#but like nice pics...not just then standing holding the instrument..

[samipekoe]

it's friday post mito

[achromant]

Achro's 2024 Orctober Masterpost

Below is the list of prompts that i used and some thoughts that went into the sketches. They generally follow the official list from instagram, but i made a few minor changes to it.

You can click on the prompts to hop over to their respective post to see the full pic.

Warrior

Went cyberpunk with this, cause i love simplified futuristic fashion.

Mage

Polar opposite of the warrior. Wanted to do something shapey and flowing. Loosely based on my Isabella concept.

Hunter

Really didnt want to draw some kind of archer, so i went the monster hunter route. People are super horny for this one, which was almost the intention.

Priest

Tried to avoid the catholic niche, so i went with modern hazard suits. I imagine there is a very hands-on department of the church that cleanses cursed areas, like a magical cleaning service.

Rogue

Honestly, i just went for the dark gold contrast. Love me some shiny.

Druid

Just didnt want to do a green druid. Luckily, it was time for orange, so it got this nice autmnal feeling. Wanted to do a werewolf initially, but i was in the mood for something a bit more chonky. Sometimes you just need a bit more fluff, yknow?

Pirate

Oh, ya-har-har. It's a pirate! Well, a dead one, at least. I forgot why i killed him, but he probably burned alive with his ship. idiot.

Alchemist

I named him Pickles. The 5 on his helmet connects to the Five of Chalices. In tarot, that card stands for loss and mourning. I imagine that Pickles tries to replace the blood in a body with wine to achieve eternal life. He is also an idiot.

Warlock

i made eight different version for this. Still hate it. He is probably the lost brother of Pickles, but got his eternal life from a deal with something more sinister. More intelligent than his brother, at least in theory.

Barbarian

Another one that took multiple attempts. Still havent decided whether he deserves pants. Might paints something a bit more spicy with him later though.

Shaman

This one is just high.

Paladin

The idea with the shield was that it looks somewhat normal from the front, but has this nice stained glass effect only visible to those behind the paladin. His story revolves around a lost lover he failed to protect, and now he's on a journey of vengenance and self-discovery.

Death Knight

Went a bit more demon than death, but oh well. Will defintetly use him as an enemy somewhere in the story.

Archer

Based this one on Lara Croft, obviously. Didn't want to give him a bow at first. Still don't think he deserves one.

Necromancer

Honestly, this is just the standard ugly little hunchback character, but people are very adamant that he's a character from Legend Of Zelda. He's not, he is obviously from the same universe as Hatsune Miku.

Demon Hunter

Colleague of the warrior. Probably the reason the priest needs to work overtime. Actually, no, he's warrior's boyfried now.

Bard

Oh, this one is a character i made a few years ago. He's the protagonist of a story i'm writing. The skull on the head of his instrument is that of his former teacher.

Monk

Needed another round boy. Not quite satisfied with this one, but the direction is nice.

Mercenary

Probably a friend of the warrior/demon hunter. Comic relief character. The Wanted poster he's holding up shows Moth.

Warlord

This one was supposed to be a bit more epic, but i made each of the orctober sketches in ~1h. Will probably revisit this to make it a proper painting.

Sorcerer

I know he looks like he has a tragic backstory, but he doesn't. He's very evil and should be locked away in some secure place. Preferably one that it fireproof.

Engineer

i forgot what my initial idea for this was, but i really like whatever i did here. His tattoo is of the "danger! explosion" sign, but in a heart. Slightly fucked up the writing though, accidentally mirrored it. Whoops.

Magical Girl

This one was supposed to be a "Cleric" as per the prompt list, but i already had a priest, so screw that. Wanted something super sweet and pink. The motif this outfit follows is the Weeping Heart flower. Also slight nod to Madoka Magica.

Scout

Didn't want to do the typical RPG style scout, so this one bakes cookies instead. He also has an axe, which has absolutely nothing to do with the cookies, i hope.

Beastmaster

This one was purple, so i really wanted to do somethine werewolf-y. I imagine him being the younger version of the barbarian, who will later learn that he shouldnt rely on the wolf alone, and better get a bigger axe.

Dragon Rider

So. This. I wanted to go for a biker dude, but went a bit too punk with it, and then just leaned into it. He is a biker at heart, but his dragon is the equivalent of a bicycle. Neither of them mind that though, theyre a very happy couple.

Assassin

This one needs a bit of explaining. I started with a himbo-type dude-bro (he had a "knife to meet ya"-shirt), to get a contrast to the rogue. And then the next thought was pretty much "what would be the most inefficient weapon for an stealthy assassin?", so he got a chainsaw. The rest of his design is a nod to Lolipop Chainsaw.

Witch Doctor

This one is 100% based on Baron Samedi, one of the main voodoo gods, which is why this character is half skeleton. The feathers are just for drama. I love feathers.

Sage

Oh, this one is just an old man. I'm pretty sure there was a reason i gave him a bunny hat, but dont ask me what that was.

Cyborg

Eyyy, throwback to the first of the month! Warrior got a bit of an upgrade. Only cost him an arm! Not much of a fan of fullblown cyborgs, so i went with the cyberpunk direction again, and left the traces of his upgrades at a minimum. Wonder if his boyfriend approves.

[space-ninja-fashion-show]

Photoset of “I need to show my friends how ridiculous a speargun is in this game”

Bonus Octavia looking like she’s about to knock someone out with it

[realcube]

class 1-A’s love languages headcanons 💕

tw// swearing, crying, she/her reader

Yuuga Aoyama

his love language is words of affirmation

like tell him that he looks fabulous but he is also a talented hero 

and. he. will. die. 

of happiness ofc 🥰

and whenever you are feelin’ insecure he’ll do a pretend fashion show with you to boost you spirits (o゜▽゜)o☆

Mina Ashido

her love language is physical touch

but not in a *holds your hand 🥺* *kithes🥰* sorta way

but rather in a

“YOU’RE SO FKN CUTE, (Y/N)!!!” *aggressively pinches your cheeks*

and whenever she kisses/hugs you, it’s always a surprise attack form behind

she is also 159cm in height (almost 5″3)

so if you are shorter than her, she’ll sprint up to you and before you have time to react, she’ll engulf you in her arms

if you are around the same height as her, she’ll sneak up to you and try to jump onto your back, peppering you in neck kisses

and if you are taller than her, she’ll grab your hand and place a kiss on the back of it 

Tsuyu Asui

i think her love language is gift giving 

but not typically gifts from the store

it’s usually cute flowers or any sort of pretty flora that she finds on her walks 

and she’ll sometimes come to your room just before lights-out and hand you a shiny rock or a colourful flower like “hi, (y/n). i found this flower in the park a nd it reminded me of you. so here, i hope you like it.”

then you cry (❤´艸｀❤) it’s too precious

also when she visits your dorm, she notices that you have a jar filled with all the flowers she’s every gave you and shE BRAIDS THEM INTO YOUR HAIR

and if you don’t have hair, she makes you a flower crown out of them

Tenya Iida

the king of gifts periodt ✋

to him, gift giving is kinda like a sport and if it was, he’d definitely be winning

he’ll be out getting groceries or sumn then he’ll pass the candy aisle and just *flashback to 3 months ago when y’all were studying together and you randomly said you were craving sour patch kids*

then he buys two packs of sour patch kids (❤ ω ❤)

so obviously excels during holidays like christmas, valentines day or your birthday 

and if you make it explicitly clear that you need something (ex. water, medication, cutlery, soap etc.) and you will go get it in x amount of day(s)

expect it to be in your hands within 1-9 hours 

“Iida, you didn’t have to rush out to get me Ibuprofen - I was going to go get some in a few days anyway.”

“Yes, but as a hero in training, you must agree that seeing your partner potentially suffer to due a preventable cause would be inhumane.”

“I-..”

Ochaco Uraraka

her love language is probably quality time

OR words of affirmation BUT ONLY ONLINE

like irl she loves going on lil’ picnic dates with you or dates to go watch the sunset or star-gazing..or literally anything where she gets to spend as much time in your presence as possible

you could literally take her on a date inside the sewers and she’d be like 🥰

in the moment (during the date) she just looks at you and wants to tell you how beautiful you are but she is way too nervous

but as soon you leave she texts you sumn like ‘OMG >< YOU ARE SO GORGEOUS 😍 AND I WANTED TO TELL YOU SO BAD BUT I COULDN’T 😩’ 

also, hypothetically, if she had a phone which supported social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat 

she would definitely be the sort of girl to post cute candid pics of you on any special occasion and i mean ANY

like she doesn’t want to just random post pics of you bc she thinks that’d be weird so she looks for any excuse she can

deadass she’d post a beach pic of you and her on her insta with a caption like, ‘happy pancake day to @y/n.l/n 🥰💖 on our first date we shared a stack of pancakes so this is a really special day for us 💓 i’m so blessed to have a stunning, smart, amazing gal like her by my side always 💕’

Mashirao Ojiro 

he’s a physical touch kinda guy

sometimes he’ll randomly drape his tail over your shoulder to pull you close

or he’ll pat your head with either his hand or tail when ever you do anything remotely impressive

“ooh, i’ve apparently taken 17k steps so far today, ojiro.” 

then he’d be like “that’s good” *pat pat* 

he also gets butterflies whenever you hug his arm or tail while he is talking to someone

AND HE WILL KISS YOUR WOUND BETTER IF YOU GET A PAPER CUT OR SUMN

Denki Kaminari 

bb is blushing profusely when you hand him a pikachu plushie , saying it reminded you of him

before that, he was probably a physical touch sorta guy but once he realised how awesome and special that simple action made him feel, he became a gift-giver 

however, 99.9% the gift is a plushie and the other 0.1% it’s a doll

(he literally bought a whole fkn barbie bc you owned a dress similar to the one the doll was wearing)

“it looks exactly like you!” 

“i don’t think so..” “it literally does!”

anyway, whether he is at the mall, in the town, in a gift shop or at the carnival, if he sees something that he knows you’d like or that reminds him of you, he’ll stop at nothing to get his hands on it

flashback to that one time at the carnival, there was a stall that had a huge fkn Kuromi plushie up for grabs 

so he asked the lady running the stall if he could have it and she said it was all his, if he could get a ball into the basket 3 times in a row

-- my man was sTANDING THERE DESPERATELY TRYING FOR 30 MINUTES STRAIGHT 😭

and once he figured he couldn’t do it on his own, he got the bakusquad to help him out 

(bakugo was all like ‘i’m not helping you, dumbass’ but kirishima convinces him to give it a shot and as soon as he misses on the third shot, he is livid.)

(”YOUR STUPID PARTY GAME MUST BE BROKEN, LADY!”)

anyway, after an hour of holding up the line, the lady just gave the plush to kaminari for ¥1000 

but it was all worth it after he saw how thrilled you were 🥺

he came round to your dorm one day and noticed every plushie he had ever given you, sitting on your bed 

you told him that they help you sleep and he just..died..

IT MADE HIM SO FKN HAPPY TO THINK THAT YOU TREASURE HIS GIFTS SO MUCH (≧▽≦*)

Eijirou Kirishima

his love language is words of affirmation imo but with a sprinkle of physical touch 

like whenever he sees you looking nice or sumn..he’ll just tell you

he has no shame and why should he? he’s just telling the truth

if you walk into the room looking ✨immaculate✨ he will tell you 

he’s just like ‘if nobody else is going to say it then I will.’

when your face lights up after he has just told you that you’re beautiful or that you’re one of the most likeable people he’s ever met; it makes his day every. single. time.

the sprinkle of physical touch is because he tells  you what he is thinking all the time

and he thinks you’re stunning even when you are lounging around the dorm complex in casual wear and no makeup

so he’s aware that he might’ve watered down his compliments a bit by saying them too often 

(even though he’s telling the truth every time)

so he likes to give you hugs and kisses to express his affection without  seeming like he’s buttering you up

Kouji Kouda

honestly, idek which category he falls under bc he does so many different things to show his love

like, he’ll use his quirk to get a butterfly to land on your head so you can take the perfect photo for instagram

he always holds your hand in crowded areas so y’all don’t lose each other

(he would end up crying in the corner of a Hot Topic or sumn if he couldn’t find you tbh)

he writes mini-love notes v. late at night and uses his quirk to get an insect or bird to carry it up to your room

religiously takes you out on dates to the park

or library/study dates (p≧w≦q)

Rikidou Satou

acts of service but mostly to do with baking

if his s/o doesn’t like sweet treats then..it just..can’t work

he’s very good at noticing when you are down and what he bakes depends on the severity of the situation

like, if you’re just a bit bummed because you got a bad mark on a test, he’ll bake cupcakes and leave a few outside your dorm

obvs accompanied by a cute lil note abt how proud you make him and how you’re the most diligent person he’s met so he knows that you’ll succeed if you just persevere

and as soon as you come to him with your improved mark, he’ll bake you a cake with ‘congratulations, (Y/N).’ written on it

Mezou Shouji

acts of service. but like..service service

he treats you like royalty-

he is the kind of bf to give you his jacket if you’re cold

he can and will use his quirk to form more arms just so he can hold your bags along with his own

if you enter is dorm and he doesn’t offer to take your jacket immediately then i’m sorry to inform you but that is not shouji..that is toga in disguise 

you’ll never have to open a door if you are walking next to him and don’t you dare even try to 

just an overall gentleman tbh 

sometimes you try to get him to stop being so kind bc you’re afraid ppl will think you treat him like a butler 

so he’ll be like “sure ..

i’ll hold just your gym bag rather than your gym bag and school bag.”

“don’t hold any bags, shouji..”

Kyouka Jirou

her love language is definitely quality time

there is nothing she loves more than vibing with you in her room - whether y’all are studying, cuddling, playing videos games or something else - while chill music plays in the background, either from a playlist or from her playing it herself on one of her instruments 

and sometimes when she’s feeling especially comfortable, she might hum a tune or sing some lyrics to match the mood

she asks you for suggestions for music to put on bc she loves introducing herself to new music

but when you’re concentrated,  she doesn’t want to disturb you so she just puts on a playlist she made prior 

she doesn’t create a new playlist each time you hang out but there is at least 10 new songs added to it every day 

the playlist is called ‘lazy days w/ (y/n) 💕’

anyway, she just loves hanging out with you bc you’re one of the very few people who don’t annoy tf out of her 

also - she’d never say it aloud but - she thinks you’ve got a very comforting presence and you make her feel so exhilarated whenever you laugh (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Hanta Sero

Sero loves spending as much time with you as possible - hence, he’s a quality time sorta person

but i also think he’s barely a quality time guy bc he expresses his affection in so many different ways

he’s like a mix of 4

( not gift-giving, whenever it comes time to get you gift for whatever occasion, he’s always stumped and ends up asking someone for help)

he preforms acts of service in a sense that if you are both cuddling on the couch and you are cold - even if he seriously can’t be assed to move - he’ll force himself to get up and bring you a blanket

he is really good at compliments bc he barely has a filter so if he sees you looking good, he’ll straight up tell you

plus, he loves seeing your reaction - especially when you get all flustered

and physical touch bc..cuddles :)

to him, there is just something reassuring about having you in his arms

Fumikage Tokoyami 

a quality time man mwah

he doesn’t play music on speakers when y’all hang out though, he just likes to sit with you and either mindlessly chatter or chill in comfortable silence 

he also doesn’t put in earbuds bc he thinks it’s rude 

(you assure him that you don’t mind if he puts his earbuds in but he is always like..no..)

he just loves your company bc he seriously can’t think of somebody he’d rather spend his time with 

also he is convinced that he does things 10 times better with you around

when he’s not with you though, he misses you- like- seriously

sometimes he’s just out with his friends or watching a movie with his family and he is just like ‘this’d be more fun if (Y/N) was here-’

and you said that you missed him too when y’all weren’t together 

so he did the reasonable thing and made you a playlist for you to listen to whenever you missed him ( •̀ ω •́ )

he sent you the link and your heart stopped bc it was literally called ‘i love you 🖤’ AND THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME HE’S EVER TOLD YOU THAT AAAAA

‘you’re so sweet, tokoyami 🥺 i love you tooooo’

and good thing that was over text bc otherwise you would’ve seen him blushing profusely (= ╯▽╰ = )

as for the contents of the playlist; it’s probably quite diverse

some alt pop, some indie, a bit of R&B, pop rock and a lot of Metal/Rock 

Shouto Todoroki

his love language is acts of service

most of them are school related though

he can easily tell if you’re struggling with the coursework and asks you if you want go on a lil study date at the library or in his dorm 

he also helps you with homework or explains the material to you if you don’t understand it

and he’s the best teacher since he’s extremely patient and well-spoken

if you’re feeling under the weather, he’ll head to your dorm to fetch your notebook so he can write the class notes for you 

and he’ll put in the effort to make them as similar to your other notes as he can

so he flicks through the pages and (for example) if you have a highlighting code, he’ll look for the legend and highlight the notes he took accordingly 

once school is over for the day, he goes to your dorm to drop off the notebook, putting it back in the respective part of your bag

and the next day when you open your notebook to check the notes, you notice that he wrote a little note for you;

‘get well soon 💛’ 

it was a simple, kind gesture but the small details like how he coloured in the heart with a glittery yellow highlighter he must’ve took from your bag had you blushing (^///^)

also, whenever you’ve scheduled a study date at his dorm, there is no way in hell you’ll walk into his room and there isn’t 2 bowls of fresh soba sitting on the desk

no way. impossible.

(or if you don’t like noodles, then two bowls of rice.) 

