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im-not-samantha-im-samanta · 2 years

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I’d like to request PIB Death’s reaction to his GN!s/o coming up to him one day and booping his nose. I’ve been thinking about this a lot haha-

Hello there! ^^

Thank you for your request, it's a very cute idea! Though truth be told, I struggled with this one so much - I couldn't figure out how Death would react! Not to mention I hated whatever I wrote-

Also, so sorry for how long it took me to write this, like I've said, I been struggling with this one BUT also been struggling mentally, so yeah. (⁠;⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)

I also just read a good fic with Death, then read this one I wrote and realized I'm not good at portraying Death...yeah imma end myself now (⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠)(⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠).

Anyways, I couldn't really decide if I wanted to do imagines or a fic, but ended up going with a short fic... or more like... a drabble? (⁠๑⁠•⁠﹏⁠•⁠)

I kind of experimented with my style, felt like adding it a different feel. Hope y'all like this one nonetheless! ^^"

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{Death, his s/o, and nose boops}

Settings: I don't think I specified it throughout the story. Though a bit more of a romantic vibe, I think?

Genre: Pure fluff! :3

!TRIGGER WARNING!: Don't think there's any! Maybe just brief talks of life, mortality and death, but that's to be expected with Muerte ^^,

Sidenote: Reader is written as gender neutral, but if they might have a more female feel then it's purely unintentional and I apologize!

Sidenote: I've never written full fluff fic (or more like drabble) before , so I hope I did well ^^"

That should be all, muffins! Feel free to read now ^^.

Hope you'll enjoy <3.

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Death was old as time itself.

A sad but an important part of life, he's been here since the very start.

And so, he's seen everything.

He's been there, done that, seen that, heard that,...

Yeah, he's seen everything, and it was hard to surprise Death.

Or at least, that's what he liked to claim, completely unaware of what tricks up your sleeve you, a mere mortal, still had.

And only now, when the two of you were peacefully sitting on the couch in the living room, did he face the truth that he, in fact, has not seen all after all.

You were up to something for sure, otherwise there'd be no reason for that rascally smile on your face as you slowly extended your hand towards Death, your pointer finger outstretched and aiming for Death's nose or so it seemed.

Death said nothing at that behaviour, after all, now that he was with you, he knew firsthand that mortals- humans especially - were weird creatures.

And so, he let you do your thing, having too much adoration for you to stop you.

Not to mention, a curious creature was Death, and intrigued by your actions, he just watched with a raised eyebrow and a smirk as your finger slowly neared his nose.

Then your finger was closer and closer and-

"Boop!" squeaking out in voice of high pitch, your finger tapped his nose, squishing it.

Then dead silence fell upon you.

Death was quiet, saying nothing at all.

His pointy ears had perked up though, his eyes of crimson wide as he seemed to be processing the action you'd just done.

And you had no idea what reaction to expect now.

Death was unpredictable, and figuring out his next move was something you had never succeeded in.

Nobody has, not even once.

And when the dead silence went on, filling the room like a thick fog, you couldn't help but retreat your hand and offer a nervous, meek smile.

You weren't scared of course, you knew your dear Lobo wouldn't bring you no harm, not now not ever.

But that uncertainty of what he'd do still left you wary after all.

Much to your luck, though, Death spoke at last.

"What... what was that you just did?" he questioned and a light grin stretched across his face, ruby red eyes wide and intrigued.

The expression was somewhat an unsettling one.

Death's eyes all wide, glowing, burning like wildfire, his razor sharp teeth all exposed by his twisted grin.

And combined with his massive stature and eerie aura, one could easily feel preyed upon...

But the word 'scared' did not describe how you felt at that moment.

You weren't scared, you knew better than to be distrustful of the wolf.

You trusted him fully, you didn't fear him even when he gazed at you like that.

You weren't scared.

Not when, with enough attention paid, you could notice Death's tail wagging ever so slightly.

And not when you had another giveaway of him being just intrigued by your action with no side motives - he intensely sniffed the air through his big nose with light growls rumbling in his throat.

Again, this action could seem intimidating to anyone else and could make them uneasy, but you knew that this action meant no danger - in your case that is.

In your case, you'd say it was something like when dogs panted happily when something caught their interest.

In other cases, mostly when it came to people who were reckless with their life or when it came to people who hurt others, this action had similar, but much more dangerous and terrifying meaning...

Well anyways, with that you knew you were in no real danger.

Although you still needed to be a bit cautious about what Death would do.

It could range from shrugging it off to starting a hunt with you being the prey.

"Oh... I... booped your nose...?" you answered and offered an awkward smile, unsure whether or not Death would be familiar with such term.

You didn't count on that much though.

"You... booped... my nose?" Death repeated after you, the term unfamiliar for his tongue.

And that eyebrow raise was enough for you to know your dear Lobo's never heard such word. Yet, his grin still remained the same - sly, intrigued.

Death added nothing more though, and only stared at you with his wide eyes that made you feel in the story of Little Red Riding Hood when The Big Bad Wolf stared at the little girl with wide eerie gaze, and the girl uttered those famous words: "But Grandmother, what big eyes you have!".

You wondered where your own story would lead to if you uttered those exact words to your Big Bad Wolf... Your Lobo feroz...

Nonetheless, you got the silent hint, and went ahead to elaborate what it meant to boop someone's nose.

"It's when you affectionately tap or squish someone's nose and say a 'boop'." you explained softly, smiling meekly.

Then taking a note of that light head tilt and eyebrow raise Death did at your words, you added: "It's a show of endearment,".

"It's a show of endearment," Death repeated after you as if checking he's heard correct, his voice holding a quality you couldn't really pinpoint.

Was it amusement you heard? confusion? disbelief? something else? It was hard to tell.

And then, Death fell silent once again.

It was silent again, and you weren't sure of what to do, Death being way too hard to figure out at the very moment - just like most times...

Hesitantly, you prepared to say something - anything - to break the awkward silence.

But then a chuckle came.

A chuckle came, and Death muttered: "Oh my," before covering his eyes with his paw and a grin grew on his face as his shoulders bounced ever so slightly.

Was he...?

And then it came!

Death broke into a fit of laughter.

Death was laughing!

He was wholeheartedly laughing like never before, the deep sound being sharp to the ears yet warm to the heart.

"Squishing nose and making a silly, high pitched sound to show affection!" Death exclaimed, shaking his head with amusement all written over the wolf's face as he laughed.

He seemed to be having the time of his life, and you couldn't help but smile, feeling all warm inside at the sight.

It was honestly sweet, refreshing to see Death like that, and so you didn't even risk saying something, letting your Lobo have his fun.

"My," Death breathed, his laughter eventually dying down to just an occasional chuckle, "you mortals never fail to amuse me,"

"you never really disappoint..." Death mused still shaking his head some with an amused grin on his face.

"Squishing nose and making a silly, high pitched sound to show affection..." he repeated his earlier exclamation, a light chuckle escaping him again before his half-lidded eyes found yours and he went all silent.

"Yeah, it is quite strange, isn't it?" You said lowly once your eyes locked with Death's, a meek smile playing on your face as a light chuckle left your lips as well.

It really was unusual yet amusing, you had to admit that.

Though still feeling a bit awkward in the moment, your instincts told you to ramble, which you attempted to do: "Honestly, I don't even-".

But then.

"Boop," Death muttered and his clawed finger tapped the tip of your nose!

Oh no way! Did he just-??

"Boop..." Death repeated, and chuckled at how silly the sound sounded before he did the action again.

He booped your nose and let out that silly 'boop' sound, making you peek at his finger cross-eyed and scrunch your nose as he smiled.

And right after he did all that, his ears and whole body perked up and his tail wagged all happily!

And as Death's soft smile twisted into a wide, satisfied grin and Death yet again intensely breathed through his nose, growls rumbling in his throat, the message was made clear:

You better prepare for a life filled with nose boops from now on.

Better watch out.

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#frenklinesamuelsworks #frenklinesamuelsrequests #frenklinesamuelsask #puss in boots wolf x reader #puss in boots x reader #puss in boots death x reader #muerte x reader #pib death x reader #pibtlw death x reader #pib death Imagines #pib death x reader imagines #pibtlw imagines #puss in boots the last wish imagines

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nitewrighter · 7 months

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I realize I'm saying "Step outside your reading comfort zone, step outside your reading comfort zone" over and over again and people might actually be interested in doing that, but might not know where to start, or really where their 'reading comfort zone' ends. Well, the good news is, there's a lot of "book bingos" and other reading challenges on library websites and blogs all over the place that have plenty of prompts for books it might not occur to you to read--I'd say like exercise though, you obviously don't want to immediately force yourself to read something you know is going to make you miserable.

Like if you say, "Well I've never read a biography before, so I grabbed this giant fucking brick on President Warren G. Harding, but it was boring and it sucked. Oh well, I tried. Back to fanfiction." Like, come on, there's no way in hell you were engaging in good faith there. There really is a lot of accessible nonfiction out there, if you're willing to look, and also don't be afraid to ask your local librarian for help. Also even if you're a grown-ass adult, please don't feel ashamed about reading non-fiction adapted for younger readers to ease yourself into it. Podcasts and media communities can also help steer you to nonfiction subjects so that you're springboarding from something you know you're interested in, to something you wouldn't usually read--I got steered to "Frozen In Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition" and have added Jean Genet to my To-Read list because of the Terror fandom.

Also short story collections and essay collections are your friends!! You don't have to complete those cover to cover! You can bounce around as you need and it's still different enough content and style for your brain to form new neural pathways! You can give your brain tiger a pumpkin full of meat for enrichment while still being ADHD as hell!

Stepping outside of fictional genre comfort zones can also be a trickier bird, but there are ways to go about it! If you're interested in tackling a classic, there are a lot of substacks which can often come with their own respective communities to help keep you motivated through the drier parts. Like, yeah those communities might not be as big of a phenomenon as Dracula Daily, but it really does help to have buddies to discuss the book as you go along. Like, yeah I'm currently behind in my reading of Moby Dick, but I'm still motivated to keep going because I want to catch up with the rest of the Whale Weekly crowd. There are also a lot of book list communities that group books by their respective tropes and structures and can allow you to ease yourself to new subject matter. Don't be embarrassed to make "short reads/quick reads" a search criteria when browsing books, as well.

Anyways, what I'm saying is, going outside of your reading comfort zone doesn't mean immediately throwing yourself in the deep end, it can be as simple as engaging with an interest you already know you have, in a text format you wouldn't usually work with. Or vice versa!!

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cherrylng · 3 months

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Muse Interview - Black Holes and Revelations [CROSSBEAT (August 2006)]

MUSE “I feel like we're standing right in the middle of the band's potential right now.”

The second chapter of MUSE has begun, boldly breaking new ground while retaining the band's originality!! Matthew Bellamy talks eloquently about his current position, with the potential for further development. Interview: Hidefumi Harima / Interpreter: Tomoko Katsuta

“Even though we play different genres of music and different styles, when the three of us play together, it seems that the band's character comes out. I'd describe it as the Muse sound, but it reaffirms that even if we try something different, our character will always remain.”

In the three albums leading up to 2003's Absolution, Muse created brilliant and dynamic music of exaggeratedly dramatic scale and stark contrasts of stillness, motion and light/darkness, a true “Muse World”. The band's album ‘Absolution’ has sold over three million copies worldwide, and they have headlined festivals and established themselves in Europe as well as in their home country of the UK. Their albums and live shows were both highly accomplished, and the ‘early Muse’ era seemed complete, so there was a great deal of interest in what new chapter they would unfold with their new album.

With their fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations, Muse have broken new ground. I've only been able to listen to the album twice due to strict controls, but even after listening to it for the first time, I can already feel the difference between this and their previous albums. The band's signature sound to date has been a high-tension, fast-paced rush from the start ("Hyper Music", "Stockholm Syndrome", etc.), and a teasing "Coming, coming, coming…… Here it comes!" explosive buildup (such as “New Born” and “Time is Running Out”), and riff-driven types (such as “Plug in Baby” and “Thoughts of a Dying Atheist”) (there are also combinations of them). There aren't many such "Muse verses" this time. It's packed full of musical fun, a bit different from the "simple and easy-to-understand" songs that have come before.

The preceding single "Supermassive Black Hole" is a unique song with a low centre of gravity and funk-like sound with falsetto, "Soldier's Poem", which is mostly played with vocals, is a warm ballad with acoustic guitar, Middle Eastern strings, and melancholy trumpets. "City of Delusion" with a flamenco-style intro, then a mellow introduction with an exaggerated piano, then a Muse verse, and a quiet ending "Hoodoo". There is only one aggressive speed number, "Assassin". The rhythmic adventures, the finesse of the arrangements and the harmonies, often reminiscent of Queen, are a joy to discover every time you listen. There have been composite songs before, such as the second 'Screenager', which swallowed a variety of elements, but there is a feeling here and there that the band has pushed the envelope further.

At Glastonbury in 2004, shortly after what has been described as "the best Glasto performance ever", Dominic's (Dr) father died suddenly at the scene. The fact that they had to stop and go through that ordeal may have been a catalyst for the new incarnation of the band. In any case, this new album proves that Muse are still a band with great potential. I hope to keep up with them for a long time to come. We spoke to Matthew.

