#exited the app for a bit came back and got the banner again

[enbeemagical]

It's kind of weird. Lately whenever I save something to drafts and then post it, tumblr pretends to be having tremendous issues posting it. Even after it's posted.

[savagetrickster]

BNHA | ‘Cause I’m a fool

— BNHA BOOKCLUB BINGO EVENT  —

anime |  character: bnha | todoroki shouto

words: 1.7k 

prompt/crossed out: “Theme Park Date” 

Themes/Warnings: mildly angsty, pinning

Inspiration/Song: a playlist of Korean OSTs from various dramas

Beta-readers: @etegomanere, @hanniejji, @pixxiesdust, @dragonhrte​,@todoscript (who also gave me her input about the title and banner though it’s still kinda plain ><)

Tags: at the bottom of this post <3

You’ve been friends with Todoroki Shouto long enough to learn just about anything you needed to know about him.

From the strife within the Todoroki family to the ones in his heart.

You were there right from the start. 

Being the daughter of the head servant serving the Todoroki family, you’ve grown up with him from the corners and shadows of the household. 

You’ve watched him struggle, fall, and climb back to his feet again. 

His body was always covered in bandages. 

Some scattered across his skin in white patches, while some stretched long and wrapped around his limbs. No matter how hard he tried to appear fine, you could always see his peeling, inflamed skin peeking out from underneath the bandages and the trembles in his body he tried so hard to suppress around you. 

Even with the bandages littered across his body, they could not hide the pain he held in his eyes.

But you’d never seen him shed a single tear. 

Instead, his tears seemed to be permanently embedded into him from the way he carried the weight of the duty cruelly thrusted upon him.

At the end of every day, you often found yourself sitting quietly beside him on the veranda under the stars, offering him a bit of comfort with the soothing tune your mother sang to you every night.

If you could put a smile on his face, albeit how small or weak, it would be enough.

You followed him through the years, thriving on your strong devotion to be the net that could catch him if he fell. 

You didn’t know what compelled him to, but all those nights he unveiled the secrets behind the pain in his eyes...

Something about that made you want to stay by his side, to be the one to shield him so he didn’t have to hurt anymore. 

You’ve never been one to be flustered over your lack of quirk,but he made you wistful for one that could nullify the pain he had in him.

All you wanted was to see him smile from his heart. And that was one thing that you swore you would do, no matter how long it took.

You could never really place a finger on why you were so adamant about it — friendship was always the reason that sprang up on you.  

Shouto wasn’t as aloof with you as he was with other people.

But seeing how he had to deflect the attention he drew left and right like they were pesky flies he didn’t want to deal with, made you worry.

Were you a nuisance who he felt bad shoving away? Someone he had to force himself to interact with?

Maybe you should just stay in your own lane?

You grew more convinced of your doubts the longer you stayed in the Todoroki residence. The smiles you always managed to curl on his lips when you were kids got harder to find on his face, even with the tune you hummed.

The ice he built around him just seemed to grow thicker and thicker in the passing years.

Around you, the ice would only thaw a little.

Your hopes were always raised by the subtle softening around the icy edge in his eyes that you couldn’t help but notice when he spoke to you or you to him. 

However, they always fell flat when the distance between you two on the veranda remained the same later in the nights. 

There was more silence than words, and quite often, you found him hastily averting his gazes the moment your eyes met.

Unfortunately, you never got the chance to find the answers behind his behavior around you. There wasn’t enough time.

Right before middle school, your mother found another job in a few cities away. 

This meant you no longer lived in the Todoroki residence, and this also meant that nights on the veranda with him had to come to an end as well.

But being forced to part with him was what helped you understand the reason why your eyes were always on his back.

It wasn’t merely...plainly out of friendship.

It was not his status, his wealth, or his handsome face you couldn’t bear to leave behind — it was neither of the things that drew attention to him. 

It was the scars he bore in his very soul and the hidden tears under the frost in those heterochromatic eyes. 

His strength to stand strong in the face of adversity.

It was everything that made him...him that made it clear. 

…that you loved him. 

Several years had passed since you left the Todoroki residence with your mother.

Now, you’re in the third year of high school and he was in his, at the reputable hero school — U.A. High. You only knew this because you’ve watched the events broadcasted on your television. 

You were no longer in contact with him. 

There were exchanges of texts in the first few weeks after you left, but these fizzled out to mere birthday wishes, and eventually to nothing at all.

His responses to you were prompt but you couldn’t help feeling like an annoyance to him. 

The same questions never stopped haunting you — especially were you a nuisance who he felt bad shoving away?  —  while you were still with the Todoroki. 

Your fingers were always hovering over the keypad in the chatroom you shared with him, making the blinking cursor dance back and forth in the text bar, stuck between eating up words and producing words.

Words from his side too ceased after yours and they never popped in on your notification bar again.

Your eyes lingered on the last text you sent to him four years ago,

Happy birthday, Shouto-kun! 

There was nothing else following it. 

Nibbling on your lips thoughtfully, your fingers hovered above the keypad. 

You tried to pluck up the courage to wish him again like you did back then. 

Seconds ticked by before your finger thumbed down on the back button on your screen to exit the chatroom.

As always, whatever amount of courage you mustered always crumbled away quickly as it built.

A heavy sigh sifted through your lips as you stopped before the main entrance of Neverland, glancing up from your phone to the burst of screams coming before you.

Along with jittery adrenaline carried by the voices on the other side, the towering sight of the red-black tracks peeking over the main gate instantly lifted you right out of your brooding, pensive mood. 

You couldn’t help but break into a grin as you squinted eagerly under the bright morning sun for a sign of Shinsou who told you on a text that he had alighted at the bus stop outside at the main road.

You’ve always wanted to visit the new theme park ever since its opening was announced across the nation a month ago. 

The tickets sold out fast so unfortunately, you only managed to order two. 

When they arrived safely in your mailbox, your first thought, reminded by the date — 11th January — on the tickets, going to Shouto was scrapped as quickly as it came.

Shinsou, who you’d grown close enough to be considered your best friend in middle school replaced him quickly. 

The grin on your face widened when your eyes fell onto the familiar figure of Shinsou who was glancing around for you. 

“Hitoshi!” You called out.

The excitement flooding your veins lighted your eyes as you watched him walk towards you, hands in his pocket.

Caught up in the high you felt, you failed to notice the small amused smile curling his lips and how his eyes softened at the child-like eagerness your eyes practically danced with.

Ever since he woke this morning, his phone had been constantly vibrating with messages from his friends, flooding his messaging app with birthday wishes.

And like every time, he found himself waiting for one.

He couldn’t help the hopes he harbored whenever his eyes went straight to the sender’s name the moment his phone pinged with a new message.

He didn’t know why, even after four years, he was still waiting for your name to appear. 

He always found himself staring at the chatroom he shared with you, even when he knew there was nothing to expect, remembering with a bitter taste in his mouth, that he was the one who had stopped reaching out to you. 

Of how he had just left your wish on his 14th birthday hanging awkwardly in the silence because he forgot and only realized by the time your birthday passed.

Attempting to pick up from where you two left off was like standing on a sandhill; no matter how much he wanted to send something over, he could never find the right words — the courage his attempts thrived upon to break the ice fell as soon it rose, interfered by wisps of doubts.

Wondering if it was better if he left you alone instead, he recalled the way you’d always wept for him. Reminding himself that the pain he felt reflecting in yours was why he chose silence on the veranda then.

Could he bear to drag you back into his problems, to watch you break down for him again when you were finally free? 

He never attempted ever since then. However, that didn’t stop him from being wistful.

It’s been years but his heart still soared and sank every time his phone vibrated on this day.

Longing...wishing you were still part of his life.

Because things were different now. He was different now. 

Even with the same issues lingering in the background, he was happier now. 

A long sigh dragged through him as his eyes lingered at the bottom of his inbox where the chatroom he shared with you remained silent, a huge contrast to the active ones it was buried under.

His fingers hesitated, grazing lightly over your name indicated on it.

“Todoroki-kun!”

Shouto looked up from his phone to find Momo hunch over before him, apologizing for making him wait between harsh pants.

—He wasn’t lonely anymore. 

“Yaoyorozu.” Shouto acknowledged her with a small smile.

—friends are what he has now.

Like Momo who cared so much she specially purchased Neverland tickets for his birthday. 

He couldn’t help feeling grateful for her enthusiasm in celebrating his birthday with him, from the way she stuttered and blushed inviting him to go with her.

As they began walking toward the main entrance of the theme park, his eyes fell onto his phone once more with emptiness reverberating faintly within him.

His life was in a better place now but your absence did not sit well with him. 

And it never would.

|  Next

Tags: @bnhabookclub​, @shoutodoki​, @sugacookiies​, @wesparklebitch​, @prismaroyal​, @apricotjihyo​, @morenabambinii​, @warriorsofficial​, @hanmarazon​, @sauce-pansexuals​, @justsomekid00​, @lilcura1209, @ewwis​, @winkenthusiastic​, @thegalxe​, @yurioseokies​

[heyheshi]

10 Years of One Direction

1.9k words

written and uploaded: July 23, 2020

🦋 - fluff

Please like and reblog! Also please don’t post my writings anywhere!

I wasn’t really planning on uploading this Thursday and this isn’t what I was supposed to write lmao, my mind is all over the place for the past few days due to 1D’s 10 year anniversary but oh well, here I am, waiting for Zayn to say something... anyway HAPPY 10 YEARS guys! More power to our family! Gosh I feel so old!

Masterlist

---------

"I'm almost done with the frosting babe!", you yelled from the kitchen hoping your boyfriend can hear you from his room upstairs. Slowly but surely, you wrote the delicate letters on the cake you made just for this occasion, "10 Years of One Direction".

"Come quick!", you heard footsteps descending from the stairs, "I'm done upstairs love, just gotta bring up the drinks.", Harry kissed your cheeks as he brushed passed you and opened the fridge to get some soda.

"Don't forget the wine. Is the laptop set up?", you asked finishing off the lettering with three exclamation marks.

"It's all done Y/N", your boyfriend laughs at you, "you're much more stressed than me! Loosen up lovie", he winked at you and run back upstairs. You just rolled your eyes and smiled.

You carefully placed the cake on the clean counter and cleaned up your mess. 30 minutes before midnight and you're not on your decent clothes yet!

Now, it's not exactly your fault why you're doing the cake this late. Your boyfriend thought that you made 2 cakes as that's what you both talked about but you decided to just make one and completely forgot to tell him.

You woke up nearing lunch - making a checklist on the things you need to get done for the day as preparation. Quickly eating breakfast (more like brunch) Harry made and started cleaning his room and did his laundry.

You often spend the night at his house so doing the domestic stuff for him is not much of a big deal to you. You basically live here anyway - but today needs extra work.

