#that duo who everyone assumes are a couple because they might as well be but nah

[catsharky]

Yeah I was right and there was no way I was getting the rest of this done without making you all wait another month or two, so I just went to the next good break point. We're officially past the halfway point with Astarion though, so not too much longer before you actually get to see Rolan again!

Part 1 • Previous Part • Next Part

Full page format under the cut:

[xailey56]

While I’m on the subject, because I didn’t know that much about Jaiden and Roier in the begining they were one of the pairs that made me think that maybe the pairs actually were random rather than being prepicked out or at least made me think that only a few of the pairs were planned and the rest random but now I’m thinking that all of the pairs were preselected by presumably Quackity and the pairs that ended up not really working out (ie Fit and Spreen or Dan and Maxo) only didn’t really work out because of the nature of the egg event. 

Quackity has said that he didn’t really expect the egg event to end up like this, that he didn’t expect everyone to get this attached and what I think he was probably assuming was that the players would treat the eggs more like a pet, essentially like a tamagotchi and that the event would be more low key. And maybe it would have been if the eggs were just mobs, but instead the eggs from the beginning have been extremely child coded and having real people who can talk even if it is only using signs just cemented them as the players children.

 Assuming that Quackity was trying to optimize the pairs for the best potential for interesting interactions that are fun to watch or people he thought would get along really well, maybe he was exactly on the money about the pairs that didn’t really end up spending that much time with each other but because of the nature of the event we didn’t really get to see that dynamic explored.

For example I believe Spreen has basically said he isn’t really that interested in the egg event, that he doesn’t really want to roleplay an egg dad and that’s totally fine. Most of the players have ended up being drawn in by the event, but it’s understandable that it wouldn’t be for everyone. But because of this I can’t help but wonder how things would have panned out if the event was something completely different. Using Spreen as an example again maybe he and Fit would have made a really fun duo in a different kind of event and they could have had a really interesting dynamic. They’re another pair that I don’t really know a lot about either of them, but I think I saw that Spreen is a good pvper and Fit is known for tb2t content so I can definitely think of some event types where that would make for a very interesting dynamic.

On the flip side I’m also wondering if the event was different would some of the pairs that work really well together now have a different dynamic or not work as well in that different event. Like would Slime and Mariana still be playing a couple constantly on the verge of divorce who can’t stop having weird live Minecraft sex? I feel like probably not, but what even would their dynamic look like without it. Or Foolish and Vegetta? Would their dynamic be similar because they were already starting to get along and are the builders of the server or would it be different? Would Bad have actually gotten paired with Luzu (like he should have because of the rules of the event) since this hypothetical event might not have leant itself to creating potential shippable pairs as well as being literal parents does and Quackity wouldn’t have had an excuse to play up a potential love triangle between him and two people he’s already shipped with. What would that dynamic have even looked like?

I don’t know, this is just something I’ve been thinking about because I just feel like for a lot of the pairs they work too well for them to have been random and I really feel like Quackity knew what he was doing and thanks to it we have some really amazing interactions between the various members of the server.

[teapotteringabout]

Stingray Ep 3 - Sea of Oil

Ironically, oil famously doesn’t mix well with water yet it makes quite a good Stingray episode. It’s not a name that’s aged particularly well, especially in a world of Just Stop Oil and Deepwater Horizon disasters. You’ll be glad to know that this is the first of my much shorter reviews as we’re starting to get into the general rhythm of Stingray. Underwater duo attack something, Stingray investigates, they tussle with duo. Today an oil rig is attacked and of course this is the worst thing to happen in the history of humanity ever. We do have to remember that this was made in the early 1960s when environmentalism wasn’t quite the thing it is today.

Now, the reason I rank this episode so highly is because of Atlanta, and certainly because of the dynamic between her, Troy and Marina. Bear with me here.

We open with a very satisfying scene of an oil rig getting destroyed (just because the effects are so well done). Stingray is deployed to investigate and Atlanta’s come along for the ride to establish a surface base. Troy seems a little awkward about this arrangement.

I like to think that it’s because it’s dangerous work and he doesn’t want her getting hurt. That might be me snorting cope. But you can see why it’s so easy to call Troy a two-timer. I do hate that for him, and I hate him for that.

Also isn't it interesting that Atlanta's here, so Marina has her arm on Phones. Intriguing hmmmm

So with that in mind, lets have a look at this wonderful exchange between Team Stingray and Team Oil Rig.

It’s actually canon and acknowledged that Troy and Atlanta are a couple and Troy knows he’s a lucky man for it. So a couple episodes later the character assassination is just tragic.

Anyway, Preston the Oil Rig man is a smooth talker.

1960s everyone. I think this is a good time to point out that the dur hur I love silent women joke isn’t actually that prevalent in the series. We’ll hear it a couple of times from Commander Shore, but that’s all, and he’s the older gent of the group who might be more prone to making outdated jokes. Troy and Phones certainly don’t make such jokes at any point in the series, and that knowledge really does make my heart swell.

We see what they’ve been deployed to do – Stingray guards the drill while it’s active and Atlanta relays instructions from the rig. The enemy craft of the week does get picked up on the hydrophones, but Phones quickly loses it and it’s assumed to be an echo from the drill. I like that this is included, showing that the enemy is always there and is observing, and their spotting Stingray dictates their next actions.

When the work is done for the day, the lads catch up with Preston the Oilman and it’s here that we’re introduced to Oink the seal.

Just as in previous Gerry Anderson productions (Bobby and Mitch in Supercar and Venus and Zoonie in Fireball XL5) we now get an animal companion duo in Marina and Oink. I can only imagine how many lozenges David Graham needed after voicing Oink, but not as many as Zoonie – because while Zoonie is there for the entire Fireball series, Oink will vanish about halfway through. And thank Cod for that. Oink looks cute, but I cannot stand his vocals and he adds nothing to the story. If anything, he makes things more confusing, which I’ll get to in a couple posts time. He would have been much better off making a one-off appearance in this episode because this is the best performance he gives – we’ll get to that soon.

For all my irritation at this character, I do love his puppetry. Look at this good boi.

Unbenownst to the gang, evil submarine hides underneath Stingray, and that night, an evil pair of evil green arms plant an evil stickerbomb on the hull. It's one of the rare occasions where the puppetry leaves a bit to be desired. I think a live-action close-up shot would have been better.

Troy and Phones have a nice little exchange about Marina sitting on the deck enjoying the ocean view. I love the implication that Phones is a chatty guy come bedtime and Troy, as we'll see often in the series, loooooves sleep.

Atlanta is sleeping aboard Stingray when she’s kidnapped by some wet footprints. Marina is sitting on the hull of Stingray’s nose at the time, and so witnesses the event. I can only assume someone got aboard Stingray without her knowing by using the aft hatch which someone left open? Because for security reasons I would assume random people can’t just open submarine hatches from the outside??

Anyway, we get our first proper shot of Marina swimming underwater and the effect is beautiful. In addition to being filmed through a thin fishtank like all the underwater shots, a fan is blown to simulate her hair and dress flowing through water.

In terms of Marina's actions, when I first watched this, I thought we’d still get that bitchy girl rivalry, and Marina would be like “oh what a shame, Atlanta’s gone, want me to keep you company, Troy?” and when Atlanta is inevitably rescued, the whole escapade is laughed off in an “aren’t these girls crazy over you, Troy?” kind of way. But, thank Teufel, no. Marina immediately sounds the alarm.

I just love that it’s Phones who’s straight into action and Troy “Action Man” Tempest is 14-year-old me at 11am.

Anyway, he’s all battle stations go when he learns that Atlanta’s been kidnapped. I love the urgency in his voice, how he’s demanding to know what happened and urging that they need to find her immediately.

They start submerging and the sticker bomb is triggered to explode when it does. Thankfully, Stingray’s instruments pick up a fault with the Surface Video Scanner or SVS (the periscope thingy) so the dive has to be aborted. Upon investigation, it’s because Oink is sat in front of the SVS lens, blocking its view. He’s also found the sticker bomb.

The Stingray crew manage to dive out of the way of the ensuing explosion and at first they assume Oink has been killed. I’m glad he wasn’t, as animal death is very dark for most Anderson shows, but I do wonder how a whole seal managed to get inside Stingray without anyone noticing. Anyway, as I said earlier, this is the one time Oink does anything substantial – he accidentally saves the Stingray from being blown up by a sticker bomb that Mr Wet Footprints had left on the hull.

Let’s get back to Atlanta, and for me the highlight of the episode. She reasons with her kidnappers – Nefir and Gerit – and we learn that it’s all a big misunderstanding. They thought the drilling was an attack on their home, not just a harmless oil rig. Whoever got hurt from an oil rig? In fact, they’ve got oil for miles in their home that they’d gladly share with the humans. Sweet!

Seriously though, look at the detail of the set when their craft is transported on a monorail over a whole lake of bubbling, steaming oil. I don’t think oil ought to be hot when drilled, but I digress. It’s even dripping down the walls of the cavern.

And look at the interior of their base. Like Titanica and several other bases we'll see, this new colour TV tech has made brightly coloured villain lairs the in-thing. I'd love to know why these guys have what a mural of a green-haired hollow-eyed tits-out lady. Presumably she's a deity. It's little tit-bits of worldbuilding that make many of these undersea races really come alive.

Nefir (bearded dude) and Gerit (clean-shaven dude), despite planting a bomb on Stingray, do turn out to be quite sweet dudes. They even appear to give Atlanta a shawl and apologise and comfort her when they hear the bomb explode, assuming Stingray has been blown up.

Also when the sticker bomb explodes, it’s heard down here too and Atlanta’s little devastated gasp of “Oh! Troy!” is so well-acted by Lois Maxwell. Like you can really hear the despair and shock in her voice. Lois Maxwell is a star and this won’t be the last time I simp over her.

It’s quickly established that Stingray has survived the explosion, and though Atlanta, Nefir and Gerit are overjoyed and relieved, they quickly realise they have a new problem – when Stingray finds the entrance to their cave door, Troy will try to rescue Atlanta via the Michael Bay Method of blowing shit up, and that’s not so great for a civilisation sitting on an oil well. Also, as Nefir states, the “mighty ocean will rush in”, which could indicate that this race of people can’t actually breathe underwater. Sure, water rushing in quickly could well crush any marine being, or smack them with debris. But we do actually meet other undersea races who can’t breathe underwater so I like to think this is one of them.

The underwater technology is so different to Terranean equipment that there is no way they can stop the attack or tell Troy that Atlanta is safe. As such, Atlanta bravely urges Gerit to take her on his ship and try and stop them. It’s a huge risk as without any way to communicate, they would be interpreted as an enemy and blown up, but the alternative is certain death when Stingray locates their city. It all makes Troy sound quite extreme actually. Shoot first, ask where Atlanta is later, especially on a craft that won’t be threatening them in any way, or you have no actual proof is involved.

In any case, Atlanta and Gerit go back out in their submarine to try and stop Stingray. There’s a wonderfully tense scene where Phones has picked up their echo and starts counting down to their firing distance. It’s then that Atlanta comes up with the genius idea that if she uses the motors to send a Morse Code message, Phones would hear it on the hydrophones. This is objectively brilliant. It’s using these two characters’ core skillset perfectly and it’s pretty much the only time that Troy is not the hero of the day. Enjoy it while it lasts.

There’s no music at all while Atlanta relays her message with the motors, and, heartbreakingly, it seems to be too late as Phones reaches zero and gives the command to fire.

THEN he hears the message through his hydrophones, and gives the urgent command to destroy the sting missile remotely.

I love that as well as the hydrophone 'pings', you can also hear Atlanta's message through Phones's headset.

All’s well that ends well, with Troy and co meeting Nefir and Gerit properly. Nefir also has an odd remark at the end: “especially when we nearly cost you your wives”. Now, after some confusion from Troy, it’s established that he meant ‘lives’. That’s fine, English is unlikely to be your first language when you’re a literal sub-seabed race. Firstly, I would say an apology is warranted on Troy’s side too, for nearly killing Atlanta and Gerit. Secondly, I can’t help but wonder if ‘wives’ was the word specifically chosen for the script because we’re still very much in Troy’s questionable triangle era.

Anyway, we wrap up the episode with a scene that made me spit out my tea when I first saw it.

Is that oil or are you pleased to see me?

As a while, this episode is a solid A for Atlanta. S for Star, because she is one. She’s calm and brave, risking her life to go in the submarine to try and contact Stingray, and clever to message them in an unconventional way. This is the first ‘Atlanta centric’ episode and believe me, they tend to be absolute bangers.

The show at this point continued to subvert my expectations with Marina going out of her way to kick-off Atlanta's rescue rather than maintain a bitchy rivalry. Oink, as annoying as he is, is cute and at his most useful to the plot in this episode. We also have our first glimpse of an underwater race that isn't Titan's lot or Pacificans, and though in fitire episodes these other races will be fully villains, it's lovely to see friendly ones who want to befriend the humans, and the Stingray crew acting as less a military force and more a PR link between sea and land.

Remember when I said this would be a shorter review?

[adultswim2021]

Moral Orel #26: “School Pageant” | June 9, 2007 - 12:15AM | S02E16

This one’s wonderful. There’s a school pageant at Orel’s school about the life of Jesus. Orel assumes he’s a shoe-in for the lead (as does everyone else). But the part of Jesus goes to one of the Jews-for-Jesus clan after the writer/director finds out he’s the nephew of a famous Broadway producer. The writer/director of this play, by the way, is Dale Armature, a former member of the Crucifolks. They’re a famous christian folk band that have been previously seen in the series on posters and stuff around Moralton. He was basically forced out by the other two, a youthful couple who broke up the band and reformed as a solo duo. Dale is desperate to find success again, and it’s shown that he pined after the young woman in the group, holding out hope that one day she would be his. The stakes could not be higher for this poor sap.

Orel gets wrapped up in all of this because, although he’s the favorite to be cast as Jesus, he winds up playing Judas. After receiving a pep talk from Dale (which drives home the idea that Judas is a very important figure in Christianity, perhaps even part of God’s plan?), Orel learns to love playing Judas. In fact his genuinely delightful song “God, I hate you, Jesus” easily steals the show, and becomes the only memorable bit from the play.

Things don’t end up going Dale’s way. The play is recognized as a flop, and he makes a fool out of himself in front of his former partners, as well as the famous Broadway producer. Then there’s a montage of various townspeople, weeks into the future, all cheerily singing Orel’s “God, I hate you, Jesus” song. The final scene is an entire church congregation singing along to it. The camera pushes in on Orel’s face. He chuckles to himself: “wow, everybody sure hates Jesus! …whoops.” 

This one’s just really fast-paced and well-made, and it’s centered around a very fun song that is actually quite catchy. It’s nearly a self-contained episode, though there are certain things about Moralton that might puzzle first-time viewers. Example: there’s one moment that references a previous episode where reverend putty is trying to pitch the concept of an “omelet face mask” to Dale. This is a reference to the episode “Loyal” where the reverend first thinks this idea up and really falls in love with it, and he takes time to derail his sermon just to write it down and pat himself on the back. It’s one of the more pathetic things he’s done; attempt to home this extremely tepid joke into a play because he lacks any other creative talent. I can relate. Whoops.

[mimikyuvelcro]

What if all the other Hermits were in Double Life?

Ever since Double Life started, whenever I watch one of the Hermits who isn't in it, I keep finding myself wondering what it would have been like if they had joined. And more specifically, who would they be soulbound to?

So, I decided to find out for myself! I'm going off the assumption that the selction of Soulmates was truly random and so I did what was basically the virtual version of pulling names out of a hat. I took the names of every Hermit who isn't in Double Life, and put then in a list on a random item picker website. I then had it pull one name at a time, and I deleted each name from the list as I went to avoid anyone being pulled twice. To keep things fair I only did the process once and didn't reroll at any point. 

This list assumes that the current Soulbounds on Double Life would remain the same, so all the participating members of Double Life are not included here. Because the number of non-participating Hermits was an odd number, I included Skizzleman as well. If you would have rather seen LDShadowLady in this list you can just swap Skizz for her. 

Without further ado, here's the list!

