#like i know these are shows and movies made to promote a doll line but they do so much more than that

[scarah-screeeaaammss]

everyday I see a comment or tags on a monster high post where someone has so clearly missed the entire point of the message of monster high and it makes me wanna yank my own hair out

[mh-midnight-wanderer]

So I was thinking about Monster High 2022 cartoon showrunner Shea Fortana responded on Instagram while making the show in which G1 characters will be integrated and there is a handful of characters MH franchise team doesn't want to introduce to a new generation.

So I made a list...

Also, I'd like to point out that I could be 100% wrong. I don't work for Mattel and it's just pure speculation from me.

The first two tiers explain itself: Characters that appear in the show. Main characters that already have dolls and those who don't have dolls yet.

The "Cameo" tier: Probably Operetta will appear next year with Jinafire, Skelita, etc.

The "Unknown status" tier is debatable. In the case of MH live-action movie uses the character Jackson / Holt to make Mr. Komos. Who knows if they are going to use these characters later on.

The "Ties with other franchise" Tier: I don't know if C.A Cupid will never return because Ever After High.

The "Controversial ones" Tier: Isi, Gigi Grant, Whisp, Hoodude, & Jane ties in with sensitivity issues of their own culture.

I didn't know that Kjersti is based on a real person who caused controversy with Mattel because Becky's wheelchair doll couldn't fit in Barbie's Dreamhouse.

And the last tier: Are characters have bland designs that would be difficult to sell. Except for Wydowna but probably won't sell well because cost of molding and designing clothing specific for her. Most likely higher up thinks she's too scary for kids.

I know there more characters that have potential like Johnny Spirit, Seth Ptolemy, Spelldon Cauldronello

Like I said in my previous post. The problem with G1 is that a new MH doll line must include 3 or 4 new characters. And some of them don't even go to Monster High. Chances are getting less screen time or don't get development.

This is understandable for the business side of things that most popular characters will be introduced first and see which ones need redesign like Lagoona, Ghoulia, etc.

At the end of the day. Monster High cartoon is like any other show to promote toys.

If the Monster High 2022 show ended. The MH fanbase will live and stay here: creating fanarts, fanfictions, or even custom dolls of your favorite character.

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Worf

By Ames

It’s an honorable week here on A Star to Steer Her By because we’re shining our character spotlight on the show’s first Klingon main character, Worf, Son of Mogh! He’s also the first specifically main cast member to span two different series (sorry, O’Brien), so we’ve got glimpses from both The Next Generation and its films and also Deep Space Nine to cover. Worf might get the most time of any character to truly develop, growing from the guy who gets thrown across the room by the baddie of the week into the complex warrior who, for just a moment, wears the robes of the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council. Go Worf!

So put on your baldric, grab your bat’leth, and top off your mug of bloodwine as we give Worf all the honor he deserves (which every so often, isn’t very much, but other times is a lot!). Read on for the commendable battles below and listen to our death yells over on this week’s podcast (fight your way to 55:39). Today is a good day to die.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Bloodwine is red / Andorians are blue… While we gave Dr. Pulaski lots of props for whipping up an antidote so she could participate in Worf’s version of a tea party, it’s also just lovely that Worf honors her by performing the ceremony in the first place in “Up the Long Ladder.” Deep down under the head ridges and scowl, Worf is just a poetry-reading, tea-sipping teddy bear and we love it.

Klingon paper dolls Star Trek characters jump at any opportunity to play dress up, and we get a good instance of that in “The Emissary” when Worf and K’Ehleyr put on their warrior garb to trick a crew of Klingons in cryostasis into thinking they represent the Klingon Empire. As always, this episode gets some extra points for featuring K’Ehleyr, and it turns out Worf’s pretty good at improvisation too.

We have bonded and our families are stronger While we’re certainly going to give Worf some shit for how badly he parents his biological son, his connection with Jeremy Aster in “The Bonding” is actually quite beautiful for the both of them. Each an orphan, they are able to form a familial-type relationship together, and it’s really touching when Worf invites Jeremy to join him in the R'uustai that will bond them as brothers.

He has claimed the right of vengeance A trend emerged in our Best Worf Moments when they tended to fall into the “killing the fuck out of some jerk who deserves it” category, and the first to really deserve it is Duras in “Reunion.” Duras has been begging to get murdered since we first heard his contemptible name, but when he killed Worf’s mate in cold blood, Worf knew exactly what he had to do with his bat'leth.

You may now give birth Despite the fact that it resulted in adding a baby to the cast (blech), we have to give some credit to Worf for delivering the O’Brien baby in “Disaster” in a way that only he could. We’d need a whole additional blogpost for all the great Worf one-liners throughout the two series, as Michael Dorn’s delivery is always gold, but “Push, Keiko, push” has got to be pretty high up there.

Doesn’t gik’tal mean to the death? Worf sees so much potential in Sito Jaxa in “Lower Decks” and spends most of the episode arguing on her behalf for a promotion. So when we see Worf testing her with the made-up gik’tal martial arts to teach her to stick up for herself, we can’t help but see in her just what Worf sees. Ya know, until Picard totally gets her killed.

Assimilate this! Sure, it’s a soundbite-y line designed to be marketable in the trailer, but when Worf survives getting his EV suit punctured by tying it off with some Borg bits and then blows up the interplexing beacon in First Contact, it just feels right. Maybe it’s that Michael Dorn can get away with cheesy lines like “Assimilate this!” or maybe we just love watching Borg explode.

If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand While the movies are mostly showcases for Picard and Data, First Contact gives some great moments to the other castmembers. Worf’s standoff with Picard is nothing short of chilling. Borg are overrunning the ship and Picard orders Worf and his security team to what is almost certain to be their deaths. Lucky for us, Worf doesn’t actually mutiny, just threatens to a little bit.

And in this corner… While we spent most of The Next Generation watching Worf getting knocked around as shorthand for “the alien threat is strong,” by Deep Space Nine, we don’t really get that anymore and instead he actually gets to kick some ass! In “By Inferno's Light,” Worf is forced to battle Jem’Hadar after Jem’Hadar in the fighting ring, and he refuses to quit even when he has every right to.

Help me fight again, Worf You’ll see in a second that sometimes when Worf tries to help another Klingon die with honor, things can get complicated, but when Kor asks for help going out in the warrior fashion, Worf is totally a good guy about it. He gets the old legend a place on Martok’s ship in “Once More Unto the Breach” even though it’s not Martok’s favorite thing, but in the end, Sto’Vo’kor gains a new warrior.

Seven down, one to go We still have more “killing the fuck out of some jerk who deserves it” mentions to bring up! What list would be complete without the murder of at least one Weyoun on it? In this case, Worf straight up snaps the neck of Weyoun 7 in “Strange Bedfellows” when he has the opportunity and it is a thing of such beauty that it gains Damar’s respect.

What I have done was for the Empire Finally, our last jerk who needed to get killed the fuck out of is that bastard Gowron in “Tacking into the Wind.” Gowron was going around making terrible decisions, rewriting the history books, and trying to get Martok killed in various ways, and Worf finally has enough and kills him in honorable combat. He gets the cloak of the Chancellor for it but selflessly passes it to Martok, like an absolute boss.

—

Worst moments

I would rather die than pollute my body with Klingon filth While Geordi is putting racism aside to be able to coexist with his new BFF Bochra in “The Enemy,” Worf takes the opposite path. By refusing to let Crusher give his blood to Patahk, Worf condemns the injured Romulan to death just because of his race. And then the show takes some of the guilt off Worf by having Patahk refuse treatment anyway, leaving Worf’s hands clean, I guess.

This is not unlike a drumhead trial Worf is also quick to fall in line with Admiral Satie’s Red Scare of a trial against crewman Tarses in “The Drumhead.” He gets so infatuated with dispensing justice that he jumps past “innocent until proven guilty” and determines that Tarses is guilty of treason because he’d lied about his alien heritage, when the two things aren’t even related.

Would you further dishonor our family with your disobedience? It’s a running joke in the Star Trek community that Worf is a terrible father and… well, he is. To his defense, he did have Alexander sprung on him when K’Ehleyr died in “Reunion,” and he did try to pawn the little brat off on the Rozhenkos, but that was a terrible move too. So when we watch how clueless he is trying to parent in “New Ground,” we cringe hard at how Worf just doesn’t get it.

Donkey Kong: 1. Worf: 0. A lot of Worf’s decisions about how to deal with his paraplegia in “Ethics” are complicated and problematic, but the way he ended up in such a state is what we’re really here to roast him on. My dude got bitched by a big blue plastic barrel in the cargo bay, and that is downright dishonorable for a Klingon warrior. Battle, sure. Explosion, fine. Spat with Spot, of course. But not blue barrel!

How could your mother mate with a Romulan? Worf’s prejudice against Romulans comes out again in “Birthright” when he learns that Ba’el is half Romulan and he starts spouting racist accusations at her when he’s already seen what kind of a person she is, and even what kind of person her father is. Since his father’s death at Khitomer, it’s a long road for Worf to accept that all Romulans are not that same, and it’s unclear if he ever gets there.

Tell him he is a pretty cat and a good cat All your hosts here at A Star to Steer Her By are ride-or-die cat people, so when Worf refuses to tell Spot he’s a good cat and a pretty cat in “Phantasms” when Data asks him to look after the feline, we take it super personally. Frankly, Data should have looked elsewhere for someone to catsit because what’s supposed to be a humorous moment in the show just makes us angry at Worf. Hiss!

I believe the Ferengi bartender is plotting something By the time Worf joins Deep Space Nine, his racism against Romulans doesn’t come up, but his racism against the Ferengi sure does. Ever since “Hippocratic Oath,” Worf refuses to call Quark by name, instead calling him “The Ferengi bartender.” We joke sometimes on the podcast that the only race it’s okay to be racist against is the Ferengi, but you know what? It’s really not okay.

My life is in your hands Sure, we can argue that Kurn coming to Worf for the Klingon rite of Mauk-to’Vor in “Sons of Mogh” is messed up and puts Worf in a tough position, but Worf manages to pick an even worse outcome for his brother. Instead of killing him and sending Kurn to Sto’Vo’kor with his honor intact, Worf does the least honorable thing and has Bashir wipe Kurn’s memory. Without Kurn’s consent! Eeesh.

Everything you do reflects on me There were a bunch of times during DS9 that we really thought Jadzia could do better than having Worf as her mate, and “Let He Who Is Without Sin” is the chief offender. Worf starts the episode arguing about Jadzia consorting with other men even though she’s with him now, gets jealous of the Dax’s previous relationships, and generally poopoo’s Jadzia’s streak of individuality like a toxic boyfriend.

Have you accepted Kahless as your lord and savior? And that’s not even the worst thing Worf does in the abysmal episode “Let He Who Is Without Sin.” He spends the rest of their vacation on Risa palling around with the New Essentialists who’ve decided that people enjoying things is bad form, which is just Worf being petty. So when he goes out of his way to help them literally rain on everyone’s parade, it’s super damaging to his character.

I do not know you, nor do I wish to know you After Jadzia’s death, Worf utterly fails as grieving in a healthy, productive way and instead opts to take it out on Ezri during “Afterimage.” Just because she’s not Jadzia, Worf treats the poor Trill with disdain, ignoring the fact that she too is living through the trauma of being joined to the symbiont. None of this is her fault! Don’t yell at the innocent cupcake!

If it looks like a Dax and it quacks like a Dax… Worf and Jadzia had chemistry like whoa and we were here for it. Worf and Ezri… just don’t. So when they bump uglies in “Penumbra,” we just find it kinda gross and distasteful. My dude, that is not your wife anymore, and she’s in a very vulnerable state having had the Dax symbiont thrust upon her, so it strikes us as kind of problematic that they go to the bone zone (and I don’t mean Worf’s calisthenics program).

—

Qapla’! Now that we’ve got our honor back, take the R'uustai with us and subscribe so that you can see our next batch of character spotlights as we segue smoothly into our crewmates from Deep Space Nine! On the flip side, you can listen along to our dishonorable rewatch of Enterprise over on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast, challenge us to a bat’leth fight on Facebook and Twitter, and join us for some good tea in a nice house.

[frasier-crane-style]

Aquaman 2 The Lost Kingdom

This is pretty much more of the same, but less. It's not as epic as the first movie but despite constantly referencing the events and character dynamics from the first movie, it's not really more depthful or character-driven. Sort of like one of those old Blue Thunder: The Series! pilots that was meant to spin a popular movie off into a TV show, only with a big budget.

-It feels like they tried to edit Amber Heard out without spending any money doing it... after fifteen minutes or so, the only lines she gets are roaring during action sequences.

-Because this is the era of no fun allowed, the villain doesn't have a sultry minx in a leather catsuit to carry out his will, but a dumpy-looking Thai ladyboy. But it's important Thai ladyboy representation like this that made Aquaman 2 a box office... oh.

-Jason Momoa makes no effort not to play himself, which kinda kneecaps the would-be drama. He's supposed to be suspicious of his evil brother Orm, yet yearn for connection (this dynamic is so entirely Thor & Loki that the movie eventually drops the pretense and just calls Orm "Loki" out loud)--but Momoa comes off more like a retarded Golden Retriever that's too stupid to know he should resent and mistrust his arch-nemesis. Even though the script gives him lines about how he resents and mistrusts his arch-nemesis. And it's not like he's supposed to be some golden-hearted exemplar of friendliness and compassion--he's in this mess in the first place because he killed Black Manta's dad like a prick.

-This movie made me realize how many CBMs arbitrarily have the hero in costume for the first act, take him out of costume for no reason in the second act, then put him back in the costume for the third act. I get putting Aquaman in a 'stealth suit' for toy sales, but did they think kids would be clamoring for an Aquaman in boho chic doll?

I mean, it's not like he's enjoying a long weekend at this point in the storyline. He's on a mission, doing Aquaman shit, but he doesn't wear the armor or use the trident. Is it just a contractual power trip? His agent got WB to give him forty-five minutes of wearing street clothes in the middle of the plot just as a flex? Is he promoting a fashion line? Will Jason Momoa implode if he goes one week without wearing leather wrist cuffs?

I don't know, it's just weird to me that the first movie got so much praise for its accurate, good-looking costumes, and instead of showing those off, they're constantly putting the characters in street clothes or generic jumpsuits. Ocean Master never even gets a new costume. He spends the whole movie looking like a crewman on Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.

[moviepixie]

Barbie

Subtitle: Is Barbie Worth the hype

Now, I am one of the biggest Barbie enjoyers. I was even contemplating going to watch this in the cinema. I've heard people call this the greatest movie. But I'm here to give you the truth. If you look on the internet, this movie has a three-star review. A balance of five stars and 1 star and hardly any in between. This is my honest review.

********************************************************

To start with, I believe that the movie had some key points. I did enjoy Barbie because she could be whatever she wanted to be. I enjoyed looking at her life and watching almost every movie she had. However, ten minutes into the movie, I had to take a break. One thing people know about me is that I hate when things get political. Even if you must put it in a movie, I'd prefer it to be subtle and not loud.

The start of the movie felt like a lecture. The whole thing about Barbie's life being perfect every day and Ken's day only being perfect if Barbie looked at him felt too far-fetched. To add to that, there was a line saying that a pregnant doll is just too weird. I don't know what they were getting at but I felt like I was being lectured.