Around 2 p.m., you started to make the base of the cake as Harry leaves to go to the gym. You finished it, deciding to make the frosting later, and took a nap.

You woke up around 7 p.m., just in time to make dinner. On your way to the kitchen, you can hear H humming, something he does when he's alone. You smiled at the thought, cannot hold back yourself from kissing your boyfriend welcome so you run to where he is - quickly stopping in your track once you see him.

"Hi baby! The cake tastes so good, it'll be phenomenal with your frosting", you saw Harry eating the base of the cake smiling at you. You don't know how to react. Your mind working miles per minute.

"Har- i- babe! I only made one!"

"What do you mean you only made one, lovie?", Harry asked still eating the cake.

"I got tired earlier and just decided to make one...", face-palming yourself for your own carelessness.

"Oh shi- I, we can make another one! I'll make it! I'm so sor-",

"It's alright", you rounded the counter and kissed his messy lips, "I'll make another one, you can finish this one", you smiled reassuringly at him and squeezing his shoulder quick.

"I'll make our dinner, yea?", he offered. You can tell that he feels bad about eating the cake but it's really not a big deal at all. It's food, you're raised to share food and not spoil it. Plus you couldn't really be mad at Harry as he is your boyfriend and it's his special day in a few hours.

"Of course, I'll just start on a new batch.", you kissed Harry once again as you both started working in the kitchen.

Placing the mixture in the oven, the two of you eat the dinner around 8 p.m., Harry made your favorite Alfredo pasta knowing that he's trying to make it up to you.

Both of you being the slowest eater that you are, spent more than an hour eating - always teasing and flirting to each other like it's still the early stages in your relationship.

You told H to get his room ready and that you'll do the dishes instead and a little past 10 p.m., you're only starting on the mixture of the frosting.

Now, finally, you're ready to head upstairs and change into much cleaner clothes. Delicately holding the cake and walking slowly, you finally made it to Harry's room.

It looked like a huge fort, with his bed full of pillows and snacks and his laptop connected to the t.v. with their old music videos playing. You never pictured your boyfriend as the fairy lights type of guy but oh well this night, he is.

His room looks and feels really cozy, he even got balloons on his ceiling and the banner you made a few days ago is hung near his headboard.

You saw your boyfriend fixing the plastic table on the room where more snacks and utensils are placed. As if he can feel your presence, he looked back to the door where you are standing and quickly getting the cake off your hands to place on the table.

"Go get changed love, might as well binge on our old videos while waiting for them.", you only noticed that your boyfriend is already dressed for the occasion.

You forced him to wear their 1D merch with you. He is currently sporting a 1D pajama set, a Liam socks, and a Zayn beanie.

"You look cute babes!", you teased him and run to the bathroom to take a quick shower. You can hear him laughing at you and saying something sounding like "love her to death".

You changed to your own 1D pajama set matching with H and putting on a Narry socks and a Louis beanie and exiting his bathroom.

Harry is singing along to Perfect when you entered his room. You plopped into his bed and cuddled him.

"Ready?", you asked him giddily as you went to his laptop to open the zoom app.

"One kiss and I'm ready.", he winked at you and hugged you from behind. You shrugged him as a joke and pecked his nose. 

After connecting his laptop on zoom, you both went back to bed and wait for the others. One by one, the other guys started joining the meeting.

"Harry! Y/N! Man, how's everything?", Liam greeted both of you with Bear on his lap. The three of you are in the middle of your conversation when another user joined in.

"Oi! What's up fuc- oh sh- sorry!", Louis raised his hand as he saw Bear on Liam's screen. El only laughed at her boyfriend and started talking with the rest of you.

Niall joined a bit later speaking without a sound. The rest of you reckoned that he's having a hard time setting up his zoom app until another user joined, and that's when Niall's audio started working.

"Ello lads! And ladies! And baby!", Niall cooed at Bear while Bear only stared at the web came, shyly.

"Sorry guys! Z is still in the bathroom! You know him!", the very pregnant Gigi joined the meeting as the others started talking to each other. You haven't met her in person so you're fangirling over her. Harry squeezed you to his side and laughed at you lightly.

"Hello hello!", at 11:59, Zayn finally appeared on the screen, Louis cheering for his best friend's appearance.

Everyone started talking, Bear being taken away to sleep after a few minutes.

"Was gonna egg your houses, except yours - Harry and Zayn. Liam and Niall, you keep dropping hints fooking hell!", Louis exclaimed while everyone laughed at him.

"I mea-"

"Shut up Liam!", Liam only laughed and put his hands in the air at Lou's antics.

"Harry, Y/N, you two looked like you really planned this!", Gigi complimented you both while you blushed whispering a thank you.

"She forced me to wear this! And look at her socks!", H raised your foot so the others can see it.

"Awe Y/N this is why I love youuu", Niall teased you. You haven't recovered from Gigi, now there's another teasing!

"Leave m’ girl alone! She's fangirling over Gigi!", you nudge Harry's ribs hard, feeling so embarrassed. 

"Oh gosh, that's cute! I wanna meet you in person! I've already met El when we did this photoshoot, right El?", Gigi enthusiastically said as Zayn rubs his girlfriend's belly.

"Yes! We have to hang out! Ni and Li! Make sure your girlfriends join us!", Eleanor looks so happy and it makes you wonder how she does it in the midst of all the hate she receives. You and Harry aren't public yet and it makes you think of what will happen when you do.

"Harry keep it in your pants!", Lou suddenly shouted when he saw your boyfriend staring at you.

"M not doing an-"

"Baby fever man!", Niall laughed at Harry for being so obvious. You're so embarrassed at this point so Harry just flexed his room and the cake you made to remove turn the attention away from the both of you.

"Man, how do you think they'll react to the Infinity video?", Niall asked.

"Gonna be a blast, they don't know that Zayn had a part!", your boyfriend exclaimed beside you while everyone agrees. Within the next few hours, different websites will premier it and everyone can hardly wait.

Everyone stayed up until 5 a.m. catching up and reminiscing until they have to forcefully go to sleep for later. They can't wait to see each other for the interview with BBC where they'll be announcing their plans.

Each said goodbyes with a promise to arrive early to spend more time together before the taping starts at 12 p.m.

You and Harry both went to the bathroom to brush your teeth, Harry staring at you through the mirror as you did so.

"Mhve iwn wifh mo."

You rinsed your mouth with the water and replied, "what? I couldn't exactly understand you baby."

Harry finished rinsing his mouth, "I said move in with me... please."

"I- Harry re you sure? I mea-"

"Yes, I am! You're basically living here anyway! I want to take the next step with you.", he tried to woo you while hugging you in front of the mirror.

You nod and said yes. Turning around to kiss him. 

"I love you", he said. 

"Love you more", you kissed him once more, "Let's head to bed! You gotta be up nice and fresh for later," you tugged his hands towards his room and settled down.

“I always look good babyyy...”, and as much as you wanted to fight your boyfriend, he looks really cuddly now.

“Yes, you do, got a killer genes and all”, you run your hands through his hair smiling softly at him, as you felt your eyes became heavy.

“You do too! Our kids gonna have badass looks!"

“You definitely go a baby fever huh? Let's focus on your interview tomorrow first, yeah?”, you hugged him tight and tickled the back of his neck.

H only laughed, "Definitely got one, wanna be a father to our kids but I also can't wait for our fans to know what we're up to!", Harry placed his head on the crook of your neck.

“Good thing I want you to be the father of my future kids then... and tomorrow, they’re gonna love it! Gonna be thrilled about your announcement! Everyone’s been waiting for it! Happy 10 years again, so proud of you and everyone behind your band's success."

“Thank you lovie", Harry replied as he kissed your neck.

With that, you kissed his forehead goodnight and made sure your alarm is on to start the day.

-----

[penpatronuswhump]

WHUMPTOBER 2020

No. 17

Fandom: Avengers

Whumpee: Peter Parker

Caregiver: Tony Stark

Title: Blackmail, Bullets, Blood

By: PenPatronus // PenPatronusAooO 

Steve was so concerned about Tony that he followed him one night. Tony walked to a small Stark Industries warehouse eight blocks from the Tower at two in the morning. Peeking through a dusty window, Steve watched as Tony loaded wooden crate after wooden crate into a white Stark Industries van. When Tony went to leave, when the garage door opened, there was Cap standing there illuminated by the headlights with his hands at his hips, looking like a mother who just caught her son’s hand in the cookie jar.

 Tony stuck his head out of the driver’s side window and shouted, “Out of my way, Rogers!”

 “I can’t do that, Stark,” Steve called back. “Not until you tell me why you’re sneaking out missiles in the middle of the night.”

 “It’s none of your damn business where I’m going with my own inventory, Rogers,” Tony spat back. Tony jumped out of the van and pushed Steve in the chest. “Now get out of here!”

 Steve caught Tony’s wrists when Stark went in to push him again. “Where are you taking those missiles? I thought Stark Industries was done with arms dealing. Who are you selling these to?”

 “Selling them?” Tony laughed. He put his hands on his knees and laughed harder. “Selling them…”

 In the bright light, Cap noticed that Tony’s skin was white and shiny with sweat. He appeared to have lost a few pounds and the crescents beneath his eyes were darker than usual. “Tony, what’s wrong with you?”

 Tony wiped his eyes with his flannel shirt sleeve. “Nothing.”

 “You’re upset and you’re hiding something from me.”

 “I’m hiding a lot of things from you. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Tony…”

 “Cap, I really need to get going.” Stark checked his watch. “I can’t be late.”

 “Fine. I’ll go with you. I’m driving.” Steve went to pass Tony, but Stark grabbed him by the shoulders.

 “Listen to me. Just… Just listen, Steve. I can’t get you involved in this. Nobody can get involved in this. It’s just between me and…”  Tony sighed.

 “Tony, I’m your friend.” Steve put his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “I just want to help.”

 “You can’t help me,” Tony whispered. “This is the only way. This… This…” Tony’s face crumpled. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. “He took the kid.”

“Parker? Who?”

 “Klaue. Ulysses Klaue, the arms dealer. He has Peter. And if I don’t keep giving him missiles, he’ll kill him.” Arms fell away, and Stark took his phone out of his pocket. He opened an app Cap didn’t recognize, and showed a live feed of a prison cell. In it, a very skinny, very disheveled, very dirty Peter Parker sat in the corner with his arms around his legs, staring at the wall. “Klaue gives him one bite of bread and one sip of water for every missile I give him. And if I don’t get there soon, Peter won’t have anything to eat in the morning.”

 “He’s practically starving him,” Cap said. His face turned red. “Tony, we’re getting him out of there. Right now.”

 Stark shook his head. “Klaue said that if he sniffs even the slightest bit of trouble, he’ll kill the kid without a second thought. If one security guard sees us, if one alarm goes off – Pete’s dead.”

