite Sharon to Ganja’s party,” Trixie suggested to Alaska.

“Oh, please! Girl, you just want me to invite her so that she’ll bring Katya, I’m not stupid,” Alaska replied. Trixie pouted; of course Alaska had seen through her plan.

“Doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. You’ve been pining for her all year,” Trixie insisted. “I can talk to her in Algebra for you.”

“You just said you didn’t want me to talk to Katya for you! It works both ways,” Alaska said. Trixie huffed.

“Fine! I’ll let you talk to her if I can talk to Sharon. Please?” she pleaded.

“Trixie…” Alaska trailed off, clearly unsure of Trixie’s plan.

“C’mon! You’re my best friend, if anyone can sell you to Sharon Needles it’s me,” Trixie said, batting her eyelashes pathetically at her. Alaska made a grumbling noise.

“I suppose you’re right. I swear to god, Trixie, if this doesn’t work then I’m going to come over to your house in the middle of the night and burn every single pink thing you own,” she threatened. Trixie just beamed at her.

“Deal! I promise, Lasky, this is gonna work. By the end of Laganja’s stupid house party, you won’t need to pine over Sharon Needles anymore,” she said earnestly. She meant it; Alaska had been crushing hard on Sharon for too long now. Something needed to be done – and if that something also led to Trixie getting to talk to the most gorgeous girl she’d even seen in her life? Well, that would be pretty great, too.

[douglasrdenton-blog]

A Countdown of Our Top Blog Posts of 2018 (Which Was Your Favorite?)

2018 was a big (HUGE) year for EHD. The staff doubled in size (SAY WHAT?!?), we wrapped up the labor of love that was the Portland Project (stay tuned for more reveals in 2019), the mountain fixer is ALMOST DONE (and by almost done, we mean there are walls and floors and bathrooms and a kitchen…furnishings are still TBD-head to this post for the most recent update), we launched two super awesome new sections of the site-all the cool kids are hanging out in the Rooms and Shop page, are you?-so yeah, pretty epic. And just wait for next year. We're predicting that 2019 is going to be full of so.many.amazing.things, and we cannot wait. Hopefully, sitting here in 365 days, we'll all look back and say OMG WHAT A FUN YEAR, THAT WAS THE BEST YEAR EVER, but before we get there, we have to wrap up this year, and what better way to do that/get all nostalgic than to look back at the top posts we published these past 12 months.

These are the stories you readers devoured (and commented on) the most. It's a grab bag of topics, from beauty to politics to house tours to trends…and a sprinkling of controversy.

#11: My Style Evolution, Where It's Going, and A Big Return to OG EHD

We originally only planned on doing the top 10 posts of 2018, but how could this post, which set the tone for what's to come here at EHD, not make it in when it was just a 100 page views away from claiming its seat at the popular table? We write our own rules around here, and no one said a “Top Posts of the Year” roundup couldn't include ELEVEN stories. This post was honestly months in the making. With two heavy renovation projects, the whole “style. play. every day.” aspect of this site (and me) kind of fell to the side, and I'm sure the team could see me twitching from withdrawals. In this post, I take a deeeeep dive into my old homes, my style and what's next for me. It's a good one, so if you missed it the first time around, don't make that mistake a second time.

#10: 7 Things I Learned After Instagramming a Photo of Obama & Losing 4K Followers

I really hemmed and hawed about whether to hit “publish” on this one, but some of the team campaigned hard for it because we knew it would cause chatter (and boy did it ever create chatter-it currently has just about 900 comments…you guys had A LOT to say here, as I knew you would). Writing about what was going on in my head before, during and after I randomly and really without too much thought posted a doctored photo of Barak Obama on Instagram one weekend night, only to have a major exodus of followers. If you've ever wanted to read my thoughts about feminism, where I stand on posting personal views on politics and, well, basically, what I learned from this whole thing, head here.

#9: A Romantic Glam Bedroom Makeover with Opalhouse by Target

It's so fun to do inventory at the end of the year of the posts that hit the most with the readers, because it's one of those moments where we get reminded of the posts we published AND LOVED. We post roughly 260 posts every year, so it's easy to be like “Oh yeaaahhh” when you see something make the list. This is one of those posts. Not to say that we forgot about this post at all (it actually had a sister post-I was tasked to showcase Target's new Opalhouse line this spring and because I couldn't pick just one way to use the product in a room, I did two rooms, duh), but I sort of forgot just how sweet and great this room was. That headboard almost broke the internet (and was almost instantly sold out on Target.com for weeks and weeks). You can't see it in this photo, but the Art Deco-y blush velvet swivel chair we used in the corner of this room was also just SO good. All around, just one of those rooms you can't stop staring at (so for good reason it made our Top 10).