I got so tired of listening that I had to put the movie on 1.5x speed to get through it.

I gathered that this movie is more about Men being bad and the patriarchy being bad. It's also about women being good and the Matriarchy being better. Every single stereotype was rolled into a movie and spat at me as a watcher. Not to mention in the movie when Barbie was told that she sent feminism back 40 years or something, she just ran and cried. It also portrayed men as stupid.

It also has this narrative that in the real world, everyone hates women. There was also a part where they said that Ken was absolutely useless. Look I prefer the original series. I never looked down on Ken nor did I look down on Barbie. I loved how independent Barbie was and Ken didn't have to be put down so that Barbie could shine.

The next area of complaint is that when Ken reversed Barbie land and treated Barbie the way she treated him, she broke down about it She didn't like feeling unimportant which is kind of ironic. Not to mention that when everything fell apart, all she could do was lay flat on her face and sob. Nothing like the Barbie that I remember. I don't mind the sobbing but Barbie was never one to give up!

Not to mention that the solution to understanding all this was to rant about how impossible it was for it to be a woman. Now I'm not going to get into politics because I hate it and I hate talking about politics but this movie was a waste of an hour and 48 minutes of my life.

I went in with as little expectation as possible and was met with a word vomit of why the matriarchy is better and why men are bad and women should be in charge of everything. It wasn't my cup of tea and I'm honestly glad I didn't go and watch it in the cinema. I wouldn't have made it to the end.

I know I’m the end there was some sort of reparation but honestly, I’m over the movie.

Look, you can be anything you want to be regardless of your gender and no matter what you do either as a man or a woman, someone is always going to have something to say about you. Life is difficult for everyone and while Barbie does highlight some key struggles, it doesn't paint the full picture. All it does is show a certain portion that will please society. If the film was not aimed at making a statement then it wouldn't be an issue. The movie aimed at making a statement instead of making a correct statement. Men and women are unique in their own ways and face different sets of problems. That is my own opinion.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone but feminists and quite honestly, it was made for them. I wouldn't watch it again and if not for this review, I would have quit at the first 10 minutes. It’s not my cup of tea. You can promote feminism in a way that doesn't come up as lecturing, you can promote feminism in a way that does not put men down. It's safe to say that I'll never watch this movie again. I will never recommend it to people close to me and unless you're really into blatant lectures on why women have it harder than men, I wouldn't recommend it to you. I would rate this movie a 2.9/10 and that's because some parts were funny to me. It’s my opinion, if you liked the movie then good on you.

Crushes from the movie: you guessed it, none.

[nitori-swims-rinstyle]

Thoughts on G3 promotion

I really would like to know what the marketing strategy is right now for monster high g3 because rn all the official socials are majority g1 dolls and the collector dolls. Are they relying fully on the Nick cartoon, YouTube short animations, and the movies? Is that truly enough to pull in a new generation of fans?

idk? Because MAYBE that is enough for young kids. Then the social media strategy is maybe to only cater to the “Monster High alumni” fans. WHICH IS INTERESTING because it almost seems like they didn't think we would like the dolls, which we DO. SO MUCH. As the intent was G3 dolls for a new generation of kids and Collector/ higher end dolls for the older fans. G3 marketing putting more focus and their entertainment avenues for the kids and G1 relying on nostalgia.

The alumni fans want to show support for the new dolls too. We want social media posts about the new doll lines. Posts that don’t originate with leaks and fans. From the outside looking in WITHOUT the recognition of their strats toward their target audience of young children. It LOOKS like the older fans are doing all the work and the team behind the new dolls doesn’t care. Which is far from the truth.

tl;dr

Mattel is building the new generation of monster high fans through the movie and TV franchises with Nick as well as on YouTube.

They made G3 with the intent that these were for the kids and the collector dolls were for the adult collectors

They (possibly) did not factor in that the adult collectors would love the new dolls too and have not met the social media bridge to interact with this fanbase. Instead, circling G1 nostalgia with little to no recent promotion of the new doll lines causing confusion.

[accio-victuuri]

so more details on the game that wyb enjoyed playing. again, this bit is from a fan repo. we will know for sure if it is a fact once the episode airs on SDC. i don’t even know if it will be aired on the show itself or just part of a behind the scenes. so just chill. HAHAHAHAHA! take this as a cute story or fake rumor. 🤍

game plot:

Cody and May, a married couple, are planning on getting a divorce. After telling their daughter Rose the news, she takes her hand-made dolls, which look like her parents, into the family shed and tries to repair their relationship by play-acting. The parents find themselves trapped inside the dolls' bodies as a consequence of Rose's tears landing on the dolls. Dr. Hakim, who has assumed the anthropomorphic form of his relationship therapy book, tells May and Cody that he has been given the job of trying to fix their relationship as they try to reach Rose.

It nothing new for them to be playing together or even being a couple in-game allegedly ( read this for an example ) but this is just another level. Lol. A married couple working on their relationship? and them having to go through different games / tasks to get their happy ending.

This is like a 9 hour game play of it lol but what I gathered is the two people playing this have different strength and weaknesses and need to work together and complete the tasks. You have a split screen so you can see what the other person is doing but there are levels that the characters are together.

BXGs are pulling the “tacit understanding” card and I have to agree. This kind of game will really test that, like how partners do. I’m not saying only couples will be able to succeed in this but if we’re talking about zz/wyb. LOL. you know what I mean. They can finish each other’s sentences and communicate just by looking at each other. They laugh at things no one gets but the two of them. They may seem different — sports student and art student right? but that actually makes them stronger because they complement e/o.

This is a perfect game for them. They can play other games similar to this but they really had to pick one that’s about a couple lol 😂 granted, it is a pretty popular one so maybe they saw it and decided to play.

Add to that Yibo’s recent Q&A with Vogue Plus, where he was asked what game he wants to do in VR and he said skiing. There is a level that both them are skiing. Maybe that’s where he got the idea. We also know their plans to ski together, so this is just 🥺.

Two reviews I found that me go 👀

That's why the mini-games in "It Takes Two" have different meanings. Not only because of the collection of how many mini-games it has made, but also because the love motto contained in it is so suitable for the game master. Question: Cooperation is the main line of love, and healthy competition is the tune of love. Flavor can not only increase the relationship between husband and wife, but also promote mutual growth——If you are stronger than me, I will learn from you and try to catch up with you Even more than you; I am better than you, I will teach you skills and methods so we can grow together.

The process of reshaping marriage in "It Takes Two" is actually reshaping respect and understanding between two people, let each other see, let each other fill. Give full play to your strengths and work together to break through the barriers.

I have always loved fake rumors/cpns about them talking on the phone constantly. sending voice messages. sending gifts to e/o’s crew when filming and to each other. The thought of them making an effort to bridge the gap when they are apart makes me so soft. It is a common argument of people who don’t believe szd is how can they have time for their relationship if they are so busy? Well. You make time. Love is work after all. As simple as playing an online game together to have fun and make sure you are doing an activity. Them watching a movie at the same time. The simple things matter. It doesn’t always have to be a grand vacation or a date outside ( tho I hope they get to do that too ).

I guess a big factor here is they were good friends first. They enjoyed doing things together and have that connection.

I wish this lovely couple happiness and more time to be together in the future 🤍🤍🤍

-END.

[asset35-maya]

RED DRESS

Part 2/2 of Nice Things

//

“Come on, we’re going to be late.”

“Five minutes, sweetheart. Please.”

Gavin rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed with a thump. The day had finally come when the human was more punctual than the android. He sniggered at the thought but refrained from saying it out loud. Nines looked far more serious than he ought to for a Friday night.

“Babe, it’s just the guys. And Tina.” 

Nines ignored him in favor of twirling a mascara wand through his lashes. 

“We’re literally going to Abick’s. That’s like the oldest, grungiest cop bar you can-”

“It’s not the place or the company, sweetheart.”

Gavin watched Nines finish off with eyeliner. Somehow even androids’ mouths hung open in concentration while doing that. 

He stood up from the little pouffe and shook his long hair out with a flourish. Taking that as his cue, Gavin got up and pressed himself up against his lover’s back. He curled his arms around Nines’ trim waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. 

Their eyes met in the mirror of the wooden dresser that Gavin had built for Nines.

“Whatchu so gorgeous for?”

Nines tried, but couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.

“Shut up and zip me up.”

It wasn’t like he couldn’t reach behind himself and do it on his own. The RK900 model was supremely dexterous, flexible to the point of double-jointedness. 

It was more of an implicit request for the human’s approval of the outfit. Nines didn’t need it, but he asked anyway… just like later that night, Gavin would ask him if it was okay to splurge on a bacon cheeseburger or order an extra shot in his whiskey coke… 

They were codependent like that.

Gavin left one hand on the android’s stomach and placed the other on the small of his back, just at the opening of the dress. His thumb grazed the zipper, but he didn’t demonstrate any further intent to pull it up. 

“You said we were going to be late.”

Gavin swept the dark curtain of hair aside and pressed his lips to the exposed skin at the nape of Nines’ neck. When he spoke it was a whisper.

“Why’s my babydoll looking like something out of a movie for my dumb little promotion party?” 

His hand slipped into the open flap of the dress. It was a simple knee-length a-line. Fairly modest, but something about it set Gavin’s heart racing. Perhaps the colour. A vibrant, lusty, sexy, show-stopping red in sharp contrast to the milky white synthskin.

Nines couldn’t help the gasp that escaped him at the touch. Sighing, he tipped his head back and let Gavin nuzzle his neck. 

“Hmm?”

“Now we’re really going to be late, sweetheart. Zip… hhhhh… zip… me up…”

“Come on, doll. I don’t want someone accidentally spilling beer or mustard on this pretty little thing you got on. It’s just gonna be a chill night out with our friends. They demanded a treat for my promotion, and Hank said he’d come too, so I picked a place he’d be more comfortable at, and I realise that’s not exactly your scene, but I’m glad you’re coming with me, but I really gotta say this dress-”

Nines turned around in Gavin’s grasp and silenced him with a kiss.

“It’s not the place or the company,” he repeated, putting his arms around the human’s neck. 

“It’s your promotion party. It’s about your achievements, your hard work, YOU. And in case you haven’t noticed, you’re the most important person in my life. My partner in more ways than one. My everything.

Your rise in stature means as much if not more to me than my own accomplishments. I’m not the RK900 with the impeccable solve rate. I’m Sergeant Reed’s better half. 

If I had it my way we’d be doing something much grander, but this is how you want to celebrate and that’s fine, but please don’t stop me from dressing for the occasion.”

They looked at each other for a long moment. Steel blue and storm green locked in stalemate. 

Then Gavin pulled Nines into a tight embrace. He released him abruptly and spun him around, zipping up the dress in a flash. Avoiding eye contact lest the tears pricking his eyes betray him, Gavin caught the android’s hand in his and marched out of the apartment.

//

Connor greeted them at the entrance of the bar and waved them over to where the motley crew sat, already well into their first round of drinks.

Hank raised his beer glass in greeting, wearing an orange striped shirt he apparently deemed worthy of festivities. Tina enveloped Gavin in a giant hug. For a good thirty seconds he could see nothing but flannel. Then Miller, Person and countless other officers took turns congratulating him and bringing up past cases or incidents they couldn’t believe hadn’t held Gavin’s career back. 

Nines extricated himself with an artful wave of long fingers and settled onto a bar stool beside his older brother Sixty and his husband Allen. Serious, snarky and clad in their usual black leather, these two were more Nines’ speed.

Ignoring Sixty’s irritated grumble, Nines took a sip of his thirium drink to see if he liked the taste and ordered one for himself. He was prepared to spend the rest of the night sitting still and not touching the many sticky, greasy surfaces in the bar. It wasn’t his idea of fun, but he was happy to let Gavin and his friends do their thing.

Gavin, however, didn’t seem to be in the mood. He humoured his friends (many of whom were now his direct reports) and played along with whatever they insisted on doing, but Nines felt his partner’s eyes on him the entire evening.

“You punishing him?”

“Hmm?”

Sixty was squinting at him shrewdly.

“For coming to this shithole to celebrate. That’s why you wore this? Poor bastard can’t keep his eyes off you.” 

Nines swatted his brother on the chest. 

“I don’t play games like you.”

“Who says I play games?”

Allen shook his head but didn’t look up from his phone.

“I have a fashion sense, Six, not an agenda. I’m not punishing him for anything.”

“Well, you’re certainly distracting him. Reminds me of the time Allen said something stupid while we were getting ready for a shift so I put on lingerie underneath my gear. He nearly fell off a roof that day.”

Allen buried his face in his hands while Nines laughed out loud. 

“Shiiit. Your guy looks fucking lovesick. In front of all his staff too. They’re gonna think he’s a total sap. A new authority figure like him has got to show some grit.”

“Six, your husband follows you around like a lost puppy but that hasn’t interfered with his ability to lead your unit. Gavin will be fine.”

Allen didn’t know whether to consider that an insult or a compliment and settled for sipping his drink in silence.

“So what are you gonna do?”

“To?”

“Make the torture worth his while.”

At that exact moment, Gavin gave Nines a look from across the bar that could have only one interpretation. Sixty noticed and barked a laugh. 

Nines self-consciously tucked his hair behind his ear and smoothed down his dress. If he were human he’d have blushed bright red. 

Back to idly scrolling through his phone, Allen spoke without looking up.

“Let him do whatever he wants.”

Nines’ eyes widened. Sixty nodded wisely.

“His imagination is probably running all over the place right now. All you have to do is let him act on it and you’ll make him the happiest man on earth. It’s his promotion. You should be the prize.”

Allen put down his phone and scooted closer to Sixty, wrapping his arms around the android. They both looked at Nines with identical expressions that were anything but innocent. 

“Yeah, Nines. Dress like a present, expect to be unwrapped.”

Raucous cheers erupted as Gavin lost yet another game of beer pong. The new sergeant barely noticed and took the shot glass thrust into hand by a very jubilant Connor. Nines raised his glass in a silent toast and the two downed their drinks together.

The rest of the evening was an exercise in painful self-restraint. Gavin entertained various playful requests and posed for photos and thanked each and every one of his colleagues for their strong support. Hank clapped him on the shoulder proudly, and Tina even teared up at one point, emotionally overcome with happiness for her oldest and closest friend. Nines watched it all quietly from his perch beside Sixty and Allen.

//

As soon as they slid into an autonomous taxi, Gavin’s lips were on his, smothering him in heated, demanding kisses. Intoxicated and utterly uninhibited, the human put his hands in Nines’ hair… all over his body… and up the pretty red dress. No words were exchanged the entire ride home. 

The fact that android skin could not be marked or bruised was the only thing that let them walk through their busy lobby and ride the elevator up with dignity intact.

As soon as the front door slammed shut, Gavin was all over Nines. He touched and groped and claimed and conquered. 

The dress zipper was pulled down as quickly as it had been pulled up before they left for the bar. Nines stepped out of the puddle of red fabric as delicately as he could and pulled Gavin’s shirt off too. It was only the high quality gyroscope of the RK900 model that kept them from crashing to the floor before making it to the bed. 

Nines allowed himself to be pushed onto the bed and parted his legs for Gavin to easily settle between them. From there, he expected things to go at lightning speed… for Gavin to plough into him and come with a loud roar after a couple minutes, finally sated after a night of frustration.

