#having a neon highlights moment apparently

[mlobsters]

shut up, mulder. i'm playing baseball.

digital painting, ~22 hours - drawing video below

the x-files s6e19 the unnatural / come and go with me to that land - mark snow, jesse l. martin

was going to use just the song from this scene in the video but thought it might be fun to instead to use the whole audio from the scene. dialogue captioned, white for scully and yellow for mulder.

my other xfiles art

[ofmdrecaps]

11/13-14/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Con O'Neill; Nathan Foad; Kristian Nairn; Anapela Polata'ivao; Vico Ortiz; Jes Tom; Zayre Ferrer; Petition Status; Articles; Transgender Awareness Week; Love Notes;

Hey crew! So I am trying VERY HARD to be better about alt text across all the platforms, and it's taking way longer for me to get things out because of it. If anyone has a good idea on how to do those more easily will you please let me know? I do want to try to be more accessible (and I know the Repo is absolutely not terribly accessible at the moment). Anyway-- thanks Crew! Happy Friday!

= David Jenkins =

Chaos Dad out partying!

Source: King Malisz's Instagram

Apparently (and I didn't know this, so thank you to the folks who explained to me wtf was going on) apparently CIS is considered a slur on twitter and will literally make your posts un-retweetable, and so Dad decided to go full hog and cause Cissmegeddon the other day. Props to our crewmates who helped him irritate the shit out of Elon.

Source: David Jenkins Twitter

= Rhys Darby =

Rhys is going to Australia in April! Apr 30, 2025 at the Princess Theatre in Brisbane you can see the legend in person! Are you in town then? Get tickets here!

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Twitter

He's also announced all his UK & Ireland Tour Dates for 2025! You can buy tickets here!

Source: Rhys' Instagram

Reminder about new Atlanta show at the Helium clubs Nov 29, 30, and Dec 1st! Get tickets here!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rhys Darby (@rhysiedarby)

Source: Rhys Instagram Stories

= Taika Waititi =

Interior Chinatown is almost here! Remember to check it out on November 19th on HULU! Taika was out doing lots of promos with the crew!

Source: Sthanlee's Instagram

Source: Variety Instagram

Source: Jerabraham

= Con O'Neill =

Con is going to be in a new sitcom SAS Rogue Heroes! Thank you to Irene Adler for finding this! Sun.co.uk Article.

Source: Irene Adler's Instagram

= Nathan Foad =

Nathan sent us a bathroom selfie-- and ALSO shared this awesome review of Voyage of the Damned (the book he narrated) by _brainbowie_ on instagram! OH AND JUST BY THE WAY-- IT WAS NOMINATED for Audible's "Best Audiobooks of the Year 2024 in both the SFF list AND the Top 20 overall!!"

ANNND if you have read it and would like to help Voyage of the Damned out -- please put a review up on Audible! Let the world know how much Nathan's voice should be cherished! In addition - if you haven't already, please help Nathan and the author out by voting for it on Goodreads for 2024's Goodreads Choice Awards!

Source: Goodreads

= Kristian Nairn =

Kristian was kind enough to share a playlist featuring his love of synthwave!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

= Anapela Polataivao =

Source: The Guerilla Connection Instagram

BTS of The Guerilla Connection!

Source: TheGuerillaConnection

= Vico Ortiz =

Vico had a great time at their first stand up comedy show! More random IG stories of it!

Source: Vico's Instagram Stories

= Jes Tom =

Jes Tom is out at Little Secrets Comedy tonight at the New York Comedy Festival if you're in town! November 15 @ 10:30 pm - 11:30 pm!

Source: Jes Tom's Instagram

= Zayre Ferrer =

Thank you so much to @adoptourcrew and Zadry Ferrer for highlighting this awesome Fellowship award awarded to our dear writer Zayre Ferrer! They were named one of the #inevitablefoundation's 2024 Visionary Fellows!

Source: Zadryg.bsky via @adoptourcrew

== Petition Status ==

Great news! Up to 90,150 signatures! To all our new OFMD fans out there, have you signed the petition yet? Thank you luci5459.bsky.social for sharing! (and @adoptourcrew for promoting!) https://www.change.org/p/save-our-flag-means-death

Source: Luci5429.bsky.social

== Articles ==

More articles featuring OFMD and Zayre Ferrer! Thanks @adoptourcrew!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Bsky

== Transgender Awareness Week ==

Happy Transgender Awareness week crew! Sending all my love out to our trans siblings out there <3 Especially know, please know how much we see and love you, and we have your backs no matter what comes, okay? Wanna learn more about Transgender Awareness Week and how you can help be a better ally? Visit GLAAD's website.

Source: Glaad Website

== Love Notes ==

Wow, now as you can tell, a lots gone on the last couple days! Especially with Rhys! Jeez! Everything seems to be ramping up, which is pretty great -- I don't know if you all are feeling the energy too, but it's nice to see some good things going on in these uncertain times. I know things are still rough right now, and some of you are itching to get out and make a difference. Please know that if you are feeling up for it now, it's totally okay to do that. Find things to do in your local community, find out how ot help online-- whatever you feel comfortable with. --and if you're not quite ready yet, that's okay too. I took two days off work this week despite having a huge project to finish, because I got sick, and my brain told me it needed a break, that there had been too much. I know not everyone has the luxery of doing that-- but if you do, please take some time if you need it. I've probably mentioned this before, but something that always bothers me about the phrase "You can't help anyone else if you don't help yourself!" is that that's not entirely true. YOU CAN. You can do all sorts of stuff without helping yourself, and by tiring yourself, and burning yourself out. But it's not sustainable, and you can't do it forever. You are so very strong, and I bet you could help so many people, and family and burn brightly until there was nothing left of you-- but that's not what any of us want. We want you to be okay on the other side of all this-- and sometimes that means taking a break even when things feel like they just can't wait. We care so much for you lovelies. Please care for yourselves too if you need it <3

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by You Are Another Me (@you.are.another.me)

Source: You are another me Instagram

[bizarrequazar]

GJ and ZZH Updates — September 03-09

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This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

[Glossary of names and terms] [Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]

09-03 → 361° posted five photos from a fansite of Gong Jun at an airport, highlighting their clothes.

09-04 → The watch brand Tissot posted a video teasing their endorsement with Gong Jun that would be announced two days later. Caption: "Neon lights in the dark night, super players enter the venue and wait for the excitement, wait and see[.] The new Tissot global brand spokesperson will be announced soon! He is a young actor with unlimited possibilities, an occasional soul singer, and a constant happy player. Who is he? See you on September 6th!"

→ The Instagram posted ten photos of "Zhang Zhehan" at a glacier.

→ A teaser for yet another song (this one with very uncharacteristically sexual lyrics) was posted by Ranyi.

09-05 → The Instagram posted nine photos of "Zhang Zhehan" doing a rockabilly-style photoshoot. #ZhangZhehan trended on Twitter.

→ The lyricist for the Zhang Sanjian song made a tweet promoting it. He used the #TheRealZhangZhehan hashtag, indicating that he was likely fed what to tweet considering people outside the fandom wouldn't know to use that. His social media history indicates that he previously had some decent success, but hit a rough patch last year that he's currently trying to recover from.

09-06 → 361° posted a photo ad of Gong Jun in collaboration with the Asian Games.

→ Gong Jun posted a commercial he did for Tissot, announcing his new endorsement with them. (1129 kadian) Caption: "With love, always have fun[.] I am very happy to become the global brand ambassador of Tissot[.] Put on #Tissot super player series with me# Right now, you and I are super player" This was reposted by Tissot. Fan Observation: Some Dilireba fans apparently think that the 88888888 written with his signature in the commercial is a reference to her. If any of those fans are reading this, I'm sorry to burst your bubble but 8 is just his favourite number.

→ Tissot posted the same commercial. (1129 kadian) Caption: "Super players, you've been waiting a long time[.] Welcome actor @ Gong Jun Simon in becoming the global brand ambassador of Tissot! Every moment, explore endless possibilities[,] have fun and unlock more excitement. Super player attitude, defined by you"

→ The limited edition watch released for the endorsement announcement sold out in five minutes, and the other endorsed models sold out at all physical stores in Chengdu. CPFs were enough of a majority in the sales to receive a shoutout online from one of the sales associates, and there was some drama on Weibo of solos trying to report down CPFs' posts about their purchases.

→ #GongJun trended on Twitter.

→ Gong Jun posted three photos of himself from his shoot with Tissot to his Instagram. Caption: "Cool!" (originally in English)

→ Gong Jun Outdoor Office posted two doodles Gong Jun did for the Tissot announcement. Caption: "Ah! Art! (The art has two wheels and the single door!)"

→ Tissot posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun. Several more were also released on their website and Taobao. Fan Observations: - Tissot mentioned Word of Honor in the blurb about Gong Jun on their website! [screenshot] - Several of the photo ads includes Gong Jun sitting at a diner booth with "5" in neon. Combining this with the neon "November 29" used elsewhere in the ad campaign makes an easy 51129 kadian.

→ The Instagram posted ten photos of "Zhang Zhehan" in a forest.

→ Hogan tweeted a photo ad of Gong Jun.

09-07 → Zhenguoli posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Tissot posted a video (flashing lights cw) of behind the scenes footage from their photoshoot with Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)

→ Gong Jun's studio posted a video of behind the scenes footage from the Tissot commercial. Caption: "Explore the secrets of time and seal the eternal hour. Let's keep the beauty in the minutes with @ Gong Jun Simon~" BGM is Tama by Else.

→ Hogan tweeted a commercial and two photo ads of Gong Jun.

→ The Instagram posted ten photos of "Zhang Zhehan" and scenery.

→ Gong Jun attended another Jay Chou concert (purely as an audience member this time.)

09-08 → MYFM, a Malaysian radio station, announced that they had invited Zhang Zhehan to a music festival they are organizing around the topic of AI. (Ironic.) At the time of this post nothing has been said about "him" (read: the scam gang) agreeing to attend. [article] The radio station is the same one that put one of the Zhang Sanjian songs as #1 on their charts when it hadn't been released yet back in January.

→ #ZhangZhehan trended on Twitter.

→ Zhenguoli posted five photo ads of Gong Jun. They later posted another.

→ BEAST posted a commercial with a voice over done by Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)

→ Tissot posted four photos from their shoot with Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)

→ The Instagram posted more of the same.

→ Hogan tweeted two photo ads of Gong Jun.

09-09 → Tissot posted one of their photo ads of Gong Jun to their Instagram.

→ Gong Jun's studio posted a vlog of him at the Jay Chou concert. Caption: "Excited heart, trembling hands! The immersive concert experience is here~ @ Gong Jun Simon (no delay version) is a fan who works hard to sing along"

→ Zhenguoli posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ 361° released a commercial for the Asian Games featuring Gong Jun.

→ The Instagram posted five photos of "Zhang Zhehan" in a field.

→ Hogan tweeted two photo ads of Gong Jun.

Additional Reading: → N/A

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[londonspirit]

Our Flag Means Death is special. From creating a surrealist version of the Golden Age of Piracy, to centering a later-in-life coming-out story, to including people or many races, gender identities, abilities, and cool freaking hairstyles, to moving production for season two from LA to New Zealand in order to highlight the beauty of the land, Lord of the Rings-Style, and build a majority Kiwi crew. It’s makes our pop cultural heart swell to see a production being so intentional with its decisions.

But nowhere is that intentionality more apparent than in OFMD’s music. More than just fun, jokey needledrops, each song in Season One acts as a counterpoint to the action, adding emotion and depth to what becomes a surprising queer love story. A lot of the credit for the show’s unique tone can go to Music Supervisor Maggie Phillips and her team. Leah Schnelbach recently got to speak with Maggie about baroque pop, “The Beautiful Ones”, making “the non-obvious choice”, and—the long-awaited SEASON TWO.

Season two debuts on Max in the U.S. on October 5, and Neon on October 6 and is coming soon to Sky Open in New Zealand.

(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)

How do you start? Do you get the script and let you mind wander, or do you pick a period and do a deep dive on songs from a period?

Maggie Phillips: It depends on the project. For [OFMD] I got the scripts—at least the first four or five—so I had enough to have a sense of the love story, and the themes. I made thematic playlists. Sometimes I do character driven playlists. But across the board it starts with scripts and playlists. Then I send the playlist to the director or showrunner and we start a back and forth. And this one, same, except that I’d worked with David Jenkins before on People of Earth, so I knew his taste already, and it’s very similar to mine, which is very melodic, we both like baroque pop, we both like a lot of classical elements in our music and in our pop.

And he’s very encouraging of me to—I realized when we worked on People of Earth—he pushed me to go weird. Some people have me rein it back, but he pushed me to go even further. So, I just start a general playlist, thematically driven, mostly romantic. We wanted to play up the romance in the first season, so a lot of romantic music and songs, pop songs about unrequited love, pining, heartbreak, heart-loss, it’s been a long time since I started these – longing, leaving behind a part of your life and moving on to another part, transition…and then another part was just like, ocean life! And the sea! I made a lot of playlists and sent them over to David, and what actually happens—sometimes we’ll pull from the general playlist. I work closely with the editors on specific scenes and send over specific playlists for each scene that we were listening for. I’d make playlists of 500 songs, and then listen to that for each moment—mostly end credits in Season One—and then send playlists over for spots. But that’s how it starts, and that’s the fun part.

That’s about twenty-five percent of my job. The rest is clearing songs and tracking rights and dealing with budgets, and blah blah blah. (laughs)

One of my favorites is Moondog. How did Moondog… happen?