 Steve nodded. He gave it some thought – eyebrows frowning. “We’re going to need some help, then, aren’t we?”

 “Steve, no, I…” Tony put his face in his hands, then suddenly whirled around and punched the truck with his bare fist. “I can’t risk the kid! This is the only way to keep him alive.”

 “Tony, Klaue will eventually kill him, no matter what. We gotta get him out now.”

 Tony took three deep, settling breaths. “You’re right,” he decided. “You’re always right, Cap. So… What do we do?”

 “What we’re gonna do,” said Steve, “is rescue Parker and take down Klaue at the same time. And, fortunately, we have some very Ninja-like assassins who can get the kid out before Klaue even knows we��re there.”  

 ----------

 Tony stood on the dock outside Klaue’s seaside warehouse and watched the arms dealer’s men unload the missiles from the van. The only light was the moon over the water and one flickering snot-colored lightbulb above the entrance. Tony pulled his baseball cap down and folded his arms against his chest. Autumn was just about to exit the stage, and the East Coast had been promised an extra cold winter.

 Klaue emerged from his office wearing a pit-stained white button down shirt over dirty jeans. He had a toothpick in his mouth and an assault rifle over his shoulder. “Mr. Stark,” he greeted, “my most loyal supplier. I’m told you’re five missiles short today.”

 Tony held up his palms. “My own supplier let me down, Klaue. But I brought you something to make up for it. Look in the back seat.” Klaue nodded at his henchmen. One opened the van and an unconscious, tied-up, beat-up Steve Rogers came tumbling out, rolling across the wooden dock.

 Klaue clapped his hands together. “Quite a gift!” he exclaimed. “I know some underground scientists who will pay quite a lot for a specimen like this.” He motioned for his henchmen. Tony expected Klaue to order them to take Steve inside but, instead, they lifted him to his feet. Klaue approached Steve, said, “I know you’re awake, Captain,” and smacked Steve across the face. Cap coughed and spit out a tooth.

 “Let me guess what your plan was,” Klaue said, attention back on Tony. “I put Rogers in the same cell with Parker, together with their combined strength they break through the bars, and then they sneak out – escaping from under my nose, yes?”

 Tony pursed his lips together so hard that they turned white. “Listen, Klaue, I just want the kid. I’ll give you whatever you ask, just give me the kid back.”

 “We all want things, Stark. I want to own a Caribbean island. And, I’m only five mil short of it. And now, here you are, interfering with my dream, trying to take it away.” Klaue shook his head. “Tisk, tisk,” he said, waggling his forefinger. “I told you I’d kill the kid if you interfered. But, I think I’ll do you one better. I think, right in front of your eyes, I’ll kill all four of them.”

 “Four?”

 A garage door opened and a half dozen henchmen wearing thick jackets and caps over their faces exited with a very bloodied, very beat up Peter, Clint, and Natasha. Klaue gave the order to stand them next to Cap, then he ordered all four of them to their knees. His goons pushed them down and aimed guns at their backs.

 “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark,” Peter whimpered.

 Tony shook his head. “I let you down, kid. I’m so, so sorry.”

 Klaue was soaking up the moment like sunshine. “This is lovely. Half the world wants you all dead and here I am, little old me, holding each of your lives in my hands. I really should sell tickets to this.”

 “Enough, Klaue,” Tony barked. “I want my team free. I’ll give you anything, anything you want.”

 “Anything, huh?” Klaue tapped his chin. “What if what I want is for you to see your friends die?” He nodded at his henchman. “Kill Barton.”

 “NO!” Tony screamed. He was too late. The henchman shot Clint in the back. Barton collapsed forward onto the dock. He didn’t move.

 “Clint!” Nat sobbed.

 Klaue suddenly cocked and aimed his weapon. “Who’s next?” he asked, aiming the gun first at Peter, and then at Natasha, and then at Steve. “Which one of your friends is next?”

 Tony saw movement in his peripheral vision, and it took all his concentration not to look at the roof of the warehouse. “Klaue?” Tony said, his posture straight now, his classic smirk back on his face, “would you like to guess what happens when a warehouse full of volatile weapons gets hit by a bolt of lightning?” Tony looked up at the roof.

 Klaue followed his gaze. Thor waved down at the crowd, then raised his hammer.

 “Get him!” Klaus screamed, and he and all his henchmen turned to fire. At that precise moment Bruce Banner, who’d disguised himself as the very goon who shot Barton in his bulletproof vest, pivoted and hit Klaue in the shoulder with a bullet. Klaue tumbled backwards off the dock and into the water. His rifle spat a half-dozen times as he fell.

 Natasha flipped to her feet. Barton rolled over and somersaulted backwards. Steve broke out of his bonds instantly. While those three kept the henchmen from shooting Thor, Peter sprinted into Tony’s arms. Stark caught him and lifted him off his feet, so happy was he. “Into the van, kid,” Tony ordered. “Everyone in the van, now!” he shouted. He could feel the dock rumbling as more of Klaue’s goons were heading their way. Barton, Banner, and Rogers dove into the back of the white van. Natasha got in the driver’s seat while Tony pushed Peter into the back seat. Tony yanked the door shut and shouted, “Heads down!”

 Outside, Thor rose into the air, summoned lightning, and slammed it down into the weapons compound. The place exploded in a massive mushroom cloud. But seconds before it did, Thor picked up the van and flew it out of danger. He set it on the street six blocks away and opened the door, revealing his disheveled but whole friends. “Sorry I was late,” the god said. “I was with Jane and I didn’t get your message and... Why didn’t you wait for me?”

 “Because we had to get there by a deadline!” Tony shouted at him. He sat against the far door with his arms around Peter, who was leaning back against him. “You cut it pretty damn close you big Norse piece of—” Tony felt something warm on his shirt. He looked down and saw dark liquid against his shoulder. It was blood, blood that wasn’t his. One of Klaue’s shots had hit a target.

 “PETE!”

 Peter had gone limp. He fell back into Tony’s arms, smearing blood from his shot up shoulder down the rest of Tony’s shirt. Stark tossed his hat away and adjusted Peter’s body so that the kid was cradled in his lap. “Nat! Hospital! Now!” Tony shouted.

 A tear slid down Peter’s cheek. “Thanks for coming for me,” he said between hitched breaths. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

 “Kid, hang on, we’ll get you some help in a second, in just a second, all right?”

 Peter licked his white lips. “It hurts,” he whispered.

 Tony’s heart clenched like a fist. He looked at his wide-eyed friends who were just as helpless as he was. “Hang on, kid,” was all he could think to say. Adrenaline burned through him and his face flushed. “Just hang on, Pete.”

 ---------

 May exited Peter’s hospital room with a fake smile that instantly disintegrated once she was sure she was out of her nephew’s eyeline. Tony stood up from a hallway bench and she hugged him. “He’s so brave,” she sobbed in his ear. “He’s incredible.”

 Tony nodded. He sniffed, and then held May at arm’s length. “He is. He’s an incredible kid.”

 “He wants to talk to you.”

 “Ok.” Tony took a deep breath. “Ok.”

 The kid was asleep when he walked in, so Tony had time to sit in a chair beside the bed and relive every moment of the “rescue.” He should’ve done better. He should’ve acted faster. He should’ve this, he should’ve that…

 “Mr. Stark?”

 Tony shot to his feet. He leaned over the hospital bed and smiled at Peter without showing his teeth. “Hey, kid. How ya feeling?”

 Tears sprung to Peter’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” he cried. “I’m so sorry. None of this would’ve happened if it weren’t for me. The others – are they all right? God, Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry. I deserve to be—”

 Tony held up his finger and made a sound that resembled a game show buzzer. “Don’t,” he ordered softly. “Don’t do that, kid. That’s a dark road I’ve traveled, and I won’t let you go down it. None of this was your fault, you understand? None of it. And the others are fine. You’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

 Peter frowned at him. “Mr. Stark? Are you fine? You’re—you’re crying.”

 Tony didn’t even realize it. He wiped his eyes dry. “Joyful tears, kid.” Then, without thinking about it, he leaned in and kissed the kid on the forehead. “Glad you’re ok,” he whispered, “so glad, Pete.”

 The End

[agustdef]

Here & Now - Chapter 21

Pairing: Yoongi x OC

Genre: Fluff; Chill romance

Word Count: 2,452

Warning: Cringey attempt at lyrics because somehow that became important to the chapter. I’m deeply sorry. 

Banner Marker: @dee-ehn​

I’d been sitting at my desk double-checking the papers in front of me when my phone started to aggressively ding. In the group chat with the boys and Hals, there was a countdown going.

I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face as each of them sounded off and then Yoongi delivered the final word:

Rise is out!

The chat descended into anarchy as we all sent gifs and memes of celebration for the mini. As well as the group promising a listen and then to return back with thoughts.

As I opened Spotify my phone buzzed again and a message from Yoongi popped up. My immediate reaction was to roll my eyes.

Listen to ALL of it.

I ignored it and found the mini, pressing play on it without the shuffle so I could experience them shifting in the order they were meant to. We’d tried our best to make sure they flowed easily, while also making each distinct.

Why? I could just listen to the super-secret one. It’s the only one I was forbidden from listening too.

Sometimes I just felt like being a little difficult. I could guess that he was rolling his eyes at me.

Just do it.

please

Even though I knew I was already listening the guilt still hit me, making me want to start something I was already doing. He’d been using please a lot lately and eliciting that feeling from me.

You know I already am. Will report back soon

After that, I exited the app and restarted the first song. Leaning back in my chair I relaxed, focusing solely on the music filling my studio. It was the softest of the songs we’d worked on, but still couldn’t be considered soft. The bass alone ensured that.

One song poured into the other and each one growing a little more in its intensity. He was pouring out his feelings, but none of them were on the level that the first Agust D mini; thankfully.

Hearing them while not in the studio making them made them sound different. I was less worried about picking things apart and could actually enjoy them. When it came to the end I was kind of sad it was over, but I also knew I had one more song left. The one I’d been banned from hearing.

There was a long pause and then a very soft sound started playing. It sounded like the piano and after several seconds it was confirmed. It was very beautiful and I got wrapped up in it as it continued on with nothing else. What shocked me was that as it grew softer again the sound of a cello rang out. They paired together and played off one another. Though it wasn’t something to be terribly shocked by, it was the fact that the piece playing was by me. I’d allowed him a few of my recorded pieces to hold on to.

As I pulled myself together, I realized that it had gone on well over a minute with nothing besides the instruments. Unlocking the phone and glancing down at the time total I gawked at the nearly six-minute length.

“Holy shit.”

I wanted to message him and question it, but remained still and listened. After several more moments, there was a throat clear, but before I could question its place there was singing. It was soft and a bit rough, but it worked well.