The fourth album can be said to have marked a major turning point. How do you feel now that it is completed? 「I feel good. It was a bit more difficult than the previous albums. We wanted to show a different look, we wanted to explore a new sound and style of play. So before we started recording, we went to the south of France for two months to detach ourselves from everything. We went there to explore new directions, which gave us a lot of ideas and new possibilities. Discovering a new Muse and knowing that the band's limits, or maybe there are no limits to this band, has helped us to push ourselves even harder.」

Did you end up with the result after a lot of trial and error? Or did you have a clear vision and you worked your way towards it? 「When we made the first three albums, our priority was to be the best live band we could be. And with the third one we came to the conclusion of what we had been doing. The only thing we knew this time was that we wanted to show a big change and a new direction with this album. We didn't have a concrete shape in mind of what we wanted to sound like, or what we wanted to be like. We went into the studio and played around and tried out ideas, and it just came naturally. We weren't afraid to try things out, even if they sounded completely different from anything we'd done before, even if it was a different approach.」

It's true that while retaining the "Muse style" that you've developed over the past three albums, you've also broken new ground. 「It seems that even though we play different genres of music and in different styles, when the three of us play together, it's like the band's own style comes out. I would describe it as the Muse sound. This album reaffirms to me that even if we try something different, it will always have our own character. There are different types of songs on this album from our past work. Some of them are danceable with elements of electronica, like "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Map of the Problematique", Some songs, like "Soldier's Poem", are acoustic, stripped down to the bare essentials. I'd say it's a bit of the old Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra influence. And there's some Italian musical influences in "City of Delusion", "Hoodoo" and "Knights of Cydonia". It's all there.」

"On this album I've tried to tell a story with the music alone, so that the landscape comes to life without the vocals, because I can't write lyrics unless the songs themselves paint the landscape, and I hope the music itself takes the listener out of reality."

I think it's more varied and very colourful than ever before. Have your musical interests and ambitions expanded and risen to new heights? 「Yeah, I think so. It's the age of MP3s. I used to buy CDs and just pile them up around the place without organising them, so I had a hard time finding the songs I wanted to listen to. But now that I've got MP3s, I can listen to all the music I want, which is great. It's easy with MP3s to organise my music, which I never used to be able to do. So now I listen to a few songs by an artist and then listen to a completely different genre, like piano music, and then a completely different genre again. Maybe that's reflected in the albums. Music fans now have a better environment to absorb all kinds of music than they did in the past. Also, in the past, we only wrote about 12 songs and tried our hand at making an album, but this time we tried experimenting and trying out different ideas, so we had about 20 songs to choose from, which I think contributed to the rich variety.」

I felt that the songs as a whole were organically put together, rather than one element in particular pulling the songs together, whether it be the guitar, piano or vocals. Were you conscious of this? If so, where did it come from? 「As a three-piece band, I think there's a lot of room for each of us to develop our own playing. Chris (Wolstenholme) plays bass, which has its own sound, Dominic (Howard) on drums and me on guitar. In a typical four-piece band, you tend to pile on the guitars so much that the drums and bass become backup instruments. But in this band, bass and drums are just as important as the other instruments. I don't like to play heavy rhythm chords all the time, so I play interesting melodies and unusual parts, and Chris and Dominic need to be unique in order to bring that to life. I think that's why the three of us have been able to create an original sound and style. We go into the studio and the three of us try to create something together, but at the same time we each do different things and try to bring out our own characters.」

In the past, contrasts such as "stillness and movement", "intensity and weakness", "bursts of passion and tranquillity" have been one of the main characteristics of Muse's music, but this time I felt that this wasn't the case as much as before. What do you yourself think? 「We've always tried to create dynamism within a song and between songs. There are many ways to create intonation other than just the intensity of the sound. There is a contrast between minimalism and lyricism, or between organic and electronic, as in the first album. We have always created a great dynamism within a song, between songs and between albums. Personally, I think that contrast is most evident on this album.」

I see. The three albums up to this point are of course different from each other, but I can certainly sense a consistent "Muse-ness" in them. For example, the strong riffs and the "Muse-ness" of the chorus melodies. What do you think about that? 「I don't know if it's 'Muse-ness' (laughs). I feel like we're standing right in the middle of the band's potential right now. You know what I mean? I think this album is a transitional album for a band that's about to step into bigger territory. Because it's quite different from the three albums we've made so far. So if you ask us now to describe what Muse is, it's hard to answer. I think the 'character' of the band comes from the way each of us plays. We've been playing music since we were 16 years old……. so we don't have any fear of playing music. We can enjoy music purely without worrying about ‘Is this okay?’ is thanks to the fact that we've been together since we were young. It's hard to explain why our music is so unique to us, but I think one of the reasons is the big contrasts and inflections in the songs, which I mentioned earlier. Also, we don't stick to one genre. I also love instrumental music and listen to it a lot. I see a lot of bands who say in interviews that they had a period of time when they were into classical music, and in my case it was when we made our second and third albums. I got interested in classical music because that music is instrumental. Instrumental music stimulates the imagination because there are no voices or lyrics. I like the fact that you enter the world of music and paint your own scenery. It's like the difference between reading a book and watching a film. When I listen to instrumental music, I can create my own landscapes, atmospheres, and characters, and that's the same reason why I like classical music. This time I not only listened to classical music, as I did with the second and third albums, but I also enjoyed world music. Going back to the question of what is Muse-like, when you take the vocals out of a song, most of the songs have a vibe that is uniquely ours. I mean, I think the vibe when it's just instrumental is different from that of other bands. I think that's what makes us unique, is that when we take the vocals off, the atmosphere of what we're singing about in the lyrics is still there.」

On 'Absolution', you said that you layered 98 layers of vocals, but this time you tried your hand at 33 overdubs of guitar parts? 「(laughs) On the bonus track 'Glorious' on the Japanese release. I was inspired by the contemporary music composer Steve Reich and did 33 overdubs. He was experimental and had all the instruments play the same part, but at slightly different times, to give it the feel of a bunch of buzzing insects. It was a very interesting sound effect, so I gave it a go. You can hear the 33 guitar parts at the beginning of 'Glorious'. They're all playing the same part, but the timing is slightly off, which creates a back sound effect that adds depth to the song.」

Did you do any other interesting experiments or challenges with the sound this time around? 「There's a trumpet player on two of the songs. I think this is the first time we've introduced a horn section. Also, I think the string section on this album is a different style. All the strings are playing the same part, which is a technique you don't often use, do you? It's a style influenced by Middle Eastern music. What else have you done? On 'Exopolitics' I used to hit bottles and cans, and I also added hand claps to create background sound effects.」

In a sense, it's like 'film music', with lots of evocative sounds. It also stirs the imagination. You must have worked a lot in this area through trial and error, didn't you? 「As I said in the question about Muse's character, I tried to tell a story with the music alone. I try to make the scenery come to life without the vocals. I can't write lyrics if the music itself doesn't depict a landscape. I hope the music itself takes the listener out of reality. For example, "Knights of Cydonia", "Take a Bow" and "Hoodoo" have taken me to unreal worlds. The album title 'Black Holes and Revelations' means that the songs come from two different worlds. By 'Revelations' I mean 'Starlight'. In this song, I'm exposing myself. It's a song about self-discovery. Black hole-like songs are songs that don't come from my experience, but from another world. I don't know where "Take a Bow" and "Knights of Cydonia" came from. Maybe they came from within me, but that element is something I'm not aware of myself.」

Even the unsettling titles of the songs reflect the dark and serious tone of today's world. The opening "Take a Bow" denounces leaders who are putting the world at risk, while "Soldier's Poem", a song about the feelings of a soldier in a war zone, is an impassioned plea for a place to go, and there's even a song called "Exopolitics". 「Most of the songs I write are in the first person, but the characters find themselves being manipulated by something around them. And I portray them resisting it. In "Soldier's Poem", you're fighting for reasons that don't make sense. Are you just being used by your leaders? The same goes for "Take a Bow". It's written from the point of view of someone at the bottom of the pyramid. I'm rebelling against the leaders at the top who manipulate those at the bottom and I'm trying to change the world.」

"The best thing about playing it, looking at each other, is that it still reminds me of when I was 16. The band has taken us places we never dreamed of going, and the fact that we've had this much success, we're all amazed."

You recorded the album in two opposite locations, in a castle in the south of France and in New York. That gave the album a lot of breadth and variation, wouldn't you say? 「I've made all my albums in isolated environments, like this one. I like to make albums in secluded places. When I want to explore new ideas and experiment with things, these situations are the best. I'm not tied down by time. I can go into the studio at midnight or early in the morning, whenever the spark strikes me. When you're in creative mode, you don't want to be limited by time. Another advantage of making an album in an isolated place is that there is no TV or telephone nearby. There are no people or influences trying to meddle or force me to change things. When you work in a studio in the city and stay at home, people around you can influence the music without you knowing it. I'm not saying that's always a bad thing, but it can influence the decisions we make. This time we spent over two months in a studio where we could sleep in and work, and I've never worked in a studio like that for such a long time. Every day we were creating new things and trying different things, but we were there for so long that we thought it was going to go on forever. I could have worked there for another six months and written 50 songs. But on the other hand, if I had taken that long, I would have been more worried about which ones to record. And after living like that for two months, I wanted to go out to the bars and join the crowds (laughs). Two months of that kind of life was enough and I had the ideas I needed. But I had a hard time choosing which of those songs were the best, so I decided to fly to New York. This was the first time we recorded in New York, by the way. It was also good to go out at night in New York and meet a lot of people. When we were working in France, I was worried that the songs were too experimental, but when I listened to them again in New York, I realised that they were actually the best songs. We didn't write the songs or do anything creative, but we worked on the song selection and on giving the songs a real shape. Like you say, working in opposite places has had a big influence on the sound of this album. The quirky, slightly twisted, world-music sound came from working in the south of France, and bringing it to New York gave it more of an electronic and rhythm & groove based sound.」

This is Muse's fourth album. You've already become a top-class band, how would you rate your progress so far? 「It's been a long and winding road! (laughs). We've all changed a lot in some ways, but our basic approach is the same as it was at the beginning. From the very beginning we were never afraid to make music and try new things. The best thing is that when we look at each other and play, it still reminds us of when we were 16. I think it's good that the foundations haven't changed and we've gone through some big changes based on that. The band has taken us to places we never dreamed of going. We're all surprised by the fact that we've had so much success. We're also amazed at the scale of the shows we're playing now. We started out in small venues and it's nice to be able to play in front of a big audience. Live shows have been an important part of us from the beginning. I think the band shines the brightest when we're playing live and I'm proud to say that we blow people away the most when we play live.」

This summer you will be in Japan for Summer Sonic, playing in stadiums. You once said, "The thought of being on stage in front of thousands and thousands of people makes me excited and a bit scared at the same time (laughs)", but now you can enjoy playing to big crowds? 「(laughs) No, actually I'm quite nervous, because there are a lot of new songs that are difficult to play live. We have to rehearse a lot. But I love playing in big venues. There's nothing better than the feeling of a successful show like that. But when something goes wrong, it's quite embarrassing (bitter smile). It makes me nervous when I think about it. We haven't played any shows for quite a long time, so in that sense I'm very nervous now. Once the tour starts and I get used to playing again, I should be able to enjoy it a lot more.」

Translator's Note: This is honestly one of my favourite interview articles, and it's not due to the interview itself. Rather, it's choice of band picture and how it's printed on the magazine itself. It's hard NOT to unsee that Wobell feel to it 😂😂😂

#Matt Bellamy #Dom Howard #Chris Wolstenholme #Muse #Black Holes and Revelations era #my scan #translation #interview #CROSSBEAT #CROSSBEAT August 2006 #Muse band

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mazeinthemiroh · 2 years

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i was wondering if you could write a skz 9th member head cannons?

stray kids with the 9th member

genre: headcanons; general, reader is the 9th member

word count: 1k

warnings: cursing

please like and reblog if you enjoy :D

bangchan

collaborators

you're a power duo

you and chan have an amazing bond together. you both are on the same wavelength with regard to producing and can adapt well to each other's ideas and speculations for different concepts

you bounce off each other well and articulate your plans for the group efficiently

communication between the pair of you is top-notch, tbh

while you guys have both similar and different music tastes, it proves to be beneficial that way because the variety is there and you can adhere to a wider audience

helping each other to be open-minded, so you definitely are useful to each other in that way

definitely a sub-unit that fans heavily anticipate with every upcoming album

lee know

partners in crime

well minho is a bad influence

this comes as no surprise

you remember a time when you were innocent. a time when you were well-behaved and kept to yourself

ah, simpler times...

you get roped into a lot of his shenanigans and you can't even complain about it because you love it

just the silly little pranks you both do on the members to tick them off have developed into a bonding session for you and him

i feel bad for the younger members because they are usually the victims of these said pranks...