The exact opposite occurred. 

Even after all the tequila shots Connor and Tina made him do, Gavin was somehow still lucid enough to put his lover’s feelings over immediate physical needs. 

“Babe, I… am soooo… sorry…”

One hand wound up in his hair and the other gripped his hip. 

“Like.. you dressed the phck up… like you looked soooooo damn beautiful, baby… I’m gonna cry.”

For a moment, it honestly looked like that was a possibility until Nines reached up and stroked the human’s stubbled cheek.

“I know Abick’s is kinda crusty but you came anyway… looking like a million bucks but I didn’t spend a second with you… T and Con and the crew… they kinda took over…”

“It’s fine, sweetheart. It was our whole team’s night as much as yours. I’m glad they all had their fun.”

“I didn't. Have any fun.”

“Really? Not even when Chris did that Fowler impersonation?”

“Couldn’t stop… thinking of you… you’re so damn good to me… and I…”

“I was fine. You invited Six and Allen to keep me company and it was fiiiineee.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. Now come on, sarge. Show me who’s boss.”

Nines rolled his hips against Gavin’s and that was all the conversation there was to be had for the night. They were both still getting used to having nice things… but they were doing well.

//

Inspired by @marndraws

[starshipsofstarlord]

remember my name

steve rogers x ronin!reader / masterlist

summary; five years is a long time, but now there is hope of returning those that turned to ashes to the reality. as a former member of the avengers, steve sets out to find you, finally seeing what you had become / warnings; death, angst, murder, mentions of sex, smut, flashback, captain kink

blood, it ran like a serpent on the cement, curving its red spine to elaborate the cracks in the ground. steve watched with distaste on the street, his patriotic orbs following after the crimson lines, watching lewdly as they met with the hood’s feet.

steve’s expression was one of exasperation, concurred in a waver of disgruntled shock. there were remnants of the kill dripping from blade, descending to the ground. once, the weapon had been used to allege a fight for a good cause. oh, how times had changed.

now it was served a purpose to subdue execution, slicing the air ways of men that deserved no more than have been turned to dust along with their previous victims. now, they could disdain no more damage onto society, their numbers were dwindling, as each was taken down, with the retribution of their loyal followers.

his blue eyes were given no option to look away, not as the inflicting murderess dropped her hood, revealing her face; it was you. the rain spattered the street, clinging your follicles to the surface of your face, it had gotten longer since the last time he had seen you, the parting of one side of your head was shaved, it was a modern style, and well, different than what he had been used to.

“y/n...” it felt as though he were uttering a stranger’s name, it had been half a decade since he had last witnessed your presence, after everyone had vanished, you had ventured off, taking the lives of many as you attempted to move on and satiate in your sorrow.

“it’s been a long time steve.” you smiled, as you watched his blond locks drown in the weather, though, he paid no mind. his eyes were locked upon you, his pupils dilated as he studied every difference to your exterior. you appeared a little older, as was a given, there were dark circles bothering the ponds of your under eyes, stating that you still struggled with nightmares after you had lost the battle.

“for you too, as i can see.” he sadly smiled, watching intently as you put the katana back into its slip, stepping inherently closer as he grasped your cheek, noticing how you tried to turn out of his grip. he didn’t allow you that luxury, he held your face steady as he nervously panted. “why did you leave, and do this as an alternative of all things?”

“avenging is no longer an accomplishment, we lost, and this way, i am abolishing the bad guys before they get their rise to global terror. don’t you understand?”

“no, i didn’t mean the compound, i meant that night.” even him mentioning it had you freezing up, aware of what he was promoting at. “we had our moment, and you disappeared, you weren’t there in the morning; i needed you, and i thought you needed me too.”

“who i was back the did, she really needed you, but she’s gone. she had to go, if she hadn’t, then she wouldn’t have survived the aftermath. now why are you here rogers?” your tone was stiff, demanding an answer.

“steve.” his name was a safe haven on your lips, he laid atop of you, his beard brushing the sides along your neck as he planted sloppy kisses upon your delicate skin. fighting against thanos and all his force had essentially been a failure, people, your friends, had obliterated into piles of ash, blowing away whence the wakandan wind ushered by, like a whisper in the air.

the captain rutted his hips, as the pair of you laid in a combination of explorative limbs on your bed within the compound, sufficing sounds of pleasure withering out of your lips. he too needed to release some steam, using your body and it’s warm grip, as you did the same in turn.

there was pain lurking in the depths of your emotion conjuring eyes, reflecting in his blue orbs, as he opened them, glancing at your face to fuel his movements of anticipating release. “i’m close captain, don’t stop.” he brought his hard working hand down, fiddling with your sensitive nub between his fingers, coercing you into spiralling over the edge.

he himself didn’t last much longer, grunts of emphasised endorsement radiating off his chest, as he placed a heavy and heated kiss upon your poised lips. a ground shaking tending of his shoulders indicated that he was stiffening up, getting close to relieving himself, and the stress that harboured his shield of a heart.

he had been through so much already, same as you, and thus when he rolled off of you, he brought your body to lay against his chest, raking his fingers through your hair, planting a tender kiss upon your forehead.

“we’ll get them back darling.” he promised you, as you all relished in the company of one another, some more than others, as you waited to hear something, anything, from tony, wherever the hell he was in the abyss above. it was a promise of steve’s part, but as time went on, it became doll.

like an old movie, it lost it’s future optimism, disappearing into a blithering of new coming titles, fawning you into remembering all their names, and how you would never see them again. they were all gone, your family vanished, and there was nothing that could be done.

it was a long shot, but it was the best chance that they had been handed. scott had informed them of quantum physics, and how it protected him from the blip and all its pain; time worked differently in the realm that he had delved into, and it gave them hope.

not to mention, they had yet to see tony, and make his mind revisit the prospect of reversing the affects of the infinity gauntlet, and thanos’ thu’um. and if steve managed to bring you aboard their hopefulness, he would take you with them, and show you the cabin that tony resided in.

it would be his way of informing you that you could have it all, the life that you wanted. a home, where you would no longer have to run, finding shelter and attacking the enemy from dark corners, preying on them like a predator, disguising yourself in a black attire, so that you could blend into the deadly atmosphere almost undetected.

and not to mention, the marriage and the kid. they were things that you had sworn off, revelling in the life of a skilled mercenary, never wanting to ever endanger loved ones in that way, knowing the wrath that your job and potential could cause.

“we have a chance to set things straight.” he responded, noticing how you had stepped away from his hand, and instead focused all your senses into listening to him. “there is a way to bring them all back.” a chortled laugh echoed off your chest, as you crossed your arms over your chest.

“if there was, we would have found it years ago, don’t give me hope where there is none.” you insisted, the emotion straining through your words. “that night, i left all reminders behind, don’t return them to my brain when i am finally able to comprehend what i need to do.”

“what you need to do y/n is have a little faith, you trust me, don’t you?” a moment of silence enveloped the two of you, the falling of the rain filling in the tense air, as steve continued to reprimand your agenda. “i know you do, so, so come home.”

the avengers compound; home. “tell me it will work steve, i can’t lose them again, not again. false efficiency concerning this will only make it hurt once more, possibly worst than the first, where i saw their bodies descend into nothing more than specks.”

“it has to.” those words were the same thing that he had been telling himself. “and if not, we’ll have each other to lean on again, i know it’s not much but-“

“it’s enough.” you finished for him, a pained smile expressive on your complexion. “because this time, i am really going to need you, i will become who i was once more. and if i crumble, i am going to need you to be there for me, to catch you when i fall, and most probably if we do get them back. i still feel overwhelmed about everything, and thus all that bothers my mind is images of you.”

how you wished he had stayed, but alas he had to go back in time, and unite with peggy, alternately allowing you to spiral. it made you regret, only partially of course on a somewhat selfish scale, ever continuing on with the due path. whilst you had gained your family back, you had lost one vastly import member.

you’d remember his name, for good and bad. he had hurt you, but helped you altogether, reminding you of your duty once more, that was avenging. a part of you wished that you had never left him that night, maybe then, his actions would have been different, and he’d have stayed, but again, it was only a theory, something you could never be certain of.

[adultswim2021]

Frisky Dingo #3: “Pimp My Revenue” | October 30, 2006 – 12:30AM | S01E03

The serialization continues! In this episode, Killface becomes a talking-point on a Regis and Kelly style morning talk show, where a rapper-turned-actor (promoting a movie whose clip is essentially a parody of Reservoir Dogs but with clowns) and the hosts mock Killface's postcard for it’s bad grammar (It says “welcome to you're DOOM!” and also “DOOM!” is in quotes for no reason).

Val, Killface's geishafied assistant, was partially responsible for the fuck up (though she blames Killface for signing off on the proofs), redeems herself by getting Killface on the show to discuss his position of wanting to destroy Earth by pushing it into the sun. It doesn't go how he planned; he unwittingly helps them shill for Toyota Scion. The Toyota Scion would actually wind up being advertised in Assy McGee, an upcoming Adult Swim show. I vaguely recall their ads showing up during commercial breaks on Adult Swim. I think at this time Adult Swim was starting to partner with their advertisers to create unique ads.

Xander Crewes is periodically shown monitoring all this. He has a prototype Killface doll (in episode 2 he revealed his plan to make Killface Awesome-X's new villain so he can market a new line of action figures). He gives a presentation that sorta re-iterates his plans, but these scenes are sorta nonsense if you haven't been already following along. They call back the Stan's clone gag and unless you saw the last episode it's inexplicable. A similar insert shot of the Xtacles watching Regis and Friends is also inexplicable.

I feel like covering this show is going to be a lot of me saying the same thing over and over. I don't laugh out loud when I watch this show, much, but I do marvel at the fact that it's fairly well-written despite coming from the morons who brought us Sealab 2021. It's decent, but I don't usually laugh.

I want to touch on a thing, and I don't really have a point here: I just think it's neat to track public opinion at various points in time and like to think there's value in it. Killface's cathchpase almost was like “hate America”, like he muttered it under his breath when he was frustrated by something he perceived to be a specifically American cultural phenomenon. I guess a true thing about this guy is that he hates America so much he's willing to destroy the entire Earth just to get to America. For those of you who don't remember 2006, Post 9/11 and the war on terror were a terrible time for this country. Being unpatriotic would easily get you ostracized, beaten-up, or both.

A few episodes ago I talked about how common rape jokes were at this time as an acceptable-to-most “edgy�� punchline. Anti-American sentiments were extremely uncommon in American media, and I would bet that most people would have considered this edgy? I don't know, maybe not. I just think most comedy didn't go there that much? Like satire that criticized America had to be slyer than this, without actually verbalizing “this is anti-American”. I don’t know, this was the era when Amanda Bynes made some PG-comedy and the studios opted to re-edit the poster so she wasn’t doing a peace sign, afraid that the movie would be protested by pro-war republicans. You can make an argument that this isn’t actually censorship, but functionally it sorta is. I guess the point I’m making is: America has always been awful and full of bad actors over-reacting to stuff.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Not sure the date on this, but remember when I talked about Adult Swim being in bed with Scion? Where here’s one of their bumper/ads. They always did that color grey to signify that it wasn’t a real bumper, but a commercial disguised as a bumper:

[elenamegan14]

Twisted Wonderland: Headcanons for Dorm Haunted Houses Pt.5 - Octavinelle

MASTERLIST

Part 4

Probably the longest headcanon one I had so far. LOL.

TW: Slight dubcon elements and submechanophobia. 

THE ATTRACTION: 

This dorm’s haunted house is quite unique because it’s a mish-mash between a cruise ship and the jazz lounge hall from the Roaring 1920s. For some reason, after thorough research, Azul wanted to include ‘submechanophobia’ (fear of animatronics submerged in water) into the haunted dorm concept himself. 

Azul went crazy with all the merchandise - there were T-Shirts, posters, the most adorable set of acrylic keychains! And the piece of resistance is a two-song single that he and the twins have recorded. It has a physical and digital release, of which the latter had 1,300,000 downloads in just one day. 

The promos are crazy too. The way the staff had shot the commercial for the dorm’s haunted house is so cinematically professional that many were taught it was a real movie itself. Luckily, Azul also recorded the dorm’s theme. PS: They also did Pomefiore’s promo video too for a cut share of 15%.

Azul wanted to increase his clients on Monstro Lounge, but he cannot go easy on the student participants as well. He wanted to hear BOTH screams - so the treatment for the students in the survival game and the guests is going to be very different from another. 

Regular guests will be scared in a standard manner: jumpscares from animatronics, a bit of gas blowing on their necks - NO TOUCHING AT ALL.

As for the students… well, they’re most likely to get attacked ALL THE TIME. Your name it: physical touches, animatronics dragging them to their ‘doom’, etc. That’s why the dorm made a contract clause to the participants warning them that there will be physical touching and a safe word is provided. Most participants did not read this except for a few. Like MC and Jack. Unless they purchased his charms. 

Yes, the octopus capitalist had created their own charms that worked only for this haunted house ONLY. It protects students from the monsters, well MOSTLY. 

Perhaps because he was attached to the band he, Floyd, and Jade once made back in middle school, he wanted to include the entertainment aspect as well, perhaps for nostalgic sake. Plus, he did it because he knew people would pay money to see hot idol guys singing jazz songs. Of course, he did, why do you doubt him so?

“Do instruments of torture count?” Floyd asked during the first band meeting. Azul quickly dismissed it. And no, mayonnaise is definitely NOT a musical instrument. 

When guests and student participants arrived in the dorm’s haunted house, they were lured into an abandoned pier. During the walk in the eerie, fog-infested docks, guests could see some posters of missing people, old posters of a cruise ship trip promotion, a poster featuring the Octavinelle band in old-timey fashion and old news articles about a tragic malfunctioning animatronic accident. 

As they approached closer, they could hear several jazz songs, including electro swings coming from somewhere. Guests also noticed some abandoned, dilapidated animatronics that was missing some parts, giving it a frightening outlook. What really unsettles them most are writings on the wall that are written either in blood or blacks markers: “TURN BACK!” “WATCH OUT!” “STAY AWAY FROM THE CRUISE SHIP!”

They arrived at their destination: a large cruise ship was waiting on them. On the entrance, the dorm staff sold their merchandise and charms to the students themselves. Already traumatized by the two previous haunted houses, most students hurriedly buy the charm itself. Grimm wanted one because there is no way he would want to be “attacked” again, but Deuce managed to stop him from buying an ‘unnecessary’ object (“Unnecessary my foot! We’re talking about the benefit of humanity here!”).

Ace secretly buys one. “There’s not wrong with being prepared!” He whispered to himself.

Entering the den of the beast, they went inside a lavish foyer area that is reminiscent of a scene in titanic. Chandeliers, art deco furniture, and art, as well as posters of the animatronic bands, were shown in meticulous detail. 

They were then seated at a wide, spacious restaurant theater area. The staff hyped the audience by asking them to sing a few lines from Azul’s song, before introducing Azul’s band like in a jazz concert. 

They began the pre-show in a unique way. Azul is a showstopper mysterious owner and headline singer for “Monstro Lounge”, the cruise ship that is rumored to have a multitude of people missing. Floyd and Jade are his lackeys with the same headline as well. 

Azul charms the audience with a siren-like voice, putting the audience into his trance. For some reason, the Octavinelle trio tends to direct their gazes, winks, and fanservice towards MC the most. It then evolved into a Broadway show-stopping number.