#8: My Kitchen Design a Year Later: Lots to Love & Some Regrets

Another post that sparked controversy in the EHD reader universe, except this time, I didn't really anticipate it like I did in the Obama post. This post ran on Arlyn's first day as Editorial Director, so since I was busy onboarding her, I kind of got to ignore the fact (for a few hours, anyway) that everyone was VERY, VERY upset in the comments that I would even think to change anything in my kitchen that I wasn't happy with a year in. Words thrown around by you guys: “frivolous,” “ridiculous,” “wasteful.” What I thought would be a fun idea to dissect what I did in the initial reno and what, in retrospect (and after living with things), I think could work better in terms of style/design and functionality, well…you didn't necessarily agree.

#7: House Tour: Mel's New Place Makes Us Want to Declutter Immediately

EHD veteran Melanie Burstin's house tour was a year (give or take) in the making. Back in early 2017, she revealed her previous apartment in Silver Lake she shared with her boyfriend at the time, but since has moved into a smaller place for herself that she repurposed many of her pieces into. I personally think it was fun to see the same furnishings used in different floor plans (so did you guys). Mel had been making guest appearances on the blog this year since going off on her own with her Etsy shopping series, but it was really nice to hear from her and see her enviably minimalistic design eye at work again.

#6: The Living Room Rules You Need to Know

I don't want to say too much about this post beyond the fact that it was super helpful both for us to have all in one place and, clearly, based on traffic numbers, for you all, too. We walk you through all the “design rules” you need to know about to get a living room that feels “just right” and pulled together, from furniture placement to rugs to lighting (like, did you know sconces should be placed 5 to 6 feet on the wall from the floor?). Consider it our 10 Commandments for arranging your living room (well…22 commandments, but 10 felt more poetic for that tagline). Yes, all rules are made to be broken, but we all need to know the rules first to know how to break them.

#5: “I Design, You Decide”: Mountain Fixer Style

Our very first “I Design, You Decide” vote! While I miiiight regret ever coming up with this “genius marketing” idea for the mountain fixer (not because I didn't want your input, but because it was OUTRAGEOUSLY TIRESOME to design two fully pulled together schemes for every room of the house that both Brian and I loved equally…yeah, what was I thinking?), it's fun to look back at a time before I knew how much time/money/energy this whole series would take. BUT GUESS WHAT? The house is nearly done with the renovation phase, and like I said in this post, I do plan on continuing the polling process, but just at a smaller scale (sofa selection, instead of an entire living room plan, for instance). In this first post, I introduced the two styles we were considering (Refined Scandinavian Chalet-what I really wanted-and Brian's dream, Rustic Scandinavian Cabin. You guys picked…well, click over to find out (or get a refresher) and stay tuned for 2019 for all the reveals we're going to be rolling out once I get it all furnished and styled out (though I'm in no rush and plan to take my time here).

#4: House Tour: A Warm Scandi-Inspired Home

Before we got to Mel's home reveal in August, we tested the waters of showcasing other designers' work/homes with Samantha Gluck's beautiful house. Taking our #4 spot proves you guys were both into her work (which isn't surprising…she's an EHD veterans-she worked on the Cup of Jo and Oh Joy studio makeovers) and seeing house tours. Plus, the reading nook in her playroom also took a top placing in our Best of Instagram post from last week, so overall…lots of favorites here with Sam's home. We promise there are more to come in the new year, and we'll keep curating them as long as you guys keep reading them.

#3: Hair Update: The Team EHD Reveals

Honestly, we had NO IDEA this post would somehow skyrocket to top 3 for the year (with only a few weeks really to get all those page views). We made a heavy push to the intro of this post as well as the reveals on Instagram and you guys devoured it, but once our friends at Cup of Jo also shared the post, as well, that catapulted this to the winner's podium FAST. And while the comment section on this one was a bit action-packed (a lot of you professed that you were disappointed in some of the reveals, that they weren't drastic enough, that no one dared to shave their heads/go bleach blonde/whatever is worthy of being a worthy “transformation”), it was still so much fun for us to experience-and write about-a different kind of “makeover.”

#2: 2018 Design Trends for the Bathroom

Last week, we broke down all the individual trends we uncovered and contemplated this year in this post[LINK], but we purposefully left out our larger trend predictions (like this bathroom one)because we knew they had been our most popular posts of the entire year and didn't want to show our hand too early. Black fixtures, built-in ledges, monochrome everything, “wet rooms” where a freestanding tub and shower coexist in one space…all ideas that were fun to think about, some we actually incorporated into our designs for the mountain fixer and Portland project this year. Which were your favorite? Which made you go “yuck/hard pass”?