GeminiTay & Cubfan135

Docm77 & Xisumavoid

XBCrafted & Iskall85

FalseSymmetry & Stressmonster101

VintageBeef & WelsKnight 

Keralis & Skizzleman 

Tinfoilchef & JoeHills 

MumboJumbo & Hypnotizd 

iJevin & ZedaphPlays 

I really love how this list came out. There's a great mixture of potential dynamics here, ranging from people who would immediately be power couples to people that would probably be disasters. And of course, plenty of chaos. Here's my thoughts on some of the pairs! I'm far from a HermitCraft historian, so I'm sorry if I don't know about any previous interactions Hermits have had and completely misread their dynamic. This is just more going off vibes anyway.

Gem & Cub

I don't know why, but my immediate gut reaction is that they would not get along. Gem would probably end up joining one of the other pairs instead, either Scott and Cleo for the gay and single alliance, or Stress and False for the girlboss energy. Cub would ally with Doc and Xisuma for ultimate destruction capabilities. 

Doc & Xisuma

Power couple. Everyone will fear them, and rightfully so. Sure, Xisuma is a sweetheart and Doc isn't that bad (or so he says). But their skills and dedication combined together would be an absolutely deadly force. That is, until they inevitably mess up one of their own intricate traps and end up being one of the first duos eliminated. 

XB & Iskall

These two would start off super excited to be Soulbound, and would work together great at first. But things would pretty quickly fall apart between them. They'd probably still work together for the sake of practicality, but they'd be snippy the whole time. I picture them pulling an Etho and Bdubs in Last Life by dividing their base directly down the middle. Iskall would try to buddy up with Stress, but she wouldn't be interested. 

False & Stress

OTP. Absolute besties, would have total lesbian couple girlboss energy the entire time. Would also be complete gremlins and mess with everyone else constantly. This might end up painting a target on their back, but they also would be strong contenders to be the winning team. 

Beef & Wels

Would have the most normal, drama free relationship of everyone. Not madly in love or hating each other, just two dudes being bros and chilling.  

Keralis & Skizz

Constant comedy. Would regularly get into disagreements, but nothing that would ever drive a wedge between them because they'd end up just laughing it off. Would try to homewreck other teams.

TFC & JoeHills

They'd quickly come up with an arrangement where TFC would mine for resources, and Joe would find creative ways to sell them to people. They might end up becoming a target, especially once people start going red, because of their accumulated wealth. Joe may also end up being tricked by Scar into doing something that would cause his death.

Mumbo & Hypno

Would be excited to work together, but Grian would constantly be trying to win Mumbo over, and it would absolutely become a tension point between them because Mumbo would claim to be loyal to Hypno while also constantly running off to do things with Grian. 

Jevin & Zedaph

These two would be the type of pair that despite their individual brilliance, would have -1 brain cells when working together. They'd have all the greatest "what could possibly go wrong?" schemes. Would either be the first team to lose or would somehow manage to win by sheer dumb luck. 

This was a ton of fun to do, and I might do some variations, maybe doing some new rolls on the current Double Life cast, or using all the Hermits and the Double Life Cast together. Also I'm really sorry if someone else has done this already and I unintentionally stole the idea!

[mcmoth]

Dream SMP fandom etiquette

So. This post is probably too little, too late, considering the fandom and the issues I'm about to talk about have existed for so long now, and a lot of the people who need to hear this probably aren't on tumblr anyways, but I just wanted to dedicate a quick post to talk about fandom etiquette. Mostly pertaining to discourse, and interactions with people outside of our circle. These are just going to be my own personal thoughts, of course, but I felt it could be good to bring some of this to attention. So without further introduction:

Where to (not) talk about discourse:

Don't go into other streamer's vods to only focus about a different character. If you want to analyse, for example, c!Techno, do it in Techno's stream. Don't go into unrelated streams, like Tommy's, Tubbo's etc. to do it, even if they were a part of the event in question. This is, of course, with the exception if the character in question didn't stream their own pov. But otherwise, stay in your own space. This is to prevent cluttering a streamer's comments about unrelated discussion. To give further example: Tubbo's vod comments should primarily focus on Tubbo's character. Not Tommy's, Ranboo's, Techno's or whoever else's.

Don't start discourse in the comments of animatics. Seriously, stop that. Animatics aren't discussion boards. The comments are there to analyse and appreciate the video presented, not argue. It's especially rude if you pick a small detail, that wasn't even the focus of the animatic, or even a completely unrelated issue to rant out your frustrations about. To give examples: starting disc discourse in an animatic of Tommy talking to Wilbur, or rambling about how tragic Techno's character is in an animatic focused on clingy duo, etc.

This applies to fan songs as well.

Video essays are the exception to these rules. I think it's safe to say they're the place to bring your hot takes, if you really feel so inclined to argue in youtube comment sections (Though I'd personally advise to still keep the topic relevant).

Keep negativity out of fanfic comments. This isn't nearly as big of an issue as the last points, but I've seen it happen a couple times, so I'm deciding to mention it. Fanfics are written for fun. Even if you disagree with the characterisation or something else, unless the author is clear in accepting critique, keep criticism to yourself. And definitely don't rant about how you dislike a character unrelated to the fanfic. Sharing your thoughts on the fanfic itself is of course fine and welcomed, but when it turns from discussing the author's story to talking about how you dislike a character in canon, that's when it crosses a line. Example: comment talking about what you don't like about c!Tommy on a Bench Trio fanfiction.

When commenting on art, keep the feedback positive. Even if you dislike any presented character, keep that to yourself. Example: Don't say things like "I hate x character, but this art is good". You might think the author would feel honoured, but it's actually just hurtful.

How to deal with discourse:

This is gonna be a shorter section, because I think we all chose to do it in different ways, and that's valid. Also, it's just that I, myself, am still learning how to do this well, but I thought it could be good to try to lay it out anyways.

Try to scroll past takes you disagree with instead of arguing if you don't think you'd be able to keep your cool. Noone likes a random person yelling at them through a screen, and if you rant, you'll get an equally frustrated reply back, and noone will be happy. Either explain your point in a calm manner, or scroll past/ unfollow/block.

On the keeping cool thing, remember to just step away. Take a deep breath and calm yourself down before proceeding. To minimize the frustration you feel on a daily basis, filter tags, block people, avoid videos and youtube comment sections that you know will upset you, and leave certain internet spaces if you find yourself unable to escape negativity even with all those steps. Remember: in the end, it's all a game played by friends, a story, and your enjoyment of it lies in what you take from it. Abandon what makes you unhappy. Marie Kondo your fandom experience.

Also, here's your reminder, to whom this is relevant, to take care of yourself. Hydrate, eat, sleep, clean up, get fresh air, remember the things outside of all this. There's plenty to do outside of this fandom, and what you can do here can wait. There is no pressure, or obligation. Not for the content you create, not for the discussions you bring, not for responding to discourse, not for anything. Fandom is meant purely for fun, so take care <3

Interacting with people outside of the fandom:

This is something that I've seen a bit of talk about, and I thought I'd drop in my own thoughts on this as well. No matter the differences, we're all just trying to vibe, and I think these are important things to keep in mind to leave both sides better off:

Don't interact with hate posts. Just don't. You don't want to see them, they don't want to see you. Even if your response is lighthearted, their animosity is not. They will feel frustrated regardless, and the grudge will only grow. And if they're being agressive, calm discussion most likely won't happen even if you're being polite. Just leave it, please.

Correct misinformation calmly. I completely get how it can be frustrating to see blatant lies and all, but with our reputation, people will not listen if you're being antagonistic. Provide sources, explain, and leave it at that.

Don't be hateful, send death threats, or assume privilege or whatever else. That's stepping into the same shoes of the people you hate. Misunderstandings go both ways, and the fact of the matter is, I think most people who dislike DSMP, even the ones who are agressive about it, don't have their stance rooted in maliciousness. To expand on why the situation became what it is today, taken from a discussion on discord:

I think it's just a combination of Dream growing so insanely quickly + how internet spaces have changed over the years. When ccs like jackstepticeye or pewdiepie etc. grew popular, activism wasn't as prevalent and held to such importance. Now it's thankfully more talked about, but that also leads to Dream being more scrutinized in comparision. Add twitter trends and the general prevalence of the fandom, and you've got everyone feeling tired and frustrated and paranoid. People also tend not to fact check stuff, especially when it comes to celebrities and stuff they're not really interested in, so rumors spread fast.

And actually, I think there's absolutely valid reasons to be made uncomfortable by Dream SMP, either in it's creators, content or fandom, and there is, of course, stuff to criticise in general. The problem is the hate and misinformation and overexposure, but we are not going to solve any of that by being aggressive in return.

(This is, by the way, not talking about more serious cases. Like doxxing, or leaving gore images in hashtags, or similar instances. That's a whole different complicated issue that I don't feel qualified to tackle.)

And finally, don't overwhelm outsiders who merely mention the Dream SMP. Don't send asks asking them to watch it, don't write paragraphs explaining the lore, don't confuse them with inside jokes, just... Don't jump on people like that. Unless they're explicitly clear in wanting interaction and getting into the fandom, that kind of thing will just drive them away. This is in no way exclusive to the Dream SMP fandom, pretty much every fandom has people enthiastic to have more people involved, but since there are so unbelievably many of us, it's especially easy to go overboard with this stuff. Just... be polite, and don't pressure anyone. Be nice, please.

So.... ya! This would be it for this one, I think. Sorry that it's kinda long, thank you if you read it at all. Hope y'all have pleasant days ^^

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

OHSHC: Mitsukuni (Honey) x Fem!Reader Fluff

A/N: Okay so this was something I wrote WAY back in 2013 when I was obsessed with Ouran Highschool Host Club. So I did make a bunch of revisions (like fixing typos and changing up some of the events that occur).

But if you wanna read the original check it out on my DeviantArt!

Welp, hope ya'll enjoy this!

It was a lovely Friday afternoon. School was out and most students were eager to go home. 

But you, on the other hand, decided to visit the Host Club for a few hours. You always looked forward going to it everyday after school, though not just because you desperately wanted to be swooned by handsome men.

You just liked to observe the hosts indulging in their element, be it Tamaki’s flamboyant acts or the Hitachiin twins’ performances. All the while, you drank tea and ate delicious pastries whilst chatting with other ladies who babbled about their crushes.

Most had their eyes on Tamaki, for obvious reasons, but for you there was a different host that stole your heart every time, without fail:

Mitsukuni, or “Honey” as everyone liked to call him. 

You did have a slight crush on him, considering you both shared classes and hung-out quite often on the weekends. But even after all the years you’ve known him, you never actually acted on this crush, not wanting to take away his duties as a host.

Besides he might treat you extra “sweetly”, but you assumed he was like this with all the other girls.

Unbeknownst to you, however, Honey didn't see you the same way as he saw them. To him you weren't just another visitor to entertain.

He saw you as something, well, more.

........

'Okay this wasn't...what I expected. But I guess I'll have to stay for a little while longer..' You sighed as you looked down at the blonde who was now laying on your lap.

Honey must've had a sugar crash, since he fell asleep on the same sofa you so-happened to be on, even though the club meeting had ended fifteen minutes ago.

'Poor guy must be tired, running around and entertaining..he deserves at least this.' Relaxing back against the sofa, you gently stroked his hair with one hand, and kept Usa-chan wrapped around your free arm. You were sure he wouldn't mind it, given that he's let you hold it before.

All the while, you hummed a gentle song, taking note of the tiny smile that adorned his sleeping face. You knew very well that you shouldn't move, but you didn't mind it. 

Being able to get this close to him made it worthwhile.

Haruhi, Mori, and Kyoya would glance over every so often while they were cleaning up, smiling at the scene. Meanwhile, Tamaki and the twins were hiding behind a nearby couch, looking at you with comically-wide eyes. They wondered how you've managed to not wake up Honey at all, and how you were so calm.

You looked over and gave them a bemused smile, waving politely. Honestly you didn't know what their deal was. They were staring at you like you were about to invoke the wrath of god.

Or in this case the wrath of the loli-shota.

"H-How does [y/n] do that?" The frenchman stammered as he gazed at the twins.

""It must be Nekozawa's sleeping magic. Maybe she's in cahoots with him."" The brothers replied, trembling too.

"You guys are acting insane." Haruhi sighed as she walked past the three with a porcelain tray in her hands. "She’s known Honey-senpai for years, so..it's obvious they're close. Doesn’t take a genius to know why she’s not afraid of him.”

"But why does she keep choosing him every time she visits?!! A-Am I somehow unworthy?!!" Tamaki cried out, already tearing up. "It makes no sense!! Mommy!! What do you make of this?!!" He swung his head to the already-annoyed Kyoya.

"Tamaki..our job here at the club is to make every girl happy, right? That includes Miss [L/n]-"

"B-But-But..she could at least give me a cha--!!"

"If you'll let me finish..." The black-haired male huffed. "Like every girl here, she has the right to choose whichever host she desires. You don't get to make that decision for her. So I suggest you keep it down, lest you wake up Honey-senpai." Fixing his glasses, he turned back to his laptop, ending the conversation.

Tamaki pouted in defeat and got up from his hiding spot. The twins followed him to where you sat and crouched down, now more curious than fearful.

"Gentlemen." You sighed quietly, waiting for them to get to the point so they could leave you alone.

"How are you able to keep so calm??" Hikaru hissed.

"We told you how he acts when his nap is disturbed.” Kaoru added. “You’re taking a big risk-”

“You’re overreacting a bit.” Finding it hard not to chuckle at their bewildered expressions, you kept your gaze on Honey instead. "I see no reason to be terrified of him waking up from a nap. People get cranky after naps all the time. But they eventually get over it, don't they?"

Then you glanced back up at the three, smiling reassuringly. "I do believe that little “horror story” you told me. But don't worry, if anything happens I'll protect you guys, okay? Nothing bad will happen to anyone here...especially not Honey.” You patted the sleeping blonde’s head.

The twins were relieved--moved, even--by your response, but Tamaki on the other hand seemed a bit freaked out by your promise to protect them. He tried grabbing your shoulders to yell about how “guys should protect girls, not the other way around”, though the duo managed to restrain him.

"B-Boss!! Cut it out!"

"You're gonna wake him!!!"

Unfortunately, the commotion they were making was exactly what stirred Honey from his rest. The three hosts immediately retreated back to their hiding place, expecting their fellow club member to awaken in rage.

But all he did was open his eyes and rub them tiredly. 

"Morning, Hon." You chuckled, ruffling his hair lightly.

As he realized you were still in the same spot as before, he smiled up at you. "Did I really sleep all night, [y/n]-chan?"

"No, only for a little while." You allowed him to sit up, and you handed him Usa-chan. "Have any good dreams?"

"Hmm..yeah, I did." Honey took his rabbit plushie, legs swinging as he tried to recall the details. "I..we were at a fair with lots of cake and ice cream! Then I...o-on the ferris wheel I might've..." He hugged the rabbit closer, to the point of hiding his blushing face.

You tilted your head in curiosity. "Might've what?"

"A-Asked you out and..and k-kissed you."

His response stunned you, and you could feel your heart skip several beats. In truth you've had similar dreams, although you never did get to the kissing part--instead you'd wake up with disappointment, never knowing if he accepted your confession.

"You know I dreamed of that, too. But..I never knew what your answer would be." You sighed despondently. "No matter how much I try to fall back asleep..I can't finish that dream. It's a shame.."

He shyly looked up at you, and he set down Usa-chan before taking your hands into his own. You gazed at him with surprise, wondering what he was going to do. "Honey? What-?"

His face inched closer to yours, and before you knew it, he kissed you perfectly on the lips.

Yep! Right here and right now he was kissing you!

The kiss tasted sweet, much like his personality and all those desserts he's had throughout the day. And you were in shock that this was really happening, but you smiled into the kiss, wanting to return it before he got the wrong idea.

When you both broke apart, Honey's eyes were large and tearful. But they were happy tears. "Y-You really do like me? But..I-I thought...I was too-"

"Honey, there's nothing about you that I don't love." You chuckled. "You're a good-hearted, smart, strong, and kind man. And that's all I could ever ask for. We've been great friends for a while and...the fact we share the same dreams must mean something."

"Something like...u-us being a couple, right?"

"Exactly, and right now..I wanna make those dreams a reality. Will you help me make them so?"

He was so overjoyed that he embraced you tightly, nearly crushing your spine. But you hugged him back, resting your chin on top of his head. You could feel his vigorous nod and knew that this is what he wanted for so long.

Of course he was probably still worried about his position as a host, so you looked to the others in question. "A-Ah..I meant to ask-"

"I see no issue with this," Kyoka smiled lightly. "I trust that this newly-blossoming relationship will not interfere with club activities."