Tooru Hagakure

physical touch bb

she just likes you to know that she is there 

also she loves how soft your skin is ^^

she really likes surprise hugging you from behind and you’d think that she’d be very good at that considering that she is.. invisible.. but she’s really not

she has very unique and recognisable voice 

and whenever she creeps up behind you, she’s always snickering quite loudly 

but you like seeing her happy when she thinks she surprised you so you just think to yourself ‘get ready to pretend to be shocked’ 

so as soon as she wraps her arms around you and goes ‘boo!’, you jump and always say the same stupid line you wish you would   stop using but it just comes out naturally

“ope, didn’t see you there, tooru.”

but it makes her laugh every time so maybe it’s not such a bad habit

Katsuki Bakugo

he’s definitely a physical touch kinda guy but tries to be an acts of service man..y’know?

he doesn’t want you thinking that he likes hugging, cuddling, kisses or any of that none-sense bc..he is a big macho king explosion murder 

and he knows that if he gets to comfortable with showing affection through physical touch, it’d become a habit then he might do it in public and the last thing he wanted was a rumour coming out that ‘king explosion murder is actually a huge cuddle-bug dork!’

so he hides it the best he can and expresses his love by like letting you wear his hoodie and not cussing you out when you do something stupid

but the fact is, nothing makes him feel better than holding you in his arms - under a blanket or not -  with your face buried into his chest and your arm lazing draped over his shoulder

he usually does a good job at resisting his urge to randomly kiss you or take your hand in public

but there was that one time

luckily, it was on a date rather than on a school outing so it was only you who knows about it 

it was probably around 6 months after y’all first started dating and he took you on a date to the carnival

there was a gang of boys who looked around a few years older than y’all and they were chatting amongst themselves until they approached the line you and Bakugo were waiting in (to get onto a ride at the carnival) and the group of boys stood behind you in line

at first everything was alright; they were just chatting while you were raving on about the ride to bakugo but he kinda tuned you out after he heard one of the guys say something along the lines of

“she’s kinda hot- a bit young but so fit. i think she’s from the UA too.”

that comment was enough to make his blood boil but a separate comment from one of the other guys tipped him over the edge,

“yeah and look at the guy she’s with. he’s the feral guy that needed to be put in chains at the sports festival - how embarassing.” he snickered, which was genuinely one of the most annoying noises bakugo has ever heard

his voice was low, in a whisper so they probably didn’t expect bakugo to hear it over the background noise of the carnival along with the girl yapping in his ear

but he did

and when i tell you this man was livid 

in that moment he seriously considered just turning around and burning each and every one of those guys into a crisp

but the law-abiding citizen and hero inside him said no 

instead, he fiercely snaked his arms around your hips to pull you into his chest and looked over his shoulders to shoot literal daggers at the guys

he led you out of the line for the ride in silence and you followed him without question - having heard the things those guys said but choosing to pretend as if you didn’t 

“What was that about?” You finally asked as he brought you over to a bench, pulling you onto his lap

“Nothing.” He said, oddly calm as he stared into the void

“Okay.” You rolled your eyes, deciding not to pry as you obviously already knew what provoked him to do that. “I’m gonna go get some cotton candy then. Do you want some?”

“No.” He replied monotonously, allowing you to hop off his knee but immediately grabbing your hand, preventing you from going any farther than arms length from him.

“you needy cow.” you giggled, playfully kicking his shin, “I’m so hungry - let me go!” 

“No.” He replied in the same monotone voice. “I can’t be assed to move.”

You leaned back, pulling your whole weight backwards to try get Bakugo to release his grip on your hand and eventually he gave in and got up, sluggishly following you to go get cotton candy 

you gleefully popped some of the delectable fluff into your mouth before sneaking some into bakugo’s mouth too.

 “are you gonna let go of my hand any time soon?” you asked, wanting to hold the bag of cotton candy for yourself but instead having one hand interlocked with his and the other being used to rip small pieces off as Bakugo held the bag in his spare hand 

“No.”

[(a/n): not the over-used jealousy trope 🙊]

Izuku Midoriya 

definitely a words of affirmation kinda guy

bc he knows what it’s like to have to go through life with barely anyone besides your mother telling you that your great and that you’re worthy. it’s depressing and traumatic and he wouldn’t wish that misery on his worst enemy 

so he’s like your personal hypeman :)

making sure that you always feel appreciated, confident and loved 

during the sports festival or anything similar, he’s always louder than the cheerleaders when it comes to your turn to shine

“GO, (Y/N)! YOU’RE SO POWERFUL, YOU CAN DO THIS! I BELIEVE IN YOU! REMEMBER TO BREATHE!”

slightly embarrassing for him but when he sees you smile confidently back at him, every ounce of embarrassment melts away and he is just filled with joy

he gets really emotional sometimes as well 

but not like ‘you just faced an opponent and won bc one all your hard work and training - i am so proud of you’ sorta emotional

but like ‘omg you walked into his dorm wearing a new dress and you look really beautiful and you smiled at him so emotions wash over him and he just cries bc he realises how lucky he is to have you.’

he loves to receive words of admiration from you too though

one time you wrote him a birthday card and signed it off as ‘the future wife of the #1 pro-hero’

and as badly as you wanted to just sign it as ‘from the future pro-hero 😘’

you didn’t bc you knew how happy the other option would make him

Minoru Mineta

idk perversion ig?

wait no his love language is titties and/or ass

Momo Yaoyorozu

gift. giving. 

like you have no idea how much serotonin she gets when she sees you overjoyed at gift she gives you

bc in her mind she knows that it was her that made you that happy and no amount of trophies will ever compare to how accomplished she feels for being the reason behind your smile 

she’s a QUEEN 👑 UGH 😩💓

[deejadabbles]

A Thousand Songs (Atem/Yami x Reader)

Chapter Five: Hello, My Old Heart

One /// Two /// Three /// Four /// Five /// (Six coming soon) ///

Summary: You knew that you and your band could make it big. Not only that, but stay together while doing it; the five of you were family, after all. The only problem was that despite all your musical talents...none of you were particularly good at lyrics. After years of struggling to put out your first full album, the solution finally made himself know in chance meeting on an empty stage.

Rock Band AU, Atem x Reader, gender neutral reader.

You could visibly see the poor young man swallowing hard as he settled in the seat across from you and the rest of your bandmates. Try as you might to make the setting casual (cushy chairs instead of a desk, offers of soda and chips, greeting him with an ‘what’s up, my dude?’, etc.) Atem still seemed rather nervous. Not that you blamed him, you distinctly remember Honda making a joke about “oh yeah, ask the dude to come to our secluded studio by himself to meet five strangers, that’s not creepy or anything” when Yugi told you guys how he had invited the man to meet with the rest of you.

“So, Yugi said that you write songs as a hobby?” Anzu began, giving him the warmest smile she could, an effort to ease Atem’s mood.

He nodded, then started unclasping the latch on his leather messenger bag, “That’s right, I’ll admit, I don’t have too many that are finished, but that’s mostly due to boredom and moving on to a new idea, not lack of inspiration.” He then pulled out some papers divided by paperclips. “Here are the songs I think best represent my usual work, the work that’s easiest for me to write as well as what I would prefer to put out there.”

Honda grabbed the small stack and passed out songs to each of you. A bit of an awkward silence fell as you all started reading the various lyrics, but not even that could tarnish how impressed you were with the ones you were reading. Poetic, but not too over the top or pretentious, nice. You glanced up at the others, nodding your head with an impressed smile before switching papers with Yugi to look over another example (you also didn’t miss the way Yugi beamed at you). Now this song struck you, after only reading the first verse you could already hear the beginnings of a beat and chords you could put with the lyrics.

“Yugi also said you have a killer voice,” you said, shifting your eyes from the page to peer up at him.

He gave a cute little cough, “Uh, yes, I suppose I’m not a bad singer.”

You had to actively keep your mind from gushing over how sweet he was. The dude looked like a typical adonis hottie, but his shy outer demeanor just added an extra layer to him. He was wearing something more stylish than the few tabloid pics you’d seen: a long-sleeved black shirt with a silky maroon and gold vest, accessorized with a few rings, bangles, necklaces, and a pair of gold dangling earrings.

You shook the wandering thoughts on his attractiveness away; this was for business, not pleasure. “I was just wondering if you’d mind singing one of the songs for us, that way we can get a feel for the melody you had in mind.”

Again, Atem seemed to swallow something in this throat as a hand reached up to briefly play with one of the flat triangles dripping from his ears. “I suppose I could do that, but, do you mind if I play my violin with it? I’ll find it easier to sing with some music.”

“Of course,” you waved an eager hand, egging him on before handing him back the music sheet in your hand.

His eyes scanned the pages, reminding himself of what song it was before nodding his head and reaching down to the instrument case beside the armchair. Jonouchi had made a comment about Atem carrying his violin everywhere, trying to set a joking mood, but it just caused a flushed Atem to mumble about how he had just picked it up from getting its weekly tuning.

Once Atem was standing, violin in hand, he took a deep breath to collect himself. Then, after two slow heartbeats, he began to play.

The first note was a sorrowful one, long, like a quiet, mournful hum, his slender fingers pulsing to create a wave effect on the sound. Then he was singing. His tone came out like a deep, almost breathy moan, letting the lyrics flow like a story at first- before his tone rose and belted out the chorus.

Atem was captivating, pulling you in with every line, every inflection, making you want to hold your breath lest the sound of it distract from the song. He kept his eyes closed, lost in the music his hands and mouth crafted, and the longer the song went on the more he seemed to relax, to lean into his own notes.

You blinked suddenly, realizing that your mouth had been hanging open just in time to close it before Atem ended his performance on another soaring note and breathy lyric. He stayed like that for a moment, catching his breath, basking in the lingering sound of his song.

Finally, his eyes blinked open and shifted to gauge everyone’s reaction. You weren’t the only one left in awe.

“Holy shit,” Honda breathed.

Yugi’s beaming smile was at maximum sunshine as he leaned into you and whispered, “That’s the song I heard him sing at the theatre, isn’t it beautiful?!”

You nodded and opened your mouth to say something but Anzu beat you to it.

“Can you do that again?” she asked, eager, as she jumped up and walked to her keyboard.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” you asked, also bouncing to your feet and joining her.

Anzu smiled back at you, “Keeping that longer intro and adding keys to it?”

“Yes!” you turned to Jonouchi- who was still staring at Atem like he didn’t quite believe the man was standing there. “Jou, add some drums? Something steady and subtle at first, drawing everyone in before the lyrics start and-”

“-and picking up when the chorus kicks in?” he finished, snapping to attention in an instant, “You got it!”

With that Jonouchi vaulted off the back of the couch, plopping onto the stool at his drum set. Atem was still standing there, now looking a bit bewildered and amused as he watched everyone get to work, perhaps some pride shining in his eyes that his music had inspired it.

“Atem?” you asked, tone gentle and drawing his attention back to you, “Can you play that again?” you repeated Anzu’s question, seeing as how she was fully engrossed in her keys now.

Again, the man seemed hesitant, “Shouldn’t you be taking over, you’re the lead singer after all.”

“Dude, we have to keep that violin track,” you insisted, finding your voice breathy as you pointed at Atem, “It’s perfect for the song, it’s deep and beautiful and-” speechless, you gave an exaggerated chef’s kiss to emphasize just how much you meant what you were touting.

The expression earned you a smile from the violinist, a hint of bashfulness mixing with the fresh and rising pride. “Alright, if you think it will improve the song.” With that, Atem lifted his violin, took another deep breath, and started the song again.

***

It was strange how no hands had officially shaken, no one even told Atem he was hired, but that session was immediately followed up by the band asking when his next free day was and asking him to come back for another practice session. Atem had never intended on actually playing with the band, but, when they acted so enthralled with his playing, he could hardly say no.

The next time they got together (almost a week after their first meeting) Atem found himself just as nervous as when he first met them. Parking outside their studio, he found his chest heating up with some anxiety. Atem never was good around people, after all.

Hello, my old heart

How have you been?

Are you still there inside my chest?

He rubbed his hands against the steering wheel, letting out a long breath and holding it a moment, before making himself grab his violin case and climb out of the car. His feet crunching on the gravel driveway grounded him a bit and he had managed to calm down slightly before knocking on the studio door.

I've been so worried, you've been so still

Barely beating at all

He heard the sound of laughter coming closer on the other side of the door and a moment later it opened, revealing you in the doorway and more laughter echoing yours in the next room.

“Atem, there you are! Come on in,” you stepped aside and waved an inviting arm.

Atem felt the heat in his chest climb up his neck, “Sorry, am I late?”

“Huh?” You then waved your hand again as you shut the door behind him, “Oh no don’t worry, we just got here early, that’s all.”

He heard someone else call his name before he even got to the room where everyone was sitting, and by the time he did enter, the whole band was waving and greeting him. He cleared his throat before nodding back to everyone and saying a weak ‘hello’ before you spoke again.

“Come on, sit down and chill for a bit before we get started,” you waved at a beat-up arm chair even as you perched on its armrest.

Atem realized with a quick look around that there was nowhere better for you to sit and you were likely offering him your own seat. “Oh, that’s alright, I don’t want to steal your seat-”

Before his offer to sit on the floor was out, you shook your head, “Dude, we can’t have our muse sitting in a creaky fold-up chair, at least sit on the other arm so I don’t topple it!” You laughed again as Honda made some comment about how a topple would probably bust the thing in half.

His cheeks were hot now, but he took the offer with grace (or at least, as much grace as he could muster) and perched himself on the other armrest, setting his violin on the actual seat. Atem also remembered how last time, he had been offered the armchair while Anzu took the creaky fold-up chair. Everyone here really seemed to care about making him comfortable.

Hello, my old heart

It's been so long

Since I've given you away

When was the last time he met anyone who had greeted him with such...openness? Such compassion. And a whole group of someones at that...

He cleared his throat again, trying to draw himself out of his wandering thoughts. “So, are we just going to work out more of the music today?”

And every day, I add another stone

To the walls I built around you

To keep you safe

Everyone seemed to respect his want to get down to business, perhaps thinking that he had other engagements, and only chit-chatted for a handful of minutes, before getting down to their rehearsal. It went well, just as the previous session had, and Atem found himself in awe of how well the creative process of making notes together flowed. Just like that first day, everyone seemed to work off of each other so well, bounding ideas left and right, almost always being on the same page. Even when they weren’t, there were just a few goodhearted jabs and sighs before working everything out.

Again Atem found himself shaking his thoughts away. He really should stop, it wasn’t wise to get attached to this process, these sessions, these people. After all, he was just their ghostwriter, nothing more.

Oh, don't leave me here alone

Don't tell me that we've grown

For having loved a little while

He found himself smiling again despite himself, when you started throwing popcorn kernels at Jonouchi; retribution for a comment about how you needed to change the chords up in the third chorus.

“I’m not changing it,” you said with your tongue sticking out, all while Jou looked affronted at your kernel bombing. “It’s a steady beat, that’s the whole point! Right, Atem?”

At the sound of his name, Atem’s eyes went wide, “Uh- What?”

“Eh, don’t drag him to your side!” Jonouchi pouted, tossing some popcorn from his lap back in your direction.

“I’m not dragging, I’m asking his opinion, there’s a difference,” you said matter of factly, then turned back to Atem, who was sweating a bit now, “What do you think, Atem? Are the same chords during the third chorus too boring? Or does it fit the subtle, powerful nature of the song?”

“You’re leading his answer!” Jonouchi countered, again looking appalled, then squawking as you tossed more popcorn at him.

Atem was a bit distracted by the way Honda kept laughing as Jou picked kernels out of his shirt, but eventually he managed to swallow thickly and answer your question. “I actually like the way you have it now, if I’m being honest.”

You beamed at him, stuck your tongue out at Jonouchi in victory, then held the popcorn bowl out to Atem. “Thank you, my muse! Here, have some brain food.”

His face was heating up again at nickname- or, dare he say, endearment? However, even as he blushed, and took a handful of popcorn, he couldn’t keep that smile from making yet another appearance.

Oh, I don't wanna be alone

I wanna find a home

And I wanna share it with you

When everyone called the day's session to an end, Atem tried not to feel...disappointed. Stop that , he told himself again, this was not something to get attached to. As everyone packed their notes away, Honda started asking about dinner.

“Heeey if I give you a ride to work, think you can get me a discount on nachos again?” he asked, turning to you with an eyebrow wiggle.

You scoffed, “Dude, the boss was barely okay with that one time I did it, I can’t convince her again. But I can just buy your nachos if you really want.”

“Where do you work?” Atem found himself asking, far too late to stop himself from getting involved.

“Oh- ever heard of The Mark? It’s a bar downtown.”

Atem shook his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. Admittedly, the only bar he had been in since college was the high-end one in his apartment building.

You didn’t seem to take notice of his embarrassment though and just shrugged, “It’s only popular to a certain crowd. Anyway,” you continued, turning back to Honda, “give me a ride and I’ll buy you nachos.”

“Okay, all this talk of nachos has me hungry,” Jonouchi groaned, “Let’s go with em, Yug.”

Anzu perked up at that, nodding to you as she said, “You know, I’ve really been craving your specialty daiquiris. Jou, got room in your truck for me?”

“Sure,” the drummer shrugged as everyone started milling towards the door.

Yugi was smiling brightly as he held the door open for everyone, “Guess it’s a band outing now! Atem, you want to join? You can follow us to the bar, it isn’t far.”

As his feet were once again crunching on the gravel drive, Atem had to stop. He looked back to the group, ready to see at least one of them giving an uneasy expression at the invitation, if not an outright protest.

Instead, he saw Anzu nodding her head eagerly while Honda locked up the studio. Neither you nor Jonouchi looked wary of the suggestion and instead just looked to him for an answer.

You must have thought he needed further prompting, because you said, “Hey, our ‘girls night’ plate of nachos is more than big enough for all of you.”

Atem had to swallow another something in his throat. All of you were already inviting him out for drinks?

Hello, my old heart

How have you been?

“I- sorry, I have to get up early in the morning. Thank you, though.” Atem could only cast his eyes to the ground during the half-lie.

How is it being locked away?

He saw something flicker in Yugi’s eyes, but he was quick to hide it with a smile. “Okay, maybe next time.”

Your smile matched Yugi’s as everyone headed to Jou’s truck and Honda’s bike, “Have a good night, Atem.”

Don't you worry, in there you're safe

“See you next week,” Anzu waved.

All he could manage was a nod as he turned towards his own car.

And it's true, you'll never beat

But you'll never break

It only took one more session to get the rest of the music figured out, and then it was time to record. Atem was interested in the process, how the five of you set up the sound equipment, what programs you used, he even asked you how you had installed padding to improve the sound quality.