And FINALLY….OUR TOP POST OF THE YEAR IS…

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(sorry if that was annoying, just trying to virtually pause for dramatic effect)…

#1: 2018 Design Trends: Kitchen

THIS ONE! We kind of gave it away in our #2 spot when talking about the sister post to this one (bathroom trends for 2018), but obviously, you guys were hungry for new, fresh, exciting ideas for the kitchen. We absolutely plan to do this one again in the new year, even though kitchen design doesn't turn over super fast, but there's always someone out there doing something fun and innovative that makes us go “OMG WE HAVE TO WRITE ABOUT THAT.” These first 12 design concepts we uncovered at the beginning of last year still feel pretty solid all these months later (though maybe things like terrazzo are still pretty niche), and we can't wait to see how many continue to play out in the mainstream and what else pops up to ogle and wax poetic on.

THAT'S IT! Thank you again SO MUCH for coming here every day (this year as well as the last eight) and reading what we have to say. Come back later this week to see what we've cooked up for 2019, a reader survey (pretty please tell us about yourselves and what you want to see more/less of this year) and lots of fun new content.

Happy New Year everyone. xx

The post A Countdown of Our Top Blog Posts of 2018 (Which Was Your Favorite?) appeared first on Emily Henderson.

[her0esneverdie-blog]

32 Facts Meme.

I’m so late to this meme dear lord but I refuse to pass on filling it in at this point now.

I’m 3 under because I ran out of ideas whoops.

I guess I’ll start this by saying Vulture isn’t actually from Japan. Her move to Japan was recent to work with her team more personally rather than through online communication.

She’s actually from Conway, South Carolina. Or well more specifically that’s where she was born and were her father lives. Her mother moved to North Myrtle Beach a few years back so she kinda lives in both spaces. 

She has at least one family member in every state, her family is huuuuuuge on her fathers side its ridiculous.

Speaking of family, back home she has a dog, or well her father does at least. His name is Pistol, he’s a Boykin Spaniel/ Plotthound cross and they got him when Vulture was about 14.

I don’t have a voiceclaim for her yet but I’ll say she’s got a fairly strong accent? 

Her birthday is 5th September and she’s a Virgo Sun, Sagitarius Rising and Cancer Moon. She’s planned out her full natal chart with the help of online resources as well, Vulture goes hard with horoscopes. 

Vulture, despite being named after a scavenger bird, is actually pescetarian with a leaning toward vegan. 

On that note, her favorite and main brand of soaps and stuff is Lush. 

It usually takes her a couple of hours to get ready to leave the house. She’s content to lounge around in the house with little effort made but she’s more appearance focused if she’s going out anywhere. She has corset lacing down to an art of about 10-15 minutes, most of her prep time goes to makeup and hair. The first because she’s big on pretty gradient lips and perfectly filled in eyebrows, the later because having long-thick hair is hell to deal with no matter what.  

The exception to this is going to tournaments, teams generally have to have a group aesthetic and jersey going on so its not worth her time to do her usual eyeshadow and killer eyeliner wings for that.

On that note, all her corsets are real and steel boned, rather than for costume/fashion which use plastic bones. She hasn’t bothered with any tight lacing as it stands -due to requiring 18-22 hour a day wear, whilst minor waist training needs about 8- but she’s big on authenticity and the shape achieved this way. 

Outside of her corsets, a lot of her clothing is either altered or made by herself, a lot of Gothic clothing that is her style doesn’t cater to her body type so she’s had to adapt and has always been adept with craft anyways honestly.

She really doesn’t like wearing pants very often, too constricting, she basically lives in skirts and dresses with any pants being extremely baggy for comfy home wear mostly.

Her hair is dyed :V its naturally blonde so she saves a ton on bleaching. She keeps to mostly not super neon shades when dying though? This red-pink is the brightest she’s ever gone honestly.

She went through a embarrassing emo+scene phase at 13 like many of us do, her penchant for black never left at least.

Vulture collects pins and brooches, she has this oldish bag thats covered in ones she’s collected over the years.

She smells like violet, cranberry and vanilla.

Whilst she is kinda at a crossroads religiously, Vulture is very interested in occult and witchcraft related topics. A large part of her focus is astrology and crystals more than anything else? She’s dabbled a little in tarot though, owning a couple of sets she doesn’t use very often.

I mentioned this to Lex before, but arcana wise she’s either The High Priestess or Justice.

Vulture has a very close spiritual connection to birds in general? They mean a lot to her tbh.