and then the other members just scold the both of you

never really acts as a deterrent though. it's probably more of a motive, to be completely honest

changbin

motivators

changbin never allows you to get low beyond no return

in other words, he's always there to pick you back up when you're in a slump

and you're so grateful to him for the role he takes on in your life

there are times were the job can be hard. very hard. so hard that it can be hard to bare

rising to fame can mean both good and bad things

more exposure to different people can mean more opportunities for haters to strike. and you knew that all too well

changbin never stopped uplifting you and neither did you to him. you knew better than to indulge the negative thoughts of others. if you did that, it was only going to be harder

both you and changbin not only encourage each other but also look out for the other members, supporting them when needed

hyunjin

competitors

you both bring out each other competitive side

like hyunjin, you specialise in dancing. not only that, but you have a very similar style to his own

which at first caused a bit of tension

resulting in you both practising your asses off and working harder to outdo each other

and, in effect, you both become two of the most talented dancers in the industry

your dance battles are legendary

but, more importantly, you both come to an understanding fairly soon after debuting

any dance covers you do together are seriously some of the best pieces of work you both have produced

so you thank each other for being so equally passionate and working harder together

han

siblings

you both act like you're related

people can't believe that you're not

you guys laugh like siblings. have the same jokes as siblings. certainly, fight like you're siblings

the arguments are fierce and can get personal very quickly

but you both come back around eventually. you both love each other too well than to just give up

and it's usually all fun and games regardless of any arguments you may have had

inside jokes galore

you both know a lot more about each other than you let on

han's able to recite your fast food order as if he had been practising

but it's purely due to how much you hang out together. you still find it endearing either way

felix

comforters

it's a natural gift of felix's to be a source of comfort

he has a big heart and is ready to give all the love to those closest to him

he's a beacon of kindness and reassurance

so when you seek this type of consolation out, you turn to him

he, in turn, does the same with you

he gravitates towards you when he is feeling down because you have helped him through some problems in the past. he looks up to you, knowing you have a lot of sound advice and words of wisdom

but even if he's not seeking advice, he just goes to you anyway

because you're always there for him to provide a listening ear and a big hug if he needs it

seungmin

best friends

seungmin is your safe place

out of all the members in your group, he is the one you trust the most

similar age, similar outlook on life, similar approach to people; you both make a great pair

you'll spend the most time with him outside of work

he relies on you the most, although he will never admit it out loud

mutual affection for each other - you both are very observant. he, for one, can tell when your mood has dropped. as well as this, he knows what to do when you feel low

helpful to each other

will stay together during social events because neither of you really wants to speak to anyone else unless it's necessary

jeongin

admirers

you've always had a soft spot for innie

you don't know whether it's because he's the youngest and you view him like a little brother or whether it's due to his endearing personality

either way, you love him to bits

constantly praising how much he has improved

it's like you've watched him grow up into the awesome man he is today. the progress he has made is amazing

and he reciprocates that praise to you

you both admire each other's talents and skills in your selected area

your always eager to work on a new project or song together because you both seem to extract mutual inspiration from each other

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tarjapearce · 1 year

Note

Hey, I wanna say i really really like the way you write fics. It feels??? Natural?? To read it?? Always an adventure everytime I read a fic of yours.

How do you write so good?? I'm a writer as well and I'd love to hear your tips and tricks ^^

First of all, I wanna thank you for liking the crap stuff I write. (Cause I'm genuinely amazed some times that people just like it and I'm not saying this because.)

⚠️⚠️LONG AND POSSIBLE CONTROVERSIAL ANSWER AHEAD ⚠️⚠️

It's kinda funny, ngl. Lemme tell you something, I don't know if you guys struggle with Impostor Syndrome a lot like me, but everytime someone gives a compliment like this my brain just goes into self sabotaging mode.

In the outside its :

But in the inside, my brain immediately goes:

Cause I'm aware that I can do better. (And we will ~) it's weird. I'm always striving to do better.

As for the tips and tricks, I'm surely not the right person to ask advice from 😅, but Imma just tell you this from what I experience and from my perspective (Hopefully won't get backlash from this, if not, R. I. P. me jsksj) Be warned though, it's kinda contradictory cause writing is hard yo!

1. You gotta read. Either books or whatever your favorite genre is, but you gotta read. I consume fan fics and non fanfics cause you learn from other people too. I read fanfics mostly to know new words, how the character develops and the like.

I read more spanish stuff than anything. Which I try to transfer to what I write.

2. I try to keep it as simple as possible. With that I mean to not over embellish words cause it gets boring and weird. Sure, everyone wants to make their fanfics pretty (nothing wrong in that) but sometimes I feel that less is more. Like, nothing wrong if you wanna poet the f- out of your fic. (THIS IS A DOUBLE EDGED ONE SO BE CAREFUL!!)

I mean there is a huge difference in reading:

"The anger and frustration on her way of living was taking a toll on her mind"

and:

"Her nemesism had muddled her mind into an endless spiral of what ifs and what not, and frankly if her mind could speak, it'd beg for a break."

It's hard to pick one style, but as long as you keep it consistent, I guess it's all good (?) (Funny cause I always aim for the second one and end up in the first jsksj and I dont even know myself if I'm keeping it consistent)

3. Get yourself a beta reader that doesn't coddle you. It helps alot!!!! Cause again, compliments sure are nice, but they don't tell you where you could get better. ✨( Unless the reader provides puntual feedback on what they liked and what not. Those are my favorites and a rare gem ❤️)

4. I know this one is hard because everyone at some point have done this. But IF YOU COMPARE yourself to other writers? You'll lose yourself. Not only you'll lose motivation cause you seem unable to write like them, but you will fall into this... vicious circle of self deprecating and burnout. And the self doubt sky rockets nonstop.

Everyone is different. Everyone learns in a different pace. Trust me, I wanted to make great stories with a good looking writing when I had the slightest idea of what I was doing (Still do!) 😂. Writing fanfics is not a competition to who writes more beautiful/good/professional than others. Or who has more notes or the most canon-stuck character, or the cause let's face it, none will get a character's personality to a 100%!!! (And that's ok cause it's fanfiction and we all have a different approach to the character either emotional or mental) .

Personally for me, the cockyest thing someone can do is to claim to know a character more than the creators themselves. Kinda rude for me, if you ask . Like, sure feeling a deep connection with a character doesn't mean it'll grant us instant access to their whole self. Characters just like us evolve. Either for the good or the bad, but they don't remain the same, so knowing them completely is a big fat lie. Unless stated by the creator. (But we're delusional in this site, so~)

I mean, sure characterization is something we all struggle since we guide ourselves by some of the character's most prominent traits and make them their default personality. (I've sinned in this jsksj so don't worry)

5. HAVE FUN AND TAKE BREAKS. I mean it. The favorite things I've written is where Im genuinely having fun writing it. But also after a well deserved rest. Cause if something doesn't feel right, it won't be right. And burnout is easier to get at than we actually think.

6. I recently started to follow writing advice blogs, one of my favorite @heywriters.

@she-who-fights-and-writes. (They have amazing writing resources, so does Pinterest and YouTube. Seize them!!!)

But yeah, I'm still an amateur on this, I make emphasis in the 5th one tho.

Hope this helps you? ;w;.

Love you❤️✨

Thanks for stopping by. ❤️

#talking with t✨#personal takes #thoughts on my writing

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the-s1lly-corner · 1 year

Note

Could you possibly write hcs for dates Johnathon and the reader would go on before the collider incident? I hc him as a giant sci fi geek so I can just imagine going to comic con in matching cosplays or sm :]

Going on dates w/ Jonathon!

Hello hello! so ! im going to be writing a lot of the remaining spot asks on my computer so i'll be more focused and since im a faster typer with a physical keyboard! so if you see my typing style change, this is why! typos may be more noticeable, unfortunately :( also it lets me blare music right in my ears while i type cuz spotify is mean on my phone anyways!! ueueueu this idea sounds so cute :3

honestly youre so right about him taking you to cons and such; you guys do matching couples cosplays from varies different medias you both like

movies, shows, games; its all up for grabs

though he wont force you to dress up in cosplay if you dont want to! he wants you to be comfortable! and not all cosplays are.... comfortable

while not totally sci fi, and obligatory admin doesnt know much about it; but from what admin does know, i feel like hed be into DND

both as a normal player or as a DM; you guys probably join a campaign together

anyways

not all dates have to be outside and doing something; sometimes you guys hole yourselves up at home and watch a few movies

another note admin doesnt touch sci fi all the much so their experience in the genre isnt very... much

he seems like the type to be a fan of the alien franchise, or at least the original

ponders

just the two of you cuddled up on the couch with blankets and loads of snacks and pillows

very nice and cozy

totally doesnt try to casually lay his arm around you

again, i see jon as a cliché, he does all the stereotypical romantic stuff even if it makes him look like a dork

i mean hes a dork when it comes to you, but

yeah

moving on

this dude will literally consider you two cooking dinner together a date

especially if you guys dont live together yet

oh? you need help cutting something up?

(not so) casually puts his hands on yours to help you out; assuming your hands are smaller than his they get completely engulfed

if not, hes still gonna try to guide you

thinks

whenever he has the money and wants to splurge on you he takes you to some fancy restaurant

NO CUZ

i just got done watching the original Spiderman trilogy for the first time yesterday and this dude

would pull the same proposal idea as peter

fancy high end restaurant. ring in the champagne glass, having the band play a specific song, ect ect ect

AGAIN

dude is cheesy

yeah

i kinda got off topic there but thats more or less my date hcs!! i dont really right date stuff often so this was a fun little thing

#atsv spot #atsv #the spot #the spot x reader #spot x reader #jonathan ohnn #jonathan ohnn x reader

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cyberlights · 7 months

Text

Amulet Rant Time

Okie dokie Waverider is out and thus has concluded the series…so it’s time for a little…bonfire, we’ll call it.

Now don’t get me wrong. I still love this series and always will. I’ve been in the fandom since about Prince of the Elves. I literally have grown up with this series in my backpack from the moment I checked it out of my school’s library. I spent my first summer job paycheck buying all the books out at the time. This series holds a very special place for me.

I also understand that after Book 5(? I’m typing this out on mobile so I can’t verify), Kazu got very sick and lost a lot of his memories, which affected how he wrote Amulet and thus the rest of the story, so I’m not going to say he was a trash author.

There are just certain things that just…have not worked out post Escape from Lucien. And honestly, this is going to be more of a venting ramble than anything, so for the new readers coming in, take it with a grain of salt. You can still enjoy the series, fall in love with the characters, etc. That’s why we enjoy it.

Now I’m gonna do everything else under read-more so spoilers ahead.

We good? Okay, good.

I already stated that I give Waverider a 1/10. It actually is not my least favorite book, to be honest. (That “honor” goes to Supernova)

Trellis leaving the throne?

As others have pointed out, after Escape from Lucien it made no sense for him to just up and skedaddle. That boy was adamant he was going to lead his people. That’s what his whole plot was in the book, and him accepting more of that role in Firebird/the beginning of Supernova. Heck, they even pointed out that Gabilan, even though… voted in(?) as the new king was not doing a good job of it. Gabilan himself fully expected Trellis to take back the throne (albeit by force which is not really Trellis’ style). It felt very much like unnecessary step back from three books worth of development.

I can’t say much about Gabilan because while he did establish in The Cloud Searchers he wanted to be king, it didn’t feel right. Like there was nothing driven past that, that would say he wanted to be king. Honestly besides a tiny bit in Firebird he didn’t get as much character development as he should have, if at all. Which is why, if he was planned to take over from a while ago, probably should have had happened sooner.

Ronin and her Students

Speaking of introducing sooner, this is where I feel having a whole ‘nother two books would have helped the story, because this was just…so terribly executed.

I can’t tell you a single thing about her students except one turned into a turtle and another Cthulhu. I can’t even tell you anything about Ronin beyond her “I was right” mentality (and the mask, not sure why she was wearing a mask).

They all felt very shoe-horned in. I have no attachment to these characters, no real interest in seeing them succeed. They were brought in to fill a plot hole, while simultaneously making another plot hole in their wake.

Overall Problems with the Series

Genre Confusion

I think we’ve already established that Amulet would have been better off as a fantasy series than sci-fi. That is honestly my biggest problem with Supernova, was that was a giant Sci fi wedge in what was predominantly a fantasy series (I know we started more in Escape from Lucien and Firebird, but this is where I feel we veered too off course)

We honestly could have completely cut the sci-fi bit, changed a few things around between Escape from Lucien and Firebird, cut out most of Supernova -which yes, would have wrecked Navin’s sideplot, but there was different options that could have happened.

We don’t need the additional aliens/planets. Those characters could have easily just been Alledian on different parts of Alledia and we would have never known. We don’t even know what most of Alledia looks like because we’ve only been to a handful of places that predominantly look the same.

Which brings me to

Ikol and his Masters

I was so confused by the end of their story. They’re aliens but not. They were created by Silas but they have been around for eons. Everything was Made by Silas to Protect his Family. I just…*sigh*

It felt like they were beating the already dead piñata (pun partially intended).

Silas died in the first book. The consequences of his actions were established to be that he got a bunch of students killed and he ended up passing a huge burden onto Emily that should have gone to her mother. I don’t know why he had to be brought out as this.