Yoongi’s voice fills the space after, his style of rap soft and a little rough; almost singing.

You don’t expect them to step in

Alter your feelings and your focus

Make you feel different

Realize you’re whole

That they weren’t the cause

but they complimented it

That you loving yourself worked

And now as you love them it’s pure

Not you becoming dependent

Like you were before

It went on and I just sat there opened mouth. The lyrics were surprising and vastly different from the rest of the mini. Those coupled with the beautiful instruments in the background brought me to tears.

After the song ended and the mini restarted it took a bit to collect myself. Once I did, I remembered I was to report back. The group chat was on fire, everyone announcing how much they loved it. I came in just as they were getting into the bonus track.

Kook: So that’s the track you were hiding?

Jimin: It was different and so good

Hobi: Told you it would be

Hobi: His inspo was too strong. Speaking of

He must have pressed send before he could finish it, which gave me time to slide in before he could finish. Ever since we’d talked about the whole awkwardness he’d been laying on the implications thick. It was worse when they’d come back to the states for some shows. I’d been bombarded that morning about finishing work early and coming to hang out with them.

It was great. I’m a little biased, but everything sounded better than I imagined it did. And the bonus song is great, I didn’t know you were going to use the cello piece.

Hoseok’s typing stopped and that made me feel better, but then Yoongi started.

It just felt right.

Not a word else was said and no one appeared to be typing anything. I had no clue how to proceed, my feelings about the last song hadn’t even processed yet. And they were taking longer since Hoseok mentioned Yoongi’s inspiration. I was never one to assume something like that was a grand gesture for me, but the thought had planted itself in my head.

Joon: Anyways… Yoongi went live and that’s why he’s quiet. And stay off Twitter Ken, it’s not as bad as before but the bad always seem to climb to the top of your mentions.

Part of me wanted to look, but I decided against it.

I will. Got some things to work on so I can leave.

With that, I sat my phone down and turned back to the paperwork in front of me. It was a large stack, the sudden change to the contract having come in a week ago. It was a lot and very different from what I expected when I started the process, it made me so excited though. It was a new chapter and a great step.

I made sure both copies were signed and then closed it back. Just as I finished my door was opened and in came Marcus; he looked stressed.

“Did you finish?” he asked.

“Yeah, but uh are you okay?”

He nodded, expression unchanging. After a moment he sighed and I could see the tired in his eyes. “Yeah. Well, I will be. Just a lot going on with work and other things, so I’m trying to stay on top of it. Just a few more things today and then I’ll be clear for a reasonably calm weekend.”

Part of me wanted to press, but I knew well enough that holding him up would make the anxiety he was probably feeling worse.

I handed him the papers and with a quick bye he was off and I was alone again. My eyes glanced to the phone, but instead of picking it up I just stared.

All that I could think about was the song. With the instrumental alone it spoke to me. The piece that was used had been a random mish-mash of some other pieces I’d been practicing. I’d wanted to pair it with another string eventually, but hearing it with a piano felt so right.

And then there were the words. They spoke to me as a person who wasn’t into the chaoticness of love and relationships. Being comfortable with myself and being able to care for another was all I ever wanted. I’d experienced not being able to profess my self-love and worthy and loving another so wholly. It wasn’t the wrong way per se, and I learned to accept me during the relationship's duration but it always felt like I was putting in so much work to make us both happy.

The final nail in the coffin for it was the possibility that it could be in reference to me. He could have been talking about anything or past experiences, but he hadn’t let me see any of it. I’d almost heard a single second of it one day and he nearly had a fit.

Groaning, I rested my head on the desk. We really needed to talk. The longer I was left unsure the more my mind raced and lingered on things that I would normally brush over.

So after several minutes of agitation, I came to the conclusion to wait until his live was over and then see if we could meet that day.

Grabbing my phone I unlocked it and went to the Vlive to watch. He’d been on for a bit and seemed to not stopping anytime soon, so I just sat and watched.

He was chatting animatedly with those in the chat about the mini. How he’d decided he wanted to do another one and how to proceed with it. Everyone appeared to be happy and loving it. Many saying that they were still playing it in the background as they watched him.

“Well, once I had some lyrics and an idea I talked to Joon and he recommended Sailor V or Kendall as many of you know. I loved what they did for his song so I got in contact. Things worked so well and I’m very proud of where we got the songs. She worked on every song, even the last one even though she wasn’t allowed to hear it until today. The strings you hear is her playing the cello.”

The bonus track was so good

i lovved the whole mini

The cello sounded good w/ piano

she plays cello!??!??!

why not just have Adora help

IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD. WILL WE EVER GET THAT SONG LIVE?

I knew he saw the comment about having Adora produce with him, it was the way his lips almost pushed down into a frown. He played it off well though.

“Live? Well, that would be up to, Kendall. She loved the song, but she might still be a little miffed that I wouldn’t let her here it all these months.”

He wasn’t wrong. I was feeling salty about that.

Adora could have helped

please get her to do it, it would be awesome

Why didn’t you just work with Joon?

it would have been just as good if not better with Slow Rabbit pd

Stop being mean about Kendall. She did good and seems nice

Do you think Yoongi wants to see hate to his friend

“I really don’t,” he said.

It was an obvious mistake on his part, but that didn’t stop him from running with it. I think he’d reached a new level of fed up.

“Kendall has been a great help to me and a great friend. She’s accepted this project and my friendship all while knowing how chaotic some can get with hate and accusations. When it hate and messed up comments came her way she stayed, when we all would have understood her dropping out. She’s helped so much with the direction of the mini. Made sure to accommodate me, while also pushing me on things when I’m refusing. She’s been a great friend to me and the other guys. Nothing she’s done has warranted this hate.”

He paused, closing his eyes and I thought he was done. I was very wrong.

“For you all to sit here and disrespect her because of her race or getting close to us or even rumors of us dating isn’t okay. She is undeserving of the hate. And you show your true nature when you attack her for these things. If me possibly dating someone or getting close to a woman bothers you so much, then that’s a problem. I’m a human being and I’m allowed to experience happiness whether it be platonic or romantic.”

Another pause and this time his hand moved towards the screen as if he were going to end the live. “Please think about your behavior. No one should be attacked for something like this. It’s not what we as artists stand for.”

And just like that he was gone. There had been a flurry of pleadings to not leave yet before the screen shifted, but obviously he hadn’t heeded them.

A good chunk of me felt bad, I didn’t know if what he’d just done was okay. It was rare for artists to call out their fans, even when it needed to happen; like during fan wars. But part of me felt relieved and that Bang wouldn’t be too bothered. He’d shown that his own tolerance for nonsense was waning over the last year or so. Call outs and lawsuits came real quick.

I waited a few minutes and then called him, hoping he was alone and didn’t need to rush to do anything.

“Hi,” I said when he finally picked up.

“Hey,” his responded, voice gruff and clearly annoyed.

For a moment I remained silent, knowing what I wanted to say but unsure of how to say it.

“So I saw the live, well the last chunk of it. I’m sorry it was tainted by weirdos, trolls, and antis. Today was supposed to be a great day for you.”

He sighed, so loud that it made me jump and pull the phone away from my ear for a second.

“It’s… it’s fine. I expected them. It was just going so well and I just kind of forgot. And I’m just so frustrated so everything spilled out. So much build-up and I just feel like I can’t get it all out. I’m tired of holding in all these emotions. I just…” he trailed off.

The longer it was silent the more my stomach began to churn in discomfort. He sounded how I felt and I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure that his little tangent was about us. It felt like there was nothing I thought I could offer in the moment. Any words of comfort I could give seemed futile.

“You just what?” I tried to ask gently.

Another sigh and then the line went dead silent. Pulling the phone from my ear I noticed he’d hung up. My mouth went wide, shocked that he’d just leave it like that. I had no clue what the hell I did to deserve such swift dismissal.

Before I could figure out how to proceed my phone vibrated and then a message appeared on my screen.

Please meet me at Hals

[sevenkookiejars]

"We're in an exam study group and I just send you my nudes by accident oops" Minjoon

Pairing: MinJoon (Jimin x Namjoon)Prompt: “We’re in an exam study group and I just send you my nudes by accident oops” AU Rating: PGWord Count: 2,447A/N: *whispers* Minjoon is so precious ^~^ thank you anon for requesting and sorry I took forever with this (I hope you still get to read this)!! (P.S. Jimin’s doing the swearing on my behalf bc I swear that I don’t really swear at all irl – pun unintended) Enjoy!

Jimin’s phone vibrates once in his lap. He ignores it, working on the math problem he has in front of it. It vibrates again, then a series of vibrations start. Jimin curses under his breath, dropping his pen down to pick up his phone instead. 

There’s a flood of kakaotalk messages from Taehyung. 

[4:32PM TaeTae]im bored

chimchim

talk to me :( 

[4:33PM TaeTae] i hate math

save me

chimmm

why you ignoring me

chimmmmmmmmmmmmm

Jimin looks up and shoots a glare at Taehyung who’s sitting diagonally across from him at the table. Taehyung’s face lights up with a triumphant smile. 

[4:35PM Jimin]I’m trying to do my math problems, stop trying to distract me

Jabbing the home button, Jimin picks up his pen and goes back to staring at the same question that he’s been stuck on for nearly 20 minutes. There’s a reason Jimin’s here, stuck in study group past 4pm on a Friday afternoon rather than practicing his dance moves in the studio. 

Whoever deigned it necessary for a music student like him to take math in university should rethink their lives. How the hell is math even remotely needed in his degree? Something about holistic education and well-roundedness or some shitty excuse is what the deans will say but that’s honestly a ton of bullshit. Bullshit that has people like Jimin suffering because his midterms came back with an ugly 30/100 on the top and a “see me” post-it note tagged on the side. Taehyung had the nerve to laugh at him when he barely scraped a 33/100 on his. 

So here they are, stuck in a study group that’s supposed to coach them into passing finals. Jimin’s only here because the fear of having to retake the module and suffer another semester of math is real. 

His phone starts vibrating again. Jimin tsks under his breath, trying his best to ignore it, which is nearly impossible when his phone is basically wiggling its way dangerously close to his crotch. Stupid Taehyung and his non-existent attention span. Resigned, Jimin sighs and picks up his phone again. 

[4:37PM TaeTae]im still bored 

dont be mean chim

stop ignoring em

me*chimmmm lets go for tonkatsu later

i feel like treating myself after this torture

[4:38PM TaeTae]yah i know you can feel your phone 

if you keep ignoring me im gonna tell namjoon hyung you have the biggest crush on him 

i swear 

Jimin sucks in a breath. Dammit why did he ever let it out to Taehyung about Namjoon? He should have known that Taehyung would use it to blackmail him someday. 