Talent wise, lets talk about who are mains are in Overwatch. Her big mains are Mercy/Lucio/Ana with a heavy leaning towards Mercy in her channel headers and icons. It’s not uncommon to see artwork of her fursona in Mercy’s gear when she needs a avatar for any audio focused videos. 

Outside of Overwatch, her favourite games include the Fallout Series, Animal Crossing, Silent Hill, she plays a lot of games on a ton of platforms tbh.

Her fursona being a vulture/griffin/sphinx hybrid of sorts. She doesn’t show her face online if she can help it so a lot of fanart for her uses this! 

Back at home she has a board just for her fanart that is slowly but surely getting overrun, and she’ll generally pay to get a print off the user or a commission for a new header for her twitch or youtube channel if she really digs their art style.

Vulture is ambidexterous, because I couldn’t decide which hand she wrote with. 

She’s Mary Lane in a Reefer Madness AU

In a gem AU she’d probably be Purple fluorite, her music motif is definitely something to do with an electric violin.

Her Guilty Pleasure song is Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Its cliche at this point but honestly she’d probably want it to play at her wedding. 

With EA being basically her top musical artist I might as well mention which of her songs she likes best. Her favourite lyrical EA song is Shallot, her favourite instrumental is probably Syringe

She customizes her ringtones to every person in her phone, because she has too much free time and enjoys being able to know who is calling by sound.

She’s also very musically oriented really, she regularly makes playlists when the mood hits her. 

Vulture uses petnames semi-often, if she’s calling you darling or sweetheart she either likes you or she’s judging you, its very contextual.

[pressography-blog1]

This French-English Blogger Has Mastered

New Post has been published on https://pressography.org/this-french-english-blogger-has-mastered/

This French-English Blogger Has Mastered

Style that doesn’t come evidently to a French girl? Looks like a cultural anathema, specifically while thinking about 1/2-English and half-French style blogger Camille Charrière. Having endeared herself to her nearly half of a million Instagram fans with that enviable “performed, however, undone” insouciant style that Seems like a birthright to our Gallic sisters, it appears her destiny as a Fashion phenomenon changed into greater than sealed.

but, as the 29-12 months-antique former lawyer explains, developing up in a house full of intellectuals, a profession in the creative enterprise wasn’t necessarily recommended. Still, after a brief stint in the finance international, Charrière subsequently took the plunge into Fashion with the launch of her weblog, Camille Over the Rainbow, and the relaxation, as she says, is history World Scoop.

From documenting her cool-lady fashion on her buzzy blog to currently launching a podcast, Fashion: No Clearout, the Pau, France-native continually brings a clean, unstudied elegance to her style for paintings—a sentiment that still interprets into her beauty ordinary. With the help of Wella’s nourishing Oil Reflections products–such little renovation! Such huge results!–Charrière continues that blonde bedhead of hers brilliantly.

Here, the blogger tells us how she came to work in Style, why she invests in exceptional hair care products, and how her multilingual and multicultural heritage conjures up her style.

Style Is a Received Flavor My mom is half English and half French, and simplest agreed to marry my French dad and pass lower back to France with him at the situation that our family would be English simplest. So I grew up talking English at home and had to examine French on the go or at college. I now consider my bilingual and bicultural upbringing my mystery weapon—no one expects me to have a British accessory! My parents are noticeably highbrow and kooky, with books pouring out of every corner of my residence, and opera usually gambling at pinnacle extent. but I wouldn’t credit score them for my interest in Fashion. They were very a good deal in opposition to me crossing over into the creative industry. I suppose I always favored garments, but it turned into simplest at a university that I started to like the memories behind the clothes, and began to develop my personal sense of style. I would say, in my case, that my fascination with Fashion turned into Obtained and no longer something I was born with. I graduated as an attorney and labored in finance for a bit before taking the jump of religion into Style. I truly by no means imagined I’d paintings on this industry. From the Finance world to the Style world I was going out with an English guy and determined to move to London notwithstanding having simply graduated from regulation college. Being not able to practice regulation inside the U.Okay. without doing a conversion route, I decided to enter finance, wondering it would upload a few side to my linear CV. It becomes the excellent/worst choice I have ever made. I hated it a lot, I decided right away operating for a massive profits was in no way going to paintings for me. I decided to parent out what I certainly wanted. I started out my blog, Camille Over the Rainbow, as a creative outlet and found out that I wanted to be part of the Style enterprise, so I applied for a process at Net-a-Porter, cease my city task, and the rest is records!