The video part of the recording would be left for later, right now it was just the song to worry about- though you did make a point to tell Atem that you wanted to discuss setting ideas for the video soon. Atem felt his heart swell a bit at that. Not that he wanted to admit it, but he was glad that you wanted to involve him in every step of the song. This song in particular, this first one that had so enthralled Yugi first, was likely one of the more personal ones Atem had written.

Your voice rose with the chorus, fingers dancing gracefully against the bridge of the guitar, and Atem found himself admiring how well suited your voice was to his lyrics. A perfect fit. Though you likely had no way of knowing the background behind this song or why Atem had written it, you belted the lyrics with passion and depth, cared for every bar as if you were singing from the depths of your heart.

Maybe you were. Music spoke to more than just those who wrote it, perhaps not in the same ways, but that hardly mattered.

He heard the way the ending lyric stole your breath, and his violin hummed its final note with you in a harmony Atem had admired a dozen times during these rehearsals. When the last note ended, everyone waited a moment, seeming to hold their breaths, before daring to move. When everyone did, Jonouchi was already bounding over to the computer hooked up to the recording mics. With a few clicks and a quick look over something on the screen, the blonde gave a clap of his hands.

“We got it! That should be all we need for a high quality recording.”

Everyone cheered or hooted at that, and Yugi made a comment about finally having something new to give their fans. Atem was smiling with the rest of them, but he was failing to ignore the way his chest ached just a bit. The song was done, and, unless they asked him to join them on stage, Atem supposed this was the last time he would play with the band.

Writing songs for them was all nice in of itself, but, despite all his personal warnings not to, he would be lying if he said he hadn’t grown a bit attached to these evenings and nights with the band.

Oh, I don't wanna be alone

I wanna find a home

And I wanna share it with you

A sudden call of his name had Atem jolting back to the present, and he saw you standing beside him, a hint of concern creasing your brow. “Everything okay?”

“Uh-” he cleared his throat, “-yes, I’m alright,” he lied, just as he had lied to deny himself the after-work drinks weeks ago. “I was just thinking, we got so caught up in recording this song, that none of you got the chance to discuss if any others were to your liking.”

“What, any of your other songs?” Honda asked, and when Atem nodded, he literally waved the comment off, “Dude, I’m pretty sure we liked all the examples you gave us, right guys?”

“Definitely!” Yugi didn’t miss the chance to boost Atem’s ego (or rather, soothe any worries). “We actually looked over your other songs the other day, and all of us agree we want to record all of them. I told you you were a perfect fit for us!”

The words, as well as the wink Yugi gave, did make Atem smile, but it didn’t do much to alleviate the root of his woe. “I’m glad they fit with the band so well. If you want to know the melodies or themes I had in mind for any of the other songs as well, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

That seemed to give everyone pause.

Nothing lasts forever

Atem watched as they began giving each other looks, very pointed looks, in turns, and he couldn’t ignore the sinking sensation in his chest. They seemed to silently agree on something a moment later, because Anzu spoke up as her eyes turned back to Atem.

“Actually, we were talking about that a lot too…”

Some things aren't meant to be

Atem swallowed hard, heart starting to pound in his ears. Perhaps he wasn’t good enough, perhaps they thought him too pretentious, or maybe he had overstepped the boundaries of his role here, maybe he and his violin didn’t-

“How would you feel about joining the band for the whole album?”

But you'll never find the answers

Until you set your old heart free

Again, your voice put a break on Atem’s reeling thoughts, and he had to blink to collect himself again. “I- you mean, you want me to play for the other songs as well?”

More looks were exchanged, quick ones this time, before Yugi chimed in next. “We talked it over a lot the past week and we all agree that you gel with us pretty well! And not only that, but your violin really adds a lot to our music, we’d really love for you to record more songs with us, not just write them.”

Until you set your old heart free

Now Atem’s heart was pounding in his ears for a whole other reason. He almost wanted to smack himself when he felt the widest, most giddy grin he ever remembered smiling spread across his face.

“I would like that very much,” he said, cheeks going a bit warm when everyone was returning his smile.

Hello, my old heart

“So what are we waitin’ for?” Jonouchi jumped in, all enthusiasm and eagerness, “What song are we doing next?”

That sparked conversation, and everyone started chiming in with their votes almost immediately, Yugi and Anzu even digging out Atem’s sheet music for references. Atem could only take the scene in with a smile that was widening the more he watched them bicker good-heartedly.

And he was glad he had gotten attached to this process, these sessions, to these people.

I wanna share it with you

[sonybees]

me rewatching dead poets society instead of doing my assignments

i’m not sure if anyone would even care about this but i am really bored soo here we go

neil looks so down when he’s with his father stopdjejdkfjnr

poor todd got forced to stand up i would get pissed eujehd

the best preparatory school? lmfao ok.

KEATING YAY

THE PRESSURE THAT TODD HAS TO GO THROUGH I CAN SEE IT IN HIS EYES HE DOES NOT WANT THIS WTF

poor kids being forced to go there

LMFAO SPAZ

i still don’t know what a stiff means is that even what he said?

OOPS LMFAO

attractive pieces of sht leaning on a door frame help

“keen.” HA

YESSIR USJSJSJ

why does meeks kind of sound like me when i meet someone new

“he flatters me.” LOLSJNDKSHSJJSKSJDC

“i thought you’d gOne.”

freaking hell stfu tom

i’ve always thought this who calls their father “sir” ???

THE LOOK CHARLIE AND KNOX SHARE HDNEJDJF

“BRAIN DAMAGE” HSMEJD

they all look so confused like same

BRO SPAZ LMFAO

their smiles are so cute awwjdnejsnjd

POOR PITTS SHJWJS

MEEKS SMILE WHEN HE SAID AN UNFORTUNATE NAME

DING

“turn cold and die.” damn that took a turn fast

caaaaaarpeeeee dieeeeeem @siezethedaypoets (sorry! sjjejs)

“that means you daLtoN” the way he says it lfmaosjjd

i thought he was gonna do history he pulled out his chem book dhjshdbd

take a breath knox damn

them just not at all understanding math is a mood

too bad :/

AWW THE WXCITEMENT IN PITTS AND MEEKS EYES

“very funny, dalton.” hehehhehehejjdjdjfjrkdn ccmv mf

AWW MEEKS

CHARLIE WTF YOU DRAWING

RIP SHRED TEAR

RIP RIP RIP

oh shit

ahh one of my fav scenes, charlie basically eating that ball of paper

i hate looking at this it’s so awkward like hello mr. mccallister

what will your verse be?

THE MASHED POTATOS

“no, keating.” LMFAO YES GO KEATING

is that stick? on the end of the table?

“don’t come please.”

“no shIt, sherlock.” HA I LOVE THIS GUY

“pittsie, cmon!” “his grades are hurting, charlie.” i literally just love this conversation

“i’ll try anything once.” “except sex!” “ha ha ha.” HSJWJJSND ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAV CONVOS

“WOMEN SWOON HA HA HA” THE EVIL LAUGH WTF SHEJJS

“CHARLIE @tellmewhytheyswoon” SORRY I HAD TO LMFAO

LMFAO SHUT UP WILL YOU

this is so chaotic and messy damn

the treatshsjdj

they’re loud asf

i wonder who’s who while they were running with the hoods

OH CRAP THE SUN IS OUT WHAT that isn’t in the movie sorry

I LOVE MEEKS AND CHARLIE’S RELATIONSHIP SM

i could never take note of the minutes when something happens how will he do that

YESSIR PART TWO

HOW DID PITTS TAKE THE OTHER HALF SO FAST

EVEN TODD KNOWS CAMERONS STORY LMFAO

LMFOA KNOX IS STARING AT THE PICTURE

MEEKS HOOO THEN I SAW THE CONGO CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACK

THE LITTLE BOING NOISE LMFAO WHAT IS THAT

“are you a man or an amoeba?” i’m sorry lol what the hell do you mean sjdjiend

TO WOO WOMEN

“why do i stand up here? anybody?” “@tofeeltaller” HA I LOVE DOING THIS IM SORRY

i would cry if i found out that i had to make a poem AND read it aloud in front of everyone

poor todd thougsjwhidfj

i wanna marry todd. lmfao where did that come from

RADIO FREE AMERICA

AWW THEM DANCING STFU THIS IS SO CUTE

i can’t hear the audio hellloooooojdjwksbdken

AWW we got some anderperry content here

lol i wanna wear their sweaters

:/// TODD

“no.” “no? what do you mean no?” “no.” *smirks* HAJDJDJWKNS

DONT BE IMMATURE

IDK WHERE TF THE INSTRUMENTS CAME FROM BUT I LOVE IT

the birds are so pretty

nice outfit knox

STOP STARING DUDE YOU’RE MAKING IT TOO OBVIOUS CMON

“sounds to me like you’re daunted.” JSJS

TO INDEED BE A GOD

MEEKS AND PITTS WOTH THEIR HEADPHONES ON AWW

“PUCK YOU” LMFAOAJSJJDJ

i bet todd’s poem is actually great

“the cat sat on the mat.” DNDIDHJDJDJDHS i love how keating still said it wasn’t all bad though

BRO DAMN DONT CALL TODD AND I OUT LIKE THAT

lmfao todd’s just hating every second of this

“sweaty toothed madman” i can see that too whatsbjdjdjsn

THIS IS BETTER THAN ANY POEM I EVER TRIED TO WRITE GREAT JOB TODD

NEIL IS AMAZED

when keating pushed their foreheads together wtf aww father son love typa thing that’s so cutejjedujsidj

LMFOA NO KNOX TRIPPED

YAYY GOAL

wtf this seems so fun

“your parents collect pipes? oh that’s really interesting.” LFMAOOAJSJD I LOVE PITTS

poetrusic by charlie dalton

laughing crying mumbling tumbling

DAMN HES GOOD

the little kind of aggressive hair ruffle awwjendn

OOO VOCABULARY

LMFAO THE LITTLE CHUCKLE KNOX DOES

AWW THEYRE ALL SO HAPPY FOR KNOX

THE SCARFSJJD

“exercising my right not to walk.” smartass

it’s todd’s birthday and no one greeted him excpet neil stfukqbxqbcdbkrw

the first unmanned flying desk set yes yes

THEY ALL JUST STOOD UP LMFAO

merlin knox you are DRUNK

PLEASE DONT ISTG KNOX

THATS NOT WHAT HE MEANT BY CARPE DIEM

well you’re in deep trouble now

“it’s God. he says we should have girls at welton.” as much as i love this scene what the hell were you thinking my man

i don’t get how this was legal back then. wtf is it gonna do? you’re just hurting the kids bro

the pain in his eyes stop

“@dangitneil the name’s nuwanda.” pain brokqdb jdjf

CRAP CRAP CRAP MR PERRY GET OUT

the pic of keating’s wife/gf aww

neil you’re gonna make me cry stop

that is so odd why are their lockers like connected from the left side isn’t it usually from the right?

JSKSIJDEIUWKDRUEJSJX CHRIS IS SO DONE NODKDMD

that piece of bread

THIS GUY JUST SHOVED A KID CMON KNOX

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOTHING?”

AWW WHEN TODD MESSED UO CAMERONS HAIR

CHARLIE LMFAO I MENA NUWANDA

KNOX IS DONE W THEM TOO

chris is gorgeous omg

the snow in her hair stop marry me

“you are SO infuriating”

i hate how i’m just completely forgetting what’s gonna happen in like 10 minutes

PUCK

LMFAOTHEM HOLDING DOWN CHARLIE

“he’s really good.” AW YES HE IS FUCSHWMDMD

wait the holding hands is kinda cute thoughsjdnd

bro mr perry is making me want to kill someone maybe him

NEIL’S SMILE IMMEDIATELY WENT AWAY IHATE YOU TOM

damnit you idiot i hate you sm let your son live you bastard

sigh sigh sigh sigh sigh sobs sobs sobs

merlin neil

IM JUST NOT GONNA THINK ABOUT THIS YK

HA HA HA NOT CRYING

SIGHS AGAIN

DEAR LORD

NO TODD IS GONNA MAKE ME CRY TOO STOP

THEY ALL SEEM LIKE THEYRE IN SHOCK NO

damn everything

SIGH WHY DIDNT I STOP WATCHING? IDFK

“it’s beautiful.” NOFNEJWGHSGEMWGE NEED WH

KEATING NO

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

charlie just sitting down not singing i hate this

i probably should’ve just stopped watching yk but i didn’t but that’s okay i think

i got so pissed the first time they said that they were gonna ask questions like??? did mr perry did no at all realize that it was his fault?

sigh cameron you aren’t always that bad but in this scene i loathe you

NO RICHARD

DAMNIT YOU MADE TODD SNAP

AND CHARLIE SNAPPED TOO YOU JUST MESSED UP TOO MUCH MAN

i hate how it went from a happy dark academia movie to this cmon

todd’s dad is so mean shut up he was just asking a question

it feels so sad in the room i hate it

the empty chairs pls no

keating’s little chuckle man i miss their smiles

BRO SROP THEY LOOK SO SAD TODD ISTG

*GASP OF HAPPINESS IN THE MIDDLE OF CRYING* HUHUHUH

TODD MEEKS STICK SPAZ PITTS KNOX GEORGE? HA I LOVE YALL

and we’re done. damn okay

thanks for reading ig fjdbshsbjwhdjsj

anyways i’m tired goodnight or morning or wtvr thanks! and sorry <3

[friendocheaven]

Picnic Ask

Ask and ye shall recieve @theaxolotleastofthesun it’s long af tho, so it’s under the cut.

 1.       Where and When is the picnic happening? (Gonna take this as ideal location and season basically)

a.       Milo: Prefers someplace a bit south—warmer than the northern parts of the Eye. Summer in Sun Elf territory would be nice. Not south enough to get jungle-y and humid (Glim can take heat, but draws the line at humidity), but someplace he could retreat to the blessed relief offered by the shade of a scrubby tree and have a good excuse to eat his favorite spicy foods and sweat to cool down.

b.      Glim: as stated above, he doesn’t do well in high humidity. Also not the biggest fan of excessive heat, but will put up with it for Milo’s sake. Were it up to him though, he would prefer an autumn picnic in a cozy shady glen under a still-full canopy of rich reds and violets and sunny yellows. A sigh of crisp wind carrying with it the first hint of winter.

c.       Remmi: Love’s spring, especially when it’s still early. They love the way the fruit trees look while still flowering and the cool, but warming, breeze. They would most enjoy something near water, but with plush green grass still under foot. The Northern Reservoir is well tended, with bright, blossoming bushes hedging cobbled pathways. The surrounding park stretches most of the way ‘round. Remmi would most like a quiet day at the eastern edge—farthest away from the great roaring falls that lead into the canyon. Bonus if there are frogs.

d.      Hani: Loves the dead heat of summer; the feel of warm sun on his skin. A midsummer, late afternoon picnic after a day of splashing around the Southern Sea would be heaven. Sure, the food might get a little sandy, but it wouldn’t stop him from eating and enjoying every second.

2.       What food and drinks do your OCs bring? (you fool! You’re enabling me to indulge my fascination with food culture!)

a.       Milo: Goes all out on the spice—picnic with him at your own peril. He packs extra-hot kimchi, seasoned roasted garlic cloves, Zevi’s falafel recipe, and a few other side dishes that reflect his upbringing by a Southern Dwarf familiar with Halfling food culture. He also gets pretty excited with drinks, bringing three; an iced ginger tea made with turmeric and black pepper, buttercup and honey hwachae (most non-halflings just call it wine even though it’s usually not alcoholic) because he’s (not so) secretly pretty sappy and sentimental, and Baekse-ju to finish off with a good pair for spicy food and just a touch of alcohol.

b.      Glim: Settles for light, seasonal snack foods. He brings a bunch of fresh cut in-season fruit like apples (that yes, he does cut the skins to look like bunnies like his mother used to), a couple loaves of bara brith made with ground dried fruits and nuts served with butter, and a whole basket of pic ar y maen (cookies with raisins and currants mixed in). He brings spiced virgin cider and a fine local white wine to wash it down.

c.       Remmi: As a professional baker, they refused to bring anything but their best to their picnic. They pick finger-food pastries—the best from their eclectic cooking experience and travels. Beignets topped with honey and powdered sugar—in a basket enchanted to keep them fresh and hot and crisp because they take pride in their work. An impressive assortment of petit fors lined up and packed tightly in another container. Muffuletta finger sandwiches with toothpicks holding them together for the more savory inclined guests. And finally some cranberry pastila which they hadn’t made in years and was their way of flexing their baker’s muscles. They pack a thermos of milk tea and an iced chocolate drink.

d.      Hani: not a big cook. He was hoping Senya would do most of the cooking. It’s not like he’s particularly picky about what he ingests. To be polite though, he brings a crock of bamia—a stew with lamb, okra, tomatoes, and onion—that his mother would make on special occasions. He also brings an impressive array of drinks; sugar cane juice, carob juice, tamarind juice, and iced coffee.

3.       What are your OC’s wearing to the picnic?

a.       Milo: Largely his usual sort of outfit. A sleeveless turtleneck, cargo capris, and combat boots. He does add a lightweight cotton shawl embroidered with geese in shades of red that he got as a wedding gift from Lian. He wears it to avoid sunburn, but once in the shade and eating, he carefully folds it and sets it aside so it doesn’t get dirty.

b.      Glim: A cream colored tunic and brown tasseled cardigan over dark blue leggings, simple but sleek black ankle boots, and finished off with a simple sapphire teardrop pendant on a gold chain.

c.       Remmi: they opt for something simple and comfortable, but fitting for the season. They wear a yellow wide-band tank top under an oversized baby pink cable knit sweater. The sweater is so big it slouches off one shoulder, reaches their knees, and the sleeves hide their hands if they aren’t scrunched up at the elbow. They pair that with slim, washed out jeans, and a pair of tan slouchy boots. As one final touch, they don cherry blossom studs in their ears.

d.      Hani: he goes for something sporty and comfy. A loose and flowy off-white sleeveless crop top over a pair of baggy gray-blue shorts held round his hips by a broad and colorful sash and a pair of greek sandals that he discards almost immediately. To add a touch of class—after all this is a fun outing so why not—he wears golden arm bands just above each bicep. Those stay on longer, but they, too, eventually get unceremoniously dumped into the picnic basket in favor of total comfort.