The way Azul plays his piano is started off slow, increasing his tempo and so does his seduction and flamboyance. He makes an expression that one could mistake as a man experienced in the bedroom. 

Floyd goes crazy with his drums. Meanwhile, Jade plays his contrabass with grace and elegance, fingers touching it lightly but spicy. 

Many female clientele almost had a nosebleed... or this close to fainting. 

AZUL UNBUTTONED HIS SHIRT TEASINGLY DURING HIS NUMBER. They’re starting to lose it. 

Oh, the fan’s screams actually racked up their scream counter. There’s no cheating here - who says that happy screams can’t count? 

Yes, Azul does sing on top of the piano. 

After they finished their show, Azul then unleashed one of his proudest creations, an animatronic of a lovely mermaid doll that began to sing like an angel. Then, with a snap of fingers, he unleashed a multitude of doll-like merpeople animatronics that looked strangely alive as her accompanying orchestra, playing a haunting, eerie song. 

During the middle of the show, one of Octavinelle’s actors came to the stage, shouting about his “long-lost daughter”, followed by a couple more people. Despite the actor playing as security told him to go back to his seat, the father ignored him and embraced the mermaid doll animatronic - his daughter. 

In his “rant”, he cursed the Octavinelle trio of deliberately hiding his daughter for three years and turned her into this “monstrosity”. He then declared that he will rescue his daughter from this “vile place‘, unaware that the Octavinelle trio had placed knowing smirks and grins on their face. Begging for his “daughter” to recognize him, the mermaid doll slowly gazed upon her “father”...

...and “tore” his neck apart. Fake blood spewing everywhere, his screams reverberated through the dance hall. 

All of the animatronics came alive and started to gruesomely murdered the intruders as well. 

“Well, this escalated quickly.” Ace muttered at the disturbing sight. 

A guest suddenly screamed - the area is suddenly filled with water, causing the guests and student participants to hurriedly run to the prepared exit. 

The students have enchanted some parts of the aquarium walls where merpeople students could appear in and out of the aquarium water on the wall without spilling the water everywhere. So guests and students participants were often surprised by sudden appearances of the tweels, Azul, animatronics, and staff splashing out of the wall from nowhere. There had been many who claimed to have a heart attack from these encounters. 

As they run through the aquarium walls, the guests and students are spooked with various animatronics of mutated sea creatures, merpeople, and even a FREAKING shark animatronic that chases them around persistently. They appear at random times, and their designs would surely put submechanophobia (fear of underwater animatronics) into their very souls. 

As they moved on further, they entered Azul’s office and workshop - where gory remains of the missing people experimented into animatronics were seen. Horrid screams and desperate shrieks rang all the way - some were even trapped halfway into the animatronic itself. 

Azul had two forms for this haunted house dorm: the first is his regular jazz-lounge entertainer animatronic suit with art deco and aquatic elements. The next form is almost the same except his animatronic parts are more revealed, some parts of his clothes tattered and his tentacles are fully shown. Some guests and students secretly yearned to be trapped inside his “tentacles”.

“Fu, fu, fu… come. Let me squeeze you, let me touch your flesh...” “Yes, please.” A guest squeaked, face flushing red.

The tweels have the same elements as Azul did in their costume, except they’re identical and much more muted than Azul did. Their second forms are their merforms, but with faded mechanical parts and some fresh BLOOD on their teeth and torso...

The final stage and centerpiece of their haunted house is what Azul is most proud of. Thrown again into a twisted version of the animatronic warehouse with aquatic background, the now revealed “animatronic” Azul hypnotized the whole audience with his siren-like singing on a small stage, beckoning several guests into the sweet embrace of his tentacles. Fun fact: most students and guests could not resist the temptation and got ‘squished to death’ instead. Yep, no subcontext here at all. 

THE MISSION:

The students and the guests are separated into different groups, with a glass aquarium wall to divide them. 

The guide relayed the charm mission to them: this cruise ship is infamous for having animatronics and automatons to serve and entertain their guests. But many years ago, there was an incident where an animatronic, fed up with being abused by a spoiled heiress on her sweet sixteen birthday, mauled her and nearly drowned her in the aquarium. 

Their mission is quite simple: get the charm inside Azul’s office then get out of cruise ship “ALIVE”. They were told that they have three chances to find it inside the office itself, or else they would be “eliminated” and had to start all over again. 

But first, they must survive his “show” to get to his office. The students were a bit confused at this part until later.

During the show, they soon learn why they were separated from the guests with a glass wall.  

While the guest audience’s part is flooded with a small bit of water, the student's parts were unleashed with a torrential burst of water that they have to run to. Everyone (who is on the student side) by the end of this segment is wet from head to toe. 

“Damn you, Azul! Once I get out of here, I’ll fry your tentacles!” Grimm growled, drying his soppy fur using his fire magic. 

Octavinelle’s challenge is 90% of Patrick Star’s “WEE WOO WEE WOO” moments. 10% of it is just trying to survive.

The animatronics hissed, jumped, and even grabbed them at random times, which puts the NRC students into a looooot of stress since it attacked them more than once!

Oh, yes, and the mechanical shark will burst out of the “wall” when you least expect it. 

“WHAT THE HECK IS WITH THIS HAUNTED HOUSE?! THIS IS VERY UNREASONABLE!” Cried one student before a mechanical shark got him. 

But the ones who purchased Octavinelle’s charm walked in smoothly - the animatronics did not attack them directly, the staff stayed out of their way - all is good and right in the world...

Spoiler alert: Did they say that the charm protects them? Of course, it did… EXCEPT AGAINST AZUL AND THE TWEELS. 

Yup, Ace learned the hard way when Jade came out of nowhere and tried to drag him inside the aquarium water. The screams that Ace had bellowed does not do justice to how fast he runs. 

“YOU SAID THIS CHARM WOULD PROTECT US!”

Epel read the terms and agreement again, “Oh, whoops. It also says here, that the charm doesn’t guarantee to protect you against Azul, Floyd, and Jade. Should have read it thoroughly.”

“I can’t read while I’m getting chased!”

FLOYD DOES MOST OF THE DAMAGES. Physically and emotionally. 

He first started by licking Ace’s face. Who knew that eel’s tongue is long.(“Nooooo! I feel so physically violated!” Ace ran to the corner and sobbed.)

Epel had a heart attack when he felt someone smacked his ass. As does Deuce. Then Jack (his tail got roughly grabbed as well). 

Jack screamed out all the safe words. Deuce and Epel shouted all kinds of colorful swear words they could ever know, even the foreign ones. 

MC’s ass received the same treatment, but they also received an additional playful grope. And then Floyd licked them. MC was screaming and flustered at the same time. 

“Shrimp-chan is cute when startled!” He cooed before he splashed back to the water. 

There were a LOT of complaints after this event this over, particularly threats of suing Azul for inappropriate sexual harassment. But then the staff asked if they all read the terms and agreements. They all went silent and got on with the next haunted house challenge. 

MC’s group tried to murder Floyd by chasing him down underwater, but they realized that getting inside the water would actually disqualify them. They all promised DEATH upon the Octavinelle trio for putting them into this mess and extorting them out of their money. 

Now there was one this brutal and competitive student who wanted to get the charms himself. So he kinda lures MC using the infamous “Wounded Gazelle Gambit” trick. In MC’s defense, the act was kinda convincing for a student.

They were not prepared to be chained up and kicked outside to the water, leaving them to drown after they got frisked by that said student for the charms. “In this world, only the mighty wins!” 

For a while, MC is left trying to hold their breath while desperately trying to free themselves from the heavy chains. Just as their oxygen almost ran out, Jade managed to see MC struggling underwater. He managed to get Houdini MC out of the water, asking if they’re okay and who actually did this to them. While MC struggled to answer, refusing special treatment, MC decided to get back into the game and get the charms back.

Jade also decided to deal with the violent troublemaker as well, and he just knew what to do with the mechanical shark that he controlled. 

To get to the office, the students went to another path, carrying them to a room filled with water and several large pieces of ice. They had to carefully cross through the thin layers of ice amongst the water. There was a mechanical shark circling around, sniffing for its late-night snack. 

Already five students fell victim to it. 

The ice is slippery, MC’s group is struggling to stay afloat and they do not see MC anywhere. 

Epel does spot a student cackling as he carries two familiar charms. 

“What have you done to them?!” Ace growled. 

“Oh, I guess I made them sleep with the fishes.”

Deuce’s inner delinquent is awakened. He roared and attacked that said student, attempting to avenge poor MC. There was pulling, tugging and pinching. 

Just as that competitive student got the upper-hand to Deuce… well, surprise, surprise, guess who’s back, back again. 

“HISASHIBURI-DANNA, BITCH. BET YOU’D THOUGHT YOU’VE SEEN THE LAST OF ME.” MC, wet from head to toe, raised their fist, punching that said student and causing that student to release the charms. Deuce quickly grabbed them both before they lost it again, then gave an additional uppercut to that said student. The competitive student staggered backward...

...and then the mechanical shark jumped out of nowhere from the water and dragged the student into their watery doom (kidding: that jerk student got thrown out of the cruise instead. INTO THE TRASH BIN). 

The remaining students reached the front of the office, but they could not open the door. Turns out, Azul had enchanted the door so that it can only be opened by using one, particular, embarrassing pose. Oh, and they have to cry out the written words as well. 

“The complete flame in our chests shall not be extinguished by anyone! We are… THE PHOENIX!” They all pose like a phoenix. Once it’s done, there isn't any student that collapses out of sheer humiliation. 

The Octavinelle Trio secretly recorded it. Either for blackmail or marketing purposes, take your pick. 

Once they were inside the office, they were given a riddle and three chances to find it: I am violet, I sing in a limited voice and I am trapped. Find the key inside me. 

At first, they thought it was a musical instrument - but there aren’t any musical instruments that colored purple - unless someone dyes it. Also, they cannot find anything remotely similar to a musical instrument. They finally narrowed down to a purple scorebook, a purple-colored radio and… a music box. 

They decided to select a music box... and voila! The charm is found! It’s a good thing they got enough to share on their brain cells, eh? 

The last challenge after getting the charm is to escape from the cruise itself - but they have to go through Azul to do exactly that! Yup, they have to resist Azul’s hypnotic singing, struggling to escape straight to the exit. Because of Jack’s sensitive ears, he had repeatedly tried to walk straight to Azul, only for Epel to knock him out for a good measure and carried Jack around like he was nothing but a potato sack. 

MC nearly succumbed to hypnotism but Grimm managed to snap them out of it by slapping them repeatedly. 

Azul sighed, “And here I was thinking I could get a chance to get close to you than Floyd did.” 

Yep, they definitely did not waste any chances of getting out of here before Azul starts singing again. 

The Octavinelle Dorm staff is considerate enough to give the students wet towels and a warm drink to keep the students from getting cold. Meanwhile, Ace, Epel, and Deuce joined in the protest about the inappropriate misconduct before they unleashed their rage on the nearby prepared dummies after being told that their contract’s terms and conditions had warned them that there will be touching and the staff is not responsible for it. 

Perhaps getting wet is a good thing because the fiery presence of Scarabia’s haunted house might be able to keep the cold away...

Part 6

[queerchoicesblog]

New Beginnings

Folks, here’s a new update of the wlw story set in the Sixties, my third  miniseries of the wlw writing project. New beginnings have quite a lot in store for our stewardess MC!

The final Sixties miniseries update will be out either later this week or next week.

Hope you enjoy it: if you do, please consider spreading the word!

Previous Chapters: Living The Dream, The Girl Next Door

_____________________________

The following day I got my long awaited promotion: a generous rise and from now on only international routes for me. I made it to the big league. My world was crumbling underneath my feet but I made it. I received the news as a blessing. I followed the advice Nancy gave me when she called back to check in on me. A few days later I packed my stuff and crashed at a colleague's place: thank God, I made good friends among my former crew members and Joanna kindly agreed to host me while I looked for a new place to stay. Neither Nancy nor Jo know the full truth about the photographer who broke my heart, her sex: ironically, 'bastard' and other epithets are wonderfully neutral. Their sympathy and support helped me healing a little. It took time but, as Mom said when I accidentally let it slip during a call, I had my new beginning to focus on. I was the Pan Am stewardess every girl dreams to be one day.