MP: That’s a song that I’ve had, I love that song. His music is very avant garde, there’s only a handful of his songs that I thought could be synch-able. Even that one, I had saved on a playlist years ago, and hadn’t pitched it to anyone. It hadn’t worked in any moment, this I did not put on the general playlist, i tried specifically for the end of the pilot, and I almost didn’t send it because I thought, there’s no way they’ll go for this. And luckily the editor, the editor is sometimes the middleman, they’ll try out the stuff and show it to David. They’re in the rooms with David more than I am. So like sometimes I’ll send my stuff out to editors and not know which one they’re going to show. I’ll send them 15-20 songs, and they’ll show the director or showrunner three to five choices. But Hilda [Rasula], the editor of the pilot was very collaborative and communicative, and she responded and said which ones she liked and would try, and I knew this was one of them, so I was excited. There was a handful of songs that I loved for that pilot, but this one was one of my top favorites, and she said she was going to show it, but I still didn’t think this was going to be the one they’d pick.

Sometimes I’ll get an email saying we’re putting on [one of the choices], but I didn’t get it for this one, so I got to watch the pilot like an audience member not knowing which song they selected—I immediately knew it from the first note, and was like, “Oh they went with Moondog!” And then I got to watch and see how it works.

It worked beautifully.

MP: That was a really hard spot to nail, and that song is perfect because it’s melancholy and wistful, but there’s also hope. It hits both notes, and he just left his—you have to gloss over that so you can still love Stede, but he left his fuckin’ family. He’s having this intense mid-life crisis and he does what some people dream of, which is starting over, but most people don’t do, you know? I think we hit both notes with that song. And we wanted to hit the humanity on all those characters, we see Jim, we see a few characters in that montage. And the humanity of all of them being in the boat at sea all alone…

Heading out!

MP: Yeah! For the adventure of their lifetimes! (laughs)

It was perfect, I thought. I know from other interviews with you that you had a 300-song playlist for season one, were you able to use any for this season?

MP: For season two? Yes. I definitely we still… we still haven’t scratched the tip of the iceberg like there’s so many songs I have for this show… and there’s only so many songs in the show. There are fifteen in season one and even fewer in season two, and we only have eight episodes to work with. We use one in Episode 1: “Strawberry Letter 23”, the Shuggie Otis. We used one in the trailer, “The Beautiful Ones” by Prince…

That was uhhh pretty great!

MP: That was one of the first songs—I think the first song that David and I spoke about for the show?

Oh! Like, before season one started?

MP: Yeah, even before we spoke about “The Chain”—I can’t remember if “Beautiful Ones” came from David or me? But we talked about Prince and we both bonded on the fact that we loved that song specifically. That literally was the first song I had in my head for the whole show. I think in season one the estate was off-limits because it was soon after his passing, but then by season two his music was licensable again. I’ve been doing this for almost 18 years, and it’s the first time [I’ve licensed his music]. And he’s one of my top ten artists of all time.

When we posted the trailer, I’m pretty sure the tweet I wrote was just screaming about “Beautiful Ones”, I was so excited.

MP: My Instagram post I did like a purple heart, I made my own Prince purple heart background, and put the trailer on top of a ton of purple hearts, and I put a crown on top of one of them. Just the teenage glee of ohmygod, we got a Prince song!

Were there any songs that were absolute no, whether because they were overused, or they just didn’t fit?

MP: There’s one from season one and one from season two, and the one from season one is “Perfect Day”, for the reason you just said. I think it’s been overused, that was one I didn’t pitch, but I kept trying to beat it—it’s an amazing song. There’s a reason it’s been used a bazillion times, cause it’s a perfect song, right? I tried so hard to beat it, and I think I did, to be honest, but there’s an inherent familiarity and comfort when you hear a song you know, and I think that helps that scene. And David was just in love with it, and I understand why, and I’m sure it was very satisfying for the audience.

The one from season two—it’s a Kate Bush. I had advised against it, but, this one I don’t think we could beat it. I had used it myself, “This Woman’s Work”, in Handmaid’s Tale. It wasn’t a song I pitched. I pitched “Running Up that Hill”—which then was in Stranger Things—I pitched that for an end of an episode in Handmaid’s Tale, and the showrunner didn’t want to use that one, but it made him remember “This Woman’s Work”, and he put it into a very controversial scene, for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale—some people hate it, and some people loved it. So, I of course read all the backlash online about using song, and people have strong opinions about it. [OFMD] was right after the Stranger Things TikTok phenomenon, and I thought “We’re gonna look like we’re copycats”, but David was like… “I don’t care.” (laughs) he said, “People have a short attention span when it comes to music and TV”, and he’s right. And it was a Taika [Waititi, OFMD’s Blackbeard/executive producer/sometimes director) song, Taika really wanted that song, he’d wanted to use that song for many years. Then I saw it cut into the episode, and I think they transformed the song. They re-contextualized it and made it their own, even so the lyrics have different meaning than I’ve ever heard listening to it previously. They clearly had a vision, and it gave me chills to watch it.

I’m excited to see how it’s used in this context.

MP: And that’s what I love about my job, you put song and image together and they both change, and in this instance it was really powerful. But I mean, I always, unless it’s a show that doesn’t care about overusing, I always tell David if I have a reaction or an opinion, and one of the things I’ll react to is if a song’s been overused, or feels uninspired—but this one felt inspired once it was cut in.

I feel like this show is so off-kilter, and it’s always surprising. So the other one that I absolutely love was the use of the Beach Boys for the Blackbeard reveal. How did you jump to that? To me that’s their meet-cute, but it’s not actually cute.

MP: No, it’s demonic/angelic, weird vocals…I had tried to use that song in a different tv show, and we got denied actually, because it was a violent scene, so I had that song on a bunch of playlists. I love that song. I think that was one that was on my general playlist. And when I’m trying out music what I do for these scenes is I’ll do a brainstorm playlist where I’ll throw on a whole bunch of songs without knowing what’s going to work and without thinking about it, just like “That’s worth trying, that’s worth trying”—I call it my kitchen sink approach—I try not to overthink what I throw onto that playlist and then I just play those songs against picture, because you never know what’s gonna click, and that’s where you get the non-obvious choices, or like, the counterpoint choices, because you don’t know until you put them together how they’re going to play off each other. And so that was one that when I tested I was like, “Oh fuck, this is beautiful.” Then I sent it to the editor, and fingers crossed that they’ll have the same reaction. I try not to color…like I don’t say in my emails which ones are my favorite, because I want them to have an unbiased reaction. But that one worked, and everyone fell in love with it.

That one, well, they’re all my favorite, but that one might be my favorite favorite. It’s such a good contrast! Stede’s almost dead, Blackbeard’s covered in gore, and then there’s these angelic voices.

MP: Right? They’re saving each other. The relationship is that they’re each others’ saviors, right? I feel like that moment, that song sort of captures that.

But without being too sappy, it’s not a song I ever hear anywhere, so it’s startling. Bigger question: I know for The Dropout you did mid-‘00s indie, because it’s a period piece, horrifyingly, that’s becoming a period piece.

MP: I know right? That made me feel old, those were songs that felt like just the other day?

Yeah (laughter) but for this, obviously it’s the Golden Age of Piracy, but it’s also kind of a surrealist fantasy did you have in mind an era, like “Oh I’m going to use a lot of ‘60s pop to create a thematic contrast”? Or more hodge-podge?

MP: It was more hodgepodge-y, and then David and I both like baroque pop, we both love a harpsichord, and that style’s heyday was ‘60s and ‘70s, and that’s where my sensibility—I love music from that time period. There’s psychedelic rock, and there’s just so much cool stuff that happened back then. It has a timeless classic feel, and then there’s yacht rock happening.

I’m a sucker for yacht rock.

MP: I am too! And it fits the whole fantastical/dude/extreme-mid-life crisis. I hate to call it Dad Music, but there’s an element of that. And not that I think this is a male-driven show, but there is a lot of male energy, and it’s these two dudes’ love story, mostly. But the whole fantasy of escaping your normal existence and going off to live as a pirate has that whole dude-dad-driven energy. So that music works. But I think it if I look at my playlist, it was maybe half ‘60s-‘70s, and half more modern stuff, and that’s just the stuff that was working. For me, the way I listen for music is very emotional and gutteral it’s not as much thinking and making it logical and setting rules, it’s more just what feels right, and the we just kind of ran with it. With The Dropout we wanted a hard timestamp. I was given rules from the outset, and with Dropout, I loved working on it, but it was one of the easier shows I’ve worked on because we had those clear delineations. This song needs to be from these couple years, and it needs to have been a radio hit, there’s only so many songs you can choose from, but when you’re doing a show like Our Flag and there’s no rules at all…

Did you set any boundaries for yourself?

MP: The only boundaries I set was… stuff I hadn’t heard before. I wanted to honor the off-beat weird tone. This is something I’ve never seen before. There’s almost no comparable show. I wanted to honor that with music that was new and different.

The only show that feels similar to me is People of Earth.

MP: I loved that show so much. Not enough people watched that show.

It was so clearly ahead of its time.

MP: There’s been enough TV shows that are weird, people have… it lives in some sort of niche. But when People of Earth came out there hadn’t been enough of those kinds of shows.

Did you come into season two with a different approach at all, or was it more of a flow from Season One?

MP: The only thing that was different is that we get to dive into more of the characters, and we wanted to flesh them out a little bit. We picked a lane that was successful, and we want to stay in it. There’s so much I haven’t done yet [from the first playlist] I hope we get a third season.

Do you have a moment from a movie or TV show that is the perfect music cue for you?

MP: I like really understated music supervisions, like Succession or Roma—it’s such a beautiful movie, very understated, and there’s no score actually. The sound design is so beautiful. You don’t need music, they played up all the soundscape to score it. And there are songs, but they’re very diegetic, just like, on the radio, very elegant and quiet. I like a reserved, economical hand. Or if they make me laugh with their musical choices, like a bold unexpected choice that makes me giggle.

[fructidors]

ok here goes

mozart l'opera rock lighting infodump

by tumblr user and amateur theater tech nerd fructidors

(flash warning for some of the gifs)

disclaimer the (limited) experience i have with theater tech has been like 96.7 percent sound i have touched a lightboard exactly once in my life i am not at all qualified to make this post i've just overheard a lot of other techies talking about lights. also it has been barely a week since i watched this musical for the first time so i am just new to all of this in general. anyways onwards

i feel like what really makes the lighting in mlor stand out is that it doesn't just accentuate the set and costumes and actors, it engages dynamically with them. it doesn't feel natural, or suspend disbelief-- it's showy and bright and just as much a part of the spectacle as the copious amounts of eyeliner! and that almost feels fourth-wall-breaking in a way?

so i was going to just do my favorite moments but uh. turns out i have way too much to say so we're going song by song

overture/penser l'impossible: i love the opening and the patterning on the floor it's so dramatic (i think these are gobos? like i said. clueless) the set's so well lit here too i don't know if the gold highlights count as lighting but i am obsessed. also it sets up this show's habit of Making Everything So Red when something bad happens

also shoutout to the bubble of neon pink mozart apparently brings with him wherever he goes. icon

la chanson de l'aubergiste/le trublion: grouping these together since i don't have a ton to say about either of them

he's coming out of the floor ooooooo

no actually i love this trapdoor and how the guy's lit from below/within So Much oh my god. i think they do it again with the clown but with fog and. perfection i love it if i could change one thing about mlor i would give it a turntable because it deserves a turntable but i also think every show should have a trapdoor

transition into le trublion !!!! another cotton candy mozart moment we love to see it

bim bam boum: ok oh my god here's where it starts getting good.

sorry about the watermark on this one i literally could not get it to be normal without it but. oh my god ohghmygpod. are you seeing this. peut-être que mozart n'est pas un magicien but i genuinely think the lighting designer might be

and the dress. is a disco ball thing.

do i need to explain the stroke of lighting genius this is. she is not merely being lit she is emitting light she is a part of the lighting this was probably hell to get right but ohhhhmy god they pulled it off also i love the way mozart is lit in this entire song so much

the moving lights in this one also make me absolutely insane here are some stills of them as well as the transitions in and out of that bit in between the second and last choruses

this is one of my favorite songs lighting-wise in the whole show it's so ephemeral and dreamy and clearly gives off exactly the vibe it wants to it's visually stunning and emotionally effective no notes whatsoever and of course the transition out of it is perfect as well

six pieds sur terre: (sorry ah vous dirais-je maman but it's really just that one light on constanze) i'm equally insane about the lighting on this one it's not even that pivotal of a song it didn't have to go that hard but. somehow it did

i love the transition into it so much

but the lighting in the bridge is. oh my god it's. these are just the transitions in and out of it since they're the most like. dynamic parts but i would put in the entire bridge if i could

et enfin. at the end of the song there's this effect that i genuinely cannot get over i think it's floor lights but there's something about the color and placement of constanze and aloysia and their dresses that makes it look like they're lit from within? it's so magical i love it so much

j'accuse mon père: i am soooooo so normal about this lighting. so normal about this song in general. you have never met a person more normal about j'accuse mon père than i

this gif is weirdly low quality for some reason but look at this. the flames. mozart, isolated, in that harsh red again, his father in white, everyone else in blue.

these ones with mozart in the foreground are. they're so. images of all time oh my god you could put them in a museum. (obviously most of the credit there goes to the people with cameras but the lighting adds that stark juxtaposition that i think really gives the effect it's. effect)

i realize now that i'm probably going to be saying "this is one of the best lit songs in the show" for like half of these songs. but this really is right up there with bim bam boum in that it powerful, eye-catching lighting that adds so much weight to its emotional effects. here, the lighting colors in the scene, not over it.

ok i have hit the image limit so the rest is coming in more parts. told you i had too much to say about this

pt 2:

[kine0001-art]

'The Kindled Burrow', a hot space for many animals to mingle or drink with close friends or strangers. It's busy almost every night, the building filled with laughter and chatter. It emanated a warm atmosphere, further emphasised by the warm lighting and rustic décor making the establishment. It had a large selection of drinks too: alcoholic, non-alcoholic, juices, waters, even hot drinks like teas or coffees. The menu allowed for all inclusivity, so that you could order anything accustomed to your tastes. Anyone was welcome.