4.       Which OC brings a musical instrument to idly play?

a.       Surprisingly enough, Hani. Remmi knows a little piano and harp, but those aren’t exactly available at a picnic. Milo has never learned an instrument (though he finds guitar interesting). And Glim tried playing, but sucked at just about everything; and anything he could play he couldn’t play in front of others. Hani, on the other hand, randomly knows how to play—and is good at—the oud (which is like an Arab lute). And yes, he does attempt to play Wonderwall on it.

5.       How quickly does your OC realize there are ants trying to sneak into their food? What do they do about it?

a.       Milo: He’s very perceptive, so it doesn’t take long for him to notice. He proceeds to squish them then mix them into his food for “extra protein” without hesitation. Despite knowing that Milo was raised eating bugs and still does fairly regularly, everyone still looks at him like he’s gone insane.

b.      Glim: He picks up on it when someone else points it out. It’s only then that he realizes that he forgot to activate the insect repellent rune. He curses under his breath and apologizes before quickly moving the picnic supplies a few meters away and activating it then.

c.       Remmi: They spend the whole picnic low-key looking out for this. Whenever bugs start walking toward or flying around their precious gourmet picnic, they nonchalantly close all the containers up tight then swat them all away without breaking the conversation.

d.      Hani: he doesn’t notice until one of the ants bites his tongue as he’s eating. He spits that one out because it was mean, but all subsequent ones he eats. And unlike Milo, Hani doesn’t mix them into anything, he just pops them into his mouth.

6.       Which OC hides under the shade at first before being convinced to come out into the sun? How do they react?

a.       Glim hates the heat. If you can manage to convince him to leave the tranquility of shade, he will be a drama queen about it. Really laying it on thick and moaning about how “the sun is a white hot laser” against his “poor fragile flesh” and that if he continues on he will surely “burn up, dry out, and die!” and other such dramatic nonsense. He gets weirdly poetic when he’s frustrated or cranky. Needless to say, Milo has ceased pushing the issue.

7.       Imagine your OCs spending their time picking nearby wildflowers and watching the butterflies and bees at work.

a.       Milo foregoes this particular activity, choosing this time instead to just take in the scenery. He’s scared he might upset a hive or get stung or bitten by something so he’d rather just sit back and soak up the atmosphere.

b.      Glim is carefully rooting around for four leaf clovers under a subdued parasol.

c.       Remmi carefully plucks and cuts an armful of flowers and stems so they can make colorful flower crowns for everyone.

d.      Hani chases the bugs and small animals, not unlike a dog would. But he’s having fun so it’s fine.

8.       Which OC foregoes a picnic blanket and sits directly on the ground? Are they concerned by the grass stains on their clothes afterwards?

a.       Hani doesn’t care where he plants his butt and cares almost as little about stains.

9.       Which OC brings a chair because they can’t stand the thought of sitting on the ground?

a.       Remmi, but a lot of it is because they don’t want to risk getting their clothes too dirty and also because the ground is never as soft and even as you think or hope. So sitting on the ground, even on a blanket, hurts their butt.

10.   Imagine your OCs falling asleep after eating their food, content and happy.

a.       Milo is one of the first to nod off and lays down in the shade. He kicks his shoes off and lets the sun warm his feet while the shade keeps his face cool. He wakes up to groggily help pack everything back up.

b.      Glim doesn’t actually fall asleep. He just sort of zones out while playing with Milo’s hair and enjoying the breeze.

c.       After loading up on carbs, Remmi dozes off in their chair and wake up with a tender sunburn spread across their nose and cheeks. They vow to never fall asleep in the sun like that again, but they make the same mistake next time.

d.      Hanni has seemingly boundless energy throughout the day, which is a bit unusual for him as he often naps a lot when the sun is out, but is wired by the time the moon replaces it. As soon as they’ve packed everything up and are headed home, though, the excitement wears off and he crashes hard. He’s asleep the whole way back.

[cosmicclownboy]

I haven’t written a complete fic in months I’m rusty and not the greatest so please be gentle with me :)

Day 1 of Malex week: meet ugly based a little off this.

[my old dealer is moving to be with his boyfriend, so he hooks me up with you and you refuse to sell to me because I cut in front of you in line one time YEARS ago and I’m not even sure that it was me. this is ridiculous]

Michael just wants to get fucking stoned. He wants to lay in his stuffy beaten truck blare the radio full pelt and forget the existence of everything human and alien. It's not too much to ask. It isn't. And yet the universe seems to get a hard-on for telling Michael Guerin no. His life is shaking a magic eight ball and getting the same result try next time. No, you can't have a foster family who loves you.No you can't go to college to become a renowned agricultural engineer because your foster parent took a hammer to your hand and your sister may or may not have murdered a group of girls. So yeah Michael wants to forget everything. And whilst sex or alcohol is just as appealing as a bag of weed his hands been seizing up again. So he quickly pings Eric.

Trust Eric to be in the fucking Bahama's. He didn't get a meetup time. Instead, he gets a screenshot picture of Eric with his boyfriend about to be blown in the bathtub grinning wide holding a peace sign. Great, he's doomed for a lousy night it seems. An hour later he gets another text from him.

Hope this isn't another sex pic and you can find someone in New Mexico who will give me what I need.

Ten minutes later he gets an address, a name and instructions.

Alex Manes.

He does all the instructions including knocking on the door in Morse code.It surprises him that he's outside a house.Usually meetups happen somewhere very different this seems to be very domestic.What he also doesn't expect is to find is a incredibly attractive beautiful dark haired man eye him up for two seconds hungrily and before he can even return the favour the door is slammed right back in his face. Oh god. What did he do? It's no secret to any inhabitants of Roswell that a drunk Michael tends to do questionable things. The last person he pissed off was because he drunkenly stripped off all his clothes and rode naked on a lawn tractor. But Max being Max helped settle it. He can't exactly walk into the Sheriff's office and ask bro to score him some pot. He'd end up back in a cell whilst Max quotes whatever literature he's found a new interest in.

"Trying to name drop Eric won't work. I don't help bus seat stealer’s".

Bus seat stealer?????  What is he in the fourth grade? "I don't remember stealing a bus seat"

"So you don't remember me getting up to pick up a toy for a crying child and stealing my seat all whilst smugly staring at my ass"

Crap he does remember that. He did spend a night or two thinking about that ass. The bisexual struggle was real.He knows from the hungry eyes he witnessed he could try to flirt his way out of it.And he knows he could apologise but he's tired he's driven for twenty minutes.Michael closes his eyes resting his head on the door his current salvation is pissed off.

"I don't have full motor function in my hand so I couldn’t hold onto the rail and I didn't want to end up on my ass. I hate the whole pity the disabled shtick so I didn't think to ask and there was a thunderstorm the day before"

"-and it fucks with the joints and muscles"

Bolts rattle for a minute before the door swings open and the man is ushering him in. And despite already being on thin ice he still watched the way Manes' jeans hugged his body.

There are a couple of things Michael could write on a list of certain things he would also never expect to find at a drug dealers house. He comes to find there are several things he needs to add to the list.

1.scented candles. 2.musical instruments 3.said drug dealer offering him a cup of tea before rolling up his pant leg and showing him his prosthetic leg 4.a connection he's never found before in any human other than Sanders

He leaves the place with two brownies and a phone number. And for the first time in a long time, Michael thinks the universe magic eight balled him a different answer. A better one.They text for two weeks and he learns very quickly that Alex is smart and witty and can stand toe to toe with him on a level that not even Max or Isobel can. The texts become shorter as his phone plan slaps him in the face with a reminder that he can't have the nice things he wants.He tells Alex thinking this is it.This good thing gone.But Alex just replies to text him a place instead to talk instead. 

They stare at the stars from his truck, it's strange how comfortable he feels sharing this with him. This is his safe place and maybe he wants to share that with this man.It’s been a week of feeling exposed in the best way possible.Waking up to Alex snoring and sleep talking was for sure a highlight.

"You aren't what I expected" "How so?" He can't help but laugh. He really doesn't see it. "Your like the kindest drug dealer I've ever met. Eric is an asshole" This time Alex throws his head back laughing before slowly brushing a curl behind his ear. "Eric is definitely an asshole sending a stranger to his exes house for weed is a new one"

Wait a second.

"You're not a drug dealer are you?"

Alex shakes his head. He's doesn't know whether to kill Eric or thank him.

"Can I borrow your phone? there's a picture I really would like to send him but first, we've got to find a bathtub".

[anystalker707]

Cardboard Boxes

Pairing: Gerard Way x Reader Genre: Angst/Comfort Word count: 1 814 Summary: Gerard and (y/n) are organizing their things when they find not just their things, but also memories

"I told you! I knew that we had more CDs than the ones in the shelves!" I grin pulling some CDs from a cardboard box and inspecting them. "KISS, Led Zeppelin, my Rolling Stones one..." I mutter, setting them back inside the box after checking at least half of them. "We gotta place them back with the others."

"How did they get in here?" Gerard asks and I shrug, placing the box away and grabbing a black folder that lays aside. I swear I've gone through five folders already and none of them have useful contents, all they've got inside are useless papers that I don't even remember why did we keep it.

This one, however, is different. My face lightens up as soon as I see what's inside. "Hey, look at that!" I say getting the papers in hands and foiling it. He shoots me a questioning look before walking over and sitting next to me on the floor. From the papers, I get a picture we took when we had just started the band; there stands Mikey with his bass; Ray, Frank and I with our guitars, Gerard with a mic in hands and Matt with his drumsticks.

When Gerard's eyes land over the picture, they widen and his lips curl open into a grin; he takes it from me. "I didn't even remember we had this!" He brings it closer to his face, analyzing it. "Plain 2002."

"Right?" I ask with a chuckle, moving my attention back to the papers. "A shame we didn't write the date in everything." I comment getting another photo in hands. "Nowadays, we take a step and write down the date and time." He laughs at my comment, handing me back the pic and I give him the one I got. "Look, this one is from when we presented in New York for the first time."

"Why are those here?" He asks, looking at the paper.

"No clue." I say and grab a what seems like to be a page ripped from a notebook or something. It's blank- wait, no, it's just the wrong side. Turning it around, it's seen one of Gerard's drawings. "January 6 2003." I read the date out loud, getting Gerard's attention.

"What? What's this?" He leans a bit towards me, placing his chin over my shoulder.

"Drawing of me." I turn it a bit towards his direction.

"Cringy." He comments, wrinkling his nose lightly.

"It isn't!" I raise my eyebrows at him. "It's precious! Gonna post in Instagram later." I return it to the folder and continue looking through its contents.

"Will you really?" He asks and, without looking up at him, I nod. He whines quietly, leaning his head against mine for a moment before moving away. "Look," He says, holding up a book. "this book Ray gave you in 2015."

"I was thinking about it some days ago!" I exclaim, immediately getting the object in hands and grinning as I foil it. In one of the first pages, there's a dedication Ray wrote. Really cute. Gerard chuckles quietly at my desperate manner, but I just shake my head lightly. "Do you think he remembers about this?" I ask, placing the book over the CDs box.

"Maybe." He tilts his head. "Take a photo of that later and ask him." In response, I raise my eyebrows lightly, nodding.

"Look here," I say handing him another picture. "I couldn't stop laughing while took that one." A chuckle leaves my lips at the memory. "2004 were wild times." I comment and he nods when seeing the picture, chuckling too. There's Frank with his face white because of purposely passing too much powder on his face as a way to mock Gerard in the Bullets tour. He sits with his legs crossed and his hands above his knee, shooting the camera a smug look.

"I can't even find it weird," Gerard comments, "that's basically Frank being himself."

"Yeah!" I agree and get another photo, smiling, "I also took this one that's Mikey trying to look like Doyle Wolfgang. And," My smile grins when I get a photo of Gerard, "you." In the image, he grins as having his hair all over his face. "We could barely see you under all that hair, but you never changed until The Black Parade."

His eyebrows furrow lightly and he pouts as looking at the picture then at me. "It was nice." Raising an eyebrow, I narrow my eyes at him. "At least I liked it." He justifies and I shrug, tilting my head. "Sometimes I kind of miss the white hair, but I then I remember why I hated it."

"Y'know, I can't choose a hairstyle I like the most," I smile, putting on a defeated look, "all of them are awesome and you're always cute." His cheeks redden lightly at my comment and I wink. He rolls his eyes in response. There's a moment of silence as I look through the folder's papers again and Gerard does something himself.

"Do you remember we always watched this?" Gerard hands me a VHS tape box. The Man Who Fell to Earth, it says. "Like, we watched it so frequently that it doesn't even play anymore. We didn't have anything to do? Okay, let's watch the movie again."

"True!" I comment, turning the object on my hands. "We should watch it again. Do you think we can find a DVD or maybe in the internet?" I raise an eyebrow, setting it next to the book Ray gave me.

"Maybe, but I bet it'll be difficult. Or not, nowadays you can find anything." He shoots me a wondering look.

"Not everything; I couldn't find The Anvil by Visage anymore, plus that movie is older than us." I say and he mutters an agreement.

"1998!" Gerard exclaims in a tone that makes me immediately look at him, confused.

"What?" I ask through a laugh.

"This!" He shows me a photo of us together. "When we were in arts college yet." He holds it in front of me and I narrow my eyes, analyzing it.

"Cute!" I smile, noticing we were clearly awkward when it was taken. "Why do we have so much important stuff kept here like this?" I ask as carefully grabbing the photo and placing it between the things I'm not placing back inside the cardboard boxes neither throwing away.

"You get it that we don't touch those boxes since 2013, right?" He asks quietly and I silently agree, getting what he means and not wanting to go further in the subject.

"Smol us in a Metallica concert." I say handing him a picture of Gerard and I in a concert I practically dragged him to. "Here, Frank and I." I give him yet another, where Frank and I stand next to each other and he still had those dreads. "Ray and you." The photo shows Gerard and Ray behind the glass of a studio, both with thumbs up; probably from summer of 2003.

"Do we have this many frames?" Gerard says through a hopeless laugh.

"Damn, I don't know!" Desperation present in my voice as I breathe a laugh too. "No way I'm keeping such important pictures hidden!" I put everything back inside the folder before setting it next to the CDs box. Standing up, I carefully step between all the books and objects thrown on the floor and the open cardboard boxes. One of the boxes has just books and folders inside it, I bend down to take it away from there.

"Look at what I found!" Gerard exclaims and I immediately approach, kneeling behind him and placing my hands on his shoulders. I ask what's it and he simply smiles as showing me a paper with some sloppy handwriting all over it and some small heart drawings here and there.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I take the paper in hands and bring it closer to read what's written, sitting back on my legs in the process. My eyes slowly widen as I understand what's it. "It still exists..." I groan playfully, hiding my face on Gerard's shoulder; I can feel it moving as he quietly laughs. "So cringy..." I sigh, smiling, as reading the paper again. It's a letter, one of the really cheesy ones I wrote Gerard when we were dating. It's not like we lived far from each other or couldn't speak frequently, we were just two idiots in love. Shit, we still are.

"I loved those. Love those." He comments and I smile even more, placing a kiss to the side of his neck and looking over his shoulder, seeing he has a folder in hands now. It's one from when I worked in a instruments store and used to keep the store registers in there plus that's also why it's full of instruments brands stickers. I kept it because of the rare stickers and emotional attachment.

"And yours? Are they there too?" I say in a slightly teasing voice, reaching for the folder. Gerard, however, is faster and moves it away.

"Nuh huh." He looks back at me, twisting his mouth lightly. "If yours are cringy, mine are ten times worse!" His tone is playfully.

"Who cares, Gerard?" I laugh, setting the paper I have in hands aside and reaching for the folder. His crossed legs position is of course a disadvantage to him and I'm able to successfully get the folder in hands, sitting down next to him when doing so. I notice it's kinda heavy when placing it over my lap. Gerard's gaze doesn't leave me the whole time as I grab the letters in hands. I hold up a specific one. "You say it's cringy," I shoot him a bored look, "but those are fucking awesome. Cheesy and cliche as fuck? Sometimes, obviously; but it's so deep and inspiring that they make me want to write too!" His face reddens as his lips curl up into a sheepish smile.

"I tried to write something to match your amazingness." He says flirty, winking.

Not answering at first, I stare at him and finally crack a grin, "Oh my God, now you were cringy!" I exclaim, laughing, "I don't think that exists!"

"I know!" He starts to laugh too and buries his face on his hands.

"God, so cute!" I say placing the folder on the floor and moving closer to him - Gerard's red face comes into view as I pull his hands away. He looks at me with a small smile and I internally melt at the sight. We just look at each other smiling in silence until he leans his forehead against mine and the both of us close our eyes, sharing a silent 'I love you'.

[syncogon]

[QZGS meta] what’s in an OP? dawning glory (pt 3)

(part 1) (part 2) 

This is the third and last post in my little series analyzing the opening theme of The King’s Avatar Season 2! Honestly, this whole thing became way longer than I was expecting. I guess this is what happens when all my immense amount of love for this series, accumulated over years of no-donghua-updates, overlaps with my immense amount of love for anime openings. 

Watched the first and second episodes yesterday, and they really sparked a lot of joy. :D I missed Blue River so much :D

Yesterday, they released the OST for Season 2, which includes the TV cut and full versions of the OP and ED, as well as two insert songs, and the instrumental versions of all of the above. I’ve yet to find anywhere that lets me download the audio files (hoping they’ll be reuploaded to youtube or bilibili soon), but in the meantime you can listen here. They’re really good songs!  https: //www. kuwo. cn/album_detail/15792659

Anyway, let’s finish up this OP analysis!

