#but was In Fact drawing their own characters that just so happened to match my friend's near one-to-one
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miodiodavinci · 6 months ago
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well the last set of tags got cut off on that so long story short forgive me for rambling anon OTL
the real answer to your question is i have ADHD and very little to offer but that's okay because i'm having fun with my friends instead w
i saw that you used to hint at oc stuff on twitter (don't ask me why im digging im looking for zola stuff lmao) why don't you post more about them?
i am simply terrified that if i post oc things online someone will steal the concept and run with it faster and better than i ever could have and then i will be devastated forever and ever
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more seriously i have very little to show for any of my oc things (adhd brain making life difficult as per usual awawawawawa) and every time i've shared oc things in the past i've ended up never following up on it and it makes me feel bad and guilty so i've just convinced myself i will Never talk about my ocs until i have something substantial i can put out there
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angelbarelywrites · 10 months ago
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♡ slashers scenarios | y’all accidentally adopt a kid (part 2)
♡ fandoms; House of Wax, Hannibal (TV)/Silence of the Lambs, slashers (general)
♡ characters; Vincent Sinclair, Bo Sinclair, Hannibal Lecter
♡ reader; gender neutral
♡cw; parenthood, kidnapping, mentions of violence. basically don’t tell these guys you want a kid ig
♡notes; another sparse selection but i don’t think Billy Lenz is allowed within 100 yards of a school so it is what it is
also I hate how much I’m starting to love Bo oh my god
•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•
Vincent Sinclair
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> he’s a nurturing man- to his brothers and you
> hell he babies Jonesy too
> even so, he’s shocked when you mention offhandedly that he’d make a good father
> he denies it vehemently
> even as the golden child he grew up in hell
> no way he’d know how to do any of it right
> but you just gently laugh and shake your head, insisting but not pressing it
> it makes him think
> and think and think
> he didn’t know much about kids, but you’d be a great parent
> and you wouldn’t lie to him- maybe he’d be at least an okay father
> families don’t come through often
> and when they do, Lester leaves them be
> if they ever get to Ambrose on their own, the town stays off- none of the Sinclairs want anything to do with harming children
> but mistakes happen, and Bo is freaking out
> a little girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes was sleeping in the back of a car while he took care of her parents, and he didn’t realize until far to late
> she’s maybe 3, and awfully scared and quiet- but when they bring her in the house she walks right up to you and Vincent
> she hugs your leg and finally smiles when Vincent kneels down to show her that Jonesy is a nice dog
> Bo is in shock when you volunteer to adopt her, but Vincent is in quick agreement
> she’s nonverbal, but you look through her family’s things to find out her name - Lilly Henson, or something to that affect .
> Lilly Sinclair has a much better ring to it anyways, doesn’t it?
Bo Sinclair
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> he’s the type that if you mention that you want a kid to this man, he asks what color
> he is endlessly devoted to you
> and while he never wanted a kid before, he’s always so insistent you make him a better man
> so some snot nosed brats would complete the picture perfectly
> he’s not super serious about it, not really
> you have plenty of time to plan for a family
> and he’s the type to want biological children if possible- he’s so used to white picket fence suburbia-type ideals
> when a car pulls up to the gas station, he stops when he sees the infant car seat in the back
> he’s about to tell the parents to move along- but then he sees the second matching one
> something - probably his overinflated self worth - tells him he’d be a much better father to twins that these chucklefucks
> and you want a kid anyways! would two be much better
> they’re not identical- he’s not not disappointed by the fact, but they’re still adorable
> a boy and a girl a bit over a year, with big brown eyes and infectious giggles
> he’s beyond proud when he strides in with them
> “daddy’s home!”
> he thinks you might actually kill him this time
> but then Charlotte - the girl based on what’s embroidered on her blankie, reaches for you and you melt
> you’re still scolding him as you happily take Theodore too
> but he knows you’re beyond thrilled
Hannibal Lecter
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> he’s always wanted a successor
> quite frankly it never had to be his child - or a child at all
> he thought about taking younger serial killers in the making under his wing more than once
> to teach them the art of culinary cannibalism and the finer points of flaying people
> but it’s far too dangerous - especially with you around
> you’re the one thing that trumps his egomania
> so he lets it be for the time being
> but one day, he takes on a special case at work
> a young boy who recently lost his parents very violently
> he’s in kindergarten, and expresses most everything through his rather advanced drawings
> you don’t interact with his patients- even though he works from home you’re pretty skilled at dodging them
> but on the way out that afternoon the little boy- Peter, his name is, runs out before his social worker and smack dab into you
> she apologizes on his half profusely but you’re so sweet with the boy
> you pick up his dropped drawings and comfort him- he’s quite upset he may have hurt or angered you
> he gives you a huge hug and Hannibal can see the fond, parental look on your face
> after that it’s quite simple to draw up the paperwork
> he’s already in foster care, and it only takes a few false documents to make the courts think that Hannibal’s custody is the best place for little Peter
> you learned long ago that it’s best not to question how or why Hannibal does something when he gets like that
> and either way you’re content with your new little family
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absolutebl · 4 days ago
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This Week in BL - Whole Lotta Nothing
Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top. (Which frankly, was only really Your Sky this week.)
Jan 2025 Week 3
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Ongoing Series - Thai
Your Sky (Sun iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - Them just flirting and being boyfriends at Fah’s fancypants condo is the world’s greatest music video ever. These two gave us a lovely sensual sex scene, for which I forgive the magically reappearing pants.
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ThamePo (Fri YT) ep 6 of 12 - Ooo plot thickens. Pepper has a faen. The conversation about walking speed is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard in a BL. BL boys all walk incredibly slowly, slower than dirt really. Why draw attention to this fact? We better get more Po character dev soon!
The Boy Next World (Sun IQIYI) ep 2 of 10 - Language play already and we’re just on episode two? Your spoiling me Mame. You shouldn’t have. Phu may not be boyfriend babygirl yet, but he already knows how to manipulate like one. I’m enjoying this. Despite myself.
The Heart Killers (Weds Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - This ep just swapped between being boring and bizarre.
Fourever You (Thurs YT) ep 16 end - All the backstory in this one and it was fine.
Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT) ep 12 of 24 - I like the actor pair, but I really don’t like the secondary couple as characters, in this installment. The relationship is just too unhealthy for me.
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GMMTV always does shocked face good tho.
Sangmin Dinneaw (Sun iQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - Has gotten unexpectedly extremely racy. And also sort of a travel ad? I’m confused. Why the random hotel bellhop fetish thing? What’s going on? Also is this a cancer story. No thank you. 
Ossan‘s Love Thailand (Mon YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - Look I just think that EarthMix are better at serious drama. I think they’re not suited to this piece - even if I liked the original IP.
Ongoing Series - Not Thai
Eternal Butler (Taiwan Fri Gaga) eps 6 of 12 - So sappy. Not a whole lot happened in this installment. I do like the sides, I wish we got a little bit more of them. It’s fine I guess.
Impression of Youth (Taiwan Weds Viki) eps 1-2 of 9 - Lots of familiar faces, country+city match up. Basically about a bunch of artists of different ilks who meet in a countryside hotel. It's okay. 
Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 15 of 16 - Am I warped that I liked the traumatized after kidnapping bit? Finally consequences in a BL. Also the acting was good. But then we go right BACK TO SQUARE ONE. Omg pleaseendnow! 
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When it Rains it Pours (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - No eng subs for me.
It's airing but......
Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai) - It's done. Did anyway watch it? Thoughts?
In Case You Missed it
End of year wraps are here!
2024 Trend Report
MY BEST & WORST BLs of 2024
Best Kisses (and sex scenes) of 2024
BL's 2024 Quirky Awards
2024 Awards - Quick Picks
Next Week Looks Like This:
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2025 Line Up
BL Announced for 2025 - PART 1
BL Announced for 2025 - PART 2
20 BLs Announced for 2025 That I'm Really Excited About
GMMTV 2025 Line Up - My Totally Biased and Wildly Flawed Feels
THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT
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The one bright point in a dull week.
Just give them their own series now. (Perfect 10)
(last week)
The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs
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fanby-fckry · 10 months ago
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You know what, I’m just gonna say it. I think that Alastor being aroace is part of the reason he’s so shippable to me.
Before you come at me, check the flag in my pfp; I’m aroace-spec.
Maybe it’s me projecting, maybe it’s because I love exploring relationships through an aroace lens, but goddamn. I ship him more than any other character and every time I do, his aroaceness is a major component in the ship.
Examples below the cut because it’s gonna get long:
📻🍎 || RadioApple:
There are so many versions of this dynamic and I am here for all of them.
We have the pre-canon kinky QPR that I show in UH3. I could talk about that all day, but to summarize:
Aroace x genuinely respectful allo is a dynamic that heals my soul.
Lucifer is less tied down by human constructs like amatonormativity, having never been human himself.
The Devil values consent.
Kinky cannibalism, kinky cannibalism, kinky cannibalism, kinky ca- *I am removed from the stage with a comically large hook*
Then we have the Evil and fucked up QPR dynamic:
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And of course, trying to get along for Charlie’s sake and eventually bonding over their shared love of dad jokes and musical theatre, both being violinists (yup, Alastor plays violin too, check the wiki) with niche hobbies/interests (ducks, furby organ) and accidentally winding up in a loving, healthy QPR.
📻🕸️ || RadioDust:
There’s something about an aroace and a sex worker who very rarely falls in love.
Angel would know that Alastor isn’t with him for sex, would know that he values Angel beyond his body.
With greyro Alastor, Angel and Alastor would both be inexperienced with romance, but in wildly different ways. Angel has never had a healthy romantic relationship and therefor tries not to fall in love. Greyro Alastor has probably experienced romantic attraction like less than three times in his 100+ years of existence.
And if Alastor never gains romantic attraction for Angel, that’s a whole other level to the dynamic.
It’s got some great angst potential with Angel wondering if he’s not good enough to love romantically or Alastor feeling guilty or confused as to Why It Hasn’t Happened Yet when he cares for Angel so deeply, and eventually it gets resolved with the two of them accepting that their attractions don’t have to match up for them to love/appreciate/care for each other and they smash the amatonormative relationship hierarchy as queer platonic partners.
Or, Angel’s just totally cool with it from the start because he’s spent decades in the kink scene and has potentially been exposed to more relationship anarchy than Alastor.
Kink and queerness have a great deal of historical and cultural overlap, and that includes aroace queerness. Because Angel’s had way more canon exposure to both, it’s possible he knows more about Alastor’s orientation than Alastor does, and I love the idea of Angel introducing him to terms or just being super chill about not labeling things.
📻♥️ || RadioHusk:
Drawing like 90% from pilot dynamic and headcanon on this. They’re just two old men. They get drunk and cuddle. Alastor is one of the few people who knows Husk can purr and takes advantage of this fact. Alastor considers Husk a friend in a fucked up, possessive way. Husk considers Alastor a pain in the ass, but does care about him on some level.
It’s Fucked Up and Evil QPR: Remix Edition.
And the versions where the author puts them through fanfic couple’s therapy and actually gets them into a healthy point in their relationship? One where Alastor no longer owns Husk’s Soul? *chef’s kiss*
📻🌹 || RadioRose:
For me, personally, this is an exclusively nonsexual, non-romantic ship. They’re besties; they’re QPPs. They’re married for the tax benefits and so that they cannot be forced to testify against each other in court.
Rosie knew Alastor was aroace before he did and rather than sit down and explain it to him, she decided to make ace puns.
📻🖤 || RadioSiren: [edit, context here] RadioFemme
Ok, so this is entirely based on non-canon-compliant Lilith. Or, I guess, non-series-compliant Lilith. More of the old WOG stuff from the pilot era, with a healthy dose of headcanon for flavor.
I love the idea of Lilith and Lucifer having an open marriage; I love the UH3 style polycule dynamic.
Lilith being the original seductress and Alastor being aesthetically but not sexually or romantically attracted to her is very near and dear to my heart.
I’m an aroace with a voice kink who is aesthetically attracted to Lilith and I think Alastor is an aroace with a voice kink who would be aesthetically attracted to Lilith, ok?
📻📺 || RadioStatic:
I’m gonna be real with you, 90% of my interest in RadioStatic is in the one-sided version where Vox is a pathetic little incel simp and Alastor is either oblivious, mildly annoyed, or finds the whole thing hilarious.
Whenever there’s any reciprocation on Alastor’s part, I always imagine it being in a very aroace, very Alastor-esque way. He needs to be get something out of it completely unrelated to sex/romance. And he needs to be manipulative and sadistic in the process.
Whether that something is kink-related, a business transaction, or simply the quality entertainment provided by Vox being a cringefail TV-headed little bitch, I love to see it.
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cl-0v3r · 6 months ago
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Okay this is gonna be super rushed and probably have alot of mistakes but I need this out of my system so it will most likely be like half a shitpost !!!
When i think of Jinx and Mel at a flat level, i assume that they are very different from eachother, there is no personal connection between the two at all, they don't even know eachother and they both have very different roles in the show, not to mention the difference in demeanor and character as well.
But Arcane, a show full of parallels, always knows how to connect each of its characters to one another somehow, I find it amazing that you can find so many similarities despite their vast differences even if it was the most subtle thing ever, its like the tiniest bits of detail SCREAM at you.