It was your first time going. After hearing so much about the bar, from friends and even from some street chatter a few times, you had decided to see what all the hype was about. It was dark out as you stood before the entrance, the sign labelling the establishment was a curled font with red highlights. Infact, most of the darkness along the streets you stood on was chased away as the almost classic-styled windows glowed with golden light and shined onto the pavements and road. The building was oozing with cosiness - you hadn't even stepped in yet and you found yourself easing your shoulders. Pushing opening the door with a paw and taking a step in, you stood on the shimmering wooden floor, sleek yet natural at the same time. The subtle cold of the outdoors was left behind at the doorway, as it felt like stepping into a living room warmed up by a log-fuelled fireplace. Your ears perked up immediately and heard laughter, while your eyes looked to the tables and bar itself, seats and barstools occupied by jolly folk grasping all kind of different drinks in their claws. The room was filled with smiles, which kindled an excitement in you. This was apparently one of the less-busy nights the place had. Seems the neon-light, reading the building's name, placed upon the velvet walls really lived upto its description. All you could see was smiles and hear was laughter, from everyone. Aside from one person. Sat in the corner of the bar on a stool, all alone and separate from the crowd, was a young goat, miserable expression on her face. She tapped a finger on the bartop, she looked impatient and agitated, which drastically stood out in the joyful environment. Everyone else seemingly ignored her, like she was invisible, occupied by their jests with one another. You did the same and ignored her. If she was annoyed and seemingly waiting for something, there was no need to disturb her - and you wanted to start meeting new people, so first thing was to get yourself a drink. You walked up to the bar, the bartender occupied by getting in on the humorous conversation with some customers. They take notice as you step up, then remember they're supposed to be tending to the bar - as a job. "Oh! Could you wait a moment? I need to get some more ice from the back, then I'll the right with you!" They have a big smile before excusing themself from the conversation with the patrons, then stepping away to a room behind the bar. Their smile was infectious, as you found yourself smiling back on impulse. "Fucking abandoning little shit." You overheard the goat grovelling to the left of you. It killed your smile as you glanced over. The goat, feeling your eyes over them, glanced back, your eyes meeting for a couple seconds. You felt awkward and were about to look away, before she suddenly spoke with the most dismissive, monotonous voice you've heard in the building. "Want something?" A couple seconds of silence between the two of you, before you came up with something to say.

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | John Wick: Chapter 4 (Stahelski, 2023)

When so many blockbusters these days are so rigorously focus grouped and committee driven and calibrated for certain target audience quadrants, it's a little refreshing to be able to walk into the big IMAX screen in a multiplex and see something this unabashedly dorky and itself. Something that pathologically piles on some increasingly incongruous worldbulding (desert riders, hotels, family crests, switchboard operators, duels at sunrise) and commits to them with steadfast sincerity, no matter how insular and convoluted the rules of this specific world can be. You could argue that certain other franchises attempt the same thing, but what those fail to do but this does so readily (aside from the differing levels of craft involved) is that they completely disconnect setups and payoffs, to the extent that you're watching advertisements for future installments, while the entries in this series are nice enough to create narrative investment within each entry, even if the particulars are increasingly difficult to grasp.

This is the longest entry in the series yet, and there is a lot of stuff in its almost three hour runtime. Practically every few minutes there is another scene of intricately choreographed, staged and timed violence, usually captured in stylish neon lighting and muscular camera moves, often set to crunchy electronic beats but sometimes to cheeky needledrops in a touch borrowed from The Warriors. (Highlights include the hero shooting and punching out waves of henchmen in the face of oncoming traffic like an ultraviolent game of bumper cars, and a brief detour into top-down shooter territory.) All of this is consistently inspired and engaging, although given the runtime and the bottles of water I downed during my screening (to paraphrase Bob Mackenzie, I had to take a leak so bad I could taste it), I was maybe a little worn out. But this is a good problem for a movie to have and ultimately a minor qualm. When so many movies serve terrible food and in such small portions, one cannot complain too loudly when walking into a buffet that knocks every dish out of the park.

As someone who spends a bit too much time thinking about clothes, I appreciated the way the costuming gives each character their own distinct signature. The clean lines and monochrome tones of Keanu Reeves' suiting. Donnie Yen's sunglasses. Shamier Anderson's unpretentious workwear. Bill Skarsgard's finery. Whatever the hell Laurence Fishburne is wearing. Some of these outfits would be ridiculous to wear in real life, but they provide great shorthand for giving you a sense of who these characters are. The supporting roles are more flamboyant (and each actor gets their moments to shine), but these movies really wouldn't work without Keanu Reeves. When I was growing up, Reeves was a regular punching bag, someone who had a number of good movies but was usually understood to be a "bad actor". But he's also someone who's come across as likable (in large part because, by most accounts, he's a very nice man in real life), and with this franchise, Reeves has embraced his limitations and honed his strengths with almost samurai-like dedication. He is the perfect stoic centre, a finely honed weapon deployed at the perfect moments. (If you ever watch the behind the scenes footage from any of these movies, it becomes apparent that Reeves can do most of what his character does. It's a good thing he's a force for good, for if her ever turned to the dark side...watch out!) But most of all, he's sincere, and, to the extent someone with his horrifically large kill count can be, human. There's none of the piss-take sarcasm that plagues the modern blockbuster. If there is humour here, like in the scene where he repeatedly stumbles down a very long set of stairs, it's in acknowledging that, yes, despite the mass murder of henchmen he's perpetrated over the course of the movie, he can actually feel pain.

[mayxthexforce]

He could apparently still be as poetic and dramatic in his speech as he used to be. While Voe had always been the more objective one when it came to talking, far less dramatic than ant Skywalker-Organa-Solo, if she so said so herself.

Green eyes and silver hair reflected the neon lights that decorated the many buildings surrounding them, trying to make this place seem better than it actually was, yet highlighting the cracks and dents in the structures. Cracks and dents that, in almost any other planet, would have been reclaimed by nature. But there was no nature in the smuggler's moon, the closest thing to anything natural were the sculptures meant to resemble the shape of trees, made of metal and more neon lights. This whole planet was just an eye sore.

Voe was quite tempted to ask him since when do you think I practice non-aggression? Because, truth be told, she could be really aggressive when it came to him. Always competing, always trying to one up him, seldom succeeding. It hadn't been very Jedi of her, that envy and need to prove herself better than others. But she'd been young. Nowadays, she told herself she was better. That she'd grown out of it... and yet, a satisfied smile curled the corners of her lips when he seemed more and more bothered by the lack of- well, anything. It made up for the awkwardness of falling into old patterns with HIM.

At least, until he mentioned that if she killed one of his people, she could have their clothes. Voe decided to ignore that. She'd be no better than the low lives on this disgusting ecumenopolis if she killed any of them for their clothes– besides, that was not her style.

"You really didn't bring anything to eat or buy food with?" she questioned as he asked 'what's there?', shooting him an amused, if only slightly judgemental look. "You won't find much if anything edible being sold here– unless some spice dealer has decided to innovate from injectable liquids and powders for people to inhale, to some solid, chewable form of spice."

Her smile faded as she watched his hands move up to his helmet. Voe hated this– hated the way anticipation made her artificial pulse race and her breath catch in her throat, absolutely loathed the way her eyes were drawn to the face that his motions revealed. He had changed some, years and hardships had clearly changed him. But there was no mistaking him for anybody else. Voe had known him since childhood, couldn't really remember a time when she hadn't known him, and would have recognized him from essence alone, solely through the feeling of his presence in the force, no matter what. Someone could have melted his face off with acid, and he'd still be himself in her eyes.

Oh, how she hated that...

It was a heart-gripping moment, until he opened his mouth and offered his helmet to her.

"Don't you know it's disrespectful to try to look through a woman's belongings?" she taunted.

And yet, she handed over her satchel, taking the helmet from him. She didn't have much for food, some of those protein cookies that didn't really taste like anything and weren't that filling, but kept you alive, and credits to handle the stay in a place like that: where money led everyone's lives. Voe gazed down at the visor, watching the way it reflected the nearby lights and her own face. She'd changed, too. The exhaustion of living in the moment, trying to keep the beliefs of the Jedi alive and help everyone she could in such cruel circumstances as the ones the galaxy currently dealt with, showed in her eyes.

Her eyes focused back on his face. "Seems like I owe Chewie money now..." she hummed. "I bet that this thing was stuck to your head. So, I lost."

She moved past him, taking a few steps forward before she jumped, landing on top of a nearby collapsed structure, looking at him over her shoulder. "If you think this is a waste of time, you can always chicken out," she challenged. "I thought you wanted to teach the scum of this planet a lesson." her focus diverged from him when her comm went off. Poe's voice rang out from it, informing her of where the bastards she was looking for had been last seen. "About time you got me some information, GSR. I've been moving through the wrong level" she said, a moment of silence, before she added: "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Princess Jedi."

Voe groaned, rolling her eyes as the comm returned to the inner pocket of her jacket. They had to change those stupid code names. She'd stop calling him General Spice Runner if it meant never hearing Princess Jedi again, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

"Did you hear?" she asked Kylo. "We're on the wrong level. We have to go further down. Hopefully, you're not as touchy about the heat as you are about going hungry– and fortunately for you, there are some food stalls in the lower levels. Don't expect fancy stuff, though."

'A heart.'

He turned minutely. A touch of curiosity softened the machine's din covering his voice to a night insect's susurrus. 

"We'll see which one of us still has one." 

Chromium puddles reflected black light, casting a purple kyber glow over the scaffolding: the iron of the forgotten skyslums and Ren's. 

Suppositions came from both sides. As Voe fell in step with him, there was a moment in which they shared the same plane of understanding, but when she spoke again, that plane was shattered.

Voe looked at him. He ignored her gaze, slipping through the sodden beams that jutted from a mesa of manufactured rot, and waited. 

"You would negotiate with a slaver?" he grunted. "If they take a life for a life, so will I." 

Beyond the network of ground detritus collapsed from what must once have been novel, if frail superstructures, Ren's helm piqued to distant laughter. Pirates, perhaps, or drunks. His father. It could have come from anyone. 

When Voe emerged through the oblique shafts just a few seconds after him, he finally had a proper look at her. She had always been strong, yet—

"You know, if you killed one of my 'merry band,' you could have their clothes."

She could have their life. He wouldn't force knighthood on her—he had tried—but it seemed to Ren, as they continued together, that since he had burned down Skywalker's temple, she'd lived her life episodically, from mission to mission. She didn't know what she wanted, apart from wanting things to be different. Who could lead a noble life along such vague margins? 

What he had done was done. Long ago. 

After an hour of navigating the swath of city ruins, they fell into something like their old system—moments came when Voe would steer them, Ren would cover, going so far, once, as to shield her with arm and shoulder from a din they perceived as a possible threat. However, only a large rat emerged from the dilapidated sheet metal before them. From then, they avoided each other's eyes, carrying on in silence. Eerily, yet unsurprisingly, given the unlivable miasma of decay, they'd encountered no other living thing along their path. 

Ren stopped. Tilted his head at the orange bloom coming from his estimate of five miles off. 

"This is a waste of time," he whirred. His line of vision hung onto the light ahead. "I'm flagging." 

Ren had said this when Voe scoffed at his retracted bid to fight. If his weariness showed at all, it surfaced in his tonal apathy.

"Perhaps you thrive on air, but I still need solids." His helm gestured toward the district glowing in the distance. "You're more familiar with the ecumenopolis than I. What's there?" 

He was stalling. 

"Anything in that?" Ren indicated her satchel. It looked like it had room enough for a head. 

Clearly, Voe wasn't going to give him anything, an answer, let alone her satchel—anything—until he made himself plain. 

With a disgruntled sigh, he lifted his hands until they rested on either side of the helmet. One finger brushed against a hidden inlet, and the thing hissed as though it, too, were annoyed, and then he lifted it off. 

Without it, Kylo Ren was simply a man, his exhaustion evident, making what was left of his noble features vague and dull. A hypertrophic scar ran through his right eye like a cord. The slash still looked angry, but he looked tired and somewhat resigned.

It could have been Ben standing on the incline of debris, looking daggers at her. Same nose, same cut of cheekbones, the soft jawline. His eyes were the same, only red-ringed, with a depth that told of his trials and his last ten years. The constellations of moles disrupted by nicks and jags. 

He pushed the helmet at her, his gaze never meeting Voe's, only her pouch.

"Give it to me," he said, in his voice. 

[lollytea]

I just know Hunter would quote star trek to be romantic and impress Willow, mostly because she doesn't know it very well and he can be cringe without fail, but Gus would bust his ass nearly every time. Like, I can totally see him quoting that one moment from Wrath of Khan of "You're my superior officer and you're also my friend, I have been and shall always be yours" because he just marathoned the og series until Gus is like "dude, for real? What mr. Scoops said to admiral (former captain) Kim in Rage of Gengis?" and exposes his ass right in front of Willow. I. Just. Know. It.

I mean, Willow thinks it's cute, but most of the time Gus is there so it turns funny.

Omg I promise I didn't mean to ignore this ask. It kinda got lost under others and I forgot about it for a bit but I was reminded it existed today cuz THIS IDEA IS SO SILLY AND I LOVE IT A LOT

YES Hunter would absolutely feel more comfortable flirting with Willow if he just had a SCRIPT!! And he does not trust himself to come up with shit on his own. At least not yet. So initially, Hunter memorizes lines from Cosmic Frontier that he thinks are the definition of romance. (Literally putting himself through TORTURE by meticulously combing through the O'Bailey/Keiko scenes which are known to give him a terrible case of giggling/kicking his legs disease which takes him hours to recover from.)

It's not a seamless plan in the longterm cuz its basically just regurgitating quotes that aren't his and if Willow happens to flirt back he's at a loss on how to answer. However the first time he recited one of his favourite romantic monologues on her, she was literally too stunned to flirt back. He even made her blush!! Willow!! Hunter did that!!! It went AWESOME!!! SO AWESOME!!!

Well it started out awesome and he would have been riding that giddy high for the rest of his life if Gus hadn't immediately butted in like "Hey man, you seriously just flirt with Willow using dialogue from Book 4 of Cosmic Frontier? Is that really a thing I just witnessed with my own two eyes??"

