#she's not athletic like at all but she IS a great dancer and she could outrun him if she wanted to

[holocene-sims]

List 5 facts about a favorite sim of yours, and send this to simblrs whose sims you adore ✨️

(Your turn!)

hi hi hi!! thank you so much for sending me this!!

last time i did one of these, i answered it for my (mostly) brand new character, yunha...so, let me introduce her twin brother now!

here come the basic stats ✏️ yunseok is 6'2", his mbti type is infj, his enneagram is 9w1, and his zodiac big three are pisces sun, sagittarius moon, and scorpio rising

he's chronically OFFLINE 🌾 he's never had a social media account other than one on kakaotalk to message friends/family and a profile picture-less youtube account that he uses to watch very specific hobby videos or listen to music. that's it. i wouldn't say he's unaware of memes or online culture overall, like yunha and his friends keep him in the loop so he's not completely baffled at their references, but he doesn't care for being on the internet.

he's kind of the perfect split between nerd and jock ⚽ even though he doesn't spend much time on the internet, he does like video games, and he grew up playing them with yunha whenever they had access to a computer or a console. his favorite games at the moment are project zomboid and elden ring. on the other hand, he's also a big sports guy. he loves baseball, basketball, and soccer, and he's practiced taekwondo for a longgggg time. so, most of the time, if you're trying to find him, he'll be at some sports complex or at the gym!

halloween is his favorite holiday! 🎃 and he spends a considerable amount of energy deciding what costume to wear each year and trying to convince friends and family to do group costumes with him. that hounding sometimes works out and results in, for example, him dressing up as the corpse bride and his (now ex)-girlfriend going with him as victor

he's currently employed as a night security guard at a factory, and wow does he hate it 😭 very rarely does he actually get to do anything, so for 98% of the night he's just sitting there in the booth pretending anything interesting is happening. that 2% of the night that *is* "interesting" is going on foot patrols and sometimes letting a worker inside. it's also quite an isolating job given the schedule and the fact that he's almost always the only guard on duty every night

[winter-wise]

How good are they at drag? - Baldur's Gate Characters

Gale: Waterdeep canonically has its own drag subculture, so he'd know the most about it, and his time working on the somatic components of spells means he can vogue at the speed of lightning. But while the spirit and the hands may be willing, the knees are weak. A single death drop would kill this man. I feel that he'd play to his strengths because he knows his bad back and creaky knees can't keep up with anything too vigorous, so while he'd put together something fun and visually impressive, it isn't a very athletic routine.

Karlach: Oh, she'd have so much fun. She likes dancing and Samantha Beart played her as a little Gender, so you'd end up with a fun and happy drag king persona who's having such a good time.

Astarion: He's dexterous, theatrical, and a dab hand with a needle. The costume is flawless. The routine is daring. Not much makeup because he can't see himself in a mirror, but honestly he doesn't need it. He'd act like it's all just a pointless excercise, but he'd get competitive with it. After the performance he gets a lot of compliments and realises that he enjoyed it a lot more than he thought he would.

Lae'zel: Gith genders work differently, so I don't think she'd 'get' it. That being said, she'd make a very hot drag king, so she'd have a successful routine if she just got up on stage and threw knives at things, and not even in time to the music.

Wyll: Canonically a dancer - and a dancer with excellent stamina. Routine practiced to perfection. He could perform it in his sleep. Having so much fun. I think he'd pick out a great song to do the performance to, as well.

Shadowheart: I'm open to having my mind changed about this, but I don't think she'd be good at it. She'd have some fun though. Support bad drag!

Halsin: I'm sorry king but I've seen your dance moves at the afterparty.

Minthara: At first, she flat-out refuses. Why would she ever want to pretend to be a man? Minthara thinks men suck. But if you could talk her into it you'd actually end up with a very funny routine as she puts on the persona of a weak and scared drow man, fluttering about the stage.

Jaheira: I have no evidence for this, but I think she'd be good at it. Gets up on stage, acts like a grade A DILF for the duration of one song, gets off the stage, says it was fun later in a very matter-of-fact way. Embarrases her kids.

Minsc and Boo: Minsc tears off his wig midway through the performance, revealing Boo underneath.

[fereldanwench]

OC SMASH OR PASS

Tagged by @alongtidesoflight! <3333

Tagging (apologies if you were already tagged): @gloryride, @corpocyborg, @aceghosts, @crystalt3a, @harellan, and anyone else who thinks it looks fun!

rules: pretty self explanatory. include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc).

BASICS

Full Name: Valerie Irene Powell

Alias: V

Age: 35 (as of 2077)

Height: 5'10"/178 cm

Eyes: Dark steel blue

Gender: Cis woman

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

PROS

Friendly and clever, always has a smile on her face, laughs easily, playful but recognizes when it's too much

Very empathetic and a great listener

Also very loyal and committed--She'd never be unfaithful

Loves doing little everyday gestures to show she cares (bringing you lunch or your favorite hot beverage, helping with chores or errands, etc.)

Incredibly sensual, passionate, and attentive in bed--Gets off getting you off

Can be as kinky or vanilla as you want/open to experimenting with toys, positions (she's very athletic and flexible), etc.

Her affection will make you feel like the most important person in the world (true even if it's just a platonic relationship)

CONS

Bad at setting boundaries and recognizing when she's given too much of herself

Tries to repress her sensitive nature which can lead to bursts of frustration and resentment

Gets very passive-aggressive and spiteful during intense conflicts

Doesn't always clearly communicate what she expects from a partner/expects them to be a bit of a mind-reader

Will stick around in a bad relationship longer than she should due to fear of change (although she will end things if the other person won't)

[Potential con] If you're not into a very doting partner, she could come across as overbearing

[Potential con] If you're the jealous type, the attention she pulls for her charisma and looks could cause insecurity

EXTRAS

Valerie did sleep around a lot when she was in her early 20s, but those days are long behind her by 2077. Sex is best for her when she's deeply in love.

She leans slightly more to the submissive side, but not in a pillow princess kind of way. She prefers to take a very active, vocal role during sex.

She is 100% sober--No booze, cigs, or recreational drugs for her. She's okay being around light drinkers (like in social situations or with a meal), but heavy drinking or hard drug usage are a deal-breaker.

Valerie is, however, a very heavy coffee drinker. She keeps gum and mints on hand at all times, but coffee breath is an inevitability at some point.

She's fluent in English and Japanese, and she can carry very basic conversations in Spanish.

She likes crisp, faintly woodsy scents and often smells like bergamot, white tea, and sage.

Might not be a great dancer, but is an adorable one:

Additional propaganda:

[patrochillesvibes]

Some of your Patrochilles headcannons? 😋

Since you weren't specific, I'll give you a range:

1. Sorry Supergiant Games, but Achilles is not a Thor knockoff. Besides the lack of modern nutrition and healthcare, his descriptions (e.g. swift-footed) invoke imagery of a gymnast. Grace and agility are the domains of gymnasts. Female gymnasts are typically about 5'. Male gymnasts are about 5'3".

Now say you want to counter me and argue that his epithets are about running. Fine. Even better. Runners are fucking short!! With the exception of some sprinters for the very short races (e.g. Bolt), runners aren't big. Think about the physics. Height creates drag which reduces speed.

I think you need to unlearn Western beauty standards and toxic masculinity.

So here are my hcs for height (left Iliad, right modern AUs):

Patroclus' height is debatable. Given that he was a great wrestler, I made him big.

2. A bit more on physical characteristics:

Achilles - Achilles has really nice curls (3A or 2C) that are golden blonde. He keeps his hair long down to his shoulder blades or mid-back. He has green eyes. His body is toned and sleek like a runner. Not a lot of bulk to him. He can’t grow a beard for shit. Or chest hair (his body hair is very light blonde and fine). Yes, he does shave his chest. And Pyrrha will shave her legs. He has golden skin. In Iliad/TSoA/Hades Game the skin tone is borderline unnatural looking.

Patroclus - Patroclus has wavy/curly (2B or 2C) that are very dark brown or black. He keeps his hair short. He has brown eyes. He has facial hair like Dev Patel in The Green Night (I like his hair for Pat too!) and a tasteful amount of chest hair. He is muscular. This is close to what he looks like (though a bit more muscular than the model and with a little more chest hair tool). In my head while I was reading the books, I pictured him with olive skin. But I am a very big fan of Black Patroclus!! Overall, he is very average looking.

3. I'm taking a page out of @darlingsart book and saying Achilles has a bellybutton piercing. It's very blingy, very VMAs Britney Spears.

4. Achilles is professionally skilled at blowjobs. I'm talking expert-master level. As I mentioned many times before, Patroclus is hung. 9 inches and thick like a coke can. Sinking something with such girth down your throat takes practice.

5. Achilles is bigender. He is both a man and a woman. He is not geNdeRfLUid. He identifies as both genders. Sometimes he's a guy, and he likes to be called Achilles. Sometimes she's a girl, and she likes to be called Pyrrha.

At times gender can definitely be a source of stress for Achilles. He loves having a boy pussy and a girl cock, but sometimes he wants a girl pussy too. And boobs. He’s greedy and it can be frustrating that he can’t have it all at the same time.

Patroclus doesn’t really understand Achilles’ ‘gender thing.’ He sees Pyrrha as more of a roleplay persona than an actual gender/person. So you could say he’s a bit transphobic. (I'm also a huge huge huge fan of trans Pyrrha)

6. Achilles could best be described as a feral housewife. “He doesn’t cook, doesn’t clean...” type except undomesticated. Anger issues and the inability to keep his mouth shut means he’s incompatible with the modern workforce. He’s also incredibly spoiled.

I agree with some authors that he could be a singer/musician, dancer, gym instructor, dance instructor, model, and professional athlete. But your typical 9-5 does not work for him.

Patroclus would make a great doctor (my preferred profession for him), veterinarian, or EMT. I can also see him as a lawyer or firefighter.

7. Patroclus is a Soft Dom/Daddy. Achilles is a brat (sub). Achilles typically bottoms but only because he’s a needy cockslut. They are exclusively monogamous. Achilles is Patroclusexual and Patroclus is into feet (bisexual).

8. Achilles can’t sleep without Patroclus. If Patroclus ever has to go on an overnight work trip and he can’t bring Achilles, he has to stay on the phone with Achilles until he falls asleep. Achilles is usually a hyperventilating sobbing mess.

9. On the rare occasions that Patroclus had to shave his beard, Achilles was left sobbing. Inconsolable. It was like the end of the world for him.

10. I have a lot of thoughts on cooking. Iliad/TSoA/Hades Game Achilles can do basic cooking (especially soups and stews) and grilling. This was learned on Pelion. He cannot bake. Like at all. Yeast won’t rise. Sugar and salt will be mixed up. Baking powder and baking soda will be mixed up. It’s a disaster.

Modern AU Achilles can’t cook or bake AT ALL. He has no patience for it, so food is either burnt, overcooked, or undercooked. For the longest time, he thought the smoke detector going off was a food timer to let him know when the food was done. All his friends and family know this and will do anything to get out of eating his food. Except Patroclus. Pat will eat anything with a smile on his face. Of course, no one has the heart to tell him his cooking is terrible. Not that he would believe them because Patroclus already told him he enjoys his cooking and Patroclus’ opinion is the only one that matters. This is why you shouldn’t lie, Patroclus. You made your bed and now you need to lie in it.

You can find more of my thoughts under the my hcs tag.

Also, to anyone reading this ask... I got this ask maybe 2-3 days ago. Either yesterday or the day before I got 3 asks that have gotten lost in my inbox. If you sent me asks in that time period, please resend.

[rebelrayne]

Hi, I'd like to request something if that's okay. Which litg athletes do you see competing in olympics this year or maybe next four years? And which ones do you NOT see competing? I hate sports but I have a weakness for athletes, especially certain litg ones.

I can see Levi doing it this year, maybe Jamal (my baby daddy) this or next one. And I think Dylan and Arlo would be too cancelled to participate. What do you think?

Hi Anon! I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer this but I'll give it my best shot! I am not well-versed in sports so hahaha I kind of got a little unserious in some parts.

These are the Islanders that I came up with that are athletes (in some form or it is their job): Levi, Reese, Rahim, Henrik, Jakub, Jo, AJ, Tai, Dylan, Arlo, Pete, Jamal, Lewie, Chloe, Hazel, Logan, Jack, Sophie and Jude. Yes, Kat is a club dancer but I wasn't sure if I could count that with Chloe and Hazel, but I guess on a technicality she could be here, too.

Below the cut this is so long haha

Season 1

Levi - Would probably more likely be coaching at this point in his career. He'd be 32 and had made a name for himself, but ultimately stepped down to further himself in coaching. Could also see him being a commentator, too.

Reese - That mf isn't retiring until they say he's not allowed on the team anymore. Sadly, I don't think wrestling is too popular but I could be wrong. Like he'd pitch a fit and claim they were just against him or something. He'd be there (unfortunately for us).

Season 2

Rahim - Might be out of his prime now. I mean, we know he's good at what he does and all, but this is a pretty competitive sport and when newbies come in, they tend to take it by storm for a while. He's probably just playing the circuit.

Henrik - Yeah, he was a climbing instructor but there's sport climbing. I don't see him doing the Olympics though. He's pretty down to earth, probably not interested in making it his job in this way. He'd rather spread knowledge and love of climbing to others through teaching.

Jakub - lmao as if this big-headed buffoon would miss out on weightlifting or something. Like he's too stupid to be cut from the team anyway. Send him an email and he still flies to the Olympics because he can't read idk

Jo - She would qualify under Cycling BMX Racing and I think she would have done it before. I'm not sure if I'd believe that she's at this one though. She's older, probably settled down or at least doing something related and not racing as seriously anymore?

Season 3

AJ - Definitely there. Loves competition, a great team player. She's 100% playing Field Hockey at the Olympics and I love that for her.

Tai - So technically I think Tai is a rugby coach not a player? Maybe I'm not remembering that though. I think he would be more likely a coach than a player for this Olympics though personally. He has the personality to be tough but also inspirational.

Season 4

Dylan - Definitely did not make the roster after his S4 mishaps. They were so embarrassed that they ghosted him. Left him on read when he asked about how to put in an expense report to get money back for his flight and whatever because no one contacted him about flying with the team. His teammates all blocked him on social media except one, and they didn't only so they could see his profile and laugh about what a loser he is :)

Season 5

Arlo - I mean, I don't know if she got canceled sadly. She was doing what everyone on Love Island does and I can't really blame her. I think she was probably given the opportunity to try out for the team, but that doesn't exactly mean she made it. She was Semi Pro, which means she wasn't the best out there anyway.

Pete - Tried out to be on the sport climbing team, fell on his ass and still has a bruise on his tailbone eight months later. BYE.

Season 6

Jamal - Please, they probably invited him personally to be on the team. He's got such a great energy and he's funny. He'll be there for sure and is definitely medaling.

Lewie - I mean this is a big sport. Did he try out? Sure. Did he make it? Maybe. Football is a massive sport and you're going up against the best in the entire league. I'm going to stick him in the maybe but probably not.