""We knew you two were gonna get together eventually."" The twins spoke in unison once more, although they were just glad that Honey didn't snap at anyone this time.

Haruhi and Mori only flashed smiles at you two, the latter happy about his cousin finally confessing to the one he loved. He’s known about it longer than anyone at the club.

Once you let go of Honey, he jumped up and grabbed your hands, pulling you to your feet. "Takashi!! Can [y/n] come over for the weekend??"

"Sure, why not?" The tall male nodded.

"Yaaaay--huh? Tama-chan?" Honey blinked as he noticed the only one who didn't react positively was the club leader himself, who was sulking in the corner. "Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"Yes..I'd say we're all done here," he sighed in an exasperated tone. "If [y/n]'s happiness lies with Honey-senpai then...that's how it is, I guess. The host club is dismissed. You’re all free to leave now."

Of course, that wasn't the kind of send-off anyone expected. But the other hosts left, figuring Tamaki would eventually get over it. Though you told Honey to wait outside for a moment, not wanting to end this day on a sour note.

You reentered the now empty music room, seeing the princely-type staring out the window solemnly. Part of you felt guilty for not spending more time with him, even though he was often a nuisance trying to steal your attention.

"Hey, Tamaki-senpai..I have a feeling I somehow offended you by choosing Honey over you. And I'm sorry-"

"Nonsense." He glanced back at you, the brightness returning to his violet eyes. "I'm so obsessed with trying to charm every lady that it turned me into a blind fool. Until now I never realized that, in the end, it's what makes you happy, not me. I won't get in the way of your relationship with Honey-senpai. Cross my heart."

He made a gesture to seal that promise, smiling softly. "I mean it. I'm very happy for you two and I wish you all the best."

Knowing that he wasn't angry or upset anymore, you smiled and rewarded the "king" with a peck on the cheek. He gasped lightly and stared at you, touching the spot where you kissed him.

"Thank you. It's because of you and this club that I got to know Honey even more so...I owe you at least this. Have a good weekend." You winked before you turned on your heel and ran after your new boyfriend, leaving an incredibly flustered Tamaki alone in the room.

'Ahaha..her heart may belong to another, but she took the time to repair mine.’

[drowningindango]

Gen Swap AU (masterpost)

This is an overview for the AU as a whole. (Will be updated if there are changes or additions.)

Setting: It’s not a complete “swap”, but actually just takes the entire Founder generation and moves them into the present. (There is the fun implication that the village was built by a warring states version of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke instead, but shhhhh. That’s an entirely different story. We avoid all thoughts on who created Konoha here. Regardless of what happened in the past, Team 7 still exists as normal in their own time as well. Maybe they were reincarnated.)

The main focus is technically on Madara and Obito, but the world building is so fun to explore that everyone else gets to shine as well.

This is a happier timeline and most of the tragic events do not happen/happen differently.

Relationships:

Family:

In this AU, Mikoto is Tajima’s oldest daughter. That means, as Mikoto’s younger brothers, Madara and Izuna are directly related to Sasuke. They are his uncles and Tajima is Sasuke’s grandfather.

I might add Madara’s other siblings later, if I find the time to make the appropriate OCs. They are all alive.

Hashirama’s siblings are all alive too.

Genin teams:

Madara, Mito and Hashirama are in one team. Kushina is the jounin acting as their leader and teacher while they are genin.

Tobirama, Touka and Izuna are in one team.

Friendships:

Obviously the genin teams mentioned above grow into close friendships.

Butsuma and Tajima are cranky old men who meet up regularly to exchange gossip.

Madara and Gai are a duo of chaos that should not be left unsupervised. Equally enthusiastic to challenge each other.

Mikoto and Kushina are both alive and close friends.

Romantic relationships:

MadaObi: The whole AU was initially made for this ship. Obito and Madara have vaguely known each other since childhood. Obito starts a somewhat one sided rivalry that turns serious the more he grows in skill when he’s older and somewhere along the way they fall in love.

IzuTobi: They eventually become boyfriends and terrify everyone.

HashiMadaObiMito: The seeds for this polycule develop after Obito starts pursuing Madara. HashiMito is happily bullying their way into the relationship (and Obito’s pants).

HashiMito: High school sweethearts, if high school existed in this universe. Power couple with a strong libido. (Yes, this is relevant information because I say so.)

HashiMadaMito: Somewhat complicated. Madara was always kinda included in their relationship. Unofficial couple, but everyone just sees them and assumes they’re together from the way they act. In some versions of the AU they are a steady poly couple before Obito comes into the picture, in others they’re living in a limbo state where Madara himself is unsure if he is even a part of their relationship.

KakaRin: *holds them up like a potato* I just think they’re neat.

Other relationships:

Tajima used to be Uchiha clan head but eventually retired and gave up the role. Fugaku is his successor (and son-in-law), and Tajima never wastes a chance to throw snark at him. It’s his retirement hobby.

Obito eventually becomes Tajima’s son-in-law… and favourite son overall.

Touka and Izuna are rivals.

Mito will eventually teach Tenten in fūinjutsu.

Ages (at the time of Kakashi Gaiden*):

(*The AU covers multiple generations, I simply picked a point in time so you can compare the ages of relevant characters)

Tajima 43

Fugaku 30

Mikoto 25

Kushina 22

Minato 22

Madara 15

Obito 13

Kakashi 13

Rin 13

Yamato/Tenzou 9

Hashirama 15

Mito 15

Izuna 11

Tobirama 11

Touka 11

Itachi 3

(Sasuke will be born 2 years later)

[neonacity]

HYACINTHE | Chapter 2: Jaemin x Reader

Summary: 

Na Jaemin is far from being your typical 20 year old. Instead of slaving through college, he wastes away his hours cracking safes. Weekends that should be spent partying with friends consist of illegal races on good days and small scale bombings on bad ones. Na Jaemin is far from being average, unless you consider being a member of Seoul’s top organized crime family normal.

There is no such thing as a sense of normality and peace in his trainwreck of a life, so when he met a barista who was brave enough to call out his dangerous taste in coffee, he was like a moth to the flame. Everything about her is normal, which means she is forbidden to him, in all sense of the word. So why, then, does he always find himself at the front steps of her shop, breaking all his personal rules even if he wishes he could stay away?

A/N + Disclaimer: this is a side story to Black Daisies, my main mafia fic feat. 0T23. While the plot is based on the main story, this can also be read as a standalone fic. As usual, this is purely a work of fiction and in no way am I implying any member of NCT to behave the way I write them here. tw: crimes, heists, potential death, mentions of drugs and other illegal activities.

PAIRING: Jaemin x Reader

CHAPTER 1

FIC TRAILER

MASTERLIST

------------------------

"So you want to be a doctor?" Jaemin asked as he took a bite off the crust of his pepperoni and cheese pizza. He could have easily eaten it like any other person, but of course, he refuses to be normal and chooses to do even this his way.

I shrugged and tucked my legs under me with a sigh. We were currently sitting on an expansive field of grass overlooking a cluster of abandoned factories, the first place that Jaemin actually asked me to hangout with other than his regular visits in the cafe. It was a couple of minutes of drive away from the city—and is honestly kinda sketchy looking—but at twilight, the place transforms into a peaceful sea of green with the clear night sky watching over it. 

"I'm trying to be a doctor. A surgeon, to be exact." 

He turned and gazed at me quietly for a few seconds, his slice of pizza halfway into his mouth.

"Trying?"

"Yes. Getting into the medical field… It's tough. And expensive. I can take the endless studying, but the money… that can be so hard to get by sometimes."

"Why? How much is it?" He asked innocently, a small frown etched between his eyebrows. Jaemin wasn't lying when he said he doesn't know how to do friends. In fact, there's a lot of things he doesn't seem to know. Normal ones too, almost as if he lives in a bubble of his own. It has always intrigued me, how someone can be so out of touch with things, but of course I never took it against him. 

"Hmm… really expensive. Usually students like me can get loans but that will have us strapped into long years of paying them off even after finishing our studies. I did get a partial scholarship though so that helps, but the day to day academic expenses are just expensive so you know…"

"Doesn't your job at the cafe cover that?"

"No way," I answered quickly with a short laugh. "Well, barely. But it isn't comfortable. If I want to get a side gig that can pay for everything, I might as well work at a strip club. Or find a sugar daddy," I answered off-handedly as I popped a french fry into my mouth. 

"You don't want to go to strip clubs. They're dangerous."

I choked a little at how seriously he said that. 

"Why do you sound like you know so much about them?" I grinned and teasingly wriggled my brows at him. He didn't answer, taking another bite of his pizza instead. 

"Just… don't even think of doing that, okay?"

"Jaemin, do you really think I can pass off as a stripper? Relax. I know that's one job I'm underqualified for."

"Overqualified. You're too pretty to be one."

He said that so casually I didn't even know what hit me until he had moved on to another topic. 

"You know if you need money, I can help."

I gave him an odd look, still reeling from that compliment he just gave. 

"How?"

"I can give you money." 

I blinked at him.

"In exchange for what?"

"Nothing. I can just give you money."

I stared at him like he had grown another head. 

"Why?"

He looked at me like I was asking such a common sense question. 

"Because you need it."

"Jaemin, you're not my sugar daddy. Is this how you always offer help to your friends? Because I am seriously so concerned for you right now."

"Well, if you want, I can also be your sugar—"

I slapped his arm before he could even finish what he was trying to say. 

"Ow! That is not very sugar baby-like of you."

"I'm going to wring your neck, I swear." 

He flashed me his grin and dropped himself back on the grass, his arms behind his head. It was dark, but the moon threw just enough light on the curves of his face to compliment his features. His eyes twinkled back at the stars looking down on us and I forced myself to look away after realizing how much my heart started beating harder in my chest just by staring at him. 

I don't know when I started feeling this way towards him, but it is for sure not the first time I noticed where my emotions were going. It is odd… how these things happen. One day everything was going well like normal, until all of a sudden there is a skipping of a pulse after a smile, a flushing of the cheeks when he laughs. Everything is normal, until one day, it's all just free fall. 

Of course, I'm not stupid enough to do anything about it though. Jaemin has been nothing but a good friend, but the fact that I still know nothing about him is a big factor, at least for me. Lately, I felt like he was trying to open up more of his world to me—case in point, these quick escapes to this field—but there are still barriers there, walls that seem too steep to be broken down. 

"I wanted to be a surgeon too…" 

His voice was so quiet that I barely caught it when he spoke again. I looked back at him and caught the pensive look on his face, the same one he would always have whenever he thinks nobody is looking his way—that expression of longing that seems to overwhelm him every time he retreats into his own world. 

"You can still be one though… it's not too late yet," I whispered as I leaned back so that I was laying beside him. I rolled to my side to face him better, my eyes scanning his moon-washed features.  

He chuckled and briefly looked at me. 

"I wish it could be that easy, but it's really complicated."

"Why?"

He rolled on his side as well so that we were facing each other. The stare he gave me was so intense, it felt like he was pouring his heart out to me, except he can't do it with words. I tried my hardest to meet his gaze, my own way of telling him that he can if he wanted to... That I am his safe space.

"Didn't we agree on not asking questions?" He asked in a soft whisper. 

"I never agreed to such a thing." 

"But you've been trying your best." 

That made me purse my lips. My gaze moved away from his momentarily as I tried to weigh my words. 

"Until when can I not ask questions…?"

"Until when can I ask you to do it without you leaving me…?"

Our eyes met again. In that exact moment, I knew we were both on the same page despite the unsaid words and the secrets. 

"Until I can, Jaemin."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

------------------

"Hi, hi! What's your specialty here?" 

It took me about three seconds to register the boy currently beaming at me by the counter. I was going through some inventory so I had my back turned to the door for a little bit but I sure was expecting to hear the small bell by the entrance ding to alert me of new customers. I was about to open my mouth to answer when another boy strolled towards us, coming from the area where we have our pastries on display. There were… two of them I didn't notice? 

"Yah, Chenle. They have cheese bread. Buy me some." 

I softly cleared my throat and tried to plaster on my well-practiced service smile.

"Um… hi. Welcome to Brick and Beans. Would you like to have a cold or hot drink? I can recommend our best-sellers for each." 

"What does Jaemin-hyung usually order?"

My smile dropped and I stared at the duo in front of me. Who are these kids? 

"I'm Jisung and this is Chenle. We're Jaemin-hyung's friends."

The taller of the two answered as he seemed to have picked up my confused expression. I nodded slowly, my eyes scanning the visitors. They look just a little bit younger than Jaemin, maybe about two to three years tops, as noticeable from their more careless, youthful air.

"Did… Jaemin recommend our place?" 

The pair exchanged glances before they both broke into giggles.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"What the hell are you two doing here?”

The three of us whipped our heads towards the source of the voice by the door. Standing there was Jaemin, his face tensed as he stared at the two boys in front of me. It’s obvious from the looks of his reaction that he did not, at all, recommend this place to his friends. 

I was about to call out to him when the door pushed open behind him again to reveal two other boys.

“Yah… I told you to distract him, Jeno-hyung!” Chenle whined while Jisung pointed at his friend as if silently telling everyone that it was all his idea in the first place. The one I assume is called Jeno shrugged and dug his hands deeper into his pockets. He looked almost the same age as Jaemin but with a more muscular build that reminded me of some of the athletes at my uni. 

“I tried. Haechan slipped. Go blame him.” 

My gaze moved to the other one standing on Jaemin’s right at that moment. He is a little shorter than the other two boys crowding the door but there is something about him that seems wilder than the two. His eyes sparkled as they met mine and his lips twisted up into a slight smirk as he knocked back the lollipop he had into the other side of his mouth. He crossed the space between the entrance and the counter quickly with long quick strides and leaned his hand into Chenle’s shoulder to peer down on me. 

“Ah, so that’s why this is your favorite place, Jaem. How selfish of you to keep it all to yourself~” 

“Um…” 

Jaemin finally moved to approach us quickly, his eyes moving between me and the three boys in front of my counter. The boy called Jeno wandered into the cafe, looking at the bags of beans and tea packs we have on display at the far side. 

“I’m sorry, I had no idea they were coming,” he told me apologetically, his face strained. I couldn’t really understand why he was so worried but I gave him a smile to assure him that everything is fine. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I have no customers anyway so I’m glad your friends came over.”

I have a feeling there is more to his anxiousness than I could understand. 

“She’s right. We’re just here to have some coffee,” the boy, Haechan, said as he winked at me. “So what do you recommend, miss? I won’t have anything Jaemin loves to get, if it means having his death concoction.

That made me laugh a bit. Jaemin’s frown deepened.

“Well, we have really good Chia tea and some hot chocolate. Our cocoa is sourced from the Philippines so—”

“According to online reviews, their blueberry cheesecake is bomb,” said a new voice that followed the opening of the cafe door for the third time in the past ten minutes. All of us looked around to see a new visitor with black and blonde hair falling over his eyes. His thin frame was covered by a light jacket and he glanced up from his phone to talk to us as if he was right there with us from the beginning.

“Do you have it right now?” 

“Uh… yes.”

“Seriously, who else did you crackheads invite?” 

Jaemin turned to Haechan and the rest of the guys with an expression I couldn’t quite paint.

His answer came with the cafe door dinging open again. 

“Yo, man. Am I late?”

Jaemin gave one look at the boy with blue hair, groaned, and cursed silently to himself. 

-----------

“Go back there and hangout with your friends,” I nudged Jaemin slightly by the shoulders as he continued to fume silently beside me. I was finishing the orders of the group and he seemed to still be adamant in keeping his distance from them for as long as he can. 

“I don’t hangout with assholes.” 

I chuckled. He looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

“Hey, language. Why are you so pressed, anyway? They just came by to visit. I’m glad I have customers.” 

For a moment, I thought he was not going to give me any answers again. Jaemin simply stared  at me, his arms crossed over his chest for a few full heartbeats. 

“I don’t think I should get you any deeper into my life as it is,” he finally said quietly, voice just loud enough for me to hear over the humming of the espresso machine. I looked up at him, surprised by his words and the fact that he actually replied to my question. 

“I suppose I cannot ask what that means…?” 

He gave me a small tight smile. Just then, the microwave beeped to tell me that the food I was heating was ready. We both looked at it and Jaemin took the chance to push himself off the counter he was leaning on to grab a tray. 

“I’ll take care of it. We’re making your job harder today, at least let me help serve those dorks.”