LEAVE HIM ALONE!!! HE'S FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE OUT HERE!!!

Anyway that's the only time he manages to actually take Willow completely off guard with it. She definitely malfunctioned a little because she didn't expect that to come out of Hunter. And he really did have her going there for a second. She seriously thought he came up with it himself. She was having a complete crisis wondering how the FUCK she was supposed to function from this point on if this was the shit he was apparently capable of. Honestly, thank Titan it WAS from a book.

But yeah Willow is actually really charmed by it. She's SUCH a loser about the eccentric stuff Hunter does. Cuz in her mind, she doesn't see it as him not bothering to come up with romantic lines on his own because he doesn't want to put the effort it. She knows Hunter and she understands how his brain works. She understands that books are something that help him better understand the world and his own emotions and give him guidance on how to approach things. So the fact that he's taking snippets from the books that he loves and using them as a tool to better express how he feels about her is a sentiment that Willow finds super sweet.

She's probably skimmed through Hunter's Cosmic Frontier books a few times and wound up melting because of everything he had highlighted. He uses different colours for different things. Sentences upon sentences in neon green about protection and loyalty and love and devotion and Willow knows immediately that they made him think of her.

Anyway Hunter is also pretty creative with his terminology. (I mean this IS the boy who came up with "Emerald Entrails" on the spot, with a really clever meaning behind it.) But the things that come out of his mouth are also pretty odd.

So eventually he gets comfortable enough with speaking to Willow from the heart. He still uses the occasional book quote obviously. But as soon as the words leave him mouth, Willow knows if this is a sci fi passage that made him blush or a Hunter original. She honestly loves both 💚💛

[carrinth-nsr]

Highlight moments from my really bad 1010 fanfic that I wrote using Dungeon AI.

Basic “story” is that Rin shoots me under orders from crime boss, Boss Varon. I then get Neon J to launch an attack and kill Boss Varon for me. Then we fix Rin and it’s all cool.

Trust me guys, the summary is better than the actual story XD I’m not joking! The fanfic is BAD. Anyway these were the best moments so you don’t have to read it! 

Purl-Hew being really, really unforgiving that Rin shot me and is working for Boss Varon

Zimelu being... Zimelu

Eloni and Haym apparently shooting up Boss Varon’s base with rifles and subsequently blowing it up to inflict MAXIMUM CARNAGE. (They also shot dead three guards pointblank omg)

Captain Neon J being very determined to kill Rin... 

Rin getting reset back in a very anti-climatic ending. Don’t expect emotional dialogue from the AI ^_^;;

I do think the Dungeon AI has potential as a story-writing assistance tool. Perhaps not the raw output but a rough story can emerge from interacting with the AI.

[glamourzombie]

I’m trying out a new review process. I tend to hand-write all notes I take about the decks I work with. However, I have switched to a voice-to-text system, and today’s post is the first result of it. The Midnight City Tarot, by Jackie Franco, is the Fool's journey through the city that never sleeps, a New York inspired tarot deck for those seeking dreamy cityscapes.

This deck is Jackie’s love note to New York, and the cards are constant and dependable friends, and they are created with the intention of being a bridge connecting you to your own intuition. It features a limited colour palette, which is very prominent even at first sight, creating a very cohesive visual experience no matter how big the spread. At the same time, manages to be colourful, in what I can only describe as neon pastel. There’s a huge presence of purple, but also pink, blue, teal, black, white and yellow. I think the combination has a cheeky feeling, something that really awakens my inner child! This is also highlighted by the apparent simplicity of the art style (though there is no forgetting details, no matter how small). One particular feature I would like to pinpoint is how the characters are presented: they are silhouettes reflecting the city sky at midnight. (and the court cards glow the colour of their suit!). You can see yourself and others in them as if they were mirrors. However, I would not say that this is a character-based deck, but rather a spatial, atmospheric work.

The cards really showcase those aspects of our life that are often taken for granted. In them, you can find a lot of architectural elements, exteriors, interiors, concrete, stone, and steel. Each card is considered a subway stop on your journey, with the titles along the bottom mirroring the MTA signage. The illustrations have a double border (thin yellow and broader purple), but they often extend beyond them, creating an invitation to step into the cards, and imbuing life and movement into them. The cards have a delicious linen finish as well as fully-reversible backs; and they come in a sturdy, completely illustrated two-piece box with a small information leaflet.

The companion book (can be bought separately) is an 82 page guide which mainly focuses on the cards themselves after a brief welcome plus a section about the art. Each card is given one page of information, including its vibe, art, advice (upright and reversed), and something that I found incredibly interesting, which is the location of the card. By doing this, Jackie really adds realism and pragmatism into the cards, while at the same time manifesting that inspiration and signs can be found anywhere. It is in this book where we find that the cards are designed to evoke the synchronistic times when you look up and realize the scene in front of you is a symbol conveying the precise information that you need at the exact moment. The guidebook is as wide as and a bit taller than a postcard, which I know because the bundle comes with a couple custom postcards!

The Midnight City Tarot is an example of how a lot small details really make a deck powerful, personal, and evocative. Every design element, from the cards to the book, to the box, have been intentionally created to hold meaning. Its dreamy vibe, pleasing colours, and the magic it evokes for the mundane make this deck a super immersive experience. Even if I have never been to New York, I have come to love the image of it that Jackie offers. This vibrant, urban deck is great for city dwellers, even far away from NY (like myself!), so if you want to know more about it, visit the Midnight City Tarot site!

[vendettavalor]

Is he always here this early?

VOLITION: So he has noticed your initiative.

"Yeah, I try to be anyway." Harry tilts his head. One hand rises up to scratch at the back of his neck. It's lost on him now- sunken into the bottomless depths of encephalopathic amnesia and the ever-stretching span of years between the moment it was made and now. But there was a vow once made to the man himself that Harry would wake up before dawn every single day for the rest of his life. Without fail and without exception. And apparently, even in the haze of his worst blackout or stuporous high, the habit had ingrained itself deeply enough to wake him up at that exact same time every single morning, with or without an alarm. (That was one thing his co-workers could never complain about. Complain about everything else, from his hygiene to his substance issues - but Harry was never late.)

"Before I think I used to come in and pass out, but now I'm actually staying awake. I try to spend the extra time looking over the case briefings or organizing. Sometimes, I even shower!" Sometimes? Well... it was a start. No one jumped from nearly drinking themself to death to becoming a fully functional human being. Especially not this quickly. There was an attempt being made at the very least.

VOLITION: You could've left the part about showering out...

"Speaking of- whenever you're ready, I took the time to make a copy of the report we'll be working on and highlighted the main details that I think stand out." He's all too excited - too proud - to show off his preparation skills. A thin packet of pages stapled together and with several lines in bright, neon colors lightly smearing blue and black into flutter as Harry offers a light shake of them in his grip.

LOGIC: With this simple act, you have saved the Lieutenant countless time sifting through a 195 page report. What it took four people and who knows how many trees to explain, you summarized in just 3 pages. CONCEPTUALIZATION: Your handwriting could use some work but it's... legible. PERCEPTION (SIGHT): ...Mostly. VOLITION: Regardless of the quality of your penmanship, the report itself is thoughtful, direct, and well-written. You picked out the necessary details and highlighted them while cutting out the fat that gets added on through police protocol. You should be proud. More importantly, you want Kim to be proud of you too. INLAND EMPIRE: However long this partnership lasts, you will never not crave his approval.

He offers the documents, eager to see Lieutenant Kitsuragi's response. He's really trying. And Kim is a major motivating factor in all this improvement Harry is fighting to have and maintain for himself.

@vendettavalor

initially, Kim paid no mind to the opening of the main entrance. People came and went in the repurposed mill, two chimneys like stalks from the perceived head of the oversized animal made of concrete and metal as, within, a few rubber mats desperately tried to keep the rainwater at bay, doors left relatively open in the rampant shuffling of morning and the influx-outflux of officers coming for work or leaving for home after nightshift, chatter filling like white noise. it's when Harry makes his approach that Kim notices.

I told you comes the part of his mind that proposed the idea of him waiting ever so patiently in the first place, midway through him re-establishing an old organizing system in the drawers and little places in his desk, as it hollers in its newfound victory ━ I told you he'd be here, he'd be waiting, hours for the best detective on the force? you're off your game, Kitsuragi!

the Lieutenant subtly shakes it off, twirling one of his pens in his hand as he looks towards Harry's approach properly. The grin upon worn skin slowly relearning itself as the onslaught of years of damage has at last called a ceasefire & beneath the bristles of facial hair it seems almost almost out of place, mismatched. It reminds Kim of a large dog, forgetting itself as an elder and remembering only its youth, in the way Kim finds himself thinking it apt for him, suitable; he liked it when he truly smiled. ━━ His own face refuses to betray him, but there in the margins of his cheeks, the skin around his eyes, a ghost of a smile lingers. ( he was wrong. a pleasant surprise, regardless of how major of a miscalculation. later, he'd blame it on the early morning instead, or perhaps his own out-of-touchness with Harrier's timing, given how fleeting their engagements... )

" Bonjour, Detective. " he answers, resuming his motions as he squirrels little things away ( stationary, paperwork, the ledger, his notebooks, sticky-notes, umbrella leaned and carefully hooked against his desk ; ever the practical man he'd like most to seem, aren't you, Kitsuragi? )

" Wet, but it's too early to say. " is the sentence he settles upon for the inquiry, it's hard to tell if he's joking. " I have been here about eight minutes, not counting the commute, so you haven't missed very much. Ask me again in an hour or two, if you really want to know. Though, are you always here this early? " ━ an eyebrow raises as he casts him a brief glance, a momentary pause before returning to the task; attention nonetheless focused upon the yefreitor.

[renjuseyo]

I'm the one that ask about poly. I want to make request now if you're okay with it about male reader jihoon and seungcheol. Seungcheol being jealous when reader babied jihoon even though Seungcheol get it most of the time. While jihoon hate it when reader doing that but only whine and do nothing at all. Reader didn't stop because he know Jihoon enjoy it and also watching Seungcheol pouting and making a fuss is one of his entertainment.

pay attention to me ; s.coups & woozi

group: seventeen

pairing: choi seungcheol / lee jihoon / reader (male)

synopsis: just because seungcheol’s dating you two doesn’t make him less jealous when you direct your attention to jihoon, even if he always receives your pampering.

genre: fluff

i hope you liked this anon! i think this is a very cute prompt, and i had fun playing with jicheol’s dynamics. i kind of lost inspo if you couldn’t tell though lol... anyways, feedback is always appreciated!! ^^

age order goes as: seungcheol > reader > jihoon

jihoon: i won’t be home until late, so don’t wait up for me [11:58 PM]

that was sent to you and seungcheol four hours ago. seeing how seungcheol had gotten off work at a decent time (if you consider ten-thirty decent) compared to usual, you had assumed it would be the same for jihoon, too. apparently not.

normally, by the time the clock strikes three am, you would be fast asleep, squished between seungcheol and jihoon. but instead, you’re parking your car outside of the pledis building, with seungcheol struggling to stay awake in the passenger seat. “you know, i could’ve driven here instead,” the older offers, yawning.

you roll your eyes, pushing your door open. “don’t be ridiculous. you can barely keep your eyes open, and you’ve worked all day. driving is the least i could do.”

you two step out of your car. after locking it, you begin walking towards the studio. the dim glow of the lamp posts and the faint twinkle of the stars are your only guides to the entryway, and you’re reminded once again just how late it is when you take in your surroundings. not a single sound can be heard, and the sky above you is blanketed black. what in the world is jihoon doing so late?

(well, there’s only one thing he could be doing this late. but most importantly, why? the members of seventeen are supposed to have the weekend off, so he has plenty of time to finish up any projects.)

once seungcheol unlocks the door, you two trudge inside, yawning. it takes a few minutes for you both to find jihoon’s studio, but it isn’t hard to spot. in the dark hallway, there’s only one room lit up, with a blue, fluorescent light splashing its walls. you glance at the small window, and just as you had suspected, your boyfriend is perched on his chair, hunched over his desktop.

luckily his door isn’t locked, so seungcheol twists the doorknob and pulls it open. the intrusion startles jihoon, evident by the way he flinches in his seat. when he spins around, you frown at the weary look on his face. the bright blue of his room highlights his eye bags, and you can see him struggling to stay awake. “what are you two doing here? you should be asleep,” he says.

you stride towards him, eyebrows furrowed. “that’s what we should be saying. do you have any idea what time it is? you’re supposed to be at home with us.” seungcheol nods in agreement, probably too tired to engage himself in a conversation.

“not until i finish this,” the younger protests, gesturing at his monitor. you peek behind him to look at what’s pulled up, and unsurprisingly, there’s a new project loaded up, probably one of the songs he’s working on for seventeen’s next album. “management said i have to get this done by next week.” he glances at the clock. “plus, it’s only three am. i’ve had less sleep.”

“by less sleep you mean no sleep,” you correct, propping your hands on your hips. you almost look the part of a disappointed parent. “that’s so bad for you, you know.”

“hoon, we have this weekend off. you can work on it then,” seungcheol replies, yawning. “come sleep with us. anyone with a pair of eyes can tell that you’re tired.”

jihoon rolls his eyes, but the yawn that leaves his throat is evidence enough. “i’m just fine. i already downed a whole bottle of soda, anyways.”

you tiredly trudge over to him, tugging at his sleeve. he raises a questioning eyebrow, but he doesn’t say anything as you drag him over to the couch by the wall. “hoonie, you’ve been up since six am. it’s not good for babies to sleep so late.”

he flushes at the implications, frowning. it ends up looking more like a pout, though, further proving your point. “i’m not a baby. you’re acting like one right now,” he protests.

you pull him onto the couch, arms trapping him. “but you’re the youngest, so you’re the baby. right, cheol?”

instead of agreeing with you, the oldest of you three pouts, flopping down beside you. “that’s no fair, (name). both hoonie and i worked today, so why are you only babying him?” he whines. for someone who’s supposed to be the oldest, he sure craves attention like a child.

you wave a dismissive hand, scooting over so seungcheol has more room. this causes you and jihoon to squish even closer together, and as discomforting as it is for all three of you, no one makes any moves to go to a more comfortable area. but then again, you three usually wound up like this more often than not, so you all stopped minding altogether. “hush, cheol. we cuddled for like, an hour when we were home. hoonie hasn’t had anyone to take care of him yet.”

jihoon rolls his eyes, pressed against your chest. “i’m right here, you know.” as much as he dislikes skinship, he’s too tired to move, and your embrace is comforting, though he’d never admit it.

you hum, snuggling closer to him. “lack of sleep makes babies grouchy. you can worry about your project tomorrow.”