I still remember the thrill that coursed through my veins as I boarded my first gigantic Boeing 712, destination Tahiti. I don't know how my voice kept appealing and steady as I explained the route and thanked the passengers for choosing Pan American Airways. I had to squeeze my colleague's hand when we took off as my heart was hammering out of the purest joy. Well, that's my life now. My parents and Nancy must have a collection of the postcards I send them from Rio, Honolulu, London, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo...you name a place on the map, I've probably been there at least once. I always send one to the address Noah gave us: I hope he receives them even if his letter are rare these days. I also sent him an autograph by Sandra Dee: last time I checked he had a big crush on her so I couldn't refrain myself when I bumped into her at a celebrity party our crew was invited to. She even pressed a lipstick kiss on the napkin when I told her my brother was a marine serving in Vietnam. I hope the war ends soon: despite what censorship cuts off from his letters, I know him and I know he's not happy there. I want my Noah back, his silly jokes and Rock Hudson look. I wish I would have spotted him waiting in line to check in for a flight to sunny Los Angeles instead of that photographer who "cared for me". I would have run at him full speed and he, turning at the right moment just like in the movies, would have waved at me and pulled me in a long swaying hug. "Long time no see, sister!" he would have laughed and we would have cried tears of joy uncaring of the people watching us. Then I would have ruffled his hair - how he hated that! - and guided him home, where he belonged, not sunny California nor Vietnam. I wasn't so lucky, I got the photographer instead. Despite a couple of years has now passed since that morning I walked out of her messy flat, she looks the same. For a moment I wondered if she'd succeeded in winning that girl's heart back. She's travelling solo as far as I can tell: either she's embarking on a new adventure or running towards someone she loves...or so she thinks. I find hard to believe she knows the difference. I kept walking towards my destination. I'm grateful she didn't see me: we don't have anything else to say to each other. We're strangers now. "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have a lighter?" My train of thoughts derails with the voice of another stranger. I turn my head to find a waitress leaning down on me with a cigarette in her hand. "Oh yes, sure" I pick up my lighter and light her cigarette. She takes a blow and exhales, thanking me. But to my surprise she doesn't walk away. After a moment, during which she probably debated whether to go for it or not, she speaks again. "Actually...do you mind if I join you...?" Her question lingers until I realize she's waiting for me to say my name. "Sadie" I say. "And please, suit yourself" As she takes a seat, I shake my head. "Forgive me, it's been a long day and usually people just read my name on the tag" "Well, Mom taught me not to stare at women's breasts because it's rude: 'look right in the eye and ask, my dear girl, right in the eye', she says" she jokes, shrugging. "How thoughtful!" I laugh and I don't do that just out of curtesy: she's genuinely funny. I take a look at her, I haven't noticed her before: how long she's been working here? To be honest, I hardly pay attention to airport clerks and waiters, I'm always on the go. "So, on a break....?" I add, letting my question lingers just as she did. "Oh yes, my shift started an hour ago but since there's no one here the boss gave us a little extra break-" "Nice but I was hoping to get your name too without looking disrespectfully at your breast, mademoiselle" We look at each other for a while then she burst into laughter and I follow. "Learning from the best, I see" she comments jokingly, catching her breath. "It's Kelsey" I bow my head lightly and we exchange a quick smile. "Pan Am, huh?" she nudges at my uniform as she inhales the smoke. "It shows?" I smile, striking a magazine cover pose that makes her laugh again. "Where did you fly to today? Or yesterday, I should probably say" "Paris" I say, in my best French accent. By the look of wonder that crosses her eyes I can tell she's never been there. Only heard of it. "Wow, romantic" she notes. I chuckle, finishing off my cigarette. "Paris is romantic only if you have a lover to stroll down the Seine with. I'm just a stewardess" I claim and well, it's true: the City of Love is not as romantic without a plus one, even if the girls and I had fun during our land off there, shopping, exploring and dining in lovely bistrot. "I thought you had a companion for your dreamy walk down the river" she shrugs, gesturing to the conspicuous teddybear in beret and striped shirt quietly sitting on a chair at my side. "Oh no, Monsieur Ted and I met in Montmarte. It was a...coup de foudre!" I comment, keeping my face straight long enough to make us both burst into another round of laughters. "It's a gift." I explain. "My best friend has a little girl, it's a gift for her. It's her birthday soon and I promised to be there, I'm sort of an aunt to her. I can't go empty handed and this guy looked nice" Nicole's face softens imperceptibly. "I'm sure she'll love it. I mean, I would have given everything to get a French teddy from my fancy aunt who flies around the world every day" I smile at the compliment. Was it a compliment? I like to think so. "How long have you been working here? I've been based here for a while but I'm afraid I don't remember you" I inquiry, hoping not to offend her. She exhales smoke and gestures it's nothing. "You flight crews are always in a hurry, we don't take it personally" Her lips quickly curl into a shy smile. "It's been a year. Well, it will be a year in a month" she explains. "It's not much but it's an honest job and just what I was looking for. The boss is fair enough and it helps paying the nurse school tuition" "Wanna be a nurse?" "Yeah, I've spent too much time with grandma during my childhood" she chuckles but the hint of a smile suggests she remembers that time quite fondly. "She worked as a nurse during the war and she used to tell me stories of back then...I'm not sure I was supposed to hear all of them but she kept talking. So I ended up being of those weird little girls who had a doll hospital in her bedroom and sew broken teddy bears to cure them. Nurse school sounded like the most logical choice" "That's sweet" I consider. "Why not a doctor though?" "Ah, I'm not sure about it...maybe in the future but I will be happy enough as a nurse, I think" I smile at her earnest answer as she continues nonchalantly. "Just like I'm quite happy now to see flight crews come and go and memorise their order-" "Oh, what's my usual order then?" I tease her. She takes a pause as if I caught her cheating then she guesses right: long black, no sugar, just a drop of milk. I tell her I wish I had her memory when I serve on board. "I'm sure you're doing just fine up there" she smiles encouragely. "And even when I'm not, a nice pair of legs and a charming smile will do the trick, won't they?" I sigh: I might not be too fond of certain looks I receive but that's how things go, I guess. At least, they saved me from getting complaints; on the contrary, on my first flight my supervisor was pleasantly impressed by my "impeccable manners and overall look" as she wrote down on my report. Kelsey opens the mouth to speak again - by the look on her face probably that she didn't mean it like that - but I anticipate her. It's how things go, she must know it too. When I worked at the diner, the costumers refrained from assessing me those looks or pinch me because they had too much respect for my parents. Most of them were long time friends as far as I can remember. So I was quite safe...I hope cute Kelsey is too. A silence falls between us. I immediately wondered if I said something wrong, I'm so used to uncomfortable silence filled with unsaid accusations and complaints that I tense up. But I soon realize that...it's okay. I did nothing wrong, she's silently agreeing with me and maybe pondering what to say next. A look filled with shy curiosity is on her face when she finally speaks again. "Can I ask you something?" "Shoot" She takes a pause as if she's still translating her own thought into words or wondering if she's not crossing a line with her curiosity. "Do you ever get homesick travelling all the time?" That's...not what I was expecting but after all, what was I expecting? Not sure how I can answer that. "Odd question to ask a stewardess" I note, rising my eyebrow and taking time. "I mean, you're always somewhere else, in between places and time zones...one might feels a bit homesick, lost maybe..." Then she shakes her head and falling back to her chair. "I'm sorry I'm just being nosey, that was a silly-" "No, it's an interesting question. I've never given that much thought... I don't know, I've never felt that way, I felt free when I boarded my first plane. I still do when I'm up there in the sky. I think most of us feel that thrill but it's just my point of view. My best friend once argued that mine is not real freedom just a - how did she call it? - oh yes, a strategic retreat so..." I chuckle, reminiscing the conversation Nancy and I had in the kitchen as I helped her with the dishes. The 'concerned sister' look she gave me, handing me a wet dish to dry. 'I'm not saying it's wrong or judging you, Sadie...I have no doubt you're living the exciting life you've always dreamed, God that every girl now dream. But you can't run away forever...' "Maybe it is different if you have something to come back to. That changes things, I suppose. Some miss family, their kids..." I continue. "And you? Do you have something to go back to?" Her question leaves me speechless and gaping. Sure, I have my parents, my friends, Nancy but she has a family of her own now as many others. My brother is far away and out of reach fighting in a war he never fully endorsed. "I don't know" I admit after a moment. Voices come from the main counter urging Kelsey to go back to work. She gives me an apologetic look before searching her pockets. "Well, while you keep looking and flying around the world, at least know that you're always welcome here" She lays a couple of cafe vouchers on the table; then she takes her leave with a gracious smile. "Sadie, Monsieur Ted...it's been a pleasure" "Likewise, Kelsey" I say, waving the teddybear arm. I should probably go home and get some rest: I wasn't joking when I said it's been a long day. I collect my vouchers, pay leaving a generous tip and head to the parking lot. When I wake up in my bed, it's getting dark outside. I brew the third coffee of the day and unpack my bag. As I collect my uniform for the laundry, the vouchers slip off the pocket I secured them into. I make to pick them up when I notice something handwritten behind one of them. I look carefully and it's a phone number with a little airplane doddle to the side. Call me ~ Kelsey

[13lov]

heaven. (m)

# pairing. manager!namjoon x idol!reader

# genre. late 90′s - early 00′s au, idol au, smut, fluff.

# word count. 5.5k+

# warning(s). house party [ alcohol usage ], smut [ soft dom!namjoon, virgin!reader, semi-public setting, fingering, edging/orgasm denial ], blackpink is featured within the fic along with jackson wang. | unedited as of sept. 13

# summary: being apart of the world’s biggest girl group had its struggles, especially when your members could barely stand the sight of you. it’s not all bad though, at least your manager, namjoon, is always available to comfort in any way you need him to.

↳ a/n. this is only part one 1 ! there will be multiple parts!

↳ m/l. fic masterlist | full masterlist

“So, that whole thing was a lie? We aren’t really getting a break?” Jisoo asks, being the first to break the silence after twenty minutes. Her eyes are still closed shut, patiently waiting for the makeup artist to add the final touches of her eyeliner.

Within this current situation, she was the one who had been least upset; maybe it was because it worked out in her favor.

You, on the other hand, were pissed.

When promised an extended break for the first time since you were a trainee, you were ecstatic to have the opportunity to rest, make time with your closest family and friends, and “enjoy the ordinary life of a young person in their 20s” as Big Hit had officially stated.

The announcement had only gone public a few days ago, and your publicist, Seokjin, already had an event scheduled for you and the rest of the group; a house party.

“You get a break from practicing and performing,” Seokjin mumbles, only slightly interested in the conversation as he flips through the tabloids in his hands, “but, we just can’t let the public forget about you five while you’re on break. We need to make sure you’re seen and out there.”

“Bullshit,” Lisa swears, standing up from the white plush couch, “after two months you think everyone is gonna forget the biggest group in the world?”

“Current,” Namjoon speaks, so quietly, you would’ve missed it if you hadn’t been staring at him this entire time. He’d been considerably silent since the moment he entered the dorm along with Seokjin and a team of makeup artists. He hadn’t even made eye contact with anyone, not even you.

“What?” Lisa asks.

Namjoon clears his throat nervously, “You’re the current biggest group, that could easily change in a matter of time.”

“Don’t tell me you agree with Seokjin…” Jennie trails off from her spot on the couch, a hopeful expression on her face as she turns to face Namjoon. 

His energy was completely off today, and in return, it was making you feel weird. Maybe it was because he had indeed lied about your group being able to take a break. A part of you hopes it was the company’s decision and not his specifically. 

Well, with the number of times you’ve cried to him about you and the girls were constantly being overworked, you really were hoping this wasn’t his idea of a break.

“You’ll still get to rest, we just need you to do a few events here and there; little things,” Namjoon had been slowly walking towards you as he spoke, completely forgetting about the hairstylist who had been adding the finishing touches to your curls.

He stares at you, intensely, and you stare right back. His gaze his somewhat amused, and you wonder what had changed within him in the past few seconds. The discussion wasn’t going well, so there was clearly something else on his mind. But, what was it?

“Still giving me the silent treatment?” he whispers, only a few inches away from your face.

You remain quiet.

“Gonna have to open that mouth sooner or later.”

On any other day, you would’ve fallen to his commands in an instant. But, today was different. You just let his words give you goosebumps and call it a day.

You turn towards your hairstylist, who is staring at your manager with a confused expression on her face. Namjoon notices your gaze and follows it, then feels flustered that he had forgotten your hairstylist was right in front of him and had heard every word he said.

Namjoon clears his throat, standing upright, “To practice your singing, of course.”

The stylist shoots him a dirty glance but doesn’t say anything else. The scene had (thankfully) gone unnoticed by anyone who wasn’t involved.

“Why are we going to a house party? And, who’s throwing it?” Rosé questions, breaking her own vow of silence and letting curiosity get the best of her.

Seokjin and Namjoon exchange an amused glance that only made you and the girls worried. Even your stylists had their share of little giggles.

Your stomach was turning.

“I’m sure you all know Jackson Wang,” Seokjin says, earning a groan from the five of and an annoying smile on your publicist´s face.

Jackson Wang was a rapper, actor, and your current fake boyfriend...in a way. It was all Jin’s idea, of course; to the public, it’d look like you were only friends who were dating in secret. Doing little things like wearing one of his shirts out in public, making sure to speak at him and every public event the two of you had attended, and now, showing up to his house party where paparazzi would definitely swarm. 

It kept the paparazzi on their toes, thinking they’ve caught onto something that was supposed to be secret. So, in a way, Seokjin’s plan was working. Everyone was definitely intrigued. 

“Don’t make that face, doll.” Jin is standing in front of you now, a fake pout on his lips, “You, of all people, should be excited. Kim Taehyung will be there.”

Kim Taehyung was yet another boy who you weren’t interested in but had to maintain some type of relationship with. With you making your acting debut soon, there was a movie you had already been set to film. Some type of horror-romance movie with your co-star being none other than Kim Taehyung. You didn’t mind starring with him in the slightest bit, but there was speculation that he was interested in making your relationship more personal than professional. 

“Oh, so it’s _____’s fault we’re going to this? So she can promote her stupid movie?” Lisa barks. You weren’t exactly offended by her questions, it kinda was your fault. As the leader of your group, you had been offered more opportunities than your other members. Did you think it was fair? No, not in the slightest. But, there was nothing you could do about it except ask that the other girls get opportunities as well. In return, it made your members act cold towards you. It was ironic in a way that no one liked their leader, you don’t blame them much. In fact, you’ve accepted the fact that they don’t like you and most likely never will.

“Watch your mouth,” Namjoon says, looking out of the dorm’s window to stare at the limousine parked outside. “You don’t think we forgot about the rest of you, did you?”

Jennie sits up in excitement, now fully ready to go, “There’s gonna be stuff for the rest of us to do?”

“Of course! What kind of manager would I be the leave you guys out?”

“I dunno,” Lisa speaks up with crossed arms, “that’s the way things have been for a while now.”

As much as you hate to admit it, Lisa was right; and Namjoon knows it.

“Play nice at the party and you’ll see what Big Hit has in store for you. Deal?”

There’s a reluctant silent, then, “...Deal.”

You had never even seen Jackson Wang’s house, let alone been to it.

It was a mansion, located in the middle of nowhere. A small part of you feels he has so much money and doesn’t even know what to do with it.

The drive to his home is long and quiet, the only sound being music coming from the radio. At your every attempt to make small talk, you were shut down immediately. There was no point in even trying anymore.

Finally arriving at Jackson’s house is a relief, though you hadn’t wanted to go in the first place. But, who knows? Maybe you will have a good time, though this was simply just a promotion opportunity.

From the limo’s tinted windows, you’re able to see the luxury cars all parked around Jackson’s fountain; each vehicle owned by some sort of celebrity. Paparazzi is already here, of course, not even letting their camera flashes slow down for a second. It’s overwhelming, but it was the price of fame.

The stretch limo comes to a halt and within a few seconds, the driver has made his way over to open the door.

Being closest to the exit, you move your leg to step out until Lisa stops you by putting her own leg over yours. “You always get out first,” she says, a smile on her face so paparazzi can think the two of you are having a friendly conversation, “let someone else go for once.”

“Does the order really matter that much?” You reply, copying her smile.

“It does when you’re always first,” she adds a friendly laugh to her smile before using her leg to push you back only slightly and step out of the car. Rosé and Jennie don’t even throw a glance your way as they slide past you, and you don’t expect them to.

Jisoo is the last to leave before you, but she pauses before she steps out, “It really isn’t a big deal, but she has a point.” Jisoo chooses not to look at you when she’s done speaking, deciding to slide out of the limo with a smirk on her face as if that little exchange didn’t just happen. You remind herself that even though she was the nicest to you out of your fellow members, she still wasn’t quite fond of you. 

You take one last deep breath before stepping out.

Standing at the end of the line, next to Jisoo, you let the photographers take as many pictures as they wish. All while ignoring the questions and comments thrown at your each and every way.

Seconds pass, and Jackson has finally made his way through his crowd of guests to greet you properly. He gives a polite hug to each of your members and decides placing a kiss way too close to your lips is enough to drive the paparazzi crazy. His large hand finds the small of your back as he leans down to speak into your ear, “I’m glad you could make it.”

Looking up at him, you notice the purplish bruise on his neck. It’s faded only slightly, so you assume there was a terrible attempt to cover it with makeup, or the marking was a few days old. Either way, you definitely weren’t the one who had planted it there. And yet, everyone would think otherwise.

Fighting the urge to tell him that you didn’t have a choice to visit his party, you only smile and ask that he bring you inside.

His house is packed with people, nearly all of them being A-list celebrities; you wonder how Jackson is able to live a lifestyle like this and how different he is from you. Sure, you enjoy being famous, but not all the time. For you, it’d be nice to do something as simple as take your dog for a walk without being swarmed with cameras. Jackson, on the other hand, made sure the press knew when he was going to the grocery store.

“Is Taehyung here?” You ask out of curiosity.

“Who?!” Jackson replies, yelling over the commotion of people.

“Taehyung! Kim Taehyung! I heard he was going to be here!”

“_____, baby, you know it’s rude to ask for another man when you’re at your boyfriend’s house.”