Now here, we reach the true climax as we enter the chorus section. This next segment is definitely the highest-energy part of the entire opening. It’s a montage of Happy’s characters showing off their moves, timed to the music; there’s not too much deeper meaning, but damn if it doesn’t look fantastic. The animation flows from one character and scene to the next so smoothly, so beautifully, it’s just incredibly hype to see. This is what you get when you specifically choreograph/animate sequences for the opening instead of just reusing shots from the main show! (Parts of some of these shots appeared in episode 1, but I do honestly think that it’s more likely that the show reused shots from the opening than the other way around, just because of how perfectly the OP fits together. I also don’t think it’s super noticeable in-show; I’ve just been watching this obsessively.)

In particular I love the line that kicks this all off: “just put on your battle armor and step onto the road to the unknown.” Specifically, though, the rhythm of the lyric is, “jiu pi shang zhan jia ta shang wei zhi qian fang,” with emphasizing accents on the -ang sounds. This isn’t how you would divide the phrase naturally, but because the (syncopated!!) melody accents these notes/syllables, the rhyming effect really stands out and it feels as clever and satisfying as a rap lyric. Moreover, the emphasis times juuust right with the attacks of Soft Mist, Steamed Bun Invasion, and Windward Formation, a perfect example of how music and visuals mutually reinforce each other for maximum cool effect. 

It’s generally easier to rhyme in Chinese than English, because of a smaller phonetic vocabulary. From the chorus onward, the key rhyme is on the “-ang” sound (think “ahng” or “ong”, not “aang” like the Avatar), which is a good choice - powerful, reverberant. The asymmetry of the syllable’s use in this section - the song’s lines are all different lengths at this part, so you’re kept on your toes as to when the pattern will reappear - helps add to the engaging excitement of the song. This is also the syllable used for most of the rhymes in the second half of the first OP. 

jiu pi shang zhan jia ta shang wei zhi qian fang

hui qi shou zhong wo jin de na shu guang

you ni men zai lu shang__

shi li liang

I really love One Inch Ash’s design. Concealed Light had a big redesign for this season, and honestly I like it as well. And notice here that he’s holding a book - exactly how we left Luo Ji when we saw him last! 

“Waving the light clenched tightly in our hand” - that is to say, brandishing our light as our weapon, no matter what form it may take - a sword, a book, our hope and determination. 

On a purely musical note (ha), right at this point, specifically the measure beginning with “那束光,” you can hear a three-note “ooo” harmony line in the background, and wow it’s so subtle but I love it so much! A similar three-note line actually appears earlier too (during the “crossing the frozen finish line,” right as the music is building up), also to great effect.  

We follow Concealed Light’s gaze upward to the building to see Deception running along the wall, from which he does a flip and slashes downward with twin blades. I love that transition a lot, but my favorite transition of this entire sequence has to be the following one:

Yes! Deception’s cross slash resolves perfectly into the cross held by Little Cold Hands. It’s so fast and so natural you don’t even notice it, and that’s the absolute beauty of it. The first time I saw this, I was in awe - the animators really brought their A-game to this, far better than I ever would have dared hope for this series.

And Little Cold Hands is so pretty! When we got our first art of her official design, the comments were filled with people simping for her, and honestly, valid. I’m surprised her hair is purple instead of pink, but that’s just a minor thing. 

There’s something especially powerful about how she raises her cross in time with the lyric “having you all here [with me] on this road,” and then the cross flashing brilliantly with “it’s power.” More than any other role, the healer is a team player. And this theme of team togetherness is particularly important for An Wenyi, who is deeply moved by the team’s perhaps illogical faith in him. Remember that analogy Ye Xiu tells him, of the straw tied to the deluxe mitten crab? 

An aside: listening to this, I always thought the line should be 有你们在身旁 instead of 有你们在路上, because it still fits the rhyme, because my past experience has somewhat conditioned me to expect that phrase, and because the full message of “having you by my side is power” just makes me wanna tear up like what a good line! So it felt like a missed opportunity that they didn’t use that. But as it turns out, the final iteration of this chorus in the full version of the OP does, in fact, use “by my side”! And I think making this tiny tweak to the lyric the final time you here it just makes it that much stronger :’)

I’m also just a big fan of the “it’s power” melodic flourish in general, since it comes as a surprise. You kind of expect the melody to end with the previous phrase, but the extra notes here add a really nice emphatic beat to finish off the line. 

So to recap the transitions: we see Soft Mist falling from the sky and get a close up of her face as she stabs her spear; this takes us to a closeup of Steamed Bun’s face facing roughly the same direction before we zoom out to his torso and he slashes from lower left of the screen to upper right; following the motion of that slash we see Windward Formation’s torso rotate in that direction as the camera zooms out farther; we follow the rays of his attack to see One Inch Ash drawing his sword; we zoom in on the flashing blade and zoom out on Concealed Light’s glowing book; we follow his gaze upward to see Deception running along the building behind him; Deception leaps and slashes and the slash becomes Little Cold Hands’ cross, which raises up and triggers an explosion. It’s just so dynamic and smooth even without taking place in one continuous setting, and it just really, really gets you hyped. 

Also, starting from Happy’s team picture at the start of the chorus, which is during the day, it feels like Soft Mist and Steamed Bun’s moves are at late afternoon, Windward Formation and One Inch Ash take us to nighttime, and then you can see the first rays of morning in Concealed Light and Deception’s segments. This continuity also definitely helps with the feeling of natural flow through these scenes. 

Anyway, this entire action segment is just so beautiful, I could watch it on loop. But we still have the final segment of this OP to analyze, so let’s keep going.

After the action sequences of the climax, we settle down a bit now as we approach the end. Here we see the Excellent Era team picture, in the same style as the team pics we saw earlier, but presented separately. It makes sense, as the role they play in the story is different from the roles of all the other teams. 

Sun Xiang, Liu Hao, and Cui Li are at the bottom. Because we’re panning up, these three are the first we see. At first glance, the way they’re positioned is fairly consistent with the team pics we’ve seen already: Captain Sun Xiang at center-right, the largest figure; vice-captain Liu Hao, manager Cui Li in the background. 

Sun Xiang’s position and expression is really the only one that fits the healthy pattern of the teams we’ve seen already - looking toward the camera, a confident (though arrogant) smile. He might be misguided, but there’s hope for him yet. Notice how Liu Hao isn’t even looking at the camera, which as we’ve seen before is somewhat of an indication of how unified and focused the team is toward its goal; instead, Liu Hao is doing his own thing, determined to prioritize his own desires over what’s best for the team. And manager Cui Li is in this image too, despite not even being a player. His sinister presence reflects the unhealthy interference of the business side in the gaming side. Excellent Era’s downfall comes about because of its prioritization of profit over victory.

As we pan up, Excellent Era’s logo comes into view. It’s larger than any of the other team logos we’ve seen so far, spanning around three-quarters of the screen whereas the others looked to span no more than half. Excellent Era’s legacy is a weighty one, to date the only team to have ever won three championships, and consecutively to boot. 

It’s this immense, shining logo that seems to be casting Tao Xuan on the left into shadow. He cuts a large figure, reflecting the deep impact his actions have had upon the main plot of this story, even though he’s only now appearing for the first time in the donghua.

However, he’s also turned away from the camera, such that we can barely even see his closed eye. Because of that, it’s difficult to read his expression, but the impression given by this pose is not one of vindictive pride, but one of shame, as though he can’t quite bear to face what he’s done. On some level, no matter how he might try to rationalize it as necessary, Tao Xuan knows that his profit-driven betrayal of Ye Xiu was a pretty awful thing to do. It might be this amount of guilt that leads him to offer Ye Xiu a wish granted, a tribute to their years of friendship and partnership before their ties are severed completely.

In the end, Tao Xuan’s greed leaves him with nothing really to show for it. What had he gained? What had he lost? Those realizations are still a ways off in the story, but I like how this OP is already hinting at the depth of his character. Tao Xuan isn’t some glasses-flashing, evil-laughing, one-dimensional antagonist; he is in fact very realistic for the setting. We can condemn his actions and priorities, but at the same time we can understand how he ended up here.

As for Su Mucheng, her eyes are closed as well. She’s brightly illuminated, but pointedly turned away from all of the others in Excellent Era; she knows the direction of her future, and that it no longer lies with Excellent Era. Her loyalty was always to Ye Xiu, and as soon as he was banished, her relationship to the team was professional and nothing more. 

“This light hidden in my heart is burning” - there are many ways to read this lyric and what exactly the light referenced here is, but because the line is paired with this image, I naturally think about Su Mucheng’s situation. Despite her pretty-vase, sweet-girl appearance, she holds a deep, profound anger at everything that happened regarding Excellent Era. It’s a testament to her immense strength of character that she lasted the remaining one and a half years of her contract in this hostile environment. 

Yet even as she resolves to cut ties, there’s a sadness in her expression. She was here from the very beginning as well, when Excellent Era was no more than an internet cafe, and it pains her immensely that the powerhouse, championship team that they and her brother had built from the ground up would ultimately meet this tragic end.

It’s interesting to note that both of the “redeemable” characters here (namely Su Mucheng and Sun Xiang) are on the right, more brightly-lit side of the screen, so there’s a nice little dividing line you can draw there. Sun Xiang’s eyes are still looking toward the left, though, revealing how his character development still has yet to play out.

From there we cut to Ye Xiu holding Lord Grim’s account card. He’s standing back on top of the roof from the beginning of the OP, now in full daylight.

As mentioned… the animators really went ham on the bangs animation.

Ye Xiu turns away from the railing, the camera cuts to an image of Happy’s logo on a flag waving in the wind, and then we zoom out to see the current members of Team Happy gathered together in uniform, standing proud in the light of day. Left to right, Steamed Bun, Tang Rou, Luo Ji, Ye Xiu, An Wenyi, Wei Chen, Chen Guo. Presumably, this will be Happy’s lineup by the end of the season. 

Up until now, we’ve only seen the real players separate from each other - they’ve all been in different places, never even in the same frame together. (This, of course, also contrasts the pro team pics that we have, which show everyone together.) Halfway through the OP, we got the group shot of them meeting in game with their characters. And now, they’ve finally met up in the real world as well. 

One thing I like about this final pose is how it compares to the final pose of the OVA OP. It’s the same kind of power-pose vibe, but there we only had Ye Xiu, Chen Guo, and Tang Rou. Look at how we’ve grown since then! They’re well on their way to being a proper pro team! 

And that’s a wrap! With this final image of Team Happy gathered together, we’re ready to enter the episode proper. 

So let’s talk about the OP as a whole. Generally, an OP serves a couple of main roles: a) tells you a bit about what the show is about, b) gives you an overall feeling / mood for the show, c) gets you hyped and ready to watch the upcoming episode.

How well does this opening achieve those goals? Pretty well, as we’ve seen. Past OPs did a pretty good job of setting the mood, but they honestly just put some pretty visuals on the screen, only vaguely aligned to the music, and called it a day. This OP, however, has a cohesive storyline to tell, framed around Team Happy’s coming together (following the tagline of this season). Even in such a short span of time, it manages to convey so much information about its story and characters, both overt and implicit (as I hope this series of posts has managed to convince you). Paired with the music, which has its own deeper meanings encoded in the lyrics, the OP becomes incredibly effective and memorable as it makes its statement.

I mentioned an “interest curve” earlier (interest in the sense of interesting, not the money); this is part of the standard formula for anime opening songs, in my experience. I’m a little too lazy to draw a graph myself, so take a look at this image:

(source: https: //www. researchgate. net/figure/Example-of-an-interest-curve-for-a-successful-entertainment-experience_fig1_333917625 )

Although not all of the relative heights and segment lengths are accurate in this specific case, hopefully the general shape of the interest curve is enough to demonstrate my point. You’ve got the A-B peak at the opening instrumental segment, the C-D peak/arc over verse 1, the D-E-F peak/arc over verse 2, then the sharp F-G-H peak over the chorus before dropping off for a smooth landing right into the episode. This general pattern is effective at holding the viewer’s focus and managing their excitement over the course of this one and a half minutes. 

Visually, the OP is just such a treat for the eyes. I’ve already talked about many of the little details I love - lighting, character designs, animations, transitions, etc. - but all in all the new animation studio is doing a really good job here. An OP is how you hook people, and I’d definitely feel comfortable using this to try and bait people into watching this show. 

One comment I want to add is about the incorporation of the credits, which we didn’t see until the episode premiere. I don’t think there’s anything too exciting to say (and I also don’t have access to any images right now since the OP was only shown in episode 2), but the fonts and styling were a nice choice - it gave a gaming vibe, but if I recall it still used a serif font, so it didn’t feel overly modern - and the text positioning generally complements instead of distracting. I also liked how they showed the lyrics! I didn’t really expect them to include them onscreen, or if they did, I thought they would just be plain subs like they were in this video. But in the actual OP that plays at the beginning of the episode, they’re as much a part of the art as the credits!

If I had to make any criticism, my biggest complaint about the OP is, I think, the singers. I think having two different singers trade off can work nicely, but in this case, the switches are jarring because their voices are so different. The first singer has a lower, gravely voice, while the second singer’s voice sounds much brighter and more nasally. Furthermore, the first switch doesn’t come until we’re fully halfway through the song, which means that by that point we’re already used to this first singer. It’s also strange that they’d switch back to the first voice at the climax of the song, when I think the second voice would suit the high-energy segment much better. Switching from second to first right at this point feels like we’re actually taking a step down in energy, which is the opposite of what should be happening here. 

Still, my main problem isn’t with the voice switching but with the voices themselves, and I think the voices are something I could get used to. The third switch, going from the first voice back to the second voice during the shot of Excellent Era, is much less jarring than the others - I actually like how it feels like the solo is passing naturally from one person to the next, emphasizing the ideals of this not being a single-player game and all that. For that transition in particular, I think (because of the added “it’s power” flourish) it happens too quickly for one person to sing it comfortably, so having another person pick up the line works best. And I do like how the voices sound when they overlay together for the final lines of the song. 

So, overall? Overall, this OP is really damn good. It’s everything I could have asked for and more. After such a long wait, the OP, at least, does not disappoint, and I’m extremely excited to see what the series has in store for us. 

If you’ve read to this point, thank you! I like this series a lot, as you can probably see, and I’m treating it as my glory :)

[goodwriterwithbadhabits]

March 27th

Master List

~~

“And the sky, it's this amazing shade of blue, and all the clouds change color during sunrise and sunset.” Jae gushed, waving his hands in the air as he spoke. “I can’t wait for you to meet him, Brian, Younghyun, he’s literally the coolest dude ever.” You laughed along with your best friend, truly happy for him, but your heart still clenched at his words. You weren’t even sure what the color blue looked like. 

In your world, everything was shades of black and white, no other colors. This was a common occurrence, everyone was born seeing the world in black and white, only gaining the ability to see in a full spectrum once you encounter your soulmate. For most people your age, their soulmates had been found ages ago. Jae was an exception, at 27 he should have met his soulmate ages ago, but that had only happened over the weekend when he encountered Brian, Kang Younghyun, at a bar and upon bumping into him, found out beer was yellow. You wanted to be happy for your friend, and you were, but part of you still aches when he talked about his boyfriend. 

“He’s a songwriter, you know Park Sungjin? The cool guitarist a year above me?” You nodded blankly at Jae’s words, staring out the café window as you sip your drink. “He’s in a band with him and a couple other kids from here.” Jae gestures to the campus around you. “A keyboardist and a drummer. They’re playing at Club Xion next Saturday, you should come with me.”

“Are you playing?” You ask, opting not to answer his question. 

“Yeah,” His face erupts into a grin. “I’m heading over to Brian’s tomorrow for some practice, you should roll up, meet everyone, bring me lunch.” Your friend’s words bring you back into the present and you can only shake your head at them, not the least bit shocked at his audacity.

“So that’s the real reason huh? To bring you food?” You laugh, rolling your eyes slightly. 

“And because I think you should meet my new friends.” He reasoned, sighing at your grimace. “Come on, you and I have been besties since we were in diapers, it’s only right that you met my soulmate and judge them to the best of your abilities.” You chuckle at his remark, sipping your drink again. “Please?” He whines and you finally cave, sighing and looking away from him. 

“You owe me.” You huff, slumping slightly in your seat, and as you expected Jae is leaning over the table to shake you vigorously in excitement.

“Oh my god I love you, I’ll buy you dinner for a week, or that giant shark plushie we saw at the store the other day. Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you, promise.” He cheers. 

“This better be worth it Jaehyung Park, or I’m going to tie weights to your ankles and throw you in the Han.”

“It will be I swear, Brian tells me they’re awesome. You’re the best, I love you so much.” 

“I know, calm down.” You finally push him away, picking up your drink once more and gazing back out the window. “This had better be worth it.” 

~~

“So, he’s really your soulmate.” Wonpil sighed dreamily, elbow resting on his keyboard. “That’s so cool. Was it romantic?” Younghyun chuckles, shaking his head as he tunes his bass. 

“Oh not remotely. We bumped into each other at Xion, he dropped his beer on me and we both started seeing colors instantly.” 

“What color did you see first?” Seungjin asked, eyes still trained on his guitar.

“Yellow.” Younghyun grins and Dowoon has to physically stop himself from gagging. Colors, of course, they were talking about colors. Dowoon was sick of hearing about colors, it’s all any of the boys wanted to talk about, Sungjin had found his soulmate back in middle school, Wonpil found his during the gap year he took in college, and now Younghyun had found his. 

This was bullshit in Dowoon’s opinion.

“What’s with the sour face kid?” Jae’s voice filled the room, jolting Dowoon from his thoughts. 

“We’ve got a sour little brother, cause he’s the only one who hasn’t found his soulmate.” Wonpil teased, earning a drumstick thrown at him. “Ha, now I have your drumstick, what are you gonna do about it?” Wonpil jokes, and in retaliation, Dowoon picks up another drumstick. 

“Alright that’s enough,” Younghyun interjects, “Hi babe,” He greets his partner with a kiss that has Dowoon rolling his eyes. “Everyone, this is Jae, Jae you already know Sungjin, and this is Kim Wonpil, a genius with the keyboard and synth,” Wonpil flashes the older man one of his charming smiles and a peace sign. “And this is our baby brother, Dowoon, an excellent drummer and the best boy.” Dowoon only offers the older man a wave of a drumstick. “He’ll warm up to you.”