Season 8

Logan - Does anyone even remember this guy? I mean, like, I picked him at the last recoupling and I still forget his ass exists. That's probably what happened if I'm honest. He tried out, the coaches forgot that he had and he never got a call. Aw, poor Logan. Maybe he should try being more memorable next time.

Jack - Oh, he tried. He tried and failed. They laughed and were like, no this is serious not just a hobby. But they invited him to be a Physio for the team so all in all, a win for Jack. (He fangirls over the cyclists when he sees them).

Sophie - I think she tried out and as annoying as she was, she may have made the cut for Acrobatic Gymnastics (is that a thing still? idk). Kinda hope she sprains her ankle as she walks up to the mat or whatever, but I'm kind of a terrible person so.

Season 9

Hamish - yes. If being annoying and obnoxious was a sport. I love him, but he would win the gold. No competition. Though he does play golf now......damn, is there anything he can't do????

Jude - Okay yeah he would be there but the last time it was held was 2021 so I guess it would be next year if it was every 4? Not sure on this but there is a Motor Sports category. You go, Jude! Even though you're kind of a dick and weirdly obsessed with Kat in my game.

[shadowphoenixrider]

Mistakes Made

(Shadow discovers something new about Gambit, and gets a little more than she bargained for! Or 'the fic that came about because I wanted to write Gambit poledancing, then it got a bit serious'. Enjoy!)

So I might have made a mistake.

It started off well enough - I'd finished my Danger Room training with Jean, practicing self-defence and tapping into my powers during a combat situation, and I was heading down to the showers to freshen up. The gym's on the way there, with its door left open as usual, and I glanced in there in pure curiosity, not really thinking.

And promptly saw a lot more of Gambit than I'd ever expected.

Clad only in a pair of tight black shorts, the Cajun mutant was gracefully entwined upside down around a metal pole several feet off the ground, eyes closed as he arched his back, only his hands and right leg keeping him in place. His muscles flexed under his pale skin with the effort, yet his face was a picture of serenity, almost as if he was meditating.

Slowly, with the elegance of a ballet dancer, Gambit brought his other leg up to loop around the pole, twisting his body with it so now his stomach faced the pole. Switching his hold, he stretched out his right leg, pushing up with his right arm to lean back, grasping his foot to form an oval.

I just stared, and had the rest of my brain been working at the time, I would have thanked every deity I knew that he had the place to himself. Logan would have certainly told me to pick my tongue (and jaw) off the floor by now.

Yet at that moment, I couldn't give a fuck. It wasn't a secret that Gambit was a handsome man: long, messy hair he kept tied back, bewitching black and red eyes, a jawline that could probably cut glass, and a tall, lean, yet well muscled body with an ass I swore blind that his leg armour deliberately accentuated. It was both a blessing and a curse that he wore that trenchcoat. I'd tried not to let my thoughts run away with me, either from our first meeting, or as the weeks ticked by.

But it's very hard to do so when he seems so confident, so comfortable in his own skin, a magnetism I couldn't fully resist. That and he didn't seem to mind me looking, or hadn't noticed (whilst I tried to be discrete, I found the latter hard to believe).

Discretion was completely out the window here - I was full on gawping. Watching his muscles move and ripple as he changed positions again, marvelling at the sheer strength he had to remain so still, legs raised high in the air and arms taking more than a little of his weight. I'd watched Gambit during Danger Room simulations, and had definitely been mesmerised by how athletic he was, barely staying still for more than a few moments without flipping, sliding, or using his staff to vault great distances - almost dancing in the thick of the action to a tempo only combat could set.

This, though? It was something else, almost intimate. I was getting front-row seats to the body under all that armour, the same one that moved like the embodiment of the kinetic energy that I'd felt thrumming through him. Where once I'd been witnessing his agility, now I witnessed his strength.

And I was definitely starting to have less that pure thoughts about the deep iliac grooves that dove under his shorts, the cords of powerful muscles that I saw tighten and flex in his thick thighs, and the little sigh of effort as he rolled himself upright.

Twining his leg with the casual ease of a snake coiling around a branch, Gambit lay back once more, one hand gripping the pole below him, his spare arm and leg stretched out into an elegant line. He held this position for several long seconds, when his eyelids fluttered open.

A heartbeat. Then he turned his head towards me.

Whatever spell I'd been under shattered in that moment, and I bolted, my face burning so hot I swore even my ears probably turned red. Of all the times to be caught, that was probably the worst, and I hoped and prayed that the Cajun either didn't see me, or would shrug it off...

---

"The autoclave will have finished by now." Beast said, as I shrugged on the white lab coat. "I'll go fetch the pipette tips if you continue setting up here."

"Sure." I nodded, setting up our equipment with rote, practiced ease, ticking off each stage on the checklist. Titrating samples was boring, mundane labwork, but it was necessary, especially without the automation I was used to in my hospital job. It hadn't technically been long, yet it already felt like another lifetime ago.

I was setting out the test tubes and flasks when I glimpsed movement at the doorway out of the corner of my eye. Movement attached to a pair of red eyes, and a wicked grin. Oh hells.

"Ah, dere you are!" Gambit said, strolling casually in. "Gambit was wonderin' where ya got to."

The Cajun might definitely be less scantily clad than before, but his crop-top and low rise jeans really didn't leave much to the imagination, especially when my eyes were drawn to those exposed abdominals and- I tore my gaze away again, blushing up a storm.

"Y-yeah, unfortunately titrations wait for no-one." I said, hoping in vain if I tried to return to my work and ignore the tall, handsome mutant at my side, my blush would go away.

"Mmm." Gambit hummed, and I felt his eyes rove over me - a feeling that made my lower back shiver, though not unpleasantly. He moved closer, lowering his head so I felt his breath wisp by my ear. "Enjoyed de show earlier?"

Heat flared brightly into my face, an uncomfortable stuttering sensation pulsing through me as my heart missed a beat.

"Y-You saw me?" I squeaked. Gambit chuckled throatily, a tremor thrumming down my spine at the sound so close.

"You think Gambit not keepin' an eye on his surroundings when he's busy?" He grinned. "Especially when dey be as pretty as you..."

I swallowed hard, my thoughts scattering like a flock of birds and my heart starting a fast beat under my chest.

"I-I, well, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, you can stare at Gambit any time, petite," he said smoothly, his grin becoming a more gentle smile. "He don't mind at all."

This blush was never going to go away at this rate. I managed a wobbly, shy smile up at him.

"I, I'm glad, because, well." I ducked my head, cursing that my words were sticking to my tongue. "I...I could have watched you for hours."

His eyebrow lifted slightly.

"Hours? Liked what ya saw, den?" He purred, sending a flash of heat into my chest and much lower regions of my body.

"Y, Yeah." I nodded. "Definitely." I plucked up my courage and straightened my back, forcing myself to look up into his eyes; time to regain the initiative. "Gotta say, very interesting to find out that pole-dancing is a part of your repertoire, Cajun."

Gambit's eyes flashed with glee, and his playful grin returned.

"Like de cards, Gambit be full of surprises," he said. "Got taught by an old friend back 'fore I came here." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't be gettin' any ideas, it weren't for de reasons ya think."

"I wasn't going to presume." I said, holding up my hands. "Not that it's my business to anyway. All I know is it's a beautiful physical art that like ballet takes a shocking amount of strength, that can sometimes be sexy. Although in your case, I suppose you just use it to strength train?"

He nodded.

"Rightly so, petite." He grinned. "An' Gambit sure you agree dat it beats the normal way of trainin', non?"

I giggled.

"It's certainly more interesting to look at than just lifting weights." I replied, folding my arms. "Although I'd definitely find it distracting if I was trying to train alongside you."

"Den Gambit just gonna have to give ya a private showin'." That wicked, mischievous grin was back just when I thought my blush was dying out.

"Thought I already got that earlier." I challenged, raising my chin. "Sure, by accident, but close enough, right?"

"Maybe, but you ain't seen everythin' that Gambit can do..."

He stepped away, looking up at the monkey bars that crisscrossed the ceiling above us. Gambit bounced on his feet a couple of times, before he sprang up to grasp the bar nearly above my head, swinging up to hook his legs onto another. Bracing his legs, Gambit released his hands, letting himself dangle freely in front of me, grinning widely. I tried to ignore the fact his crop-top was riding up his torso, revealing more of that gorgeous chest to me.

"Pretty good, non?" He asked, gesturing widely.

"Yeah alright, show-off." I giggled, stepping up to him. "But this is pretty basic considering what I saw you doing earlier."

"Ah, you wound me, mon amie!" Gambit said, pressing a hand to his chest. "But jus' 'cos it not be as interestin' as what Gambit can do on de pole, don't mean it don't have its uses..."

He leaned his body slightly closer, his obsidian and crimson eyes for once at the same height as mine, breath stirring the top of my hair. He smelt masculine, a sweet, tangy scent I could never truly place but I always found enticing, along with a faint hint of soap.

"Still not really seeing the use, Cajun..." I murmured, unable to stop myself from touching the mass of red-brunette hair hanging from his head like thick curtains, letting it trail over my fingers. Gambit reached up himself, brushing some curls back away from my face, his fingertips ghosting across my cheek.

"If ya come a little closer, Gambit happy to show you." His voice sunk into a deep, sensual rumble that thrilled me, tilting his head back with hooded eyes. Sudden realization dawned, and my heart quickened - all I had to do was lift my chin, and we'd barely be a breath apart. Then I'd only need to raise onto my tiptoes to close the gap.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl even as my heart pounded in my ears. I tilted my head back. Gambit's fingers curled lightly yet tenderly around the back of my head, as if guiding me, thumb brushing the underside of my chin. His lips parted, the scent of spice on his breath.

"Gambit..."

"Shadow..." Came his equally soft answer, both of us utterly entranced. The outside world faded away so it was just him and I. I reached up towards his cheek, my heels beginning to leave the floor-

Someone loudly cleared their throat.

I sprang back as if burned, my face scorched with heat as I realized Beast was standing in the doorway, pipette tips in his massive hands...and looking extremely unamused.

Annoyance flashed across Gambit's face before he turned a charming smile on for the other mutant.

"Salut, Beast!" He said cheerily.

"Whilst your presence is appreciated Gambit, I would like to request that you wear appropriate laboratory safety equipment whilst you are here." Beast replied dryly.

"He's kinda right." I said, smiling weakly. "Your hair's kinda...all over the place." Gambit flashed me a look - 'whose side are you on?'

"Furthermore," Beast continued, hopping up onto the bars himself, "athletic pursuits that are not part of the experimental process are better sought in the gymnasium. And," he gave Gambit a particularly stern look, "I would kindly ask you to refrain from seducing my assistant when she has other matters to attend to."

I glanced away as a renewed wave of embarrassment washed over my face. If Gambit harboured any regret or shame, he certainly didn't show it.

"Didn't realize I was disturbin' anythin' important." The Cajun lied. "Gambit'll get out from under ya feet."

He slithered down onto his hands, carefully lowering his legs so he didn't kick us in the face. He flashed us a smile as he climbed to his feet.

"See ya around, mes amis!" He spoke, winking at me before striding out. I watched him go, sad to see him leaving, yet glad to observe how the denim of his jeans shaped itself tightly around his ass.

The thud of Beast landing next to me reminded me that I was supposed to be doing something, and fresh embarrassment flared inside me as I tried to grasp the threads of memory.

"S-Sorry, Doctor." I stuttered, running through the checklist again. "I-I didn't mean to get distracted."

"That's quite alright, Shadow," he said kindly, smiling. "Gambit can be quite the distraction when he wants to be. Especially when there's something he wants."

I swallowed hard, my mind flashing back to the almost-kiss barely a minute before. It had felt like an hour ago.

"Yeah, it's a wonder anyone gets anything done with him wandering around." The words were out of my mouth before my brain caught up, and I winced. "Wait, no-"

The doctor chuckled, patting my shoulder.

"We've just gotten used to him, Shadow. As will you, in time." He set the box of tips down, effortlessly breaking the striped autoclave seal with one swipe of his clawed finger. I picked up the pipette, the instrument settling perfectly inside my hand. Suddenly, my brain finally caught up with the conversation.

"Hold on, 'something he wants'?" I frowned, looking over to Beast as he typed on the computer next to me. He paused, looking thoughtful for a long moment.

"Shadow, I hope it has not escaped your notice that Gambit is interested in you." He looked sideways at me. "Indeed, the scene I witnessed between the two of you should be evidence enough that he has formed a particular attachment to you."

I blushed - any more of this and it was going to get stuck there.

"Y-yeah. He does seem to like me quite a bit."

Beast turned to face me properly, his brows furrowed.

"Shadow, I would advise caution when dealing with our Cajun friend. Be careful you don't read too deeply into his intentions with you."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, frowning.

Beast sighed.

"Whilst Gambit is not a man who will lead you on, it is more than likely he is not interested in relationship beyond the carnal nature," he said. "You must set your expectations accordingly."

I felt a sharp, searing sensation in my chest, and tried to ignore it.

"That...That's fine." I nodded, swallowing hard. "I'm ok with that. I, I don't want to make things complicated anyway, especially with what happened with my ex." I smiled weakly, turning the pipette around in my hand. "I always promised him that we would stay friends if we ever broke up...only to find out I had to wipe him completely from my life in order to get over him. I'd hate to have to do it to someone I've become good friends with, and all the shit that would entail."

"Indeed." Beast settled his great hand across my back. "I'm sorry your long relationship with your ex-partner ended in such a way. Perhaps you can find someone who will make you as happy as he did in the future."

"Maybe." I shrugged. "But I'm not really looking for that right now. I just, want to live my own life for a bit now, you know?"

"Completely understandable." Beast nodded. "Although, I must add - even if Gambit is just seeking a casual relationship with you, do not be foolish enough to think that grants you carte blanche to toy with his emotions." For a moment, an anger entered the doctor's eyes, an insight to why his mutant name was so. "Gambit does not open up very often to people, and you have earned far more of his trust than most. Do not abuse it."

"No, of course not." I shook my head. "He seems a really nice man, I wouldn't dream of doing that to him, or anyone." I sighed softly. "If we never become anything more than friends with benefits, that's fine with me."

For some reason though...I didn't exactly feel convinced.

---

Outside the lab, just out of sight, Gambit's face fall.

Yet he wasn't sure why.

[nczennie]

hungry eyes.

Part Two of She's Like The Wind

Pairing: Reader x Stray Kid’s Lee Know AU: Summer love, based on the film Dirty Dancing Genre: Angst, Fluff (this part) Preview: “I’m doing this for you, you know! I could’ve refused and you would have been stuck without that job, but I’m doing the best I can to learn this stupid dance and help you, so stop being such an asshole!” You huff out angrily, you can feel the redness in your face clearly showing your emotion. Words: 9.2k *Warnings under cut

Warnings: Some curse words, some making out and like groping, drug use, talk against drug use, bad side effects of drug use,

It was only three days later that you found yourself sweating profusely in a small dance studio. As you stand trying to catch your breath you’re unsure how you even let Jeongin and Momo convince you to agree to this. This morning, bright and early before Minho’s shift started, you got ready in the most athletic-like clothing you packed, gently reminding yourself that you were doing this to help the girl out everytime you yawned on the walk over.