One of my favorite (and most obvious) things about Mel and Jinx is the fact that they speak of their past THROUGH THEIR ART, I don't think I really need to go ahead and dissect this to the last atom since it's already very clear what their drawings mean to them and to the story, but they prefer to cope with their trauma by painting/making things that remind them of the past or has a relation to it, there is ALWAYS a piece (or pieces) of art about something that continues to HAUNT them to this day, for Jinx its "doodles" of the hallucinations of Mylo, Claggor & Vi who are almost everywhere she is, as for Mel its the bloody necklace thats hung above her head and over her bed alongside the painting of the immortal bastion to remind her about "home".
Whats even crazier is the fact that their art is also tied to the people who cast them out from their family, Powder before this was always called a Jinx ESPECIALLY by Mylo and she was considered weak and unable to handle things like the others, leading her to change and become somebody new after they left, sound a little familiar? Because Mel was also considered weak, sentimental, too soft to be a Medarda E S P E C I A L L Y by Ambessa at a young age, and what happened after? Gone. Afterwards, they find themselves in a new place where people "look up to them" or they're seen as someone with higher importance.
And I've spoken a bit about the visual similarities in an earlier post, but we gotta appreciate their attitudes towards their "parental" figures, I don't know why but its funny to see how much sass they throw at them, its what inspired this post actually. Maybe its just the satisfaction of seeing my two least favorite characters get the same honest reaction I have by my favorite characters 😭
They're both tired of their shit and its the best thing to ever exist.
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Let's not forget how they both got genuinely angry at them as well? Jinx snatching Silcos injection from his hands and being pissed at him for lying to her about everyone being dead, while Mel slapped the goblet out of Ambessas hand, upset that she played with Jayce unrightfully so.
The color and design differences is a beautiful parallel too, Jinx is often surrounded by cold or dark colors like Blue, Green, black with a hint of purple and pink and dressed like her personality, while Mel is more light & Warm-toned with yellow/gold, red, white and a wee bit of black which is all matching to her Elegance. This is just a general parallel between characters of Zaun and Piltover overall, but its always very appealing when you compare them together.
And finally, its them completely letting go of their past selves and starting out new literally by the last episode after struggling with who they are the whole time, Powder was officially gone by the end of the season, and Mel was no longer Medarda. Jinx is just Jinx, Mel is just Mel, and they are both going to do things their own way and that was shown with how Mel took off her ring and painted over the Immortal Bastion with gold , and how Jinx launched her rocket towards the council with her own art on it too.
Its funny to think that thats the only physical connection they could possibly have and that its related to their character arcs, its related to them making a new big decision, it has a strong relation to their art, and a strong relation to them saying goodbye to their family.
Hope this made sense !!!!!!!! I honestly just want them to like idk hug or something and go to loo loo land and paint together or whatever in a different universe and cope with their shared trauma together no fuss no muss. Fanfic writers where did you go y'all are missing out on this super mega awesome cool older&younger sister / mother-daughter duo.
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black-marker123 · 12 days ago
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Character Trait Swap AU (CTS AU) Zuke! It's a sketch reference, but I really wanted to show it! And will tell you something about the AU and the character.
Fist the CTS AU! It's an alternative universe, where canon character traits of characters are swapped to the opposite ones. Here, for example, Zuke is more agressive, loud and acts kinda like canon Mayday (but there are differences). Othere characters also have swapped personalities and some of them have different jobs and of course different music types. I'm going to try to draw all the refs for all the characters, but for now I finished only Zuke and have sketches of West and Sayu. Some events are also changed to match new personalities. Probably might even make some small comics if I'll have time. If you'll have any questions about the AU or the characters - my askbox is opened~
Now about Zuke himself Zuke is a metallist. Active, loud and hyper-aggressive. Sometimes he can't control his aggression and May has to calm him down. Since childhood, he was drawn to the guitar, a bright lifestyle and generally tried to express himself wherever possible. He received support from his brother when they were kids/teens. Then, as teenagers, they even got tattoos and piercings together just for fun. However, at some point, West abruptly ended his party lifestyle and began to do something else, more important for the family… To be more precise - the family business of creating and selling vynil records and album covers. This was done due to the change in West's character from partying and cheeky to strict and stern. And there had to be a reason for such a change… In general, here's the reason for you~ Zuke and West's parents owned this business, but it was supposed to be inherited by one of the brothers. It makes sense that the elder one, but if the younger one really wanted it, they would have given it to him too… It just so happened that West ended up taking over the management of a large company and abandoned his brother to his fate, to conquer the musical mountains. Zuke argued with his parents many times, but no one wanted to listen to him, and West was always cited as an example, who is more responsible, serious and acts wisely. Zuke got tired of this and ran away from the parents house. Since then he lived alone.
He met Mayday by chance. She was performing at one of the concerts* in the city. *For reference: concerts and competitions are often held on the main square of the city. They are organized by Tatyana so that everyone can show themselves and their skills. Unlike the canonical Tatyana, the local one is softer, more loyal and appreciates any kind of music. She behaves like a kind grandmother hihi. In general, she performed at one of these concerts and there he accidentally met her. He followed Mayday, started talking to her. As a result, she fell in love with his desire to pursue his dream and eventually they became friends.
At the time of the game's events, Zuke leads their small gang, the Red Destructive Anarchy or simply the Red Anarchy (I haven't decided on the exact name yet). His dream is to show "real music" and make metal famous throughout the city. At that time, metal is considered too loud and intrusive music by many locals, if you're interested.
Facts about Zuke:
Zuke's guitar represents an axe (obviously) and he likes to use it in a fight as it was intended
He has much more buttons on the strap of the guitar. All of them were gifted by May except for one that he doesn't wear anymore
He wears makeup on stage. Examples below ^-^ (and yeah, I couldn't decide which one is better)
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His small fangs are indeed piercing. He has a lot of it haha
Zuke has a small tattoo of a rose on his shoulder. There are also some other symbols that he prefers to hide
Has a stage nickname "Blue Fire"
He is much more agressive than canon Mayday. Kinda acts like a "hard teen". Something like that yeah
His ring doesn't mean anything. He wears it for style purpuses
Hope to draw some more character refs soon~
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notfreetoday · 1 year ago
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MPW Ep 5 Subtitle Corrections
Masterlist: EP 1 || EP 2 || EP 3 || EP 4
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Y: 釣り合うわけないじゃん Y: 相手はよりによって これだぞ これ Y: There's no way (I) can match up (to him) Y: To this (person), of all people, this!
Ep 5 is about Yoh struggling with his desire to "match up" to Segasaki, and the objective difference that he sees between the two of them. It's different from Ep 2's struggle - which arose chiefly because he felt insecure about where he stood with Segasaki. This time, Yoh's struggle is predominantly with himself - because now he has to face up to his worst fear confirmed - that maybe he really is incompetent. And this time, he has to do it without the aid of alcohol too.
I've seen a lot of people talk about how Segasaki shows Yoh his love in every way but in words, and that that's the reason for their miscommunication - but that's not true. He may not use the word "love" or "like", but culturally these words are not often used anyway. What Segasaki does say however, multiple times throughout the show in fact but most clearly in this episode, is essentially "I like it when you depend on me". It's as direct a reassurance as you can get to the fear of being hated because of his perceived incompetence - but that's just the thing - Yoh's perception is skewed by his self-judgement. So, it's not that Segasaki can't use his words - the problem is that Yoh isn't ready to listen yet. Despite this, Yoh's confidence in his relationship with Segasaki is growing every episode. He might not realize this consciously, but it's right after Segasaki comforts and cares for Yoh at his lowest, that Yoh also drops to what is arguably the most casual speech level he's ever gotten with Segasaki (thus far) - and in response, so does Segasaki.
So, same translation disclaimer applies, Ep 5, let's go! (no twitter space for EP 5 probably because of the fan meets).
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Y: 学生時代から不定期でもらってた単発の仕事も途切れて Y: 完全無職だ Y: あ、せめて、家事ぐらいはちゃんとやらないと Y: Now that the one-off jobs I've been receiving on an irregular basis since I was a student have been cut off Y: I'm completely jobless Y: Ah! At the very least, I have to do something as small as the housework properly.
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Y: だって そういうのがすきなんだよ、俺は Y: But, actually, that's what I like Yoh's explicit use of the personal pronoun "I" here again emphasizes that this is his own opinion. The way this sentence is phrased also gives the impression that Yoh feels a little aggrieved at the whole "your male characters are irritating to male readers because they're too perfect" explanation his editor gave him.
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Y: *そりゃ、ほっといたら描いちゃうよ Y: **お前のせいだ Y: お前みたいなのが ***近くにいるから Y: バーカ Y: *Well I mean, if I'm left to my own devices then I'll end up drawing (him) Y: It's all your** fault Y: It's because someone like you, is (always) around*** me Y: I~diot. *The "aggrieved" feeling is even stronger in this sentence - Yoh is basically saying that he doesn't set out to draw the characters that way - it just sort of happens, and well it's not his fault, because as long as no one (including he himself) is paying attention to what he's drawing, well then, the characters just turn out that way. ** This is the first time that Yoh has referred to Segasaki using the informal pronoun "お前 (omae)" for "you". Depending on the context, it could be considered a rude pronoun, but is mostly just seen as a marker of masculine speech, and thus leans more towards being simply "impolite". It's the same pronoun that Segasaki uses when he speaks to Yoh - but Yoh usually uses the slightly more polite "あんた(anta)" instead, both in his head as well as when he speaks aloud. The switch here emphasizes Yoh's accusation, that this is all Segasaki's fault. ***the phrase here is often used to say that someone is "by your side" or "here for you" and doesn't only refer to physical distance. So, although he's using "omae" and "blaming" Segasaki for his characters turning out looking perfect, these 4 lines actually still sound pretty intimate. Together with how he drags out the word "idiot", this is very clearly Yoh's amae, similar to what we saw in Ep 4. I... will probably write a post about amae as well, because it's so important to their relationship.
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Y: 洋服を着たまま海に溺れるように Y: 暗いものが染み込んで Y: 黒いものを吸い込んで Y: ブヨブヨになった体はずっしりと Y: 重く 重く。。。 Y: It feels as if I'm drowning in the ocean whilst fully dressed Y: The darkness seeping into (me) Y: The blackness pouring into (my mouth) Y: My body, now swollen, sinks heavily down Y: So heavy. So heavy.
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S: なんだ いるじゃねぇか S: 電気も付けねぇで 何やっ S: Oh so you are here S: Not even switching on the lights, what were-
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S: *あちゃ~ これやり直しだな S: *Ahchaa... This needs to be redone then..
*This is just a sound that you make similar to "oh man..." so I'm not sure why it was translated so forcefully as "it's no good"😅 This sentence is another example of soliloquy, or talking to oneself aloud, that is common in Japanese.
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Y: ご飯、ない Y: ごめんなさい Y: すぐ準備する S: *しょうがねぇなぁ ほら立て S: 行くぞ Y: Food... there isn't any Y: I'm sorry Y: I'll make it soon S: *What do I do with you... come on stand up S: We're going
Yoh is really down here because he loses practically all his words. His first sentence is literally "food, none", and when he says I'm sorry he uses the casual (but full) version "gomen nasai" instead of "suimasen" like he usually does. It makes him sound a lot younger than usual, and overall just adds to the kicked-puppy vibe really well. *しょうがねぇなぁ (shouganee naa) - this is a common phrase that literally translates to "there is no way (to deal with this)" or more commonly "(this situation) can't be helped". It's used to express a sort of acceptance, like in a "oh well, it can't be helped, so don't feel too bad" or "well there's no way this could've been avoided, so let's just get on with it" sorta way. Here, the way Segasaki adds "naa" at the end with a rising tone, actually makes it sound a little indulgent - like when you find your puppy made a mess but it's too cute for you to feel upset and you just love it more. (Also, this is a really common way to show affection between characters in dramas/anime - when one character is down in the dumps, another will be like "well what am I going to do with an idiot like you, I guess I have to help, right?")
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S: 葉 とりあえず 口開けろ S: Yoh. In any case, open your mouth first
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S: ごちそうさまでした (gochisousama deshita) S: Thank you for the food This is a standard phrase said at the end of a meal (it's counterpart is "itadakimasu - I gratefully partake" said at the beginning). It expresses gratitude to everyone involved in making the meal possible - from the farmers who grew the vegetables to the person who cooked the meal, and yes, even to the animals themselves. Usually, you would say this to the person who made the meal, or the one treating you to it, but it's Segasaki here who leads the saying of this phrase. This isn't weird at all, given the broad meaning of the word, but it is reminiscent of what a parent would do at home, or a teacher would do in school (Japanese teachers eat with their students in class).
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S: なんか落ち込んでんの? Y: 漫画が とてもだめです* S: You seem a little down about something? Y: My manga is... really bad.* *desu form is back, to give emphasis to this sentence. That said - and I'm really not trying to belittle Yoh here - but similar to the "food, none" phrase earlier, this sentence is just so short and simple that it just makes him sound, well, young. Imagine asking someone "you don't seem to like that person?", and they look at you all serious and say "they're a bad person" - it just sounds unexpectedly young and innocent, and the whole "desu" at the end just tops off the kicked puppy vibes for real. It's why Segasaki snorts a little and smiles.