I nodded and wordlessly let him put some of the drinks on his tray. I did the finishing touches on the blueberry cheesecake the guy called Renjun ordered before loading it on mine. 

When we both walked to the table that the rest of his friends chose, the boys had already busted the jenga game that we usually offer to our customers. Jisung, Chenle, and Haechan were in the middle of sabotaging each other with their pulls while Renjun and Mark—the last newcomer—were peering over Jeno’s shoulder who I assume was playing a game on his phone.

“Here are your orders. I added extra powdered sugar on your chiffon cake, Jisung,” I said with a smile as I arranged everything on their table. The youngest boy looked up at me with sparkling eyes as if I’ve given him the world. The others took their orders after giving their own variations of thank you. 

“Thank you, noona,” Jisung said before turning to Haechan to “whisper” in his ear.

“I like her.” 

“She can hear you as clear as day, Jisungie.”

“Well, if you need anything, just call out to me alright?” I said with a polite smile, already feeling a little bit more relaxed around the group. I’m sure Jaemin has his own reasons to feel anxious about his friends being here, but they all seem like your regular boys to me. I’ve always wondered what kinds of acquaintances he has and I’m glad to know these are the ones he has around. 

“Wait, can’t you hang out for a while?” Haechan asked as I took the trays with me. Jaemin was quick to answer, throwing dagger glances at the other. 

“She has work.” 

“There are no customers.” 

“You can go back if someone comes. You’re only serving us right now, anyway,” Renjun quipped as he took a bite of his cake. My eyes moved to Jaemin just in time to see his jaw tighten a little bit. He did look a little bit resigned though so I decided to compromise.

“I guess I can stay for a few minutes. I haven’t had my break yet,” I said with a slight smile. Mark patted Jeno’s thigh to give way for me to sit on the space where he had his leg up.

“So, are you and Jaemin-hyung dating? For how long now?” My ass haven’t even touched the seat yet when Chenle shot the question. I looked at him, completely taken aback. 

“Chenle, you don’t just ask people that out of the blue,” Mark said, despite the small playful smirk that he tried so hard to hide. He turned to me apologetically then, “I’m sorry, he doesn’t go out often.”

I was too taken aback that I failed to notice how Jaemin didn’t even try to deny Chenle’s assumption. I glossed over it and chose to take another route instead. 

“Do you guys all live together?” I asked with genuine interest. Jaemin did say that he doesn’t get a lot of chance to socialize but it seems like it applies to all his friends, too.

“We all live in the...same apartment, yes,” Jeno said carefully. 

“Oh… roommates.” 

“We grew up together, actually,” Renjun pointed at Jisung who had his upper lip covered with powdered sugar as he shoveled cake into his mouth. “Jaemin birthed him.” 

“That’s right,” Jaemin said so seriously with a straight face beside me. 

“So you’re also childhood friends.”

“I guess you could say that. Chenle and I both came from China but we grew up here.”

I nodded, already invested in knowing more.

“Are you studying? Or are you always here?” Haechan asked me as he deftly removed a block from the Jenga tower he had reassembled. 

“Mm, yes. I’m on pre-med right now.” 

Jeno gave a low whistle and lowered his phone a bit to look at me.

“You’re going to be a doctor?”

I smiled. “Hopefully a surgeon, yes.”

“So does that mean you’ll be stitching up wounds and getting bullets off flesh and things like that?” Chenle asked. I laughed at how specific the situations he gave were. 

“I can actually do them right now, but yes. My father used to be a doctor too and I helped him around his clinic before he died so I know the basics.” 

“I didn’t know about that…” Jaemin spoke up beside me in a quiet voice, breaking his silence.

“About what?”

“About your parents.”

I laughed. “You never asked.” 

“So are you living alone?” Mark followed through. 

“Right now, yes. I lost my parents a couple of years ago but I do have an auntie living right in the next city.” 

“Man, so you’re working and studying at the same time. You’re tough.” 

“Thank you, but it’s not really anything new to college students like me. How about you guys? Are you in college?” 

The boys exchanged quick looks with each other. 

“We’re all, uh, home schooled,” Renjun finally answered. 

“Oh… I see. That makes a lot of sense.” Just then, my eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. I started slightly after realizing that my fifteen minutes of break is up.

“I have to go though, sorry. I’m alone right now so I have to work on multiple things,” I said apologetically as I picked myself up from my seat. I gave everyone a quick smile before retreating behind the counter. 

I didn’t look back to see how Jaemin stared at me as I left and how he finally caught Mark who was staring at him in return. 

The two boys didn’t have to speak to understand each other, but the younger one easily got what his captain clearly told him with his gentle gaze. 

Be careful. 

----

Chapter 3

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Let’s talk: that theory

From anon: everyones saying 1: 2/3 is for TK, (redacted) by V today on twitter. (redacted) What are your thoughts?

Usually I would argue hard against opening this can of worms and talking about a ship theory that has nothing to do with vmin or namjin because, as I said previously, unless you have a new angle to argue, I really am not interested in discussing Xkook things but since this time the whole thing involves (however vaguely) Tae, here I am, typing this out, which will be the first and last time I’m touching any of these theories. We’ve also gotten a number of asks wondering if we could explain it and talk about our thoughts on it (like the one above), so...

The infamous 1/2/3 the/ory.

Usually the TLDR is at the end of a post, right, but since some of you might already be aware of the theory and only be interested in my thoughts on it, I thought I’ll start with that and the theory explanation will come afterward along with some more thoughts and commentary. 

To preface this, Xkookers won’t like my answer, but that doesn’t surprise anyone. I’ve said it a hundred times already, but I’ll say it a hundred more if I need to--I’ve been ARMY for a long time, much longer than I’ve been a vminnie/namjinist, and if there was anything from either Xkook camp that would be able to “convince” me of their ship, it would’ve happened long ago. But it didn’t. And even after spending a good couple of hours (more like two days) researching the theory, looking into the details and then writing this post, I am still of the same opinion that I was before, especially since I already knew of the theory beforehand. The thoughts and opinions I will share alongside the theory below are not meant as me trying to, I don’t know, disprove the theory or anything like it, just show my perspective which, after all, no one is obliged to agree with me on. They are, after all, just my opinions.

Before I get into it, once again, I’m ARMY before I’m a vminnie/namjinist, and with topics such as this I try my best to approach things without bias and with an open mind. I gather whatever info I can find, read whatever there is for me to find in that regard, and then form an opinion. I don’t go in looking for ways to deny it or to ridicule it, because it would make no difference whatsoever anyway (those who believe it or want to believe it will do so regardless of what I’ll say or think), and frankly I’ve said it before: I’m not here to convince anyone that my opinion is the only right one nor to convince anyone that my duo of choice is the real one. If you’re reading our blog, I’d assume you are a vminnie/namjinist as well, or just someone who’s curious/new to the fandom. With that being said...

What do I think? For one, if your ship can only partially be “proven” real (or more likely) if you are willing to buy into what's essentially a conspiracy theory, chances are your ship isn’t as “real” as you think, and second, if the same theory and its explanations timeline wise match up and fit two ships at the same time perfectly, once again, your ship might just not be as “real” as you think it is. Which is to say, the only thing this research did for me was show that basically both ships cancel each other out, as in, prove each other to be false, and also that basically everything JK ever does has to have some kind of connection to either of the 95s because JK only exists for ships, and not because he’s a BTS member and a human being with his own life and is a valid individual.

And before anyone tries to argue “well you wouldn’t be saying this if it were about vmin since you’re a stupid vmin shipper”, well, the answer is I would say the exactly thing if we were talking about vmin, or namjin. But, as far as I’m aware, vmin doesn't have any overarching theories like this nor do I base my conclusions and thoughts about Tae and Jimin on anything like it. Which I’ve also already explained a hundred times before. If vmin would only work if I bought into some kind of theory, or a series of theories, I wouldn’t think of them as having the potential to be real. Easy as that.

There are countless reasons JK could have for why he made 1/2/3 his thing, perhaps even just because he wanted to have a thing the way Jimin signs his tweets with his hashtag or Tae used to mark his twts with hashtag tiger emoji. As far as I can tell, everything about this theory is a creation solely coming from shippers, especially since it also requires you to ignore twts posted by other members on Jan/uary 23rd, or twts that have no connection to JK at all. Also, the second to last twt fitting with the theory is literally just a selfie, along with a second post (it’s a thread) for Hobi’s birthday with Seokjin, and another one with a picture of the clouds and airplane wing (though that’s already at 1/2:2/4 am KST), so how does that have anything to do with...anything?

So, dear Xkookers, nice try but my opinion remains unchanged.

Now, for those who might not have come across the theory before, which wouldn’t surprise me since we’re vminies so a Xkook theory has nothing really to do with us, here is what I’ve gathered about it:

Contrary to what I used to think, it turns out the 1/2/3 the/ory is about both Xkook ships, the reasonings for it being that 1/2/3(0) would be Tae's birthday while with Jimin it is based on the fact that all the way back in 2014 for FESTA when answering the category Your representative pictures and videos Jimin said Just One Day MV at 1 minute and 2/3 seconds.

What is shown in the MV at that moment? This:

More below the cut:

Basically Jimin doing some cool jump tricks, therefore Jimin is basically saying that him doing these cool things represents him the best. Which makes sense when we keep in mind what image BTS had back in those times, as well as who Jimin was and how he was back then. Even more so considering that his motto at the time, written by him in the same FESTA page was let’s become a cool guy. But, there was no connection here to either JK or anything romantic. So how did Xkookers decide that, well, it does have a connection or that this is what gave JK the idea for 1/2/3? The fact that supposedly JK sat opposite Jimin while they were filling out their FESTA pages.

The basic idea of the theory, as the name suggests, is that song recommendations with screenshots taken at 1 minute 2/3 seconds, or ones posted at 1/2:3/0 am KST or on January 2/3rd are part of a whole thing in which JK leaves clues and hints toward his relationship(s) with either of the 95s. This also includes selcas and general posts that are posted by a 95 or JK with a 95 on that day/at that time. The first post that belongs to the theory, according to what I can find, was a tweet containing a selca showing JK, Tae and Seokjin posted on January 2/3rd 2015 followed by the first song recommendation posted at 1/2:3/0 am KST on May 26th 2015. This would mean that JK must’ve created the theory supposedly sometime between 2014 (when they filled out their FETSA profiles) and January 2015.

Side note: it’s basically impossible at this point for me, and anyone else (unless you have a lot of free time on your hands), to figure out how many of JKs posts were posted at 1/2:3/0 am KST since, unlike with a date, twt doesn’t give you the option of searching by timestamp. Even more when you keep in mind that BTS have more than 12k tweets on their account and, from what I could find, less than 15 twts across what would be six years are part of the theory.

Worth noting is also that the last twt I could find that falls into the theory is from February 22nd 2019 and only because the MV approval date is January 2/3rd and is shown at the beginning of it, the tweet itself doesn’t have 1/2/3 in it at all. Some claim a twt posted on January 2/3rd 2020 by the BTS twt account handled by the staff also falls into the theory since it has three pictures of Tae and JK with Pengsoo, but I wouldn’t take that into account, just like further claims that Lauv’s WHO also falls into the 1/2/3 theory since JK starts singing at 1:2/3. The song isn’t his (yes, I know neither were the other ones) and I think it’s absurd to think that JK would’ve gone to Lauv (or a translator, or whoever they had contact through while working on the collab) and told him/them not only that 1/2/3 is important because it’s connected to his relationship(s) but also convinced him to time his song in a manner where JK would purposefully start singing at 1/2/3. Furthermore, keep in mind that WHO is about what seems to be a broken relationship wherein the girl in the song has changed and their relationship isn’t the same anymore, Lauv/the speaker not recognizing her anymore, and it sounds like they might just break up very soon.

If Xkookers were to insist it still is part of the theory, does that mean with this JK wanted to let us know that their relationship(s) is/are over?   

Part of the theory also claims that it includes the DNA MV since at 1:2/3 we see Tae and JK on the screen. The only MVs that show duos, so only two members, at 1:23 out of all the MVs BTS have are:

So DNA was basically just a coincidence and nothing more. And that’s basically it. 

Now, has JK ever said anything about this theory, especially something that supported it, you could ask, as did I. Two pieces come into “play” at this point.

One - at a fansign (though I can’t tell you which one or in which year this might’ve been in since no one seems to know or at least I’m unable to find that piece of information) someone asked JK about 1/2/3 and its meaning. What did he say, supposedly?

1) Tae’s birthday  2) There's no reason - an X (which could’ve been done by the person who wrote the card just as well since the shade of black is the same but who knows) 3) Other reasons - A tick  Below that with an arrow JK added Only I know the answer

What does this answer tell us? Not much, really, at least not in a ship sense. I’ve seen different interpretations done by both camps of this, but neither was very convincing and, really, all he really did say was that only he knows what's up with the number. It could literally have any meaning, just like I previously said.

Two - JK recommending IUs Beautiful Dancer on October 25th 2015:

Already at that point it was a well documented fact that JK is a huge fan of IU. When you scroll though the comments from 2015 below his tweet you can see many pointing out how his inner fanboy is showing, how we know you love her JK, and other comments along those lines. Actually a year prior during FESTA 2014 JK wrote this:

My life’s best (voice) was: IU senior’s voice. (1st IU, 2nd Sweden Laundry, 3rd J.Rabbit)

So there are two ways to look at this--either you focus on the mention of one minute twenty three or the fact that JK loves IU’s music and so likely the whole point of this tweet was to simply...recommend her song to ARMY just the way he says it in the tweet as well.

The explanation for this one that I’ve read was that, well, Jimin is a dancer so it makes sense that JK would mean this about Jimin. As far as I’m aware Jimin isn’t the only dancer in Bangtan because so is Hobi, and literally any other member as well. Who is to say if he meant Jimin or Hobi, or potentially neither, or simply just himself? Since the lyric at 1:2/3 in the song is A dance only you can do (the song is in Japanese, by the way) which could be about anyone, or it could be a way for him to motivate himself whenever he struggled with a choreography or something, so he could listen to that song in that moment and remind himself that he’s a great dancer and only he can do a dance the way he does. Just a thought.

But, since I mentioned FESTA 2014 a few paragraphs ago, I’ll go a little off course for a moment, since this wasn’t part of the theory “evidence”, but I looked at the following year (2015) when it comes to FESTA and there was a category in the BTS profile by another member asking them what BTS song reminds them of that member. JK was the one filling out Jimin’s profile so you’d think that if the theory was already a thing, which it supposedly was, that JK would’ve chosen a Bangtan song that would fit it, right? Well, he chose We Are Bulletproof Part 2. In 1:2/3 in the lyrics you get click click bang bang. In the MV you get center Jimin along with the other members behind him in formation. 

At the same time, if this were really JKs secret way of telling ARMY about their relationship(s), that would mean they were already a thing, so how come when filling out Tae’s profile, Jimin’s answers are all like Taehyung looks the happiest when he’s with me, a song that reminds Jimin of Tae is Little Star by Standing Egg (a song Tae later posted a cover snippet of), and that he might always be nagging him and JK a lot but he cares about Tae a lot and is always supporting him (Tae) even if he doesn’t know it?

For those who don’t know what Little Star sounds like lyric wise, here are a few snippets (translated from Korean into English):

When I see you fast asleep in my embrace I can't take my eyes off you for a second You're so beautiful (...) You're my love my everything, an angel from the heavens You stole my two eyes my world little star tonightI will protect you all night

Taking that into account, the math doesn’t really math if you ask me. Especially since I would doubt Jimin would write that (and associate such a song with such lyrics with Tae) if Tae were with JK at the time, or if he himself were. But maybe that’s just me.

Then I thought to myself that if 1:2/3 truly was some kind of magical number in JK content by JK himself, what piece of his work should also show that? Easy, the one XKookers adore using as evidence (because even JKs personal video work must be about their ship and cannot be appreciated for the piece of art he created, just like everything else he does is about ships as well (you already know what I think about that)). 

So, I looked through all seven GCFs thinking that in theory 1:2/3 should show the same person each time in that moment since that’s the magical number, but I was “surprised” to find that it isn’t so. Of course.

And that really is everything there is to it. That’s the theory. Make of that what you will.

Now, before I finally end this, the reason why we are here in the first place--Tae’s twt with a song recommendation screenshot taken at 1:2/3 posted two days ago. 