But now as you breathe heavily and wipe the sweat from your brow while Minho stares unimpressed and annoyed, you find yourself thinking, why do you owe this girl anything?

“I knew this wasn’t going to work,” the boy grumbles as he grabs a small towel to hand you, “We haven’t even gotten a fraction into the damn song and you can’t remember a single step.” Though his words are harsh, you know they were true. You’ve never done any ballroom dancing to this extent and you don’t think you were that great of a dancer to begin with. But Minho and his teaching wasn't helping you learn anything, in fact you find it to make everything much worse. 

"You're the dance teacher you know, isn't that your job?" You glare back at him as you wipe the sweat from you, cursing the summer humidity. "If I'm not learning anything then maybe it's your fault".

Minho scoffs at you, shaking his head, his brown hair falling into his eyes, "Unreal", he mumbles, "This whole thing is stupid, I can't believe I bet my job on someone like you".

“Then help me!” You let out frustratingly. “I know I’m not a dancer, and I’m not as talented as Momo or any other partner you’ve had. But if you actually slowed down and tried to teach me as a beginner then it would be easier for both of us! It’s like you’ve given up on me before you’ve even given me a chance.”

You know Minho was the most against you stepping in for Momo for the performance, but you figured he would at least give you a chance seeing as his second job is on the line.

At your outburst Minho says nothing, but at least it has stopped his grumbling. You swallow at the tense atmosphere, his large eyes slowly blinking at you, unchanging. Finally, he makes his way to a small table in the room, grabbing a couple of water bottles. The boy makes his way back to you and hands you one, “Drink up well, we have a lot to do, baby.” He turns back around to drink his own water and you can’t help the small smile that reaches your lips as you open the bottle, perhaps your words have gotten to him after all.

Just a week into being Minho’s pupil, you realize this could become a problem. Yet it wasn’t the tough footwork or the even tougher instructor, but the passionate routine and perhaps even your underlying attraction to the dancer.

After your confrontation, things seemed to progress much better for you both. Though he is tough with his instructions and expectations, Minho turns out to be a great teacher and that is crystal clear seeing as he was able to get you to memorize even the smallest things. You’re both already a good portion into the song and everything is on track for the performance in two short weeks. 

That being said, you never thought about the amount of passion the dance included. You saw with your own eyes how much passion Minho and Momo individually had when they danced, but now being a partner, it became clear the passion would be presented to you as well. You’ve shared a dance with Minho before, a very intimate one at that, but even that night when you basically had your pelvis’ pressed against each other (to put it politely), for some reason you still don’t find it to be as heart fluttering as what you’re learning now. 

The intense eye contact and slow dragging of his fingers across your body hitches your breath every time and you’re glad you can still blame the shortness of breath on being out of shape.

Of course you found Minho attractive from the very first moment you saw him. It's his dancing that draws you in, but it’s his large eyes, sharp cheekbones, and pouty lip that keep you staring. There’s something beautiful and stunning about Minho’s physical appearance. His features are both sharp and delicate at the same time, and his aura automatically draws the attention of everyone in the room he’s in. He’s the type of beauty you believe would be hard for anyone to deny. 

And though you noticed Minho’s beauty from the beginning, there was something about the boy now that had begun to become almost conscious of yourself. You wanted to learn the dance and perform well for his and Momo’s sake, but you also wanted to impress him personally. You wanted him to tell you how well you were doing, you didn’t want his passionate looks to stop as soon as the music did, you wanted to make his heart flutter the same way he made yours. 

That would be the reason why the effort you put into your appearance before practice grew, but you hope it wasn’t too obvious. Your comfort wear slowly started to change to pieces that were practical but what you found to accentuate the best parts of you. You sneakily stole one of Daisy's lip glosses and you're always sure to apply it right before you enter the room to make sure it’s fresh. If Minho notices any of your changes he doesn’t let on, so for now you make sure to focus on perfecting the dance.

Sometimes, if her schedule allowed, Momo would make her way into the practice room as well. Since it was also her routine you would be doing she tried her best to come and teach you, from her perspective, just how you needed to portray the moves. 

It was a lot of help learning from the one who actually did the moves you did and spending time with Momo for the first time showed you a side of her you hadn’t seen before. 

The girl was quite energetic and fun, she helped you in an entertaining and less strict way. Having her at practices was very helpful, you and Minho performing for her so she could see and correct from an outsiders point of view. 

You were glad to have her help and getting to know her better made you glad you chose to help her out.

Though your relationship with Minho did improve in the time you did work together, there were still moments you felt like you were going backwards. There were times where the tension between you both grew; whether it was him being frustrated with you not being able to get a move down, or you frustrated with him being frustrated with you. You figured it came with being around each other for long amounts of time, but that did little to ease your emotions.

Such as today.

It had been a stormy, gloomy day from the moment you woke up. Even now it was pouring hard as you were alone with Minho in an old garage that wasn’t being used. The dance studio you usually used together was in use for a class, so Minho found this garage on the outskirts of the resort property. There was no air conditioning so he opted to leave the large doors open, the sound of the storm loud and clear for you both to hear and see. The humidity that the weather brought seemed unbearable causing you both to sweat more than usual. 

On top of that, you’ve recently started to wear heels to practice to help you get used to them since you would have to wear them for the actual performance. You were just getting used to them on the dance floor but now trying to dance with them on top of this dirt, you were a mess. 

To put it lightly, you have been crap at the entire routine today, you of course blaming it on the weather and new location, but nonetheless, Minho became frustrated. 

He felt as though all the progress you both had made had gone down the drain and it wasn’t long before he became more snappy and demanding with his instructions. 

The mood quickly became sour; matching the downpour outside and it was on a matter of time before one of you was to finally snap. 

“1, 2, 3, and 4,” Minho calls out and you wind your arm up, like he taught you on the count. But unlike what was supposed to be the routine, your hand makes contact with the middle of his face with a loud smack. “Ow, fuck!” You gasp in surprise, your own hands coming up to cover your mouth as you turn around to look at him. “Are you trying to kill me?! What is wrong with you?!” The boy yells dramatically. 

You quickly lose the sympathy you felt, hands dropping to your hips, “Oh, yes. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do.” The boy sends you a glare, fingers still gripping on his nose. “I don’t know why you’re so pissed! I’m sorry okay, it was an accident!” You flare your arms up, not sure what else you could do. “If you did the fucking move like I taught you this wouldn’t have happened.” He retorts back, calmly yet full of venom. 

“I’m doing this for you, you know! I could’ve refused and you would have been stuck without that job, but I’m doing the best I can to learn this stupid dance and help you, so stop being such an asshole!” You huff out angrily, you can feel the redness in your face clearly showing your emotion.

Minho closes his eyes, taking a few moments to breathe in and out, perhaps to calm himself. When he finally opens them again, he glances out at the hard rain, “Let’s get out of here.” You keep your gaze on him, clearly confused at his words, “What?”

He goes to grab his leather jacket from the table along with his car keys, “We both clearly need a break from this, so let’s go, baby".

You ended up shielded from the rain in his car and you don’t question him about where he’s going, taking the time of the drive to try to cool down and listen to the radio. Watching the scenery out the window, you notice he drives further away from the resort. 

"Why do you keep calling me that?" You mumble to him once you feel you've calmed down enough. "What?" he asks keeping his attention on the windshield has the rain begins to slow. "Baby," you speak, "You keep saying baby". Minho merely shrugs, "It fits".

It was only a few minutes before the car came to a stop and he moved the gear into park. The rain finally seemed to stop completely and there is a small glimmer of sunlight bursting from beyond the clouds. “Follow me” he says, pushing his jacket off and making his way out of the car and into the trees in the distance. You do as he says, following his lead, only half joking in your head about how you hope he doesn’t plan to murder you after you smacked him in the face.

The sounds of your shoes against the leaves and dirt seems to echo in the large empty woods and you follow the boy silently for another five minutes from the car. A few steps in front of you, Minho finally comes to a stop and as you catch up to him you see you’ve come to a small cliff of sorts. Looking down you see a small stream, full of water from the rain but not running quickly. The drop isn’t terribly far, but it is further than the next piece of land across the way. In fact, the other side has been connected by a large fallen tree. The brown wood lays on either side of the land, acting as a bridge above the water below. 

“I think the most important thing about ballroom dancing, well all dancing really,” Minho starts to talk and you look slightly confused at him as he leans down to start taking off his shoes and socks. “Is balance.” He finishes with a small smile. Your gaze never leaves the boy as you watch him walk over to the log placed above the water. 

“Minho!” You gasp out as he places one of his feet on the so-called bridge. Though you knew the fall wasn’t critically high, it was still high enough to cause serious damage if he were to lose his footing. But he ignores your call, clearly less worried than you seem to be. You move closer, ready to help though you don’t know exactly what you would do if he needed it. 

Your heart races as he continues to walk carefully along the log, arms spread out to help him balance as he works his way to the middle, directly above the water. Finally making it to a place that pleased him, he turns around to face you with a smile, “Ta-da!” You can only frown at him, “Please be careful.” 

He chuckles at you, looking down towards his feet, “Don’t worry, baby, I have amazing balance.” He does a little jump, coming completely off the log before landing again. And though he lands perfectly you can’t help the little scream that comes naturally out of your mouth. The boy smirks at you and reaches his arm out to motion towards you, “Come on, your turn.” Rapidly you shake your head, "No way”. He raises his eyebrows and calls out your name, “You’ll be fine, I promise. This is technically part of your training, so you have to do it.” He walks closer to your side of the long. Though you give him an unamused glare, you move down to remove your shoes just as he did his. And before you know it you were taking your first, shaky, step on the log. 

“There you go.” Minho praises you as you start to walk shakily towards him, you breath shaking just as much as your feet. You don’t dare glance away from your footing, not wanting to take a single misstep. “Look at me, don’t look down.” 

“Minho, I can’t” you whine, eyes still not leaving the log. He reaches over to grab your hand in his, “I’ve got you, now come on look at me.” 

You shut your eyes completely, taking a deep breath to try to calm your pounding heart. You finally raise your head away from the ground (or lack of) and count to three in your head before opening your eyes. 

As you do, you make eye contact with the boy and he smiles excitedly, “Good. Now keep your eyes on me, don’t look down.” He takes a step backwards and you have no choice but to take a step forward in order to keep your hands together. 

You both keep stepping like that, slowly on foot at a time and soon Minho starts to hum a little toon, obviously one he seemed fit for the rythemed stepping you both were doing. You can’t help the small laugh that leaves your throat at his silly song and he glances at you with a smirk. He starts to walk towards you causing you to walk backwards this time and you surprise yourself with how calm you keep at the new direction, now more focused on keeping on the beat that Minho continues to make. 

After a couple of moments he lets go of your hand, “Now get low,” He starts his beat again and you throw your head back in laughter as he moves in a funny manner, legs bending in order to get closer to the log. You’ve never seen the boy dance in an unserious manner and laughter only grows in your stomach as he urges you to do it along with him. 

Not being able to help it, you dance along with him as he starts to whistle the toon. Before long you both laugh loudly, the sound echoing in the woods as you start to walk backwards on your own, clearly not worried about the fall and your balance as good as ever.

With a pleasant smile still plastered to your face you return to the solid ground taking a seat on the cool grass, watching Minho take his own on the log- legs dangling over the edge. 

Realizing this is the first time you've been with Minho outside of dancing, you become curious. Never once having talked to him about anything other than the performance. You enjoy the silence for a moment, basking in the sound of the running water and tweeting birds before you speak again, “How long have you been dancing?”

He turns his gaze to you, taking a second to collect his thoughts, “Since I can remember,” he hums “It was offered as an afternoon activity so I took it up so I didn’t have to be home as much.” You nod even though he’s removed his eyes to look at the log. 

“Have you always been as good as you are now?” Questioning with a smile you keep it as the boy looks up at you, an amused smile on his own lips. He shakes his head playfully, “Well I did plan to follow it into college.” 

Letting your gaze travel across his face, you lick your lips before asking yet another question, “Why didn’t you? Go to college for it, I mean.” Your voice is softer towards the end as you realize it might not be something he would want to converse about.

He starts picking at the wood beneath him and answers you steadily, “I’ve just never had the money for it. It was only ever me and my mom, so money was always tight.” Minho meets your gaze again, sending you a smile that could barely fully raise the corners of his mouth. You immediately regret bringing it up, knowing by now finances is not something you want to ever want to talk about again seeing as the conversations about it in the past weren’t the most delightful.

You swallow harshly, readying to apologize to him but he asks you a question before you can, “What about you? You’re going to a university in the fall, what are you majoring in?” You assume Jeongin must have told him something.

His intense eyes stay on you as you consider his question, already red in the face with having to admit your lack of plan- feeling almost ashamed. 

“Oh, I don’t- I don’t know what I’m majoring in. I don’t know what I want to do.” 

He stares longer and you’re surprised with how well you can keep the eye contact, finally he licks his lips and raises to his feet, “Don’t worry, you have a lot of time to figure it out.” 

Minho comes closer, reaching out to pull you from your sitting position, “C’mon, I’ll show you the lake.” 

The lake down the hill is much larger than that of the one nearest the resort. It is also much quieter, no one other than you both within the whole space. 

Minho has already dove in, keeping both his pants and his shirt on- the black material now soaking and sticking to his body. 

“Well come on, it’s cool but it feels nice.” He runs his fingers through his wet hair and you try to look too long at the sight before you. 

You take a breath and dive in yourself next to Minho, clothes and all. Returning from under the water you push your hair out of your face and gasp right away, “This water is freezing! What were you saying?!” You look up to the boy beside you whose eyes glimmer as he sports a devious smirk.

“Minho,” you whine “It’s cold and we don’t even have spare clothes.” He hums in response moving to float on his back, “Just keep moving, you’ll be fine, baby I might have some towels in the car.” He closes his eyes to relax in the water.

You huff, ignoring the drop of your stomach at the pet name he insists on using. Looking around you not really sure what to do. There's a sudden movement from beside you as the boy suddenly sits up, “Want to try something cool?” He smirks at you and you can’t help but to glare back, having no idea what he could be up to now.

“Let’s try a lift.” He says plainly standing up straight. 

“A lift?” You question.

“Yes,” he drags on, “A lift, you know like I do with Mo.” 

Your eyebrows furrow, “You said we weren’t adding the lift to the routine.” He hums, nodding and moving closer, “Not for the routine, just for fun. In the water is the best place to do it anyways. C’mon,” he closes the space between you to grasp your hips in his hands and you can’t help but a chill to run down your spin, “It’s cold,” you mumble but he merely grunts.

“Okay, when I count to three, you’re going to jump. I’ll lift you and you keep your arms straight out as if you’re Superman, okay?” You can’t help but smile at his explanation and nod. 

Strengthening his grip, he starts to count, “1,...2,...3!” 