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S: お前漫画がだめだと こうなんの? S: えっ そんだけ? Y: うん S: ��ーん Y: そんだけってなんだよ Y: こっちは 今にも 死にそうな気分なのに
S: So when your manga is bad you become like this? S: Eh? That's all? Y: Mm. S: Hmm~ Y: What do you mean "that's all?" Y: When here I am feeling like I'm about to die soon In case you were wondering, "that's all?" in Japanese sounds exactly as it does in English, so no blaming Yoh here for being all 😟 about it.
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S: ほら* 早く来い S: Now, come here, quickly. *ほら (hora) - I last highlighted this word in Ep 3, but Segasaki actually uses it a lot more that just these 2 instances (not least because Yoh's always avoiding him). It's simply a word used to get the listener's attention, like, "look here" or "now" or "see" or "come on" etc.
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S: 今日はお前がされるがまま*で気分よかったわ S: もっと落ち込め S: Today you did exactly as you were told, so I felt really good S: Be dejected more often *されるがまま - this phrase means to passively go along with whatever the other person says or does to you, without any resistance (it can also refer to letting nature take its course). It's mostly used to describe a negative situation since it usually implies that the person has no free will of their own, but can also be fairly neutral as in "I followed the waiter's recommendations exactly". So, it's quite amusing that in these 2 sentences, negative sounding words are actually meant to be really sweet (just like how Yoh's "I hate you" sounds eh?).
Personally, I also appreciate how this is a callback to Yoh's monologue in Ep 3, when he talks about noticing the way Segasaki looks just that little bit happier when Yoh listens to him. Here, Segasaki confirms it for Yoh (and us), reinforcing to Yoh that he really doesn't mind Yoh depending on him one bit.
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Y: こんなの本物の恋人同士みたいだ Y: あんた* まるで本当に 俺のこと好きみたいじゃん Y: Like this... it feels like we're a real live couple Y: You*... it's as if you really do like me *We're back to Yoh's usual "anta" here for "you", instead of the "omae" he used earlier.
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S: しょうがねぇなぁ S: What do I do with you This is the same phrase as earlier, when Segasaki found Yoh by the laundry machine.
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Oh, the moon is beautiful isn't it? 🤭🤭
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Y: だって 俺の漫画は世間に求められてないわけですし Y: But, it seems like the world doesn't want my manga... The phrase "the world wants/doesn't want" is commonly used when talking about finding one's place in the world/society, and young adults often say this when trying to figure their life out. So yes, not so uncommon a phrase that this sentence sounds ridiculous, but it definitely does sound a little dramatic. Hence Man-san's response.
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M: *甘ったれんな 思い上がんな M: Don't be so *spoiled. Don't think so highly of yourself. *The is the same word, amae, that Man-san used in Ep 4 when she said Yoh was being affectionate with Segasaki. This is another meaning of amae, and it is used in a negative way here, which sort of shows you the complexity of this concept. Underlying it is the message that it's okay to be dependent on your loved ones for your emotional needs, but you still need to take responsibility for your own life.
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M: 衣食住の保障された環境でのんびり描いてて  M: 一回仕事が途切れたぐらいでうじうじ言ってんのか M: 本気で気に食わない Y: 万さん オーバーキルです M: Being able to draw freely without having to worry about your clothes, food or lodging M: and yet acting all wishy-washy the moment something as small as getting your work cut off just once happens M: I really can't stand that Y: Man-san, that's overkill The term Man-san uses to describe Yoh's current living arrangement is the same term that Segasaki used in his not-proposal, so this suggests that by now Yoh has told her everything about how they got together (and I love that Man-san totally does not judge). It's not explicitly talked about in the show, but despite their similar status as Segasaki Otakus, Man-san does often come across as something like a mentor figure to Yoh, or at least someone senior to him in the Manga world. For one, she speaks very casually to him (for a lady, she sounds as rough as Segasaki tbh 😅), even for someone from the Kansai region, and she often gives him advice. Yoh usually speaks to her informally, but in this whole conversation he does shift up to the desu/masu form often, in response to her scolding him, because she's really going at it (even after taking into account her usual speech pattern😅) and well, he's smarting a little at the moment 😂
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M: 世間がどうとかじゃなくて ダヨちゃんはどうしたいの? Y: え? M: ダヨちゃんにとって 漫画って そういうもんだったの? M: もうちょっと落ち着いて 考えな M: Rather than thinking about what the world wants, what do you, Dayo-chan, want to do? Y: Huh? M: Is that all that manga is to you, Dayo-chan? M: Calm down a little more and think about it yea?
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Y: かたじけのうございます Y: I am indebted to you! This is a very very archaic way to say thank you, think like samurai-level archaic. These two definitely live in the world of manga 😂😂
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S: もう体調は戻ったのか? Y: はい おかげさまで* S: また 崩してくれても**いいんだぞ Y: ええ? S: Have you recovered now? Y: Yes, thanks to you* S: It's okay to feel down again for me** too you know Y: Eh?? *Okagesamade - standard phrase you use when someone asks after your health, or when you want to express gratitude for someone else's role in your success/improvement/recovery etc ** 崩してくれて (kuzushite kurete)" - adding "kurete" at the end like this literally means that Yoh does the action of feeling down for Segasaki, rather than just "it's okay to feel down again", which is why Yoh responds in such a surprised manner. As he did before, Segasaki takes what normally is a bad thing and talks about it like it's something good instead. It's his way of emphasizing that Yoh depending on him isn't an inconvenience, in fact, it's something that Segasaki is happy to be on the receiving end of.
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Y: これから自分たちをモデルにした漫画を描きに行きますなんて言えないし Y: そもそも、万さんのところにしばらく通うことを許してくれるかどうか。。。 Y: なんとか説得しないと Y: It's not like I can just say "from now on I will be going (out) to draw a manga based on us!" or something like that and... Y: In the first place, (I don't know) whether or not he'll allow me to go to Man-san's place regularly during this period... Y: I have to find some way convince him.
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Argument breakdown time, things get intense~~
Y: あの。。。 S: ん? Y: 今日 編集部で打ち合わせをすることになった* Y: Um... S: Hm? Y: Today, I have a meeting at the editorial department* *Literally, "It has been decided that today (I) will be having a meeting at the editorial department" - this might sound like an indirect way to say "I am going to a meeting" but it's pretty par for the course when speaking politely. Except, Yoh doesn't use the polite form here like he did in Ep 4, nor does he phrase this sentence as an explanation that he's going to follow up on. Nope, by Yoh's usual standards, this is An Announcement, so it's no wonder Segasaki is immediately suspicious.
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S: はあ? 仕事切られたんじゃねえのかよ? Y: いや そ、その。。。新しいやつ Y: しばらく 忙しくて Y: 場合によっては編集部に泊まりもあるかも S: 昨日の今日で そんなことあるか? Y: たまたま連絡がきたんだよ�� S: お前 なんか 俺に嘘ついてない? Y: う、嘘じゃない S: いや おかしいだろ 泊りって S: お前 まさか変な仕事じゃねぇだろうな? Y: そんなこと。。。ないよ! S: Haa? Didn't they stop giving you work? [じゃねえのかよ - Segasaki slurs the end vowel here, and adds the end particle "かよ(ka yo)" at the end, which is a rough way to express doubt or surprise, and usually implies some irritation. This, combined with Segasaki's trademark annoyed "haa?" results immediately in a rather flustered Yoh, who stutters a little on the next sentence] Y: No, it-it's... this is a new one. Y: For a while, I'm going to be busy and Y: Depending on the situation, staying overnight at the editorial department... might... be... necessary... [No end particles here - this is still a statement, and would sound stronger if not for the fact that he's hesistating so much] S: And all that just happens today, on this day, just one day after yesterday? Y: ...It just so happened that they contacted me, you see... S: You... are lying to me, aren't you? Y: I-it's not a lie! S: No, it's weird isn't it, to stay overnight? S: You - don't tell me - you aren't doing some kind of shady job are you? Y: There's nothing... of that sort!
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S: 葉 Y: はい S: Yoh Y: Yes (hai)?
Yoh's been making a valiant effort to stick to his story throughout this whole conversation but his tone changes completely and he pretty much gives up once Segasaki points out he's lying. In response - and this is not easy to hear but if you want to, go back to about 19:56 or 19:57 of this episode - do you hear Segasaki's small "tsk", after his sigh and before he says Yoh's name? Clicking your tongue, or "tsk-ing" someone is a very very rude way to express frustration or anger in Japan. We're talking get-into-drunk-fights level of rude, if you do it to a stranger. Amongst close friends and family, you're more likely to draw shock first, since it shows the depth of your anger, but they might still get pissed with you afterward. Here at least, Yoh can tell both from the tsk and Segasaki's tone of voice, that he is Not Happy, so he answers Segasaki with a proper "hai" here too.
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S: ちょっとここ座れ* Y: はい S: 早く S: Come sit here* Y: Yes S: Be quick. *Slurred "r" on the word "suware" - sit makes this sound very very rough. Segasaki doesn't normally do this, so again, this is him angry, and he's going to slur his r's quite a bit more.
S: お前さ 自分の立場わかってんの? S: 分かってねぇだろ 分かってねぇから 泊りで仕事とか言い出すんだろうが Y: え~っとだから 遊びに行くわけじゃないし。。。 S: そうじゃねぇだろ S: ああ~もう S: 金か?なんか欲しいもんがあるなら買ってやる Y: 違くて 少しはさ。。。 Y: 自分が稼がないとって S: 必要ない なんで分かんねぇかな S: お前は稼がなくていいんだよ S: Listen, you - do you even understand what position you're in? S: You don't do you? You don't understand and that's why you can just say things like you'll stay out to work overnight. [This is harsh. Not only is the speech rough, he's still slurring some of his "r"s here, and the ending particle だろうが emphasizes the forcefulness of this statement and Segasaki's frustration - and you can see the effect it has on Yoh.] Y: Umm well... it's not like I'm going for fun or something... [This is indignant, but also nervous - Yoh's speaking a lot faster than usual, and he has to drag the filler words at the beginning out before he can figure out what to say.] S: That's not what I'm talking about is it! [slurred r again] S: Argh I swear - S: Is it money? If there's something you want then I'll buy it for you [more slurred "r"s] Y: That's not it! Even just a little - [This is the first time Yoh uses the end particle "さ (sa)", and just like Segasaki, he's using it to draw attention to what he's saying, essentially the equivalent of "listen!". This whole line isn't rude, but it is direct and it's probably the most forceful Yoh has gotten with Segasaki so far, even compared to their argument in Ep 2 - Yoh might have physically pushed Segasaki then, but he mostly just sounded hurt. Here, he's very tense, but he's cut off by Segasaki biting his ear.] Y: - I should earn some money myself (at least, I thought so) [This is more like how Yoh usually voices his opinion - by "hedging" his sentences a little with "I think" and so on to sound less direct - though he's still using truncated forms here, so he's not quite back to his usual level yet] S: There's no need to. [To self:] Why don't you understand? S: It's fine even if you don't earn anything. [Similarly, Segasaki softens this sentence just a tiny bit by tacking on a よ(yo) at the end]
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Y: でも! S: あのな 俺はお前に漫画の仕事がなくなろうがどうでもいいんだ Y: But! S: Listen to me. I don't care at all whether you lose your manga work or not. [To be fair to Yoh, the phrase "どうでもいいんだ" literally means "it's fine either way" but it tends to feel like "I don't care because it doesn't matter/make a difference to me/doesn't really involve me", so you can see why it triggers him.]
It's interesting to contrast Yoh's reaction here with the above 2 times Segasaki says something with a negative connotation. Of course, Segasaki also sounded a lot sweeter then (though in his defence, he didn't have to worry about why Yoh might be trying to lie to him all of a sudden), but the biggest difference really is in Yoh's mindset.
Y: え? S: 当然だろ S: だから余計なこと*すんな Y: なんだよ どうでもいいって Y: 漫画のこと 分からないなりに 応援してくれてるもんだと思ってたのに Y: あんたにとってはくだらないことでも Y: 俺にとってはすごく Y: すごく大事な事なのに Y: 全然よくない Y: バカにすんなよ! Y: Huh? S: Isn't that obvious? S: So, don't do unnecessary* things [*余計なこと - This phrase is used to refer to the problems that arise from whatever thing/action is in excess, and so has a negative connotation. Yoh is too fixated on the previous line to notice though] Y: What's that (supposed to mean)... "I don't care" Y: I've always thought that manga was something you supported me in, despite not knowing much about it, and yet... Y: Even if to you, it's something trivial Y: To me, it's something that's extremely Y: It's something extremely important and yet... Y: This is definitely not ok Y: Don't look down on me! [word contraction - again, by Yoh's standards, at least when he talks out loud to Segasaki, this is a drop in speech levels]
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Y: 絶対あんたより稼げるようになってやる Y: 漫画で! Y: I'm definitely going to become someone who can earn more money than you! Y: With manga! I think difference between simply "earning more" and "becoming someone who can earn more" is important here - because it isn't about money - it's about competence. Yoh thinks his own worth is calculated in his ability to do things "well", be it in his work or at home. By that measure, Segasaki is worth everything and Yoh is sorely lacking, hence Yoh wants to "become" someone that is, in his mind, worth something. Because if he does not, then inevitably, Segasaki will one day come to disdain him.