Not that intoxicated Jimin had cared a week ago when he, in Taehyung’s words, “wailed for a solid hour about Namjoon hyung’s beautiful gaze and lips and body and everything”. And no, Jimin is still adamant that he couldn’t have been as pathetic as what Taehyung makes him out to be. It’s just a tiny crush okay, Jimin can appreciate good aesthetics and that’s not his fault.

[4:40PM Jimin] You wouldn’t actually do that

[4:40PM TaeTae] you talking to me ~\(≧▽≦)/~

so tonkatsu?? 

and if you ignore me i will 

[4:41PM Jimin] Whatever, Namjoon hyung won’t believe anything you say 

Do your work. I’m going to mute kakaotalk.

Satisfied, Jimin does exactly that. Taehyung can’t disturb him now and he can have the last 20 minutes of study group for math practice. Extra exam preparation questions that he has to hand in on Monday and still has no idea how to do. Jimin suddenly feels the urgency in his bones. 

Inherently, Jimin is someone who hates relying on others for help. It makes him feel somewhat worthless, inadequate in a way that leaves an unsettling feeling swirling in his gut. Which is why he’s debating hard whether or not to actually bring up his questions to their study group mentor now. 

The choice should be pretty obvious, because putting his pride down now is better than taking the walk of shame to the front of his tutorial class to meet the professor. It should be obvious, except that Namjoon is their study group mentor. Yeah, the very Namjoon that Jimin has a tiny crush on. 

Jimin bites his lip. It shouldn’t be a big deal really. Namjoon doesn’t even know he has a crush for god’s sake. Besides, Jimin’s pretty sure at least a fifth of the juniors in school have some sort of a crush on Namjoon. Namjoon who is tall, charming, smart and really nice and helpful to all juniors. Jimin probably needs his fingers and toes (maybe Taehyung’s too) to count the number of times he’s overheard whispered conversation and soft squeals over senior Kim Namjoon. 

But that said, the math problems are still leering at him. Forget about having any choice, Jimin doesn’t want to die of shame on Monday submitting a blank paper. Sighing, Jimin picks up his phone, turning on the camera app to take pictures of the questions he’s been stuck at. 

Namjoon has this system in study group, where they can send him pictures over WhatsApp of the questions they need help with so that he can look over the questions while helping the previous student. It’s somewhat like his own queue system that he’s implemented and it works. And yeah, it’s specifically WhatsApp, not KakaoTalk. Taehyung said and Jimin quotes “that Namjoon hyung is way too English-ified”. As if that really explains why Namjoon prefers an American chat app over a Korean one. 

Jimin opens Whatsapp and opens a fresh chat with Namjoon. His phone vibrates, banner on the top of his screen displaying WhatsApp notifications from none other than Taehyung. The first one reads “you really muted!!!!” and the second announces an attached photo. 

Rolling his eyes, Jimin decides to quickly attach the two photos of questions that he has to ask Namjoon before attending to Taehyung’s messages. He absently clicks the last two photos in his gallery and clicks send. 

Okay, now to entertain Taehyung while he waits for his turn with Namjoon. He’s about to exit the chat with Namjoon when something catches his attention. The first photo sent doesn’t have a plain white background. It’s definitely not his question paper. Jimin blinks, scrolling up so that the whole photo comes into view. 

“Fuck.” The girl sitting beside him shifts her gaze to glare at him but Jimin barely notices. “Fuck no no no, please don’t send. Oh god, please don’t." 

Jimin fumbles with his phone. The two grey ticks appear. Jimin collapses back in his seat with a small whimper. Opposite, Taehyung glances up in mild concern. 

This can’t be real. Maybe it’s just a bad dream, yeah? Maybe he’s getting so exhausted from math that he’s starting to hallucinate. It can’t be real, right? Jimin nearly jumps in his seat when his phone vibrates again in his hands. A banner notification from Taehyung that says ”what’s wrong chim“ and then ”you scaring me“. 

He’s still in the chat with Namjoon. Jimin swallows, throat dry. He blinks hard once, twice. The grey ticks are still there, mocking. Jimin wants to cry.

This is worse than any walk of shame to see his professor. Because right above his picture of his math problem is one of Jimin sitting in a tub, clothes trail on the bathroom floor as he hugs an empty soju bottle. Naked and drunk stupid. And if that isn’t bad enough, it’s most definitely Taehyung’s Snapchat capture because there’s a text banner that Taehyung’s kindly covered his exposed crotch with that reads "AWW LOVERBOY CRYING OVER JOONIE HYUNG”. Jimin doesn’t know if he’s supposed to be thankful for Taehyung salvaging the last bit of his dignity. 

Of course Jimin is that dumbass that never switched off the function on WhatsApp that automatically downloads media into his phone. Taehyung had told him once to switch it because “it downloads useless photos and takes up space”, to which Jimin had shrugged and muttered something about having 256GB to spare. 

And it’s here to bite him in the ass now. Taehyung was probably sending him proof of blackmail material he has of Jimin’s crush on Namjoon, which Jimin knows Taehyung will never actually use to blackmail him. Except he just had to send it before Jimin got about to sending his math questions and obviously Jimin is the idiot who doesn’t check what he’s sending and just clicks the latest pictures. 

The rest is history. History that has Jimin freaking out all over again. Taehyung’s flooding him with messages now, to which Jimin replies with a simple “fuck you” because he can’t take all the blame for his battered pride. 

Jimin’s back in his chat with Namjoon, math now forgotten, and still internally panicking when it happens. The grey ticks turn blue. It’s like everything comes to a standstill and Jimin stops breathing. Namjoon read the messages. Namjoon fucking saw the pictures. 

It’s like a slap of cold water to his face and Jimin sucks in a sharp breath. He needs to get out of here. Screw study group, he’ll ask for a transfer or just stop attending. He can’t face Namjoon, not now, not ever.

With shaking hands, Jimin grabs his bag, haphazardly stuffing his homework and stationery in. 

“Chim,” Taehyung hisses from across the table. Jimin ignores him. He doesn’t have enough focus outside of his panic to actually care. “Jimin, what’s happening?" 

Jimin zips his bag up and stands, setting his eyes on the door. He can feel a few curious stares and from the corner of his eye, he sees Taehyung standing to follow him. 

With his head down, Jimin makes a beeline for the door, making sure to shut it softly behind him so as not to make a scene. Hurrying down the corridor, Jimin feels dread curling like bile in his throat. 

As he rounds the corner, he hears hurried footsteps behind him. It’s probably Taehyung wanting to know what happened. Jimin doesn’t really want to talk about it. The magnitude of the whole situation is catching up with him and all he wants to do is curl up in a corner and drown in self pity. 

The footsteps close in, coming to a halt behind him. "Jimin-ssi." 

It isn’t Taehyung. Jimin’s breath hitches. Namjoon hyung. 

There’s a hand on his shoulder and Jimin turns out of reflex. Their gazes meet and Jimin immediately drops his, shuffling a small step backwards. Namjoon drops his hand to his side. 

The corridor is empty. Jimin’s partly glad that no one’s going to witness his death by shame. He doesn’t dare look up at Namjoon. 

The silence drags a moment too long and Jimin’s unconsciously starting to shift his weight from feet to feet when Namjoon sighs. Wordlessly, he lifts his phone, tilting it for Jimin to look at. 

Jimin chews on his bottom lip hard. Drunk Jimin stares back at him hazy and unabashed. Jimin kind of wants to fling the phone across the hall. He would do it, except it’s Namjoon’s. 

"What’s this?” Namjoon says finally. 

Jimin pulls at the hem of his shirt, scrunching it up and then letting it go. “I… I sort of sent you my nude by accident?” Internally, he winces at his choice of words. “Oops?” He adds, before his brain catches up and goddammit Park Jimin why can’t you play it off like it isn’t a big deal because it really isn’t. 

It shouldn’t be at least.

“Uhm,” Namjoon replies. “Okay.” He lowers the phone slowly. “I… the caption…” Namjoon’s voice trails off.

Jimin closes his eyes. Of course. Why did he expect? Taehyung and his stupid caption. Jimin contemplates lying and pretending that “Joonie hyung” isn’t the one standing right before him. There’s probably a dozen and one people who have the nickname “Joonie”, right? But Jimin is horrible at lying and it always tugs at his conscience. 

He takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” Jimin starts. “I mean, I was really going to send you my math questions. But Taehyung wanted to blackmail me and I didn’t turn off that auto download and it just sent and like, I had a crush on you since forever but half the school does too and you can’t blame be for appreciating good aesthetics but I don’t even know if you like girls or guys, I’m sorry I’m-”

Jimin breaks off when he feels fingers beneath his chin. He freezes. 

“You’re rambling,” Namjoon says mildly. He pushes gently, tilting Jimin’s face up, gaze searching. “Crush on me, huh?” Namjoon’s tone is light, teasing almost. He chuckles softly.

Jimin feels his face heat and he bristles. “I’m sorry I’m such a loser who doesn’t know how to ask his brain and heart to shut the fuck up about you,” he snaps. Dammit that came out all wrong. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap-”

“You’re apologizing a whole lot,” Namjoon says, a dimpled smile spreading. “Sorr- I mean…” Jimin wants to facepalm himself. 

Namjoon laughs, the sound of it making Jimin’s stomach flip. “Well,” Namjoon shrugs, “If you’re really sorry about it, you could treat me to coffee now.”

Jimin stares dumbly. Coffee, what?

Namjoon awkwardly rubs the nape of his neck. “I mean, if you’re free that is. I haven’t managed to answer your math questions after all, and study group session’s over.”

Right. The math questions, Jimin almost forgot. “Of course, I’ll buy you coffee, Namjoon-ssi." 

Namjoon scrunches his nose. "Just hyung will do,” he says, and Jimin feels something warm settle in the pit of his stomach. “Or Joonie hyung if you want,” Namjoon adds, shooting him a grin. “I don’t mind.”

“Please don’t remind me,” Jimin groans. “And can you please delete that photo and pretend you never saw it?” Namjoon shakes his head. Jimin feels himself deflate a little. “Why, hyung? Do you want it for blackmail too?”

“No, of course not!” Namjoon feigns an offended look. “What do you take me for? I just can appreciate good aesthetics.” Then before Jimin can register those words and respond, Namjoon places a hand on the small of Jimin’s back to steer him in the direction of the campus exit. “Come on, it’s a date!”

(They end up talking for hours over coffee and forgetting about tutoring. Jimin later insists that circumstances forced him to visit Namjoon’s apartment on a Saturday to do math while having takeouts, which somehow dragged on into movie night and Jimin crashing at Namjoon’s place. 

The rest is history. History that has Jimin calling Namjoon his boyfriend. And no, Taehyung gets zero credit because Jimin’s going to take all of it for himself.)