“It’s nice to meet you two, I hope you guys don’t mind, but my friend is bringing food later, for everyone.” 

“You conned someone into buying food for a bunch of strangers?” Sungjin asked. 

“Why are you complaining?” Wonpil inquired, glancing over at Dowoon to find him trying to balance a drumstick on his upper lip.

“I didn’t con her, she’s my best friend, she’d do anything for me.” Jae defended, setting down his guitar bag. The sound of a drumstick clattering to the floor alerted everyone that he had failed in his balancing attempts. “So, did we want to start practice?” 

It’s almost two hours before the group breaks for a breather. Dowoon has almost successfully gotten his frustrations out via his drums, and now that he’s worked up a sweat, he’s hungry as fuck. 

“Hey, Jae hyung, when is your friend going to be here?” Sungjin whines, flicking his pic at the oldest man. 

“Soon, she said she was just down the street a few minutes ago,” Jae tells the group, just as a knock echoes on the door. “And there she is, the love of my life.” Jae cries, throwing open the door. Dowoon wasn’t paying attention at first but the moment the door was opened his eyes landed on the person standing there. You were rolling your eyes at your tall friend, holding bags of food in each hand. 

“I’m only your bestie cause I bring you food.” You scoff, to which Jae feigns hurt. 

“Not true, you’re my bestie cause I’m the only one who puts up with your crap.” He jokes and you gasp in shock. 

“Someone come take this food, I gotta beat this punk’s ass.” You hold up both bags and Sungjin and Wonpil immediately surge towards you to take them. Dowoon remains hidden behind the drums, not wanting to get too close to you, meeting Jae was enough for one day. Once the food was out of your hands, you kicked your leg up and would have nailed Jae in the face if he hadn’t blocked it. It was actually really cool watching you fight Jae, and while neither of you actually managed to hit each other, the two-minute brawl was flashy, to say the least. That was until Jae knocked you over and you almost toppled onto Dowoon’s drums. 

The man had never moved so fast in his life when he saw your figure stagger towards his instrument. One moment he was sitting playing with his sticks, the next the clattering of wood resounded on the floor and he was grabbing you by the shoulders to keep you upright. His fingers barely brushed the skin under your sleeve, but it was enough to send sparks across his whole body. In the instant your skin touched, the crimson of his drums lit up his vision, a similar red to the stripes on your bag. 

You all played it off pretty well for the time you were with them, sitting as far away from Dowoon as possible as you ate with the boys. Neither of you spoke about the colors and didn’t speak at all about your soulmates. It isn’t until you’re leaving that someone finally asks.

“Hey, Y/n, have you met your soulmate?” Brian finally blurts. You paused at the doorway, and it became obvious that Jae was growing uncomfortable. At that moment, you decided that yes, it was time to be a pain in the ass.

“Hey maybe we shouldn’t-” Jae started, trying to play it off. 

“I’m not sure.” You began, shouldering your bag, and turning back to the group slightly. Your gaze raked over the boys before landing on the youngest. Your smile broadened before you shifted your gaze to his drum set. “Maybe.” You mused, chuckling as Jae practically began to vibrate. “Either way, I like your drums.” All the eyes landed on the drums, except for Dowoon, who continued to stare at you. With a wink and another small laugh you properly left the room, calling out: “Red suits you.” 

[1-800-seo]

— 1-800-SEO'𝗌 ᪥ '𝖲𝗈𝗅𝗈 𝖲𝗍𝖺𝗀𝖾' — \ 1 | 2 /

— 𝗉𝖺𝗂𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀: 𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗄𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

— 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝗋𝖾: 𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖿𝖿 𝗍𝗈𝗐𝗇, 𝗀𝗋𝗎𝗇𝗀𝖾!𝖺𝗎, 𝗌𝗈𝗅𝗈 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗋!𝖺𝗎, 90'𝗌,

— 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽𝗌: 2569

— 𝗌𝗎𝗆𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗒: 𝖨𝗍'𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 90'𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖩𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗄𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗋𝗂𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗀𝗋𝗎𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗂𝖼𝗄𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗇𝖾𝗐 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗐

Your fingers stick together as you apply some facial glitter to your cheek bones. “Yo, I think this face glitter is off, y’know” you say to your best friend Taehyung who is on the other side of the room, staring into the mirror, attempting to smoke out his eyeliner.

“Didn’t you get it off Kami? It was probably bought like a decade ago, and it’s only just resurfaced from her neon coloured makeup collection. ‘83 through ‘87 were wild, can’t believe people used to wear all that colourful crap.” He said, trying his best not to smudge his handy work, his face showing amusement.

“Ok, mister punk rocker, don’t go all cynical on me. You forget that I still have your baby pics with you and all your neon sportswear on, thinking you look so fly. Oh, and and don’t let me forget about your bright pink sweatbands! They were abominable.” You break out into laughter remembering all of his cute little baby jump suits. He looked like he was going skiing because they were all so padded.

“Oh eat my shorts, you know I’m a changed man now, grunge has taken ahold and I am never going back to” he dramatically shivers “bright colours. Never again.” He feigns a retch and turns back to the mirror to adjust his hair.

You were both in your bedroom, getting ready for hopefully the best concert of your life. You were going to see one of the best vocalists of the generation, in your opinion. Jeon Jungkook, also known as Jeon JK, is a tall, dark haired, leather clad, heartthrob that had weaselled his way into your heart, and pretty much held it tight. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to do him. Amongst having a rocking bod, he also is an amazing song writer, total cutie/dork, and most likely a general nice dude with a good personality. What wasn’t their to like?

So this is how you found yourself, and your best friend Taehyung, in your most grungy outfits you could make under a budget and about to go to a hopefully life changing concert.

Tae turned around from the mirror, “Tada! Do I look okay?” His eyes were gently smudged with not over the top eyeliner and his hair was slightly tousled. It had begun to grow over his eyes so he kept on sweeping the dark locks behind his ears. It matched well with his slightly too large black overalls and light grey tshirt. Over the tshirt he wore a checkered short sleeve shirt with black thick piping on the edge, a detail he’d added himself. All in all he looked like a grunge dream, he’d totally mastered the look.

Unlike your self ripped denim, stolen-from-Tae pearl jam shirt, and leather jacket, you didn’t really look very appealing in your own head but you figured it that was the best you could do so you’d just have to rock it.

“You look ravishing, my dude. King Kurt would say you look bangin’ and that’s honestly all you ever need in life, right?” You laugh at your own joke but it’s less awkward because Tae joins in too.

“Thank you! Right, come on Joan Jett 2.0 shall we hit the road? We don’t want to miss the opening act, do we?” He pulled on his doc martens and soon you were off.

☆:.｡.🥀.｡.:☆

As soon as you saw his face you had to pinch yourself. He looked so good it had to be surreal, it had to be a dream. His boyish long curly hair fell into his dark eyes, his cuffed baggy T-shirt, his ripped jeans, the sweat dripping down his neck, he was a heavenly vision. He looked like some type of Greek god among mortals. His smooth voice crooning out rich and melodiously. It was dulcet and velvety, yet full and powerful too. This man was, quite simply, enchanting.

You break out of the spell this magical pied piper put you under and lock eyes with Taehyung. He’s singing along to the words, eyes wide and full of awe. He’s putting his height to his advantage, he can see much better than you. “Oh so kind Tae Tae?” You shout over the guitars and drums blasting ahead of you. “Yeah?” “Can I please sit on your shoulders?” You say as cutely as possible whilst shouting over a live band. “I don’t know, we might block others view though.” He says eyes still locked on the brown haired boy ahead.

“Never mind them, I can’t see, I’m short!” You put your hand to your forehead and pull it upwards to make the point. “Fine...but you owe me big time.” He says rolling his eyes but a smile on his lips.

He pulls you up just as Jungkook throws his head back to the beat of the song. Damn, that was hot. A wave of heat flows up your body and you feel your blood run straight to your cheeks.

Thank goodness you got on Tae’s shoulders; you can see so much easier now, you can see well over everyone else, the slight swaying of Taehyung balancing himself is a small price to pay for getting to see the one and only specimen ahead.

Suddenly the song shifts, the guitars and drums crescendo and JK’s voice goes from velvety smooth, to something alike ice. Laced with something that can only grab your attention, sharp yet still smooth at the same time. The music was unfamiliar, the drummer begun a solo and JK swayed his hips. Then the drummer stopped and the guitarist started the opening chords to their latest single... so that’s why the sudden shift, it’s a mashup.

“That’s so cool!” You shout to Tae and then scream to show your approval.

Swiftly, the crowd surges forward and because of this so does Taehyung. You try your best to hold on to his shoulders, you’re approaching the barrier, much closer than earlier. All of a sudden Tae jerks forward, having reached the barrier and no more room to go, his body lurches and along with him, you. You tumble over the railings, legs hitting the metal as you go head first.

Head aching with pain and dust on your hands, you look up. You find yourself in the “no man’s land”, the small space between the barriers and fans, and the stage and the artist. You hold your head as you cautiously stand up and a familiar face turns in surprise. He spots you and perfectly ends his note as he powerfully walks over. Luckily it’s the instrumental outro so it doesn’t seem to alert anyone things are wrong; he crouches down to you, the stage separates you both but he makes the gap smaller.

“You ok, doll? That looked like quite a tumble you had there.” He soothed as he gently placed his hand over yours, resting it on where you bumped yourself. He stroked your cheek softly, consoling you. “I’m ok, I think, just a little dizzy.” Shooting pains were stinging your temple but like hell were you gonna show your true pain. “Let me help you.” He takes your hand in his and plants a gentle kiss on your forehead. “All better?” He asked.

“I think so. Although my elbows kinda hurt from the impact.” Your brain registers you’re actually holding hands with THE Jeon Jungkook and you feel your heart just about burst from your chest.

“I’m a tad concerned you may have a concussion darling, so I’ll take you back stage in a hot minute and I’ll get you some help. Just hold on here for me.” His dark eyes had a gentle expression, something new than what he usually has on stage. They sometimes look almost feral; like he’s going to jump someone’s bones. Not that you mind, however this was new and made your heart beat just the same, especially because you were the one who made him look so soft and fond.

The tall fellow rose and strode over to the centre stage. He languidly grasped the mic stand and began to sway to the rhythm. The guitars and drums began to fade out and the middle of the stage slowly started descending until his tousled hair was out of sight. You now realised this was the beginning of a ‘halftime’ break.

Soon enough Jungkook came running round the side of the stage and he bent down to where you were sat.

“Right, let’s get you sorted doll.” He grabbed both hands in his and gently and hesitantly helped you stand up. Once you were stood he put his arm around your waist and wrapped yours around his.

No way were you so close to your giant crush, never mind in an intimate embrace. Your brain struggled to process the whole thing and tried it’s best to act normal. Your brain was short circuiting and your heart pounding away; if you don’t die of a concussion, you’ll certainly die of a heart attack.

He quickly and fluidly moved you to the back stage area, escaping the roar and hungry eyes of the fans.

Once you were sat down on a plastic chair and he left to alert the medical staff, you began to shiver. Mainly out of nervousness and excitedness but quite possibly because you miss the warmth of his arm around you too. However as soon as he was gone he returned and had his arm tucked neatly around you again.

Why was he being so touchy? Was this just fan-service? Or maybe he is just like this when he is worried? Either way, it doesn’t stop the chill his warm touch sends up your side as his fingers brush against your hipbone.

All this time waiting for medical staff gives you a great opportunity to admire him. His visuals were so much more than stunning, they were quite simply unfathomable at times. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple and your mind can’t help but spin. His plain black T-shirt sticks to his stomach and you can see the faint outline of muscle. You look down to the hand around your waist. It’s broad and sinewy, a large vein running down the centre. His touch is gentle and caring, something you never expected from a stranger, never mind someone as famous as him.

You want to stay in this sticky plastic chair forever. “How are you feeling?” He asks, breaking you from your wild thoughts. “Not too bad, thank you for helping me, you really didn’t need to do this.” You reply, cheeks turning rose red.

“No, really, don’t worry about it. It’s the least I can do, you take your time to come here and support me, and for me to not help you up? That would hurt me inside. I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better though, that was a nasty tumble you took there doll, I hope your boyfriend is ok too?” He stiffens beside you, it’s as if as soon as he says it he realises what he said. “Oh no no, Tae’s not my boyfriend.” You run your hands across your thighs, a nervous reaction.

“Oh thank goodness, I only just realised how it could’ve looked, and I know I’d be ragin’ if some meathead like me touched my girl.” His body relaxes, and his hand grazes your hipbone for the second time. It feels like internal static electricity at his sudden touch, you hold in from jumping at it. “Do you have a girl?” You query, thoughts tripping over themselves to catch up. His ‘thank goodness’ reaction was certainly unexpected.

Was he relieved because he didn’t want you to look like you were cheating? Or because he could freely make advances without another guy in the picture? Or both? Either way your mind raced trying to keep up with everything, forehead still stinging in the background.

Eventually the medical staff turn up and sort you out, check you over to see if you have any insurance claimable injuries and bid your adieu with two tiny butterfly stitches over a cut you never knew you had.

JK walks you back to the stage floor, pulling you by the hand. He stops right before the last set of doors. “I’m sorry this happened, I’ll try and get health and safety sorted, but I’m not sorry we met, I’d love to say sorry to you in anyway possible though, so would I be able to get your number? I’d love to spend a good time with you, darling, some time when you aren’t in physical pain.” He jokingly adds in. The hazed over eyes that were once under the bright lights are now clear and genuine. You don’t even know how to feel anymore, everything is so much for you. You’d be stupid not to give your biggest most unlikely-to-reciprocate-crush your number, however it takes a moment to even register what to do. After what feels like forever, your body finally registers and you tell him your digits, as well as your email because your overwhelmed brain spills everything out by accident.

“Thank you for not reacting like a crazy screaming fan, this has been the best interaction I’ve ever had because you’ve treated me like a normal human.” He stammered. You look up to meet his eyes, they look intrigued, like he’s working out a puzzle. You’ve never seen him like this. Not performing. You guess you’ve never really contemplated how he is when he’s not performing, because you’ve never truly seen it. “I think I didn’t react like that because my head is about to explode at the moment, however you are still human, so we all deserve to be treated like humans.” You declare. You don’t know how you speak so frankly, it’s a miracle you haven’t passed out. “Very wise words.” He nods in approval,

“I’m sorry but I’m going to have to leave now doll, but it was lovely meeting you and I hope you enjoy the rest of the show!” He kisses your cheek like a date leaving for the night and jogs off down the maze-like alleys of the under-stage area.

What just happened? You stand in the hall in shock. Did Jeon JK actually just hold your hand, kiss your cheek, put his arm around your waist, AND take care of you? This was all too much. You decided to ponder it all later before you had an aneurysm and enjoy what was left of the night.

You walk through the doors and find your best friend in the sea of people. He wears a worried look and is right by the railing where you fell. “What the hell just happened? Are you okay?!” He barked. His hair was pushed back like he’d been running his hand through it, a nervous habit you knew he had.

You reach up your arms to him like a toddler and he pulls you up and over the barricade as easy as if you weighed nothing. He sets you down and looks at you, worried.

“As much as I want to tell you now I think my brain might explode so as curious as you are I’m going to tell you this all at home. However I assure you, I am fine.” You giggle at how absurd this all is, pulling Tae into a hug. It stabilises you and helps you know that you are real and you’re ok. This isn’t a dream and no matter how bad your head is banging it’ll all be clear soon.

The rest of the night passes by in a hazy euphoric blur.

[sunnyie-eve]

Somebody To Love (Part5-Top Of The Pops)

(Ben!RogerTaylor)

Word count: 1,678

Warnings: Very tiny fluff part at the end

A/N: I like to always add pics of outfits so you can picture what you’re wearing.

—————————————————

"You're sure he said 12 o'clock?" Roger asks Brian from across the table. "Yes, 'Midday at the pub, don't be drunk.' That's what he said." Brian tells Roger. "You look a bit nervous, Brian." John looks at him. "John, I'm fine." He says and I laugh. "You're usually so particular." John says making me laugh more. "Just got to be cool." He says back. "Wow." I say as I see Fred. "I didn't know it was fancy dress, Fred." Brian says. "I've gotta make an impression, darling." Freddie opens his arms. "You look like an angry lizard." I joke making the boys laugh. The boys start to joke about it more as Fred takes his seat next to me and I see an man walk our way. "Can I borrow it for Sunday church?" John asks him as the man I saw takes a seat with us.

"So this is Queen. And you must be Freddie Mercury. You got a gift. You all have. "So tell me, what makes Queen different from all the other wannabe rock stars I meet?" He asks the band. "I'll tell you want it is. We're four sorta five misfits who don't belong together, playing to the other misfits." Freddie adds me in surprise me that he counts me at part of the band. "The outcasts right at the back of the room... who are pretty sure they don't belong either. We belong to them." Fred finishes and Brian adds to it, "We're a family." He takes my hand into his and Roger speaks too, "But no two of us the same."

Another man shows up, "Paul. Paul Prenter... meet Queen... our new signing." He says and we look at each other. "Paul will be looking after your day-to-day." He says and I eye Paul. "Pleasure." He says and Reid talks again. "If I can get you on the radio, maybe I can get you on television." He looks at us. "Top of the Pops?" Roger asks. "Hopefully." Reid says. "And then..." Fred asks him. "And then...It's only the biggest television program in the country. No one is even heard of you." He laughs. “Look, I admire your enthusiasm. Of it goods well, if it happens... I've got an promotional tour in Japan in mind." He says and I look at Fred and I know he wants more.

"We'll want more." He says and I knew I was right. "Every band wants more." Reid says and I decide to speak, "Every band's not Queen." I say making the boys smile at me and at Reid, who smiles back at me. "Who are you?" Paul asks me. "Oh Alice, she's part of the band." Roger says smiling at me and Paul eyes me. "For what? When you want some fun?" Paul asks annoying the boys. "No, she's been with Me and Roger since we let Fred in our band before changing the name. I've known her, her whole life and Roger was friends with her in school." Brian says holding my hand again. "She's family and part of this band." John adds and Fred nods his head. "I also made her our assistant from the very beginning. Queen isn't completed without us five." Freddie smiles at me.