Ikol could have very much remained a Chaotic Entity that thrived on the turmoil, his “masters” being a lie to convince Emily that he too was not in total control of the situation so he could slip her more into his control. We already know he likes collecting powerful stonekeepers who are vulnerable enough to fall sway to his side.

Heck, he comes back every 500 years to wage war with the elves and probably (should he have remained the entity) thought of it as one big game.

Having him turn into a somewhat malevolent AI that was just following orders to a T just…does not make sense to me. Especially if he was causing havoc with the elves for so long as implied.

Time-Travel

Okay honestly this is my biggest gripe with the later books.

We established, Books 4 and 5, time-travel was not possible.

All it does is send them back to interact with their memories. They don’t actually change anything about their lives outside the Void.

So having Future Emily and her son come back and save Present Emily throws all of the continuity out the window. And Future Emily’s little interaction with Ikol where it’s implied that they’ve done this over and over? Felt so weird after they actually dealt with Ikol. It felt like a useless little tag on that we ended up not actually needing. (Again, Supernova is my least favorite book for a lot of reasons)

Stonekeepers Good but Bad

*sighs again* Yes. This part would feed into the Problem of Too Many Characters Amulet has going on. But. We were not shown examples beyond our current group (Meaning Emily Trellis and somewhat Vigo) of good stonekeepers.

The Guardian Council that ruled over most of Alledia for centuries? Corrupt.

Silas? Self serving. (Despite being called hero numerous times, we were not actually shown anything he did besides stopping the rampaging stonekeepers back in The Stonekeepers Curse, and even then we weren’t actually shown, just told he did it.)

The Elfking(s)? Corrupted by their stones.

Most of Alledia in the early books respect Stonekeepers enough to kinda hold them in reverence. But we’re not shown anyone (beyond a couple panels of someone building stuff) notable enough to say Yes. Stonekeepers good. Anyone else who is mentioned is “Yeah, they were good, but they listened to their stone and turned into a rampaging monster” (Honestly Gabilan has more of a point here)

I get that’s why Ronin and hers were introduced, but they were introduced way too late into the series for it to feel that there could be some sort of balance.

Emily is one big outlier too here. She’s good but because she feels she has to be and has been told she has to be. Firebird honestly put a nice spin in this because we do see her fall. But Supernova kinda nixed that development sooooo.

*cough*ThisiswhatOCsarefor*cough*

Conclusion

Now those are the biggest ones that have bugged me for a while in addition to the new stuff from the new book. @motherstone has already touched upon multiple times some of the other issues that I tend agree with (go check them out, their art is amazing and I love their ideas. Also looking forward to their rewrite!)

Is there some technical issues with the books as well that bug me? Yes. (The later books are very over saturated in comparison to the older ones and it kinda shows, and I believe that Motherstone already touched upon the “smoothification” that started taking place about book 4/5, and there were quiet a few panels that felt very unfinished in the later two books)

Am I sad to see the series end? Yes. But Kazu at least finished as best he could to the end instead of half assing it or completely dropping the series altogether, and I can respect that.

Do I already have my own post-book 6 AU that I’m willing to ramble about at the drop of a hat? Also Yes. (May also heavily be influenced by some OCs)

Overall, I enjoyed Amulet enough to see it through the end. Books 3-5 will remain my favorites. I still will cherish the characters that we got. Amulet is probably the first thing that actually got me into interacting with Fanart and Fandom, so I’d say it’s a pretty big part of what developed me. And for the newbies. Hi! I see you! I look forward to seeing what you do with the series!

See y’all around!

(And btw, if you drop something in my ask box, I’ll apologize in advance if I don’t get to it. I tend to forget I have one)

#amulet series #amulet spoilers #waverider spoilers #wow it’s really been ten years since I joined this fandom #😧#Good news is that it’s kicked up the ol brain bunnies #i have been Having Thoughts #some old art may see an upgrade #Some old ocs may or may not appear

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sehunniepotwrites · 2 years

Text

SHELVED AWAY | JH.S

SYNOPSIS. You and Johnny have been academic rivals since the day you first met. Top Two on the Dean’s List for your university’s English Department, it was hard to tell who claimed the number one spot on the list. You always butted heads, whether it was over who led the discussion in a course lecture, who got a higher grade on a paper, or who helped more customers at the bookshop you both worked at. When a bet to see who could sign up more customers for their shop’s loyalty program came to life, the both of you would stop at nothing to win this little game even if it meant getting closer to the other.

PAIRING. coworker!Johnny Suh x (f) reader GENRE. college!au, bookshop!au, enemies-to-lovers!au, academic rivals!au, suggestive, humor, fluff (?) WORD COUNT. 4.6k+ WARNINGS. characters are like cat-and-dog, make-out scene, profanity, name-calling (lmao), they bicker a lot

DISCLAIMER. This is work of fiction. I do not own the people/characters and concepts I have written about. You cannot translate or copy my work.

There were many things you loved about your university.

You loved how the campus was swarmed with trees, each building surrounded by a lush and vibrant green in the spring and summer months and warm brown shades during the cold of autumn and winter. You loved the sense of community your school upheld, always hosting events that were opened to anyone and everyone in the immediate area. The way it made you feel at home when you were miles away. The friends you made in your major and the small department you belonged to.

You adored it all.

The one thing you hated about your university though wasn’t a thing at all. It was a person who went by the name of John Jun Suh. People in the English department, whether it be faculty, staff, or fellow students called him by Johnny but you wouldn’t succumb to calling him by his preferred name. It made you seem closer to him than you really were and you despised that even being a possibility. You weren’t close. You were far from that.

Johnny Suh was your rival in every sense of the word. The top two students in the entire department—he concentrated in Literal and Cultural Studies while you dabbled in Creative Writing—you never saw eye to eye.

Even in a shared lecture hall, you and Johnny were miles apart, distance fueled by your competitive spirits and mutual distaste for the other.

Miles apart and still butting heads as academic rivals were destined to do. The discussions in the courses you shared were led by your volleying, voices only increasing in volume as you challenged each other’s thoughts and cruxes. Fighting for the attention of the professors. Competing for the highest grade on the latest paper or the spot of tutor in the Writing Lab.

And just how you had a certain way of doing things, Johnny did the same, using a completely different method.

In other words, the two of you were complete opposites.

While you preferred the lighter side of fiction, he longed for the darker bookish themes. The same went for your style of dress—your academia-themed wardrobe was filled with whites, off-whites, and the lighter colors of the spectrum whereas Johnny’s clothes consisted of darker statement pieces including black turtlenecks and dark brown slacks with matching coats. Dark shades and fits that only accentuated his devastatingly handsome figure.

When you felt comfortable studying during the light of day, you always caught Johnny entering the library in the dark of night as you left for home.

He was a bookish social butterfly, his wings fluttering about here and there around the English department building and in any club that sparked his interest, while you stayed in your tightly-knitted group of friends.

Your friends never understood why you hated him. Yes, you were rivals when it came to grades and other educated-related things, but they truly believed you would get along if you really got to know him.

You hated him because it seemed as if he was blessed with everything in life—intelligence, a light and friendly attitude despite his dark attire, physical features that rivaled ones belonging to the gods. Thick hair that looked good in any color. Eyes that shined behind the glare of his rounded specks. Proportions that made both men and women alike swoon. A voice filled with a variety of colors. Johnny was almost perfect without even trying and you despised him for it.

They were wrong about you and him. So completely wrong.

You knew it. You were almost certain Johnny knew it too.

There was no way you could get along with John Jun Suh. Never in your wildest dreams.

You thought you would find solace working in the town center’s bookshop. Clearly, as Johnny stood before you, with his brand new name-tag pinned against the expanse of his chest, you thought wrong.

To make matters worse, you were the one assigned to train him, to show him the ropes. According to your boss, there was no one better to show the giant how everything works around the store. Your boss wasn’t wrong, you just hated the fact that you had to share one more thing with Johnny Suh.

With and without your help, Johnny picked up quickly and worked his way up to one of the shop’s top sellers list. Once again, you two were tied for a title. Your boss, sensing your drive to compete, fueled the fire even more in the form of commissions.

As one of the only bookstores in your college town, your place of employment was quite a popular place. People of all ages flocked to your store to find the book they were seeking and it was time to take advantage of it. In order to engage with customers, your boss launched a loyalty program in which people could earn points that led to discounts. An employee of the shop would earn a commission every time someone signed up for the program under their recommendation. The staff member who received the most commissions within three months after launch would get an extra bonus. It was a fantastic plan, one that was well-received by the staff and the public, especially by you and Johnny.

The two of you found it as another way to compete, especially when you were the highest performers in house. A bet resulted from this “friendly” competition, the loser having to do whatever the winner wanted of them. You remembered the day the bet was established, the rage festering inside you egging Johnny on.

“I’m going to get that bonus, Suh, just you wait,” you said, pushing yourself off the shelf you leaned on. “Just you fucking wait.”

Johnny’s face whipped straight to you with a smirk permanently etched on his full lips. With raised brows, he answered, “Oh, I think you’ve got it all wrong, sweetheart, because that money is mine.”

He tried to distract you with silly nicknames and it didn’t work. “Stubborn as ever, aren’t you?”

“I’d say the same about you,” Johnny lowered his lids, lashes brushing against the tops of his cheeks. He crossed his arms against his chest, muscles straining against his tight shirt’s form hugging fabric. You willed yourself to look away from the bulging muscles that caught everyone else’s attention. “I’d suggest a bet but everyone knows I’ll win.”

“Oh, please. You’re too confident in yourself!”

“And you’re not?”

“I’ve been here longer and I have more customer service experience than you, John, so I clearly have the upper hand,” you argued as your feet led you to him.

“And yet all the customers come to me when we’re servicing the same area, I wonder why that is,” Johnny shrugged, “Must be your resting bitch face scaring them away.”

You scoffed, “Is that supposed to be an insult? You need to try a little harder to actually hurt my feelings.”

“Believe me,” Johnny paused to say your name and you tightened your fists to fight the shiver his words caused, “I’m only just getting started.”

“Okay, if it’s a bet you want, fine. I’m in. Loser gets to grant the winner’s wish, no matter what it is.” You stuck your hand out and it lingered in the air for a second too long.

When you tried to pull it away, Johnny’s hand reached out to join them together. You ignored the electricity that shocked your brain. The feeling of warmth his touch gave you.

“Fine,” he agreed.

“Good!”

“Good.”

Neither you or Johnny announced what you wanted as punishments, saving the surprise for when the three months concluded. Despite that, you were not one who took losing well. So, you did whatever means necessary to win. Johnny did the very same.

Your coworkers gave up on winning that bonus because no one was as passionate as you both were, parading around the grounds while sabotaging each other. Johnny hid your online orders and you stole his customers. You had yelling matches in the stock rooms, ones others could hear if they passed by the back doors. They never stopped you–they knew better than that–instead, they just let it all unfold, wondering where your arguments would lead you next.

“Stop taking customers away from me!” you screeched at him one day when the shop was devoid of people. It was a slow day so far with no one else but Johnny and a few more coworkers to keep you company.

You passed the point of annoyance and almost grabbed the closest hardcover within your reach. A good hit on the back of Johnny’s head would do your coworker some good. Johnny deserved it, especially when that specific guest signed up for the program right in front of you. You caught Johnny double checking the person’s entered information on his computer screen, reading everything back to him to check for accuracy.

You couldn’t believe he ripped another one away from your fingertips. According to the data up till then, tallied on a whiteboard in the break room, Johnny was five commissions ahead of you. You were in the lead last week but he intercepted so many of your customers in the past two days, Johnny saw catching up as child’s play. That last customer made it six.

Johnny simply rested his sharp chin, “You were taking too long so he came to me. Seemed like he was in a rush.”

“I was trying to find him the perfect copy,” you spat back. “A lot of the covers were damaged during shipping.”

“And some people don’t care about that stuff.”

“Are you saying you don’t?” you asked.

“No, I do. But others, like that guy who just left, don’t.”

“Whatever, fucker,” you turned away from him, logging back into your computer that kicked you off during your time away.

“Such eloquent words coming out of that pretty mouth of yours,” Johnny laughed, satisfied with the irritation in your voice. Your mind fixated on the compliment and you did your absolute best to ignore minuscule, barely-there thump in your chest. “Wonder what other insults you can come up with. Maybe you’ll dive into some Shakespearean ones, those are always fun.”

“Watch your back and your customers, Suh,” you threatened, fingertips pressing harshly against the keys.

He heard the anger with every little click. “Sure, sweetheart.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Just for that,” Johnny smirked, “I don’t think I will.”

“Thief.”

“Slowpoke.”

But as the months passed, there were times when Johnny would get a little too close to you and his presence didn’t bother you as much as before.

His voice wasn’t as irritating from near or far. Your eyes stopped twitching when Johnny would change his commission count on the communal white board.

Sometimes, you would feel his large, warm hand on your back as he tried to get to his register. Other times, you felt his breath hitting your cheek while he leaned down to look at your computer. When you argued, you were suddenly hyper aware of how his body was less than an inch away from yours. How he, at times, would stare at your frowning lips for a beat too long. Or how his biting words turned a little kinder when you were having an off day.