“but-”

“don’t talk back to the adults,” you murmur, dozing off, pressing your forehead against his.

jihoon grumbles, though he doesn’t try to move. “this is crazy. i’m only a year younger than you and seungcheol-hyung. what do you mean don’t talk back to the adults?” he snorts.

when you don’t respond, he can only assume you’ve fallen asleep. he rolls his eyes and cranes his neck to peek at seungcheol. his eyes are also fluttering close, arms firmly wrapped around your waist. sometimes he wonders why you call him the baby when seungcheol is right there, constantly whining for your affection. if anything, he’s the baby of you three.

seeing how he can’t wriggle his way out of here (not that he would. drinking a whole bottle of coke-cola has done nothing to lift his drowsiness), he can do nothing but surrender to your clutches and lay limp in your arms. he closes his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep, but hearing your voice in his head makes it a tad difficult.

you’re the youngest, so you’re the baby~

jihoon huffs, glaring at you, who’s oblivious to his piercing eyes. “says the one who always needs to hug something before he sleeps,” he quietly grumbles, poking your cheek.

to his surprise, the subtle motion is enough to stir you awake, and he feels himself heat up when your eyes flutter open. even when you’re tired, you still manage to look breathtaking. “go to sleep, hoonie,” you remind again before dozing back asleep.

when jihoon glances at the clock, the white, neon digits show him that it’s nearly four am. so this is what he ends up doing, but not because you told him to.

jihoon knows that despite your constant babying, you recognize that he’s a functioning adult who’s more than capable of handling responsibilities. even more than you, he might argue. you just have an affectionate nature and make it your sole duty to take care of everyone around you, even if they’re older than you, like seungcheol. plus, you just like calling those younger than you babies. if it weren’t for the fact that you’re only a few months older than him, he would’ve thought you were the oldest of you three.

though he claims to despise your affectionate nature, he’s thankful to have your presence, especially around him and seungcheol. he knows that as the leader of one of the biggest boy groups - both metaphorically and physically - the stress is undoubtedly more burdensome than the ones the other members have. he knows that seungcheol spends more time structuring himself as a strong leader and wise oldest member than as a twenty-five-year-old man who likes music and video-games. which is why he’s grateful that you’re around to give him the pampering and leisure he deserves, reminding him that it’s okay to be taken care of sometimes.

he isn’t mad that you direct most of your pampering at seungcheol. if anything, he’s more than happy, because now you’re there to give him the attention he complains about when he can’t. your presence, for a lack of better words, acts as a balance for you three. but there are times where you choose to baby (read: pester) him, simply because he’s the youngest and needs attention once in a while. your words, not his.

now is one of those moments.

jihoon blinks, staring at the shoe box perched on the table before him. he looks at you, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. you gesture at the shoe box in a flourish, widely grinning like a child who’s won candy. “ta-da!” you exclaim. seungcheol, who had been immersed with a mobile game, is now looking his way, curiously staring at the box. judging from his expression, he guesses he doesn’t know what the contents are, either.

“and what exactly am i looking at?” he asks.

“open it!” you exclaim.

he does as he’s told, lifting up the lid of the box. to his surprise, they’re a pair of black slide-ons. he remembers eyeing a pair a week ago at a mall he had gone to with you and soonyoung, but had dismissed the thought after seeing the number shopping bags soonyoung had on each arm. he isn’t sure if you remembered or if this is a mere coincidence. either way, he’s surprised you bought him a pair of shoes out of the blue.

“what!” seungcheol exclaims. he throws his phone onto the couch, the device bouncing on the cushions. he walks towards you, instantly wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder. “you bought shoes for hoonie, but not for me?”

you roll your eyes. “cheol, you’re the one giving people your credit card information. you’re quite capable of buying your own shoes... actually, you’d buy them, unprompted.”

“but it’s different when it’s a gift,” he whines. “i want you to buy me shoes, too.”

ignoring your whiny boyfriend, you gesture at the sandals. “i saw you looking at them when we were at the mall with soonyoung last week! i know you don’t have a lot of time to go shopping, so i bought them for you,” you explain.

jihoon frowns. he’s the one practically swimming in a pool of money, so he should be the one buying you nice things, not the other way around. “oh... you didn’t have to.”

when he looks up at you, he sees the excitement vanish from your face, being replaced with a pout. seeing you like that makes him wonder why he and seungcheol never try babying you, especially when you have the audacity to look as cute as you do now. “do you not like them? i can always return them and get you something else...”

he practically flies out of his seat, eyes wide. “no!” he blurts. you and seungcheol are startled by the sudden outburst, your eyes mirroring his. “i mean-” he clears his throat, “i like them, i really do. but i should be the one buying you things, not the other way around.”

thankfully, you smile. “don’t worry about it! a baby like you should be bought nice things, even if you probably have better versions of them,” you tease, blowing him an air kiss.

jihoon scoffs. "you know, now that i think about it, you always pay for my things even though you’re the, and i quote, broke college student. what’s up with that?”

“because babies shouldn’t be paying for things.” you size him up, feigning innocence. “are you even allowed to have a debit card?”

seungcheol snorts at your comment, stifling his laughter by burying his head in your shoulder. on the other hand, jihoon’s jaw drops in disbelief. “this is bullying!” he yells, exasperated. “i’m being bullied by my boyfriend. hyung, you can’t be siding with him.”

the older shrugs, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. “when i do it, you always kick me, but you never do anything when it’s him. it’s so fun, seeing you get all flustered.”

he glares at you both. “i actually hate you two. especially you,” he seethes, pointing at you.

you lean over to whisper in seungcheol’s ear, but you’re side-eyeing him, obviously trying to get him to hear you. “has he been fed yet? you know babies get grouchy when they don’t have food in their system.”

“(name) (last name)!!”

seungcheol knows that like him, you’re usually the oldest in most situations. because of this, taking care of those around you has practically become second nature. making sure everyone around you is healthy and happy has become instinctive, and you’re willing to go through hoops and hurdles just to achieve that. it’s one of the many traits he loves about you.

he’s grateful to have you around to take care of him, but most importantly, he’s glad that there’s someone like you taking care of jihoon. sure, he whines about not being the center of your attention, but he knows that there are times when jihoon needs it more than he does. viewed as the genius producer and leader of the vocal unit of seventeen, there’s no doubt that the pressure he receives to repeatedly produce big hits is unimaginable. though it’s something that the two of them share in common, he knows he would never willingly open up about his thoughts, afraid of burdening the already stressed leader.

thankfully, there’s you, with a warm and loving aura encompassing you. you just have this aura that makes people want to lower their guard, even for those as whole and reserved as jihoon. it undoubtedly helps relieve the tension that the young producer has, even if he claims to hate it.

even if he knows this, though, that doesn’t stop him from wanting all of your attention. you’re the only person jihoon allows to pamper him (even if he denies it), so it’s not surprising that you take every opportunity you get to do so. while it’s fun to see him get riled up, seungcheol can’t help but act bratty when your attention isn’t on him.

on an exceptionally mundane day where the members of seventeen are lounging in the practice room, taking a break after excruciating hours of nonstop dancing, you knock on the door, arms loaded with bags of takeout. a few seconds later, the door swings open, and you’re standing in front of a sweaty chan. “oh, hyung! what brings you here?” he asks, surprised.

“hey chan,” you greet with a smile. he moves to the side, giving you space to enter the room. when you do, you’re greeted by twelve boys who seem equally sweaty and exhausted, who slur their greetings. “i was going to drop off some food for cheol and hoonie, but i figured you guys would be hungry,” you explained, gesturing towards the bags. from the way their eyes light up, you can tell they’re pleased with the surprise. “i have fried chicken, tteokbokki, japchae... just a bit of everything.”

immediately, the thirteen boys gather around you, salivating at the scent wafting out of the bags. “thank you hyung, you didn’t have to do that for us,” dokyeom smiles.

you shrug, seating yourself between seungcheol and jihoon. “it’s the least i could do, don’t worry about it. now eat up! you all are probably starving.”

another chorus of thanks echoes throughout the room, and soon, everyone begins to dig in. as you chat with the other members, catching up on each others’ lives and learning about comeback preparations, you suddenly feel someone pulling you up by the armpits before placing you down on their lap. startled, you crane your neck and see seungcheol, who responds by pecking your forehead. “what was that for?” mingyu asks from across you, voicing your question.

“you haven’t paid attention to me at all,” he murmurs.

you simply hum, leaning forward to stab a piece of fried chicken. you aim the fork at seungcheol’s mouth, who eagerly sweeps in and takes a bite. from the corner of your eye, you can see the other members eyeing you two with disgust. “sometimes i forget this is a three-way relationship, seeing how you both react so differently around (name)-hyung,” seungkwan snorts, scooping more japchae onto his plate. “why can’t you be more like jihoon-hyung? at least he doesn’t whine when (name)-hyung isn’t around every five minutes like you.”

you roll your eyes. “please. hoonie likes it when i baby him, too.” you send him a wink, to which he responds with by rolling his eyes.

“you’re talking nonsense.”

“don’t lie~” you coo, leaning over and ruffling his hair. “our cute baby hoonie~”

above you, seungcheol pouts, resting his chin on your head. “why don’t you ever treat me like that, (name)? this is unfair.”

you add more tteokbokki onto your plate. “it’s fun, seeing both of your reactions. hoonie’s more fun to tease, and it’s fun seeing you get all mopey.” he pouts, though he can’t refute your claims. jihoon does have funnier reactions than he does, and judging by both the amused and unimpressed looks the other members give him, he’s sure that he looks nothing short of glum.

“you know,” wonwoo begins, “i never would’ve imagined that jihoon would’ve gotten together with them. maybe with (name), but not with seungcheol-hyung. you both cling onto him more than to each other, anyways.”

“cheol here just comes to me more because he’s scared of hoonie,” you laugh, patting his thigh. “besides, they have each other when i’m not in the picture.”

“(name), you shouldn’t spoil cheollie so much. he’s already so bratty when you’re not here,” jeonghan sighs. “i’d love to see you tease jihoon more, though. you’re the only person who can get away with it unscathed, anyways.”

both seungcheol and jihoon darken in embarrassment. “shut it, yoon jeonghan,” they snap in unison.

when seungcheol and jihoon wake up one saturday morning, they don’t expect to be clinging onto each other in bed. they also don’t expect you to be awake already, seeing how you’re usually one of the last people to get up.

“where’s (name)?” jihoon groggily asks, scooting closer to an equally tired seungcheol. though he rarely lets seungcheol hold him, his need for warmth overpowers his disdain for skinship.

the older doesn’t seem to mind his sudden touchiness, wrapping an arm around him. “dunno,” he mumbles.

neither of them further questions your disappearance, cuddling closer to each other. they both begin to drift back asleep when the floorboards of the hallway creak, signalling a new presence. the bedroom dear squeaks open, so when they both turn to face the source, they see you tiptoeing your way in. “oh, morning guys,” you whisper, sheepishly smiling. “sorry for waking you two."

“it’s fine,” jihoon yawns, slowly sitting up. beside him, seungcheol turns to dig his face into his pillow, stretching his limbs. “why are you up so early? it’s-” he pauses to glance at the clock, which reads 11:30 am. “okay, maybe it’s not so early. but what are you doing up?”

you shrug. “cheol elbowed my face earlier, and i couldn’t fall back asleep again, so i decided to get out of bed.”

seungcheol turns around and looks at you with guilty eyes, sitting up. “sorry babe,” he apologizes. he grabs your arm and pulls you onto him. “is your pretty face okay?” he asks, rubbing your cheeks.

you thread your fingers through his hair, untangling the knots as jihoon rolls over. “why don’t you come back to bed and sleep some longer? i know how irritable you can get when you don’t get enough sleep.”

you shake your head at his offer. “it’s okay, but thanks.” you reposition yourself so you’re sandwiched between seungcheol and jihoon, which is when they notice the navy apron hanging around your neck. “i made food not long ago, it should be warm still. come eat with me.” you wriggle your way out of the human sandwich, standing up again. “get up, lazy bums!”

“kiss me first,” seungcheol jeers like the brat he is.

you lean in close until your breath fans his lips. when he looks like he’s going to reciprocate, you move your lips last minute and peck his forehead instead. “brush your teeth first, brat. your breath smells like ass.” before you leave, you swiftly move your head and place a kiss on jihoon’s cheek, running out of the bedroom before either of them can do anything about it.

half an hour later, jihoon steps out of the bedroom and trudges into the kitchen. seungcheol’s still in the bathroom washing up. when he rounds the corner, he nearly screams to see you so close to him. you take this opportunity to wrap your arms around him and lift him up, to which he responds with a yelp. “put me down!” he shrieks.

you pay no mind to his shrieking, walking towards the counter. you plop down on a stool and seat him on your lap. he’s still squirming, but your grip is tight, so his fidgeting proves futile. “good morning, my baby~”

for someone who claims to hate the nickname, he always flushes a pretty red when you or seungcheol use it. even after getting together, he still isn’t used to it. “how many times do i have to tell you to not call me a baby? i’m only a year younger than you.”