To be quite honest, I didn’t even notice the time at which the screenshot was taken, since that isn’t a detail I even pay attention to when taking my own screenshots, but of course those who care immediately jumped that detail. And while yes, I can’t deny the time stamp, I don’t see why this is supposed to be some kind of confirmation or sign. Just as much as I can’t prove it isn’t, others can’t prove it is, so it’s basically a dot with nothing to connect it to.

Spending some time trying to figure out which moment in the lyrics even appears at 1:2/3, I narrowed it down to this part, though I could be wrong:

Looking at those lyrics, if you allow me to act like Xkookers for a minute and be a bit of a clown, I could create the theory that, well, what if it was Tae’s intention to “hijack” JK’s “theory” and use its secondary meaning, as in Jimin, and thus he actually means those lyrics toward Jimin and as hint toward vminnies instead? After all whom did Tae consistently give awards for his smile? Jimin. Furthermore, Tae is basically like a walking memory vault when it comes to Jimin, so who’s to say he wouldn’t also remember what Jimin wrote back in 2014 and used it here in that sense? After all we know he even planned months ahead to include his recommendation of Serendipity along with birthday wishes for Jimin as part of the MOTS ON:E Exhibition which opened on Jimin’s birthday last year, so who’s to say he wouldn’t go and do something like this as well? No one can prove me right or wrong with this theory, just like no one can prove the Xkooker one as right or wrong either. And if my theory sounds ridiculous and farfetched to you, well, now you know what the rest of us feel about the Xkooker theory and what it sounds like to everyone else.

Let’s remember that Tae quite literally told XKookers to get out of their imagination late 2019 (the very year in which theory fitting tweets stopped) and Jimin has consistently been calling JK his dongsaeng recently. And the one fact about the maknaes that we know for certain is 100% true since it came from the “source” himself is 95z is love.

So, what do I think is the most likely option with Tae’s twt? The simple fact that Tae likes the song (it sounds very much like a Tae song) and wanted to recommend it knowing that all income from the sale of the song and the album it belongs to will be donated for charity. And the timestamp was just pure coincidence because not everything the maknaes do must be about ships. But that is just my opinion.

[mugichaaaa]

Bad Batch Analysis prt2

Welcome back everyone to part 2 to my Bad Batch analysis trailers. The trailer just happened to be posted around midnight and my wifi went out in the morning so I couldn’t really do much until now. Since we got another AMAZING trailer for the Bad Batch series I believe it’s time to do another analysis. If you haven’t read my first analysis from the first trailer you can read it here 

Without further ado let's get started. 

The first scene we get from the trailer is a shot after that one shot we got from the first trailer. This could probably be around the time they landed on Kamino because if you look in the top right corner there is the Havoc Marauder. 

Training Sequence

Next we see one of the many training grounds on Kamino. It’s strange seeing only one training ground and not multiple. It seems like this specific training ground might be underwater, as there is this long pole in the center with surrounding lights around it. Now that might be a reach, but honestly where could you see that training ground on the round houses above the ocean. 

Along with that in the Legends there was a Kaminoan Jedi who lived under the sea to try to prevent the vision she had. (the vision was the clone army betraying the Jedi) So it could be possible when the Kamioan’s were building the floating city they builded the bottom levels to be used as training grounds or something. 

In this scene we can see that Echo is using a vibroblade. Now is this Echo’s own vibroblade or does this belong to Hunter and Echo just picked it up to destroy one of the droids?

I feel like this shot can tell us a lot about the bad batch and how they interact with each other. Hunter and Crosshair are looking at the camera to which I can probably assume where Tarkin speaks to them. Echo lightly turns towards the direction of Tech, Hunter, and Crosshair. Tarkin probably said something that would make Echo turn to look at the three of them. 

Also Tech although very subtle looks at the ground. Now this could be two things, if Tarkin said something then it might be tech looking at the ground like a Child does when their parents scolds them. Or it might be Tech is exhausted and is looking at the destroyed droids all around him. 

Hunter is seen talking to someone (probably Omega) telling them that their squad (aka the Bad Batch) is nothing but trouble. We can see Crosshair and Tech walk to a door which I can assume to be their barracks for the time being (before they escape). 

I really like this scene from Crosshair. This seemed to show how well the Bad Batch worked together. Hunter throws his knife in the air and Crosshair goes and shoots it in place. Which might make it even more sad if Crosshair betrays the Bad Batch. Imagine this, The bad batch is in this certain situation where a duo between Crosshair and Hunter would work. Hunter turns to where Crosshair would normally be. 

“Cross lets-” 

All he sees no one, and the feeling of betrayal and pain seeps through him. 

“Right…” 

Hunter Civilian Clothing

So we see Hunter in Civilian clothes which is like. UGH please let me hold your hand Hunter. The first time we see them is at 0:31 where Hunter steals a speeder, probably to catch up to Fennec as we can see in 1:39 who has a kid. 

We get a better look at Hunter’s Civilian clothes, it really reminds me of Cut lawquane’s outfit from The Clone Wars Season 2 “The Deserters”. Maybe we might see Cut lawquane in the Bad Batch, if so I think that would be really great to see. Cut’s children with Omega might be the cutest thing we might get from Bad Batch, that’s if it happens.  

Now in this scene we see Tech piloting the ship, but if you look at the corner there is Hunter on a control panel with bandages wrapped around him. So this might be either Hunter getting injured from a mission (maybe from Fennec Shand??)

This kid (not Omega) is dangling onto a cylindrical object. The Following scene with Hunter and the kid following a speeder that belongs to Fennec Shand. 

The Final Part of the Clone Wars 

At 0:37 we see the Batchers coming down from what seems to be like a hill destroying B1 battle droids. While the next shot is Tech and Echo shooting down said droids. 

So in my previous analysis I mentioned how for one the explosions I was wondering if it was the Batchers or the Empire. Now with this new Trailer it seems to be leaning more towards the Batchers doing this. 

We see Hunter putting away his knife with Wrecker carrying what seems like to be a destroyed droid. 

Now I mentioned in my previous analysis that the snowy planet might be a Crosshair arc. But now with these new scenes with the snowy planet it might be a set up to Crosshair being something that most Bad Batch Stans don’t want. 

Crosshair as the traitor

So I know I talked about this in my last trailer analysis and I said this was very unlikely. But uhhhh now with this trailer I'm 70% sure Crosshair will betray the Bad Batch. Now the reason why I said Crosshair wouldn’t betray the Bad Batch was because the Purge trooper and Crosshair just didn’t have things that lined up. But now with this new trailer I am pretty worried for our boy Crosshair. 

This is the ONLY scene we get of Omega and Crosshair together. Any other scenes with Omega and the Bad Batch Crosshair is nowhere in sight. 

I literally called this when I wrote about my predictions about the Bad Batch series. Where I wrote two paths. One where Crosshair was not the traitor and stays with the bad batch and one if Crosshair was the traitor (I censor the right since it had my actual name since I did the bad batch analysis during school)

And 1:19 seems to likely prove my Crosshair is the traitor snippet I did. All the batchers + omega are running through what seems to be like the late night halls of Kamino. Who knew Echo would be following his brother’s footsteps. 

Again Crosshair isn’t here 

… or maybe he might be hiding him behind Hunter to give us anxiety about what happened to Crosshair. But if Crosshair is gone then they need a new sniper to fill in his role...

Omega

We are first introduced to a new character who is called “omega”.  Now who is Omega? Well we don’t know this is the first we EVER got to see them anywhere. Now when I first saw Omega I immediately thought of Satine’s Mandalore. We are not talking about the houses and clans (like house Wren). We’re talking about Satine’s Mandalorians (the pacifist) in which when we see her people in the clone wars they are normally pale with light colored eyes. Omega almost fits that but without the bright blue eyes. Another thing is that Omega kinda sounds like they have a Satine Mandalorian accent. As I was listening to Omega speak I was comparing it to Korkie and his friends and Omega lowkey sounds like Korkie’s friends but that’s probably a really big reach.

This is where I think if Crosshair betrays the Bad Batch this is where Omega would come in and take Crosshair’s role as sniper. We don’t know how good Omega is but with Hunter’s heightened sense his sight might be just as good to teach Omega to work with a bow and arrow

The Explosion

Now we have an explanation for the explosion we saw in the last trailer. It was definitely the bad batch and now we know it was part of the thrusters from a broken Venator Star Destroyer. Since now we got more context to that explosion, I believe that this will be on Bracca where maybe MAYBE we might see a young ginger Cal Kestis. 

Rex

*breaths in* 

REX I MISSED YOU SO MUCH 

I’m so happy Rex and Echo are going to a reunion. I really hope Rex and Echo have a moment where Rex completely vents to Echo about everything that happened. Like Umbara, how much Five’s death took a toll on him, and when he left Jesse and his brothers during order 66. It would be really interesting to see if Rex has some sort of survivor's guilt. I know we see a little bit in Season 7 when he’s talking to Cody about the Domino squad but after order 66 I think it would be nice to dwell onto a little more. 

Another thing I really hope we get to see how Rex meets up with Wolffe and Gregor. 

AT-ET Walker

We get a couple of scenes here of the AT-ET but here look at this. The republic symbol and the red paint is completely removed, it’s completely bare (which is so boring). Another thing is that the AT-ET are completely cutting across a group of people, these could be protestors of something that we yet not know of. 

It seems like Hunter and Tech snuck into and AT-ET, now the next scene we get is an AT-ET blowing up another AT-ET. There are two possibilities on who shot at the AT-ET, one could be the Bad Batch themselves shooting at the other AT-ET or two it could be the Empire shooting at the Bad Batch stolen AT-ET 

Saw Gerra

It’s really nice to see Saw Gerra, we have seen him in 5 star wars projects (Clone wars, Rogue one, Rebels, Jedi Fallen Order, and now Bad Batch). Since this is the beginning of the Empire we get that small time between Clone wars and Jedi: Fallen Order to see what Saw was up to. 

Fennec Shand

My wifey, I love her so much. But I did get something wrong and right with Fennec Shand in my last analysis. 

First of all the explosion we see with Fennec Shand is NOT connected to the factory arc but instead connected to Hunter saving the kid. 

But the thing I did get right was that one scene where Fennec was holding a gun out. That fog is from a fight and Fennec and her opponent are at a standstill. 

One thing new about Fennec is that she had a Kid dangling off her speeder. First of all that’s not safe at all and 2 why does Fennec have a Kid with her and then why does Hunter have the child in the next scene?

Small theory but this kid might be just like Omega that escaped. Fennec is sent out to retrieve the kid but Hunter is like “not on my watch” and takes the kid. Fennec looks shocked that Hunter interferes with her job and looks ANGY. 

Or this kid might be just some random kid that Fennec took. 

Now a recurring segment called Cool things I saw on the Trailer 

Just any scenes from the training scene with Wrecker is just cool and I’m like yes sir go off. 

I swear every scene with Wrecker is a joy to see. He just brightens my day all the time

Bad Batch are taking notes from Waxer and Boil about adopting kids during war times. 

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This segment was short due to most of the trailer being analyzed and not much random spread out scenes. 

And that’s that! Thank you all who read this far, I hope I was able to make this clear enough for you all to understand. If there’s anything else you saw in the Trailer that I miss I would love for you to comment about it! I think i’m going to do a countdown for Bad Batch, idk let’s see how I keep this up. 

[stormblessed95]

how do you differentiate jimins moments with jungkook and his moments with say, jhope, tae, and namjoon? there are definitely some moments jimins had with the other members that have made me raise my eyebrow a few times and have made me question if the bond is the same with all of them and jikook maybe aren’t a couple

Hello, I can't quite tell if you are genuine and confused and really looking for an answer or kind of being a troll.... but I'm going to err on the side if optimism and assume you aren't trying to troll.

So Jimin isn't called the King of Chemistry for nothing, anon. I have touched on this quite a few times in quite a few places. So I guess I would suggest taking a scroll through my masterlist. I will go ahead and highlight a few posts in particular and link them for you here. I would absolutely suggest checking out my duo dynamics post, because I do talk about moments between members. I've done Jikook, and the only other Jimin ship I've done so far would be Vmin. I do plan on getting into all of his ships at some point though as well. Those posts just take a lot of time to type up so it's a slow moving, on going series. Lol

Vmin:

Jikook:

I also did Taekook, JinKook and TaeJin already. Along with a Vminkook trio one. You can find those in my masterlist. Another post I'll highlight is this one, which is basically a list of moments that is not friendship behavior and has been more exclusive actions with Jikook:

I will also link you to this post which is a moment that really stood out to me with whatever their relationship together might be, this was an impactful moment:

Rosebowl is also something that is one that is not friendly behavior and not something any of the other guys do together. I even talk about the differences with that here:

The fight we have heard about they have had together has felt drastically different and kept intentionally vague compared to other group fights we have been told about. For example, the vmin dumpling fight, taejin choreo fight, hopekook banana fight. I talk about their Rainy Day Fight here:

Jimin's other ships and all the Duos in BTS have an abundance of Skinship, and KM seem to have an abundance of sexual tension. I do touch on that topic here:

And here is a post I did talking about Skinship. I don't think Jikook are a couple based on Skinship, but on so much more too. You can read more about my thoughts on that here:

And here is my masterlist in its entirety if you want to go through it. It's also always pinned to the top of my page so it's easy to find. I have lots of different types of posts and many many moments talked about linked in there. Lol

I hope that helped explain things at least a little bit. And if you are simply curious and wondering why I think certain ways about certain moments, please feel free to ask about them in particular or any others! Hope you have a good day/night!

[eldrai]

Not Worth It

Whumptober 2021 - day 3 - prompt: insult

Character: Reid

Warnings: ableism, r-slur, brief/mild homophobia

Words: 2.2k

Summary: Spencer isn’t naïve. He is young and he looks young but he isn’t stupid. He hadn’t graduated with the expectation that because he was older, had qualifications to back him up, the world would collectively mature in kind. After all, he’d gained his relative immunity to insults because it hurt less to let them taunt him than it had to confront them and end up shoved in a locker or tied up on the football field.

He had hoped things might be different. Not expected. Not assumed.

Just hoped.

ao3 / masterlist

“—were actually invented in the early fifteenth century, though the first versions were, uh, significantly more spherical and made of a wood like beech. It’s also highly likely they used cows’ hair inside leather—”

The cop – Maciewicz – nudges the officer beside him. “Does he ever stop talking?”

Spencer is fairly sure the jab is intended to be audible. It’s an interesting social convention, that sort of insult, where everyone including the target hears it but the person who said it can’t be called out on it because they supposedly directed it at nobody in particular. Interesting, and very high-school of them: Maciewicz is closer to forty than thirty and beginning to bald, and the stale remnants of cigarette smoke follows his colleague wherever he goes.

It doesn’t offend Reid these days. Attending a public LA high school is its own distinct circle of hell but doing so at nine? University at twelve? He’s been called most names under the sun and petty insults don’t get under his skin like they used to.

Which isn’t to say they aren’t annoying.

What he hates the most is the variety of people who insult him: they all have different reactions, different sore spots, and getting them to go away isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. Reid has dealt with enough bullies to understand that ‘ignore them and they’ll go away’ is useless, if not downright dangerous advice, but there is a whole spectrum of solutions which may or may not work. Get it wrong, and they just grow more persistent.

Spencer isn’t naïve. He is young and he looks young but he isn’t stupid. He hadn’t graduated with the expectation that because he was older, had qualifications to back him up, the world would collectively mature in kind. After all, he’d gained his relative immunity to insults because it hurt less to let them taunt him than it had to confront them and end up shoved in a locker or tied up on the football field.

He had hoped things might be different. Not expected. Not assumed.

Just hoped.

Of course they aren’t.

He pays them no mind and continues to explain the significance of the golf balls their unsub keeps leaving behind. If they didn’t want him to talk, they shouldn’t have asked for his opinion.

This seems like a fairly straightforward case and with any luck, they’ll only have to tolerate the local police department for a couple of days more.

He may have jinxed it.

(Once when they had come to take his Mom to inpatient, Spencer had overheard someone at the front desk talking lowly to someone else, and her words had stuck with him: see, that’s what you get for saying it’s quiet today!

That was always the gist of what was said on TV hospital dramas too. Police chaos isn’t all that different from hospital chaos, he thinks. There’s always too much of it and it’s unpredictable in its unpredictability.)