Those things shouldn’t have affected you in the way that they did, making your heart rumble in your chest like an earthquake shaking your entire world. But as much as you wanted to deny it, Johnny tugged on your heart strings. Unknowingly, his actions made you revisit the chapter of your story that focused on love. Little by little, they added words to pages left untouched for many years, bringing the paper to life. And you weren’t sure of where this plot point was taking you next.

“I didn’t know you liked this genre,” you approached him one day as Johnny sat in the break room. His nose was stuck inside one of your favorite novels, one that you recommended to anyone who asked for a romance suggestion. The book itself came out two weeks ago and it sold out within hours.

You, being an avid reader and book reviewer, received access to an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. And an honest review you gave that had everyone who followed you buzzing until the release date.

“Well, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Johnny smiled softly at you, his long fingers coming up to slip a bookmark in between the pages he left off on. He slid past you, gently placing the novel back into the small crevice of his work locker. “It’s really good so far, I see why you’ve been raving about it. I’d keep reading but my break’s up,” he said to you, his hand grazing at the small of your back to move you out of his way, “but I’ll talk to you more about it later, yeah? I marked some quotes I liked.”

Your gaze followed him out, not knowing why that touch and his words made you freeze in place. It made him seem like a romantic, something that you really wouldn’t have guessed.

There were a lot of things you knew about Johnny Suh. You knew how he irritated you to death and how he always came in early for his shifts. He hated being late. He was always on time.

You knew how he preferred darker neutrals than your lighter colors when it came to wardrobe palettes. How he belonged to a different English concentration but still took creative writing courses to expand his verse.

But there were a lot of things you don’t know about him, too. You didn’t know how he took his coffee in the morning or who his favorite author was. His favorite genre of book or his preferred type of music when he studies so diligently on his breaks. You didn’t know how he liked to spend his time away from school and work. Whether he preferred plain sticky notes or the Disney Princess ones he was currently placing on the pages of your favorite book.

You didn’t know if he was dating anybody or remotely interested in anyone at the moment. Not that you actually cared.

There were a whole lot of things you didn’t know about Johnny but just looking at him with your beloved novel in hand, marking the pages with his own inklings, you felt your heart wanting to learn more about the coworker you came to hate. Yearning to occupy the spot in front of him and exchange his current thoughts on the book. Longing to hear how his mind interpreted fact and fiction.

You didn’t know much about John Jun Suh but the book of your heart had already opened its pages up, ready for him to fill you up with words and maybe, his love.

It was the second to last week of the bet and you were working the busiest shift of your life.

There was a signing with a popular author earlier in the day, flooding the store more than usual. It ended around an hour ago but the weening crowd from the event lingered in between the aisles. Some of your coworkers already clocked out for the day, only assigned the hours of the signing. But you, of course, were not able to leave as you were that day’s shift lead. So you carried on, starting your rotation as the customer service stand in the middle of the store.

You smiled at a customer who approached you, grabbing their sheet of confirmation paper for a book on hold. Gesturing to the back room with the paper in hand, you said politely, “Wait right here. I’ll be right back with your book.”

The customer nodded at you in reply and with that, you were off. Johnny, who was manning the other customer service computer next to you, followed suit. Rolling your eyes, you attempted to walk faster but with daddy long legs behind you, it didn’t take long for him to catch up to your pace. Pretending the tall boy with the stupid round glasses and the stuck-up dark academia fit wasn’t there, your focus remained on the paper in your grip. Studying the printed font, you maneuvered through various bookshelves without looking up until you reached a door that read “Employees Only.”

Swiping your employee card to grant you access, you hurried in to keep Johnny out. Kicking the door closed you didn’t work–Johnny’s long foot caught it before it shut and you cursed. You wished it slammed against him, inflicting some sort of pain—much like the pain he caused you.

Sighing, a realization hit you. He was never going to leave you alone no matter how hard you tried. But did that truly upset you or did it leave your body buzzing with nerves?

“You’re ignoring me,” Johnny deadpanned as your hands ghosted against the spines of many books lining the shelves. His heavy footsteps echoed in the room; it was louder than your nervous breaths. Being alone with him did make you nervous, not that you would ever admit it out loud.

You would never admit to the butterflies you felt when he was around or the way your heart pounded erratically against your breastbone. You would never admit the way the scent of his perfume drove you a bit mad—almost as mad as the famed hatter—or how irritatingly handsome he looked when he studied at the counter, full lips in a pout and rounded glasses sliding down the slope of his nose.

Or how much you liked when he did little things like holding the door open for you when you had a dolly filled with merchandise. Making sure you got a worksheet that you missed during a class discussion. How you grew sweet on him when he’d drive you home after a shared closing shift, expressing his concern for your safety.

Johnny said he wouldn’t want any girl to wait out in the dark for an unreliable bus. He’d rather see you home so he was one hundred percent sure you made it back to your apartment in one piece. Johnny wouldn’t leave the lot until he saw your bedroom light turn on. He memorized what floor you were on the day he took you all the way to your door. It was the night some loiterers were being loud and obnoxious at the front of your building. You didn’t feel safe walking past them on your own, frightened by the drunken catcalls they threw at people passing by. So like any good person would do, Johnny draped a protective arm around your shoulder, told you to keep your pretty little head down, and led you to the elevator.

You even caught yourself dreaming about him during the day and night, random thoughts of him streaming into your consciousness. They were like little movie reels playing in your head. Scenes of him sitting in the corners of the shop, reading and annotating the books you recommended to guests, or him sipping on that large cup of iced americano that he consumed daily.

You would never admit to any of those things, especially not to him.

“I’m not ignoring you, you’re too insignificant to ignore.”

Johnny laughed a light chuckle as if he thought your response was cute. You hated it.

“I just don’t want anything to do with you, and also— I. Am. Working,” you hissed as you finally reached the shelf you were looking for. The customer had ordered a new contemporary romance novel—one you found yourself indulging in during your breaks before it was released—but it was nowhere to be found in your stock.

“That’s a lie and you know it,” Johnny’s voice came from behind you. You felt the heat of his body and you clenched your hand, ultimately wrinkling the paper you held. That was fine; the customer didn’t need it after your interaction anyway. It was going straight to the trash, just like your heart was.

Your not-so-fragile heart was going in the damn garbage because you were letting a stupid pretentious English major rile you up over the dumbest things. An ounce of hate consumed you as you came to this epiphany. You were supposed to hate him, despise him for challenging your position as the top seller in the store, and for stealing your spotlight from the English department. So why didn’t you?

“God—where is that damned book?” Your irritation seeped through your words and the way you slammed the metal shelves.

Johnny chuckled, easily snatching the paper from your hands, earning a small huff from you. He took a glance at it before shifting his gaze to the higher shelves--the ones you needed a step stool for. Your co-worker, smug as he could be, found it easily and with confidence, he reached for it. The action pressed you against the shelf, your hands immediately finding purchase on the metal to steady yourself from the unexpected weight. His strong, hard chest was against your back and his hot breath hit your ear. “Looking for this one?”

You stiffened against him. You could not move, not when Johnny’s weight trapped you between his arms. Not when the sweet scent of his cologne was flooding your senses. Not when his low, husky voice whispered in your ear.

“I don’t need your help,” you hissed back, fingers gripping onto the edge of the shelf.

“You need my height.”

“There’s a step stool right there for me to use so no, John, I don’t need your help.”

“Clearly, you do, sweetheart, you couldn’t even find that book for that sweet customer that’s waiting for you out there.”

The nickname, although a bit heart-fluttering, was also somewhat degrading and it set you off. Fire seeped through your veins. With a breath, you turned so that you were chest to chest. With furrowed brows and a piercing glare, you said, “I don’t need you—“

“You sure?” Johnny leaned closer, his hazed eyes dipping down to your frowning lips for a fraction of a second.

You caught the action and again, your heart tried pushing its way out of your body, “—or your help or your teasing here and in class. I’m tired.”

“I’m not.” Of course, he wasn’t. He never was. That’s what made him so annoying—his persistence.

“Give me the book, John.”

“Nah, I think I’ll hold on to it for you.”

“Hand it over.”

Lowering down to her level, he smirks and says, “Why don’t you make me?”

“Don’t think I can do it?”

“Oh, I’d really like to see you try.”

Johnny’s challenging words pulled you to do something unexpected. Instead of replying with words, you accepted his provocation by yanking him to your level and fitting your mouth against his. Your fingers curled in his long, soft hair while his free hand drifted to your waist. It wrapped around your middle, further trapping you in between his build and the cold metal shelf.

Johnny kissed you like it was something that he wanted to do. Like it was something he was meant to do. Whenever you moved, he followed. Every little tilt of the head or breath you took was followed by him finding his way back to you. There was no escaping his lips, his scent, his whole entire being. Johnny was all around you and for once, you let yourself indulge in the moment.

When Johnny swiped his tongue against your bottom lip, you opened yourself up to him. You allowed him to explore parts of you that had been closed off for many years. The levels of passion were on an equal scale, the tiny noises escaping you matching the level of Johnny’s eager groans. He made you forget where you were once his grip found its way to your chin, pulling you to close the space you created as you took a needed breath. The task of helping the customer was temporarily erased from memory as he pulled away just enough to whisper your name against your lips.

But it all came back to you once you felt that book–the one you fought him for–press against your middle. It was wedged in between your bodies, distracting you from the pleasure that came from kissing your rival.

So, as Johnny went back in for another kiss, you grabbed the book out of his loosened grip and shoved him away.

Taking a good look at him, Johnny’s face was red and his lips were all kinds of swollen. There was a dazed look in his eyes, one that was so hazy, it was the dreamiest thing you had ever laid eyes on. His hand remained at the level of your head, fingers twitching, as if they wanted to grab hold of you once more. Your name barely escaped his lips when you slowly retreated towards the exit. You created a wider space between you, with the coveted book in one hand and the other blindly reaching for the door handle.

“There. See?”

“See what?” Johnny said breathlessly.

“I tried,” you replied, staring right into his eyes. If you looked elsewhere, if your gaze wandered back down to the lips that tasted so addicting, you would have folded and ran back right to him. Shaking the book within his view, you continued on, “And when I try, I always get what I want.”

Giving him no time to talk back, you opened the door and made your great escape.

His brown eyes remained on the door long after you left, waiting for his heart to calm itself. His fingers rubbed against his lips, mind still clouded with no one else but you. That wasn’t an odd occurrence to him, it was actually quite a normal one. Not that you had to know.

Johnny opened up to the thought of you long before that kiss occurred.

It happened earlier in the year, when he saw you tutoring his friend Mark in the English department’s writing center. You diligently helped the struggling student, offering him constructive feedback with a high amount of patience. You stayed hours after your tutoring shift ended, making sure Mark hit every point on the grading rubric to ensure that he would get a passing grade.

There was no need for you to go out of your way like that but you wanted to out of the goodness of your heart. And just like you assisted Mark, you continued to go above and beyond in your bookstore clerk duties to guarantee that every customer left satisfied.

Your dedication to your work was admirable. It made you all the more charming in Johnny’s eyes, even more charming than the first time he laid eyes on you during first year orientation.

A new book opened way back then, the love story in his heart practically writing itself. But as your treatment and obvious distaste towards him worsened over the years, he shelved that book away. Despite the harsh treatment he didn’t deserve, Johnny’s heart always held a soft spot for you; the page he left off on dog-eared for him to return to. It remained folded, the crease pressing a permanent indent into the page in case Johnny wanted to explore his feelings in depth once again.

And as you rang up the customer that you fought over, Johnny went through the library of his mind, searching for that book he filed away. And once he found it, he pried it out of the shelf and opened it back up, undoing the crease that bookmarked where he left off.

Johnny was ready to fall in love again but more importantly, he was ready to fall in love with you.

EMPLOYEE BULLETIN BOARD. Hey, everyone! I’m back. Long time no chat <3 First of all, happy new year! But more importantly, happy Johnny day!!! I went through my archives to find this. It was originally planned to be a longer fic but I lost inspiration for it. Maybe I can come back to it one day and fully flesh it out. But until then, this is all I’ve got (until Jaehyun’s birthday). Please tell me what you think of it. I feel like I’m a bit rusty ;;;

A big thanks to @lavendersuh for reading through this multiple times and editing/suggesting things when she saw fit. You’re the best, Em <3 @smileysuh you’re the king for also skimming through this. And @yutaholic for indulging me as I spam her with all my ideas uwu. You’re awesome!!

TAGLIST. @johtenrecs @emmybyeakitty @ppangjae @sokkigarden @kaepop-trash @suhnnyskiess @baekhyuns-lipchain @bebsky @bat-shark-repellant @renjuunsz @ferxanda @lebrookestore @tyongblr

NETWORKS. @neowritingsnet

#neowritingsnet #cznnet #ankathia #johnny scenarios #johnny imagines #johnny fic #johnny x reader #nct x reader #nct scenarios #nct imagines

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lysol1201 · 1 year

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Leonard - Leon Kennedy x GN!Reader

This is the Leonard story, but put into one post. I originally had all parts separately even though they were short, but just to see if this helps with not having to go through different posts, I'll put this out as well. Thanks <33

Lowercase is intended and the style is meant to be short. This story is meant to angsty, so be warned.

his name wasn’t leonard, and you proved that you knew.