There are so many times in this episode that Yoh hears things that should cement their relationship in his head, that he even recognizes as couple-like and accepts without protest - Man-san referring to Segasaki as Yoh's boyfriend, Segasaki losing his whole "man-of-a-few-words" thing and saying more to him in this episode than in any other, verbal confirmation that Yoh depending on him is something he welcomes etc. And yet, Yoh's fear filters all of that out and he hears only what sounds like his own self-judgement in Segasaki's voice. It's no wonder he lashes out at Segasaki like that, though really, who he's really attacking is himself. Afterall, sometimes when we hurt ourselves, we hurt the people who love us too, as we'll see in Ep 6.
(That was quite the arguement though, wasn't it!)
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averagewriter-inthedark · 2 years ago
Text
Lover 💗 | Bradley Bradshaw Imagine
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TGM masterlist
Characters & Pairings: Bradley Bradshaw x singer!reader (female/romance)
Content Warnings: fluff, mentions of sexism, references to pop culture, profanity | female!reader (she/her) | wc: 5.6k
Requested 📨 yes/no (for @auroradawnwrites 💗)
Premise : When it came to her love life, singer and songwriter Y/n L/n had a reputation where it felt like the world was against her to the point she doubted ever finding her perfect match. Being in the industry for so long made it difficult to envision what a life with her potential soulmate would be like. But sometimes great things come to people who are patient. And finding the person who made Y/n feel like the only girl in the world had that reputation flicker away like dust on a bookshelf.
Note: I know I keep apologizing for the long waits in my requests but I promise it’s because of having to balance school, random shit happening in my life, and wanting to put out a developed, well-thought out story that the requested person deserves 🥹 and I realized about week ago when I started writing this one after finally getting to it after it was sent in February. @auroradawnwrites I saw that you posted last month that you were leaving your blog but if you happen to see this on another account or still have the notifications on for that blog just know I’m so sorry for this taking so long and I hope it was everything you imagined 😭
Songs headcanonned for singer!reader: ‘Love Story,’ ‘Bad Blood,’ ‘Look What You Made Me Do,’ ‘Getaway Car’ ‘You Need To Calm Down’ by Taylor Swift. ‘Love’ by Lana Del Rey. Albums mentioned that are headcanonned for singer!reader: ‘Lover’, ‘1989’ (I just changed it to 1986 to suit the headcanonned year of birth for reader), ‘Reputation,’ ‘Fearless,’ ‘Red’
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“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back our next guest,” Jimmy Fallon grins to the audience, arm slightly raising towards the curtains. “She’s been a friend to The Tonight Show for a long time. Here to celebrate twenty years since her debut and to talk about her newest album ‘Lover,’ singer and songwriter—the one and only, Y/n L/n!!”
There’s no need to turn on the sign reading ‘Applause,’ because the audience are on their feet when the curtains draw open slightly to reveal the beaming popstar. People are waving frantically, whistling, some even on the verge of tears at the fact they were in the presence of their idol. It was even hard hearing the band play from the noise
Y/n smiled the entire walk to Jimmy, blowing kisses at the crowd before embracing the man in a hug and settling down on the arm chair. “Wow, wow, wow,” he shouted, watching her give one last wave as he sat in his own chair. “Hi, Y/n.”
“Hi, Jimmy! It’s wonderful to see you again.”
“It’s great to see you too, it’s been awhile since we’ve had you on, huh?” Both make faces indicating they were thinking about her last appearance on the show.
“I think it’s been almost…six years,” Y/n tapped her lips with a finger. “Pre-pandemic I believe—because I haven’t really done much since 2019.”
“Yeah, you took a bit of a break.”
“A much needed one,” she chuckled, “But it feels so great to be back. I’ve been taking this time to really put time into discovering who I am as a person and what is next for me. I’m so grateful for the fans who’ve supported me all this time—I know,” she looks to the camera, “I know I kept you waiting, but fear not, I am back and better than ever.” The statement ignites a holler and applause from the crowd.
Jimmy claps with the audience, “That’s what I’m talking about. What can you tell us about this new music you’ve been working on? I know I mentioned your upcoming one, but you actually announced you will be releasing another at the end of this year, correct?”
Instantly Y/n lights up, “That’s right, Jimmy. For starters Lover is probably my most personal album to date. During the pandemic I basically shut myself off from everyone—and the world because I deleted the social media apps off my phone,” there’s a light chuckle from the crowd, “which made everyone go crazy thinking I died. But I can assure you I was just trying to put all my time and energy into writing, producing, selecting which songs would go on the track list. Each song is there for a specific reason—telling a story per say, and I feel listeners will be able to relate in some way.”
“Why the name ‘Lover,’?” Jimmy asked with curiosity, “is it a metaphor for the story or does it have a deeper meaning?” Judging by the cheesy smile Y/n started to do, Jimmy straightened his posture. “Are you….?”
“It’s for the lovers, you know?” Y/n shrugged nonchalantly. Those around didn’t buy it, leaning forward in their seats with curious eyes. “Yeah it’s about love and those feelings where you think your heart is about to burst from your chest. Like I said, many will be able to relate to it.”
Jimmy gave a look, “So did someone in your life inspire it perhaps?”
Instead of answering right at that second, Y/n remained grinning as the face of inspiration and the owner of her heart appeared in her mind. His gorgeous hazel eyes glowing under the sunlight. The feeling of his warm body against hers each time he held her in his arms. Tickling sensations from his mustache when he rained kisses across her skin. The sound of his laugh whenever he made a joke or she did something silly just to see him smile. Fingers dancing across the piano while they sang their favorite songs in their own private concert.
Her lover. Her life. Her reason for waking up everyday in an endless state of bliss. The person who inspired nearly every song on the album, best describing it as a love letter to him.
Relationships and romance had been a complicated part of Y/n’s life and career. A reputation often frowned upon despite only seeing a small picture.
It all started one summer day in Nashville, Tennessee. 17-year-old Y/n had big dreams and aspirations of being a singer, spending her free time playing guitar and writing songs about teenage experiences. Growing up in Tennessee, the birthplace of country music, Y/n was surrounded by the legacy of icons like Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Reba McEntire, and Kenny Rogers. It was all she listened to growing up, though she did dabble in pop and R&B—going on to cite Aaliyah, TLC, Whitney Houston, and David Bowie as influences in her music.
“I hear the high school is having a talent show Friday night,” her coworker hummed, handing over the now clean plate to be dried. “Did you sign up?”
“No,” Y/n tiredly exhaled. It was pushing 8 o’clock and she still had one more hour until closing. Working at a popular diner gave Y/n the ability to save for college and an apartment, but it meant working more hours than what she legally was supposed to—on top of balancing school and band. “I have a pre-cal test on monday so I planned to stay in and study.”
“Oh c’mon! You’ve been itching to sign up all year—why back out now? All for a test you know you’ll get an A on?”
Y/n rolled her eyes, taking another plate to dry, “That’s reaching and you know it.”
“Y/n, you’re one of the smartest people in our grade. Literally will be in the top five come graduation. It’s a Friday night and the whole school is gonna be there,” her friend pleads to her, “you’ve got a voice that’s meant to be heard and songs that should be on the radio.”
The teen gives a ‘I don’t think so,’ shrug, “Eh, I feel my style is not exactly what country music is looking for.”
“Maybe so…but maybe it’s what it needs.”
Guitar in hand and shaking like a leaf, Y/n pulled everything in her to drum her fingers on the strings. The spotlight shining down on her made her squint, unable to see into the crowd save for the silhouette of their heads.
“Just breathe, Y/n,” she mentally told herself. It was dead quiet in the auditorium after a light applause when the drama teacher called her name. And since she wasn’t using an electric guitar, there was no way to hook hers up to the speakers. “Breathe and let your voice do the work.”
Clearing her throat, her lips curled into a shy smile, “This is an original song I’ve been working on. Hope you like it.” Slowly the tune began to echo through the auditorium. Y/n’s voice was shaky at the beginning, but soon found confidence when she closed her eyes and pictured herself in the comfort of her own room.
“We were both young when I first saw you.”
“I close my eyes and the flashback starts, I’m standing’ there.”
“On a balcony in summer air.”
Those in the crowd perked up, schoolmates looking at each other with impressed gazes.
“See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns.”
“See you make your way through the crowd, and say, “Hello.”
“Little did I know.”
Finally finding her rhythm, a genuine grin broke out on her face.
“That you were Romeo, you were throwin’ pebbles.”
“And my daddy said, “Stay away from Juliet—and I was cryin’ on the staircase,”
“Beggin’ you, “Please don’t go,” she let her voice drag out the ‘go’, igniting jaws to be dropped. “And I said.”
“Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone. I'll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run.”
“You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess.”
“It’s a love story, baby, just say, ‘Yes.’”
Needless to say, Y/n went home with the winning trophy….and a meeting with Capitol Records Nashville.
Going to college was no longer the plan for Y/n once her signature hit the contract. 3 albums and a promise to take country music by storm was the new future. Staring as soon as her tassel turned from right to left with the class of 2004. Y/n packed up her tiny Honda Civic with everything she had, kissed her family goodbye with plans to see them for the holidays and settled into a cozy studio apartment smack in the middle of Nashville.
“You have a unique voice and lyrical direction, Y/n,” Randy Kingston, one of the execs at CRN said to her one day. “You’re not full country—by that I mean there’s a pop element you bring to the table. Country-Pop if you will.”
Y/n didn’t know how to respond except nod, “Uhhh yeah? I listen to a lot of different genres—-Pop being a big one. A-and I like to experiment by adding different….flavors to my music.” Her expression turns nervous, “is that gonna be a problem, sir?”
Randy rubbed the bottom of his chin with a hand, “No, I don’t think it will. It’s refreshing and something new. Frankly I think you’re gonna do well with the youngin’s. Your age range will likely be the best receivers.”
Turns out Randy was right. Releasing her first two singles were met with wide recognition from teenagers and young adults. Topping the country music charts for several weeks. During that time Y/n began working on her debut self-titled album on top of filming her first music video for ‘Love Story’. When it dropped, it didn’t just get noticed within the country scene. MTV released it during their early morning showings most people played when getting ready for school and work. Doing so allowed ‘Love Story’ to get more attention that people who were not even country fans were purchasing the single.
“Platinum?!” Y/n screamed at the sight of the framed record indicating ‘Love Story’ sold one million copies.
“Platinum,” Randy grinned, presenting it to her. “Well done, kiddo. You deserve it.” He also dropped the ball that Ellen Degeneres called to schedule an appearance—which nearly had Y/n drop the frame in her hands.
The Ellen Degeneres Show was the first public interview Y/n had ever done. And….it was the first time she was questioned about her love life. Something that would become her greatest nemesis throughout her entire career.
“So your song ‘Love Story’ is all about love, yes?” Ellen asked, igniting a laugh from the audience given the title of the song made it obvious what it was about.
“Yes.”
“So does that mean you got some love going on for yourself? Anyone who inspired this for you?”
“U-Uh, no?” It came out more like a question, causing the audience to laugh while she nervously smiled. “Not really—I-I’m not dating anyone currently, but the song sorta came from my love for romance novels and movies. Everyone desires love,” she nods to herself, “and I wanted to write something that people could relate to. Plus I love Romeo and Juliet—which is the big inspiration for the song.”
Following the appearance on Ellen, Y/n focused on writing music and releasing her albums. Her unique sound of combining country with elements of pop and R&B had listeners from all over the world drawn to her. It was a new era of country music.
But not everyone was very accepting of it.
Older generations and die hard lovers of traditional country were very unwelcoming to Y/n. They felt she didn’t belong in the genre and was better suited for pop. Though Y/n agreed to some extent, she feared making the transition from country to full pop wouldn’t be wise. She was still roughly new to the industry, trusting the judgment of her label who she was contracted to do 3 albums for. So she continued to fulfill her duty until the right moment came.
By the end of the first decade in the 21st century, Y/n had established herself one of the leading artists in country music with four Grammys, six MTV Moonmen, four AMA’s, five Billboard awards and 12 CMA’s. She appeared twice on SNL, performed at Dick Clark’s New Year Rockin’ Eve, and even collaborated with Miranda Lambert.
Yet the media liked to only talk about Y/n’s dating history.
In the first year of her career, Y/n briefly dated Jesse McCartney after first meeting at the 2005 Kids Choice Awards. Shortly after their breakup she was seen with Harry Potter actor Tom Felton, but nothing came out of it. The ‘date’ the media thought had actually been a handout between several of their mutual friends where they happened to be pictured smiling and laughing. After that incident Y/n did get into a five month long relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio, who was twelve years older than her and sparked endless conversation in the media.
Then in 2007-2009 Y/n became involved with Eddie Redmayne following their introduction to each other at Ellen Degeneres’ birthday party. They remained friends afterwards, but their relationship inspired a lot of Y/n’s work which resulted in people criticizing her for making too many break up songs.
“You’ve had quite the track record when it comes to the romance scene, Y/n,” David Letterman voiced during her appearance on his show. The singer was overcome with immediate dread. Again was she subjected to questions about her love life when it was no one’s business. But of course, if there’s one thing men like David have, it’s the audacity. “Which brings me to my next questions: are you dating anyone? And are they gonna have a song about them once you two break up?”
Now unfortunately it was common knowledge late night show hosts were disrespectful towards their guests and didn’t know what boundaries were. Though this was known, however, there was still the underlying pressure to keep silent by smiling and pushing through. Sometimes playing it off like it doesn��t affect you was better than having an outburst and being criticized more by the media. Displaying any offense would label them emotional and sensitive.