The curveball this time is their unsub is not a lone male but a male-female duo – he carries out the kills but under her direction. Classic submissive-dominant dynamic. The thing with pairs is they crack. Bend under the pressure until they break and lives are lost in the collateral damage.

Case in point: Marcy Edgeworth, aged twenty-four, Caucasian female, death by blunt force trauma. She is the first female victim and the first to have been left to lie where she’d died. That isn’t a good sign. No indication of sexual assault pre- or post-mortem but there is an incomplete ring of bite marks just beneath her right collarbone, exposed due to her torn shirt.

“What, never seen a naked girl before?” Jamison – Maciewicz’s colleague – mutters. Just low enough for Spencer to hear as he is trying to get on with his job, unlike a certain pair of officers.

“Woman,” he corrects, for her age, “and yes, I have.”

He hopes the lightness in his tone offsets the brusqueness. Spencer shifts his crouching into kneeling and leans forwards to examine her hair. It’s an artificial red – her roots and her eyebrows are blonde – and their previous victims have all had brown hair.

“Only counts if it’s outside a morgue,” Maciewicz chimes in.

He ignores them but their gaze burns the back of his head, and their presence has his guard raised. They stand behind him and their shadows stretch out over the grass either side of him. They’re going for a reaction, Spencer assumes.

Biting is an interesting thing without an accompanying sexual assault. If nothing else it gives them a good estimation of their male unsub’s teeth. The impression he’s getting from the scene is one of interruption, an impulse kill whose victim he had to leave too soon. It is a public park and it was an early-morning dog walker who found her – likely a jogger or someone on a night shift.

Jamison clears his throat once, twice, then taps him on the shoulder. Spencer rears away from his touch. People never ask, they just do.

“Yes?” he asks.

“Oh, nothing,” Jamison says. “I – we – we were wondering why you do that… thing.”

“What thing?” Spencer asks.

Jamison gestures. “You know, the – you know.”

Is that some sort of punchline he’s missing? Spencer glances over at Maciewicz and finds a mild amusement. Nothing to indicate he should be laughing, nor should he know what they do mean.

Maybe he’s missing the cue. He’s better at it these days, but not perfect.

“No, I don’t.”

With a furtive glance at the precinct’s captain, deep in conversation with one of the forensic technicians, Jamison sighs. “The thing with your hands, the—” He shakes his hands in an exaggerated manner.

Spencer’s hands still. He hadn’t thought it was very noticeable and more to the point, Jamison is definitely overexaggerating it like kids in middle school used to do. Only back then they had his unusual gait and meltdowns to mock too. “I don’t do that,” he says firmly.

(He’d answer it if it was a genuine question. Respectful. He loves people who ask out of genuine good intent. They are few and far between.)

Maciewicz snickers.

“Yeah, you do,” Jamison says. “I want to know why, that’s all.”

“Makes you look like a retard,” Maciewicz adds.

…and there it is.

He goes cold from head to toe. It never fails to make him feel as if someone has just dumped a bucket of water right over him, washing away his enthusiasm and excitement and everything else he values. Leaves the bare bones, the weirdness, each of the hundred ways he never quite fits in.

Spencer hates the word.

Because they don’t care about his IQ or eidetic memory or reading skill when they say that, and they don’t care after he tells them.

Nobody calls him that because they think he is. They say it to hurt him.

He wishes it wouldn’t.

Despite how often he’s heard it, he never has a response. His mind goes blank and all he can pull from it is the roots – re,from Latin: back, and tardus, from Latin: slow – as if they give a damn about etymology. As if that’s a normal person’s response. Today is no exception so it’s a blessing when Morgan wanders over.

“You got anything, pretty boy?” he asks. Maciewicz and Jamison snort. If Morgan hears it, he pays it no mind. “They found a guy’s baseball cap over there. No hair but it looks like it’s our man’s.”

And once again, his mind goes blank. Makes you look like a retard. He’d been thinking about – the bite mark, yes, what does that indicate? Spencer catches his hands moving and shoves them in his pockets before they can. “He was interrupted,” he says. “It explains why the bite isn’t complete and why he didn’t notice he’d left his hat.”

Morgan nods. “The person who found the body didn’t recall seeing anyone else around, so you think he’d just left before they got there?”

“Probably,” Spencer says. “I think the woman might be blonde. If they got into a fight, he’d be stressed, he’d be thinking about her. Maybe she reminded him of her.”

“Could be the hair, could be something else,” Morgan says. “He won’t have talked to her, not if he hit her from behind.”

“What if they did? She could have walked away—”

“Maybe,” Morgan says. “But if her hair was dyed, he wouldn’t see that unless they were up close, right? He’d initially go for her because she’s got red hair, not blonde. And if they did talk, Prentiss says no woman’s gonna just turn her back on a strange man. Especially in the middle of the night with no-one around.”

It’s a valid point, and it isn’t condescending. Nonetheless it hurts. Spencer studies the ground for a long moment and tries to forget (retard) Maciewicz and Jamison. “The unsub isn’t going to be someone he’s sexually attracted to,” he says. “He didn’t assault her, and if the victim reminds him of the other unsub, he’d probably have tried to even if someone interrupted him before he really could.”

A burst of laughter from Maciewicz and Jamison. His cheeks go hot with embarrassment—they must be talking about him, what else is there to laugh about? Morgan follows his gaze. “There a problem?” he asks.

Maciewicz holds up his hands in mock surrender. “No, no. Just… the hell is that about, ‘pretty boy’?”

Morgan shrugs. Spencer isn’t sure if it’s as casual as it looks.

“Well, makes sense,” Jamison says. “Course he’s gonna freak out over a naked girl if he doesn’t swing that way.”

…oh, great.

Spencer doesn’t mind exactly what they say as much as the implication—that they know, that they’re entitled to know his sexuality. How they say it as if gay is equivalent to bad. Once again, how utterly high school it all is. And he knows Morgan isn’t going to appreciate it either, probably more insulted on his behalf than Spencer himself.

“And you care, because...?” Morgan says, looking back and forth between them.

“I don’t,” Jamison says.

“He’s…” Maciewicz stammers, “…you know.”

“Smarter than you?” Morgan suggests. “Better at his job than you? A better person than you?”

“You don’t have to stick up for him,” Jamison says. “Must get annoying to deal with a re—”

“It’s fine,” Spencer interrupts. It isn’t. It really isn’t but it isn’t worth the conversation. How tiring it gets to deal with it, how much easier it is to walk away. These officers aren’t going to change their worldview on disabilities all of a sudden. “Morgan.”

Morgan takes in his posture, the unnatural stillness as he forces himself not to fidget, though the look in his eyes doesn’t fade. “The only people I don’t want to ‘deal with’ are both of you.”

The men share a look – not so much chastened as disappointed their fun was interrupted – but they do back off.

“They already seem to think I’m incapable,” Spencer says irritably. “I said it was fine, I didn’t need you to say anything.”

He crouches down to examine the bite again.

“It didn’t matter,” Spencer says. His hands itch and despite needing to, he can’t bring himself to move. Makes you look like a retard.

“Does if it bothers you,” Morgan insists. “And it did, don’t look at me like that.”

He sighs. They’re not even there any more, the two cops out on patrol and them revisiting the penultimate crime scene. “I’m used to it.”

“And?” Morgan says. “Just because you are doesn’t mean you have to put up with it—”

“It was five minutes at most,” Spencer points out. “Everyone else was fine.”

“Yeah, and they were dicks.”

He shrugs.

“What else did they say?”

Spencer rolls the fabric of his sweater between his fingers and feigns ignorance. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what else did they say when I wasn’t there, ‘cause they said something.”

“Makes you look like a retard.”

He doesn’t mean to say it – wasn’t sure what he had planned to say, but it certainly wasn’t that – but he says it nonetheless, his tone mimicking the disdain and irritation. And now Morgan definitely isn’t going to believe him if he says he’s fine and it’s going to make the situation worse to explain that he mostly is, he just hasn’t heard it for a while, he’s used to it.

Stupid echolalia.

“Like I said,” Morgan says, “they were dicks.”

Spencer doesn’t point out being rude doesn’t automatically mean lying. “I’ve heard worse.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t give them the right to say stuff like that.”

He rocks back on the balls of his feet. His hands aren’t co-operating but the swaying motion is a good substitute. “I’m okay.”

“You know,” Morgan says casually, “whenever you lie, you stand exactly the same way.”

Spencer looks up. The expression on Morgan’s face falls somewhere between sadness and sympathy but, he thinks, not pity. It’s a nice change.

“Kid, the only thing you’re gonna get from pretending you’re OK is worse,” Morgan says. “It’s not worth it. Not for anyone but especially not morons like that.”

“It’s not worth it,” Spencer repeats. The words catch in his thoughts and he murmurs it again and again and Morgan isn’t even slightly annoyed at him.

(It isn’t worth it—he knows this—but maybe it is. Just a tiny bit. Just for the part where he has friends who tell him things like this, who don’t mind when he’s awkward. Who don’t mind him.

Friends who say nothing about it but when they get back to the station, the pair are getting chewed out by a pissed off captain.)

A/N: I had trouble getting this to flow as well as my other ones, there's something about it I just can't figure out. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.

[onechicagorpf]

Two Can Play This Game

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader (Chicago Med ED doctor)

Summary: Y/N and Jay have a very undefined relationship, which causes problems when Jay decides to meet with Ally, his ex, for drinks. Y/N’s not one to take things lightly, so when Jay dismisses her jealousy she decides to give him a taste of his own medicine...

Warnings: Loud yelling-at-each-other arguments, which can be triggering, so please watch out! Swearing + dubious medical content, as per usual lol

A/N: I just needed a break before I got started on Not A Stranger Part 4, so this happened! Enjoy! As per usual, please leave comments if you really liked it - they mean a lot!

The sun is bearing down on you hard, and you feel a trickle of sweat go down the back of your neck.

“Need a drink?” It’s Ethan, tossing a cool bottle of water at you. Grinning, you catch it and quickly begin to empty it into your mouth.

Ethan’s frowning, looking up into the sky. “Some days, I just don’t get Chicago. It’s either freezing because it’s the polar vortex, or it’s boiling hot because - well. Whatever. I hate this.” Crushing the plastic bottle, you toss it into a nearby trashcan. “We’ve cleared everyone?” You ask, gesturing to the relatively less frantic movement of firefighters, cops, and doctors on the road. Ethan nods.

A gas explosion had gone off in an apartment, and it was bad enough that CFD paged ED doctors to come down and treat some patients on the scene. Natalie, Connor, Lanik and the student doctors opted to stay behind and hold down the fort, so you were dispatched out with Will and Ethan. For the last hour and a half, you’d been busy running triage and treating whatever burns, smoke inhalations, and other trauma injuries came your way. Luckily, the fire had been contained to just one floor, so there were only a few really awful burns. But of course, this is Chicago so there’s only so much luck going around.

The building was an old one, and that coupled with several structural defects meant that the south face of the building had partially collapsed. So in essence, for every burn victim CFD pulled out, there were about three penetrating or blunt traumas from falling concrete.

“Yeah, but I’d rather treat trauma from a falling object than burns any day,” Ethan comments and you raise your eyebrows. “See, if you’d told me that at the start I would’ve just taken all the burn vics and tossed the rest to you.” Ethan throws his hands up, as you start laughing. “Okay hold on, I didn’t say I wanted to take them all – ” “You guys good?” Cruz swings by, soot and sweat on his face. He takes off his helmet with a sigh, and his shoulders sag like he’s been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Should be asking you that. Are you guys done with search and rescue?” You ask, kicking a nearby plastic chair towards him. Cruz thanks you and starts taking off his equipment. “Yeah, we’ve cleared building. CPD’s in there now.” You nod, your heart skipping a beat at the thought of the police - well specifically at the thought of one detective who you know is on scene…

Except you’re supposed to be mad at him now, so stop thinking about him!

“So they think this is arson? And that it’s related to some case Intelligence is working?” Ethan asks, and Cruz nods, “Seems that way, yeah.”

There’s a moment of silence, and your eyes scan the area, watching patrol officers lift up police tape for the last few victims being wheeled into ambulances. You get up, ready to check with Will if he’s ready to go back when Cruz kicks at your feet, a cheeky smile on his face.

“So what’s this I hear about you and the younger Halstead being on the outs?” His eyes light up, and you groan, swearing. Ethan laughs, and you shoot him a glare, to which he simply shrugs like as if he’s got nothing to do with this.

You turn back to Cruz, narrowing your eyes at him. “Who told you and what do you know?”

“All I know is that you and Jay were both at Molly’s last night and you didn’t even look at each other.” Cruz pouts, acting all sad. “What happened to my favourite detective-doctor duo, huh? Why the trouble in paradise?”

You roll your eyes. “We’re fine. We just…were hanging out with different groups of people last night.” Shrugging your shoulders, you lean against the nearby table of supplies, trying to look all nonchalant. Ethan raises his eyebrows, “So you’re definitely not pissed about the blonde chick Jay had drinks with 2 nights ago?”

“Okay, fuck you - ” You exclaim, unable to hide your rage at that memory. Which Ethan and Cruz find hilarious, apparently, because they’re throwing their heads back and laughing.

“You guys suck,” You punch Cruz in the arm as you walk away; the two men calling you back while still laughing. You flip your middle finger at them, which elicits an outraged “Hey!” Shaking your head, you chuckle as well.

The Med ED/Firehouse 51/Intelligence circle is a tight one and you love it - love having friends who are more or less in the same line of work, friends you can lean on, friends who don’t get pissed when you have to cancel on them last minute. But the flip side of that is the fact that nothing stays secret. Gossip is most the valuable currency in that social circle, so if Cruz and Ethan know, then it’s not a bad guess to think everyone knows.

“Dude, c’mon. You’re an adult. Just take the damn injection!” Severide’s voice catches your attention, and you turn. He’s standing at the back of an ambulance, with Will and Jay by his side (your heart, again, skips a beat, which only pisses you off because ugh, you’re so bad at being angry at him!). The three of them are crowded around a fairly attractive, topless blonde man sitting in the back of the ambulance, shaking his head vehemently. You start making your way towards them, listening in.

“Hell nah – I’m not letting you stab me with that shit – ” The guy’s eyes are wide, and he’s leaning back from Will.

“It’s just a tetanus shot,” Will explains, exasperated. He points to the guy’s side, where a bandaged piece of gauze has been stuck to his skin. “The rusty stairwell scratched you, so you need to get a tetanus shot.”

“I said, I’m not fucking doing needles!” Hot blond guy yells and Jay runs his hand down his face. “Okay dude seriously, I can’t question you about the fire unless you get treated first, so please just take the damn shot so we can all move on with our lives – ”

“What’s going on?” You interject, hands on your hips. All four men turn, and you’re very careful to not make eye contact with Jay. Will and Kelly both immediately shoot furtive glances at Jay once they see you, so obviously they also know that you and Jay are having an argument. Great!

I mean, it has to have been Jay’s fault, because you didn’t tell anyone…well except for Natalie…who might have told Maggie…who might have told April…who might have told Kelly - shit. Well, it doesn’t matter. The whole thing is only happening because of Jay. Technically the two of you weren’t really dating – it was just a couple of hookups, but then you also started hanging out a lot together, and it got to the point where everyone knew that the two of you were basically kinda sorta an item.

You liked that you guys never had to sit down and talk about what exactly the two of you were – all that meant was that you guys were strong and confident and that you didn’t need to have a discussion about where you stood!

Or at least that’s what it meant to you. Jay apparently thought it meant it was completely okay to go have drinks with an on and off ex from high school, who he’d admitted to you he’d hooked up with on multiple occasions in the past. When you (rightfully!) got pissed at him, he just frowned and said “What’s the problem? We’re not together.”

To which you responded very maturely.

So maturely!

In a very, very responsible way…

Okay, fine, maybe you screamed “FUCK YOU!” at the top of your lungs and left his apartment, slamming his front door loud enough to wake up all the neighbours.

You get that you’re maybe being a little over-dramatic, and maybe it is on you because you just assumed you didn’t have to have that conversation with Jay. But it hurt you immensely how he thought it was okay to go have drinks with an ex (an ex!) without thinking about you at all.

“Blake here tripped on his way down the fire escape and got scraped by a rusty stairwell, but he’s refusing his tetanus shot.” Will explains, snapping you out of your reverie.

You turn to the guy just in time to catch him giving you a very slow once over, smirking.