Genre: Angst

TW: Hurt/No Comfort, Death

Word Count: 1644

Inspired by:

++++

“welcoming the graduating class of 1995!” the principle announced.

as everyone got prepared for their graduation walk, leon looked for someone to walk with. people usually asked someone before hand, but he chose to be the person that would accept whoever needed a partner still.

“hey,” you walked up to leon. “do you have a partner?”

“i do not,” he responded with a grin. “need one?”

“please,” you smiled and stood next to leon’s side. “i’m y/n l/n you?”

“leon kennedy.” he introduced himself.

“nice to meet you leonard,”

“it’s leon-“

then the graduation march began. everyone lined up and started to walk and it was way too loud to continue the conversation.

his name wasn’t leonard,

he wasn’t sure if you knew.

++++

leon was 19, already in his preparations to become a police officer, when he knew he couldn’t officially start until he was 21 as that was the law where he lived. he would scoff at the idea, but he still had a lot to complete to ensure he’d be a good one anyway.

leon was currently going through the screening process as well as getting his required examinations before taking on his physical and agility tests.

polygraph test, cleared.

mental health evaluation, cleared.

background check, cleared.

he was on his way to get into the force smoothly.

as celebration of hearing he cleared all screenings and examinations, he decided to visit the cool new restaurant that opened nearby.

even if he had to go alone, high school friends somewhat drifted apart, he was excited for it.

when he walked inside, he was shocked to see that the host of the establishment was you.

“oh, hey,” he straightened his back at the sight of you and smiled, walking a bit quicker to the podium.

“hey!” you exclaimed in response, remembering the boy you graduated with. “dinner date?”

“just me,” he shrugged.

“table for one it is,” you chuckled as you grabbed a menu and lead him to his seat.

“thanks, y/n,” he smiled genuinely at you as he sat down at the booth.

“your server will be martha, she’ll be right with you,” you assured him. “have a nice dinner, leonard!”

you walked away with a bounce in your step as you returned to your post where a line had began to form. he had no chance to correct you.

his name wasn’t leonard,

he wasn’t sure if you knew.

++++

it was leon’s 20th birthday. to celebrate, he sat alone at a small cafe studying for the police academy.

he was determined for this, preparing to do his very best at all the tests. he had trained physically daily and studied nightly.

and now, on his 20th birthday, he’s doing the same. just in a different environment.

“oh, hey!” he heard the familiar voice that belonged to you call him. “why are you here so late?” you walked over to him and chuckled at the boy at a table in the corner of a cafe reading a book about law.

“oh, hi y/n.” he smiled at you, happy to see your smiling face. “i’m studying for the police academy.”

“at a cafe?”

“it’s my 20th birthday today, so i chose to switch up the scenery,” he chuckled with a shrug.

you gasped. “it’s your birthday?” you asked rhetorically. “hold on!” you said, running off to the front of the cafe quickly.

before he knew it, you were back with a singular cupcake in hand and a lighter. “the cashier didn’t have a candle but he had a lighter, so you’ll have to blow this out,” you giggled.

you put the cupcake down in front of leon and lit the lighter, putting it slightly behind the cupcake to give from his perspective that there was a small flame above his cupcake.

“make a wish,” you whispered, hoping not to blow out the flame.

leon’s heart was beating at a million miles per hour. he didn’t know why. well, maybe he did. nobody ever did this for him. he never had this before. but you did. today. right now.

so he made his wish.

your happiness.

he blew out the flame.

you closed the lighter and passed him a small genuine and loving smile. “happy birthday, leonard” you spoke softly.

he chuckled lightly, “it’s le-“

“oh shit,” you muttered as you remembered something. “i was supposed to meet someone right now. shit! i gotta go! have a good birthday!” you said, quickly returned the lighter back to the cashier and then rushed out of the cafe.

leon looked at the cupcake in front of him and he couldn’t help but smile.

his name wasn’t leonard,

he wasn’t sure if you knew.

++++

leon was 21 years old. it was his first day at RPD.

and most likely, his last. since there was no one left.

leon ran around the raccoon police station, looking for survivors and trying to find a safe way out. the place was a wreck, destroyed, covered with blood and people that were no longer people.

any body he found was either dead or dead but walking.

until he saw one injured person still breathing.

you.

“y/n!” he shouted, running towards you in the RPD gear that marvin gave him. “holy shit, you’re alive,”

“not for long,” you coughed, holding your side. you moved your hand that was covered in your blood and showed him a large chunk of your side that was bitten. “shit hurts,” you attempted to joke, but all it did was hurt.

“don’t worry, i’m finding a way out, i can get you to the hospital-“

“i’m a goner,” you interrupted him. “i’m going to turn into one of those monsters.” you muttered with a sigh.

“let me help you,”

“there is no way to help me,” you spoke harshly. “actually, there is one thing.”

“anything, y/n,”

“shoot me,” you bluntly replied. leon’s eyes widened. “i don’t want to become one of those monsters. i don’t want you to see me as one of those monsters. please shoot me.” you pointed to his gun.

“i can’t-“

“can’t or won’t?”

“… won’t.”

“do it or i will.”

leon stood silent for a bit, looking at your disheveled self. he could tell you put up a fight. he was proud of you in that.

but then he thought about his wish.

“i’ll do it if you answer one question for me,” he cleared his throat.

“what is it?” you coughed.

“are you happy?”

you smiled softly and chuckled lightly, ignored the pain spiking through you. “yeah. i’m happy,” you admitted.

he smiled, a large sigh of relief coming out of him. he noticed his vision began to blur. “good. then my wish came true,” he grinned.

“your wish?”

“that wish you made me make for my 20th birthday?” he began to explain. “i wished for your happiness.”

tears began to fall from your eyes.

leon knew it was time. he took a deep breath and drew his gun.

“wait,” you spoke up before he could point his gun at your head. “can you promise me something before you shoot me?”

“anything,”

“live out of spite for me,

okay, leon?”

you looked at leon intently. he had no words, pure shock on his face. he was only able to nod.

you smiled, leaning your head back against the wall to get comfortable. you shut your eyes.

“shoot me.” you directed.

you knew from the sniffles you heard and the hesitation from the sounds he made while fiddling with his gun, that he wasn’t going to break his promise. you kept the smile on your face.

then he shot you.

leon cried.

his name wasn’t leonard,

and you proved that you knew.

++++

37 never felt so bad.

it was leon’s 37th birthday, and he spent it in a bar with the one person he was fine with inviting. chris redfield.

“hey, leon,” chris spoke up as leon leaned back in his seat, grabbing a lighter from his jacket pocket. “i got a question for you,”

leon just hummed in response, retrieving the basic lighter from his leather jacket and leaned forward once again.

“what are you exactly doing?” he asked rather harshly. “we’re at a bar and you have a cupcake out with no candle and a fucking lighter.”

leon shrugged. “tradition.” he replied softly, already a bit buzzed from the alcohol he had previously.

leon flicked on the lighter and placed it behind the cupcake so from his point of view it just looked like a flame above the cupcake.

“you gonna make a wish?” chris crossed his arms with a chuckle, yet it was with a judgmental tone.

leon didn’t pay attention to chris. he just looked at the flame and thought back to you.

it’s been 16 years. it’s officially been 16 years since you’d been gone. it had officially been 16 years since he killed you.

16 years of doing the same tradition on his birthday, with a cupcake and a lighter.

leon calmly blew out the flame of the lighter, closing the lighter and putting it back in his pocket.

“well, did you?”

leon just softly nodded.

“what was it?”

“can’t tell or it won’t come true,” leon sassed back, going in to the cupcake to finally eat it.

chris rolled his eyes. “what do you even live for?”

leon smirked.

“i live out of spite.”

and that was that.

every year he remembered to live out of spite.

just like he promised you.

so every year, he wished that he’d make it to next year.

he didn’t want to break that promise. not now, not ever.

“happy birthday, leon,” chris chuckled, ordering more beer for the two.

leon thought back to you.

“happy birthday, leonard,” you said.

he softly smiled to himself.

his name wasn’t leonard,

and you always knew.

THE END.

#resident evil #resident evil leon kennedy #leon kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #resident evil 2 #resident evil vendetta #resident evil 2 remake #leon kennedy resident evil 2 #leon kennedy vendetta #leon s kennedy x reader #Spotify

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abigailnussbaum · 1 year

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I put off watching it for a while because I was pretty sure I was going to have this reaction. But now that I've bitten the bullet, I'm sorry: the Strange New Worlds musical episode is bad. It's bad as a Star Trek story, it's bad as part of the Strange New Worlds story, and it's bad as a musical.

To start with, I think it's time to admit that the musical episode concept is pretty depleted. "Once More, With Feeling" was more than twenty years ago, and what was once fresh and shocking now feels almost rote. Very few shows really manage to earn it, because they don't have to - the musical episode of a non-musical show is an established trope, which means the very thing that made it so groundbreaking is now gone.

But it's specifically a bad fit for Star Trek, not because it can't justify the concept - there's honestly no daylight between Buffy's "a demon who makes people sing and dance" and SNW's "subspace anomaly pulls us into a universe where people habitually break into song" - but because that kind of fourth-wall-breaking, genre-aware storytelling doesn't belong in Star Trek (or, at the very least, it belongs in something a lot more heightened like Lower Decks).

Star Trek isn't knowing. It isn't genre-savvy. Star Trek is earnest. And it takes its world seriously and treats it like something coherent in its own right, not something you can poke holes in and peek into our own universe from. When it comes down to it, the core flaw of all NuTrek shows is that they're often less concerned with being Star Trek, the story, and more interested in being about Star Trek, the franchise.

Strange New Worlds is an odd duck in this respect, because there are parts of it that so clearly understand Star Trek, the story, and are so clearly interested in expanding it, that I can't help but fall in love. Episodes like "Spock Amok", "A Quality of Mercy", and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" do such a great job of slotting into the existing story while making it their own (though I could wish the show was better at telling original stories). I'm especially wowed by how they're handling Kirk, who is such a smart, non-sensational take on the character while still having all the recognizable flaws and quirks of the original.

But it's also a show that thinks breaking the fourth wall is the height of sophistication, that is more than willing to comment on its storyness in a way that runs completely counter to its Star Trek-ness. You see this in episodes like "The Elysian Kingdom", "Those Old Scientists", and now "Subspace Rhapsody". And if the first two of those at least had a Star Trek link - "Elysian Kingdom" is essentially a holodeck episode (even if it isn't as good as any of them), and "Those Old Scientists" is obviously all about Star Trek (even if, like so many media franchises these days, it collapses living in the Star Trek universe into being a Star Trek fan). But "Subspace Rhapsody" is just a gimmick, fundamentally no different from similar episodes on Lucifer or Grey's Anatomy or The Flash.

And worst of all, it's a bad musical. One effect of the fact that this trope has become so familiar is that it has created an sideline for talented songwriters who can knock out an episode like this without putting much personality or style into it, just hitting the required beats. There's got to be a power ballad. There's got to be a comedy song. There's got to be a kicky saloon number and a big finale. "Subspace Rhapsody" feels like the nadir of that cottage industry's output. The songs are all generic. The lyrics are forgettable while you're listening to them. There's no unified theme or style, because the point isn't to be a musical. It's to convey a general sense of musical-ness. Beyond the novelty value of a Star Trek musical - which, as noted, is pretty degraded in 2023 - there's nothing here of artistic merit, much less something that feels uniquely like a Star Trek musical.

(Case in point: the Klingons. Having them do boy band music is a joke that's funny for the audience, probably means nothing to the characters, and most importantly, does not make sense within Star Trek. Of course Klingons would sing - they would sing opera.)

As if to add insult to injury, the biggest character development in the episode - which is also driven by the only memorable song - feels baffling, and ends up shortchanging a relationship that the show has been trying to get us to invest in for more than ten episodes. Spock and Chapel got together at the end of episode 6, had a crisis in episode 8, and are now, in episode 9, breaking up for another, unrelated reason. Seems like a better use of everyone's time might have been to let these characters and their relationship develop organically, rather than informing us, through song, that Chapel has suddenly decided to prioritize her career (by, um, leaving Enterprise for so short a period that most couples wouldn't even consider it a major relationship challenge). Are we meant to understand that something deeper was wrong, and that the internship has brought it to light? If so, why haven't we seen it? It's hard not to feel that the musical was being used as a shorthand for emotional development the show didn't feel equipped to deliver, which is only one more way in which it underserves the show.

#star trek #strange new worlds #my fundamental problem with the nutrek project

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ahundredtimesover · 1 year

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Belong (4.5: Rewind) | MYG

Pairing: Yoongi x (f.) Reader

Genre/Tags: exes-to-lovers-to-exes-to-lovers; actress!OC x basketball coach!Yoongi; summer romance; “long” distance relationship; parallel timelines; angst, fluff, smut

Chapter (Series) Warnings: foul/explicit language; alcohol consumption & passing out, family drama, sport injury; dreams & moving away; allusion to depression; basketball and acting talk; 2014 and 2022 Yoongi; shy and nonchalant cocky whipped Yoongi; almost drowning, sexual content (18+)

Chapter Word count: 6k

Series Masterlist

Status: Complete

Series summary: Being an actor has always been your dream. Pursuing it meant many things - leaving the town where you grew up, distancing yourself from your family that had fallen apart, and saying goodbye to the man who made you feel what home was like. When you decide to finally return after being away for so long, you meet Min Yoongi again, and you’re reminded of the summer romance from 8 years ago with the college basketball superstar whose broken dream pushed you away. As you find yourself spending time with him, you’re left to wonder if love changes, if it gives second chances, or if it’s just another illusion that will hurt the both of you the second time around.