“You’re not my--” the metaphorical jazz music in your head stops playing for a moment, “I just...he’s my future co-star.”

Jackson completely ignores you, letting the arrival of his best friend captivate his interest. The rest of HEAVEN has gone about in their own way, leaving you alone in a crowd of people you don’t know.

It’s ironic. It’s so ironic to the point where it’s almost humours. 

You vaguely remember something about Jackson saying there would be snacks in the kitchen, so you navigate yourself to where the food would be. You’ll relax after you’ve had a bite to eat, right?

Everything that had happened since the moment you entered the kitchen (exactly one hour ago) had been complete and utter shit.

To reiterate, Jackson did have snacks in the kitchen: Jello shots. Nearly every single flavor of Jello in existence had made its way into his home. You’re pressured into taking one, then another, but you stop at three because that’s when Jennie walks in.

“We leave our leader for ten minutes and she’s already getting drunk,” she snickered, “that’s not very responsible of you, now is it?”

“Ease up on ‘er, Jen,” Taehyung suddenly enters. His outfit is laid back and casual, all black except for a red bandana wrapped around his hairline. He’s even more handsome in person than he is on screen, but you still find yourself thinking of Namjoon; wondering what he was doing while you got tipsy off of Jello shots.

“The break just started, she has a right to let loose if she wants to,” Taehyung adds, now pulling you into a side-hug. “How’s my future co-star doing?”

A high-pitched, sarcastic laugh sounds through the kitchen. You immediately recognize it as Lisa’s without having to even look.

“That’s not gonna last long,” she states, hopping up on the marble kitchen counter.

“What won’t?” Jackson asks, who had only been a few steps behind her.

“The two of them being co-stars.”

You’re confused by Lisa’s words, but you don’t ask any questions. You instead wait and see where she goes with this.

“And why won’t that last long? _____ is an amazing actress,” Taehyung compliments, nudging your side slightly to earn a smile from you.

“Oh, I agree,” Lisa replies, “she is an amazing actress. But, doesn’t this movie involve a sex scene with the two of you?” Lisa shoots you a devilish glance, and it takes everything in you to not let your jaw drop to the floor.

You already know where she’s headed with this, and you can’t believe she’d even stoop to a level so low for the sole purpose of embarrassing you. 

“Yeah, so? We’re both adults.” Taehyung says with an arched brow.

“If this is about me, I honestly don’t care that there’s a sex scene,” Jackson adds, “it’s all scripted.”

Lisa waves a dismissive hand in Jackson’s face, “No one cares about you. I agree that _____ is an amazing actress. But, oh...she’s still a virgin.”

A short silence falls over the kitchen, and Lisa still looks amused. You take a second to note that even more people have entered the room.

“You don’t need to have had sex in order to film a sex scene, Lisa. As Jackson said, it’s all scripted; we’re being told what to put where and what moves to make. Even I was a virgin when I filmed my first sex scene.” Much to your surprise, Taehyung had been sticking up for you the moment he had arrived at Jackson’s home, despite it being your first time to officially meet in person. 

“Yeah, but she’s gonna have to fake an orgasm, right? You can’t fake something you’ve never had.”

There’s another silence, and even Taehyung doesn’t speak up to defend you.

Everyone is at a loss for words. Even you.

“I...that’s...wow…” Jackson sputters, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe the information he was given. “You’ve never had one? Like, not even from--”

“Oh, my God,” you cut him off and realize how foreign your own voice sounds.

This entire situation was childish, you felt like you were back in high school. There are tears threatening to fall from your eyes, you’re trying to figure out if their tears from anger or sadness.

“This is just…” you began, but can’t bring yourself to finish your sentence. Your anxiety is at an all-time high, the walls feel like they’re closing in on you and every glance in your direction feels like a judgemental one.

You exit the kitchen in a rush, and without a word.

With a house as big as Jackson’s, it takes you a while to make it outside. You search for your designated limo in the darkness and finally manage to locate it.

Your steps towards the car start to feel far too slow as soon as the paparazzi from earlier see you and immediately pick up their cameras. You keep your head down and try your best to not get blinded by the camera flashes, but that doesn't stop you from hearing all the questions and comments being thrown your way.

“Hey, _____ ! Why ya leavin´ so soon, babe?¨

“_____! Are the rumors true? Does Jackson Wang have a sex dungen in his basement?¨

“Where ya headed, dollface? Off to see a secret lover?¨

The last question sticks in your mind as you enter the limo, closing the door as quickly as possible to avoid the paparazzi.

“Are the other girls coming?̈ ̈ The chauffeur asks, starting up the car ́s engine.

“No, just me wanting to go back to the dorm a little earlier than expected. You´ll have to come back for them later; I´m sorry.¨

“It's not a problem” he glances at you through the rearview mirror, “it's what I'm paid to do, remember?” He adds a comforting smile to his words before driving out of Jackson ́s parking lot.

Once you're halfway down the street, it hits you that no one had bothered to follow you out from the party, or make any attempt to comfort you when you were obviously in an uncomfortable situation.

Though Jackson was tolerable at most time, he still wasn´t someone you were close with regardless of what the media thought. You definitely hadn´t expected your members to follow you out, but, you were hoping Taehyung would be a few feet behind. Maybe he would follow you all the way to the limo and even get in with you. The photographers outside definitely would´ve made a show of it and created some other type of dating scandal. But in the brief time you had gotten to know Taehyung, you´ve already figured a dating scandal with him wouldn´t be too bad, plus, Seokjin would love it; it´d make for great promotion in your upcoming film with him.

But, alas, no one had followed you out. 

Shortly after ‘HEAVEN’ had debuted, it seemed as though the other members formed an unspoken cult to hate you. The reason being so is absurd, you try not to let it bother you.

But it’s hard putting on a ‘girl power’ persona in front of the cameras then going back to being high school enemies when no one was watching. It’s hard knowing the ones that should’ve been your best friends mentally rolled their eyes whenever you spoke yet faked a laugh on the outside.

And it’s frustrating how no one picked up on their bitter and petty actions towards you; anytime you brought up the members not liking you to someone, they always dismissed it or assumed you weren’t being serious. Essentially, you’re alone. It’s ironic and honestly a bit humorous that you were among one of the most famous people in the world and yet, there was not one person you could go to with all your problems.

But wait, there is someone: Kim Namjoon, your manager. Any problem you had could be brought to him, whether it be work-related or personal issues, he was always there.

So, you decide to call him.

Beside you is your Louis Vuitton handbag and in it is your small, pink Nokia cellphone. You scramble to get it out quickly, having to work out the numerous amount of lip gloss tubes you were able to stuff in such a tiny bag.

Namjoon is first on your speed dial, right above your own mother, and he´s the first contact you press on before bringing the phone up to your ear.

¨_____?¨ he picks up on the fifth ring, ¨Is everything okay? Are you still at Jackson ́s?¨

¨Nope, something happened so I decided to bounce,̈ you reply. There's a lump in your throat from trying to hold in a sob, so you keep your voice as quiet as possible to avoid Namjoon from worrying. He already has enough stress on him, he won't have much time for your childish habits.

̈ ̈What happened?¨ he asks, and you immediately regret there was an event that took place that caused you to leave.

¨Uh...someone brought in coke and everyone started doing lines of it,̈ you manage to lie. Sure, you could ́ve come up with something else, but this one was believable with the amount of celebrity house parties that was surrounded by some sort of illegal substance. 

¨Oh shit, fuck,¨ Namjoon swears again under his breath, and you question if your lie was a little too believable. ¨Well it’s good that you left, but did you leave the other girls behind to? That won´t be a good image. You can´t just leave your members behind like that, it´s not a good look as the group´s leader. Next--¨

¨Namjoon, please,¨ you interrupt, because you already feel bad enough as it is, and being scolded by the only person you can trust right now isn´t how you planned for this night to go.

¨Are you…?¨ He doesn't finish his question and decides to sigh instead, and you do the same.

��Just tell the chauffeur to bring you to the office, and let the front desk know you´re here for me, I´ll have the door unlocked for you, okay?¨

He doesn´t wait for a response from you before he hangs up, leaving you with no choice but to go see him.

You lean forward into the front seat and tell your driver that your original plans for the night had changed.

“Oh, _____! I wasn't expecting to see you here so l--”

“Tell Namjoon I'm here to see him.” You cut off the receptionists’ enthusiasm with your bratty attitude. You feel bad for so blunt with her, but you’re not in the mood to deal with anyone that wasn’t Namjoon.

Your handbag swings in the loose grip you have it in as you make your way to the elevator, and the price of it reminds you how hard you worked to be able to buy something like that with your own money. All the countless nights you spent, practicing your singing, dancing, and language skills just to make it all the way to the top, and be completely alone there.

It was so pathetic.

You call the elevator down with the press of a button as the receptionists alerts Namjoon of your arrival. The trip to his office is short, and you ignore any and everyone who had made an attempt at speaking with you.

You knock on Namjoon’s door twice, and a faint ̈come in ̈ sounds through the wood.

He's at his desk when you enter the room, slouched over, writing something down as his phone is pressed against his ear. You notice how the platinum blond of his hair makes his skin pop, as if he were a glowing. His all white outfit helps with the fact that you believe he was truly your guardian angel sent down by God himself.

Kim Namjoon was beautiful.

He looks up at you when he heard the door shut, and his eyes glimmer when you make contact. He can't help but smile at your current state, a hand on your hip with your handbag dangling in the other, pink cat eye glasses pressed up against your eyes while an evident pout was on your lips; you looked like a spoiled brat.

He beckons you over with a wave of his hand, making space for you to sit on his desk. You stomp the entire way there, Namjoon takes notice and forces himself to hold back his laughter. He's focused on this call, so you take the opportunity to lean over and see what he had been scribbling down.

Heaven cute comeback vs dark comeback ??

Contact suga regarding songs for comeback

Late fall / early spring 

Nothing written down makes any sense to you, but Namjoon seems to know what everything means as heś finishing up his call.

“Yeah, I’ll set up a meeting over lunch with Suga. Yeah...got it,” he writes something else down, “alright bye.”

He hangs up the office phone, sets his pen down, and looks straight up at you. “You don’t look so happy,” he comments.

“I’m not.”

“That's fair, but first things first,” Namjoon reaches up to carefully slide the glasses off of your face, revealing the black mascara that had been running along with the dark circles that surrounded your eyes. “Why are you crying?̈” His voice is so soft and caring when he asks, you can cry again just from how sweet he is towards you.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” you mumble with a pout, staring down at your heels.

“Again, that’s fair,” he says, moving your legs slightly to access one of his desk’s drawers. From the cabinet, he pulls out a pack of facial cleansing wipes, and the fact that he has them doesn't surprise you in the slightest. It would explain his glow. “You’re gonna have to tell me at some point, though,” he takes one wet wipe from the pack before bringing up to your cheek, gently using it to caress and wipe at any leftover makeup until you were left completely barefaced.

“I’m crying because I´ve never had sex before.”

“Oh…”

“I’ve already told you a million times I want you to take my virginity.”

“_____, your virginity is a special thing.”

“Come on, Namjoon,” you groan, tossing your head back, “I’m twenty-one and you’re twenty-four; can we not talk about this as if I’m a child?”

“Then let's stop talking about it completely, babe,”  ever so gently, he pulls you down only slightly to plant a kiss on your lips. As mad at him as you were, you can't help but erase all the angry thoughts the moment his soft lips collide with yours. You force yourself to pull away.

“Are you gonna give me more context on why you’re suddenly so upset about never being fucked?” He asks casually as he boots up his bulky, beige computer. 

“No.”

“Okay then,” he smiles. You can tell he wants to know more, but doesn’t want to pry you for more information if you didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, he just watches his computer load up. “Have you eaten today?” Namjoon questions.

You think back to lunch, and remember that you, “had a salad for lunch.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

He shakes his head, sliding you a white container that had been hidden on the other side of his computer. “Eat up,” he says as you open the box to reveal a half-eaten cheeseburger. You stare at it for a few seconds without saying anything, causing Namjoon to roll his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you care about the fact that I ate half,”he says, typing his login information into the computer.

“No! It’s just...thank you,” you say picking the sandwich up and taking a bite out of it. Namjoon looks genuinely happy that you’re eating, you can tell by the way he’s staring, as if you were the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

“Are you gonna at least tell me why you wanted to go back to the dorms so soon?” he asks after a few minutes of silence, letting you peacefully eat your meal until you’ve finished.

“I was gonna cry for an hour then make myself orgasm since everyone seems to care so much,” you say honestly. Though it would probably take some time, you just wanted to get this “never-had-an-orgasm” mess out and away.

Namjoon is smart, so it only took him a minute to piece everything together and figure out what actually happened at the party.

¨I’m sorry, baby,” he says, putting a comforting hand on your thigh.

An idea forms in your mind the moment his hand makes contact with your thigh, and you call yourself a genius. 

Placing your hand on top of Namjoon’s, you look at him for any type of response or reaction, but he doesn’t move; completely focused on his computer. Using your own hand, you move his up only slightly until his fingertips come in contact with the brim of your skirt. Still, he doesn’t react, and you grow frustrated. 

You keep moving his hand until it’s on your inner thigh, and finally he realizes what’s happening.

He looks up at you, as if he were asking “you seriously wanna do this?”. Your response would’ve been “yes”.

Namjoon glances towards his door, aware of the fact that it was unlocked and not caring in the slightest. On his own, he continues the path up your skirt until his fingernail is lightly scratching at your clothed cunt, the delicate touch giving you the familiar sensation you had longed for.

He does this only for a few more seconds, eager at the fact that a touch so simple already has you soaking through your panties. And, speaking of panties, he slides them down only slightly, just enough for him to do as he pleases.

The pad of his thumb finds your clit, you try your hardest to keep your reactions to a minimum as starts to move it in slow circles. Namjoon changes his pattern every few moments, going from circling your bud to using his thumb to stroke it in a straight line. 

His chin is resting in the palm of his free hand, and he’s watching you as if this entire situation was amusing. And, in his eyes, it really was. It was so easy for him to get you worked up; his words alone could make you wet. Namjoon wasn’t exactly the “secret lover” the paparazzi would’ve thought of (with him being your manager and all), but there really was no one else you could see yourself with.

There’s muffled talking outside of Namjoon’s door, and you’re suddenly snapped out of your daze. The talking continues on, and you’re worried whoever’s on the other side will be barging in unannounced in a matter of seconds. Even if Namjoon had completely removed himself from you in time, would you have a reasonable explanation as to why you’re sat on his desk? With your legs wide open? And panties on the floor?

Suddenly, you can’t even think straight; while you were in mild panic, Namjoon had slid a finger into you. Remembering there’s people right outside his door, you don’t allow yourself to make single sound. Namjoon is impressed with your actions, and his reward to you is a slow thrust. His long, delicate index finger does a stellar job at keeping you pleased for the time being. A second finger is added only seconds later, and you’re starting to feel stretched out.

The feeling excites you because maybe, just maybe, he was stretching you out to prepare yourself for him. His office isn’t exactly the place you imagined your virginity being taken, but you’ll settle for anything as long as it was with him. 

The muffled noises outside is office are long gone, but you still limit the amount of noise you’re making. Especially now when his thrusts had gotten faster, and the look in his eyes had turned dark and full of lust.