A/N: Thank you for reading this fic that got pretty long! I’ve never written Minjoon ever so I hope this is at least somewhat good (and cute maybe because it’s supposed to be fluff kinda). Also thank you to those of you who read my previous mini fics (and those who leave comments in your tags, they really make my day!)

Send me a prompt and a bangtan pairing, I’ll write you a short fic ♡

[americanadventures2017]

Day 21: Disney California Adventure Park

I wish we could say today started smoothly and happily but Id be lying. It was at least 30 something degrees and we were waiting for about an hour in the sun because the front gate admissions had some big problems with their system. Once we finally did get in however, we waited in ANOTHER line to fix an issue with our Maxpass that we bought through the app (just like the previous day) Amy was SUPER hot and bothered and I just wanted to go on the Guardians of the Galaxy ride as soon as possible. However, we first rode the "California Screamin'" Rollercoaster which is the biggest ride in the park. It was ok but having just been at Knotts Berry Farm, it didnt quite measure up. From there we went on Mickeys Ferris Wheel which, unlike most Ferris Wheels, swings and moves on its own track while going around. We got a nice view of the park and it was cool. From there we walked through lots of other themed areas from Cars Land (which we would later come back to), A Bugs Land (which was super cute) and we passed the Guardians ride, a huge, remodelled, Tower of Terror. Over in the shaded corner stood Groot, taking photos and probably hating it because it was too hot to be in a suit like that. We stood in line and got the picture you see above. From there I spotted a banner in a Hollywood themed street that read "Thor: Ragnarok, Exclusive Sneak Peak" with an arrow pointing to a huge 3D theatre. One does not simply...walk past a sign like this. We went into the air conditioned theatre (that was the selling point for Amy, it really didnt matter what movie it was for) and I saw a few new scenes from the movie. It looks glorious, hilarious and I cant wait to take some of you guys to see it. We then had lunch. Award Weiners: Best Supporting Roll, came through with the goods. Cheese Kransky with BBQ sauce and cheese. Amy was now a very happy woman. From there, it was finally time. Guardians Of The Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Essentially an indoor Giant Drop, but soooo much better because youre on a mission with the Guardians, Obviously. It was amazing. And actually a little scary for me (I get scared by big drop rides). We would return later to the ride for a limited Halloween experience called "Monsters After Dark" where the ride actually changes its "story" and things work a little differently. It was amazing to get to do that knowing that only people there around Halloween can see it. We then decided to go and watch the Frozen theatre show, as again it was in air conditioning. It ended up being an hour stage show that was spot on to the movie... an amazing production and pretty good considering it’s included in the ticket price. After the show we walked around the park and looked in different shops, we saw some people with these amazing little Groot cups. After much searching, Amy found the place that sold 'em. Above is us with our new baby Groot in front of "Paradise Pier" at the bottom of the park. We kicked around for a little bit checking out wait times for different rides and they were all far too long and it was far too hot. We got a fastpass for the After Dark guardians ride but it wasnt until around 10pm so we eneded up jumping on a bus and going to dinner. Dinner was amazing and we felt refreshed enough to go back to the park for our fastpass and more adventure. We got back to the park around 8pm and walked back down to do the Cars ride. The line was still huuuge so we jumped in the shorter single rider line. Although we got split up, we had ana amazing time on this crazy ride which makes you feel like youre in the movie. It really is worth abit of a wait. On the way out of that ride we paused in the exit path to watch Disneylands incredible Fireworks display. It was beautiful and along with a second, different Guardians ride, was a PERFECT way to end the night.

[sonnetxli]

The Kpop Experience

June 6

Mapo-Gu

Our target for the morning was to attend a Kpop event in the Mapo-Gu area. Nic and I are always paying attention to our favorite Kpop groups and their promotions, but this was the first time that we had a hope of attending one of these events since we were actually in Seoul. Thus we marked the address in our map apps and took a train over to the right area.

The event for the group (ATEEZ) was being held at a cafe which opened at noon, and we had arrived at the station just after that. It was only a five or six minute walk to find the cafe, and I was hoping it wouldn’t be too hard to spot. I needn’t have worried, however, since there was a line that confirmed that we were in the right area. We joined at the back, about two-thirds down the street from the cafe entrance, and began our wait.

Thankfully, it was a side street so there wasn’t too much traffic, and the weather was cooler and cloudy so we weren’t too hot. Unfortunately, the line moved very slowly. As we crept along, we realized that many of the people who were first in line were now simply sitting in the cafe (there was a patio) and hanging around, even past when they finished their drinks and snacks. This confused us a little - the event was to buy a drink and then receive some free merchandise for the band’s new album promotion - until we realized that they were waiting just in case the band members happened to show up.

Even more unfortunately, this persisted the whole time we were in line, so it moved at a snail’s pace. There was also a false alarm where someone at the front of the line thought they saw something and then everyone pressed forward in excitement. (There was nothing to see.)

We were pretty patient but all in all it took almost three hours to get in and order our drinks. Although this seems like folly, the problem was that we had reached a point in line where we were committed - that tipping point where if you left, the time was wasted - and so we stayed. In retrospect, we probably wouldn’t choose to attend that particular style of event again but it was what it was.

Feeling the time crunch a little, we took our drinks to-go and rushed to the subway to move on to our next (and much more important) destination - the CJ E&M Center. This would be the site of the M Countdown broadcast that we had managed to get tickets for. The check-in time was from 3:10 to 3:50 and we wanted to make sure that we made it on time.

We rode the subway a few stops over and came up to find that it was raining outside. On the train we had debated whether to take a bus or walk to the building, and decided to at least check for the bus first. We found the bus stop right away and miraculously the bus was arriving at that very moment. It was a relief to get on the bus and know that we would be able to get to the building in a much shorter amount of time.

When we arrived at the center I asked for directions and was able to find the check-in desk. We were given wristbands based on order of arrival along with an envelope of free SM goods like stickers, a pen, and a wristband, all from various SM groups. They told us to meet back there in about 45 minutes, and we were grateful for the time as we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. Luckily there was a Starbucks in the building across the square, and we were able to buy some food there. (I had a banana pecan pound cake that was incredibly good.)

After a brief respite in the Starbucks and a trip to the washroom, we returned to the CJ E&M Center to line up. Nicole happened to glance and see a group we like (ONEUS) in the lobby as they were heading past, which was exciting. Then we lined up with our group (English speakers) by number in the order that everyone arrived. They handed out another gift to all of us - a Wanna One LED fan! As a huge Wanna One fan, I was thrilled.

They reminded us that no pictures or videos were allowed once we went upstairs. Then it was time to go into another waiting area. We went up to another level where they had everyone sit on the floor to wait. However, the Chinese and Japanese-speaking tour groups were ahead of us, so we ended up sitting on the stairs. We were a little fortunate though because we ended up on a landing, with a smidge more room.

More waiting commenced, during which time we saw a few groups go into the studio (mostly cute girl groups) and then watched as people from each fan club for various groups were ushered into the waiting area. They were behind us in line so the staff had them sit on the stairs and then the next floor to also wait. There were quite a few people in these groups, and I felt bad for them as they had been forced to wait outside in the rain for some time before coming in, so they looked a bit wet.

I think we spent about an hour and fifteen minutes or so while we waited for the correct time to enter the studio. I didn’t mind the wait too much but I did have to shift around now and then before my feet fell asleep. It was interesting to watch people come and go up the stairs and to listen to the excited buzz all around. The staircase was also open concept so we could see down to the floor below and up to the one above, providing even more people-watching opportunities. When it started to feel long, I also spent a little time reading my ebook.

Finally, at ten minutes to six, they had us stand up and we began filing into the studio. Even seeing the lights through the open doorway was exciting! Once we got inside we moved to stand by the stage. I think we were in about the fourth row, roughly speaking (it’s a standing room only event). I was happy to see just how close to the stage we were and to think about all the groups we could see in person.

After about ten or fifteen minutes more, the show began. There were occasionally off-stage pieces like ads or the intro that we could hear but not see, and then the first performer came on stage. The way that the broadcast worked is that some acts had pre-recorded their stages in the morning, while others were performing live in the evening. Among those that had pre-recorded, some of them still came to the broadcast and performed part or all of their stage for us. Still others were allowed to perform part of their song and then ushered off stage to allow for set changes. If they weren’t there or had to leave early, a screen would appear at the back of the stage so that we could see it. In total, twenty groups or solo artists performed (whether ahead of time or during) as well as one special group from a reality show called Produce X 101 (which I love and will be watching when I get home).

It was extremely fun to see who would show up when since we didn’t know the order ahead of time, and as most of the groups were present for the broadcast, we really felt like we got to see a lot. There was a bit of pushing, but mostly this would happen when fans of one specific group saw that their group was coming up on stage next, and once that performance was over they would move off to the side. What I appreciated most was that many fans and groups of fans would talk to each other and ask if others could let them move closer to the stage to see their favorites. One girl came up to me and asked if I would let her move ahead of me to see ONEUS, and I was able to reply in Korean that I also wanted to see them. She respectfully didn’t move past me and I was grateful. There were also some fanboys that were quite tall but wanted to see Lovelyz, and we were happy to let them do so.

It was a fantastic feeling to be able to watch so many groups and soloists up close and to be able to cheer for them, clap for them, and wave at them as they waited to start a performance or as they left the stage. I also loved seeing them interact with their fans (usually recognizable by their light sticks, banners, and screams). Nicole was over the moon to be able to see ONEUS perform, and they did one and a half songs live. Gianna particularly enjoyed D-CRUNCH for their energy and B1A4’s Sandeul, with his beautiful singing voice. As for me, I found out just how much I love AB6IX (a LOT - more than I thought!!) when they performed their single Breathe as I definitely felt the most thrilled during that song. Each performance was so well done!

The time truly flew by and at the end of it all the groups all came on stage for the announcement of the previous contest’s winner (Lee Hi) and the wrap-up of the show. We waved goodbye to all of the groups as they filed offstage and then slowly filtered out of the studio. Our knees and legs felt stiff and sore from standing tightly for so long but it had been an amazing experience!

As we exited the building we realized that it was pouring rain, and we only had one umbrella between us so we dashed across the street and found shelter at the bus stop. It was refreshing to take in the air sweetened by the rain and we didn’t have to wait too long to catch a bus back to the station. Then it was two trains back to our hotel, delivery fried chicken for dinner, and then re-packing our bags in preparation for the travel day ahead before we could head to bed.

[wonderbaek04]

EXO’rDIUM DOT experience!! Day 1 at hotel + Day 1 concert day

AHello!!!! Yes! I will be writing about my EXO’rDIUM DOT experience!! Let’s get started!!