Though she wanted nothing more than to walk off the set and cry in her dressing room, Y/n swallowed the lump in her throat and answered as calmly as she could muster. “I’m not seeing anyone at the moment. I just want to focus on my music and what comes from my heart is what I put out.”
When Y/n did get into a relationship or was seen on a friendly date—hell even being spotted when out with a male friend for lunch had paparazzi and tabloids bombarding her.
“Is love in the air….again? Country music’s it girl, 24-year-old Y/n L/n, was seen holding hands with Australian actor Xavier Samuel who’s playing Riley Biers in the upcoming third installment of The Twilight Saga. Just this past March Y/n was linked to the son of Tennessee’s Attorney General. Let’s not forget L/n was in a two year romance with Eddie Redmayne before calling it quits last fall. Fans are starting to notice a pattern when it comes to L/n’s relationships and album releases. Should we expect her new single to drop within the next year? And will this romance with Samuel blossom into something long term or end as a spur of the moment flame?”
Notice how all the attention is Y/n and her life? Never once were the men she dated ever asked questions like she was—even if they had a history rivaling hers. Take Leo for example. The women he dated only got younger than Y/n as the years went on and people barely bat an eye.
After the release of her third studio album with CRN, Y/n had a tough decision to make. By that point her last album had more pop than country. The reaction of the fans was pretty much, “You need to just label yourself a pop artist now.” “‘Red’ was literally 90% Pop with 10% Country.” “Stop saying you’re a country music star when the last album you put out was anything but country.”
So…it was safe to say it was time to make the move to a different genre. Thankfully Capitol Records in Los Angeles was ready with the pen in hand to sign Y/n on. There she had creative control on what she put out and Y/n was excited to get started on a new era in her life.
2012 would go down as the year where Y/n was on the edge of her seat with how her career would go. Fans were mixed about her going to pop despite her recent music having mostly pop elements. Then there was the fact she was dating Tyler Hoechlin from Teen Wolf which had fangirls hating her guts for dating their celebrity crush.
What’s sad is Y/n was used to that reception whenever she was in a relationship with a public figure. First Jesse then Tom, Leo, Eddie, and Xavier. Can’t forget the times she got caught on dates with Robert Pattinson, Micheal B. Jordan, and Chris Evans. Then there were the incidents where the paparazzi captured her making out with Sebastian Stan at an after party and leaving the 2011 Grammys with Nate Buzoliac before he made it big as Kol Mikaelson in The Vampire Diaries.
Getting a break was not in the cards for the singer.
When things ended with Tyler in 2015, Y/n told herself she would not date anyone for awhile. Her album ‘1986’ was met with critical acclaim and positive reception from fans, earning her more awards to her growing collection, including the Grammy for Album of the Year. The entire time on tour she focused on having fun and not worrying about what people thought of her. Yeah she still got questions from interviews and hosts about dating she’d simply reply with, “I’m single, and let’s not entertain that further. Next question.”
@ inmyreputationera: I guess @Y/nL/n86 decided romance isn’t exactly her thing. I wonder how that’ll change her music.
@ stanningselenerr: not me checking @ Y/ndatingupdates daily for any new info.
Those were just the handful of tweets Y/n saw everyday on her Twitter feed. It got to the point she’d have to mute notifications whenever she was tagged. While she hated doing so because she loved interacting with fans, the singer needed time away from the constant surveillance of her personal life.
So fast forward to mid-summer of 2018. Y/n hadn’t put out an album in nearly three years nor had she been dating anyone. Yeah people still asked her from time to time though she learned to not let it affect her. Honestly it was a breath of fresh air. She was happy, healthy, and living her best life. Putting her heart and soul into songwriting which was heavily inspired by the reputation she’d garnered since her debut. Not to mention developing closer bonds with her friends and family after making the impulse decision in 2017 to move back to Tennessee. It felt good to be back home. Returning to her roots and the place that started it all after being away for so many years. It was a great time.
Now she was due back to Los Angeles to meet with her manager and producers. Y/n was ready to get back into the studio as much as her fans were telling her they were waiting for new music. With a first-class ticket in hand, Y/n boarded her red-eye flight from Nashville International to LAX and settled in for the five hour flight. It would have them landing at just after 3am Pacific time and while Y/n wanted to rest, she could not for the life of her sleep on a plane.
Approaching her seat Y/n noticed a man in a military uniform seated in the seat beside hers. “Excuse me,” she caught his attention, his head raising where he put two and two together by her hand pointing to the window seat.
“Oh sorry, ma’am,” it took everything in Y/n not to stare at him when he got up. He was very handsome. In his uniform, hazel eyes and sun kissed skin. The most notable feature was his mustache that most men could not pull off yet he seemed to.
“Do you need help with that?” The question pulled her from her mini daydream. He was referring to the carryon bag in her hand.
“Oh I got it—.”
“It’s no problem,” he was already taking the bag from her, securing it in the overhead compartment.
“Thank you so much,” Y/n thanked him while moving into the row, placing her purse in her lap when she sat down. The man returned to his seat just as the next wave of passengers boarded.
Manny, her personal bodyguard who’d been with Y/n since her first tour, was seated in front of her. When they got the tickets he purposely told her to have them separated saying, “I need my beauty sleep and while I love you, you will talk the entire time.” Sure enough when Y/n leaned over to ask him a question Manny was already knocked out, buckled in with his eye mask over his eyes and earbuds in.
Well that left Y/n with little to do. And when she went to retrieve her Kindle she groaned at the realization she forgot to turn back her reading light.
“Everything okay?” She saw the man in her peripheral vision slightly turn his head.
“Yeah just…annoyed with myself. I thought I packed my reading light but I must’ve misplaced it.” God that made her sound like a grandma.
His response was an ‘ah’ sound. “Wish I could help ya there, but I’m not usually equipped with something like that.”
“It’s fine,” she chuckled, buckling in her seatbelt. “It was to pass the time—I can’t sleep on flights. Even though it's midnight and I should feel tired.”
“I’m the same,” he suddenly extended a hand, “I’m Bradley by the way.”
Hesitant to reply in case he were to react to her name, Y/n pushed back any concern and gave a warm smile as she took his hand, “I’m Y/n. Nice to meet you, Bradley.”
“Y/n…” her name was repeated slowly, Bradley’s eyes consorting as though they were deep in thought. A wave of dread and nerves coursed through her. Then Bradley grinned, “Oh! I thought you looked familiar. You sing that song—what was it, ‘Love Story?’ Sorry I don’t mean to sound weird,” he let go of her hand when he realized he was still shaking it. “And I don’t want to bother you. I just can’t help but go, ‘wow!’”
“No-no-no, it’s okay! You’re totally fine.” Before long the two fell into conversation following the typical pre-flight announcements. Y/n was amazed by how natural it felt talking to Bradley. She discovered he was a Naval aviator, coming home from an assignment overseas and was flying to L.A to visit some friends. Bradley had been a graduate of UVA and attended the elite Fighter Weapons School, marking ten years with the navy that year.
“Forgive me for admitting this,” he said after the first hour into the flight, lowering his voice when a passenger trying to sleep glared at them. “But while I know who you are…I’m not really familiar with your work. Y-yeah I mentioned your one song but that’s literally all I know,” he laughed nervously. “My taste in music, I’m embarrassed to say aloud, is very limited.”
Y/n tilts her head, “how limited?”
“Uh, I pretty much only listen to the 1950s all the way to the 80s. Dabbling in what’s popular nowadays once in a blue moon. My karaoke songs are all Jerry Lewis” Bradley gives a gentle smile, “And while I can easily do a Google search, I’d much rather hear it from you if you don’t mind telling me.”
What’s that saying again? Oh that’s right, ‘And the rest was history.’
No but literally Y/n could barely contain her attraction to Bradley after he said that to her. She hoped to God she didn’t look like a fool as she spoke of her career and cool places she’s been. Time flew as they talked. In fact the two were so caught up in their conversation they talked the remainder of the journey to L.A, ending with the exchange of phone numbers and the promise to meet up.
It was decided right from the get go that Bradley and Y/n wanted to keep their relationship hidden. Regardless if the one date went somewhere, the last thing Y/n wanted was to have Bradley in the public eye and cause complications with his job. And let’s not forget her album was releasing within the next year. So, there was going to be a lot of attention on her wherever she went.
“The fact we’ve managed to keep this quiet for a year is outstanding,” Y/n said through a mouthful of cake. Bradley had surprised her with her favorite kind, the icing on the top reading, ‘Happy Anniversary, baby—we’ve got them fooled.’
She couldn’t believe they were already marking one year. Time didn’t seem to exist when she was with Bradley. He was everything she envisioned in a partner. Caring, compassionate, funny, intuitive. Listened to her concerns and communicated. Never made her doubt herself or paid attention to the media.
When she brought up her reputation, or better yet the one the press painted her out to have, Bradley stopped her and said, “who you have history with is not my business—unless they did something to hurt you because then I’ll have a problem with them. And those people talking nonsense about you have nothing else better to do with themselves. I care about you, Y/n. The only one who has influence on how I see you, is you. And I see you as the most beautiful, hardworking, intelligent person who knows her worth. Fuck what they say.”
Yeah that night ended with her jumping his bones.
Bradley took a fork full of his own into his mouth, “I for sure thought they were gonna catch us the night I snuck you on base.” After their first meeting in L.A, Bradley had returned to Virginia while Y/n remained to work on her album. It was a couple months before she went home to Tennessee, then for the holidays they planned to meet up when Y/n was on her way to New York. Sneaking her on base involved the two going undercover where they met at a discreet location and having Y/n shove herself under blankets in his backseat.
The singer laughed at the memory, “Thank Goodness for Shania. Had she not posted that photo to ‘tip off’ the paps then we’d have a whole different outcome.” Bradley laughed with her, placing his fork down on the napkin.
“I’m sorry I can’t be there for your release day,” Bradley had been called back to Top Gun for a special detachment by the Navy. Unfortunately the timing was right when her sixth studio album would drop. The details were still unclear, but that it was a team mission where he would compete against his colleagues. Y/n had yet to meet any of Bradley’s friends and vice versa. The only people in her circle who knew of their relationship were her manager, Manny, and family. But when you signed up to keep your love life private, it meant friends were lost in the dark.
“It’s okay, Roo,” she told him. “We’ll have our own celebration.” Another cake, this time with the design being the album’s cover art on it, was brought over the day before Bradley was set to fly to San Diego and the two had their private release party with just the two of them. The music was blasting through the speakers, Y/n jumping up and down with Bradley who was singing at the top of his lungs.
“Band-aids don’t fix bullet holes! You say sorry just for show! If you live like that, you live with ghosts!”
“I’m in a getaway car. I left you in a motel bar. Put the money in a bag and I stole the key—that was the last time you ever saw me—Oh!”
“Ooh, look what you made me do! Look what you made me do! Look what you just made me do!”
Champagne was popped, kisses were shared, and they danced the entire night until it came time to sleep.
They FaceTimed whenever Bradley had free time, even if it was in the later hours of the night. Those three weeks Y/n felt her heart long for Bradley in a way it had never done with her previous partners. She felt his excitement, his distress. The day he left for the mission Y/n paced around her home for hours—unable to focus on anything and overcome with nausea. It was as though her mind was trying to tell her something was wrong.
Relief came at around nightfall, the singer tripping as she raced to grab her phone when it rang. Seeing Bradley’s picture pop up had the breath she was holding in release. “Oh thanks God,” was the first thing she said.
“I’m coming back to you,” was his response. Tears pricked in the corner of her eyes, hand going to her chest to calm the rapid beat of her heart.
“I would expect nothing less, Lieutenant Bradshaw.”
Several celebrations were in store for the couple when Bradley returned to the east coast. Not only did he receive a medal from the Navy for his brave actions but got a promotion. Y/n’s album hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the first hour of its release, prompting a record number of sales in a single night for the singer.
“I’m so proud of you, Bradley,” she praised, patting the new patch on his uniform indicating he was now a Lieutenant Commander. She was met with a sweet kiss on the lips.
“Thank you, baby. I’m proud of you too—you’re gonna win everything come awards season.”
During the 2020 Grammy’s, Bradley leaped from the couch in absolute joy when Y/n’s name was called for the winner of Pop Album of the Year and Record of The Year. She missed out on Album of the Year, but that was okay. She was now the owner of 12 Grammys in total. Coming home the following night Y/n’s home was decorated with balloons, a banner reading, ‘Congratulations!!’ and of course, a cake with an edible Grammy topper.
And so it came time for a break. Six albums in a fifteen-year long career, Y/n kept it under the wraps that she wouldn’t be putting out another album for some time. Fans had started to notice she was more uplifted and vibrant in interviews, posting things on social media that were suspicious. For example she uploaded a photo of red roses, captioning it “the symbol of love.” Then there was the screenshotting of well known love songs and posting them on her story.
@ Y/nstansince04: is it me or does @Y/nL/n86 appear happier than usual? Is she hiding something?
@ getawaycarlover_: @Y/nL/n86 totally has a man or someone in her life. That recent Instagram post had all the hints.
@ fearlessdefender: I bet it’s a normal guy she’s with and not a celebrity. If it was we’d probably would’ve known by now who it was.
@ Y/ns_red_lipstick: honestly if Y/n does have a boyfriend then I’m happy for her and wish them the best. She deserves to be happy and we should respect their privacy. She doesn’t have to share with the world if it’s their desire to keep it secret.