You jump as hard as you could in the water and squeal when you feel Minho lifting you completely out of water and over his head. Keeping your arms straight you try to do as your told, but not even a second in the air, you feel yourself falling forward. You scream a little just before falling into the water and nearly on top of the boy. 

You come back up and you’re almost scared to see Minho but what you hear from behind you is a surprise. Turning to make sure you’re not crazy, Minho stands messing with his wet hair, laughing like you’ve never heard him laugh before. 

The laugh is almost cute in a way and you would’ve never pictured it belongs to Minho; in fact, you don’t think you pictured him laughing at all.

But here he was, eyes closed and smile wide as the laugh shakes his whole body. It’s contagious and you can’t help but join in.

Finally recovering, he moves towards you again, “See? Wasn’t it fun?” You keep your smile nodding up at him. “Here, this time try keeping your legs out straight just like your arms.” He reaches for your hips again and you giggle.

You don’t even know how long you both go like that, lifting and falling and laughing and splashing but it’s until your stomach is sore and your mouth hurts but in a most delightful way.

You reckon it’s the most fun you’ve had all summer and it feels like the Minho you’ve just spent time with is a completely different person.

Standing trying to regain your breath and ring out the water from your hair, Minho quickly moves towards you before you realize and he’s right in front of you.

He crouches so he’s in front of your face and you can feel his heavy breath crashing against your mouth. You stare at him in shock by his sudden actions but he doesn’t move. You follow his eyes when they move from your own to look down at your lips.

Your heart starts to pound as his large eyes look back up to yours and then down to your lips again. His hand comes forward to move a piece of your wet hair away from your face. And suddenly your breath stops because he place his lips on yours.

Blinking a few times before closing your eyes, you stay as still as him neither of you attempting to move. His lips are warm against yours despite the coldness around you and you can feel a drop of water from his hair fall to your cheek. There's a stillness in the air before Minho moves again, kissing you again but rather than the previous peck, he's slotting his lips between yours. At the feeling you push your lips back into his, eager to meet his slow kisses.

His hand slips beneath the water to lightly grip your hip so you take the chance to move your own hand to his back, gripping his soaking shirt. Standing in the lake kissing Minho slowly, the only sound coming from your lips and some bird in the distance, neither one of you moving for more, content with the slow kisses. But then a raindrop hits your head, only one but seconds later a steady drizzle has already started breaking you both from your trance.

He pulls away from you before a smile breaks out on his lips, he bites it as if to retain and you’re surprised someone so intense could look so cute.

Minho stands straight again, reaching for your hand, “C’mon, let’s get dry.”

You’re pleasantly surprised that despite the kiss you shared, your relationship with Minho seems to grow into a friendship of sorts after the endeavor at the lake. It’s as though you were able to break through whatever front he was putting up at first, or maybe you were able to prove something to him. Whatever it may be, you had no intention of asking him. Not when it could ruin what you had finally gotten to. 

“Hey, are you busy tonight?” Minho asks one afternoon after one of your practices. He doesn’t look at you when he asks, choosing to focus on fidgeting with the record player. You swallow, taking a moment to look at his back as you dab the sweat from your forehead with a towel. “After dinner with my family I believe I'm free.” You speak and furrow your eyebrows, silently contemplating if it was weird your plans were only ever with your parents. 

The boy finally turns around to look at you, “There’s a get together with some of the workers tonight. I thought you might like to come. Jeongin will be there.” He awkwardly scratches his neck and you wish he had left the music playing to fill the room with something other than the awkward tension. “Like the one I went to before, with the dancing?” Asking a question, you try to get more information. “Sort of,” He says “Smaller though. And it’s at one of the rooming houses so there won’t be that much room for dancing. It’ll probably be more of a hang out.” 

You purse your lips, not really sure why you’re contemplating. It’s not like you have anywhere else to go, and you would usually not want to invite yourself somewhere you’re not welcomed, but Minho asked you himself. “Yeah, sure. I’d like to come.”

And merely hours later you find yourself in a cramped employee house, squished on a chair that wasn’t made for two people. Yet you consider yourself lucky it was Jeongin you’re smushed against. Though you enjoy Jeongin’s company on a regular basis, you let your eyes wander the room as he drags on about a pair of college girls he got to help out all day to some fellow workers sitting across from you. 

Maybe it was a bit foolish of you to expect Minho to actually hang out with you at the get together with many of his friends, but he was the one that invited you here. Since you both shared a kiss in the lake the other day he has yet to mention it. Sure you were thankful for his growing friendship but how were you supposed to kiss him like that and pretend it never happened, especially after you spent a better half of your time ogling over him. It's not like you were expected a date tonight, although you did steal one of your sisters skirts and perfume, but at least something from the boy would be nice. Yet, since you arrived with Jeongin you’ve only seen glimpses of him from across the room. 

You don’t know how much time you sit there, pressed almost uncomfortably against the boy as he talks with the people around him. Though he is a gentleman of sorts, frequently asking if you’re okay, needing anything, or just bringing you into the conversation. 

The music was blaring from the speakers, the tunes sounded much like the ones that were played the night you first danced with Minho, and the room had gotten more hazy since you first arrived. 

“Hey,” you hear from your right and you straighten up with a start from where you were leaning against your propped elbow. You can’t help the smile that grazes your lips as you see the familiar dancer pulling up a stool to sit next to you. “Hey,” you reply back, happy to finally get to see him here. He returns your smile before moving his attention to a couple of boys across from you that Jeongin was talking to before, quickly falling into conversation with them. 

As more time passes you notice Minho moves closer to you as the drink in his cup slowly grows emptier. Since Minho has joined, you joined the group conversation more actively, laughing and joking with everyone like they were your long-time friends.

It wasn't long before you watched the boy sitting across from you lean back in order to pull something out of his front pocket. His hand emerges with a tiny plastic bag which seemed to be filled with a white powder of sorts. He leans forward to the coffee table placed in the middle of the small group of people, pushing some empty bottles around in order to clear some space. “Oh, c’mon guys, seriously?” You turn to look at Minho who speaks up as the boy empties the contents onto the table. He rolls his eyes bringing his cup to his mouth to finish the last of his drink. 

The boys don’t seem to notice, or care for that matter, at Minho’s words. The pair of them scooting closer to the table in order to separate the powder into neat lines with the help of a piece of paper. 

You’re not that naive, you knew the drug even though you had never seen it in person and it still surprises you that no one else in the room is as shocked as you are at their actions. One of the boys leans down to snort the line, using the help of a short rolled up piece of paper. Your eyebrows furrow watching in pure curiosity, never have you seen any drugs, let alone seen someone do any drugs. 

He comes up with a smile wiping his nose on the back of his hand, automatically making eye contact with you across from him. “Wanna take a hit?” He asks in such a friendly manner you almost forget what he was offering. You turn to look at Jeongin; he merely purses his lips and shrugs his shoulders, clearly not wanting to be in charge of any decisions you’re going to make tonight. 

You take another look at the boy making the offer; he looked fine, nothing about him looked like any of the warnings that taught you in school. Even at the moment he didn’t even look like he was experiencing any side effects and maybe that’s why you hesitate a moment before slowly leaning forward, reaching your hand out to grab the paper. 

“Are you fucking serious?” You snap your head in surprise at the outburst next to you, Minho standing up from his seat in order to yell, but you’re surprised he wasn’t looking at you but at the boy. “You guys can fuck around and fuck up your life all you want but don’t bring anyone else into it. Don’t ever offer her anything again, you got it?” before turning to you, "Don't be fucking stupid". His face is bright red when he finishes his sentence throwing his cup to the ground and kicking over the stool he once sat on. “Fucking assholes,” he mumbles before making his way out of the small house with a slam of the door, never once sparking you a glance. 

The rest of the group merely chuckles, obviously not phased by Minho or his words. You feel Jeongin grasp your arm lightly next to you, “Let’s go,” He whispers in your ear and you gladly get up off the chair and follow him out the door leaving the loud music and crowded space behind. 

Jeongin slowly walks with you back to your room and you bask in the silence, overthinking about how embarrassed you are. Embarrassed you almost made a dumb decision and Minho of all people had to be the one to stop you, and he made it very clear that was something he was not happy about. 

“I’m really sorry, Jeongin” you finally speak up as you get closer to where your room is located, “I really wasn’t thinking, I have no idea what I was doing.”

“You don’t have to apologize, I don’t think taking one hit ever would do something to you, honestly. But Minho has a bad history with shit like that so he freaked out easily. He was trying to protect you, I don’t really think he was angry at you. Plus he had a lot to drink tonight.” The boy trails off. 

You can’t help but wonder about the history Minho has but you figure it’s none of your business and if you really wanted to know you should ask him and not get the information unknowingly from his cousin. 

You finally reach your door and you turn to Jeongin, “Thanks for walking me back. I’m sorry for ruining tonight.” He only chuckles at you, “Stop worrying about it so much, go on and sleep it off. Just forget about the whole thing!” He sends a friendly smile your way and you try to send one back, “Thank you, Jeongin. Well anyways, if you see Minho tell him I’m sorry.” You pause, “And tell him thank you.” You reach for your doorknob as Jeongin brings his hand to his forehead in order to salute your requests. 

You laugh at his actions before finally entering your room ready to sleep and forget all about the incident.

The next couple days go smoothly, you’re happy not to mention anything about the party when you’re with Minho and you’re even happier that Minho doesn‘t utter a word about it either. 

The two of you merely focused on putting the final touches on the routine, trying to perfect it to a point where you would look just as good as Momo would be dancing. 

And before you know it, it’s the day of the performance. The butterflies and nerves have been present in your body since the moment you woke up. You find yourself running over the routine again and again in your head throughout the day, over breakfast with your family, lounging by the lake with your mom, lunch with your dad, and now a quick volleyball game with your sister and Chan. 

You felt bad for being so distracted but you needed to have this dance down. Though you were confident at your last practice last night, now your nerves were so high you’re afraid that would be the thing to mess everything up. You couldn’t ruin it for Minho and Momo.

“I thought you liked volleyball?” Daisy calls out to you as she runs up to you, the game coming to an end. You pout slightly, “I do. I’m sorry, I’m just really distracted I guess.” You turn to look at Chan who had gone to say goodbye to the coworkers that were a part of the game. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?” You turn to look at your sister. 

“Oh Chan and I are going to dinner and a drive-in movie in the next town over. He’s working the lunch and dinner shifts the next couple of days so we wanted to do something fun.” She smiles, eyes wandering over to the shirtless boy across the sand.

You swallow hard, “Daisy, can you do me a favor?” Her eyebrows furrow as she turns to look at you, you continue, “Can you please pretty please tell mom and daddy that I’m going with you tonight?” 

She automatically looks taken aback, never having heard you ask something of the sort, “Why? What are you doing?” 

You sigh, “I just want to hang out with a friend. They don’t know him but I really don’t want them to push me to hang out with Neil again.” It’s not completely a lie so you don’t feel as bad as you should for asking your sister for a cover. “You mean the cute little baggage boy? Alright well, I’ll tell them. And Chan too I guess. Just don’t do anything bad, alright?” 

Pulling her in for a hug, you smile brightly not even correctly for her for thinking you would be with Jeongin. “Thanks so much, I owe you! Stay safe!” You dramatically place a kiss to her cheek, turning to wave at Chan as he walks over, and finally beginning to jog out of the sand to make it to your next location.

“Keep my elbows tight, shoulders locked, don’t look down.” You stand looking in the mirror moving your arms as subtly as you can, trying to practice even as Momo works around you on your dress.

She had been slightly tailoring one of her old performance dresses to fit you better and now just hours before the performance, you’re in her room as she helps you get ready. 

She would be doing your makeup, as it would be heavier than any makeup you’ve ever worn, and making sure your hair was in an appropriate updo. 

You let out a deep sigh staring at yourself in the beautiful dress, Momo chuckles at you, “There’s no need to stress. You know the routine, you’ve worked so hard. You’re going to nail it.” She runs her hand over the skirt trying to straighten a wrinkle.

Pursing your lips you let your worries tumble out of your mouth, “I know, I just” you shrug, “I don’t want to mess this up for your guys. You both really need this and I don’t want to ruin it because I’m not a proper dancer or because I get too nervous.” 

You look down at Momo and you’re shocked to find her eyes watering, you start to panic. “Oh! No! I’m sorry, I’n sure I won’t mess it up, I’m just nervous is all!” You step down from the small stool to put your arms around her shoulder but she quickly shakes her head, “No, no! It’s not that. It’s just you’re being so nice.” She sniffles, “You’re being so nice and you’ve been so nice from the beginning and I’ve been nothing but a bitch!” You’re surprised as she starts to sob, going to sit on her bed. 

“Hey, hey,” you follow to sit next to her, “Don’t cry, Momo” you reach to grab a tissue from the table beside her bed to hand to her, “I know you’re not really that way. You had every right to act that way to me in the beginning, I was a stranger and I saw you in a very vulnerable situation.” 

She starts to wipe her nose, “I was so mean and you still decided to help me! You gave me the money and you stepped in for me for tonight. I don’t deserve it!” Her crying continues and you sigh.

“I’m in a position to be able to help you, Momo. It doesn’t matter how you acted then, okay? I’ve seen your true self and I’m more than happy to help.” You nod, smiling at her and her crying finally starts to calm. “I hope you know how grateful I am.” She blows her nose and you give her a bigger smile. “Of course.” “And I really owe you one.” She adds and you chuckle, “Just make sure my makeup looks stage worthy tonight please.” She finally laughs and gets up to continue to get your ready before Minho come to get you.

"Perfect," She lets out as she places the final touches of lipstick on, a deep red you're not not used to and find yourself staring at the mirror in shock. "Do I look alright?" You ask, feeling uncertain under the dark makeup.

"You look beautiful!" She answers, throwing her makeup back in her bag. Swallowing hard, you decide if you could be subtle or not, "Does Minho usually like makeup like this?"

Momo's movements freeze as she glances at you, "Minho?" You feel your face flush as you try to shake it off, "Nevermind, I just-" She cuts you off, "You like him don't you?"

You study her face for a moment, trying to tell if the truth was the best answer. "I-yes I do. I like him, I'm sorry". She lets out a chuckle, "Why are you apologizing?" she moves to sit next to you as you speak again, "I don't know. I feel like I shouldn't like him, that it's wrong".

Momo only frowns at you, "Why would it be wrong?" You ponder the question yourself, why does it feel wrong? Because it feels one sided? Because you thought he hated you until not long ago? Because he kissed you but hasn't mentioned anything since?

You shrug instead, "He kissed me". She looks at you as if you were lying to her, "He kissed you?" You want to lick your lips but you remind yourself of the makeup, "Yeah, when we were at the lake".

The girl beside you hums, moving to fix a strand of hair she had worked for an hour on, her silence only making you more nervous. Maybe you shouldn't have confessed, that the kiss you both shared was meant to stay a secret.

A knock on the door interrupts you two, Minho peaking in before either of you could answer, "All ready?"