A feeling forms in your neck, making its way up to your cheeks. You can’t find the words to describe it: like a tingling sensation with a little extra, and it feels so good.

“You okay?” Namjoon asks, noticing the change in your facial expression.

“Something feels...strange…” is all you’re able to make out.

“Where?”

Your hand taps on your abdomen, and you’re then aware of how weak your body feels. “Here,” closing your eyes, you reach up to touch the side of your neck, then your face, “and here. It feels good.”

Namjoon chuckles, automatically knowing what you’re speaking of, “It’s not a strange feeling, you’re about to have an orgasm.”

That catches your attention. “I am?!”

“Well,” he slides himself completely out of you, “you were. Not anymore.”

And, like you had felt earlier, there were no words to describe how you were feeling. Namjoon, however, seems like he just can’t stop talking.

“Remember earlier when you gave me the silent treatment? This was punishment.” He sets his attention back to his loading computer, watching the screen set up all of his important information. 

“Maybe you finally get your reward if you act nice on your break.” He slides you a folded piece of paper, and written on it is everything expected for you to do while on your break. It was long and tedious, definitely a lot more than your members would be getting.

But, if Namjoon was going to make you cum as long as you did everything with a smile, you’d do the whole list twice.

[villainousshakespeare]

In The Timing

Tom Hiddleston/Reader

Rated E 

Warnings: Smut, Angst, *But in this chapter only FLUFFFFFF with a teasing mention smut 

Chapters: 4 of 4 + Epilogue

After a horrible first date, you end up at a pub filled with University students. You are feeling rather old and sorry for yourself, until a blond haired Adonis strikes up a conversation with you. Obviously he is too young for you, but what could a little flirting hurt?

@yespolkadotkitty @hopelessromanticspoonie @nonsensicalobsessions @caffiend-queen @thecutestlittlebunbunfairy @vodka-and-some-sass @arch-venus25 @devikafernando @devilish–doll @hiddlesholic @just-the-hiddles @kellatron55 @myoxisbroken @wrathkitty @shae-annelore @kellatron55​ @from-hel-i-with-love​  ciaodarknessmyheart

Chapter 1 - First Meeting

Chapter 2 - The Morning After

Chapter 3 - Years Later

Chapter 4 - Time’s Up

Epilogue

"Ladies and gentlemen, you know my first guest as Loki the God of Mischief and The Night Manager. His new movie,  In The Timing, is currently nominated for a slew of awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture. Please welcome back to the show Mr. Tom Hiddleston."

You smiled as Tom jogged out onto stage to thunderous applause. Or maybe "thunderous" wasn't quite right. Thunderous implied deep, and the cheers for your man were much higher in pitch, clearly spearheaded by all of the overeager women in the audience. You couldn't really blame them. In his monochromatic blue suit and leonine mane of hair, Tom was definitely scream worthy. Still, that didn't mean you wouldn't take great delight in teasing him about his status as heartthrob later.

The response to  In The Timing had been incredible, with glowing reviews and box office receipts that were much higher than expected for an independent romantic comedy. Now, with the studio making a push for it on the awards circuit even more people were coming out to see the movie that was your labor of love in more ways than one.

All of this was wonderful for you and Tom, as you were both receiving accolades and prizes for your disciplines, but it also meant an endless round of press junkets, talk show appearances, and gala screenings all around the world. Most of the weight of this, of course, centered on Tom's deliciously broad shoulders, but you had your own share of speaking engagements as well. To your amusement, he had insisted that the studio coordinate your schedules, so that you were promoting in the same city at all times. He had just gotten you back, he insisted. After seventeen years apart he was not going to spend one night separated from you if there was anything he could do about it.

You were only too happy to go along with this plan. The state of pure euphoria you had been coasting through your days in had come to a screeching halt the first time you were asked to get up onto a stage in front of a thousand people and answer questions about your process and the characters you had imagined. Only Tom, standing to one side of the stage like a proud and nervous papa watching his child win her first spelling bee had kept you grounded. Every time you started to falter, you would look over and see him practically speaking for you with his body language. It would make you giggle inside how earnestly he watched you, reacting to the questions with amusement or indignancy on your behalf. What did it matter, you realized, what anyone else thought of you, when the over grown ginger in the wings believed in you so completely.

That didn't mean, of course, that you would let him off the hook for the swooning fangirls. Someone had to keep his head from becoming too big to fit through the door.

"So, Tom," Colbert was saying as you focused on the interview, "I hear you've got a new picture out."

"I have," he answered with a smile, playing along with one of his favorite hosts. Between the Hank Williams duet and the Hamlet soliloquy, Colbert was right up Tom's alley.

"Yeah, I hear it's pretty dreamy. Or rather you are pretty dreamy in it."

"I don't know about that," Tom chuckled with humility, face going a bit red. "I don't know who would have told you such a thing."

"Oh, my female staff, my daughter, my wife..." Stephen deadpanned as the audience laughed. "What is it about this film that is so... I believe the word was "swoony"."

"Swooy? An excellent word. From the old English geswogen, meaning "in a faint"" you rolled your eyes as Tom pontificated.

"If you say so," Stephen laughed.

"I would say that it's the waistcoats, Stephen," Tom said with an impish grin. "They are rather constraining, depriving the wearer of appropriate oxygen. Hence the swooning."

"I see. Interesting. Now, this is a romantic comedy. Normally those are not big Oscar bait movies. Oscars tends to go more for tradgedy or history... the feel good tropes.

"Exactly," Tom laughed along.

"So what is it about this movie that makes it so appealing to awards voters? Is it the waistcoats?"

"Maybe," Tom smiled. "Maybe it's the waistcoats."

He was so charming, you thought you could feel the adoration from crowd washing towards the stage. He would be on cloud nine tonight, you knew. Tom feeded off of the energy of a crowd in a visceral way. It wasn't ego, exactly, or at least not just. It was the validation of his hard work, and the knowledge that he had shared something with an audience that had touched them on a personal level, made them experience something as a communal group.

With a smug smile you wondered if he would be able to wait until you were back to your hotel tonight before sharing that excitement with you, or if you would have to find a closet or some other private room to slip into for half an hour or so. Over the last few months there had been a number of times when, sometimes for no other reason than a look you had thrown at him, Tom had siezed you by your wrist and dragged you to some semi-secluded spot to have his way with you. Hell, once or twice you had even been the one to push him into an alcove and reach for his zipper. Your relationship all those years ago had been marked by insatiability for eachother, and if anything the years apart had only added to the ferver to touch, taste, and fuck eachother senseless.

"Along with the costuming, which is brilliant - bless our wonderful costuming department - I think the thing that sets this movie apart is its writing," Tom was saying, throwing an adoring glance in your direction. "It really gets to the heart of what it means to be in love. How we, as human beings, with all our foibles and idiosycrosies can be our own worst enemies in the persuit of our heart's desire."

And seriously, how could you not love this man to distraction? 

"The course of true love never did run smooth," Colbert threw in.

"Exactly. Shakespeare said it best as usual. But do you know which character that was?"

"Helena, Midsummer Night's Dream," Stephen said uncertainly.

"Close, very close," your walking Shakespeare anthology smiled sugly. "Hermia. Act I, Scene 1 I believe."

"I'll take your word for it," Colbert surrendered to the master. "So, you're nominated for a slew of awards - a BAFTA, a SAG, an Oscar... is there anyone that you are really gunning for? It's the Oscar right?"

"Well, sort of," Tom hedged.

"What do you mean sort of?"

"I am enormously flattered to be nominated for all of them, of course, and so excited for the film to be recieving so much love. But the award I'm most excited for isn't an acting award for me, or even Best Picture. It's the Adapted Screenplay Award."

"And why would that be, Tom Hiddleston?"

"Well, as I mentioned before, the writing, particularly the dialogue, is truly the star of this picture."

"Uh-hu. No other reason?" the host prodded. "I know you're a private man when it comes to your relationships..."

"With reason, you have to keep a bit of life for yourself."

"Of course. So, what do you want to share with us Tom?"

"Well, it just so happens that the writer of this particular movie is someone very close to my heart," he smiled a dopey smile that made your stomach do filp-flops.

"How close exactly are we talking?" Stephen asked, also shooting you a look.

"Well, Stephen," Tom grinned, "it just so happens that this particular author, this beautiful, brilliant, compassionate woman, has recently become closer to me than people may realize."

"Really?" Stephen grinned back at him. "You know, it just so happens that I see her standing there in the wings. Shall we invite her out here?"

"Well..." Tom threw you a smile, eyes saying that he knew he would be in trouble later, "I really do think that she deserves to be the one sitting out here discussing the movie. She is the reason it is a success after all."

"What do you think ladies and gentlemen?" Stephen asked the audience as you glared at both of them. "Shall we bring her out?"

As a chorus of enthusiastic yeses assailed your ears, you vowed that you would make Tom pay for this later, possibly ususing the pair of fur lined cuffs he didn't think you knew he had purchased when you were strolling through the village the day before. Resigning yourself to your fate you sighed and nodded you head once to their entreating glances.

"Ladies and gentleman, she is the writer behind In The Timing Victoria Thomas," you still were not used to hearing your pen name spoken out loud as often as it was, or responding to it. You were going to have to do something about that soon, you thought.

"That is her pen name, indeed," Tom said as you walked slowly out on stage, glad that you were dressed in a chic Calvin Klien dress that flattered your figure, "I hope you will all join me in welcoming the newly minted Mrs. Hiddleston!"

  It had been a complete suprise. You and Tom had been walking through Central Park, Bobby frisking around you as he chased invisable prey. Your fingers were linked together, and Tom had at least somewhat learned to shorten his long stride to make up for your significantly shorter legs. After a bit of wandering, you had made it to the Shakespear Garden near both Delacourt Theater and Belvedeare Castle, and Tom had pulled you down beside him on a stone bench.

  "This garden," he told you conversationally, "has every flower the is mentioned in Shakespeare's plays planted in it."

  "That's so interesting," you teased, even though you did find it interesting, you loved to give him a hard time over his love of all things Shakespeare.

  "All of those flowers," he went on as though you hadn't spoken, "and not one of them is close to being as beautiful as you are."

  "Tom," you sighed dreamily, snuggling against his chest. Honestly, how had you gotten so lucky?

  "Darling," he said, a nervous tone creeping into his usually confident voice. "I wanted to ask you something."

  "What's that?" you said lazily, enjoying the smell of his skin as he kissed the top of your head.

  "Would you look at me love?" he asked.

  You lifted yourself off of his chest to see an anxious expression to match his voice.

  "I know that we have not been back together for long," he began, hands figiting, "but I think you know how much I love you."

  "I do," you smiled at him. "I love you too."

  "And we have, if you think about it, known eachother for almost two decades."

  "I suppose."

  "Given that, and that I don't think I will survive parting from you again," detaching himself from you, Tom dropped down onto one knee and your mind went blank. "My darling love, will you marry me?"

  You gaped at him in stunned disbeleif, unable to move or speak as the sun glinted off of his copper curls. As your eyes met his you saw a look of hope begin to shade into panic, and realized that you had not given him an answer. Just as you were wondering how mouths and tongues worked, Bobby barked loudly and jumped up onto the bench beside you, breaking the spell that you had been under. You burst out laughing, and after a moment so did Tom as Bobby licked at your face.

"Upstaged by my own dog," he grumbled good naturedly, some of his confidence coming back as you were beaming at him. "  B ut come, darling, ' what sayest thou then to my love? speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee  .'"

  "I say yes," you smiled at him as he rose to spin you off your feet in a circle. "Of course yes, Tom!"

  Two days later, in a quiet ceremony attended by just imediate family flown in secretly and his ever vigilant puplicist Luke, the two of you were married in the same spot by your fiesty dirctor Susie, who had obtained her liscense online for the occasion. It was peacful, and even if one or two persistant pedestrians had been able to snap a quick picture of you in your ice blue dress and Tom in a perfectly tailored Ralph Lauren suit, Luke had been able to keep any whisper of it out of the press. As gossip control went, it was a minor miracle.

"So, you two crazy kids tied the knot, huh?" Stephen asked as the crowd finally died down.

"Yes," Tom said quickly, looking a bit nervous. "Though as you may be able to tell by the expression on my beautiful bride's face, we hadn't made the announcement public yet."

"Oh that's okay," Colbert waved it off, "they won't tell, will you guys?"

The crowed laughed at the notion of it staying a secret after such a public announcement.

"Well, congratulations Tom, and to your lovely wife, my condolences."

"Oh, I think Tom's the one who's going to be needing condolences soon," you joked, and Tom gamely winced, though his eyes said he wasn't sure how much you were joking.

"So, why did you agree to marry such an obvious fixer upper?" Stephen asked you. "Couldn't you find anyone good looking?"

"It's a struggle, Stephen," you sighed and the audience laughed, as you had married, by your own reconning, the most handsome man on the planet. "But, well, I'm in love you see."

"Ah," he nodded sagely.

"Yup, I'm in love with Bobby, and the only way to get the dog was to say yes to the man."

"My evil plan worked, you see," Tom chimed in, laughing his endearing ehehe

"You used the dog to get the woman? That's next level planning!"

"Well you see, Stephen," Tom said, staring into your eyes with an intensity that made you forget you were on national TV, "I have been in love with this particular woman for seventeen years. And if it had taken adopting an entire three ring circus to finally get her to marry me, that was what I was going to do. Fortunately for our home, one adorable Spaniel was all it took."

"Seventeen years? Really?" Stephen looked back in forth between you, a wealth of unanswered questions in his eyes.

"Indeed. She led me quite a chase, but I wore her down in the end."

"I have a feeling there's a story here," the host said, in huge understatement, "but I'll wait until your next visit for that."

"I'm afraid that story is not suitible for television," Tom demured.

"Well, can you at least give any advice to the fans out there? Some help for the lovelorn?"

"Well, in the end," he said, giving it his usual deep thought, "all I can say is it's all in the timing."

"And that, my friends, is what we call a segue. You can catch the movie in theaters now."

Tom glanced over to you and winked with a cocky grin, and you thought of all the things that had gone between you, the years and passion and the love. You loved this man with everything you had. He might be insufferable, he might occasionally push you beyond your comfort level, but you knew in that moment and every moment that you were loved with a fierce, constant heart. It was the happy ending you had always dreamed of. And it was yours.

                       Notes:        

Thank you all so much for reading. It has been a wonderful story to write.

[natalinasvlogs]

Hold My Hand - Jeff Wittek

Read on AO3

Summary: Reader goes to Coachella with the VS and gets anxious in crowds. Jeff holds her hand all weekend so she doesn’t get lost.

Word Count: 1357

Warnings: none

AN: hi friends, this is my first ever fic. pls be gentle. if you like what you read and want more, i'm open to prompts/requests :-)

It was my first time going to Coachella, and I was unbelievably excited. I had been friends with David and Natalie for a few years, since David’s first line of Fanjoy merch. I was a fashion designer, and had helped create some of the most popular designs. In the last year, I was able to quit Fanjoy and become self-employed, and run a successful online business creating handmade clothing. It was a small business, but it had taken off, especially with everyone in the Vlog Squad promoting my work.

Because of how popular my designs were with influencers and celebrities, I had been able to get a Coachella artist pass of my own. David had offered to bring me last year, the way he brought all his friends who wanted to go, but I didn’t like accepting handouts from anyone. This time, I was able to go on my own terms, and spend time with my friends as equals.