After they all talked for a little more, we decided it was time to head home. "See you mates around, and Alice." Paul glares at me and Roger walks between us. "Let's go, Alice." Roger takes my hand dragging me away from Paul. "What's his problem with you?! Saying you're only with us here for when we want to have some fun. Why would he say that about you?" Roger's grip on my hand tightens. "Roger, you're hurting me!" I yelp and he lets go of me. "I'm sorry, I'm just so mad." His face gets red. "Just relax, it's fine Roger. It doesn't bother me and it shouldn't bother you." I grab his face trying to calm him down. "But it does." He looks into my eyes. "Don't let it." I look back into his and Brian pulls me away from Roger. "I don't like Paul." He says holding me by my waist. "He basically was saying you were like one of Roger's girls." He rest his head on my shoulder. "I'm fine with it, so don't let it bother you guys." I move away from Brian and get in the car.

~

Reid got the boys to be a the television to preform and they were excited about it. "Alice, Love. Do I look okay?" Roger asks walking up to me. "No, because your tie is shit. Come here." I walk up to him and fix his tie for him. "How old are you and you can't do your own tie?" I joke making him roll his eyes at me. "I usually don't dress up Alice." I smile up at him and pat his chest. "Oh I know, but it's nice when you do though." I wink at him and reach taking my necklace off, "Brian, let me put this on you. It will complete your look." I turn away from Roger going over to Bri. "Anything about me?" John asks and I shake my head. "Nope, you look perfect." I smile at him while Fred talks to Mary.

"This is shit." Roger says hitting his drum. The guy goes on telling them that it will be play back. "We do know how to play our instruments." Roger tells him. "You want me to lip sync?" Fred gets in his face. "I don't understand why we can't simply perform live." Brian tells the man. "The audience will ever know the difference." He says to the band. "They'll know the bloody difference." I point at the boys. "This is the BBC. That's how things are done around here. All right? Don't be a nuisance." He says before walking off.

"Why things are done is a load of bollocks, old chap." Roger says and I link my arm with his. "This is the BBC." Brian says change his voice making me giggle. "I'm relieved." Deaky speaks up. "You would be." Brian says fixing his strap. "Perfect performance." He says making them just look at him. "Even though you aren't really playing, you're going to do great." I say kissing Roger's cheek then the other two before heading over to Mary.

After they were done preforming they walked over to us. "See wasn't that bad." I smile as Roger hugs me from behind. "Still hated it though." Brian says flicking my forehead and I notice Paul staring at me. "He's staring again." I say holding Roger's arms and him, Bri, and Deaky look at him. "I dislike him." John says standing next to Brian in front of me to block Paul from seeing me. "We got your back Alice." Brian says pulling me out of Roger's arms into his. "Hey, I was still hugging her. You bloody hug her all the time." Roger throws a small fit. "Because I can and she likes me more than you. She said so herself." Brian teases Roger and I get out of his arms and link my arms with John. "Did not, and let's go Deaky." I kiss his cheek and walk off with him while Brian and Roger bicker at each other behind us.

~

In a few days we start a tour in Japan like Reid told us the day he met us. "Poppy! Stop making so much noise!" I yell at her walking into the kitchen and see Roger looking through the fridge. "Roger? Where's Poppy?" I ask him as he looks at me. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?" I lean against the wall. "Poppy just left and let me in." He smiles at me. "Oh okay, what you doing here though?" I walk over to him and he shuts the fridge smiling at me. "Just want to hangout with you without you know who around." He makes a face making me laugh.

"It's a Friday night, don't you have other things to do? And they have names you can't remember the next day?" I joke making him sigh, "Alice, is that all you see of me?" He asks sounding a little hurt. "Of course I don't, but you show a lot of that side of you." I laugh hopping onto the counter. "Can we just not talk about that side of me then. Right now?" He places his hands on top of my thighs and I look at them. "Roger, if you don't want me to make fun of you... I would remove your hands then." I look back up at him and he removes his hands, "Sorry." He turns around and I pull him back with my legs wrapping them around his waist then wrap my arms around his neck.

"So what were you thinking of?" I say as he carries me on his back as he walks around my flat. "We can go out for some tea?" He asks and I get off him. "Why go out? When I can just make us tea here? For free." I wink at him and he scopes me up in his arms. "And this is why I like you so much Alice." He kisses my cheek before letting me get back to the tea.

We both end up watching whatever was on the tv all night. "Roger, it's pretty late.. shouldn't you start heading home?" I say sitting up from laying in his chest watching tv. "I should, shouldn't I?" He stretches his arms before I walk him to the door. "It was nice of you for wanting to spend your Friday night with me." I open the door for him. "Even though I get with multiple girls, Alice. You're my number one girl, darling. I got to spend quality time with you too." He pats my head and kisses my forehead. "Whatever, goodnight." I kiss his cheek and watch him walk to the lift and get in before going back inside.

[siyeonjisoo]

Oookay.  Long post in-coming.  TL:DR is I saw the GazettE yesterday and while it was a really fucking long day, IT WAS AMAZING AND ALL WORTH IT AND I LOVE THEM AND MY FRIENDS <3 <3 <3

SO my day started at 3:50am when I woke up.  got on a train at 5:17 in the morning to get to NYC by 7.  I ended up being the 34th person in line.  The folks at the front of the line had come straight from Dallas and started lining up at 4am which is both insane but awesome.  I was waiting for the discord friends to show up and was the second one to show up.  the line was originally along the front entrance of the building and all mixed.  The business on the corner, however, really hates the lines being in front of their entrance so we actually got split from VIP and GA really early.  I think it was like 9am when that happened and all of us who are familiar with how shit Playstation staff’s organization usually is were shook.

My friends and I had a great time hanging out all day long so I got no complaints, even though I sat my ass on a sidewalk in Times Square for 10 hours yesterday.  We had ourselves organized and knew we were gonna be fine but Playstation staff showed their true identities by trying to fuck with it all day long.  We all got in several shouting matches of them just going on power trips and us trying to explain that they don’t have to worry about us.

I also painted my nails at some point in line haha

Because we were so damn close to the doors, we could hear soundcheck from outside.  They played Zetsu, Shadow VI II I, Sumire, and Bathroom and I was fucking crying so much then.  Those were the first tears of the day, I think, but nowhere near the last.  We were all freaking out over it.

A little bit after that, I went on a trip to use the bathroom (which was the last time I think I went before I got home at 2am lol.  Held anything from like 3pm till then).  We were going to the Hardrock Cafe for that so we had to walk from the alley tunnel where the VIP lines were around the block past the main entrance of Playstation.  A staff member came walking out just as a car was pulling up with 3 men in the backseat.  They all had light blonde hair and masks on.  Staff hurriedly ushered them inside.  I saw the eyes of one of the guys and I swear to god that it may have been Kai.  It was after the soundcheck so unless staff did the soundcheck for them, they went out for lunch after and I saw them when they came back.  Which is possible.  So yeah, that may have happened.

We were allowed to go inside starting around 6:30 so we started organizing ourselves into the number order we had around 5 just so we could be ready when staff started letting us in.  I was standing from 5pm then until like 9:45, after the concert ended.  At 6:10, they started organizing us by letting us snake through to get our VIP bands and (if you were Heresy) other bracelets.  We got like 25 people through that way and it was taking REALLY long so they gave up on that and sent the first bunch through.  Because a lot of people weren’t there (either were GA given a # by accident or just not there) I ended up being within the first 20 to get inside.

I hit up the merch table to get a Reita bear and because of that, lost the chance to get the barricade but I still was in the 3rd row on the side that I wanted to be on.  It was around 7 by then and we were all just waiting for everyone to get in.  I talked with all the people around me and we all had a great time.  At 8:02, the concert started.

Here is the setlist:

99.999

Falling

NINTH ODD SMELL

GUSH

Vortex

Venomous Spider's Web

THE MORTAL

SONO KOE WA MOROKU

DOGMA

The Suicide Circus

INCUBUS

UGLY

ABHOR GOD

Filth in the Beauty

encore

INSIDE BEAST

Cockroach

Tomorrow Never Dies

I managed to keep my spot in front of Reita in the 3rd row for the entire show, only moving like an inch or two away from center, toward Aoi.  By the time Vortex happened, I definitely was not standing on my own feet but was being held up by the crowd and swaying all around with them.  I had one foot on the ground to keep me, well, grounded, and was just being pushed back and forth with the crowd from then on.  I don’t think I have been that covered in sweat in my entire life.  My shirt was fucking drenched, thank goodness it was a thick material so the white didn’t become transparent at least haha.

The folks directly behind me were holding onto my shoulders and back to balance while headbanging and that pushed me forward and backward so I was headbanging better so thanks fam!

I also got a punch in the eye at one point and this was the thought process of my reaction (over the span of like 2 seconds):  "oh no, i'm a daycare teacher! I can't have a black eye!" then "fuck it, I'm at a concert I don't care" then "wait it didn't even hurt that much why was I so dramatic".  There was no damage and I was just being dramatic so enjoy laughing at me.

I was right in front of Reita so I got lots of him.  He stuck his tongue out while making eye contact with me at one point.  I saw heaven in that moment.  He also kept doing this weird little waving thing with his hand throughout and it was really fucking cute and made me laugh while doing it back at him.

Ruki would also hop up in the area right in front of us, right on the edge of the stage, and after the first time he came there, I was on that one foot until the main set ended.  Seeing Ruki’s dorky dancing in person, that close, is so funny.  I laughed so hard every single time he did his little chicken neck dance thing.  Can’t take him seriously when he does that.

Aoi was teasing all of us and being a handsome man.  He also attempted to turn Sono Koe wo Moroku into a sexy song with how he was dancing there.

Kai and Uruha were on their side of the stage the entire time and I couldn’t see either of them very well but every time I did, they were breathtakingly beautiful and seemed to be having so much fun.

Main set ended around 9:08.  We chanted back and forth between encore and gazetto for like 11 or 12 minutes before they came back on.

Aoi and Reita stayed in their costumes while Kai and Uruha had changed into tour shirts.  URUHA LOOKED SO FUCKING SEXY IN HIS BECAUSE he had cut the sleeves off and the collar so it was a low v-neck style.  Made his choker necklace stand out even more and HOLY FUCK IS THAT MAN SEXY.  Kai took his microphone and yelled at us in English about how fucking awesome we were and it was so nice hearing him curse for some reason.  I can’t explain why it was so nice to hear but it was.  After that, they started a slightly elongated instrumental intro to Inside Beast before Ruki came out on stage and he also had not changed out of his costume.

The only time that Uruha came past the center onto my side was during Inside Beast I think.  The only words I could think at that moment were “oh my god, that man is so beautiful”.

I knew that Tomorrow Never Dies was going to be the last song they played so as soon as Ruki started saying “last”, I started feeling like I was going to cry.  But the problem with that was the fact that I had sweated out so much liquid that I had no tears.  So I sobbed but without tears throughout that entire song.  After that song, Aoi, Uruha, and Reita threw their pics into the crowd.  One of Aoi’s landed like a foot or two to my left but either someone caught it and didn’t tell anyone or it got lost cause no one claimed to have caught it after.

Kai had his phone and took a picture from behind his drumset.  I think it was a selfie with us in the background.  Then he came down to the front, smiley as ever, and took some more pics of just us.  I found myself.  I’m in the purple circle here

We then all went up to the chairs in the back to wait for it to be M&G time.  I would have been fine if my day had ended there, honestly, because it had already been amazing.  But no, there was still more.  It was like 9:30/9:40 when they started clearing the rows to go through.  I was surprisingly calm about it because I was concentrating on my promise to a friend.  She was behind me in line and I had promised to get Aoi to wish her a happy birthday since it is today, the day after the concert.  So I focused on that and making sure I could say that to him instead of freaking out over anything else.

so the order was Aoi, Reita, Ruki, Kai, Uruha.  one by one, here is what happened.

Aoi: he takes my hands and thanks me in English.  I thank him in Japanese while marveling in how SOFT his hands are.  Then I tell him, again in Japanese, about it being my friends bday tomorrow and asking him to say something.  He looks at her and grins and nods to me.  Reita is staring at me now and I almost froze having both of them looking straight at me at the same time.

Reita: I hand to him the card I wrote for all of them and he takes it while saying, in English, “For me?” and he sounded so cute.  I corrected him and said it was for all of them and he nodded and thanked me, in Japanese, and I thanked him too.  I kinda didn’t even notice that he wasn’t looking at me with two eyes because I was in so much shock.

Ruki: He gave me the softest smile as he took my hand in both of his.  I thanked him and almost couldn’t let go of his hands.  Not because of me, but because of him not wanting to let go.  I think he saw my tattoo when we shook hands which makes me happy.

Kai: THIS MAN IS SO SWEET.  I thanked him while we shook hands and this is kinda when I started losing my mind.  I let go of his hands kinda fast but I told him, in Japanese, that he has an amazing smile and he tilted his head and smiled at me.  Like just at me and my legs almost gave out under me.

Uruha: His hands.  They are so big.  And so soft.  AND HE IS SO FUCKING HOT.  I had completely lost my mind by then so he said thank you in English and I just couldn’t say anything else but thank you in English.  My brain was goop.

I walked away from Uruha on shaky legs, got my VIP little towel, and then collapsed against a wall and started sobbing.  11 and a half years waiting for an opportunity to thank them, face-to-face, finally brought to an end last night and it all just crashed down on me in that moment.

My friend who was behind me came out crying and came straight to give me a hug and we just hugged and cried for almost a minute, just standing there.  Aoi had wished her a happy birthday, as expected, but Reita did too.  That’s why he had been staring at me while I spoke to Aoi lol.

I just wandered around with my friends inside the venue, trying to keep from sobbing completely because ain’t nobody need that kind of attention from a venue’s staff.

My friends all parted ways to go back to their respective Airbnbs or hotels while I started my lonely walk back to Penn station.  But I was still kinda crying so I scanned the crowd of people also walking in that direction until I found people I recognized to be from this concert.  Caught up with them and asked if I could walk with them for a little bit so I wouldn’t be a girl walking through the city, alone, crying, at night.  We ended up stopping to get food together and chatting for like an hour before I had to head off to catch my train.

I cried literally off and on the entire way home.  On the train, walking from train to car, driving home, every step of the way.  I ended up being awake for a solid 22, almost 23, hours yesterday.  My throat is still sore today.  My neck hurts so much.  My heart is so full of emotions that I am still so close to crying at any moment.  All of the stress about the semester up until now? Worth it.  All of my worries about finals? Gone.  I met and spoke with (in Japanese) the human beings who inspired me to start learning Japanese in the first place.  I will be graduating from college in 13 days as both a member of Sigma Tau Delta and cum laude.  Not to be overdramatic or cringey or anything but I know for a fact that I would not be at this point in my life if I hadn’t found this band when I was 11.5 years old.  11.5 years later, this is what my life is like.  I have the money to afford to MEET them.  And the opportunity for it.  Life can change so much.  Like, if anyone ever needs a reminder that “it get’s better” this is it!

The first goal was just to see them in concert.  That was ticked off the list in 2016 at their first world tour.  The second was to meet them and be able to say “thank you” to them in person.  That was ticked off the list last night.  The new goal? get them all to autograph my arm, under where I have their logo, so I can get that tattooed as well.  My entire left arm is going to be dedicated to bands that have shaped who I am so there will also be Miyavi tattoos and maybe even some Berryz Koubou tattoos there one day but for now, the goal is their autographs.  So look out for that.

Also, check out all of my beautiful and lovely friends.  I love them all so much and miss you all already!! (I’m the blondie grinning like a dork because I was so happy!)

[agentunwin]

Why [Popstar!Y/N x Shawn Mendes] [Part 2]

A/N: [REQUESTS ARE OPEN!] This chap. is written in 3rd person! It’s also just fluff lmao. Woops

Prompt: After the hitting it off at the photo shoot, Shawn keeps his promise and shows you around his favorite places in Toronto. [Based off Shawn’s song Why].

Words: 2,459

Warnings: Cursing

Tag: @yourwonderbelle

Part 1, Part 3, Part 4*

-

A knocking at the hotel room door caused Y/N to stir, groaning loudly into her pillow. Her hands blindly felt around for her phone. When she finally found it, her tired eyes roamed over the texts she’d missed, a small smile playing on her lips.

From: Shawn

hey, this is shawn! noel gave me ur #

what kind of coffee do u like?

hello??

Y/N chuckled to herself, thinking of how nice it would be to get texts from him every morning. But she was getting too ahead of herself. 

The knocking occurred again, finally catching her full attention. With a sigh she climbed out of bed and to the door, swinging it open, expecting to see Noel or her bodyguard. 

Instead, there Shawn stood, and her cheeks went bright red. He stood in his sweatpants and jean jacket, hair curly and wild, and Y/N wondered how someone could look so perfect so early in the morning. Meanwhile, she stood in front of him with only a t-shirt and panties, her hair looking like she just completed the walk of shame.

In his hand was a cardboard cup tray with all 4 of the holes holding 4 different drinks. He smiled at the girl bashfully, “Hey, your bodyguard let me up. And uh, you didn’t respond to my texts, so I just bought 4 different coffees for you to pick from..”

All she could do was giggle, holding her burning face in her hands. “Come in, I’m so sorry I’m only just waking up.”

“It’s cool, I just wanted to come by a little early so we’d have a lot of time later.” Shawn assured her, placing the coffees on the table. “When do you leave, by the way?”

“Tomorrow morning.” Y/N frowned, suddenly feeling uncomfortable standing in front of him, practically bare. She crossed her arms over her chest for a little bit of decency and Shawn noticed this, his own face going beet red.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry, Y/N!” He raised his hands, turning around to face the window. “I didn’t even notice you weren’t dressed. I’ll leave and come back if you want me to?”

“It’s okay, Shawn.” She shook her head, bending down to gather clothes from her suitcase, “I’m going to go get ready, and we can leave when I come out.”