"Yep!" Momo stands, going to greet him, you stand on your own as he gives her a kiss on her cheek, finally moving to look at you. You look for something on his face that might tell how he thinks you look, that might make you feel slightly less ridiculous in the heavy makeup you weren't used to, but there's nothing. Minho only nods before turning to Momo again, "Well, we'll be off. Have a good meeting tonight".

Your stomach drops but you bring a smile to your face as Momo looks to you, "I'm so nervous". She smiles shyly but Minho squeezes her shoulder, "It's okay, it'll be worth it". She nods at him before turning to you, "Thank you again, for everything."

Nodding your head, you clear your throat, "I'm happy to help".

"Okay," she breathes out, moving to open her door for you and Minho, "Good luck".

You’re still on an adrenaline high as you walk back to Minho's car after the performance. Your heart is pounding and your palms still clammy but most of all you feel relieved.

You did it! You actually performed a full routine, with minimal mistakes, but you made it nonetheless. 

It was late at night now, only you and Minho walking outside to the staff parking, still hearing the lively show going on inside. You still feel giddy after everything as you both make your way through the gravel of the parking lot, so much so that when your heel gets caught and you slip out of your shoe you merely laugh.

Minho looks at you worriedly, moving to pick up your shoe. But a smile breaks on his face as he notices your good mood, leaning down to help you put your shoe back on. You gulp when he grasps your hand when we stands back up, both of you walk the rest of the way to his car. Rather than get inside, Minho stops in front of you, your back pressed against the black vehicle, his hand still grasping yours.

"Thank you," He speaks softly, "For everything you've done for us. I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner". A smile tugs on your lips as you shake your head, "There's no need, I'm happy to help".

You see him swallow before his eyes move down to glance at your lips. At that moment you decided you've waited long enough for another chance to kiss him, so with adrenaline coursing through your veins you make the first move. Leaning up slightly and moving your free hand to place on his neck, you press your lips against his.

There's a split second where your nervous he'll reject your advances, but it doesn't last long as Minho immediately returns your kiss, hand that isn't grasping yours moving to hold onto your hip. You kiss him urgently, desperate to feel like you did back at the lake, for his warmth to take over your mind. He pushed his body closer to yours, trapping you between him and the car and you attempt to bring him closer if at all possible.

Feeling daring, you tentatively poke your tongue to swipe at his bottom lip, but he pulls away. Breathing deeply as he takes you in before letting out a chuckle, he moves to check around the parking lot making sure you're alone. He moves to open the back seat of his car, raising his eyebrows before he waits for you to climb in.

It's cramped as he climbs in after you, but you would do anything to be close to him. As he situates himself back on the seat, he beckons for you to climb atop his lap. You rearrange your stage dress to help you sit comfortably on him, huffing at how difficult it was to move. At your frustration Minho looks at you with a smirk, hand coming up to move some hair that had fallen loose from your updo. "You look beautiful," he confesses and you swallow hard, had you ever heard a compliment from him before?

"You don't think I look silly with all this on my face?" You ask, think before hand he hadn't been impressed with the look. He shakes his head, "You look amazing. Now and even when you're sweating like crazy when you were learning the routine".

You bring a hand up to cup his face, not being able to believe what he was saying. Had he really felt this way all this time? But you don't want to think now, you only want to feel, to feel him and to feel the feelings you weren't sure you should be having. You move to kiss him again, much softer than before but he moves to meet you nonetheless, hands encircling your waist.

The kisses you share grow deeper and his tongue finds its way to meet yours. Both of them moving together almost desperately, leaving the sound of them echoing in the cramped car. Unable to help himself, Minho moves one of his hands up your torso slowly, tracing over the pattern of your dress before he meets your chest. He stills for a moment before moving to grope you over the fabric, the sounds you make spilling into his mouth.

A sudden burst of laughter causes you both to break with a start, you hitting your head on the roof of the car as you jolt. The noisy group next to you gets into their own car and drives away leaving you both breathing heavily at the interruption.

Minho chuckles, moving to rub your head where it had hit, "I guess we should be getting back". You nod, chuckling as you move to wipe the smeared lipstick that has made its way from your lips to his.

Whereas Minho makes his way to the front to start driving, you’ve opted to stay into the backseat to change out of your performance dress and into regular clothes so you could go straight to your room once you arrived. 

It was a slow process trying to get your dress off in a moving car but you tried to get yourself as steady as possible.

“You did great today, you know.” Minho speaks up over the soft hum of the radio. You chuckle starting to slip the sleeves off your shoulders, “I missed a step about 5 times, it’s a miracle I didn’t step on your foot.” You did make minor mistakes, as would be expected from your first ever performance and only learning for a couple weeks, but they were so minor the audience didn’t even notice.

“No, no. You did amazing.” He reassures you. Your dress is finally off and you grab your shirt to throw on, turning to look at Minho to thank him. But as you do, you make eye contact with the boy in the rearview mirror, his head snapping away once you catch him. You don’t say a word, silently slipping your shirt on. When you look at his ears you see they’ve become red as they peek through his hair at being caught looking at you changing. You climb back over the seat to return to your spot in the passenger's seat, biting your lip to contain a laugh that threatens to slip at how fidgety Minho has become. 

Ever since the performance ended, it seems as though a huge weight was lifted off both of your shoulders. The air between the two of you feels much different than before. You find yourself hoping things would be different now, from the kiss at the lake to the backseat of his car, surely they were enough for you both to have something, you couldn't be alone in your feelings.

You turn to look at the window as you get closer to the resort. You don’t know what Minho is thinking or feeling and it drives you crazy, but what you do know is you don’t want to separate from the boy tonight.

Minho drives his car up near the staff housing, finding his usual spot before putting it in park. You stay seated and he gets out himself and makes his way around the car to open your door for you. You give him a sweet smile as you join him outside the car, not moving much except to allow him to shut the door. 

It seems he’s in no rush to leave either as he stays planted in front of you. 

The moon is the only light provided outside at this time of night but even so, it was bright enough for you to see Minho’s beautiful eyes. His eyes that were only glued on you. 

You watch silently as they move across your face, though you don’t feel a bit self conscious, your heart still races being under his gaze. 

You feel the warm tips of his fingers brush against yours, merely feeling the pressure of them together before he fully laces them together. 

You’ve held Minho’s hand in yours countless amounts of times over the weeks of dancing, yet nothing could even prepare you for the feeling of sharing his touch tonight. 

You lift your head up more in order to observe the boy just as he observes you, smiling even more as he moves his thumb to graze over your hand. 

It’s all very peaceful, the cool summer night quiet, nothing but some bugs chirping in the grass. 

But a noise breaks through the peacefulness, you both turn to look at the sound of the gravel crunching next to you. You squint at the person making their way over and as he comes closer you realize it’s Jeongin.

“Minho!” He yells out of breath as he runs to get the boys attention. 

“Hurry, come quick,” he pants “It’s Momo!”

You enter Momo's room after the boys and immediately gasp at the sight. Momo is laid on her bed in the middle of the room, sweat evident on her whole body and he twists and turns, obviously uncomfortable with the groans leaving her mouth.

There’s another girl by her side, pressing a washcloth to her forehead. “What the hell happened?!” Minho yells, moving over as quickly as he came to Momo's side. “It-it was her boyfriend!” Jeongin stumbles out. Minho looks at his cousin confused, “I thought he came to take her to the program?”

The girl beside her speaks up, “He insisted on taking one last hit before they left, you know how she can’t refuse him. But once he saw how she reacted he left!” Jeongin chims in, “He took the fucking money and was gone without a word! His shit must have been laced with something” His anger and worries making him red in the face. 

“Fuck,” the dancer reaches to move Momo’s hair out if her face trying to gain her attention, “It’s much worse than before because she’s been clean these past weeks leading up to the program.”

You stand near the entrance feeling helpless. There was only one way you could think to help her. It was a risk but if it meant helping Momo you would do it. You quickly turn and run out the door.

Your dad follows you in a rush, doctor bag in hand, as you lead him to Momo’s room.

You don’t give him any details other than one of your friends urgently needed his help. He comes without question.

You open the door for him but choose to stay outside while he does his work. And moments later Jeongin and Minho join you on the porch, only the girl staying in order to not crowd Momo. 

Out of the three of you, no one utters a word the whole time. Only worried tension fills the air as you all pace the area and wait to hear any news about her.

It’s sometime later that your dad finally comes out of her room. Wiping his hand on a handkerchief, he speaks to no one in general, “She should be fine now. The medicine I gave her has helped but she’ll be pretty tired for the next 12 or so hours.” He puts the wipe back in his pocket, “She needs to get help soon though, proper help that is.” He nods his head back towards her door, “I gave her the information for a rehab in the city, if you care about your friend you’ll make sure she’ll check it out.”

Minho lets out a relieved sigh and more toward your father with his hand outstretched wanting to meet his, “Thank you, really, sir. I can’t thank you enough.” But your father merely glances down at the boy's hand before moving towards the steps, obviously having no intention to shake it, “Make sure she drinks a lot of water and eats something, preferably bread.” He makes his way on the steps and calls out your name, “Lets go. And take that stuff off of your face before your mother sees you.” He calls referring to your stage makeup. 

You swallow hard, glancing back at Jeongin and Minho who are just as surprised as you are at your father's actions. 

You reluctantly turn to follow the man before you can cause any more trouble.

Taglist: @linocvp1d @blankdyean @adeards @lomllino @brooklynie @noellllslut @djeniryuu @eternitywaveshello @drhsthl @urmomma0324 @stormy-skies-falling @dinonuguaegi

Copyright © 2023 by nczennie. All rights reserved.

🌼 All feedback is appreciated and welcomed 🌼

[sparkagrace]

Avengers... Assemblé

Avengers... Assemblé | @sparkagrace

fills: @stuckybingo B3: team cap | @allcapsbingo B5: au: ballet tags: moodboard, steve x bucky, team cap, ballet au, brief mentions of racism and abusive practices word count: 460 words credit: @cable-knit-sweater for the title! ily bb 💘

Welcome to Team Cap Ballet Studio, a contemporary ballet school in the heart of Brooklyn run by married couple, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. They're joined by Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton and Scott Lang.

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes

Once primos in their own respective ballet companies, the two dancers fell in love but grew frustrated by the lack of inclusion and diversity in the industry. They tried in vain to push for performances where they could have Swan Lake with two male leads or Giselle with two female leads instead of the traditional stories. As they neared retirement, and now married, the two began serious discussions about creating their own studio where they could push the boundaries of their art and find a space for other like-minded dancers to join. 

Natasha Romanoff

Natasha was the rose of the Red Room, but they were notorious for creating an unhealthy environment for their dancers, most of whom were extremely young and vulnerable. Unable to keep dancing for a company who did not respect their dancers, Natasha blew the whistle and was blacklisted by the stalwarts of the industry almost immediately. Thankfully, Bucky got in touch with her and offered her a teaching position at Team Cap. Not only is Natasha a creative director, but she also ensures that the dancers have a safe and open environment.

Sam Wilson

Sam Wilson is one of the best dancers of his generation. His elegance and technique is impeccable, as well as being one of the nicest and most personable athletes in the business. Unfortunately, the industry is too traditional and conservative to give him the leading roles that he deserves. Time and time again he's been passed over for lesser dancers, and it's not hard to understand why. Jaded and disillusioned by his treatment, he almost hangs up his ballet shoes only for Steve to reach out and ask him to be Team Cap's primo.

Wanda Maximoff

A young prodigy, Wanda’s grace on the stage is unrivaled. Trained in the Red Room, she was made to dance over and over again until she was perfect. Thankfully, Natasha took her under her wing and brought her over to Team Cap, where she’s thriving in an environment that looks after her. As a result, she’s been positioned as one of the best prima ballerinas and wanted by every company. However, her loyalties lie with the studio that saved her.

Clint Barton and Scott Lang

Clint and Scott found out the hard way that the industry looks down on those who don't conform to their standards. Despite being great dancers - agile and strong - they haven't been given the chance they deserve because of criminal records from youthful indiscretions. It didn't matter how much they had worked to put their pasts behind them, they felt shunned by the business all the same. That was until Steve and Bucky brought them into the fold. Now they teach ballet and dance to kids in similar positions to help give them tools and show them that there's always a way out and proof that their past doesn't dictate their futures.

[im-just-a-mississippi-girl]

The One Where They Fall in Love

Pairing: Basketball Player!Nick Jackson x Basketball Dancer!reader

Category: Fluff/Minor Angst if you squint

Word count: 4,423

Summary: Your dancing dream comes true when you make the Lakers dance team. As the basketball season begins, you’re excited to win the hearts of the crowd but you weren’t expecting to win the heart of a blue eyed Clippers player.

Warnings: Swearing

Idea from: @mrsmatt ❤️

Masterlist

Taglist

Gif is not mine. Credit to owner

You made it! You couldn’t believe you made the team! Your dream was coming true right before your eyes. You were officially a Laker Girl! You read the team list over and over thinking your eyes were playing tricks on you, and you were thrilled they weren’t.

You and the rest of the girls that made the team were called back onto the court by the head coach to discuss the rules and to receive information packets detailing what you would need to purchase and what was provided along with any other important information. As you took a seat, you noticed the girls around you were just as excited, showcasing massive smiles. Some of the girls were clutching each others hands and arms, overwhelmed with joy.

The head coach called for everyone’s attention to welcome and congratulate all of you for making the team. She continued with going over things that were of the utmost importance such as the date and time for the first practice, the attire you were to wear to practice, and so on. As she spoke, the assistant coach passed out the information packets with more detailed information as well as contact information if questions arose after you left.

Once the meeting was over, you and the rest of the newly minted Laker Girls exited your seats. The closer you neared the door to exit the basketball court and enter the lobby you heard multiple male voices grow louder and louder as they neared. Sure enough a wave of men entered through another door nearby. You watched as the LA Lakers flooded the court, basketballs in hands of numerous players.

You were so caught up in watching the men divide into groups that you clearly weren’t watching where you were going thus almost getting ran over by one of the players. You stumbled and began to brace yourself for the inevitable fall but pair of strong hands caught you before you hit the floor. You looked up to see who your savior was. He was tall, a mess of brown and blond curls, blue eyes, and an athletic build. He was handsome no doubt.

“Are you okay?” Your savior asked, concerned evident in his eyes and his voice.

“Yeah, yeah I’m okay. Thank you for catching me. I wasn’t paying attention.” You confessed to the mystery man.

The man helped you stand upright and that’s when he noticed your clothing. You were in the required clothes for the Laker Girls tryout — a black crop top with black shorts and your audition number still pinned to your shorts. “You tried out for the dance team. How’d it go?” He questioned.

“It was great! I made the team! You’re looking at one of the newest member of the Laker Girls!” You we’re still thrilled and honored to have been good enough to be selected for the team. You worked your ass of this day. You were on your high school and college dance teams as well as an all-star team that competed in competitions across the west coast.

“That’s amazing! Congratulations!” The man smiled, clearly happy for you. He could tell how excited you were and it was a contagious feeling.

“Thanks—” You cut yourself off not knowing the mystery man’s name.