I was in the VS Coachella house getting ready for the first day with Natalie and Cas. Nat and I had just finished, but Cas was still doing her makeup.

“Natalie! I need to get some footage with the new merch before we go to the festival!” David yelled out. Cas rolled her eyes and kept applying eyeliner while Natalie and I headed to the backyard. 

Both Natalie and I were wearing shorts from the new merch line, but hadn’t put the hoodies on so we were both in our little bra tops for our day 1 outfits. As soon as the boys saw us, they startled whistling and complementing both of us. 

“Babies you look so good!” Zane called. Natalie laughed and went over to the clothes to pick out a hoodie while David started talking to her about the bit he wanted for the vlog.

“Damn doll, I don’t think David needs to worry about sales if that’s how you look in those shorts,” Jeff said to me, winking. 

I blushed a little, but that was par for the course. Since Jeff had joined our friend group, he and I had a very flirtatious friendship. Nothing had come of it, and although I liked him, I didn’t expect anything to come of it. Jeff was very clear to everyone about not wanting a serious relationship, and I made it clear to everyone that that was the only kind of relationship I was interested in. I had tried the casual thing before, and it didn’t work out. It went unspoken that neither one of us wanted to risk our friendship or the friend group for a casual fling that wouldn’t last. 

“Well it certainly won’t help hoodie sales if I’m not wearing one in the photos!” I said, laughing as I walked to get a hoodie for filming. 

We filmed and took photos for an hour before David declared he had enough and we headed to the festival. Once we arrived, I realized I had underestimated how crazy it would be. I started to get nervous thinking about the crowds and how easy it would be to get separated from my friends, especially once everyone started drinking. Jeff noticed that I started to get quiet when I had been buzzing with energy moments before.

“You alright, Y/N?” he asked, concerned. I shrugged, keeping as close to the group as possible as we headed to the first act. 

“Yeah, I guess it’s just busier than I thought. I’m not the biggest fan of crowds,” I said, trying to smile reassuringly. Jeff frowned.

“Weird place to go if ya don’t like crowds, doll,” he said jokingly. “But don’t worry, stick with me and I’ll make sure ya don’t get lost.”

Jeff grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. I nodded, biting back a smile when he started pulling me through the crowd. He didn’t let go of my hand the whole night, and no one commented on it despite Natalie giving me a raised brow when she noticed. 

This continued for the rest of the festival, both at the Coachella grounds and at the parties David dragged us to. Jeff would grab my hand and squeeze it if the crowds started to get heavy. We joked and flirted like normal, but Jeff seemed to go out of his way to be nicer to me than normal. 

By the last night, we were walking in a less populated area and he was still holding my hand. A couple girls, Instagram models by the looks of it, stopped us and asked to take pictures with him. He did, and let go of my hand to do it. It felt strange to be there without his hand in mine, the warmth of his body pressed against me, but because the crowds weren’t bad in this area I didn’t feel anxious. Our group was walking away to get to the next show, and Natalie grabbed my hand to keep me with her. I knew Jeff would catch up when he was done talking to the girls, and I felt bad that he had been glued to my side the whole weekend when he could have been meeting girls and doing what he wanted. 

As we approached the stage, the crowd seemed to get thicker by the second. Natalie’s hand slipped out of mine and I was separated from the rest of the group. Before I could panic too much, I felt two hands grasp my arms and turn me around. 

“Jeff!” I exclaimed, grabbing his arms in reassurance and taking a deep breath. 

“Why the hell did ya run off like that? I looked away for one second and you were gone!” he shook me gently, a worried expression on his face.

“I felt bad that you’ve been stuck with me all weekend, and you seemed to like talking with those girls,” I huffed. “I was with the group a second ago but we got separated in the crowd.” Even thinking about the crowd was making me feel claustrophobic, and I looked around and realized just how big it was. Just as I started to feel anxious, Jeff slipped his hand into mine and pulled me away from the stage, shaking his head the whole way. 

“Why would you think I’m stuck with you? No one forced me. I like being with ya and I don’t want ya to get lost or feel scared,” he admitted, once we were far away from the rest. My heart pounded as he looked deep in my eyes and stepped closer. 

“I want to be close to you,” he said. His voice was low, his eyes darted away from mine and back again. 

“I want to be close to you too,” I whispered. I stepped even closer, and tilted my chin up. It felt like a scene from a movie, and I worried that in a second he would pull away with a laugh like one of us always did when we got close.

He brought his hands to my face, and with one last glance in my eyes, he leaned in and kissed me. It was slow and sweet, and I sighed into him as my hands grasped his arms. Realizing what this could mean, I pulled away. His eyes stayed closed for a moment before he looked at me in confusion. 

“Jeff, I like you. You know I do. But you also know I don’t do casual. I can’t,” I said hurriedly, wondering if this could be the end of our friendship. 

“Doll, I haven’t been with anyone in months. I’ve been waiting for the right time to show ya that I’m ready for something serious. I’m ready for you.” 

Jeff stroked his hand through my hair, and looked at me so earnestly. 

“Let me hold your hand even when there aren’t any crowds,” he whispered, bending to rest his forehead against mine. 

My heart swelled and I couldn’t stop a smile from stretching across my face. 

“Alright, Jeff. You can hold my hand whenever you want. And whenever I want,” I laughed, wrapping my arms around his middle. 

“Always, doll. Always.” 

[allie1804-fan]

Please Assist Me (Chapter 19)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8,  Chapter 9, Ch6apter 10 , Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15 , Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18

She Said

Back in LA, I found myself home schooling again as Covid was seeing another surge and there was still no vaccine on the horizon.  It was definitely a struggle not having Keanu there in my regular day to day life especially as I still had to deal with the downsides associated with being his girlfriend – like not having my social media fix and getting photographed looking like shit while doing  the grocery shopping!

The memory of that day alone together in New York was seared in my brain;  And it either helped me get through, looking forward to having him home again or made things 50 times worse because it reminded me how much I missed him.

After the amazing sex and snoozing, we’d headed to a café for brunch then spent a couple of hours walking in the park. We weren’t bothered by any fans or photographers and we were just able to enjoy a relaxing time together. It was what we needed after the tension that was there because of the whole publicity issue. And the sex had left us physically relaxed too. We talked about plans for later in the year after John Wick 4 filming had concluded. There would be a 3 week spell of filming in New York then another 3 week shoot in Russia before heading back to New York to finish for a couple more months. The Russia slot had changed due to some problem with permissions to use a specific city which was why they had to break up the New York shoot.

I found myself far more stressed by the renewed lockdown and home schooling this second time around – I think I’d just got too used to Keanu being around so it was like readjusting to being a single parent yet again and I definitely had a shorter fuse.

Keanu came home for a couple of days between the New York and Russia shoots and unfortunately I took out the tension I was feeling on him. He came straight to my house from the airport, exhausted from the shoot where they’d tried to get ahead of themselves so had been doing 12-16 hour days. He’d accumulated a pile of dirty laundry which he asked if I wouldn’t mind doing.

“What? You couldn’t get hotel services to deal with this?” I snapped

“Come on, I’ve been working 6 til 10 every day this week, I just forgot” he pleaded.

“Whatever!”

Later I apologised to him. I put it down to having just had two consecutive school days that week  which was exhausting physically and mentally and I’d been a bit under the weather. He forgave me but there were a couple more tense moments before he went to Russia.

The car to take him to the airport was due soon and he gathered his bags and then pulled me close. I didn’t want to let him go.

“I’m so sorry I’ve been such a bitch!” I grovelled, looking up into his beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

“Hey, it’s OK, I know it’s tough being here holding the fort. I’ve got it good, I know that. I’m busy all day and sometimes into the night on set and I don’t have all the responsibilities you have so, I know it’s hard hun but just think, in August. I’ll be back and we can all just be together for as long as we like. I haven’t accepted any other work yet so it’s just promo for Matrix and John Wick that will definitely happen and that might be done more on line now that we know it works! And who knows, I might just get you pregnant as well!”

 “You have to be here to do that sweetie”

 “I know” he grinned giving my nose a tweak.

 He Said

The first shooting in New York went well and whilst I missed Sophia and the kids, I was working so hard that there wasn’t much time for me to dwell on it. And the memory of that special day alone together sustained me, knowing that at the end of the John Wick shoot, I’d have at least a few months at home before having  to go anywhere on a shoot or promotional tour.  

I kept in touch via messaging and calls and the occasional bunch of flowers or a book sent to her to let her know she was in my thoughts but I know it was harder on her being alone especially when they had to start home schooling again. Julie was still part of the bubble but her baby was still small so she wasn’t always able to do her share, so Sophia and Miranda picked up the slack.  

When I managed to pop back to LA in-between the first New York and the Russia shoots, Sophia was tetchy and I wondered whether it would have been better to simply go straight to Russia and stay out of her way! But she looked tired and drawn so I tried my best to be patient and took the kids out to play in the park for a few hours to give her a break whilst  I was around.  It wasn’t fun being on the receiving end of her temper, but I wished I could make life easier for her all the time and not have yet another period of location shooting ahead of me. I reassured her that once I was home, we’d have a few months at least together and I hoped that maybe then we’d strike it lucky with the baby plans.

 She Said

While Keanu was in Russia, it really was a case of soldiering on. I was still feeling under the weather and constantly taking my temperature in case I was somehow going down with Covid but it was always normal regardless of how rubbish I felt.

We mostly did our calls in the mornings at around 8am as Russia is 10 hours ahead. Sometimes it was phone and sometimes video call depending on how good his internet was.  

The kids would usually pile in in front of the iPad at some point in each call and his smile was so heart-warming to see when they popped up.

“You got any messages for Karina?” I asked him on one call “I’m meeting her for coffee tomorrow”

“Just say hi and that I’ll try to see her and mom when I’m home in-between Russia and NY OK? Only 2 days to go.”

“Yup, I’m counting down the hours” I said showing him my phone screen where I’d set a countdown on my home screen.

The next day, Karina and I sat in the sun enjoying a coffee. Well, I should clarify, she was enjoying a coffee and I was finding mine distinctly weird.

“Do you think there’s something wrong with this milk. My coffee tastes weird."

“no mine’s fine” you sure you’re OK. You look kinda pale.

“Yeah I just think this whole lockdown and home schooling thing is wearing me down. I was OK first time around when it was just 2 a week but now I sometimes get 3 days with 5 kids and I miss Keanu!”

“Poor baby – you should see your doctor though if you don’t feel better soon …………… or maybe your OBGYN!” she said, whispering the last part.

“What?!”

“Don’t tell me it hasn’t occurred to you” Karina said incredulously. “You two are trying right?”

“What?”

‘What’ is all I seemed to be able to say! She started laughing then.

“Don’t worry,  he didn’t tell me anything, I just guessed by some stuff he said without realising and now here you are looking distinctly sickly …… and you were last together about a month ago right?”

I nodded, doing the maths and realising she had a point – I hadn’t had my period in how many weeks now? I hadn’t done the calculations, what with everything going on, it had totally slipped my mind.

I could feel the colour rising in my cheeks.

“you got a test at home?”

I shook my head.

“Well go get one right after this! – he’s home the day after tomorrow right? Well you might have a lovely surprise for him eh?”

After our meet up I went straight home deciding against getting a test  - I was paranoid about picking one up in person and someone recognising me and alerting the press.  Instead I ordered one from Amazon which would be delivered the next morning. Karina texted me a couple of hours later to ask if I had done a test and was frustrated to hear I’d not got one yet though she got why I had bottled it. I told her I wasn’t about to tell her the result before her brother anyway!

 He Said

I sank into the seat on the plane next to Chad, relieved to have the Russia shoot in the can. One of the stewards bought my requested Bloody Mary and I took a sip, a satisfied sigh leaving my lips.

“Happy?” Chad asked.

“Yeah, just glad to have a few days with Sophia if I’m honest. After this movie, my foot is coming off the pedal, I swear”

“Hard being away right? When you have a special someone at home that is?”

“Yup and she’s not been well this whole time  - she’s been doing all this home schooling and it’s too much on your own. I mean those kids are great but, you know, they bounce out of bed at 7 and they just keep on bouncing til 7 or 8 at night like Duracell bunnies!”

“And you want more?”

“What?!” I spluttered.

“Come on, I can tell. You’ve said too many things that have clued me in”

I was blushing fiercely but there was little point trying to hide this from Chad. He’d known me for over 20 years and could read me like a book.

“Oh man, I must be the most transparent person on the planet”

“nahh you’re good at being guarded when you need to but, I just know you, OK? Good luck to you. I hope it works out, you both deserve it”

“Thanks man”

We landed in the early evening  in LA. With the magic of the time difference, our bodies had had 12 hours of flight but it was just 2 hours after take off in terms of the time on the clock. I’d tried not to sleep too much but just enough so that I could stay awake till maybe 10 or 11pm  and then catch up on my sleep that evening. I’d then have a 5 day break with Sophia before heading back to New York for the rest of the shoot.

She Said

I was like a cat on a hit tin roof from 6pm when Keanu texted to say he’d landed. I got the kids ready for bed but let them wait in their PJs so they could see him  - he was there by 7.30. We kissed briefly in the entryway before he came into the house proper to greet the kids and thrill them with a Russian doll and traditional ushanka hat each.  We managed to get them off to bed by 8.30, finally collapsing on the sofa.

I nestled into Keanu’s side, relishing in the warmth and closeness I’d missed for the past 3 weeks.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked.

“No, I’m fine – the only thing that seems appealing is a hot chocolate before bed if I’m honest, I’m running on empty, trying to stay up as long as I can!”

“mmmm, me too and I don’t have the excuse of a long haul flight!”

“Are you ready for your gifts?”

“mmmm yes please”

He kissed my cheek and got up to hunt in his bag.

He’d got me a bottle of Beluga vodka and a gorgeous traditional Russian scarf with pretty red roses woven on a black background.

“Hey, I guess we could have a little welcome home shot on ice?”

 “Yeah sure”  

 “I’ll just get the glasses and I’ve got a little gift for you too.”

I went to the kitchen where my gift was already waiting on the counter and grabbed a shot glass and some ice and went back to the living room and sat down beside him again.

“Just one glass?” he queried.

“Yup, I don’t fancy it right now, sorry – anyway, here” I said handing him a small gift.

“You didn’t have to get my anything!”

“I kind of did” I said simply,  making him cock his eyebrow quizzically at me as he pulled on the ribbon and unwrapped my gift.   There was tissue paper inside which he  pulled open.

He was quiet for several seconds, staring down in his lap before he lifted his dark eyes to mine, a single tear escaping.

“Come ‘ere”

He Said

I  could often be taciturn, in difficult interviews for example, but it was rare for me to be rendered speechless yet that’s what I was after unwrapping Sophia’s gift. I’d never actually seen one before in real life, a strange thing to admit maybe for a 56 year old man, but there it was in my lap: A positive pregnancy test.  We’d done it, conceived at our combined age of nearly 100!,  without any great stress or strain and I was thrilled  - even in my jet lagged state I felt elated and I kissed and hugged Sophia until she couldn’t take any more!

We skipped the vodka and went straight to bed, talking briefly about the details before falling asleep, both  of us exhausted for our different reasons. I spooned behind her with my hand resting on her belly and her hand over mine and smiled as I drifted to sleep.

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