Listen to: Nervous by Gavin James || Playlist 🎶

3 years ago

Yoongi’s childhood home is a one-floor house with a spacious kitchen and a nice lawn. His dad had built it for their mother as a way to keep her happy. It has a lot of the things she likes, like a big common space for everyone to gather around during meals, a vertical garden outside, and some planter boxes hanging by the windows. Half of the furniture is from the antique shop, which his dad had refurbished to fit the style of the place.

Yoongi was too young when they first moved in, but he remembers many things about it, like evenings watching talk shows and the news while they all ate and cleaned up as a family, mornings of his parents talking about different topics that got Yoongi interested in watching documentaries, and afternoons with his brother shooting hoops in their small backyard.

He also remembers the weekends you’d stayed over when he was injured, the first time you saw him break down, and the last time you walked out the door. There are memories of him ignoring his dad, arguing with his brother, and that evening when he took down the basketball ring and threw it in the trash.

He spent a whole year living here after the injury. Yoongi saw how his old man remained positive despite the pain over seeing his son struggle, how he worked hard to pay the medical bills, how he tried to make the house feel like the home he lost, even if Yoongi wasn’t sure that was possible, only because you were no longer in it, and there’s really no one to blame but him.

Things got relatively better though. After he fully recovered physically and got to save enough by helping the stores in the area digitize and selling some of his prized NBA jerseys, he moved out and rented a tiny studio apartment. He continued to help his dad at the shop, expanding its services for more income stream while also doing freelance work online. It was mentally tiring, but it helped his mind be preoccupied with things. Perhaps that’s what got him talking to his friends again; it’s what got him to go out and find other ways of moving on from all the pain that he chose to carry by himself.

It’s a Friday when Yoongi visits his old house with some groceries he bought. He got a huge payout in one of the projects he worked on and he’s been slowly paying off his dad by buying the essentials and medication, as his old man insists that there’s no debt to be paid; it’s his job to look out for his son, after all.

“Hey, dad,” Yoongi greets as he walks into the kitchen.

“Hey, son,” his dad replies, scooping them bowls of stew for dinner, a routine they’ve both developed after Yoongi moved out.

They proceed to eat, with him staring blankly down the hallway like he sometimes still does. It hasn’t been a good couple of weeks and he’s just been waiting for the next big project that would help him keep his mind off things again.

“So an old friend was in town this week and we went to this local bar,” his dad says. “It’s nice. They have live music every Thursday. A-reum was the one playing last night.”

At the mention of her name, Yoongi stills for a bit, only to hum in response.

“I asked her how she’s doing and why she hasn’t passed by the shop in a while. Imagine my surprise when she said that you two have broken up. Two months ago. And I was the clueless father who didn’t know that his son was going through another heartbreak,” his dad continues. “What happened, son? You both seemed happy. You looked happy.”

“Shit happens,” Yoongi shrugs, not keen to talk about how much of a jerk he really is. It’s enough that he knows exactly what caused him to fall out of his feelings for her; he doesn’t really want to share that with anyone else.

His dad looks at him with a hardened gaze. It isn’t that he didn’t know about the breakup; it’s more about his son’s reaction to it, how he’s looking indifferent to it as if it’s not possibly hurting him right now. It’s choosing again to go through all this by himself. Even more, it’s the fact that A-reum seemed good for him. Yoongi was smiling again, laughing again; it wasn’t the same as before but it was better than the closed-off, broken version of him.

“What happens?” The older man presses. “A fight that you didn’t want to fix? Remembering something from your old life and then shutting her out? Or was it because she wanted to chase her dreams and you let her leave you?”

If this was 2 years ago, Yoongi would’ve answered back. He would’ve argued that it wasn’t his old man’s place to accuse him like that, even if he has all the reasons to, given Yoongi’s track record. But instead, he just looks down, eyes sullen as he thinks of the night he told her that he no longer felt the same, and that it was better if they continued with their lives separately.

“That’s kind of out of line,” he replies, respectfully.

His dad sighs, suddenly feeling guilty about making assumptions, especially when he knows how hard his son struggled, and how he worked just as hard to be better.

“I’m sorry, son, I just—”

“It’s okay, dad. They’re not baseless accusations,” Yoongi interjects. They’re what happened with you, after all.

“I just… don’t want you to keep pushing away people who love you, who want to be there for you,” his old man says. “It’s an exhausting thing to do at such a young age. You’ve got so much life to live. You can’t be scared forever.”

“I know. It was my fault. There’s still a lot I still can’t let go of,” Yoongi explains, even if there are more reasons behind it. “But I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s hard, sure, but I can manage. You don’t have to worry. I promised I’d reach out if it gets too much.”

“Okay, then,” his dad concedes. It’s progress from before, if he’s being honest, and this is always better than having his son crying on his own and completely shutting everyone out. “How was your day then?”

Dinner continues without the tension from earlier. Both men even get a laugh in. Perhaps Yoongi’s just much better at compartmentalizing now, or maybe he’s picked up a few acting tips from you. But either way, it keeps his dad from asking more. Breaking up with his girlfriend because she reminds him so much of you isn’t exactly in the list of Yoongi’s proudest moments; he’d carry this thought in his grave if he has to.

His old man heads to the couch while Yoongi insists on cleaning up. He washes the dishes, throws out the trash, and organizes all the groceries he’s bought. By the time he joins his dad, he could already hear the snores from next to him. Yoongi lets him be, knowing it’s been a tiring week, and proceeds to watch the show that’s on TV.

It takes a while for him to register that it’s you on the talk show, along with your co-stars from a recently-concluded series where you starred in a supporting role. His dad watched the show religiously; he was probably waiting for this segment before he fell asleep.

The cast consists of mostly veteran actors and you’re the youngest of them all, and so most of the questions addressed to you are about your feelings acting alongside people you look up to and if you felt any fear going into this project.

“Any time I star on a show is terrifying, only because I’m afraid to fail,” you answer. “It means so much to me to be given this chance and I have to tell myself that I can’t waste this opportunity. I only will if I let the fear take over, and that’s like betraying all my hard work, you know? I have to remind myself that I’m meant to take up this space. My agency, my friends, my colleagues - they all helped me get here. Giving in to the fear feels like I’m letting them down, too, and they don’t deserve that.”

The host seems in awe with your answers, so do your co-stars who pat you on the back and remark that you’ve always been very mature, that you’re a hard worker as much as you’re talented, and that they didn’t feel like you were new to the industry with how bold you were.

You cover your face in amusement while they all look fondly at you. You have that smile on, the one where you’re a little embarrassed over being praised, but Yoongi can sense that you’re also a little emotional over hearing what your colleagues think of you.

It’s the first time he’s watching you get interviewed and he’s a little emotional as well, seeing you get flustered but look proud. He listened to you talk about all these things - what shows you want to act in, which actors you want to work with, the attitude you want to bring into every project. You once told him that you admired him for being brave for dreaming, but he never got to tell you the same. He thinks you’re much braver than he ever would be. You loved him fiercely and certainly, after all, and he’d been the scared one who couldn’t do the same.

He stands by his decision that letting you go meant he loved you too much to keep you suffering with him, but sometimes he can’t help but think that maybe he’d been greedy, that his love had been selfish, that his selflessness made him decide for the both of you, and that ultimately pulled you both apart. Seeing you in the same room with people you admire eases that thought a little bit, but it’s your words that hit him harder.

What’s hard work if he doesn’t get to reap the benefits? Perhaps it’s one reason why the injury hurts more than just physically; it’s hard to explain how something so devastating can rip one’s soul, especially when he’d spent years molding his life around basketball only for him to lose his space in its world.

It continues to pain him; he aches for the death of his dream. But it’s the people around him who suffered greatly because he’d given in to the fear of living life without the sport he’d loved greatly. You hurt the most because of it; his family and friends continue to see him without the light in his eyes anymore. He’d hate to think that everyone who’d supported him from when he was able, to when he was broken would think that they haven’t been enough. He’d only wanted to shield them all from how dark it was in his mind so only he gets to shoulder it; perhaps selflessness can actually be selfish, too.

His thoughts are disrupted when your name is called again. The host asks what advice you could give to young aspirants who are just starting or have yet to put one foot on the door of this industry.

“I’m just like them,” you chuckle, a little shy. “I’m still finding my way.”

“But you’ve at least done something,” the host says. “Hearing it from someone close to their age or someone they can relate with may resonate more with them than from the veterans who’ve been doing this for years.”

Your co-stars agree and encourage you to talk, so you take the mic and address the viewers.

“To the young ones in school training to become an actor, or doing this for fun, or exploring the possibility of doing this for a living, I’m telling you now, it’s not always gonna be easy nor glamorous,” you start. “It’s gonna hurt sometimes, you’ll face rejection; you might even feel like it may not be worth it. Remember that it’s all part of the ride. It’s pretty amazing most of the time, especially when you love and respect your craft. Just keep working hard and turn to the people who’ll dream your dream with you.”

Yoongi notices the way your smile fades a little, even more when you say the next words, as if they’re hurting you and giving you peace at the same time.

“But if it gets too much, remember that it’s okay to give up, too. That doesn’t make you weak nor a failure nor a coward,” you continue. “Giving something up decisively takes courage. And you worked hard. The people who love you will love you no matter what.”

A lone tear falls down Yoongi’s cheek. If he was being delusional, he’d think you meant to say the words to him. Maybe the guys still talk to you; perhaps they told you about how he’d stopped playing basketball altogether, how he doesn’t like watching or talking about it anymore, and how he’d given up any bit of dream related to it. And maybe that hurt you, too, and that’s why you’re saying this, perhaps hoping in some way, it will get to him.

He turns off the TV and walks to his room. It hits him when he looks around, the love he once displayed for the sport no longer there. The empty walls that used to be full of posters, the rusty shelf that used to house his trophies, the closet that was once filled with jerseys that he’d sold. He didn’t give it up decisively. He gave it up fearfully and helplessly, because as he looks at this place that’s devoid of what once was his dream, all he feels is pain and guilt.

He misses the sport terribly, and being without it has hurt him more than anything.

Yoongi gets the posters he’d kept under his bed. Some of them have tears in them, most are crumpled. But he meticulously tapes and flattens them before posting them on his walls again, feeling his room come alive once more. He retrieves all his trophies from the big trash bag in the corner, taking each one out and placing them on the shelves.

From inside his closet, he unfolds the 2 remaining jerseys he didn’t have the heart to sell - the MJ one that his mother left for him, and the Allen Iverson one that you got him for your anniversary. He hangs them inside, his fingers tracing the Sixers logo of the one from you, and he allows himself to remember how playing made him feel so happy and free. But more than anything, he lets himself remember the excitement he’d get whenever he watched the sport, whenever he’d talk about or analyze it, whenever he’d think about it, and then a smile graces his face.

Not playing professionally may be an unrealized dream now. He’s in his late 20s with only a college career to be proud of. He’s accepted some time ago that his knee won’t be the same anymore, but he doesn’t need that to enjoy the sport. He still loves it whether he shoots the ball or watches someone else do it.

As he looks around his room, he feels that bit of excitement once again, and all it took was an interview he didn’t intend to watch of the woman whose love he’ll always hold onto for him to realize that he doesn’t want to give all this up. It’ll always pull him back in. If he can’t let it go decisively, then he won’t do it at all, not when it’s what could get him back on his feet again, even if it’s what tore him apart in the first place.

He pulls out his phone and texts his brother.

[To: Geumjae] Are you free in the morning? Can you go to the park with me to shoot around?

[To: Geumjae] I miss it. I think I’m ready

[From: Geumjae] Of course. I’ll drive out and see you tomorrow.

[From: Geumjae] I’m happy for you. Love you.

Being back in his university’s basketball court makes Yoongi feel nostalgic. He spent 4 amazing years making this place his home. He’d had most of his best moments here, like the 3 championships he won with his team. It feels a little weird to be in here all those years later, no longer in the maroon and white jersey that he used to sport but in business casual clothes, as the team’s coach officially welcomes him to the team.

Right after he snapped out of a 3-year long pity party, he played for the first time with his brother. He definitely missed the feel of the ball in his hand and the sound of the net swooshing when he shoots. He still got it, his brother had said, and it felt good to hear it. He wouldn’t deny that he can still shoot pretty well, but he was also practical enough to know that he couldn’t sustain it. His knee still feels stiff at times - a normal occurrence as the doctor had told him - and he’d get tired more easily, but the joy came back. The fear didn’t.

After that, Yoongi went back to watching basketball again, from the NBA to the national and university leagues. He discovered the online space for sports analyses, and he got sucked into its world. He’d comment on articles constantly and make his own, and he’s glad he did because it’s what ultimately landed him this job. One of his former coaches saw what he’d been saying and was impressed; Yoongi’s basketball IQ and unique way of looking at the game haven’t changed, the older man said.