Okay…

“How come a big strong guy like you is scared of needles, hmm?” You tilt your head, putting on your best flirty voice. It’s just a thing that tends to work with unruly male patients, you’ve learned over the years.

And yeah, maybe it can be a side benefit that Jay’s going to be an audience to you flirting with someone else…serves him right!

“I’m uh, I’m not actually scared of needles. Just didn’t trust that guy – ” He nods towards Will, who throws his hands in the air, “ – to do a good job you know? Take a delicate hand for these things. Speaking of which…you look like you’re pretty good with your hands,” Blake licks his lips, flirting with you blatantly. You have to press your lips against each other to not burst out laughing.

“Dude…” Jay threatens in a deep, dark voice, but stops when you turn around and grab the tetanus shot pack out of Will’s hands. You step towards Blake, who’s looking up at you with lust in his eyes as he shifts for you. Wiping his shoulder down with an alcohol swab, you find a good spot.

“I’m pretty good with my hands too, by the way,” Blake supplies, winking and you nod. “I’ll bet,” You reply, as someone behind you scoffs. From the corner of your eye, you can see Kelly turn away, trying not to laugh.

You’re much closer to Blake than you really need to be, not that he minds – in fact you’re pretty sure he’s having a great time checking you out up close. He curses under his breath when you inject him, but quickly recovers. You rub on the jab site once done, and trash the used pack. “Good to go,” You shoot Blake a smile. “Oh, one more thing!”

You turn, looking at a very frowny, jaws tight, arms-crossed-over-his-chest Jay Halstead. “Let me borrow that,” You reach forward and take his notepad and pen from him, before scribbling down your number on the top most sheet. Ripping it off, you press it against Blake’s chest, winking. Blake’s hands come up to take the piece of paper, grinning, briefly brushing your fingers as you pull away. Jay’s jaw is on the floor when you return his notepad and pen to him, and you can see Will just shake his head at you, amusement all over his face.

“Alright, let’s go!” You say to Will, and the two of you plus Kelly leave Jay behind with Blake.

“Jay’s going to murder that guy, you know right?” Kelly asks, once you’re out out earshot from Jay. “Like, he’s going down for a homicide. You just got an innocent man killed.” You chuckle and Will lets out a low whistle.

“I’m not gonna say he didn’t have that coming, but damn that was harsh.” The older Halstead says, still laughing.

Shrugging your shoulders, you act innocent. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about – I was just making friends!”

Will and Kelly both look at each other before looking back at you.

“Oh, yeah, of course – ”

“Obviously, what else could that have been – ”

You punch them both in the shoulder at their faux-agreement, the three of you laughing. Ethan comes over, saying there’s an ambulance ready to take them back to Med. You and Will say your goodbyes to Kelly, and take your leave.

***

It’s almost midnight when you finally get home. Hip-checking your door close behind you, you start undoing your scarf and carelessly toss it onto your coffee table, before collapsing onto your couch. Your hand roams the crevices of your couch, finding the plastic remote and turning on your TV. Rubbing your eyes while yawning, your TV comes alive to the news of the day. As if on cue, the screen is filled with videos of the building from earlier this morning.

“…while the gas explosion was first assumed to be an accident, it was later proven by CPD Intelligence that it was started by Derrick Henderson, a 35 year-old construction worker from Englewood, who…”

There’s a knock on your door, three loud raps. You blink, confused, and there’s another three. Frowning, you sit up, and you hear: “Y/N, I know you’re in there, c’mon just…just let me in, please,” Jay’s voice is muffled from the other side of your front door, but you know it’s him. Groaning, you get up and make your way over, unlatching your door.

“What do you want.” You intone, seeing him standing there in your threshold. He grabs the door with his hand, like as if he’s afraid you’re gonna shut the door in his face.

“I think I owe you an apology,” Jay starts and you hum, agreeing. “And then I think you owe me an apology,” He finishes, and your mouth falls open.

“What the fuck did I do!” You yell, shoving against his chest. Unfortunately for you, he doesn’t even budge - which is kinda hot, actually, wait, dammit - focus!

Jay’s eyes go wide, like he can’t believe you’re claiming innocence. “Are you kiddi – that whole thing! With – with Blake, the fucking moron, who was basically stripping you with his eyes! That was so unnecessary – ”

“You literally went on a date with your ex and you’re telling ME what’s unnecessary?! You – ”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Your neighbour from down the hall yells, and both you and Jay shut up. “NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS YOU FUCKING MORONS!”

Jay scoffs, and turns to step down your hallway to your neighbour’s apartment when you reach out, grab him by his tee and unceremoniously drag him into your apartment. Slamming the door behind you, you turn to give him a piece of your mind.

“You’re the asshole who told me that we weren’t really together so it didn’t matter if you went out with your ex-girlfriend! So why the fuck is it a problem if I give my number out, huh?!”

Jay throws his hands in the air. “I’m sorry, okay! I didn’t fucking – I wasn’t thinking when I did what I did and I can see know that it probably really hurt you, but I swear I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t want to hurt you; I just fucked up. But you – you went out of your WAY to piss me off – ”

“ALL I DID WAS GIVE OUT MY NUMBER – ”

“IN FRONT OF ME! TO SOME OTHER GUY! WHEN I – ”

The two of you jump when there’s loud banging on your door. “I’M CALLING THE FUCKING POLICE ON YOU TWO!”

Jay wrenches your door open and you see your pissed off neighbour on the other side. “I’M HER BOYFRIEND AND I’M THE FUCKING POLICE, SO YOU’D JUST BE CALLING ME!” He slams the door shut and turns, running his hands over his face.

“Okay, okay, we gotta stop yelling. Anyway, my point is – what?” Jay asks, as you stand unmoving, mouth slightly open.

When you eventually find your voice, all you can say is - “You’re my boyfriend?”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you – ” Jay smiles, reaching for you but you just step back.

“That you just decided you’re my boyfriend? Because this relationship is an autocracy?” You glare at him, getting angry again. The nerve of this guy!

Not that your heart didn’t practically soar when he called himself your boyfriend, but…

“No, no, we’re very democratic, and we should talk about this more, once we’re done with all the yelling.” Jay announces, and then he smiles. “I’m just saying I love you.”

“See, no, this is exactly the kind of issue with you - you just make decisions and act like you’re right and you can do whatever you want and you can go out with your ex if you want and that’s all supposed to be fine but the moment I – as a joke – hand out my number to some guy to give you a taste of your medicine, I’m the one who crossed a line and – wait, what?” You cut yourself off, confused if you’re hearing things.

“There we go,” Jay laughs, a fond smile etched on his face, as you finally process what he said.

“Did you just…did you just say you love me?” You ask, your voice soft as you step up to him.

“Yeah,” Jay’s grinning now, right in front of you. “I’m sorry it took me a while to realise it, but…I love you.”

You just blink at him for a couple of seconds, eyes starting to tear up. And then you punch him in the chest as hard as you can.

“Ow! What the fuck?!” Jay asks, eyes wide as he frowns, wholly confused.

“You fucking – fuck!” You whisper angrily, not wanting to piss off your neighbour again. “You had to fucking go out on a date with your ex-girlfriend and piss me the fuck off and make me make you jealous before you realised that you love me?!”

“I’ve been hit in the head multiple times…?” Jay shrugs apologetically.

“You’re an idiot.” You say, before cupping the back of his neck with your hand and pulling him down to press your lips together.

You can feel Jay smile through the kiss, bringing his hands up to cradle your face as he deepens the kiss, parting your lips. You’ve kissed each other many times before, in many ways – good morning pecks, in-the-middle-of-sex makeouts, teasing neck kisses – but something about this kiss is entirely new. It’s just…warm, and loving, and delicate and beautiful and just – just perfect.

When you pull apart, the two of you rest your foreheads against each other, smiling like dumb idiots.

“Jay?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too.”

[deus-ex-knoxina]

I had a fever dream where Dan and Andrew were adoptive siblings and now that’s all I want to read about

[image ID: an anon ask reading ‘(for the record was using fever dream as a hyperbole I’m ok)’ /end image ID]

first of all i’m glad you’re ok!

second of all oh my god. ohhhhhhhhh my god. this is so BRILLIANT

dan and andrew are so similar but like... so different at the same time? like they both have their People who they stick with, and they’re very >:( about anyone hurting Their People (andrew’s obvious, but like remember when dan got super pissed at kevin because of the whole wymack-is-kevin’s-dad thing?)

more on that note, dan cares more about her own wellbeing (when she slammed that one raven guy in the crotch i gained three years on my lifespan--at least i think that’s what happened i haven’t read the books in a hot moment but she used her shoes right? god. badass) than andrew does and my guess is that it’s HARD EARNED.

there is so much more under the cut i rlly love this idea

as adoptive siblings, i think they’d take a long time to warm up to each other. i feel like they’d both have this instinct to like, ally and cling to each other (since we know that’s a thing they both do at psu) but fight it because they’ve also learned to Not trust other people.

andrew doesn’t have the protective twin reason to pack bond w dan that he does with aaron, and pretty much everyone else in the series has to fight for andrew to actually care about them.

dan, on the other hand, is also probably pretty self-sufficient at this time and maybe not super enthused by the concept of having other people who she might need to take care of/take responsibility for. so like why would she bond with this younger boy who’s made it very clear he doesn’t need or want anyone

at the same time, though, they don’t really clash. they’re just content to leave each other alone and i think that would eventually translate into this sense of ‘they do their thing and i do mine, and we’ve been set in this pattern for long enough that i pretty much trust this is how it’s gonna be and they’re not going to do a 180 and hurt me, we just leave each other in peace’

and i think they would stay in that pattern forever, if not for some Moment™ that would make both of their protective instincts pop out (probably like, of another person, not of each other), and then they’d look at each other like >.> we’re not so different you and i........

side note wouldn’t a superhero au crime fighting vigilante duo of dan and andrew be so cool like that’s the vibe i get from them

anyway i think if dan and andrew met earlier in life they’d get each other more. by the time that they’re both at psu their experiences have diverged a LOT, and they also get somewhat different treatment at psu.

oh wow now i’m thinking about how dan would change the dynamic of the cousins right after tilda’s death? like obviously she wouldn’t like luther and maria and i think that when nicky turns up she’d clock that his relationship with his parents is total shit. i feel like dan and andrew and aaron would all like, appreciate nicky turning up, and i can’t decide if dan at this point would be better at verbalizing it than andrew and aaron or not

she’d be a couple years ahead of them in school though so she’d probably be like, ABOUT to leave for college and be glad andrew has people with him

okay. now IN college. for the sake of simplicity i’m gonna assume pretty much everything else goes the same, so they’re all at psu and andrew, nicky, and aaron turn up when dan’s a junior.

dan doesn’t know nicky and aaron very well since like, she’s been at college and nicky especially has been busy working in the brief periods of time she’s been home over breaks (and aaron’s not that sociable), but she knows andrew’s decided to keep them so that means they’re hers by proxy too.

that combined with renee and andrew doing the exact same thing of >.> we’re not so different you and i means that andrew, at least, is pretty locked in with the upperclassmen and that means he’s dragging aaron and nicky with him. (and since dan knows andrew already she can confer with wymack on like, how to deal with him, basically, since we know wymack bargains with andrew to get him to Do Shit)

i do think andrew would still take renee and matt to eden’s (not dan he already vetted her) but he’d be more open w dan about the reason for taking matt. i don’t think she’d be happy at all with how he decided to address it but she’d understand his reasoning.

and i think andrew decides that if his group is going to be with the upperclassmen, he’s going to have to do something about seth and his habit of being loudly homophobic

when kevin arrives, the foxes aren’t a *team* the way the trojans or even the ravens are, but they know how to exist in the same space with a minimum of violence, and most of them are all set to close ranks against this annoying newcomer who keeps insulting them (until andrew adopts him and is like no you all have to tolerate him now)

andrew and dan definitely argue like siblings and they argue a LOT about neil when he arrives, because they both clock all his lying but andrew deems him a threat and dan deems him a victim (and they’re both right. so like)

neil doesn’t really have to fix the team but he does still plunge himself into fixing andrew and aaron’s relationship. i feel like even though andrew has a less dysfunctional sibling-y relationship w dan that wouldn’t affect him making a deal with aaron because his relationship w dan is fundamentally different--they both came to it from a place of not needing help and that places it a little more in the same category as andrew’s relationship with nicky. bc andrew always makes deals with people he feels he needs to take care of/protect. so dan doesn’t have a deal but aaron does.

however it does mean neil’s job is a little easier because dan knew andrew before the whole tilda thing so he talks to her a lot

i also feel like dan would be emboldened to like... engage more w andrew in the context of sports so after they win a game she always runs over to the goal (or the bench or abby’s office wherever andrew happens to be) and is like celebrate with us and andrew’s like :| and dan’s like fuck you celebrate with us you’re an essential part of the team, and that usually works

and i think that despite both of them knowing the other one doesn’t need *protection*, what are they gonna do, just not protect people? they’re dan and andrew it’s what they do. not only do they recognize each other’s lowest points, they CARE.

and it’s not just low points! they also both recognize how the other is healing/growing at psu and are quietly glad. i don’t think they’d be like, vocal about it, but they both know, and that’s what counts.

[ificanthaveu]

Open Door Policy || Shawn Mendes

Description: You and Shawn Mendes have always been best friends, neighbors and cowriters until you start feeling something more. But how do you tell the guy you write love songs with that you think you love him?

A/N: OK this is another one of those fics that came from a day dream and spun together really quickly. I honestly don’t have much to say and I feel like I usually do but I hope you love it :)

Word Count: 4.5k

As time ticked by so did your patience. 

It was nearly 11:00 pm on a Friday, and the last place you wanted to be was in the studio with an up and coming singer-songwriter who thought he was a lot better than he actually was. 

You sighed as you leaned back in your chair, watching Hayden scribble something down from the other side of the glass before looking up at you and motioning for you to turn on your mic. 

“I got something,” he said with a big grin. 

That phrase usually meant you had at least another hour of work to do. 

“Shoot,” you said as you grabbed your notebook, prepared to fix the line however you could. 

He pointed at his notebook with his pen before saying, “we’re meant to be, but we haven’t figured that part out yet.”

You cocked your head to the side and nodded, the line showing that maybe he was making progress. 

“It’s supposed to be you and me, we haven’t figured this out, but I know somehow we’re meant to be?” You said with questioning in your tone as you switched words around to make it rhyme and flow. 

“I like that,” Hayden said, jotting down the line again and erasing other things. 

“Um, not to rush you, bud, but how much longer are you thinking of working?” You said carefully. 

He glanced at his phone propped up next to him. 

“Maybe just fifteen minutes? Finish the chorus, and we can finish it and record it next time I see you?” He asked. 

You nodded your head as you took note of that. 

“Next Tuesday still work?” You asked. 

“Perfect,” he said as he hung his headphones up to sit next to you and finish the chorus. It just needed a line or two, or the start of a line or two, and then you could just go home. 

“Alright, well, dig into that line you just said,” you started as you turned towards him as he pulled up his chair. “How do you know, but still don’t know?”

He sighed and leaned back, looking at the ceiling and turning his chair in circles slowly. 

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. 

You tried not to sigh and hang your head, knowing his one line wasn’t going to carry through to a whole chorus. 

“I’m just thinking of, like, two friends. And they’ve been friends for a while and there’s this looming feeling that they’re going to end up together, but they just don’t know when or how, and honestly, have kind of been avoiding that feeling without even realizing they’re doing it,” he tried to explain. 

“So, everyone knows, no one wants to say it?” You offered. 

“Exactly,” he said as he rested his elbows on the table. 

You looked through some lines you had written before, trying to see how you could alter them and fit them into the song to convey what he just told you. 

“Stuck between something we can’t see…” you trailed off, writing it down in your notebook. “What if we never know what this is really about?”

Silence floated between the two of you as you both wrote them down.

“Man, I was thinking of going towards a happier ending with his, but I like where you’re going,” he said as he closed his notebook. 

You shrugged your shoulders, following suit as you put your notebook in your bag along with a few of your other things scattered in front of you. 

“Guess that’s just the feelings that want to come out of me right now,” you said with a soft smile.

Hayden looked at you for a moment before standing up. 

“I’m not giving up on that happy ending of the song,” he said as he walked to the door, he leaned against the doorway for a moment before continuing. “And neither should you.”

Once he left, you leaned your head against the edge of the chair. He may be a pain in your ass sometimes, but he was always really good at reading you. Which is why you worked well together. And why you were the cowriter on most of his songs. 