So I have actually got my tickets through SMC&C global package tour by SM!! The package I got was Superior package, which was one package better than economy, but lower than Deluxe and Premium of course! (Because I am not that rich hahahah) 

During my period of stay in Korea, I received my confirmation email from SMC&C regarding my confirmation for the concert package + my accomodation location!

So basically my package was Superior package with C course! The type of courses change each time there is a concert, so better check when you are booking for your tickets! 

Superior package with C course : second cheapest course for 4D3N stay at allocated hotel by SMC&C, which means I attended both days concert of EXO’rDIUM DOT in Seoul! 

I was assigned to IBIS STYLE AMBASSADOR SEOUL GANGNAM which was at Samseong station! Surprise surprise it was at Samseong station haha! (FYI COEX ARTIUM is at Samseong station lol!!) My hotel was a 10 minutes walk away from Samseong station exit 3! 

Apparently, I did not take picture of my hotel room because I was just too tired and I knocked out after I came back from Vivapolo on 26th May after I checked in. 

This was the same day EXO waterbottle was released and Baekhyun’s water bottle was sold out by evening asdfghjk I was so pissed but it’s ok, all is good. 

SMC&C tour counter was only opened at 7pmkst at my hotel, however, I was out so I only reached back at my hotel at about 830pmkst and there was still lots of fans queuing up to collect the souvenirs and drawing of concert seats + surround viewing tickets! 

Before my turn to draw my tickets, there was this pair of china fans who were under GP as well, they were so inconsiderate to the max! They were looking at the taiwan fans ticket seat section and judging them, mentioning that they did not get good seats etc, they spoke so loudly that the taiwan fan stared at them, but obviously they didn’t care. It’s so sad that they gave off this kind of vibe when all fans should be kind to one another... 

Moving on! I had to draw tickets for both days concert on the same night! Apparently due to luck, both days tickets that was drawn was from the same section and same row!!! What kind of luck is that??

For day 1 I got C12, Row 2, seat 11 & 12 (aisle seats)

For day 2 I got C12, Row 2, seat 1 & 2 (aisle seats again!!!) Below is the seating plan for your reference LOL!

I was able to see the stage so clearly!! I even saw Shim Jaewon personally as the sound control was just behind my section~ 

In my GP, there are events for us to attend. You will either attend on 27th or 28th May morning, mine was assigned on 28th morning~ Basically they gave us tickets to watch EXOrDIUM in Seoul surround viewing! So I shall talk about this later in my day 2 post!

Souvenirs that was given to my package!

Message card from EXO, EXOrDIUM DOT pouch, EXO pen, hand mirror (the one on top of the pouch), sticker, message paper (to be written for exo), EXO logo paper clips, discount voucher (quite useless), mini poster (the poster tube was really big but such a small poster LOL), colour pencils (for us to use to write message to exo on the message paper) and an EXO’rDIUM DOT magnetic board with EXO members’ face magnetic.... 

and here are the photo of my goods ready for concert day wew! I really like the EXO band so much, the colours selected for Baekhyun and Chanyeol was so pretty!! (I wore it on my wrist to concert no joke)

So on Day 1 of concert day, I headed down to the venue at about 930amkst, and arrived at Jamsil stadium in less than 15minutes away as I was only 1 station away! I informed the tour desk the night before that I would be going to concert venue on my own and that I would like to collect my Merchandise goods at the concert venue itself! (basically if you don’t want to follow the tour, you have to tell the staff before hand!) 

One should never forget to take photo!!!! Here’s me below!

So I walked around aimlessly to get myself well versed with the venue itself. The vibe of the whole place was really good and everyone was so excited for the concert as it has been almost a year since Kfans saw EXO again! (More than a year for me as I didn’t attend EXO’rDIUM in SG) I was awed by the atmosphere at Jamsil stadium, everything felt so unreal, I still couldn’t believe that I am about to meet EXO again, and meeting them at their home country, experience one of the most powerful concert here in Seoul with korean fans who are so dedicated towards exo! 

As I walked around, I manage to collect some cute fansupport!! photos below~ (some photos were taken at home instead haha)

Got this Sehun transparent fan from this chinese fan, as I was alone, I only managed to get one. BUT CHEAPO JIA, I went to the other fan who was giving out this same fan and showed her my sehun official pcs and she gladly gave me another one!!!! (super not paiseh about this but since I am already there why not hahaha) 

This really cute Suho, Chanyeol and Sehun mini square cards????

Randomyl got into this queue where this fan was giving out like emw stickers!!! All I wanted was Baekhyun emw sticker but it was already gone (damn it Baekhyun, your goods are always the first to be gone and sold out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) so I got Chanyeol instead! please pardon my disgusting nails that I’ve been trying to hide all this while....... 

In addition, I saw this 1,000won lottery event created by fans! Basically you choose photocards within a huge pile, there will be a paper inside the bag that says either you won something or not! Prizes ranged from mini standee to official albums to DOLLS YES EXO DOLLS OMG

So I just decided to give it a try... AND I WON AN XOXO ALBUM hahaha!! Lucky me! 

So actually I did not collect a lot of fansupport on day 1 as I was just walking around aimlessly! Totally missed most of the fansupport I wanted to collect huhu... 

So let’s talk about the main fansupport that I’ve been wanting to collect.... BAEKHYUNTOWN!!!! they create really pretty fansupports for Baekhyun!! Previously they did banners, this time round they did transparent fans (T-T if you know me well, I love handfans and emw stickets a lot a lot, so this fansupport was really special and meaningful to me!)

As I mentioned on my twitter... the queue for Baekhyuntown fansupport was really crazy, you can check out the tweet here. 

The time allocated for Baekhyuntown fansupport to start was at 3pmkst... I started queuing at 130pmkst.... Can you actually imagine Baekhyun’s fame here in Seoul Korea??? It is insane! 

All the Kfans was like “omg this is crazy, I thought it starts at 3pm???” then they start running to find the queue. It was really hectic but thank god I was queuing under the shade... 

I almost cried when I got the fan from BAEKHYUNTOWN, that emotional rush was something I can never forget, my eyes were so watery upon receiving it!!!! I rushed off to take picture with my lightsick, it was so beautiful, so so so beautiful and mesmerizing...  

On the side note, let me tell you something that happened, apparently this 2 kfans were queuing infront of me, when we were reaching the queue, one of them actually did not have a ticket! (requirements was d-day concert ticket + Baekhyun official photocards), so she asked her friend to queue behind me and she will pass her ticket after collectin! And so they did, but as they were passing the ticket, Baekhyuntown incharge actually caught their actions and told her girl, “please leave the queue as you have no tickets, your actions is not right and you will not be able to take the handfan”

ASDFGHJKL WHAT!! Can you imagine it? both of them queued for 1 1/2 hours just to get it but hopes were dashed when they got caught... so don’t try to cheat them, they know it better than you do...

Moving on, it was soon 5pmkst and I decided to move into the concert venue and get some rest before the concert started! 

Obviously photos cannot be missed!

My EXO’rDIUM Baekhyun fan + Lightstick + EXO’rDIUM DOT Baekhyun transparent fan! I AM A BAEKHYUN TRASH!!!!!!

I connected my lightstick to my Wyth app after entering the venue, apparently, after I connected my lightstick, it gets controlled by the sound check team! I didn’t even have to on my lightstick for the concert! It goes on on its own hehe, I was pretty amazed at it and thankfully to have personally experienced it myself! 

As you guys already knew what happened during the concert, I will just briefly talk about a few things!! Some photos first!

Yes I witness Chanyeol’s AL infront of my eyes OTL sorry I didn’t focus the picture because I was too excited to see it... 

I was actually a bit far from the stage on Day 1 tbh... but nevertheless, it was all good!

If you look at the phot below, Baekhyun is always directly infront of my eyes... I was so excited for Day 2 because... I would be even closer!!

Look at this beautiful silver ocean! I am happy to be part of this beautiful ocean at EXO’rDIUM! 

I saw Sehun AL infront of my very eyes too??? But I couldn’t record any cause I was caught before I even could hahah!! However, I only manage to film a short part of LMR ending!!! (really short no kidding) and my photoshop takes forever to render the video... So I won’t be posting it here, I will upload to my twitter when it is ready!! Alongside with some Baekhyun fancam maybe~ 

As I don’t have any further pictures (because I was screaming instead if filming), let’s talk about how EXO came out from the screen and started singing LOTTO!!! I was so shocked to hear the legendary Lipstick Chateau sang by Baekhyun!! Ever since they performed on Music shows to promote Lotto album, I have been wanting to hear it live for myself. I feel really blessed to be able to witness Lotto with my very own eyes!! (and ears hahaha omg)

I felt so surreal that my wishlist for songs to be heard live has been fulfilled!!! 

Monster, Lotto, Cloud 9, For Life, Drop That, Playboy, Artificial Lover, Love Me Right, Call Me Baby, Transformer and acoustics section of EXO’rDIUM by EXO!

 I am especially thankful to have heard Lotto, Monster, Love Me Right and Transformer honestly, I really love that song so so much. I felt that these few songs have fully shown EXO’s potential fully in terms of vocal, rap and dance.

As day 1 concert slowly came to an end, I bid goodbye to EXO members with a heavy heart. I watched them slowly walked behind the screen, with the screen slowly closing on me, I felt so much regret, should I have screamed louder? Should I have jumped higher when they told us to? 

But to our surprise, EXO came back again to the stage, with a big surprise! Support cards for EXO-Ls... 

EXO-Ls, Let’s walk together~ 

Aren’t they the sweetest Angel on earth? 

Photo credits: opportunist |  기회주의자

The whole concert was really nothing but amazing. EXO members were so happy to be able to express themselves full to fans as there was no language barrier between EXO and fans. I am going to end this here because I want to fully express how I feel on my Day 2 post instead!!! 

[thebiggaylion]

Jauz @ EDC Orlando 2016

Dudes, it is NEXT WEEK.  NEXT WEEK is EDC Orlando 2017!  One of my friends who lives near Tinker Field says some of the scaffolding has already shown up at the festival grounds as of yesterday, and there’s a few containers here and there which aren’t normally present, so it looks like Insomniac may already be underway and getting ready!  I remember reading a while back that Insomniac can get a festival set up in under two weeks, so if they aren’t there by now, then they’re gonna be working even faster than they claimed previously!  I think I might stop by there tomorrow, while I’m out running some errands for this years costume (don’t worry, it’s still the same costume, just some needed changes/additions), to see how they’re doing!