“Kenny.” He smiled sticking his hand out. You accepted his hand for a handshake.

“Y/N.” You introduced yourself. “I guess I’ll being seeing you around. I’d like to chat some more but your coach is giving me an annoyed look. Have a great practice!” You called to him as you jogged to the door.

Over the next couple months, you and the rest of the girls practiced your skills and techniques before moving on to practice the first routine for the upcoming basketball season. You were overjoyed to receive your uniform, the purple and gold colors always caught your eye and became your favorite color scheme from an early age.

Fast forward to the first game of the season. You were nervous as were the rest of the new team members, but you knew once you got out there and the music hit you would be fine.

Basketball was a sport you grew up loving the way you loved dancing. You remembered back in high school you had tried out for basketball and dance. You had made both teams and were ecstatic but unfortunately when basketball season rolled around you were forced to choose between your passions. You were devastated when both head coaches sat you down to deliver the news. You knew you should have known but you hoped there was a way it would work out. Dancing was your first love, then came along basketball so you chose to dance. You loved expressing yourself through dance more than anything. It was therapeutic for you. You were so happy to have made that decision otherwise you wouldn’t be a Laker Girl.

Standing in the designated area for the Laker Girls, you watched the game begin. The Lakers were kicking off the season against the Clippers. You examined the opposing team’s players as they warmed up when one particular player caught your eye. He had long light brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes. You watched as he warmed up, never missing a single shot. It didn’t matter where he was on the court, he would always make the shot. You also noticed another player that looked very similar to him. This man had gorgeous dark brown hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. You couldn’t tell if they were twins or not but you could tell they were definitely related in some way.

You finally tore your eyes away from the Clippers and over to your team. You observed them warm up like you did the Clippers. Your eyes searched for your good friend Kenny. When your eyes finally landed on him, he had just made a layup causing you to smile.

Kenny could feel eyes on him and when he turned his head in the direction he sensed someone looking at him, he smiled wide and gave you a little wave to which you returned.

Shortly after that, the game was starting. You watched in anticipation as the score for both teams increased rapidly. You cheered for your team but a little louder for Kenny.

Kenny had became a good friend over the past several months, helping you get to and from practice some days when your schedules were similar or when your car was getting worked on. You were thankful that he was so nice to you. Some of his teammates were intimidating. On the off chances you both had a free day, you would get together and play a little game of one on one or you would attempt to teach him your routine for the game. It was fun and carefree friendship that you had been lacking since moving to Los Angeles from your hometown.

The intensity of the game continued. The Lakers would make a shot then so would the Clippers. The back and forth continued all the way up to halftime.

The buzzer sounded signaling halftime and both teams began making their way to their respective locker rooms while the Clippers Spirit made their way onto the court for their performance. You and your teammates took a seat and watched on as the music began to play. They were good — really good. By the time they were finished, you were in awe of the routine. You were the first of the Laker Girls to clap and even cheer in appreciation of the performance, your fellow team members following suit.

Making your way onto the court, you felt your nerves attempt to get you flustered. The girl to your left, Mackenzie, who had became a good friend, patted your shoulder and gave you an encouraging smile. Mackenzie was a third year Laker Girl and had essentially taken you under her wing. You were beyond grateful for her guidance and support.

Before you knew it, the music began playing and the routine flowed through your body. You didn’t even have to think about what was next, it was second nature to you. You reveled in the crowd’s excitement and cheers as the climax of the routine hit. This was one of the countless reasons you loved dancing, hearing the roar of the crowd and seeing the joy on their faces. You also loved to tell a story through dancing.

As you and the girls were dancing, the Clippers players were making their way towards the court, stopping short to let the routine finish. The two players you noticed durning warmups were near the front of the group. You were too focused on dancing to notice them, much less notice the blue eyed one had his eyes locked on you the remainder of the dance. The brown eyed man nudged him with a knowing look. “Let me guess, you’re going to ask Kenny about her aren’t you?”

The blue eyed man attempted to hide a blush at getting called out. “Am I that obvious?” He had hoped not.

“If you have to ask then you already know the answer.” The brown eyed player chuckled.

Finally the music was drawing to a close and you were excited for the ending pose. It was one of your favorites. The pose was a sassy one that you found yourself practicing every chance you got. You and the girls hit the sass filled pose right when the music cut off. Your smile only grew bigger as the crowd erupted into applause and cheers.

The two Clippers players from earlier clapped along with the crowd. They were both impressed with you and saw the love and joy you felt durning what they saw of the routine.

Kenny and the rest of the Lakers had witnessed the ending of the dance as well. The whole team showed their love and support for ‘their girls’ as they liked to refer to the dancers. You thought it was cute and so did a bunch of the other girls which led to all of you calling the basketball team ‘our boys’. You learned from Kenny that the players were surprised by that but ultimately loved it.

As both teams filled the court once again, the two Clippers players from earlier caught your eye for second time. The blue eyed one had been looking in your direction when you locked eyes with him. He was quick to look away and shoot a three-pointer that sailed through the air and went in with a swish. You weren’t sure if he was attempting to impress you or what but you were having trouble taking your eyes off him. The brown eyed man stood next to his fellow teammate and went for the same shot, only his came up just short. That’s when you noticed through the men’s long hair that they had the same last name — Jackson. The blue eyed one’s jersey said N. Jackson and the other man’s said M. Jackson. They had to be brothers you concluded, they looked too much alike to not be.

Once the few minutes of warmups were done, the game resumed. The score showed 58-60 with the Clippers in the lead by two points. You didn’t know if you were prepared for the game to continue, but you clearly didn’t have choice in the matter.

The second half of the game was back and forth once more. The scoreboard was constantly changing the score as the game progressed. The Lakers would gain two points then the Clippers would gain three points. Moments later the Lakers would gain three points then the Clippers would gain two. It was a constant nail biting battle between the two teams. This is the kind of game you loved despite how stressed you always became.

Down to the last minute on the clock of the game, one of the Clippers players had the ball and went in for a layup but passed the ball to a teammate who then passed the ball to the blue eyed man, N. Jackson when he was open. He was at the top of the court and took his chance, it was a last ditch effort to score the win. It was as if time slowed down as the ball left his hands and soared through the air. The clock was ticking away, down to the final few seconds. Swish! The buzzer sounded one second later.

You let out a sigh of disappointment for your team, but strangely enough, you were kind of… happy? You were really confused by this because your team lost, but you were happy that the cute blue eyed man won the game for his team. Yeah, he’s cute but I have no clue who he is or much less met the man.

You watched as the Lakers congratulated the Clippers. That’s when you notice Kenny talking to the two Jacksons. You observed them for a few minutes. They must be friends with the way they’re smiling and laughing together. Your people watching was interrupted when Mackenzie waved her hand in front of your face.

“Sorry.” You apologized, fighting a blush you knew was creeping up as you felt your cheeks begin to feel hot.

She laughed softly. “We’re dismissed if you want to go talk to the lucky guy.” She turned her head in the direction you were looking. “Which one is he?”

“There’s something about the blue eyed man in the Clippers jersey.” You confessed, tearing your eyes away from him to see Mackenzie’s reaction.

She was grinning, shaking her head. “He’s been eyeing you ever since we finished our dance at halftime. Honestly, he gets this awestruck look on his face every time his eyes land on you.” Mackenzie gabbed your arm and began tugging you in the trios direction. “I want to witness the moment that you meet so I can tell the story at your wedding.” She mischievously grinned. You couldn’t help but laugh at her antics and let her pull you towards Kenny and his friends. You had no idea what you were going to say, honestly it didn’t even matter because you just knew Mackenzie would do the talking for you. She had set you up on a handful of dates but none ever worked out. You hoped this would be different.

As you and Mackenzie were making your way across the court, Kenny locked eyes with you as he had been scanning the room and waved the pair of you over. “I think he was looking for you.” Mackenzie stated. You rolled your eyes because obviously he was but chose not to say anything.

“Hey girls. We were just talking about going out in about an hour to grab some food.” Kenny explained. “You girls want to join us? The more the merrier.” He was hoping to entice you to join them in hopes you and his friend would hit it off.

“Oh! Well that’s sweet but Mackenzie and I already—” You were cut off by Mackenzie.

“We would love to!” She beamed.

“Great! We’ll meet you by the front doors.” Kenny spoke, subtly giving a knowing smile to Mackenzie. He knew she picked up on the plan and probably had her own ready to put into play.

About an hour later you and your friend met the boys at the discussed spot, and fifteen minutes later the five of you were at a hole in the wall restaurant. Once at your table, Mackenzie and Kenny were quick to make sure you and the blue eyed N. Jackson were sitting side by side. Despite still not knowing his name or his teammates name, you gave them a welcoming smile and took the opportunity to introduce yourself.

The two men did the same, friendly smiles on both their faces. You learned the brown eyed male’s name is Matt and the blue eyed cutie you’ve been eyeing is named Nick. You couldn’t help but notice how his eyes were lit up, a beautiful shade of blue, eyes you could definitely get lost in.

Kenny was quick to notice how Nick looked at you. He was awestruck before, but this time, he was in a trance of sorts, his gaze never leaving your face. Matt and Kenny shared a look and shortly after, Matt kicked Nick’s leg under the table, grabbing his attention. Nick wasn’t pleased with the action, shooting his brother a glare. Matt wasn’t phased and gestured for Nick to make conversation with you. The younger brother nodded, taking a breath and psyching himself up.

Nick prayed he wouldn’t sound stupid and turn you off to him. “How… umm… long have you been dancing?” That didn’t sound as awkward as he anticipated. He watched as your eyes lit up, indicating he asked the right question.

As you went on a long spiel about how your love for dancing came to be, Nick was hooked. You had his full attention as he listened intently, chiming in when he felt it was appropriate. The pair of you were so absorbed into the conversation that you failed to realize your friends had slipped away from the table, successfully executing their plan of getting the infatuated couple together or at least giving them privacy.

It wasn’t until Nick asked Matt a question that the two of you looked around the table when Matt failed to give a response. The table was empty, no sign of your friends to be found as you searched the restaurant. That’s when it hits you. They wanted to set you and Nick up. “Since we’ve been ditched, anything you want to do? Just the two of us?” You asked, turning your head to look at the only other person at the table.

“Actually there is. There’s this little spot just out of the city that has a gorgeous view of the city. I’ve never been at night, wanna go check it out?” Nick asked, eyes full of hope as he scanned your face, searching for your answer before you voiced it.

You thought it over a few times, a cute guy and a gorgeous view of the city. This was too good to pass up. Finally, you nodded. “That sounds like a great idea, Nick.” You smiled, you cheeks beginning to flush. The thought of being alone with him made you feel all nervous and giddy like a teenager.

With the plan being settled, the two of you paid and exited the restaurant. “Oh, shit.” Nick froze as realization hit. “Kenny drove.” He was thrown off until his brain finally figured out what to do. “I’ll call an Uber to take us back to the stadium and we can take my car.” You nodded, agreeing that would be the best idea.

While you waited for your Uber, you struck up another conversation, this time swapping the worst date you’ve ever had stories. You considered yourself the queen of worst dates and as it turned out, you were in the presence of the king of worst dates. As that conversation ended another one began, the way everything flowed so smoothly between conversations was something you hadn’t experienced before, at least not with a potential boyfriend.

In the Uber, he was telling you some dad jokes he thought were hysterical while you were laughing your ass off at his delivery, plus you loved dad jokes too. You were thrilled that he was so funny. All of your previous boyfriends were so serious, sucking the fun out of everything, leaving you bored out of your mind.

Back at the stadium, you offered to split the Uber payment but Nick refused, insisting that he had it covered. He led you to his car and before you knew it, you were off to this lookout. As he drove further away from the city and onto a little dirt road, you examined the scenery, trees began to become more frequent and the sky became more visible. You noticed a makeshift sign coming up on the right. “Make out Mountain.” You read the sign out loud, shooting Nick a questioning look.

Nick turned nervous, he completely forgot about the sign. He pulled over before reaching the destination so he could explain. “This isn’t what you think. I completely forgot about the name of this place. I didn’t bring you here to make out.” He explained, turning in the driver’s seat to look at you. Once he was settled, he realized what he said. “N-not that I wouldn’t want to make out with you. I-I just meant that—” Nick stumbled over his words, horrified he had screwed up.

You rested your hand on top of his. Nick felt his heart beat skyrocket as your hand touched his. “I know what you mean.” You attempted to comfort him, then decided to give him a teasing wink before removing your hand. You wouldn’t say no to making out with him, despite just meeting him.

Nick felt relieved you weren’t upset with him. Wait… did she just imply that… Nick’s brain went into overdrive at your wink. He couldn’t tell if you were joking or not. He cleared his throat, settling back into the driver’s seat and throwing the car in drive. “The spot is just up ahead, around that big oak tree.” He informed you as he pressed the accelerator. You nodded becoming worried that you upset him, that your teasing wink wasn’t what you thought it was. You opted to just look out the window until his stopped the car again.

The next few minutes were awkward but mostly tension-filled. You were relieved when you felt the car roll to a stop. You couldn’t see much thanks to some tree branches so you exited the car, Nick followed suit. You couldn’t take the silence anymore. “If I made you uncomfortable or upset back there, that wasn’t my intention. I was just trying to lighten the mood.” You fidgeted with your fingers as you spoke.

“No, it’s fine… I just… I was worried I upset you with the whole making out thing. I’ve been burned pretty badly before and I didn’t want to get my hopes up. That’s why I just.. kind of went silent. I got into my head too much.” Nick shrugged, rubbed the back of neck.

“I’m not upset. I tell you what, since neither one of us is upset with other, let’s start over. Right here, right now. You can show me the city lights and I’ll show you as many constellations as I can remember.” You offered, gesturing to the clearing beside you.

Nick nodded, a smile slowly growing on his face. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

You followed Nick and the sight before you almost took your breath away. The city lights were gorgeous in the darkness of the night. You took a few moments to really appreciate it. “It’s gorgeous!” You exclaimed. “I just might have to steal this spot from you.” You joked, grinning.

After a few seconds of silence from Nick, you turned to face him only to find him looking at you with a look of admiration in his eyes. “Yeah, you are gorgeous.” He took a deliberate step towards you. “You’ve already stole more than this spot.” He admitted, his confidence increasing with every step he took and with every word he spoke. He stopped just two steps before you, you kept your eyes on his, mind racing at what would happen next. Nick’s eyes darted down to your lips then flickered back to your eyes. Your eyes copied his and it had felt like a magnet of sorts was pulling you to him as you took one step forward. Were you really going to kiss him this soon? You just met some odd hours ago, although it felt like you had know each other for years instead.

You took the final step towards him. Nick had his eyes locked on you with each step you took. The air had definitely changed from the time the two of you had reached this clearing until now. The air felt more electric and romantic. “I really want to kiss you right now.” He confessed, brushing a strand of hair out of your face and tucking it behind your ear. Nick caressed your check with that same hand, instinctively you leaned into it.

“What’s stopping you?” Your voice was soft as you spoke. You brought your hand up to rest on his forearm.