Right when the world went to chaos at the brink of a global pandemic, Y/n thought, “you know what, I’m gonna just delete my social media—not my accounts but the apps on my phone. I want to go off the grid for a bit and just enjoy my family and boyfriend.” Not having the constant shadow of social media on her back made it easier for the singer on the break she desired.
Everyday she fell more in love with Bradley. She had been visiting him when quarantine happened so they basically went to the next step in their relationship by living together. Again, it all felt natural. They settled into a domestic life with each other early on with homemade dinners, movie nights, nerf gun wars, and karaoke contests. Bradley on the piano and Y/n with her guitar, being each other’s act and audience in their private concert.
“You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain. Too much love drives a man insane. You broke my will, but what a thrill. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!”
“Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone. I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run. You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess. It’s a love story, baby just say, ‘Yes!’”
Late nights were reserved for drives with the speakers blasting. Y/n camera roll would be filled with endless videos of the two, but mostly of Bradley jamming to his favorite songs. More often than usual the thought of, “I’m gonna marry this man,” would cross her mind.
“You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog. Cryin’ all the time. You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog. Cryin’ all the time. Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine!”
Y/n would lean her body out the window when it was a clear road where they were the only ones, hair blowing and the light from the moon shining down on her. Her beautiful voice carried in the night sky, Bradley in absolute awe of her and wanting to capture the moment forever.
“I came home in the mornin’ light—my mother says, ‘when you gonna live your life right?’ Oh momma dear, we’re not the fortunate ones. And girls, they wanna have fun. Oh girls just wanna have fun!”
But was supposed to be maybe two years at most…..ended up being close to five.
Honestly Y/n was surprised to still have fans. To say they were shitting bricks when she out of the blue dropped a cover art for her upcoming single, ‘Love’ would be an understatement. They were losing their fucking minds.
@ Y/nwhereforartthou: IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING OH MY FUCKING SHIT! PLEASE TELL ME THIS AINT A JOKE Y/N IS COMING BACK AFTER FIVE FUCKING YEARS
@ stilladirectionerbby: *insert Micheal Scott gif* OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING—Y/N’S RELEASING NEW MUSIC
@ MTV: when all hope was lost, our prayers were answered….by @Y/nL/n86
Then she announced in the same week they were getting not one but two albums that year.
@ themadalorianswife: TWO ALBUMS?!?! WE GETTING TWO?!?! GOD FUCKING BLESS
@ daddyisastateofmind: oh mother is spoiling us after making us wait so long and I absolutely am here for it.
@ neveroutofstyle_: love how @Y/nL/n86 basically said “this is my sorry for falling off the face of the earth, please forgive me.” On behalf of the fandom, we forgive you queen.
And wanna know something else?
What was even more impressive than becoming a ghost for five years with little to no sightings by the paparazzi, was that she and Bradley had yet to be discovered. Her lover was just as good of a ghost as she was. Their secret was like trying to find the Holy Grail.
Hidden like a treasure the world desired to unearth.
And on their six year anniversary, Bradley got them the same cake as the first time he did. The icing reading, "Happy 7 years, baby—we’ve totally got them fooled.”
…………….
TGM Tag list: @avaleineandafryingpan , @caitsymichelle13 , @poppyalice2001 , @cutelittlepotatofry , @luckyladycreator2 , @americaarse , @elenavampire21 , @back-tooo-black , @wildellaa , @artemissunn , @pinkpantheris
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mcspirkevents · 8 months ago
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The McSpirk Events Gift Exchange is now live!
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This exchange will be a bit different from others!
In fact this gift exchange is about Response and Remix works.
What is a response?
Response works that are a fanwork created that were inspired by someone else's creation. (Kind of like how big bangs have art inspired by the fic, and reverse big bangs have fics inspired by art made).
What's a remix?
Remixes which are re-envisoned versions of someone else's fanwork. (As an example maybe you wrote/drew an alternate ending to an episode. Well as a gift to you someone would read that fic and then write, draw, or edit their own ending to that episode.)
Does it have to be Mcspirk?
Nope! While this is a Mcspirk blog, I wanted to host an event that would help everyone in the fandom celebrate each other's amazing talents and skills! So you can request, and share works for any star trek ship, or even non-ship material.
Where will it be hosted?
On Ao3! Just click here.
What are the rules?
Your gift has to meet these minimum requirements:
500 words for fics.
10 songs for playlists
30 seconds for a video edit
A sketch for fanart
A graphic edit
A GIF
2. If you are under 18 do not request an NSFW gift, and do not link any NSFW content you may have made.
3. Do NOT reveal who your making a gift. This is a surprise until reveals happen on August 22nd.
4. Turn in your gift by August 10th!
Are Treats allowed?
Of course! If you want treats please include in your request description that treats are okay.
For those who are unaware, treats are bonus gifts. You are not required to make any treats but you can if you want too.
So how does this work? (Step by step instructions with images to help are below the cut.)
Step 1 - Go to the event page on Ao3 here. (The collection was mistitled. I changed it to Mcspirk Gift Exchange 2024.)
Step 2 - Click Sign Up
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Step 3 - You begin filling in your request. Please fill in the follow categories to best summarize the fanwork you want a gift made of. You can make up to 10 requests.
For fandom you'll want to put whatever fandom your piece is of. You'll do the same for characters and relationships.
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For additional tags please put what types of gifts you'd like to receive as well as if you want a Response gift, a Remix gift, or you can select both to receive either or.
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Please put the ratings that match your original source material and any warnings that apply.
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Below is an example of one of my pieces, and how I would link it in the description of a request.
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Step 4 - Fill in an offer! Please be sure to list all the ships & characters you'd be willing to make gifts for PLUS what kind of gifts you want to make.
This process works exactly like the requests side of things only instead you'll be putting in all the ships/shows/ratings you'd be willing to create for + what you'll make!
Instead of the description box being used for links to works, you can instead use it for extra information. (Stuff that myself as a mod will consider in case I have to switch any matches around.)
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Here is the full schedule:
Sign-ups begin: May 22nd Sign-ups end: May 30th Matches are sent out: May 31st Assignments are due: August 10th Assignments are revealed: August 18th Creators are revealed: August 22nd
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azaracyy · 1 year ago
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to the next stage of our adventure! digimon survive week 2024 day 7: post-game / future personal thoughts under the cut - less about the artwork and more about shuuji and lopmon themselves. a long rambling containing major spoilers and heavy topics. will cause whiplash. proceed with caution.
other than the fact this may be boring and long-winded, cw and tw: there will be mentions of self-harm and suicide. if these topics make you uncomfortable, please step back. if you're sure, then alright. i'm aware this is a weird place to ramble about shuuji and lopmon considering the notorious highlight of their story would match the themes of day 5 (villains) and day 6 (dark & loss) better. unfortunately (ironically?) i never planned to feature them for those days, so... pretty sure i'm not the only one feeling this, but when i discovered that a good part of the fandom seems to loathe shuuji with utmost passion, even after they claimed to have completed the game, i was confused. the way his death happened and (understanding) the cause made me uncomfortable for a while, but never drove me to the point of hate... once i recovered from the initial shock, what i felt towards him was more pity, then respect (on truthful route). i feel shuuji should have been one of the most appreciated characters in survive. yet it was the opposite that happened. (between you and me though, knowing there was this discourse with the fact digimon survive is a visual novel, i'm not that surprised it turned out this way...) from my point of view, lopmon evolving into wendimon then killing shuuji symbolizes suicide, the act of taking one's own life. it was the climax of shuuji's mental breakdown, leading him to basically self-destruct, causing damage to everyone around him and ultimately himself. lopmon evolved, just like he hoped. but failed to do it like other kemonogami partners (maintaining control of themselves and fending off enemies). the next and final outcome was death, through his own partner actually eating him alive too. it reminds me how when someone thought they have prepared well for something important yet it failed spectacularly, the devastation and frustration would eat them in the same way from inside. and they probably would for one second think, "i'm better off dead". the more i pondered about it, the more it hit home, so of course, the last thing i could do is hate him, when his struggles sound similar to my own - having to rely on consistent achievements to prove your value, to feel you are worth living and not a waste of resources. the part where shuuji went all abusive on lopmon felt like the equivalent of pushing yourself to the extreme to reach your goal, to the point of neglecting your own needs. it's like a student so absorbed in their study, sacrificing food and sleep, until their body eventually snaps and shuts down for good (...this in fact happened to one of the students at my previous workplace. she was in her last year of high school. life was just about to truly start for her when her classmate informed us of her sudden death). even in truthful route where shuuji and lopmon survive that point, things aren't immediately nice and easy for him. you can see that he still has self-doubts, and what i think is impostor's syndrome. he could be making a great contribution to the team and still put himself down for having done "nothing". i have found it interesting that artists and writers tend to be especially fond of shuuji. so perhaps it's not just the matter of one's upbringing - whether you were raised in a harsh, competitive environment and/or with family with (unreasonably) high standards so you can relate more easily to him - but also whether one can see just what every struggle shuuji and lopmon went through symbolizes shuuji's mental state. out of all survive characters, i think shuuji and lopmon pulled off this thing called "surviving" the hardest, no joke. which is why i almost always gravitate to drawing them happy because that's what they deserve :') after all this, what i also would like to say is, it's okay if a character makes you uncomfortable. it's okay if you hate a character. but never, ever bring down the character to people who like them or even consider them their favorite or comfort character. if you must, do it in your own space and only with like-minded people.
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sleepy-vix · 8 months ago
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How to annotate your books like i do
i'm writing this because i am bored :)
📰🪶
what you will need:
- a bunch of annotation tabs in a variety of colours (you can buy these on amazon)
- a pencil (preferably tiny so it's not always in your way, but that's up to you.)
- no pens. too permanent and they bleed
- no eraser
- no ruler
- no highlighters, colour pens, or colour pencils
- a pencil hook holder thing that you attach to the plastic flat thing that your annotation tabs are on and put your pencil through. compact. keeps all your stuff together when you're not using the pencil
- a book. obviously
- a drink: optional, and unrelated.
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How i make the key:
choose colours that match your book. I usually pick out 5 based on intuition. This is how i make my key:
- the darkest colour is for sad/ horrifying/ basically wtf moments
- i always have one for quotes
- i sometimes have one for fun fact; depends on the book
- i like to have a tab that i label as "hm" which basically means "ooh interesting idea proposed here" (not all books will let me have this tab. like a fantasy book wouldnt have this tab, but a dystopian book would. i love it when books allow me to add this tab ^^)
- sometimes i have one for beautiful descriptions and writing
- i have one for cool protagonist moments
- i have another for 'cool character moments: side characters' (i only give side characters their own tab if i find that i am very attached to them. like i was reading the poppy war, and i was bookmarking kitay moments alot so i decided to give him his own colour)
honestly, i do alot of this based on my intuition, and i like to adapt it as i go along
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also here are some more general facts abt my annotation habits:
- i usually leave space in my annotation key because half way through the story i will probably add more to the key
- i don't believe in having a tab for plot points. i'd much rather write my thoughts on foreshadowing and plot theories in the margins of the book with my pencil. i see no need to give it a tab
- my pencil is everything. i try to use pencil to express my thoughts whenever i can. i only tab when i really loved a scene or line and feel that my future self would want to easily flip to it
- i don't force myself to be articulate in my written annotations cus there's no space to be. most of the time i just wrote lol, aw, draw a skull, draw a straight lined face, or draw a crying face so that my future self can see what i was feeling when reading it
- i don't like underlining a whole paragraph, i feel like it looks clunky. so instead i draw a bracket like this [ in the margine so it draws my attention to that entire paragraph and future me will know that i found that entire paragraph to be interesting
- my lines are messy, and i love it. it breaks my reading rhythm to bust out a ruler and meticulously rule my lines, i just wing it and move on
- usually, in my annotation key, to start with, there are no tabs for ships. i usually add that in later on if there is any that i care about. if there is romance that i don't care about then i simply won't add a tab.
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my annotation experience is very personal and it's done for my future self, or anyone that would like to see my personal thoughts on the story.
i don't care to annotate in a logical way. i won't make tabs for every main character or every plot device or every romance ship. that makes me feel like i'm shallowly categorizing the scenes in the book... ykwim?
- ooh also, by the end of the book, if i find that i am head over heels in love with it, i'll usually go back and draw on any blank space i can find (i try to draw the scene that is happening)
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btw none of these photos are mine
thanks for coming to my ted talk
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wanderingwomanwondering · 9 months ago
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Fighting has been an important narrative vehicle for Eddie’s character over the years. It’s always about his deep emotional life, Big Feelings, and the stuff he won’t or can’t even look at, consciously approach and/or deal with out loud. Eddie’s cage fighting arc in season 3 was all about him wrestling with grief and feelings of inadequacy as a husband and father. That arc was also wrapped up in Eddie’s feelings of abandonment brought on by Buck’s lawsuit against the LAFD.
The OG Kitchen Scene in 309 was monumental for so many reasons. Eddie and Buck had a vulnerable and intimate conversation about everything that happened and they repaired the rift caused by Buck leaving Eddie (and Chris) in their time of need. But the wild part that we ALL talk about TO THIS DAY was the sexually charged ‘wanna go for the title’ flirtation that Buck (King!) delivered right to Eddie’s face. The belt buckle grab. Eddie’s smirk and later averted gaze. The phallic beer bottles. All of it. My Beloved.