“then what should i call you then?” you pucker your lips, which are met with jihoon’s palm. “my liege? my love? which do you prefer?” you flirt.

his blush darkens, and he can only look away in embarrassment. “shut up.”

your laugh is so loud it hurts his ears, but it’s endearing and true, something he never gets tired of listening to. “our baby is so cute when he’s flustered~”

“is today a bully seungcheol or a bully jihoon day, i wonder?” a voice in front of you asks. he cranes his neck as much as he can and sees seungcheol pouting in front of you two, bangs wet. “do i not get this treatment because i’m the oldest?

you stick your tongue out at him before flicking his forehead. “come on, let’s eat! you two took forever.” fortunately, seungcheol pulls out a stool for jihoon to sit on, so he’s all too eager to hop away from your clutches.

you’re sitting across from the duo, who are seated beside each other. the kitchen is mostly silent, save for the clinking of utensils. it isn’t when seungcheol takes a bite from an egg that you notice a band-aid plastered near his chin. “did you hurt yourself?” you ask, aiming your fork at his wound.

he absentmindedly runs a finger against the band-aid. “oh, this? i was shaving earlier and accidentally cut myself,” he explains. he gauges your reaction, from your furrowed eyebrows to worried eyes. just then, he lets out a cry, startling you and jihoon. “oh (name), it hurts~”

you laugh at his silliness, while jihoon snorts. “you’re so embarrassing. gosh (name), this is what happens when you spoil him too much. one single mishap and he comes running to you with fake tears. look at the monster you’ve created.”

you glance at seungcheol, and the mischievous smirk on your lips only spells for disaster. “cheol-ah, you were just fine a moment ago. i think you’re strong enough to handle a tiny cut, aren’t you?”

normally he would never allow for someone to question his strength, but when it comes to you, all he wants is your pampering, even if he makes himself look like a fool in the process. “don’t tease me, (name)~ don’t take jeonghan’s words so seriously!”

you laugh, recalling your friend’s words. you love to indulge your boyfriends, though teasing them is also fun, too. you used to only tease jihoon with your sickening babying, but seeing how seungcheol whines only fuels your mischievous nature. “i think you can handle it, cheol.” changing the topic, you smile at jihoon. “how’s the food? i think i did a good job for someone with abysmal cooking skills.”

“babe~” he whines.

“the food’s good, although your chopping skills could use some work,” jihoon comments, poking at an unevenly cut tomato.

you snort. “i’m cooking for you guys, not gordon ramsay. as long as it tastes good, it should be fine.”

“this is bullying.”

you turn to face seungcheol, who’s still pouting. “why don’t you ask hoonie?”

“because he’s going to say no. or worse, he’ll kick my shins.”

you laugh, getting up to refill your water. before you enter the kitchen, you cup seungcheol’s face and press a chaste kiss on his band-aid. “there. happy?”

the dopey, lovesick look he gives you is answer enough, and as confident and nonchalant as you are when it comes to flirting, you can feel butterflies swarming in your stomach. it never gets less exhilarating, knowing you have him wrapped around your finger. “suddenly, my cut doesn’t hurt anymore.”

jihoon gags. “disgusting.”

“you like it when we’re disgusting,” you mumble, pressing a kiss on his hair. before he can react, you swoop down and squish his cheeks, leaning in to press your lips together. he makes a disgruntled noise, though he doesn’t make any attempts to pry your hands off or to move away. when you pull away, a satisfied smile rests on your lips. “see? i knew you liked it when i babied you.”

you move your hands away from his face and lay them atop his hair. on the other hand, seungcheol squishes your cheeks together and begins peppering kisses on your face, drawing out little giggles from you. below you, jihoon frowns, folding his arms. “you’re so annoying. i could step on your toes if i wanted to.”

“if you wanted to,” you reiterate, turning your head so seungcheol doesn’t muffle your words with his lips. “key word is if, my dear. you would never actually hurt me, our cute baby.”

seungcheol relinquishes his attacks, sitting back onto the stool. “i wonder what would happen if i called him that?” he wonders out loud. suddenly, he squishes jihoon’s cheek, mirroring the fond look you always give them. “our cute baby jihoonie~”

right when he does this, seungcheol decides then that is the first and last time he’ll ever try to baby jihoon again - at least, if he wants to stay unharmed. pampering is more of your forte, anyways.

[callemreine]

Brave face, talk so lightly(hide the truth)

'All my life, I've just wanted to make things easier for them.'

Au August

Day/Prompt: Day 26 - Soulmate

Ship: Prinxiety, brief logicality, creativitwins

Word count: 3k (I'm so sorry I got carried away)

Cw: swearing / brief murder mention / implied death / crying / nightmares(?) / anxiety mention / caps / claustrophobia(?)

A/N: the prompt is your dreams are your soulmate's memories. The title is from the song "Sick of losing soulmates" by dodie. I wrote the first 1/4 of this a few days ago and the rest in one sitting and I couldn't care less about proofreading it so Im so sorry if there are any mistakes ;-;

@tsshipmonth2020

I see a girl in the distance. She has her back turned. Long chocolate-colored hair tied in a low messy bun. My hand is reaching out to her. I feel this sudden longing to be held by this woman. Craving her caring and loving words. Telling me that everything is going to be alright.

Wait. Why is she getting farther away?

She looks back at me with a sad smile. Everything gets dark. I let my eyes stray from her to look around. When was I in a hospital corridor?

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin. You're gonna have to continue our adventure without me. But, fear not, Little one. I'll always be there by you. You just gotta learn to know where I am,"

She caresses my cheek, giving me the warmest smile I have ever received.

She's gone, suddenly. I touch my cheek, still feeling the ghost of her warm touch. Along with… something wet? Am- Am I crying?

"Roman!"

I don't move. I feel stuck. But, also free, somehow. Just unsure of what to do, I guess?

"Roman! Wake up. You idiot!

"Roman!

"Oh, thank all things unholy! I thought someone was in our room, trying to murder us! You were crying, and- and whispering stuff! And it's creeping me the fuck out! And I'm not easily creeped out, you know that" Remus exclaimed as he sat on Roman's chest, grabbing his twin’s shoulders.

"Man, you're soulmate must have some twisted memories," He continued, getting off of Roman and returning to his own bed across the room.

'Yeah. Twisted…' Roman thought.

~*~*~

"You okay there, Sweetie?" Roman heard from where his head was buried on the kitchen counter. "Yeah... Just thinking about my soulmate again," he admitted.

"Another bad dream?" His mom inquired as she sat next to Roman, patting his back. "It's not just that. It's about the move. Like, we're never really sure which of our memories they see, right? But, they've seen all my memories from this place. Like, they know where I've been my entire life…" he trailed off.

"I'm just not sure how they would feel seeing a whole new different place… They don't seem to be in a place to experience a big change right now. All my life, I've just wanted to make things easier for them. And, yeah, my dreams don't really change that much. But, I make an effort, y'know?" Roman looked up at his mom to seek at least some kind of reassurance.

"I understand what you mean, and I think that what you're doing is great. And I know that you're gonna be the bestest thing that's ever gonna happen to them. But, I'm really sorry. We don't really have any choice with this move. I know your soulmate is in a dark place right now, but you can't always do everything for them. You're also your own person," His mom hugged him.

Roman felt like he was hopeless in this situation. And, he was always hoping for the best. For his soulmate or otherwise. Maybe his mom was right about putting himself first sometimes.

~*~*~

Virgil was in his first period when someone he didn't expect to walk into his classroom… walks into his classroom… They were wearing an army green shirt, a denim jacket with neon green highlights and spikes at the bottom, ripped jeans, and platform boots with more spikes and vulgar words written on them. To say that this man was familiar was an understatement. He KNEW this man's entire life THROUGH his dreams.

Virgil felt like he was trespassing someone's life. Like, he wasn't supposed to know the man. And that, they shouldn't be in any way related. Especially to their sibling.

He wasn't really ecstatic about meeting his soulmate. IN SCHOOL NO LESS. It wasn't really an ideal 'meet-your-soulmate' place for someone like Virgil.

"Alright, students, I'm sure you've all noticed that we have a new student right here. Now, why don't you go and introduce yourself, Mister," their teacher said to the denim jacket guy.

"Umm. Sup? I'm Remus Duke Kingsley. Nice to meet you all. And, if you see a guy that looks like me but without the mustache and wears red all the time, he’s always loud, you can’t miss him. That's my twin brother, Roman. The boring one," Remus says, yawning by the end of his introduction.

'HOLY FUCK, TWINS?!' Virgil thought. Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on which part of Virgil's brain you're asking), Remus already gave him a vague description of who to look out for.

~*~*~

Virgil continues his day and falls into his daily routine, which mostly includes attempting to avoid being perceived by anyone. It usually succeeds if you exclude his friend, Patton, from ‘anyone.’ He only hopes that his soulmate also sees Patton in their dreams cuz, to be honest, Patton is the ray of sunshine everyone needs. Yeah, he was also friends with Logan, but he’s more like a moon if you ask him.

Virgil goes into the cafeteria and sits at their usual table, his back facing the entire cafeteria. He takes out a paper bag from his bag and grabs the sandwich he bought earlier, not waiting for his friends.

A few moments pass before Logan and Patton reach his table. “Hey, kiddo! You alright?” Patton says as he sits down. Virgil just gives them a nod and continues to eat. “I heard this morning that there were new students,” Logan inquires before Patton interrupts “Oh yeah! They’re twins! I have first period with one of them. He’s really nice. Oh! Hey! Roman! Over here!” Patton shouts and waves his arm toward a student that just entered the cafeteria. “Hope you guys don’t mind that I invited him over to sit with us,” He continues and flashes both Virgil and Logan a smile no one could say no to.

“Hey, Patton.” The guy says to Patton. “Hope you guys don’t mind me crashing your table. I’m Roman by the way,” Roman says to the other two. “Pleasure to meet you, Roman. I’m Logan. And, no, we wouldn’t mind at all,” Logan answered him back. Roman looked over to Virgil who just nodded and said his name. Roman then proceeded to sit next to Virgil but not paying him any mind.

And, though Virgil seemed to be calm about the situation, his mind is currently in flames having his anxiety and his gay panic fight over each other. Virgil is currently waiting for who would win, that's why he seems so calm on the outside. After finishing his sandwich, he was trying to think of something he could do to keep himself from leaving and be noticed. He looked over to Logan, attentively listening to Patton talking about the dog he saw this morning. Roman was silently eating his lunch, also listening to Patton, but looking around the cafeteria every once in a while.

It seems that Virgil’s anxiety won the fight because he decided that he doesn’t want to stick around with his friends and his apparent soulmate without doing anything. So, he stands up and excuses himself from the group. "Hey! Wait!" Roman calls after him. Virgil stops a few feet from the table to look back at Roman who was already jogging towards him.

"Virgil, right?" He assures.

Virgil nods. "Ok, there’s just something I wanna ask you. Are those two soulmates?" Roman throws his thumb back, pointing at the two left at the table. "Cuz, as much as how adorable they look together, I kinda don't want to be stuck as a third wheel," he continues.

"Oh. Yeah, those two are soulmates. Sometimes, I wonder if they ever do notice me every time I leave the table," Virgil elaborates, looking back at his friends with a slight smile.

"Umm. Class doesn't start for a few more minutes. I was wondering if I could join you for a while? Wherever you were going…" Roman trailed off, realizing he didn't know where the shorter male was headed.

"Uhh. Yeah, sure. I was just headed to the courtyard to pass the time,"

'Shit. Virgil, why are you doing this?! Why did you agree?! You have anxiety!' Virgil mentally scolded himself.

"Ok. Cool. I'll just go get my stuff," Roman flashed Virgil a smile before heading back to the table.

'Fuck. I am so screwed,' Virgil thought.

~*~*~

"So, what's the deal with those two? I mean, how did they deal with the soulmates thing?" Roman finally spoke a few moments after they found a bench to settle on. "Uhh, well. Logan is my childhood friend and the first day we started high school here, they both had a dream of roll call the other had that day, I guess? They both heard each other's name and boom. You got your glasses gays," Virgil discussed, reminiscing the events that happened that day.

Roman let out a chuckle at Virgil's last words, causing the other's heart to skip a beat. They remain silent for a while, watching the other students passing by.

"What about you?" Roman spoke up.

"What about me?" Virgil glances back.

"I mean, what about you? Have you met your soulmate? Do you know who they are? You just seem like an interesting individual to me, having to stick around knowing you're third-wheeling all the time yet valuing your time with them and your time with yourself all the same. Well, either that or I'm just embarrassed that I think you're uncomfortable with me here…" Roman rambled, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed.

Virgil chuckled, "Nah. I just get anxious when meeting new people. Plus, I think you're a pretty nice guy." They smiled at each other, Virgil feeling his face heat up, and looks away immediately. "And, about the soulmate thing. I think I have a clue of who they might be, I just…" he trailed off.

"What's holding you back?" Roman muttered, lowering his head, attempting to catch the other's eye. "I… I just think that my memories aren't that… for them. They're just this amazing and joyful person… I just don't think they deserve to see my bland memories every night,"

The pair fell silent, Roman feeling sympathy for the other. Virgil felt Roman shift in his seat before speaking up, "I don't think anyone's memories are ever bland."

Virgil looks up at Roman who has a far-off look with a slight smile on his lips. "I think that our dreams are what shows us what we're missing in life. What our soulmate has that we need and what we have that they need. You know, what makes you both feel complete when you're with each other," Roman smiled.

Virgil pondered on the other's statement for a while. "Is that... Is that how you feel when you're with your soulmate?" He said, being careful with his words. Roman sighed but remained smiling, "I haven't met them yet. But, what you said earlier reminded me of them. I always think they're a little different. My moms said that dreams are supposed to show my soulmate's memories. But, no one is ever sure which ones we see. Well, my dreams always have one thing in common… There's darkness every time…" Roman trailed off, looking more sad as he continued.

"Sometimes, they walk out of their house and, suddenly, everything goes dark and I see pairs of eyes staring at me as I walk. Or sometimes, they lie in bed and, suddenly, it's dark again and I'm stuck inside a box too small for me. But, there’s always this one dream that always repeats itself. Though, I'm not sure my soulmate's gonna be comfortable with me sharing," Roman finally snaps out of his trance and looks up at Virgil, looking embarrassed.