That was 5 months ago and so much has changed since then but he’s proud of how he got back on his feet. There’s a different type of drive now, as he watches the team scrimmage as part of their training. Seeing their passion and hunger for success is inspiring, and the thought of bringing home another crown for the school with them excites him. It’s a new aspiration, and he’ll work hard to make them experience what he experienced as a young player with all his hopes and his dreams. Maybe they could achieve what he couldn’t because if it wasn’t him, then it could at least be someone he helped mold.

One other change has been you, insofar as Yoongi finally watching your concluded series for the first time. His dad insisted, saying he’d watch again with his son since it’s a really good show, and not just because he adores you greatly. But Yoongi wanted his peace and chose to watch it on his own.

He felt proud seeing you on screen. You’re made for it. Your charm and energy shine through and you express emotions so genuinely. He’d ignored his brother’s teasing that he might fall for you again, with Yoongi not wanting to acknowledge the possible truth to that.

But you’re an actual celebrity now and he’s just him. He doesn’t know how your love life has been other than the rumors of you dating some actor or model, which your agency always denied. You’d said once that most of those are just PR stunts anyway and shouldn’t be believed, so Yoongi didn’t bother spending so much time thinking if you were with someone. If any, he just hoped it’s someone who trusts and respects you, and he’d be content with knowing that you’re happy, even if in the deepest cracks of his heart, he wished it was still him.

You haven’t really left his mind, if he’s being honest. His relationship with A-reum was proof of that, so is the fact that it was your interview that got him out of his self-destructive hole to restart.

But it’s tonight out of all nights, when he pulls out the lone decent-looking jacket he has that he plans to wear to the meeting with the university faculty and sports director - which also happens to be something you got him years ago - that he thinks that maybe there’s a reason why he can’t completely move on from you. He tried and he honestly continues to, but it’s not easy when much of the happiness he remembers has you in it. You show up in his dreams sometimes, too, as if the universe is reminding him that he’s okay now, that he’s at least close to the man he once was and not just a shell of it anymore, and that maybe, you’d want to grab some coffee and see where things go.

It’s what prompts him to look up the details for your upcoming movie premiere so he could go. You worked on it the same time you were filming your series, and even if your name is one of the smallest ones on the poster as a supporting character, he already knows this is incredibly important to you. It’s your first movie, it seems, and he wants to be there to wish you luck and let you know he’s proud of you, and that if this is where your shared heartbreak led you, then he knows there’s no way he’d regret letting you go those years ago.

The woman staring back at you is someone you almost don’t recognize. Other than the glamorous champagne-colored dress that you’re wearing, there’s a smile that you haven’t seen in a long while, too. In over 3 years, to be exact. A heartbreak does that, you suppose. Your biggest supporting role in a series that wrapped up a few months ago felt too surreal for you, and you’d gone through the promotions for that feeling anxious; you barely had time nor energy to appreciate yourself nor the experience.

You do now. After the praises for your performance then and the ones from your colleagues for this, you feel that you at least deserve to smile, that you can truly claim for yourself that you’re on the way to big things, even if you know you’re far from it. You’re the most junior out of the entire cast, after all, and you’re more like a supporting role to the supporting role. You’re in the credits, at least, and you got to act alongside some of the people you look up to once more.

It’s premiere night and that calls for a big event. Jimin, your newly-hired personal assistant slash stylist, knocks on your door to say that the car is ready. You exit your room and drive from your humble apartment to the venue, feeling giddy and nervous.

“Looks like there are lots of fans tonight,” Jimin says from the passenger seat, getting news from his phone. “There’s a long line inside and outside. I heard it’s a packed cinema, too.”

“Well, it’s Song Hye-kyo. What do you expect?” You giggle. “When she’s your lead, there’s bound to be a score of fans. But that’s good for me, right? They’re there for her. I’ll just be fading into the background and no one will even notice.”

“Why would you want that?” Jimin looks at you curiously.

“You know why.”

Your unsure smile informs him of the reason and he understands. It’s gonna be tricky but you decided to not hide anymore starting tonight. You want that freedom, and you want it soon.

“But also, I’m still not used to it,” you continue. “It’s my first movie and I’m just a small part of it but it’s all still new to me. I don’t want people’s attention if it’s me looking overwhelmed, you know?”

“You’re gonna be fine, ___,” Jimin assures you. “You at least still look pretty when you look like that.”

“Hmm, that’s oddly encouraging,” you chuckle, seeing the scores of fans in the lobby before your driver heads straight to the VIP parking.

Jimin opens the door for you and leads you through the entrance. “Blow them away with your beauty, okay? I’ll see you shortly.”

You’re led towards a waiting room for the lesser-known actors, which you don’t mind. The big-name ones have their own and you’ll probably only speak with them during the afterparty later. Right now, you’re talking with your co-stars while getting a retouch of your makeup, and it helps ease your worries a bit. All you need to do is walk out to the red carpet with them and hope that the people at least cheer for you. You can worry about how you fared in the movie later on.

It’s an hour later when it starts. You walk towards the doors that exit to where the hosts and crowd are, already hearing their cheers as you wait. There’s 6 of you and cheers erupt when your names are called. You all walk out and wave at them, definitely overwhelmed by the camera flashes and shrieks of the people but you remain calm and professional, smiling the entire time and greeting them calmly. It’s more than you expected and you’re just happy to be experiencing this for the first time. It’s a moment you definitely won’t forget, and you’re glad you can at least share this with someone right after.

Your group is briefly interviewed before you’re led out to the other side to go back to the waiting room; you’ll all go to the cinema in an hour after all the actors have been introduced and interviewed. You take a detour, though, knowing you can’t really wait any longer. All the fans are inside the hall, waiting for the big stars to come out so the hallway leading to one of the building exits is empty. It’s accessible to the public but you already know that no person in their right mind would be here, so it’s the perfect spot.

You enter and wait only a few minutes before you hear your name being called. Turning around, you see him, and you feel even more excited.

“You looked gorgeous out there,” Min-kyu greets as he hugs you right away.

Wrapping your arms around his neck, you giggle in his ears. “Thank you. Did I stutter?”

“Nope, you sounded great, too,” he chuckles, taking your hand. “I’m really proud of you. I’m happy I get to be here, and that we could decide on this together. I can’t have people linking you with someone else again when I’m right here.”

“You mean when I’m right here,” you tease, seeing as he’s the one always being rumored to be with some model. You place his hands on your waist as you continue. “It won’t be so hard anymore after tonight.”

“Okay. Well then, I don’t want to keep you,” he responds. “Someone might see us. But I’ll sneak in next to you in the cinema, alright?”

“Got it,” you smile giddily. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

You kiss him goodbye and assure him that you’ll see him shortly.

It’s the sound of a door closing that alarms you, breaking you out of your little bubble with the man you’ve been cozying up with for the past 7 months. It’s perhaps your longest relationship, if you could even categorize the previous ones as such. Andrew was a 3-month long fling, Ki-yong was a half-year on-off whatever, and Min-kyu has been the only one so far that you haven’t had any issues with. You’re unsure for how long it’s gonna last, but one reason why you don’t want to keep hiding anymore is because he gets linked to any woman he so much as says hi to. If whoever walked in your little PDA just now decides to do something about it before you do, then the timing wouldn’t be too far apart.

“Do you think someone saw us just now?” You ask.

“If anyone did, we’re too far for them to take any photos,” he reasons. “If they saw anything, there wouldn’t be any proof. But that won’t matter much after tonight, yeah?”

“I guess so,” you smile. “But they’re gone, so let’s go.”

You head out separately after fixing yourself, the giddy feeling from his kiss evaporating once you’re back in your world, knowing you’ll reunite with him again later. It’s a good distraction more than anything, as your mind wanders for a millisecond how it would be like if someone else were here with you, celebrating your first movie together. But that’s not your life anymore. This is. You’d like to think it’s a hundred times better than the one you left behind.

Yoongi stares at the door he’d just walked out of after seeing you in another man’s arms, something he didn’t intend to witness.

He’d seen you walk down the red carpet then proceed to the left, and he’d been too far out to catch up to you. It’s a Song Hye-kyo movie so he knows that everyone’s gonna be waiting for her, and it’s probably why the path towards one of the hallways is empty. He doesn’t know what he was thinking following you, and looking back now, he’s unsure why he thought coming to your movie premiere without you knowing was even a good idea. But after feeling stupidly hopeful that something could come out of him showing up after letting you go, he decided to come, to drive from Daegu, dress up nicely, and be swift enough to go after you before security takes him away.

He does see you. With your arms around a man who makes you laugh and clearly makes you happy. He looks like that actor who’s being rumored with a bunch of different women, but it seems like he’s locked on you. Yoongi could only hope he isn’t cheating on you or anything; that would be worse than what he’s feeling right now, and he’s feeling pretty terrible. And stupid.

Even more as he looks at the bouquet of daisies he’s holding, something that he planned to give to you to celebrate your first movie premiere. It’s probably the plainest flower out there and there are definitely more that would suit you, like dahlias and marigolds and roses - all breathtakingly beautiful and deserving of being at the center of everything just like you are.

But he’d noticed those years ago how your eyes always turned to daisies whenever you entered a flower shop. Anyone would miss it, but Yoongi’s attention is on you a lot of the time, and he’s seen your gaze linger on it, especially as they’re placed as supporting decor to a grand arrangement. He thinks it’s perhaps your way of wishing for a simple life behind all this glamor, and that somewhere in your heart, you desire someone who could give you something just as simple, perhaps someone like him.

It’s why he decided to pass by the fanciest flower shop he could find earlier and get this, so he could tell you that you could achieve whatever it is you dream of, no matter how big or small, how grand or simple. And that no matter how high you go, he’ll always be rooting for you in every way he can.

It doesn’t seem right to still be giving this to you, he thinks, but then again, it’s not like he expected to get back together just because he decided to show up unannounced on what is a big day for you. He won’t deny that he didn’t think about it, though, but he really just wanted to catch up, maybe tell you that you helped him get back on his feet. And that he’s incredibly proud of you, and that he believes you’ll just get better and bigger from here.

But as the scene of you looking happy with another man who could probably give you much more than he ever could replays in his mind, Yoongi is reminded that it’s not his place anymore, that he does not have a place in your life anymore. He made that call when he broke things off, and he doesn’t have the right to ask you for anything else after that. Even if it’s just your time.

So he walks out of the hall and into his car where he stays for a good half hour, trying to figure out what to do. He eventually decides to still give it, without the burden on you knowing it’s from him.

And that’s what he does, as he waits at your agency building lobby the next morning for the reception to clear the flowers. He’d spent the night at a hostel and was close to just throwing it and forgetting this whole thing even happened, but he braved through it until he’s unable to back out now.

“No card?” The man asks.

Yoongi looks at the piece of cardboard that he took out right before he gave the bouquet.

I’m so proud of you, ___. So much time has passed and I’m doing better. I can see that you are, too. I was in the city and thought, for old time’s sake - would you like to grab some coffee?

He slips it in his pocket and answers, “no card. But could you write ___’s name on the envelope?”

The man hums in agreement. “And who do I say this is from?”

“I’d like to remain anonymous.”

The man looks at him warily before he nods and writes your name as the only indicator that it’s for you. No other message and no trace of the sender.

“Okay, all good.”

“Thank you,” Yoongi says, walking out the building to head to his car and drive back to Daegu.

He decides to eat at a nearby convenience store, and that’s when he sees the news that confirms everything he saw last night.

Rumors no more: Actors Kim Min-kyu and ___/___ confirm 7-month relationship.

Yoongi reads the headlines over and over again, the scene from last night haunting him once more. He doesn’t know why he thought that still giving you the flowers, even anonymously, was a good idea, even more now that you’ve been dating this man for longer than he imagined.

You’ve been that happy for 7 months now. It doesn’t seem right to still insert himself like that.

He rushes towards the agency again to try to retrieve the bouquet and take it all back. He’s at the end of the street, a sprint away from the building but then he stops at the sight of you exiting. With the flowers in your arms.

There’s that crinkled smile of yours that he’s missed so much. You’re looking at the daisies with such softness, like you’re truly appreciating it, and Yoongi’s heart melts at the sight. You may not know it’s from him and perhaps that’s the best part, but it’s the thought that you seem to really like it, especially when a blond-haired man stands next to you and hands you a bouquet of roses, which you smell and smile at before returning it to him. You cradle the daisies, shrugging when you try to retrieve a card that isn’t there, and Yoongi’s relieved that of all the stupid things he’s done the past 12 hours, leaving the card out was the smartest thing he did.

A car arrives and you enter, leaving Yoongi still at the end of the street to watch you drive away, perhaps out of his life for good, at least until your next premiere where he’ll probably give you the flowers again.

He hopes that with them, you get to feel the care he has for you that never withered, that on your lowest days, you think of the admirer who believes that your love for daisies is something that matters.

Your car disappears from his sight. He resigns to this next new life without you - the one where you’re happy where you are and he’s trying to be. He’ll admire you from afar until he gets to move on from you completely.

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