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Now in season 7 we have a (healthier and more emotionally available/mature) return to that same internal fight symbolism via Eddie’s 704 Vegas Unification Fight trip with Tommy and his Muay Thai sparring with Tommy. I wrote a meta about some of this last week.
Before Eddie can go for the title with Buck, he’s got to win his fight/sparring matches with Tommy. Right now he and Tommy are going ‘toe to toe’ as Eddie said in 704. It’s a draw between them at the moment. But Eddie has to actually win the symbolic match/fight by taking Tommy’s title aka unequivocally claim his own queer identity and then go get his man.
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Eddie is clicking with Tommy and jet-setting to Vegas with Tommy, playing sports with Tommy and sparring with Tommy because, in terms of Eddie’s character arc, Tommy has something Eddie needs! It’s the queer identity piece. It’s gotta be. The show has already established that they’re basically the same person, with the main noticeable difference being that Tommy is an out gay man who knows that part of himself well. Eddie doesn’t fully know the shape and nuance of his own queerness yet. But he will. And when he sorts it out for himself. He’ll be able to return to Buck’s dimly lit (romantic af) kitchen and ‘go for the title’.
Bonus Point #1 - Buck didn’t really know his own queerness either until Tommy kissed him in 704. Buck did in fact ‘go for the title’ but with Tommy four seasons later instead of with the love of his life Eddie. It’ll happen though. It’s been foretold!
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Bonus Point #2 - The Kitchen as a setting in 911 is so damn perfect and unhinged. Buck’s kitchen is where the ‘go for the title’ challenge was originally issued and where romantic/flirtatious encounters happened. Eddie’s kitchen is mostly where messes are made. (Honestly I’m just thinking about the Ana break up here.) I think Buddie will eventually find themselves in Buck’s kitchen again, both fully ready for what they mean/are to each other and what they can be together. They will get their kiss. Their unification bout. I also think we’ll finally come full circle with the mess in Eddie’s kitchen and Buddie will clean it up together…as a newly minted couple.
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Yeah. Underlying sexual tension is the definition of Buddie at this point. It’s only gotten louder and more textual via Tommy’s introduction. The fight (especially for Eddie) continues. The Buddie tension won’t be ‘underlying’ forever tho. Just. Let ‘em cook. For now.
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docholligay · 7 months ago
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Choose Your own Adventure: June 2024
Listen the quality is middling and I really really wish I had more time to work out the rough bits of this but it's 3021 words which is more than I've written in a month in a long, long time. So thank you all so much!
I’ve had nightmares ever since I was a kid. 
I guess that’s not actually all that impressive, plenty of people can say they’ve had nightmares since they were a kid. No, what I mean is, I’ve had the sort of nightmares where I dream too deep, and I can’t escape, since I was a kid. 
You ever dream too deep? Where you know you’re dreaming, but you can’t get yourself out of it. The most insane things can be happening around you--once I was trapped in Picasso’s Guernica, after I saw a picture of it in my sixth grade social studies book--but it must be real, because if it weren’t real, you could wake up. 
I was doing that. I couldn’t wake up, but I was in the most fucking insane situation of my life. Not a quite a nightmare, too strange to be a nightmare. Sitting in a historical house in England, surrounded by a bunch of people that aren’t real. Completely fake. Internationally trademarked, even. 
The fact that they weren’t real, however, wasn’t keeping me from building a fire in a glorious marble fireplace  while noted fictional characters Fareeha Amari and Haruka Tenoh moved furniture around, trying to get a space for everyone to draw their boundaries for the night. 
It was tense. Tension’s a lot more fun when you’re writing it instead of living it. 
Lena dropped an armful of wood beside me and crouched down, looking at the arrangement of logs. It’d be fair enough to question what I was doing. I’m good at building a fire, great even, but that supposes a number of things are true. I don’t know if they’re true here. Does wood even cure in the UK? It must, wood cures everywhere, but it’s just so goddamn damp here. 
“Set of matches upstairs.” She picked at the edge of one of the logs. “If you need.” 
I didn’t want her to go upstairs. I don’t know why, but it prickled across my skin. I don’t like it. There’s something odd about this place, beautiful as it is. Don’t get me wrong, I still wanted to wander around every inch of the house. The carved woods, the hand-knotted carpets, no one to tell me I couldn’t touch it, running my fingers across the flocked wallpaper. But I didn’t want her to. 
“Well, I’m just gonna look around here,” I stood up, stepping toward the mantle,  “has to be a match somewhere, it’s a fireplace for fuck’s sake. Can’t light it with hope. No need for you to run around all hell in the dark.” 
She chuckled appreciatively and got to her feet. 
“Oh, I’m alright.” She scratched the back of her head, “I’m the only one knows where it is. Improve everyone’s mood a bit, warm fire.” 
I’ve had these dreams all my life. The fastest way to get out of them, is to follow the rules of them. My brain wants these worlds to be real, and so they have to be real. If I call it a dream, if I try to break out, it closes in tighter. Dream people don’t like to know they’re fake dream houses like to stay firm on the ground. These dreams are waves to be ridden. That this one feels more real than anything I’ve ever had is all the more reason to be careful. All I needed to do was get through it. As soon as the tow truck pulls up, I would just fade into the dawn. I’ve done my part. 
But the reality of it. Even looking at Lena, I couldn’t imagine the perfection of her. Everything’s the way I know it, but have never seen. Her eyes are bright and brown and filled with stars. Her smile is crooked and constant, completely unself-consious. Her messy hair with its chestnut glimpses in the light. All perfect. But things I hadn’t imagined, either. Things that were completely correct, but I could never have written down. The barely-visible scar on her arm, from breaking it as a child. The rips in her sweater, lovingly darned. 
Was it like this for God, that his creations were made more real in their own time? 
Wow, comparing myself to God, that’s a fascinating level of arrogance on display as I’m freezing to death. 
“Haruka!” I call out behind me, “Can I use your lighter?” 
Lena looks at me. I shrug. 
“She smoked when we were in the van.” 
“Oh yeah!” She laughs and adds a small piece of tinder to the fire, “I forgot. She’s been round the backside of every pub we’ve stopped at.” 
Haruka tossed it, not leaving Mina’s side, not wanting to join the conversation. It doesn’t matter. She’s still young, and annoying, and I don’t expect it. If I could have picked, I’d meet forty year old Haruka. But the lighter is more important now, one step closer to waking up to my three year old running into the room. I’ve done this plenty of times. 
First fire. Then phone.
_________
Lena watched the fire catch, and then rose to her feet, offering Doc’s shoulder a pat. Everyone would be a better mood when they were a little warmer, and maybe Lena herself could cast off the strange feeling that had come over her since she went into the house. The house wasn’t talking to her, the house didn’t know her, the house wasn’t creeping around her like the ivy on the side of the house. 
Course not. 
That didn’t mean, though, that things weren’t odd. 
Fareeha was moving together couches and piling in bedding from another room. It was a good idea, they’d probably all have to spend the night here, and Lena ignored the twinge that she shouldn’t be using the fine coverlets, the down pillows. It was just like a thought said in another room, anyway. 
She should go apologize. She thought it would be funny to scare Fareeha--and it was--but Lena did whatever came to her mind first, and never thought a day, a month, a year past it. She should have known it would bother her, having spent so much time trying to professional in front of two people who wouldn’t know professional if it slapped them across the ass. Who, honestly, didn’t care about how well Fareeha ran the organization. 
But Fareeha did care, and Lena had upset her, and she cared about Fareeha even if she was an annoying stick in the mud who never met a rule she didn’t like. When you care about people, sometimes you have to pretend you care about other things as well. 
So she went to Fareeha’s side, and touched at the pillow on the couch in front of her, fluffing it slightly. 
“Listen, earlier, that’s the sort of thing you more or less expect from me andI I thought it’d be a bit of fun, and---alright, what I --I didn’t mean to embarrass you. In front of the posh poodles. Or what ‘ave you.” 
Fareeha barely looked up at her. “Who said that you embarassed me?” 
Lena gave a short sigh. Well, she’d done her part. Fareeha’s pride was what it was, and there wasn’t much to be done about it. 
“Right.” She looked at the shadows the fire threw upon the wall, squinting as if she could almost read them. “Strange place.” 
She said it quietly, almost to herself, but flicked her eyes back to Fareeha’s, knowing she would hear and hoping she would confirm it. Not quite a whisper, but most certainly a private conference. Fareeha said nothing, her eyes simply meeting Lena’s in silent assessment, but nothing was not a denial. Right, of course. Fareeha, for whatever her faults might be: Her stubborness and pride, for example, qualities that Lena herself most certainly did not embody, or, if she did, embodied them in a much less annoying way--for all that, she trusted Lena. She didn’t think Lena was crazy. 
She took the silence, as she took most silences, as leave to continue. 
“Don’t you wonder about this rain?”
“In England? No. I absolutely do not.” 
“It doesn’t rain like this.” Lena shook her head, trying to ignore the shadow play on the wall.  “It drizzles, London fog, grey, all that. Does this seem a drizzle to you? For hours now. Doesn’t strike you as odd. Just a bit? Something is not right.” 
Fareeha smiled. “We are,” she waved a hand and clapped it heavily on Lena’s shoulder, squeezing. “on a windswept moor, or something. You don’t hear ghosts, just Heathcliff howling.” 
Lena took a few steps back and shook Fareeha’s hand off her shoulder. 
“Right, first off, we ain’t in Yorkshire, this is Surrey. Buy a map. Second off, you’re really proud of finishing that book. Third off,” It reached a stage whisper, a wide gesture, “don’t bloody patronize me! Fareeha!”
“Fourth off, there’s a ghost in Wuthering Heights.” 
Lena and Fareeha both looked over to where Doc had appeared beside them. Lena didn’t much care for anyone to have quiet feet but her. 
“You think this house is haunted?”
“Not necessarily, I’m just givin’ a book report. I guess. Anyway,” Doc broke from Fareeha’s gaze, “Everyone’s mood would prolly greatly improve with some food.”
Food? 
When did she eat last? She ran back in her mind, trying to figure out what it had been. They’d been at the Spoons, for some ungodly reason ordering chicken katsu, and what had she had? A little pizza. A pint. Alright, two pints. She should be fine. She spent a lot of time talking, didn’t she? At least, Fareeha had said so, but you know--
She saw the pizza box in the back of the van, more than half full. 
“Right! I’m ‘ungry, is all.” 
Plenty of people who were supposedly experts in a thing that had never happened had said plenty of things about her, after the slipstream, and most of them had been only too happy to suggest Lena be tossed in the bin like a broken toy. She’d never be right, you know. MIght never talk again, then did, might never take care of herself, did that too, might never be able to work again, check, and she would have had her pilot’s license back immediately if everyone at the CAA wasn’t so bloody straightlaced. She had done it all, everything they said she wouldn’t. 
Might even be a danger to herself or others, for all she’s talking about seeing the pasts overlapping, about screaming into a London that was covered in soot that was under siege by the Vikings that was bombed to the ground that was her living room.He’d never let that go. She’d been a bit forgetful and chatty, with a tireless body, since she was small, but now everything she said and did was some proof of his theory. Everything was proof of an ‘unquiet mind’, never mind that they’d been happy enough to recruit her busy, loud mind before. She’d hated that insufferable prick the most, and that was quite the accomplishment. 
No one thought she was crazy, why was she thinking about this? Why was she thinking about the house? She was hungry. When she was hungry, it was easy for her to jump tracks. Happened all the time. 
Fareeha was looking at her carefully. 
“I have meal replacement bars in my bag. You can have any of them.” 
If there was anything worse than Fareeha’s constant criticism, it was her occasional concern. 
“Oh, right! The blueberry kale one.” Lena gave a bright smile, “Not to betray me English right of resignation to misery, but ‘ave we tried going the kitchen?” 
“I can cook. I’ll help.” 
___
I don’t know why I volunteered. Other than I knew exactly what kind of meal replacement bars Fareeha has stashed in her backpack, and even if there were only a few scant things in the pantry, it would be beter than a bunch of bars with the name “Superfood slam” or “Supergreen.” 
Also, I genuinely did think everyone would be better off with some food. I don’t know what Mina’s up to in the corner with Haruka, but she keeps giving me this stare, like she’s trying to peer into my soul. She knows something’s up with me. 
I just have to keep going until it’s finished. Six am comes real early.
“Alright.” Lena shrugs with a smile, “I can probably manage not to kill anyone, so between the two of us it’ll be a regular feast.” 
You’re actually a pretty decent cook, I want to say, you took an A level in food studies in a desperate attempt to get what you needed to qualify as a pilot. You grew up helping cook. You may be the best cook in this room who isn’t me. But I need to remember I don’t know these people, at least to them. 
Remember the dream about the opera? Remember telling your seatmate the end of the story? Remember how the stage caved in, remember how it dragged you down, remember how you forgot to believe in the dream? Remember how dark it got? Lena is a stranger to you and you don’t know anything about her you couldn’t have read in a magazine somewhere. 
Relax and enjoy the dream. Hell, maybe it’ll give you some ideas for that crushing writer’s block you’ve had. It’s easy, everyone agreed to send you two off, there was a flashlight given over, and you more or less understand the layout of older houses--why does this place look so familiar anyway? It’s not the Moss Mansion. It’s not the Biltmore.--so you thought you could find the kitchen. Easy. 
But why are there so many things I would never imagine? Why are the cell phones different? Why--
“What about you, then?” Chipper and bright. 
“What about me?” 