At this point, Virgil is now entirely sure that the person in front of him is his soulmate. He feels tears cloud his eyes so he looks away to play off wiping them away before looking back at Roman with pity in his expression. This is exactly what Virgil was afraid of, having his soulmate also experience the darkness that clouds him every day he wakes up.

"Wow… They- I- I don't know what to say… What are you gonna do when you meet them?" Virgil glances at Roman, pity still in his eyes. Roman let out a sigh but smiled, "I'm gonna give them the biggest hug they've ever received and reassure them that I'm always gonna be with them and that they'll never have to feel alone all the time ever again." Roman looked at Virgil with a smile. But, before he could notice the tear that fell from the other's eye, a loud shrill of their school bell rang throughout the courtyard, signaling the start of their next class.

"Talk about first impressions," Roman said with a chuckle, standing up. "Well, see you around, Virgil. I got a few more 'Hi, I'm Roman' to do," he continued, leaving Virgil on the bench.

~*~*~

I hear my converse squeak as I walk through the hallway. There are people around me, but they're all just silhouettes of the same familiar darkness. I'm walking to what seems to be the cafeteria. I sit down and grab my lunch from my bag. A few minutes pass, two figures sit in front of me. There's something familiar about them despite being two black silhouettes.

"Hey, kiddo! You alright?"

Patton?

"I heard there were new students," Logan?

Wait. Am I…

"Oh yeah! They're twins!"

Oh.

"I have first period with one of them. He's really nice. Oh! Hey! Roman! Over here!"

Before I could look over to… me…

Darkness. Again.

I hear muffled voices. Too muffled to be recognized.

I stay in darkness for what felt like hours before I get surrounded by light.

Too bright.

There's a silhouette in front of me. It doesn't have any facial features but I can feel it stare at me. Slowly, the light around me doesn't feel too bright anymore. It feels… warm and comforting. Similar to the feeling I have in my chest, along with a squeezing feeling. I feel tears cloud my eyes, but I feel happy, somehow?

I feel someone embrace me. I look up to see the silhouette. Its arms around me, like it's protecting me. I feel secure. I feel loved.

I hug back, breaking down in its arms.

"You don't have to be alone anymore"

I hear my own voice. I break down sobbing, seeking more of the silhouette's warmth.

I stopped sobbing after a while but remained in the silhouette's arms for what felt like hours.

"You gotta wake him up!" I heard a distant voice say in a hushed tone.

"No, he hasn't slept like this since who knows when… Something must've happened yesterday..."

I feel myself slowly drifting from where I was standing.

"We can just tell the school he's sick"

"On the second day?"

I feel someone caress my cheek.

"You can stay too if you want"

"Hey, sweetie," Roman opens his eyes to his mom in front of him.

"What's going on? Why are you all in our room?" Roman asks as he sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He eyes Remus standing in front of their mama. Their mom is sitting on the edge of Roman's bed, facing him.

"Well, sweetie. You see, you just had a full night's sleep," their mom explained.

"You looked so peaceful too," their mama added with a smile. Roman stopped to let the events of his dream last night come back to him.

"Roman, is everything ok?" Their mama walked over to him, tucking a few strands of his hair behind his ear. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm okay!" He flashed a smile to his moms, meaning what he said.

~*~*~

Roman hadn't been able to sit still ever since he got to school. 'Late', he should add. Apparently, he overslept while Remus and their moms decide whether to wake him up or not.

When they got to school in the middle of first period, they were excused because their moms were there to explain. With a slightly bent truth, of course.

Roman had to wait three(and a half) classes to talk to Virgil. They didn't have any classes together, to which Roman was bummed to find out. When the bell rang, signaling their lunch break, Roman hurriedly headed to the cafeteria. When he got there, he spotted Virgil just about to sit down at their usual table.

"Uhh. Virgil? Can I talk to you for a sec?" Roman felt awkward, to say the least.

"Uhm. Sure," Virgil replied, standing up. Roman led them under a tree in the courtyard, away from other students. They stayed silent for a while before Virgil spoke up, "So… what'd you wanted to talk about?"

Roman just stared at Virgil for a few moments, examining him, before enveloping him in a tight hug. Virgil stood frozen for a while, surprised at the gesture. He slowly placed his hands on Roman's back, still confused at the sudden affection.

"You're not alone anymore, Pumpkin," Roman said in a gentle voice, cradling the other's head. Virgil froze when he heard the nickname. His expression then softens and hugs Roman tighter, burying his face on the taller male’s shoulder.

"How did you find out?" Roman heard, slightly muffled by his jacket. "Had a dream about yesterday," Roman simply stated, not elaborating more. "What about you? You said you had a clue. Oh! That rhymed,"

They both laughed.

"I have first period with Remus and I recognized him right away," Virgil replied, his face still buried on Roman's shoulder. "Oh, I'm so sorry you have to deal with him," Roman chuckled.

"No, I'm sorry you had to deal with him your entire life,"

"Well, we're not alone anymore now, are we? Roman asked with a serious tone. Virgil parted a few inches from Roman, still holding on to him. He smiled as he looked up at Roman, "No, we're not."

This might be the last one I'll do for AU august but I'm also deciding if I should go back to the prompts I missed when I was sick hmm

I wish I included Remus more in this but it was already 3k words and thats the longest I've ever written so maybe its for the best XD

[happytroopers]

Toeing a line // Fox x Reader

TW: typical club stuff, alcohol drinking, arson mention, a random guy being a douche

Ahh, yes enemies to lovers but Fox has the emotional intelligence of a raisin

The music was pounding in 79's, a rhythmic bass line thumping so loudly that it created a ring like ripple with every beat in the cheap Nubian whiskey. Fox wrapped his hand around the low ball glass to absorb the vibrations before quickly retracting it- didn't want his drink to get too hot. After all, the cheap booze was probably the highlight of Fox's night and it was barely tolerable when chilled. He allowed himself a deep sigh, but at least tried to mask his scowl. No one else seemed to mind the colorful flashing lights or the shrieking Sullustese singing that accompanied the bone shaking bass. So instead of dampening the mood for the other party goers, Fox ordered another drink.

If you asked him how he ended up at 79's on one of his very, very rare days off? Fox would tell you that his brother's promised to pay his tab.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. You wouldn't have asked, hell, you probably would've avoided interaction all together. You had been exceptionally angry the last time you'd seen him.

After all, he was in charge of the Coruscant Guard. Which meant it was his job to inform you, one of the Coruscant Security Force's lead field detectives, when one of your cases fell under Guard jurisdiction. And during wartime, that was exceedingly frequent. So frequent in fact, the two of you were on a first name basis- that is, when you weren't calling him an ass.

Like, two days prior when he'd swiped up an arson case after you'd already almost solved it. Fox couldn't help that the arsonist burned a senator's sidepiece's apartment, and therefore it became a political issue which technically made it terrorism. You hadn't felt that way, and weren't afraid to let him know it.

Fox told you it was Coruscant Guard jurisdiction. You told him to go fuck himself. He asked if you had a problem with how he did his job. You asked if there was room under that helmet for the boot he was licking.

Fox shook his head as he sipped his drink, you had quite the mouth. You were feisty, a trait that was almost admirable when it wasn't infuriating. He finished his first drink as he thought about the last time he saw you, chest heaving as you tried to control your temper, eyes glinting maliciously as you glared at him, and fists clenched at your sides like you were going to punch him. Yeah, feisty was one word for it. Force of nature was another. Fox took another sip as he corrected his line of thought. Yes, objectively you were attractive, exceedingly clever, witty, and good at your job- but above all you were a pain in the ass. Especially, when you got angry at him for doing his job.

From his stool at the corner of the bar, he had a decent view of the entire club. Instinctively, his eyes did a sweep of the building. Nothing out of the normal- dancing women, drunk soldiers, server droids. He took a longer gulp as he finished his habitual sweep, almost choking when his eyes landed on something shocking.

You. You- in a hem line much shorter than anything you wore in the office. You- with a fruity, glowing drink in your hand as you leaned forward laughing as something the heavy artillery trooper said. You- with an easy grin and no tension in your shoulder.

Apparently, you weren't that angry, was Fox's first thought. Or at least you didn't look so angry when the heavy gunner kept an arm around your waist to keep you close- bordering the line between chivalrous and 'copping a feel', but you didn't seem to mind.

Fox narrowed his eyes in on the kid's face- obviously young, cropped hair, scar over through one eyebrow, and a fresh tattoo over the bridge of his nose-, wondering if he knew this trooper. He didn't know why it mattered, but it did. Mattered so much, in fact, that he didn't know he was staring until suddenly he was making eye contact with the soldier who was whispering something in your ear. Even though Fox pointedly looked away, he could've sworn he heard you giggle before you excused yourself.

When he looked back up, you were sauntering towards him with a light step, flushed face, and easy grin. Obviously, you hadn't seen him yet, so Fox tried angling himself away from you. When you got to the bar, you signaled to the bartender.

"Two shots, whatever's most popular tonight, please." You announced, running a hand through your hair. Even your voice sounded different, there wasn't an edge to it. Fox fully planned on staying silent, letting you go about your night with out him bothering you. But when a wave of your perfume hit him or maybe it was the double of his Nubian whiskey, he couldn't help it.

"I didn't picture you as the club type, Detective (Y/L/N)." Fell out of his lips before he even realized he was speaking. You tensed for a moment, you'd recognize that sarcasm anywhere. Fortunately, two drink in or not, you were never without a witty response for your favorite least favorite case stealer as lazily turned his way, hip cocking to one side and head to the other.

"Is that your way of asking if I come here often, Commander?" His title rolled of your tongue in an irritatingly, enticingly ironic way. He was pretty sure it was more respectful when you called him an ass. But at least this time you were smiling at him.

"What you do in your personal time is completely up to you." Fox answered formally, but the raised eye brows and raised eye brows told you otherwise. Like him, you couldn't help your next snarky comment.

"Well, since you took my case, I have plenty of personal time this weekend." You shot back, turning towards him. The commander was sans helmet, but still donned his red painted armor, "Besides, I could say the same thing about you."

Fox was about to shoot something back but suddenly, two armored arms wrapped around your waist pulling you back, “Sweet cheeks, what's the hold up with our drinks?"

Your demeanor changed immediately as an over exaggerated giggle bubbled out of your throat. A sugar sweet smile plastered to your face as you leaned back into that same trooper's chest, and your voice raised two octaves, "Bartender's busy, but they're coming!"

Whoever this was, it wasn't you. Snarky and 'irritating' as you were, he liked the real you much better. Fox had to look away as the heavy gunner in brownish-orange armor pressed kisses down your neck as you tried to flag the bartender again. Like Fox, the bartender assessed you and the trooper with an air of disgust and an over exaggerated eyeball- at least Fox managed to hide his.

“Get a room.” The bartender gruffed, sliding two shots of a glowing pink liquid towards you before following the statement in a string of angry curses in Neimoidian. You paid the insult no mind as you scooped up one of the shot glasses, and you escort of the night did the same with a grin.

Out of the corner of his eye, the commander saw you throw back your shot, even noticing how a stray streak escaped down the corner of you mouth, leaving a subtly glowing trail before your tongue darted to remedy it. Fox was so preoccupied in watching you that he hadn’t even noticed the gunner was staring at him.

You bounced slightly on your feet, enjoying the rush that the unidentified libation gave you and giving Fox a devilish wink before grinning back at your beau.

“Do you know him, baby?” The tattooed soldier asked with a slight slur, nodding his head towards the commander, voiced bordering between indulging for your sake and territorial to ward Fox off. He had adjusted his grip, now one of his arms was tight around shoulder with his gloved middle finger rubbing small circled on the exposed, tender skin exposed by the rather daring neckline of your outfit- but Fox was more distracted by the body glitter he’d just noticed. The commander cleared his throat and averted his eyes as he took a long sip of his drink, preparing himself for whatever description you’d cook up after your appraising stare (was your little smirk appreciative or malicious, Fox couldn’t decide).

“Oh, yeah, we work together sometimes.” You told him, before shrugging his arm off your frame. That was not the scathing review Fox had been expecting, and work together was a very generous way of putting things. You gave the commander another smirk, this time with a challenging raised eyebrow before laughing to yourself as you shook your head. Your drinking partner watched this micro interaction with the same level of confusion that Fox had, barely smoothing out his jealous sneer in time for you to turn back to him, “Order another round, I’m going to go freshen up, mmkay?”

You didn’t wait for confirmation as you left the two confused soldiers in your wake, hips swaying as you disappeared in the crowd.

Clearly not used to taking orders from pretty little things like you- Fox shook that line of thought out of his head and started over. Clearly not used to taking orders in his time off, it took the trooper a moment to catch up, before flagging down the bartender, “Another two shots, something to make her a little… frisky.”

Fox’s emotions went from annoyed at his presence, to a quick decision he hated this soldier. Similarly, the bartender gave him an actual disgusted reaction but got to work while Fox gave the gunner a nasty side eye.

“Got a staring problem, brother?” He huffed at the commander, with the intent to sound intimidating. But after seeing the kid down a neon pink drink, it missed by a long shot. Fox turned face towards him with an unimpressed stare, but the gunner kept going, “Yeah, I’ve noticed you staring.”

“Believe me, I wasn’t looking at you.” Fox informed him, voiced dripping with sarcasm as he shook his head as he went back to his drink, wishing you’d show back up and whisk the orange painted trooper away. He pictured it mentally and then decided you could take as much time as you pleased, because- for some reason he couldn’t place- the image made him aggravated. The barkeep placed two shots in front of them, both a dangerous deep black, before dropping a heart shaped fizzy tablet in both, turning them bubbly an a dark, transparent red. The sight would have made Fox wary had he not seen women order them for themselves before, but seeing as it was you- the commander still didn’t like it.

“Yeah, well, that hot piece of ass is with me, so keep your eyes to yourself.”