-

Y/N grabbed the coffee cup she’d chosen from Shawn, bringing it to her lips, taking a sip, and leaving a noticeable ring of lipstick in its wake. Shawn, across the small cafe table, was busy pouring an excess amount of sweetener into his own cup, cursing to himself when he finally gave up on trying to change it.

“This is nice,” Y/N spoke, looking around the breakfast spot he’d guided her to first. It wasn’t crowded and they sat on the outside patio facing the street, peacefully watching the cars and people go by. “Do you come here a lot?”

“Not really, but it is one of my favorites.” He smiled, nodding his head as he leaned his arms on the table. “I wish I could come more, but people start noticing where you go, ya’know? So now, it’s more of a special occasion place.”

Y/N hummed in agreement, her fingers lightly circling the rim of her coffee cup. “Well in that case, I’m honored.”

Shawn gave the girl a weepish smile and, as it had been all morning, she felt her heart melting at the looks he gave her. The waitress came to the table carrying a tray of their food and set their respective orders in front of the two.

“This looks so good, oh my god.” Y/N moaned to herself, taking out her phone. She wasn’t one to take pictures of her food, but this time, she couldn’t help it. The pancakes were perfectly brown and covered in strawberries and powdered sugar. Shawn, on the other hand, settled for french toast and eggs.

“So,” She began, picking up her fork and turning her attention back to him, “Tell me about yourself!”

“Not much to say.” Shawn shrugged, averting his gaze from hers.

“Oh, come on.” Y/N rolled her eyes, pausing to stuff her mouth with a strawberry. “Don’t get boring on me now. Tell me everything.”

He laughed and grabbed a napkin to clean his lips, licking them over before he began speaking again. “Well, I was born here in Toronto, raised about an hour out, though. I never really wanted to be a singer when I grew up but then I saw Youtube videos of people playing guitar and it captivated me. I got one and taught myself how to play and my career really took off when I started posting videos on Vine.”

Y/N shook her head, smiling as the boy went on and on about his life and journey. There were a few times he would go on off topic tangents and tell stories about tours or his friends, and the passion in his voice only further enthralled the girl.

“What about you?” Shawn suddenly asked, taking her off guard when she realized she’d been daydreaming.

She cleared her throat in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Where are you from?” He pressed further just as his phone dinged with a message. Y/N didn’t begin speaking, concerned that the message may have been important. Shawn brought his phone to his face and read over the message, internally groaning.

From: Geoff

Idk what u think ur doing and i wont question you, but pics are already online of u two. be careful

“Is everything okay?” She spoke up as he set his phone back down. 

Shawn nodded quickly, but she could tell that something was off about him. “My friend says there’s already pictures of us. We haven’t even been here for an hour yet, that’s crazy.”

Y/N shrugged nonchalantly, pushing her empty plate to the side. “Oh well. It’s not a big deal.”

“People will assume, though..”

“Isn’t the idea of dating me so horrifying?” She quipped sarcastically, making him laugh loudly. “Kidding, but seriously, who cares. People will always assume, we shouldn’t care so much about what they think.”

Shawn pondered for a moment over her words, a comfortable silence falling over the two. He then nodded extremely exaggerated, gathering his trash and piling it onto the plate.

“You’re completely right. Are you ready to go?”

-

“You play any instruments?” Shawn inquired, turning onto some street as the two made their way to, possibly, the last destination of the night.

The sun hadn’t begun to set yet, but it was nearing 5:00, and Shawn insisted that whatever he had planned next would take up the rest of the night.

The time before that was spent walking around the streets of Toronto as he gave her a tour, not missing a single spot. Then, they were on their way to a mall where they’d spent hours shopping together, bonding when she’d embarrassingly dragged him into Victoria’s Secret and he dragged her into every single jewelry store to check out their rings and watches. They also sat at the food court for a long time, and miraculously, nobody had come up to ask for pictures or bother the two. However, this didn’t mean they didn’t spot the paparazzi trying to be sneaky and snap pictures from afar.

Neither of them let it bother them, though.

“No..” Y/N responded, leaning back in the seat as he handed her the aux cord. “But I’ve always wanted to learn how to play guitar.”

“So why haven’t you?” 

She shrugged and bit her lip as her own song began playing over the speakers. “I don’t know, I keep making excuses. I don’t have a guitar, I don’t have time, bla bla.”

Shawn remains silent and she shuts her eyes as he continues down the road.

After 30 minutes he finally pulls into a parking space. When he looks over, he’s not surprised to see Y/N napping peacefully, her head resting on her shoulder. He bites his lip and pulls out his phone, snapping a quick picture of her, flinching hard when he realized the flash was on.

He cursed under his breath when she stirred awake, rubbing at her tired eyes. “What was that?”

“I don’t know!” He said quickly, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “I- Uh- We’re here.. It’s just a small walk.”

She sniffed and nodded, slapping her cheeks a few times to wake herself up. They exited the car together and for the first time that day, they’re approached.

It’s a big group of fans, mostly for Shawn, but some for Y/N. They bombard the two with questions, however none of them asked if they were dating, which they were grateful for. 

Y/N and Shawn were there for a good 20 minutes, taking pictures and talking with fans. A lot of Shawn fans would come up to her and ask about him- What he’s like, what kind of music he listens to, and other things. To which she could only reply by saying “He’s nice” and “I don’t know, I’ve only known him for a day.”

Eventually Shawn was able to ward them off and the two of you were alone again. He popped the trunk to his SUV and got out a large guitar case and a bag. Y/N cocked her head at him but he only motioned for her to follow him.

It was then that she realized where they were; A beach. Now, the sun was beginning to make its descent, casting a beautiful golden glow over the sand. There weren’t many people there- Some were fans from earlier, keeping their distance and watching the two from a respectable distance. And, of course, paps kept their distance as well.

Shawn guided Y/N to the most secluded area he could spot, closer to where the water reached. 

“Can you lay out these towels?” He asked, handing her the bag from earlier. She nodded as he set down his guitar case and got to work on whatever he was doing. Grabbing the towels, she set them down next to one another, placing them in close proximity on purpose.

That wasn’t all that was at the bottom of the bag, however. You reached further and pulled out a container of shortcake cups, a can of whipped cream, wine glasses wrapped in tissue, and a bottle of too-expensive champagne.

“You really went all out.” She commented, settling herself on her towel.

“Only the best for my newest friend.” He smiled, though this time, it didn’t seem convincing even to himself.

He popped the champagne open and Y/N unwrapped one of the wine glasses, reaching it out for him to pour some in. She hummed in appreciation and watched as Shawn clumsily made a hole in the sand to place the bottle in.

He then reached for his guitar, sighing and placing it on his lap. His skilled fingers began to move expertly over the strings, playing a beautiful melody. Y/N merely watched and admired, a beautiful grin on her face.

She was caught off guard when the boy suddenly stopped and pushed the guitar her way. 

He chuckled and insisted, grabbing the glass from her hand and replacing it with his guitar. “I’ll help you, come on.”

With a groan, she gives in, letting him do whatever he wanted. He smiles lazily as he moved her fingers into different positions, explaining the different notes and how to get the best sounds out of them. 

After about 2 hours he’d finally managed to teach her the melody he was playing earlier, a clip from one of his songs. Neither of them could deny the spark that flew every time he touched her or the tingle that shot down their spines when the other spoke.

The rest of the night was spent in comfortable silence, listening to music, eating shortcakes, and drinking champagne. The two were sprawled out on the towels, however, managed to still keep their distance.

Y/N must have been even more tired than she thought, as her eyes fell, and they didn’t open again until Shawn was gently tapping her once again, jolting her awake.

And all of a sudden, she was back in the truck.

“Hey, sleepy head.” He chuckled, walking around to her side of the truck and opening her door. “You fell asleep at the beach. We’re back at the hotel now.”

“Shit, I’m so sorry..” Y/N groaned, sitting up and willing herself to hop out of the car. “Thanks for carrying me, though, you didn’t have to do that..”

“It’s the least I could do since I was the one who wore you out.” He smiles, stuffing his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

The two stood there in silence for a long time, just staring at each other. He towered over her and the height difference made his heart swell, but he’d never admit that.

“Well.” She broke their silence, clapping her hands together. “Thank you so, so much for today Shawn. You’re an amazing host. Please don’t lose touch with me after today, okay?”

“Not a chance,” He shook his head, bringing her into a tight hug. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

She laughed into his chest and he gave her a particularly squeeze, neither of them wanting to let go. However, all good things must come to an end.

He finally let her go after what felt like forever, heading back to the driver’s seat. “Now go, before I change my mind and keep you here. Have a safe flight, text me when you land!”

“Thanks!” She called, waving him off as he pulled away from the hotel, leaving her alone for the first time all day.

-

Though Shawn was gone, he still found one more way to become closer to her, as when she opened the door to her hotel room, she was met with another piece of him.

The guitar that he’d just taught her the melody on hours ago was sitting on the bed next to the case, Shawn’s signature written largely on the bottom with a smiley face and a heart. He must have found a way to sneak it in when she was sleeping in the truck.

She facepalmed and screamed happily into her hand, trying to contain her excitement. Quickly grabbing her phone, she took a picture of it and sent him a text, a perpetual mile-wide grin on her face.

To: Shawn

You sneaky devil. Thank you so so much for EVERYTHING <3

The 3 bubbles at the bottom popped up almost as soon as she’d sent the text and she bit her thumb nervously, awaiting his response.

From: Shawn

It’s no problem, honey. make me proud ;)

[she-is-tim]

Neighbours pt 2

Lucas is a young, exhausted musician who just tries to relax, while Eliott is the overexcited, dubstep loving artist who lives next door.

Aka Lucas confronts his annoying neighbour who turns out to be gorgeous

WARNING slight angst is incoming!

Previous chapter here

Sunday 9:35

Eliott was struggling in bed, he already kicked the blanket off of himself hours ago. It wasn’t the usual struggling though, he just couldn’t sleep much since his adorable and kind neighbour spent hours at his place yesterday. His couch still had some of his sweet smell on it, that nearly drove him crazy. He grabbed his phone and looked through instagram just to forget about it for now. 

He scrolled through some nice and funny posts when something came to his mind, he decided to search for Lucas on there. Not like he wanted to stalk him, but he was really curious. It took him a while to find the profile, but there was him. Lucas der Deutscher. Eliott chuckled and looked through his posts, being really careful not to like any of them. There were some silly pictures of Lucas, pics of nice food, snacks, a theatre, but there was a lot of picture with this guy. He was tall, black, handsome, wearing a leather jacket. Basically every third post was about him which really bothered Eliott. He threw his phone on the pillows and sighed.

An hour later he crawled out of the bed, walking to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face and decided to shave too. He looked horrible, the bags under his eyes started to make him look like his spirit animal. 

After he was done, he put on some clothes, light grey jeans and a black shirt with an unzipped hoodie. He wasn’t really fan of flashy, colorful clothing, he liked his dark shirts and jackets. It was fitting his personality.

He walked to the living room, looking at the couch. He remembered how beautiful Lucas looked as he sat there, smoking with him, telling silly stories. His heart was beating faster as he looked at the wall, the barricade that separated him from that gorgeous being. He wanted to just grab a sledgehammer and destroy it, so he could see Lucas everyday. He shook his head. Stop it!

Lucas woke up early, making coffee and a light breakfast for himself. He was sitting in the kitchen, his laptop in front of him, watching a show on Netflix as he ate. His mornings were usually like this, but now he barely could concentrate on what was going on on the screen. His thoughts were circling around Eliott since last night. The way he smiled, the  way he blew a smoke ring like it was an ordinary thing to do. Everything about him was so thrilling, exciting for Lucas. He hasn’t really been in a relationship since he realized that he’s gay. He had two girlfriends before Sara and Chloé. Both of them were clingy and Lucas was just scared to accept his sexuality, so he went with the moment. Thank god he managed to escape that web of lies.

His phone started buzzing, so he paused the show, he didn’t even realize that it was still going and checked his phone. It was a text from Yann, his best friend. Lucas smiled.

From Yann: Morning dude! How’s it going? 

To Yann: G’morning! I have shit to tell, wanna have a video chat? 

From Yann:  Give me 10 minutes

To Yann:  You got it!

He finished his breakfast, drank his coffee and put the plate and mug in the sink, he will wash them later. He then sat back to the table, waiting for Yann’s call. It took him a bit more than 10 minutes, but finally he recieved a video call which he immediately answered. His best friend smiled at him brightly, tho he still looked a bit sleepy, he must have just wake up. Lucas was really grateful to have a friend like him. 

“Hey there! What’s up, Lulu?” Yann asked with his usual enthusiasm. He was always caring and kind with Lucas, except when they were teasing each other. 

“I’m doing okay, I have some news.” he said with a big smile. He had to tell somebody about Eliott, because otherwise he would convince himself that it was just a dream, nothing else.

“I’m all ears.” 

“I met a really hot guy yesterday. But like really, really hot.” he started. “He is tall, handsome, an artist and he has the most beautiful smile.” he said excitedly.

“Where did you meet him? At the coffee shop?” he asked curiously. Lucas used to talk about hot guys that came and go at his workplace from time to time. 

“No, dude, listen. He is my fucking neighbour!” he said seriously. Yann was surprised, he didn’t remember ever seeing Lucas’ neighbour, while he was basically visiting his friend every week at least once. 

“Your neighbour? I thought your neighbour is some kind of sick old lady who never leaves the building.” he said surprised. 

“And I thought it’s some stupid punk asshole.” he shrugged. “I tried to play the piano yesterday when he started to blast dubstep so loud my head started to hurt from it. So I went out, banging on his door, ready to yell at his stupid face, then I just couldn’t talk. He was so fucking gorgeous.” he explained, shivering a little as he remembered how it struck him seeing Eliott for the first time.

Yann chuckled and leaned closer to the camera. “Is my Lulu having a crush?” he asked a bit teasingly. Lucas blushed now and looked away. “Yes, he does! Lulu has a crush! Lulu has a cruuuush!” Yann was basically singing on the other side of the call. 

“Stop it, I don’t have a crush.” he said, but he could hear how that wasn’t true. He sighed and leant back on his chair. “Maybe I have a crush on him.” he admitted. 

“Okay, so is there any plan? I mean you wanna ask him out? Is he into guys too?” he asked, honestly being interested in his best friends now existing love life. 

“I don’t know... I mean, he invited me into his place.” he mumbled and then told Yann shortly what happened yesterday. His friend listened carefully, sometimes nodding or making a noise to let him know he’s still listening. “So yeah, he’s coming over today.” he finished it, looking at Yann now. 

“Woah, that’s a lot to process, bro.” he said honestly. “But if you ask me, I think you should go with it. I mean he clearly seems to be into you and not just wanna be friends. And I am sure he will fall for you hard after you play the piano.” he added with a wide smirk, Lucas felt relieved and smiled back. 

“What would I do without you?” 

“Probably sleep under a bridge somewhere in Paris.” he smirked. “But I got your back, bro. Just let me now how the date went, okay?” 

“It’s not a date.” he mumbled.

“Of course it’s a date. See ya later.” he said giggling and ended the call.

Lucas spent the rest of his morning cleaning and making sure Eliott won’t feel like he’s coming to a messed up musicians place. He picked up the music sheets from the floor, put away the laundry, organized his books on the shelf at least three times. He was super nervous, he couldn’t even eat lunch, so he was just standing in front of his opened wardrobe, trying to find the perfect outfit. He usually wore sweatpants and a loose shirt, but he had to impress his visitor. Yesterday was so sudden he didn’t even think of that Eliott saw his stupid grey sweatpants that had black violin keys all over it. So embarrassing. 

He decided to put on nice, sky blue jeans and a dark red shirt. He tried to fix his hair to not look like he just got out of bed. It was almost 13:00 and he just got more nervous by each minute, looking at the clock on the living room wall as he walked around his coffee table. Sometimes he glanced at his piano too, then his couch that was just behind his instrument. Eliott is going to sit there, watching him play the piano. He suddenly remembered that his guest might wanna smoke, so he looked for an old ashtray he had only because Arthur and Basile used to some at his place when they had a gathering here. He put it on the coffee table and looked at the door now. He can come at any second. 

Sunday 12:34

Eliott was circling around in his living room, holding a joint in his hands. He couldn’t stop thinking about Lucas and that he’s about to see him in a few minutes. He felt anxious, he couldn’t breathe properly which wasn’t a good sign. Probably the lack of sleep, the booze and weed from yesterday didn’t help him to feel better today. He sat down on the couch, leaning back, trying to normalize his breathing just as his therapist taught him. He put the joint behind his ear and grabbed his phone.

His hands were shaking so badly, he needed a few tries to type and send a message. He couldn’t let Lucas see him in this condition, what would he think of him? That couldn’t happen. It broke his heart that he can’t watch him play the piano.

To Lucille: I need you. Come over, please.

He threw the phone away, because he hated the fact, that he had to contact her again. It was inevitable, she was the only one who could handle his anxiety attacks and his depression. He needed her, even though he wanted someone else. He could never want Lucas to see this side of him, this weak, vulnerable Eliott who was wheezing on his couch, grabbing his shirt like it helps him not to fall into the pit of darkness.

“C’mon, Lucille.” he mumbled into the silence of his living room. 

Sunday 13:25

Lucas was a bit worried, Eliott seemed excited yesterday to come over, but he wasn’t showing up. He decided to go and check on him, just to see if he’s okay. His chest hurt because he was truly worried about the tall boy. He exited his apartment and in that exact moment he saw a beautiful, brunette girl standing on the hallway, giving a kiss to Eliott before walking into his apartment with him. 

Lucas felt betrayed and heartbroken, even though he only spent a couple hours with his neighbour, he felt like they had something, some connection that was special. But he was wrong. Eliott never really wanted anything from him, he was just a flirty person in general. Lucas felt so stupid, he should never had such high expectations from this, life has never been kind to him when it came to love. He was destined to be single. 

He sat down to the piano, taking a deep breath. He started to play Debussy’s Claire de lune. He let the soft music to fill his living room, gently moving his torso to the tunes, closing his eyes as he played. He wanted to forget Eliott, forget the world and just live for the music that was always his way to escape reality. Life sucks.