We were wandering the first floor, looking for a dining room, which would suggest a kitchen. The walls were dark, carved in relief squares with pictures and saints’ portraits hung, all of them watching, some directing, some whispering, but all watching. 
“You know,” she swung the flashlight in front of her, “Married. Kids. Sunday league team. Just making conversation in the dark.” She laughed at herself. “Nothing important.” 
“Yeah, married. Daughter.” I’m never sure how much to say, how to keep from betraying myself. I suddenly remember I’m not supposed to know anything. “Oh, you?” 
“Nearly there!” A sliver of moonlight hit her face, and the beauty of the joy in her face was illuminated in silver like a holy manuscript. 
“Going to ask ‘er next month, when we go on ‘oliday. Oh, but she’s beautiful. And so kind. Patient, which to ‘ear me family say is the only reason she can tolerate me. I don’t know ‘ow I ended up so lucky--you imagine, girl like ‘er, in me family’s pub with the sticky carpet and--but that doesn’t matter, i did manage to charm her, and now I’ve got the ring.” 
There was a strange twist in my stomach, then. Something deep and sick inside me, like I ws aboard a tossing ship. 
“Never really saw meself settling down, not that I didn’t want to, but it’s a dangerous life, mine, and--”
Ah. Guilt. That’s what it is. 
“Here it is.” I half-ran through the dining room. I couldn’t listen to her be in love anymore. “Kitchen.” 
___
Doc was flipping through the pantry, muttering to herself as she took the tops off a few spice jars, sticking her nose over the top. 
“Boy, no one here’s been particularly burdened by seasoning.” She set the jar of smoked paprika back down with a clink. 
“Yeah?” 
“Everything’s old.” She reached into the pantry again. “Least in here.” 
Doc moved away from where the unhappy jars sat, and went to another cabinet. People teased Lena, said that she never paid attention to anything, but the problem, Lena had often observed, was that she paid too much attention to everything, and it was hard to keep it all catalouged. Looking at Doc, watching her mutter to herself, the way her fingers drifted over surfaces, the way she bounced when she walked and how her eyes wandered. Lena couldn’t be sure, you could never really be sure of anything like that, but there was something kindred between them. 
“You’re a bit like me, I think.” Lena jumped up onto the countertop and opened a tall cabinet, revealing nothing but some old glassware. 
“No,” Doc shut the cabinet with an annoyed thump, “You’re a little like me.” 
Didn’t ask how she meant. Didn’t even think about what Lena might have been saying about it. Didn’t disagree. Doc stopped in the middle of the room and nodded. 
“I’m older than you, I mean. I came first.”  Doc shrugged. “So it’s you who’s like me. A little bit.”
She stood in front of the few cans they’d managed to gather and threw a pot on the stove, turning on the gas and striking a match all in a swift and praticed motion. The burner lit without dramatics. 
“Anyway, who the fuck wants to talk about it? Congratulations, we’re both twitchy and weird. Want to place bets on who can sit still the longest? Short game. Hand me that knife, will you?“ 
Lena sat down on the butcher block counter, her arms around her knees and watched Doc as she popped open cans and began to toss them in the pot. Not everyone wanted to talk about what made them tick, and it wasn’t even as if Lena had necessarily wanted a deep conversation about it. It was only an observation, an extension of friendship. Maybe she’d embarrassed her by noticing. Lena’d felt that way herself a time or two. It doesn’t always feel complimentary to have someone tell you they know you’re odd. Not every family was like Lena’s about it. She grabbed the knife and extended it toward Doc. 
Kill her.
Lena jumped back with the ferocity of it, the knife clattering to the counter. Doc turned to her, eyes narrowed. 
“What is it?” 
Kill her before she kills you. 
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For next month
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luonae · 7 months ago
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whew im finally done with my PL oc/custom eris i suppose. (well i wanted to draw him more but im bored) embarrassingly long post ahead so brace yourself
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collection of his fits: (fun fact, all of them have a reference to milo somewhere like hearts, the cross earring M milo has, or just the letter M... also shaped like a heart)
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he puts the war in wardrobe. (i couldnt stop myself from giving him multiple outfits since taking care of his looks is a pretty significant part of his character)
ok yapping time (even this is actually very condensed from what ive written):
- his favorite manipulation tactics involve shaming and guilt tripping. hes really subtle about them. also playing innocent
- he grew up with an alcoholic physically abusive father and was taught to play up his cuteness so his father would have a harder time lashing out at him and pity him, which is why he takes a lot of care of his appearance and looks. he weaponizes them and uses them as a defense mechanism too
- overconfident hedonist who fucks around and finds out lol. good at adapting to match other peoples energy and needs
- naturally book smart but not street smart. hes very well known in college for his consistently good grades. he uses his helplessness in daily situations to play the damsel in distress role (trust this guy to weaponize even his weakness)
- out of all the milos hes most similar to M milo (but hes actually introverted). his favorite milo would be pre though (he likes how miserable he looks and finds it endearing. also he likes cute things and bunnies and pre milo is the cutest to him... and the bunny one)
- if i had to liken him to any pre existing characters, the closest would be chae yul from secret alliance
- he doesnt care about 99% of things in life so its hard to see him stressed out. the only thing he cares about is milo. he thinks manipulating milo is okay because in the end milo will love him and be happy to be with him, and he will be happy to be with milo too, so its a win-win (dont mind the ethics of this logic)
- uses milo like a servant or a guard dog (v milo rejoice, youre perfect). hes really lazy and clumsy, bad at household chores. hes actually very protective of milo though. he may be bossy and manipulative towards him but if someone else hurts milo he will immediately take matters into his own hands. hes squeamish and weak to blood and gore (which would suck when hes with v milo) but he would definitely start maiming anyone who hurts milo (aside from himself lol)
- his best subject was math. his worst subject was history. his hobbies are mostly solitary activities like gaming, drawing, taking walks, and dancing
extras: he heard milo likes bunnies
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and... while drawing all those colorful outfits i could only think of one thing...
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(this would actually never happen because he would never apologize)
oh and i almost forgot to include these
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ok last fun fact: his favorite endings would definitely be the killer (v) and arsonist (m) endings (very funny how in both of these he transforms milo into a national menace) but his least favorites would be kidnapped/taken (v) and walls (m). he would especially hate the walls one. milo get out!!!! he wants to see you!!!!!!!!
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gxlds-doodles · 5 months ago
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was thinking abt how much i miss the 2014-2015 era fnaf fandom and it's interpretations of the characters (oh vincent purple guy how i miss you.) so new au alert!! lil chibis of my vincent n phone guy <3 designs are very much inspired by the popular designs for them around that time (originally popularized/created by rebornica i believe - though these are completely separate from their au i am not associated with them in any way shape or form) 🎉✧ SUPER COOL EPIC LORE INFO UNDER THE CUT!!!!!!! ✧🎉
general lore ☆ basically a whole rewrite - not because i have issues with the story (i stopped paying full attention after sister location tbh) just for fun!! again very much based on me missing 2010s fnaf fandom that was PEAK to me ☆ i still tie in some pieces of the lore but for the most part. forget what u know abt fnaf this is a whole rewrite (ex. animatronics are sentient but not possessed by children - not possessed at all in fact!! except for perhaps a few exceptions but i'm working on it) ☆ these two have quite a lot of canon lore tie-ins but beyond these two it's different LOL ☆ set in or around 2014, timeline is a wip vincent dorian (formerly afton) ☆ italian on his dad's side, armenian on his mom's side ☆ william afton's only child, born while freddy's was open but doesn't remember it rlly - his father and henry emily were co-owners/business partners but split ways (aka william got fired bc henry found out what he did. why he didn't bring this to the cops i'm still working out) soon after he was born ☆ raised by william as a single father ☆ was forced to help his father kill since he was like 12 this guy's got TRAUMA. ☆ still deciding on why he's purple (boy why you ourple.) but ik that it's william's fault. idk if i wanna go the walking corpse route like with michael in canon yet ☆ cuts off his dad when he's 18 - moves out on his own, etc. ☆ still kills for reasons i am currently working on however he does NOTTTT kill children ☆ starts working at freddy's at 27 as a way to 'rebel' against his dad, even if he hasn't seen him in yeeears by this point ☆ night guard at first, eventual day shift guard and sometimes a technician when needed ☆ his hair is naturally still black - he dyes it purple bc he thinks it looks cool ☆ his red scrunchie matches the red of phone guy's head <3 scott emily ☆ THE DRAWING IS OF A VERY SPECIFIC POINT IN THE AU I HAVE YET TO FLESH OUT it's not the most reflective of his character overall ☆ puerto rican ☆ henry emily's only child - remembers a tiny bit about william, remembers being scared shitless of him ☆ gets caught in a fire set by william when he's 16. he barely makes it out alive ☆ henry makes him the phone head mask thing. it can *technically* be removed but it never is bc it keeps the scars that never quite fully healed from getting worse ☆ head somehow works like a real phone... don't ask i just thought the idea of him ringing when he feels strong emotions is rlly funny (henry makes sentient animatronics in this au he can do anything. everyone say ty plot device dad!!) ☆ has some sort of contacts made by his dad that allow him to see through the phone ☆ grew up with the restaurant, his dad managed the location he's currently at until passing the business and the manager position onto him when he was 25 and henry was ready to retire ☆ henry told scott the full truth about william shortly before retiring - including that he set the fire that he got caught in. it's made him pretty paranoid that he's coming for him or something's gonna happen to him, even if neither of them have heard from william since then and he's essentially off the grid ☆ always at the restaurant during opening hours but rarely ever seen bc he doesn't want to scare any of the kids with his phone head vincent & scott ☆ yes they're dating. everyone cheer!! early fandom purplephone was my SHITTTT i love them so much ugh they r everything 2 me ☆ ngl they remind me of poolverine (deadpool x wolverine). vincent is deadpool (VERY accurate.) and scott is wolverine (less accurate but their dynamic stands) ☆ scott finds vincent annoying at first but eventually warms up to him and now he loooooves him. he's still annoying but he loooooooooves him ☆ scott doesn't know vince is william's son at first since he changed his surname and looks completely different ☆ they're just rlly cute and deeply in love and got some angsty shit going on later but that'll be a surprise oooo
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oakthefrog · 10 days ago
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More EPIC staging ideas except I have no full song/verse ideas so have miscellaneous ones
>I love how each character has their own motif and instrument and how it shows their personality. To add to that in a stage production, each character has their own light colours/motifs or staging quirks (eg. Athena = blue flashing lights to the beat of the quick thought piano, Zeus = lightning like in the Ithaca Saga livestream, Telemachus having blue lighting to contrast with the suitors' red lights).
>Screen on the floor. As the stage floor even. Big ass screen (exclusively for Charybdis idc /silly). Screen on the back wall too, (think Ride The Cyclone) for things like the winions or changing scenery fast, without having to move too many props.
>Inspired by this. Floating. Island. For. Aeolus. one that floats around so they can sit on their little cloud and float around the clouds like in Gigi's KYFC animatic. Poseidon can use it in Ruthlessness and Ody can use it in 600 Strike. FLOATING. ISLAND.
>Actual boat. Inspired by this and this. ACTUAL BOAT PLEASE- (even if it's Ody having a little raft for the vengeance saga)
>Dancers can mimic waves ig? (the fact I'm decent at dance and choreography irl and CANNOT think of anything dance related other than "Hermes and Aeolus could have roller skates so the fast ppl go vroom vroom" (a take i've heard maybe 3-4 time before because it IS AWESOME) kills me-)
>Please. References to Odysseus's dead crewmates in The Underworld. Please. 2 ensemble members with matching armour that weren't in the crew for my boys Patroclus and Achilles, etc. LITTERALLY ANYTHING. A CRUMB.
>If the theory/HC that Ares helps Ody in 600 Strike and Odysseus are true or want to be implied further, then we can have Ares lurking in the bg of those scenes. (Hermes, Aeolus, any other gods/higher beings that could watch the show go down could be watching too, hell for "Odysseus" they could have them all watching on the little cloud and that can be in view for eagle-eyed viewers or in limited theatres.)
>Before the show starts/intermission/after it ends if there ever is a cut song saga they can play those songs while people move around, or if they rerecord the soundtrack for the stage release they can play the OG versions/demos of them for the og-fans (I stand by the fact that while they should try to get as many of the current actors on board with a stage production as possible, I assume not everyone can or will want to do that, so other castings could have to happen or songs could be changed (eg, There Are Other Ways: "12 long years", or other songs' lines could be changed for extra easter eggs/to fit in better with stage adaptations))
>Penelope's shroud could be seen in "The Challenge" and could have a few possible designs. So one night in one place it could be one referencing the Illiad, another time it could be the Olypians fighting Titans, or it could be a reference to how Odysseus's mother passed and she's weaving a funeral shroud for her. (Or slightly darker, could be implied it's for Penelope as that's how much she misses her husband)
>REUSE PROPS. During the cyclops saga the cave can be represented by an arch of stone that goes over the whole stage, think like the moving stairs in Hamilton, it's split into two halfs to hide it backstage easier and later in the "haha don't [off urself] i'd miss you" part of Love In Paradise, Ody could stand on one of those arches, as like a "all my regrets started with this set piece so i'll fcking throw myself off of it, just you watch-" /silly
...it's almost 11pm on a school night imma go now bye bye chat. (i'll draw up ideas for these at some point, if i have time between school and events :D)
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