Fox snapped his head up, sending a glare to the younger soldier. Did he not have the decency to use your actual name? Did he even know your name?  The gunner smirked thinking he had struck a nerve- he had, but not the one he had intended to strike- so he continued, “Or, you can keep watching from here, I guess it doesn’t matter. We'll be too preoccupied to care.”

That was enough.

Fox stood to his feet, not that it mattered seeing that all clones were the same height for the most part. He gave the soldier a once over before coming back to his eyes which were bordering on glassy as the gunner slightly swayed on his feet.

“What’s your name and rank, soldier?” There was an edge to Fox’s voice, that even he couldn’t quite place, but nevertheless he continued to glare at the trooper.

“Are you trying to pull rank on me, man? Who do you think you are?” The disbelieving soldier shook his head as he shoved Fox’s shoulder. He had a point. It was considered a dick move to pull rank when off duty, and Fox made it a point to offend doing so. But here he was doing it anyway, over a girl who probably hated him.

“Clone Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard.” Fox answered, letting the hostility flavor his words. The difference was immediate, like he instantly sobered up as his face went white. The orange painted soldier straightened his posture and dropped the challenging glare in favor of an apologetic stare.

“C-Commander?,” He sputtered at first, before  shaking his head to center himself, “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t recognize you.”

The kid sputtered for another second, settling on the excuse, “I’ve had too much to drink.”

Fox took a little too much pleasure in the anxiety on the gunner’s features, and since he’d dug this hole, he might as well finish it, “Then maybe you should be done for the night.” Fox ’suggested’ sternly, pushing the two red shots out of reach without looking away, “Before you get yourself into trouble.”

The younger trooper nodded frantically, even throwing in a salute and a ’thank you, sir’, before quickly brushing past the Commander.

Fox caught his arm as he passed, pulling him in close enough to add on menacingly, “And stay away from (Y/N).”

The Gunner nodded again before scuttling out of the club, in an alarming hurry. Fox shook his head, already feeling a little bad for scaring the kid- the young trooper would probably wait for weeks in fear of a formal reprimand or demotion that would never come. Fox was mean, but he wasn’t going to hurt the kids career, just because he tried picking up the wrong girl. But then again, maybe a healthy dose of fear would do the kid some good, maybe he’d even stop using phrases like ‘hot piece of ass’- anyone who said that seriously maybe did deserve a demotion.

Shaking his head, Fox already felt a little embarrassed about his little display as he slid back onto his stool and finished his second drink.  The bartender saw the empty glass and came to top it off, but Fox waved him off- maybe he should take his own advice.

All that fuss, over the lead deceive who called him an ass like it was his name. Sighing, he ran a face over his head and reminded himself of all the reasons you weren’t worth the trouble.

Number one, you most definitely hated him and he (probably) hated you too, because you both found each other infuriating enough to ignore any redeeming qualities.

Number two, you could handle yourself and would at least attempt to kick Fox ass if you found out he intervened. He remembered watching you take down a suspected murderer- hell you might actually kick his ass if you were angry enough.

Number three, you didn’t seem to have minded the attention at all. It was Fox the interaction had bothered.

Fox was having trouble with a number four, and was growing agitated at the rather short list. A moment later, you sauntered back up, hair a little more in place and lip coloring touched up. Upon only finding one soldier, you looked around in confusion but found nothing.

“Where’d Blast go?” You asked over the music which had turned to a electro tech song with no words. One side of your painted lips tugging downward as you gave the club another once over. Fox just then realized he’d never even learned his name, no matter, to put himself back on track he let sarcasm roll off his tongue.

“You’re Coruscant’s lead field detective, you tell me.” Fox shrugged. Instantly, you sent him that annoyed glance he’d been waiting for all night. There you were, the real you. No more over exaggerated pouts or fake giggles.

“Well, I’d start the investigation but then you’d swoop it out from under me after I basically solved it for you, so why don’t you go ahead and tell me.” You sneered back, sharp eyes waiting expectantly. Fox was most definitely not going to tell you about his a tad bit over aggressive piss contest, you’d either punch him or never let him live it down- and the commander wasn’t sure which was the worst option. Instead, he nodded towards the mens bathroom as he twirled the ice in his empty glass.

“Kid said he was gonna hurl, apparently he hasn’t learned to hold his liquor yet.” He couldn’t help the subtle dig as he smirked, that wasn’t even true.

“Gross,” You muttered under your breath before you eyed the two shots on the bar. You plucked them both up, thinking about offering one to Fox before deciding against it, “Well if they’re already paid for.”

With that, you downed both shots without even checking what they were. The confidence in that action almost impressed Fox, but he told himself it was obnoxious. With no escort and no more booze, you sighed rolling your neck from side to side as the alcohol settled, “Well, probably for the best. I have work tomorrow.”

Fox quirked an eyebrow, “I thought I “stole" your case.”

He put extra emphasis on the air quotes just to annoy you- it worked. You threw him another withering look, but Fox- who was used to your scathing glares- didn’t flinch.

“Yeah, for every case you steal from me, I get three more.” You defended hotly, but eased into a laugh as you theatrically added, “Because criminals never sleep.”

Yep, that would definitely be those last two shots kicking in. You waited patiently for another sassy remark, quite frankly this conversation was much more riveting than anything Blast had said to you all night. Fox rose both eyebrows at your rather lame joke, but huffed a laugh anyways (at your humor or your lackadaisical demeanor, you weren’t sure).

“If that’s the case, why are you always so mad at me for- rightfully- taking cases that fall under my jurisdiction?” He pressed, flagging down the bartender for a glass of water that wasn’t for him. When he turned back to you, you annoyed glare had softened ever so slightly and your smirk had faded into a softer smile he’d never seen before.

“Just cause it’s you, Fox, just cause it’s you.” You told him, and Fox detected a lick of honesty behind your teasing grin. Hold his gaze for a second before shaking your head, you looked to the barkeep before he could set down the water, “His drinks are on me.”

Fox didn’t have a chance to protest before you winked at him again over your shoulder, already walking away, “See ya around, Commander.”

Yeah, Fox was definitely toeing a dangerous line. A very, very dangerous line.

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

SUMMER IN THE CITY 2022 (Vingio Parkas, Lithuania): A SUMMARY

Pre-show(s)

• I passed by a cute poster from a child for Måneskin 🥺 • I got immensely thirsty so I had to leave the fanzone section several times to get water (additionally I bought a kibin and fries with ketchup) • my eyeliner exploded on my eye in a way so I had to find a tissue but instead I got gauze from the ambulance tent and that sufficed • I ended up taking a selfie with a woman with the same shirt as me • thank God for the special bracelets of the event, otherwise I would have likely had not been let in the fanzone if I had to show tickets, cuz I noticed I immediately lost it lol • the most worn colour in clothing was green and idk why • long rows to get beer, that’s why there were lots of beer-selling tents from the one sponsor I s’pose • there was a place that required an extra bracelet for entrance, and one that required an electronic/vape cigarette jautì • great band to discover! energy abound • would recommend them to go to our Eurovision NF just for the fun of it lol • love the on screen graphics and how they seem to incorporate a lot of texting art • their music alternates between fun and moody • the bassist kinda reminded me of Ariel Pink with that pink blonde hair omg • blue was a prominent colour for some performances ig • the band said they were always asked of why are they writing about love so they wrote an entire current album they have recently released about love • Monika Liu, who performed with them on the last song. Queen • Monika was astounded for how many people were there to watch the concert, highlighting this fact while performing not once, but twice • she put her entire Liussy in this performance • another person they sang with is Gabrielė Vilkickytė (our 2017 Eurovision NF participant) • all the members are so damn fine wtf • the band lowkey promised they will be at one of the merchstands in one of the white tents... yeah I checked and I couldn’t see them for the life of me Daddy Was a Milkman • only later did I remember this was a one-man project, and it felt like it because his touring band didn’t create a band feeling • they firstly largely played indie music that I don’t remember them being known for but they maybe actually were • and when they played electronic music, GOD they were GOOD at it • during one of the songs the singer asked the audience if they’re waiting for the next act’s concert (Justinas Jarutis) and of course if we all waited for Måneskin (which received the loudest cheer lol) • their graphics were absolutely lithuania (without the “huania”) • overall a decent enough set! they have a mostly English repertoire but it’s not so bad Justinas Jarutis • his artist logo was written in the Stranger Things font?? supposedly??? but it didn’t look like a Stranger Things logo because it was not in red neon • he seemed to be such a flirt, he made a small wink to those at him on the catwalk part of the stage • one of his backing singers was Rūta Loop (the gal from our Eurovision national selections of 2018, 2020 and 2022) • during his performances, there were air balloons flying all above and it felt gorgeous • he apparently performed some song more than once because he really loved it, and also brought in an unreleased-ish song too. the power of having to hear the exclusives, it’s sheer fun • one of the two acts to take a moment to remind us of Ukraine, saying the “Slava Ukraini” phrase at the end of his speech and I barely heard anyone responding back so I shouted back the “Heroyam slava” at him • what followed up was a somber song, idk if it was that one about Ukraine that so many singers teamed up to sing on or some other one • he has this one currently very known song in the nation with a singer called Jessica Shy, titled “Rugpjūtis” (August) and the audience really loved singing it along. I only heard it once in a meme so I only knew to sing along to the part that I saw as a meme lol. The audience really effing loved it, no doubt • fabulous set The Vaccines • somehow I felt like their lead singer Justin felt like and even kind of sounded and looked like Damon Albarn (a bit more so in his prime) from afar of my seeing • I think I heard Justin attempting to say “hello” in Lithuanian and it was cute • Justin was the only one to say the name of the festival (Summer in the City) out loud. Twice. No other act really cared about this festival’s name at all apparently or something • also was the one to constantly remind us that we’re waiting for Måneskin • the entire band felt like charismatic little guys, lead singer Justin the most so, I loved how he moved a lot around the stage, but I think he was rarely on the catwalk part of it • I shouldn’t have exhausted my camera on this band because I was filming at least one bit of almost each one and every of their songs in hopes that one of them is “If You Wanna”, and now I have no bloody idea which one of them was “If You Wanna” • there was this dude near me who I think was a bit of a fan of the band, claiming to know their every single song that’s performed on stage • overall a lovely band, would recommend them to the last few ppl who hadn’t seen them

Måneskin • before they went on, a lot of the audience were yelling their name several times and screaming when some guy was filming or showcasing the audience • Damiano said something random at the microphone before performing, idk what was that but it was random • I SCREAMED MY ASS OFF to a lot of the songs lmaooooo, most notably when “Zitti e buoni” chorus came on, then some of “Coraline”, then some of In nome del padre, then a bunch of others, such as “Beggin’”, their cover of “Womanizer” (yes really they did that song), “Mammamia” and ”I Wanna Be Your Slave”. Cannot recall the rest • also “Zitti e buoni”, the VERY first song, is when my camera died, and Damiano didn’t even start singing the verses yet 😭 • Damiano splashed the nearest audience with his waterbottles. Twice. • Damiano saying something akin to “this is the first time we’re here so we’ll be judgy/judging” addressing this to the audience • so much of Victoria and Thomas action in the catwalk part of the stage!! • Damiano being on top of Thomas at some point I think • Damiano’s shirt hanging onto him for its dear life • Thomas looking lovely with his fit and a cute little beret ;3 • someone there came in with balloons that said “MÅ” that were coloured red and white. also someone held a poster (or two people did that) saying “I love you more than pizza” 🤣 • Damiano playing with a stage light and flashing it around the audience during the extended “For Your Love” guitar solo (iirc) • they played 3 covers (aside “Beggin’” of course), one was Britney’s “Womanizer”, the other being “My Generation” I think (or some song with those lyrics because I have no idea wtf was that song and it couldn’t be “Touch Me”), and some song by Iggy Pop. didn’t rly care for the Iggy Pop cover lol • Damiano at some point saying that either his voice is tired or just in general hinted that they will perform a slower song next. I was screaming “CORALINE” (with its English spelling cuz I’m a dumbass) while ppl around me seemingly wanted “Torna a casa”??? And when they played “Coraline” I felt satisfied as hell, hah! 😝 • “big” stage dive moment for Thomas during “I Wanna Be Your Slave” • we had to lower down for some part of “I Wanna Be Your Slave”, and after a while, we had to be constantly jumping cuz Damiano wanted us to • the way Damiano said “ARE YOU READY” several times but never played said song, that’s so them • it took me forever to recognize “Gasoline” when they were playing it, I’m so embarrassed of myself • the Britney cover was a perfect choice for all this time because Damiano IS a “womanizer”, but while they were singing it, I could not stop thinking about the Franz Ferdinand version of that song • the band members left the stage before the last song and we all started singing the football chant they themselves were singing in the winners’ press conference. lmao the power of turning the “Seven Nation Army” riff into a sing-alongable chant • a drone was flown by some guy to give us some one photo captured on Instagram to show just how fucking many of us were in that open air stage • ABOUT THE BIG “FANS ON STAGE MOMENT”: I wasn’t admitted to get on there but I helped the last fan to hop over the security fence leading to the stage (I hope that this is not the 33 year old woman who grabbed Damiano...), and then no more were admitted lol. I couldn’t see the big grabby moment cuz I focused on everyone having so much fun (including the MÅ balloons girl and two ladies with one Ukrainian flag on one of them and one Icelandic flag on another one of them) Jovani

• played after all the acts for what can I only assume an afternight special • didn’t get to focus on seeing his set because I had to leave the park as soon as Måneskin finished performing (but not before buying an IWBYS shirt) • what I heard is that he played loads of “classics” and yelled on songs sometimes like a regular DJ does Post-show • litter everywhere • in general I saw myself on the audience shot section on the stage screens 2-3 times • me seeing security prompted me to quote this one Tananai instastory that became an in-joke among my Twitter-circle of friends • I asked some woman what time is it, she didn’t “look it up”, we didn’t have a great convo and then she ran off to somewhere • my phone died so I called through 2 phones of other people to get me away from the park • like I said, I also bought an additional Måneskin shirt which was too big for my size so now I’ll have it as a pyjama