Uniform Dressing, the French Way I don’t have traditional days and that is the exceptional component about what I do. Every day is completely specific. If I’m walking around London, I’m able to make certain I am in at ease clothes, as the metropolis is big and also you become having to nearly jog everywhere so as no longer to be past due. I only get dressed up when I can be. My each day uniform is conventional denim teamed with a big chunky knit or a unfastened-match tee, and both sneakers or Chelsea boots. Easy does it—I’m French in spite of everything!

finished however Undone at work My go-to look for paintings is the “completed, undone” messy bedhead. I focus on very wealthy products to appearance after my bleached locks, but I really like to have a brief habitual. I feel the want to clean my hair Each day due to the fact I don’t like the color it activates day two of being unwashed—the drawback of daily washing being that it could get pretty dry. I like the usage of Wella’s Luminous Smoothing Oil directly out of the shower, after towel drying. Even in winter, I don’t use a blow-dryer as I just like the herbal-wave appearance. The oil makes this easier. With the aid of using quality merchandise Every day, I don’t need to worry about brushing my hair. I also love the Wella Luminous Reboot Masks because it absolutely nourishes my locks without making them heavy or greasy. I’ll use it in place of a conditioner as part of my each day recurring. It does wonders for my damaged, dry highlights. It’s air-dried and looks after itself! Continuously Accessorizing

My earrings in no way come off. I have worn the same jewelry for three years. I have a diamond horn necklace which I love to mention is a croissant in honor of my genes. I additionally wear a signet ring, and horny hoops in order to make even the most boyish outfit extra female.

Hardworking Staples for an afternoon of labor I really like to suppose that I have embraced the idea of wearing a uniform and constructing a wardrobe of tough-running staples, à Los Angeles franchise, jumbled together with the English mentality of “do what you need.” In my case, that in all likelihood means being the least dressy character inside the room at a cocktail celebration. same ease goes for my hair (simply five minutes with Wella’s Luminous Reboot Mask. Come as you are!

Away to Write blog Posts For NonEnglish Speakers

What are the problems that non-English talking bloggers are experiencing in the procedure of blogging? They’re many, however, the two maximum often ordinary demanding situations are the following:

1) no longer sure which language they must use to weblog – should they use their native language and have a smaller potential readership or to the weblog in English in which their readership could be lots larger, but wherein they face demanding situations in writing as nicely?

2) Some other downturn is whilst They may be feeling remote from different bloggers – a lot of them pondered that at instances they felt that they have been not taken as significantly By bloggers in different parts of the arena and found running a blog hard.

If you are a non-English speaker, you can Nevertheless write your blog in English, because you discover it lots less complicated to put in writing about technology-associated news and opinions on this language — especially when most people of your readers are from America, United kingdom, and so forth. There’s clearly lot more opposition in your blog In case you selected to jot down in English and also you should suppose cautiously about what content material you will put up for your weblog after which choose your area of interest.

no longer a bad idea is to blog in each language – your local and English, and have every article posted in both languages. probably you must place plenty more work into this, but it’s a great concept anyway.

Without a doubt, non-English speak bloggers need to ask themselves two questions: what is my goal and what’s my audience? If you blog for human beings you want to make commercial enterprise with at a neighborhood or national degree, then weblog in your local language. At the stop of the day, the entire point is to be understood. In any other case, you can’t anticipate building a weblog network. And of path In case your blog for a worldwide audience, then you must choose English.

Consistent with many bloggers’ stories, you can weblog either in English or to your very own language as quickly as your goals are clean, human beings understand what you have to mention, you’ve got suitable content material — rich, exciting, colorful, you realize your readers and their wishes and you answer to it. In any language, blogging is the same and you need to maintain up with the identical policies.

Of direction, whilst someone writes in a few dialect from a far-flung region, he/she will never get a target audience of million readers. Nevertheless, likely this answers the desires of a handful of nearby readers and each person will be happy approximately that.

The exceptional recommendation to bloggers could be to write within the language you feel most at ease with because this gives you the widest range of expression and the least errors. This Manner you will in all likelihood get a faithful target audience much faster, even if it seems it isn’t always that huge.

However, when you have exact reasons for running a blog in English, inclusive of trying a bigger percentage of worldwide site visitors, however your English is not that suitable, you have to probably try to collaborate yourself with somebody whose English proficiency is much better and feature him/her to proofread your posts for corrections before posting.

On the identical time, bloggers who post blogs in English, but their niche is greater or much less domestically oriented, will lose their local target audience huge time, especially in which English is not one of the languages traditionally studied at school or Otherwise.

So that you can monetize their blogs, many non-English Audio system are starting their blogs in English with the chance we already have noted above. Bloggers who’ve non-English Audio system writing in English are probably tens of millions, and no person can underestimate their function and contribution to the worldwide blogosphere.