That was all he needed to hear before leaning down and brushing his lips against yours. The anticipation was agonizing. Finally, both of Nick’s hands cupped your cheeks at the same time your hands came to rest on his chest. His lips connected with yours, your heart was pounding so loudly you just knew that he could hear it too. The kiss was slow and meaningful. Unfortunately, before too long you had to part for air. Slowly opening your eyes, you replayed the kiss again. Best kiss ever.

Nick was doing his best to even out his breathing and heart rate. He wasn’t expecting the kiss to be that good. He felt truly connected to you in that moment, feeling the same things you were feeling. He wondered if you felt it too.

When you finally caught your breath, you searched your brain for the words to explain how you felt. After several minutes of silence, you finally spoke. “I haven’t had a kiss like that in….” you trailed off, thinking back over the years, “well, I’ve never had a kiss like that.”

Nick felt a sense of satisfaction and pride upon hearing your reaction to the breathtaking kiss. “How do you feel about an actual date? One where our friends aren’t there to ditch us halfway through.” Nick offered, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at what happened earlier. He noticed the light shine in your eyes as you instantly nodded.

“I would love that.” You grinned, reaching out the take his hand. “For now, let’s check out those constellations I mentioned. We can plan a real date later.” You tell him as you saw his eyebrows furrow, clearly focusing on what kind of date to plan. You tugged him a little ways away and gently pulled him down on the grass.

“Alright. You’re right. Show me your favorite one.” Nick settled himself on the grass and opened his arms for you. You happily accepted and tucked yourself into his side and began pointing out Orion’s Belt.

General Taglist: @legit9thlunaticwarrior @plentyofwritings @1dluver13xx @sunshinevirus @wwenhlimagines @crowleysqueenofhell @jackson-nickthedate13 @omg-im-such-a-masochist

Nick Jackson Taglist: @mrsmatt @morgan-bucks @rubyred1980 @breezyvk @writtingrose @jennifuz

[somethingclevermahogony]

Happy sts! Which Olympic sport would your characters be the best at?

Happy (Not) STS!

Sorry I'm just getting to this, my partner and I just got back from a trip.

So, Olympic Sports:

Narul: Powerlifting, wrestling, boxing, hammer, shotput, any strength based competition.

Narul would be an entirely unfair opponent to compete against in any sport involving physical strength. He would beat any records which a human can set. He couldn't box or wrestle against a normal athlete as he would certainly kill them if he put in any sort of effort. As for powerlifting and throwing sports like the hammer, Olympic equipment simply could not handle him.

Ninma: Sport Climbing, Tennis, Badminton

Ninma is a great climber and has fast reflexes. I could argue for Table Tennis too. She could be quite a skilled fencer, but she is unused to using a blade that long, and frankly she might get annoyed by the formality of it all.

Otilia: Archery, Dressage Riding

Otilia at her core is a noble, archery and riding are both things that she was taught as a child, though she was never particularly fond of either.

Istek: Sailing and rowing

Surprisingly for someone that has spent so much time as a ship captain, Istek isn't a very good swimmer, however he is an excellent sailor and an enthusiastic rower. He also loves competition, as such I think he would excel in any of the boat related events.

Dati: Marathon Swimming, Water Polo, Swimming

Unlike Istek, Dati is an excellent swimmer and has incredible stamina, however he isn't exactly dainty or careful, so diving and artistic swimming would be out.

Sihunu: Figure-Skating and Artistic Swimming

While she has never skated in her life, Sihunu was a dancer when she was young, and a very skilled one at that. She has excellent control of her body and is a fast learner, I think she would do well at either of these. I could argue for gymnastics as well, though I don't think she has quit the upper body strength

Zatar: Basically anything

Zatar is fast, strong, clever, and agile, a once in a lifetime sort of athlete. If anything I think the three sports he would do best in would be boxing (his strength and durability are only rivaled by supernatural characters like Narul), figure-skating (Despite his size he is incredibly graceful, he seems to dance when he fights), and the Triathlon (Stamina, Stamina, Stamina).

[moonfromearth]

College Sim Dump!!

Will I ever be on time for a follower milestone? Not likely. 😅

Anyway, as a celebration for 150 followers here are eight cc free sims all enrolled in university! Each sim has been enrolled in a degree program, had two skills set to level three, signed up for organizations, as well as gotten scholarships!

Should you use them feel free to do as you want with them but I've provided some information on each one below the cut 😉😉

And finally a huge thank you to everyone who's followed me! I've had such a great time interacting with the simblr community and it means so much any time someone interacts with a post of mine so... Thank you!! 🤩🤩🤩

~ download (google drive) ~

A little about the sims...

Cassidy Whitmore (she/her) - Music Lover, Outgoing, Mean - Unapologetic, loud, and the mastermind behind The Whitmores, her and her brother's duo. A bit much to handle sometimes but a brilliant songwriter without much of a care for actually doing her homework, after all why write essays and answer multiple choice questions about songwriting when you can actually be writing songs?

Quinn Whitmore (he/him) - Music Lover, Paranoid, Good - Cassidy's younger brother. He looks up to his sister and has followed her lead thus far in life. His passion, though, lies more in the instrumental side of making music, and he's responsible for mixing songs that he and Cassidy work on together under the name The Whitmores. Good natured and friendly but overly anxious and tends to overthink too much. Actually does his homework, unlike his sister.

Whitley Miller (she/her) - Geek, Bro, Slob - The ace of Britechester's ESports team, Whitley's entire life revolves around gaming, modding games, and, well, more games. She's already completed several small video games as well as dozens popular mods for various games. Though some could say she's a little.. Unorganized, but who has the time to clean their room anyway?

Kai Māhoe (he/him) - Adventurous, Active, Squeamish - Britechester's all star soccer player, Kai is an athlete through and through. Outside of soccer he also snowboards and rock climbs, having gained himself several sponsors while still being in college. He's hoping to study abroad for a year and go to Mt Komorebi in order to reach the summit of the famed mountain for which the area is named.

Zoe Cho (she/her) - Art Lover, High Maintenance, Vegetarian - An artist who holds her opinion in the highest regard. Dreams of becoming an art critic but only after having her work featured within every famed San Myshuno gallery's walls. I imagine she wears contacts but unfortunately that's not a thing in the game so... Her natural eye color is brown. Member of the Britechester Art Society.

Blake Nora (he/him) - Perfectionist, Bookworm, Loves the Outdoors - You might recognize Blake if you've seen my last sim dump. His cousin, Jennifer, and him are pretty much identical. Blake was created by accident while I was trying to figure out Jennifer's look and personality. Anyway, Blake's a devoted student but rather than go on daring adventures like his cousin he'd prefer a good book and a small garden. He's a member of The Debate Guild solely to put it on his resumed, as he hates confrontation and arguing... So basically everything about The Debate Guild.

Averie Stewart (she/her) - Dance Machine, Hot Headed, Noncommittal - A dancer and cheerleader pursuing a career in theater, hoping to one day travel the world performing, never settling anywhere. Loves to have fun and hang out with friends but don't get on her bad side. Fun fact: Her look was inspired a lot by K-pop group dance practice videos. Member of the Foxbury Spirit Squad.

Gus Richards (they/them) - Self-Absorbed, Genius, Glutton - A medium with psychic abilities and an ego that's waaay too big. They're going to revolutionize paranormal research (so they claim). Probably watched Ghostbusters one too many times as a kid. On Foxbury's robotics team.

[aracaranelentari]

I just read ur hc about Fingolfin being a dancer and can I hear more about our dancing king please?

Happily! I could talk about Fingolfin for hours-

Indis is described as being "exceedingly swift of foot" and loved to sing and create music. I believe that she passed these traits down to her children in different ways and capacities: Findis is a great singer and loves to run in the fields of Valinor with her mother (I hc that she's the most like Indis), Lalwen is also very athletic but Indis' musical traits manifested in her through a love of playing instruments rather than singing or dancing, and Finarfin is less athletic but also enjoys singing and making music (he hangs out with the Teleri after all). And, of course, Fingolfin, who has the agility and swiftness of his mother in an even greater capacity, which translates in a musical sense to dancing.

In my headcanon, he had an affinity for it from a very young age, and he befriended Nessa in his youth, and she taught him how to dance. The Vanyar are very close to the Valar after all, and Indis is kin to Ingwë himself, so I think her children would have quite a few friends among the Valar.

Fingolfin was really talented at dancing, hence why he was noticed by the Vala of dancing herself. He has complete control over his movements and has the stamina and strength to never tire, and the way he twirls and flows and prances around is so mesmerizing it makes the viewer forget time is passing. He was well known for this among the Vanyar, who value beauty and the arts.

The Ñoldor value skill in crafts and words, however, and Fëanor especially, and I think this is where the self-consciousness I mentioned in that headcanon post comes from. Fëanor would absolutely take every chance he could to prove he's daddy's #1 boy, and I believe this would include belittling Fingolfin's dancing skills, as well as taking every chance he could to overshadow anything Fingolfin tried to do with a fancy new smithing project that would naturally get more attention from the Ñoldor, and from Finwë, than dancing ever could. At some point, I think Fingolfin started being ashamed of his own hobbies and abilities, and eventually his insecurities made him swear it off entirely (at least publicly, in private and with his siblings and mother I think he still found joy in dancing).

He never lost his skill in it, however, and I think this became important during the Helcaraxë crossing and in the wars of Beleriand. On the Helcaraxë, Fingolfin taught his people how to step lightly and swiftly so the ice beneath them wouldn't break, and so they could spring to the side if it did. He taught his soldiers agility and footwork, and how to move your shoulders and arms so that they become one with your blade. Fingolfin fought like he was dancing, and he fought so beautifully that sometimes orcs would stop in their tracks, hypnotized, and in the blink of an eye he'd strike and they'd never move again.

I like to think that Fingolfin regained a lot of his fractured confidence during his time as High King, when he realized that he had useful skills that Fëanor never had, at least until the end. We all know how Fingolfin kept leaping aside to dodge Morgoth's attacks, "as lightning shoots from under a dark cloud", and only faltered once he became weary. Since I headcanoned Fingolfin as being nearly tireless in his dances earlier, I think his weariness during this duel came from a place of burning himself out with such intense fury and despair, as well as the duel lasting a long time, potentially hours.

And once he was reembodied, and came to terms with himself and accepted both his own strengths and weaknesses, he officially took up dancing again. Elves from all over Aman come to his performances, and he has a particularly famous number where he reenacts his duel with Morgoth. He does duets with Indis and Nessa, and also regularly spars with Eönwë, since to him that's just another kind of dance.

Hope you enjoyed my word vomit about dancer!Fingolfin~!

[noonesgaylikegatson]

July 31, 2023

O’Shae Sibley was at a Brooklyn gas station with friends late Saturday night, filling up a car and blasting music by Beyoncé when a group of men approached and told them to stop dancing, according to friends.

The men began using slurs and Mr. Sibley, 28, a gay man who was a professional dancer and choreographer, confronted them, according to his friends and a video of the altercation. The argument escalated and one man stabbed Mr. Sibley, according to the police. Otis Pena, one of Mr. Sibley’s best friends, pressed on his wound to stop the bleeding before he was taken to Maimonides Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

“They murdered him because he’s gay, because he stood up for his friends,” Mr. Pena said in a Facebook video that he posted hours after the killing on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood. “His name was O’Shae and you all killed him. You all murdered him right in front of me.”

No arrests had been made by Monday, but the police said that the hate crimes unit was involved in the investigation.

The killing has devastated Mr. Sibley’s family — he is one of 11 siblings — and unnerved the city’s gay community. While the motive remains under investigation, the attack was a reminder of the biases that L.G.B.T.Q. people face.

The Anti-Defamation League and the advocacy group GLAAD issued a report in June indicating an increase in harassment and violence against gay and transgender people, including online bullying, gatherings of armed protesters outside drag shows and bomb threats against hospitals that provide gender transition care. In the first three weeks of June there were 101 such incidents, more than twice the number during the same time period the year before.

Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a gay state senator in New York, said he was “heartbroken and enraged” over Mr. Sibley’s killing.

“Gay joy is not crime,” he said on Twitter. “Hate-fueled attacks are.”

Mr. Sibley had moved from Philadelphia before the pandemic, hoping New York would provide more auditions and opportunities, said an aunt, Tondra Sibley, 49.

“It was a senseless crime,” she said. “O’Shae has always been a peacemaker. All he wanted to do was dance.”

She recalled him as a small boy, “gyrating and jerking” to Missy Elliott. When he got older, he honed his skills at the Philadelphia Dance Company and, on the advice of instructors, began ballet, taking advantage of his long, athletic frame.

Kemar Jewel, a 31-year-old choreographer and director, met Mr. Sibley in Philadelphia 13 years ago at the Attic Youth Center, where gay teenagers could go for after-school programs and activities. They were only a few years apart, but Mr. Sibley saw him as a mentor. “He was like, ‘You’re my uncle. I’m going to call you uncle,’” Mr. Jewel said.

Goofy and fun-loving, Mr. Sibley was serious about his craft. He would hunker down at Mr. Jewel’s apartment until 3 a.m. to study dance videos, from vogueing to the modern techniques introduced by Martha Graham and Lester Horton, American dancers and choreographers born around the turn of the 20th century.

“O’Shae was so well versed. He was great at tap, ballet, hip-hop,” Mr. Jewel said. “He was an incredible visual learner. I’ve seen him watch someone do something twice and then just do it.”

Mr. Jewel, who is in London working on a show, said he was sleeping on Sunday morning when Mr. Pena called to tell him what had happened.

At the gas station, Mr. Sibley and his friends had been playing “Renaissance” by Beyoncé and vogueing, a style of dance that began as an imitation of fashion models in the 1980s and has evolved as an expression of pride and protest.

That is when the group of men approached, calling them names, Mr. Jewel said, recalling the account of Mr. Pena, who could not be reached for comment.

Both Mr. Sibley and Mr. Pena told them, “Stop saying that. There is nothing wrong with being gay.”

Mr. Sibley fought with them, and he was stabbed as Mr. Pena ran to intervene, Mr. Jewel said.

At the Brownsville building where Mr. Sibley lived alone in a studio, his neighbor, Beckenbaur Hamilton, 51, said he had warned the younger man against being so open about his sexuality. Mr. Hamilton, who is also gay, recalled attacks he had suffered in his 20s when going out to clubs, and said that he has recently been overhearing comments on the street about “all these rights” gay people have.

“O’Shae wasn’t afraid of being who he was,” Mr. Hamilton said. “He would defend his friends.”

They loved dancing outside and delighted in drawing a crowd. “But I’d see how people looked at them,” Mr. Hamilton said. “There was a worry in the back of my mind.”

In his video, Mr. Pena described Mr. Sibley as his brother and said the two were “always out and loud.”

“We as a community don’t deserve this,” Mr. Pena said. “We may be gay, but we exist. We’re not going to live in fear. We’re not going to live hiding.”