To continue the theme from the past two weeks, here’s the set that immediately follows last week:  Jauz!  I wasn’t overly excited to see him, but the folks I hung out that year with were all about it, so there’s a good amount of wandering during this set heh.  BUT FIRST, here’s a bit of the opening ceremony... or so it was supposed to be:

YouTube | Facebook | Instagram So in doing research for this, a question that’s always nagged me was answered.  Is the “opening ceremony” played on subsequent days of a festival legit?  Like, why would you declare an opening ceremony on anything other than the first day?  Also, why does this opening ceremony look so much different than EDC Las Vegas?  Well, it turns out this is NOT the Opening Ceremony, even though the set times / show schedule said it would be.  This is actually the Visions of Nature interstitial, which looks EXACTLY like the Visions of Nature interstitial they played at EDC Las Vegas.  But, they absolutely did play the Opening Ceremony the day before at the right time (just before Borgeous), so I’m not sure why they changed the order on Day 2.  I say they changed the order because (spoilers) I know for a fact that they played the Opening Ceremony right after this set, which is where the schedule said Visions of Nature was supposed to play!  But, at least we got to see everything (and they didn’t just skip it) throughout the day.

Also, when you’re done watching this, watch the video again.  This time, don’t look at what I’m trying to shoot... instead, look at the other headliners as they notice me.  I get a lot of raised eyebrows folks trying to get a look without making it obvious.  But then there’s the headliners that literally duck out of the shot when they realize what I’m doing.  Those are my kind of headliners right there haha.  Thanks guys!  Finally, I wasn’t able to find the song they used for this either, but there’s talk that they used custom songs this year (not just popular ones from that year in dance music).  The music you hear at the end is from the Smirnoff House I’m standing close to.  According to the schedule of set times, that was the beginning of Cid’s set (even though it was inside the “house”, they had speakers outside so those waiting in the “yard” out front (and those walking by, no doubt) could listen in.

YouTube | Facebook | Instagram After walking into the kineticFIELD VIP area, I decided to get some unique shots of various vantage points that I’m sure are unique to the VIP experience.  Not that they’re any BETTER, mind you, I just think it’s interesting to see things in ways that aren’t the perfectly positioned or edited shots you normally see of stage productions, especially festivals.  The ramp up to the kineticFIELD viewing area can be seen on the left, and this shot is facing west down the front of kineticTEMPLE.  Oh, and by the way, those bits of black scaffolding to the right?  Those are the kinds that were laying on Tinker Field (and McCracken Field) in the reconnaissance photos my friend sent me yesterday!  Also, final bit, check out the mesh used in the curved bits surrounding the LED screen... I thought it was metal, but it isn’t, it’s just holes cut into what looks like a vinyl banner.  That makes it way easier to transport, and I’m sure it’s cheaper than cut metal, so I get why the did it, but I hadn’t noticed it wasn’t “solid” before.  Neat! Jauz x Ghastly - Ghosts N' Sharks https://soundcloud.com/jauzofficial/ghostsnsharks

YouTube | Facebook | Instagram So I’ve moved onto the kineticFIELD VIP viewing deck for this shot.  Sure, you get pretty close, but the angle is just so... off, that it kinda takes away from the experience.  The lights of kineticTEMPLE never really reach you like they’re meant to at that angle, so you miss a bit of the sensory overload that comes with standing in the dance floor area.  Plus for me, the people out on the dance floor have way more energy and are much more fun to be around.  Speaking of, you’ll see me pan over and zoom in on some people.  Those are the folks that I hung out with this year.  They party a little differently than I do, and apparently that comes with hanging all over each other the entire time.  I’ve learned that the guy behind The Big Gay Lion’s traits sometimes do carry over into how I behave... for instance, don’t touch me while I’m in the groove!  Haha The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey - Closer (Jauz Remix) https://soundcloud.com/jauzofficial/closer

Find this photo on Instagram | Find this photo on Facebook That’s a photo on the viewing deck of the right (east) owl... tower?  Statue?  Whatever, the end-cap to the kineticFIELD stage that they always seem to do, with kineticTEMPLE being no exception.  There’s a screen in the “trunk” of the structure, which you got an action shot of in the previous video.

Find this photo on Instagram | Find this photo on Facebook Welp, time to pee!  Haha  Took this shot inside the little trailer units they bring in to the VIP section for those “air-conditioned restrooms”.  It’s true, it had A/C, for all the good a window unit does in the Florida heat when you leave the doors open!  I don’t think it did much for the smell, but there was a walk-in area (to my right in this photo) that was just urinals, and the one or two stalls with sit-down toilets were to the left of me.  Immediately to my right was a sink, and I think there may have been a sink in front of me, given the empty soap dispenser skeleton on the wall there.  There was also this big mirror that just begged for a selfie.  Yeah, it might be weird when it’s CLEARLY visible that there’s a group of dudes heeding the call of nature behind me, but I did my best to not make a big deal out of bathroom mirror selfie-ing around them all haha

Find this photo on Instagram | Find this photo on Facebook I saw this on Day 1 when I was making kandi bracelets, and wanted to try it out.  It’s a HotPoint Lightbox.  Apparently it did a stutter video kind of thing, which I don’t know I knew was gonna happen heh, but below is how the video turned out:

YouTube | Facebook | Instagram What a neat little thing!  It was meant to make a bit of an animated experience to share on the manufacturer’s app / website.  Apparently they’re gonna have another one this year (website as of November, 2017 says “Interactive photo booths presented by Hotpoint”), so hopefully you’ll see another one of these from me in the future!  And you know, I’ve been meaning to update my social media imagery for a while... so I’m going to use THIS little video as my Facebook profile video, staring TODAY!  Edit:  apparently Facebook doesn’t allow Pages to use a profile video.  Boo!

Find this photo on Instagram | Find this photo on Facebook Alright, time to walk out of VIP.  I don’t think I had yet to make it out of there before this guy came up asked me for a picture.  If I’m remembering correctly we didn’t have a huge amount of interaction.  Maybe that was my fault, not sure.  Even though I don’t recall a lot of conversation, he was all smiles, and who doesn’t love connecting with someone who’s all smiles?  Also, in what might be my greatest connection story yet, I was able to track down this guy (because, you guessed it, he texted me the photo instead of using Air Drop), and it turns out he does the same stuff that I do here!  I’m talking about documeting his rave adventures through Instagram photos and videos, as well as a YouTube channel of his festival videos!  He’s even got a character (even though I don’t believe the character was present in the photo above?)!  He tells me he’s going to EDC Orlando 2017, so maybe I’ll get to run into him again this year!  Make sure to check him out on Instagram as @GingerJesusEDM and on his YouTube channel as well!  He’s got other videos from EDC Orlando 2016, so go look!

Find this photo on Instagram | Find this photo on Facebook I’ve just exited VIP, right next to the big sign showing the festival grounds map and schedule that you saw in my previous post (you can see the fence for Haus 56 behind us, not to mention the Haus 56 cup this headliner is holding!).  You can see the Dream Wheel and Smirnoff House behind me, for some perspective as to where we’re at.  I believe I was Air Drop-ed this pic, for I’ve got no record of it entering my phone other than it existing on my Camera Roll.  Gotta change that this year, I’m really missing out!

Download High Res (7.6 MB) | Download Low Res (1.0 MB) I absolutely loved the “When I’m Bored” meme that included Nigel Thornberry, so I NEEDED to capture this totem when I saw it.  I took a set of Burst Photos because it was in motion, intending to simply pick out the best shot.  But, since I have the content, I might as well animate it, right?  There’s no audio, but if the meme is known to you, then you’ll be thinking of this song: Sporty-O - Let Me Hit It (Audiostalkers Mix) https://soundcloud.com/illeven-eleven-recordings/sporty-o-let-me-hit-it-audiostalkers-original-mix

YouTube | Facebook | Instagram I’ve joined the people (the same ones in the video above) at this point.  See?  Don’t you get a much better view of the stage down here?  You can see that tiny screen on the statue in motion, themed towards the big circular one in the center (would you expect anything less from Insomniac?).  You can also see the Nigel totem from previous GIF, as well as the Smirnoff House in the distance at the end of the video. graves & Coolights - Say Things (Crankdat Re-Crank) https://soundcloud.com/crankdatvip/say-things-remix Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) [Kid Kamillion Edit] https://soundcloud.com/kid-kamillion/heads-will-roll-kid-kamillon

Download High Res (11.1 MB) | Download Low Res (1.0 MB) Remember earlier when I linked to KnowYourMeme.com?  I was worried that the page was marked “not safe for work”.  Does that belong on The Big Gay Lion’s page?  Well, apparently I had forgotten that I took a set of Burst Photos of a “dickbutt” meme totem.  Doesn’t get much more questionable than that!  Haha  Also, see those trailers to the right?  Those are the VIP bathrooms.  Left side was for girls, right was for boys.  They had several of them back there, each one had a line, but obviously it went quick.  If you’re curious, none of the trailers pictured was the one I used!  Haha

Download High Res (17.5 MB) | Download Low Res (3.5 MB) We might not get all the huge rides that EDC Las Vegas does, but we get our own versions of them.  Behold, the staple of every EDC event it seems:  a big ol’ ferris wheel.  This year we had the Dream Wheel, but other vendors have provided various different ones in years past.  This one had lots of colorful lights on it, so I think I like this one the best (for example, last year’s wheel could only light up red, white, and blue).  Also, I didn’t notice until I animated it, but the “I Eat Ass” totem from this post makes an appearance!  I was always so focused on Spongebob going ham that I never looked behind him to see what that totem said!

Find this photo on Instagram | Find this photo on Facebook This lady caught me on my way out of the kineticFIELD dance floor area, heading back to VIP.  I think I had forgotten something in my locker, and was heading back to get it.  Apparently she saved me in her phone as “Lion King”, she tells me!  I get that a lot... that, or his proper name, “Simba”, is what people will call me (and by ‘call me’, I mean excitedly yell at me when they see me for the first time haha) when I’m at these events.  I don’t mind, lots of pop culture references are everywhere.  And, dude’s totally more famous than I am!  Plus, I do get a bit more excited than most when someone drops that one song from the movie.  Hopefully this year my new costume addition will make it abundantly clear who I am (don’t worry, you’ll see the new costume piece eventually!).  But anyway, make sure to check her out on Twitter as @chikisbrava and on Instagram as @chikisbrav!  Also, remember what I was talking about, when I talked about my kind of headliners?  Take a look at the chick behind us.  No judgement, no sneer... she’s smiling at us smiling!  She might be her friend, but that’s not the point... they’re both my kinds of headliner!

Ya’ll... I’ve got more content to showcase, but I’ve only got time for one more of these #ThrowbackThursday posts before EDC Orlando 2017.  ONE.  It’s NEXT WEEK, ya’ll, I’m so excited!  I wonder how much stuff (photos and videos) I’ll get during this year’s event?  Man, I hope it’s a lot.  Can’t wait for the new layout and stages!  Love ya’ll, see ya next time! 🏳️‍🌈🦁❤

ONE.  MORE.  WEEK.  Still plenty of time to follow me everywhere, though~! Facebook | Tumblr | YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Web