[tutuandscoot]

Happy Birthday Tutu!! Continue to be terrifying in all that you are ⚡️

I don’t know why I need to say this but I will anyway: There’s heaps of people that make really cool edits (mine are fairly basic) and esp on things like birthdays people make ones of like.. in this case.. non ‘athlete’ T. Which is great and their edits are awesome.. I for some reason just don’t like to make edits non-VM/skating/sport related. What I mean by this is T (and S) is soooo much more than just the best ice dancer(s) in the world and have full incredible lives separate from sport and their partnership, and I don’t want my lack of edits showing that to imply I don’t love and appreciate them for all that they are.. on the flip side; They both always said how they do not identify just as skaters and even when they were competitive athletes it wasn’t like that is exclusively ‘skater T or skater S’, they were just themselves who worked so hard and could do these super human things, and so just bc this edit is skating related, doesn’t mean it isn’t celebrating T has a whole person, this is her and she’s amazing and the incredible things she did as an athlete have facilitated and given her the confidence to achieve everything she does. I’m so proud of her and she inspires me every minute of every day☺️

[sungpeach]

n a v i g a t i o n

hi yall i'm demi (26, they/she, pacific) and this is sung! feel free to give this a like or dm me on discord at demi6468 if you'd like to plot

if you're wondering if i'm the demi you know... probably. it's been a while since i've done tumblr rp so pls bear w me. this barbie is also a shawol so expect constant references in and out of character. that said, more sung info (sungfo, if u will) below:

-----

background:

grew up poor but then listened to paris hilton and just stopped being poor (or, as history will say, his parents' restaurant business blew up)

moved around quite a bit in older child/tween years as the business grew

was an idol fan from a young age, but the 'rents wanted sung as their business successor

sucks 4 them sung became a trainee anyway. was set for debut after a couple years but that fell through, then the company started treating him as a model instead of an idol and it wore him down and he left

took on military service

didn't give up on his dream tho, joined another company after coming back and worked as a back up dancer for a fallback

tldr for the ending survival show > temporary group > disbandment > solo

personality:

vitamin, sunshine, kind, sweet, polite, hopeless romantic, hard working, determined, introspective, dreamer, overthinker, judgmental, gives himself very good advice but very seldom follows it, can be a bit manipulative (though he doesn't think he is)

he's a pisces, for context on all the above. also a crybaby. cries for happiness, sadness, anything in between

sung's idol self and true self aren't particularly different, idol sung is just more careful/shows negative traits less. he has a pretty good reputation, and a lot of his Brand relies on being likable

the biggest actual difference is sung's a raging homo, which ofc isn't public knowledge

introverted extrovert. most would class him as an extrovert, but he really needs the time to have a cool down period

plots:

sung loves to read, so fellow readers are an easy connection

cares Very Much about music and dance. while he's a known kpop gg stan, he has a decent range of taste in music. over his idol career, he's developed a strong love for songwriting and choreographing to where at this point he's not particularly interested in releasing anything his hands Haven't touched. this is a great place for other diehards/creatives to connect, but also where sung's negative traits could come out. he could be quick to judge someone's commitment level and react poorly due to it

it'd be Lovely to fill the role of a choreographer that sung really respects and has a close relationship with. preferably not an idol for this one, but they would be the person who co-choreographed and starred in sung's move! i see this relationship as one where their passions about dance line up very well and it was an instant connection. they could have worked together at other points as well, like choreographing for bsides for his first solo concert

that said, would also love other dancers that he keeps on retainer for releases and performances! as he cares so much about his ~art~ he really wants to keep those he feels align with his work. so the same faces pop up a lot. he's very loyal and gives flowers (mostly metaphorical but literal too) to all staff and crew, whether they're on stage with him or not

also loves romantic dramas. he's less knowledgable in other fields (least knowledgable in horror) but still partakes. he's just more likely to sims 4 get famous scream and faint over a romance actor

any athletes i am so sorry to tell u this gayby has no clue who you are

other survival group members! idt i'll make it an official wanted ad since i left everything so vague, but there are so many directions for that. i also Headcanon jsj (the temp group) to being a pseudo sibling group with rhiannon and yebin's viv:id 🤓

i'd love for another vivid member to come and be the feat on sung's song be your enemy! yebin was karina in want and rhi was seulgi on heart stop so it'd be fun to continue the trend

another negative place to come from could be just catching sung on a bad day back when he was pushed as a model in his og company. he was very worn out, discouraged, and idk teen hormones im sure didn't make it easier. on the flip side, someone supporting him then would be lovely

the easiest way to tick sung off without much effort has to do with politeness. he gives a lot more grace to foreigners, but really doesn't stand for it from born koreans

i mention negative ideas most since those are hardest for nice muses BUT in gen, sung is kind of a 'friend of the industry' guy. though, especially when he was younger, he had a hard time picking up on cues from people that they didn't want to be friends. he's pretty full on and touchy straight away. loves him a little cuddle

with romance, he's a chronic falling in love with friends-er. but he's also a True hopeless romantic so a guy says smth nice to him once and he walks away with a little bit of a crush 9/10 times. doesn't tend to go for his best interests, so negative romantic r/s are welcome too (past or present)

also he had a gf sometime when he was around 16-18, so that could be fun to play with!

[feralandmoonstruck]

Moonstruck Ch 4. First Date

18+ only! This WIP contains explicit material

“Thanks for grabbing us a table,” Ezra said as he took the seat across from Apollo. A nervous sigh escaped him.

Apollo, all ease, gave him a smile. “It’s nice to see you somewhere outside of the coffee shop.”

“Couldn’t leave all of our meetings up to fate.” He grinned back and picked up his menu.

“I’m glad you thought so too. How’s the unpacking going?”

“Long. I’ve got another six boxes to get through before I’m done.”

“Moving is always a pain in the ass.”

“Tell me about it,” Ezra sighed. “Actually, don’t. I don’t want to talk about moving.”

Apollo chuckled, “What do you wanna talk about?”

“How was work?”

“It was good. Got to work with one of my favorite clients.”

“Yeah?”

“Lizzie’s great. She’s been a client for about three years now.”

Ezra nodded along. “Three years is a long time. I think?”

“I just supplement her other stuff. She’s a professional burlesque dancer but she comes to me for strength and endurance training.”

“I remember those days. I was a gymnast all the way up through high school.”

“Really? That’s awesome!”

Ezra hid a smile in his menu. “Thanks. I got tired of the constant, grueling schedules. Being told what to eat and do and wear every minute of the day. I gave it up the minute I could.”

“Damn. That sounds like it’s even more of a pain in the ass than moving.”

“It was,” Ezra laughed. “The older I got, the more annoyed I became with the food restrictions. Especially during competition season. I started researching more and more about foods and how it intersected with athletics, and it just grew from there.”

“Do you only work with athletes?”

“Nah. I work with everybody, but my special interest lies in athletes and former athletes.”

“That’s really cool, man.”

Ezra grinned. “Do you work every day?”

Apollo shook his head. “My schedule is really flexible, so I can take off when I need to.”

“Did you-”

“Nope. Lizzie was my only client today. Tomorrow I’m booked solid though.”

“Lucky I asked when I did then.”

The waitress arrived to take their order and their menus. When she left, Apollo picked up the conversation where it had left off.

“I’m glad you did. Going another week without getting to see you would have sucked.”

Ezra’s cheeks grew pink.

“Shit. Did that come out weird?”

“What?” Ezra tipped his head to the side, “Weird how? I don’t think it was weird.”

“That’s good. I haven’t been on a first date in years.”

“That makes two of us then. Tell me something else about you? I know you like to run and see the sunrise.”

“I do search and rescue sometimes.”

“Jesus. And I thought my job kept me busy.”

“I don’t like downtime. I like to keep moving.” Apollo took a drink of his water.

“I like downtime, but when it happens at work it just makes the day drag. That doesn’t happen often though. Busy days can drag too, but not in the same way.”

“That I completely get. Sometimes there’s just too much stuff and not enough hours.”

Ezra chuckled. “Those days are worse than unpacking.”

“My offer still stands to help you unpack.”

“There’s only six boxes left.”

“And how long will they take to get through?”

Ezra dropped his head, “Longer than they should.”

“You have my number.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“What do you like to do for fun?”

“I know what you’re gonna think, but I like going to craft breweries. They have fun flavors you can’t find at a store.”

“I don’t drink, so I’ll take your word for it.”

Ezra gave him a smile, “Your turn.”

Apollo returned it. “You’re one of very few people who haven’t immediately asked why I don’t drink.”

“Lots of people don’t drink for lots of different reasons. It’s like me saying I don’t like watermelon.”

“Thanks for that. I like to play video games.”

“Let me guess, first person shooters?”

Apollo laughed. “That’s what everyone always says, but no. They make me mad motion sick. I like co-op RPGs or fighting games. Something I can play with Ilya.”

“Is Ilya your roommate?”

Fuck. That wasn’t supposed to come up yet. Shit. I wasn’t prepared for this. Goddammit I shouldn’t have said anything.

“You good,” Ezra asked at the worried look on Apollo’s face.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine. What about you? Do you game?”

“I play dating and farming sims. Lame, I know,” Ezra laughed.

“Never played one. But if that’s your jam then that’s your jam.”

“They’re super chill.”

“I bet they would be.”

The waitress brought out their food.

“Fate says you should let me try a bite of that,” Ezra said, pointing to Apollo’s crepes with his fork.

“Fate says so?” Apollo chuckled, “better not tempt it anymore than we already have.” He pushed his plate closer to Ezra so that he could take a bite.

“Fuck that’s good. You want some of mine?” Ezra slid his plate towards the middle of the table, offering up his eggs benedict.

Apollo leaned over, cutting out a bite with the edge of his fork. Egg yolk and hollandaise soaked the english muffin, creamy avocado, and the crisp bite of pickled jalapenos burst with flavor within Apollo’s mouth. He closed his eyes and sat back. “I’m definitely ordering that next time I come here. They didn’t have it last time.”

“We could keep sharing,” Ezra offered.

Apollo’s eyes flickered to him. “Do you think it’s what fate wants?”

“It’s what I want.”

“Should we get extra plates?”

Ezra shrugged, “ I don’t mind eating like this.”

“I don’t either.”

They ate a few more bites in silence.

“I wonder,” Apollo said, “if I could replicate that benedict.”

Ezra blinked at him, “You cook, too?”

“Someone in the house has to. You can only live on takeout and pizza for so long.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

Apollo shrugged. “Dunno. I can’t do my taxes. Does that count?”

Ezra shook his head and laughed. “You work out, you cook, you like nature, you’re a personal trainer, you’re funny, you’re a Greek god. How have you not been on a date in years?”

“A few reasons. I mostly haven’t been interested in anyone. How have you not been on a date, Mr. doctor, cutie, gymnast?” He took another bite of his crepe. There was one bite left, which he saved for Ezra.

“My last relationship didn’t end great. I haven’t been interested in anyone else since.”

“Sorry to hear that, Ez.”

“It’s whatever. I’ve moved on.” Ezra shrugged.

“I saved this for you,” Apollo said in an attempt to lighten the mood. He spun his plate so the final bite faced Ezra.

“That’s yours, you should have it!”

“Fate says it’s yours now.”

Ezra laughed. “If fate insists, I guess I should then.” He picked up the last bite with his fork and brought it to his mouth. “Thanks, Apollo.”

“Of course.”

“Here, you can have the rest of mine if you want it. I’m stuffed.”

“You sure?”

“Definitely,” Ezra nodded.

“Thanks.”

After breakfast, Apollo walked Ezra to his car. Ezra leaned against the door, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand so he could look up at Apollo. Apollo adjusted so that his shadow fell on Ezra’s face.

“Um, Ez?”

“Yeah?”

“I have a confession to make.” Apollo’s fingers began to tap against his thigh.

“You’re secretly married and I’m going to be your mister.”

Apollo laughed. “That’s surprisingly close, but no. Well, I mean, kinda? But not really.”

“Now you really have to tell me.”

Apollo’s hand moved from tapping his thigh to running his thumb over the edges of his nails.“I’m polyamorous.”

Ezra blinked, but Apollo rushed on.

“I know. I’m sorry. I really hope you don’t think I was stringing you along. Because I do really like you.”

“Do you-”

“Have a boyfriend? Yeah. His name is Ilya. I hope that’s okay?” Apollo hung his head, heartbeat throbbing against his chest.

“Wow. That’s uh, I was just joking when I said that.”

“I know, but you were really close to the truth.”

“Closer than I expected.”

“Much closer.”

“Well fuck. Okay. If we’re dropping bombs, I guess I should share mine, too.” Ezra took a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m trans.”

Without hesitation, Apollo’s face split into a grin. “Hell yeah! One of my little sisters is trans, too. Her name is Abigail. Maybe you could meet her someday.”

“You took that surprisingly well.”

“And you took me being poly surprisingly well.”

“About that,” Ezra said.

All of the air went out of Apollo. His smile disappeared, heart falling to his feet. This is it. This is where he leaves. Fuck!

“When would I get to meet your boyfriend?”

Apollo blinked, trying to reign in his hopes. “Whenever you want. If you want, that is.”

Ezra chewed his lip. “The thing is, Apollo. I’ve never been with someone that’s poly. Hell, I’ve never even met someone that’s poly. Or at least not that I know of. But I do like you. I do. Does he even know about me?”

“I told them yesterday. Kendrick, Ilya’s boyfriend, is the one who found your note in the bag. That was clever, by the way.”

“Hold on. Let me see if I’m following along correctly. You’re dating Ilya, who is dating Kendrick?”

“Yeah.”

“But you and Kendrick aren’t together?”

“Not romantically, no.” Apollo scuffed the toe of his shoe against the ground. “Kendrick and I have known each other since we were kids. He’s my best friend. But, we do sleep together.”

Ezra frowned. “Wow.”

“I know,” Apollo mumbled.

“Where do I fit into this?”

Apollo finally looked up. “I like you, Ezra. I want to keep getting to know you. You don’t really need to worry about Kendrick, he’s not interested in anyone that isn’t Ilya.”

“Except when he’s fucking you.”

“Except then.”

“And Ilya?”

“He’s fine with it. We want each other to be happy. That’s the most important thing for us.”

Ezra nodded. “That’s good. Happiness is important.”

“I want you to be happy, too. Whatever that means for you. For us.”

Ezra’s mouth twisted. “I’m going to need some time to process all of this. It’s.. it’s a lot to take in.”

Apollo nodded. Nervous fingers were clenched into fists to steady them. “I understand.”

“I’ll text you in a few days. Is that alright?”

“Yeah. Sorry to drop all of this on you, but I thought now would be a good time to bring it up.”

“It was. I’ll talk to you soon, though.”

“Talk to you soon.”

Apollo stepped back so that Ezra could get in his car. He waited until the engine started before he moved out of the way and crossed the parking lot to his own car.

Alone, he couldn’t breathe anything that wasn’t Ezra’s scent. It clung to his clothes, the inside of his car, his heart. He inhaled deeply. For just a minute he let himself close his eyes and daydream. Let himself get swept up in every little moment of the breakfast they had shared. That, at least, was worth remembering.

Finally, he pulled himself back to the present and started his car.