You finally picked yourself up and gathered your things before locking up the studio. Once you got in your car, you glanced down at your phone for the first time in the past few hours. 

5:12 - Shawn: When do you get home? Pizza night?

6:36 - Shawn: Maybe Chinese?

7:04 - Shawn: You know, at this point I might just eat cardboard. 

** Missed call - Shawn Mendes - 8:47**

8:48 - Shawn: [Y/N], I’m starving. 

9:15 - Shawn: Ok, so I ordered pizza and ate, like, half of it. But stop over once you get home and eat the rest, please. 

9:57 - Shawn: I know you don’t like that Hayden guy…is it because he’s been planning to kill you? Are you DEAD?

10:51 - Shawn: FINE, this is my last text, but actually please call me on your way home, so the pizza can be heated up and ready for you :)

You smiled down at the multiple messages before shaking your head and wiping it off your face. You pressed on his contact and put him on speakerphone before pulling out. 

“Thank God. You’re not dead,” he answered. 

“What do you expect when I’m with Hayden? We never finish anything in a timely manner,” you said through a laugh. 

“You finish things in a timely manner. He does not,” Shawn reminded you. 

You heard him rustling around as you assumed he was getting the pizza. 

“I got pepperoni by the way, and my door is unlocked,” he said. 

“You’re a lifesaver,” you said as you made the final turn into your apartment complex. “I just pulled in. I’ll be up in a minute.”

“See ya,” he said before hanging up. 

You gathered your things and locked your car before heading into the building. You stopped by the front desk to grab a package that was delivered before taking the elevator to the top floor. 

There were only four apartments on the top floor. One of them was owned by you. Two were being taken up by rich couples who traveled for a living and were never really there. And the last one was Shawn. 

You’d met him through James when you started writing with him when he was on tour with Shawn at the beginning of their careers. You were young and inexperienced, as was James, so you made a good duo. You had no idea Shawn lived in the apartment across from you until after you started moving your things in almost a year after you first met. Shawn kept an eye on your apartment when you were gone, and you did the same for him. But if you asked anyone, it was more like the two of you lived together with how often you’d just walk across the hall into the other’s place. 

The elevator dinged, and you made your way to Shawn’s door. You opened the door, and Shawn peaked his head past the wall to see you. 

“There you are!” He said with a big smile. 

“Yes, it’s me. I’m here. Alive,” you said as you set your phone on the counter. “Lemme run this stuff over.”

You crossed the hall, not bothering to close Shawn’s door before you opened your own, also not bothering to close it, and set your package just beyond the door before going to your room to change. 

You heard Shawn’s footsteps outside your bedroom before he said, “Do you want a Coke with your pizza?”

“You shouldn’t have to ask that,” you said through a sigh as you opened your door, this time in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. 

Shawn rolled his eyes. “It’s almost midnight.”

“You can’t have pizza without Coke,” you reminded him. 

“Alright, fine,” he said as you followed him back to his kitchen, closing both doors behind you. 

Shawn had your pizza set out for you with a glass of Coke next to it. He sat down across from you as you took your first bite.

“Write anything good today?” He asked, sipping at his water. 

You nodded your head and swallowed. “Yeah, he actually came up with some pretty good lines today. I don’t know if it’ll be a single, but it’ll make the album.”

“What’s it about?” 

“Being friends with someone, and kind of knowing you’re going to end up with them, but not really knowing when or how or how to even convey those feelings,” you said slowly. 

“Sounds complicated,” he said. 

“You bet,” you mumbled before taking a sip. 

“Have you ever felt that?” Shawn asked. 

“Felt what?”

“You just described it,” he said with a small smile. 

You returned the smile and took another sip. 

“Yeah, but I need you to explain it another way, so I can use it for the final verse.”

“Do I get a writing credit?”

“That’s up to Hayden, so probably not.”

He laughed as he leaned his elbows on the table and cocked his head to the side. 

“The questioning,” he started before pausing and looking out the window behind you. “Like you’re with this person and one moment, you think, this is it. This person is the one you’re going to spend forever with. And then the next…” he trails off. “You’re doubting everything you’ve ever known about them. About love. About the two of you. And you don’t want to screw it up. Because you’d rather ignore the love you feel than screw up this beautiful thing you already have.”

You stayed quiet as he described it. You didn’t notice you hadn’t responded until your eyes met his, and you nodded your head. 

“Yeah,” you whispered. “I get it. It’s complicated.”

“Exactly,” he said just as quietly. 

It went quiet again as you finished your slice of pizza. 

“Did I just give you your last verse?” He said through a smile. 

You shrugged as you grabbed your notebook from your bag and scribbled down a few of the words and phrases he used: questioning, moments, doubt, beautiful thing, screw it up. 

“We’ll see. Hayden wants a happy ending, but with where we are now, I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” you said as you looked Shawn in the eyes. 

“Never know,” he responded. 

“That’s what he said.”

“I think he’s smarter than we give him credit for.”

Shawn took your plate from you and put it in the dishwasher as you kept sipping at your drink and adding notes to the words you just added. 

“So…I know you’ve been writing all day, but-“ Shawn started before you cut him off by holding your hand up. 

“No ‘but’s. It’s almost midnight,” you said. 

“[Y/N], I already owe you my life and my firstborn child. Please, for the life of me, just look at the verse I’ve written so far,” he begged. 

You groaned as you rested your head on the counter in front of you. 

“Do I get a writing credit?” You mumbled. 

“You have a writing credit on half the songs on my new album,” he said as you lifted your head up. “And you’ll have it on this one, too. Like always.”

“You’re too nice to me, Mendes,” you said as you stood up and walked towards his piano in his makeshift studio. 

Shawn sat down at the piano, and you leaned on the side of it. 

He started playing softly and humming along to the song inside his head. You got lost in how his hands moved across the piano and how his body moved when he pressed down on a pedal, watching the expression on his face as he sang. 

“So, what do you think?” He asked. 

You hadn’t even registered anything he just sang. 

“Um,” you said softly as you sat down next to him to look at the lyrics jotted down on his notebook and quickly read over them. “Well, I like the music.”

“That was the most backhanded compliment you’ve ever given me,” he said through a laugh. “Do you like any of the lyrics?”

“Don’t say, ‘I’m falling in love,’” you said as you took the pencil out of his hand and crossed out the line. “There are so many better ways to say that and falling in love is a made-up term by The Bachelor.”

“It is not made up,” he defended. “You’ve never felt that feeling? That feeling of knowing you’re going to be in love with someone, but not quite there yet?” He asked. 

You shrugged as you looked down at the keys your hands were laid on. 

“I just think there are better ways of saying you’re falling for someone,” you said quietly. 

“Enlighten me,” he said as he turned to look at you, leaning his elbow on top of the piano. 

“Feeling something I’ve never felt before, the start of something worthwhile, the beginning of what could be,” you rattled off. 

“None of those fit in the other lyrics,” he said. “And I write what I feel, and this is what I’m feeling right now.”

“You’re falling in love? How are you so sure?” You asked, not even wanting to know who it could be. 

He shrugged as he tore his eyes away from you to play the notes again. 

“You just know,” he whispered before looking at you. “And that’s how I know you’ve never felt it.”

Your hands slammed down on the keys as you let them loosen up. 

“I had a boyfriend for over a year before I came out here,” you reminded him. “And I loved him.”

“But were you in love with him?” He asked. 

“There is no difference.”

“There is definitely a difference.”

“Well, then I guess I don’t know it,” you said a little louder than expected. “Happy?”

Shawn didn’t say anything as he stared down at his hands. You ran your hands down your face before staring at the lyrics jotted across his notebooks and your harsh line drawn through them. It was safe to say that you weren’t feeling the love songs. 

“I’m sorry,” you said, still not looking at him. “I just haven’t really been in the right headspace to write happy love songs.”

“Why?” He asked. 

You shook your head softly. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s always complicated.”

“Yeah.”

Silence filled the room again as you both sat facing the piano, your legs almost brushing up against each other. 

“I should go to bed,” you whispered. 

“Yeah, yeah, me too,” he said back. 

Neither of you moved, still staring at the piano or the notebook or the wall behind both. 

“I have a question,” Shawn whispered. 

You didn’t respond and instead turned to look at him. 

He cracked a smile as he looked at you and said, “How do you write the best love songs I’ve ever heard when you’ve never experienced being in love?”

“Talent and a romcom obsession,” you said with a smile. 

Shawn laughed and leaned his head back for a moment. 

“Well, you got me there.”

You both stood up at the same time, and Shawn followed you out of the room. You grabbed your phone and bag off the counter before making your way to the door. 

“I’ll see you later,” you said with a smile before Shawn nodded at you and you left. 

Shawn sighed and hung his head back as he nearly punched the wall in front of him. But instead of having to explain that to your building manager again, he went back to his studio, playing the same notes over and over again, not getting what you said out of his head. 

Meanwhile, you willed yourself not to cry as you climbed into your bed and pulled your covers up over your head. You sighed and laid on your back, staring at your ceiling. 

You couldn’t blame Shawn for anything. He loved everything he encountered. 

You just couldn’t do it as easily as him, which is something he couldn’t really wrap his head around. 

Because how were you supposed to write love songs about the guy who was writing them about someone else?

You could hear his piano still playing softly. Your phone lit up before you could text him. 

Shawn: You were right. “The beginning of what could be” sounds way better.

You smiled softly before quickly typing back. 

[Y/N]: Go to bed, rockstar. 

—

You heard rustling just moments before a pillow hit you in the head. You groaned and rolled over, burying your head underneath the covers. 

“Get up,” Shawn said as he kept hitting you. 

“No,” you mumbled as you glanced at your watch. “We didn’t go to bed until nearly 1:00 am, and you’re waking me up at 8:00? What have I ever done to you?”

“You said you’d work out with me this morning,” he said with a tinge of sadness in his voice as you turned to look at him. 

“I thought you meant around 11:00.”

“That is not the morning.”

“It most certainly is.”

“Please, I’m hanging out with Brian and Connor at noon, and you promised me,” he begged. 

“I have never broken a promise with you,” you started. 

“Exactly.”

“...and now’s the perfect time to start,” you finished, turning over again. 

“What? No,” he said, yanking your covers off you and off the bed completely. 

This made you shoot up and glare at him. 

“Are you going to be the one to make my bed now?” You asked. 

“No, now get dressed. Let’s go,” he said as he walked out of your room. 

Ten minutes later, and you were walking out of the building for a run with Shawn, still cursing him that you were up this early on a Saturday. But once your music started playing and you started running, you weren’t threatening his death any longer. 

You followed closely to Shawn as he lead the way through your usual route to a park down the street. The plan was to run there, hike and then run back. 

You made it to the park and slowed to a walk as you followed a path that Shawn picked. 

“Any chance you’re available to head to the studio at some point this week?” Shawn asked with a pleading smile. 

You rolled your eyes at him before you answered, “I’m pretty booked, so it depends. I think Thursday morning is the only thing I can do unless you want to do it at midnight.”

“I can make Thursday morning work,” he said, dodging a branch. “I’m going to need help finishing that song then because you were definitely right.”

“I always am,” you said with a smile as he bumped his shoulder into you. 

“Also, I’m sorry about last night. I went too far with the love thing,” he said quietly. 

You nodded your head, not wanting to look at him. 

“It’s fine. I guess no one’s ever really asked about it. I just wasn’t prepared,” you paused. “And you know I’m not as good at saying things as I am as turning them into a song.”

“You and me both,” he replied. “How come you don’t write a song about it then?”

“About never being in love?”

“Yeah, it’s real feelings. It’s what you’re feeling right now. And maybe for once, you could keep it for yourself,” he said. 

“I don’t sing. I write,” you reminded him. 

“You can definitely sing.”

“Doesn’t mean I want to do it in front of people.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m just saying it could help to write about it since you don’t want to talk about it. I know how you are,” he reminded you. “I know this would be a lot easier than talking about it. Even if you just trash the song after, and it never sees the light of day.”

“Maybe I will,” you said with a nod. 

“I won’t be home until late tonight, so the piano is all yours,” he tempted. 

“You really know how to get me,” you said with a laugh. 

“Better than you’ll ever realize.”

—

You heard Shawn’s apartment door slam as he left to go see Brian and Connor. You took that as your cue to grab your notebook and laptop and head over to Shawn’s apartment. 

The door was unlocked as usual, and you grabbed water from his fridge before going to his little studio. You set your things down on top of the piano before making yourself comfortable. 

You didn’t even know where to start. You weren’t used to writing something like this. You didn’t even know what things you said in songs about not being in love. 

You pressed a few keys, trying out a melody you had come up with a few days before. You hummed slowly to it, writing down words that came to mind. 

“But maybe I’m wrong,” you sang quietly. “Maybe it’s been in front of me all along.”

You wrote it down before sitting back again. 

“Maybe my front door has always been open, maybe you’ve always walked through, maybe it’s always been you,” you sang louder. 

“I’ve never felt like this,” you paused. “But with you, I wouldn’t mind.”

You wrote it all down quickly as it flowed out of you, taking Shawn’s idea and mixing it with how you’ve been feeling about him lately. 

You tapped your pencil along your notebook as you thought of the next verse, getting lost in what time it even was as you finally felt like you were being honest about what you were feeling. 

— 

He heard it before anything else. As the door cracked open, the soft noise of the piano and the hum of your voice came rushing out of the room as if it had to get out. As if it had to be anywhere but with you. As if it was looking for Shawn and trying to pull him in. 

Shawn didn’t make a noise as he walked into his apartment and made his way to the studio to see you still sitting at the piano, putting your whole body into the keys of the piano and into the words you were singing. 

He almost spoke up until he listened. 

Your voice sounded so delicate yet powerful as you maneuvered into the chorus of the song, singing about feeling things you’d never felt before. The subtle references to a neighbor and unlocked doors didn’t make it past Shawn. He could feel his cheeks heating up as he didn’t know whether to walk out and act like he hadn’t heard it or just sit down next to you. 

Before he could make the decision, you made it for him as you turned to grab your water but froze when you saw him standing there. You could see his pink-tinted cheeks from a mile away. 

“Shawn,” you said softly, feeling your heart beat out of your chest, stuck between hoping he’d heard it and hoping he didn’t.

“Hey,” he said back just as soft. 

“You’re home early.”

“Yeah.”

Silence filled the room as Shawn finally moved to the piano bench to sit next to you, your legs pressed against one another as both of you tried to calm your breathing. 

“It’s a beautiful song,” Shawn finally said, letting his hands land on the keys and looking up at your notebook with scribbles and lyrics. 

“Thanks,” you choked out. 

“Sounded like you were really saying what you felt,” he paused. “What you truly felt?” He said in a questioning tone as he looked at you from the corner of his eye. 

“Uh,” you paused, trying to figure out how to get yourself out of this one. “Yeah,” you said through an exhale of breath. 

Shawn played the notes you had written out, the only noise being the music he was playing. 

The music you had just written about him. 

“It’s beautiful.”

“You said that already.”

Silence filled the room again as Shawn stopped playing. 

“I don’t know what to say,” he said quietly. 

“You don’t have to say anything,” you said quickly after. “You really don’t.”

“But I want to,” he said slowly as he turned to look at you. 

“What do you want to say?” You asked. 

“What’s this song about?” He asked in return. 

You went silent, turning away from him and back to staring at your notebook. 

“About not knowing what love is until you think you’ve found it.”

“And did you find it?”

“I don’t know. That’s the whole point of the song.”

“Open doors and something that feels like it could be more,” he sang softly. 

“Please just say something,” you finally said. 

Shawn stayed quiet and your head told you to run. 

You grabbed your notebook and laptop with one swoop as you stood up and walked out of the room. You heard the screeching of the piano bench as Shawn stood up quickly to follow you, catching you as you left his apartment. 

He grabbed your wrist to stop you before you made it to your door. You didn’t turn around and willed yourself not to cry as you gripped onto your things with all the life you had left in you. 

“They’re about you,” he said as he let go of you. “Every song I’ve written for the past year. They’ve all been about you.”

Your heart beat out of your chest as you turned to look at him. His cheeks were just as pink as before and he was breathing heavily, his chest moving just a little too quickly as he just stared at you. 

“It’s funny. It’s really actually really funny because you help me write most of my songs. You’ve been writing songs about yourself for over a year now and -“

Before you could overthink it, you took a step forward and pressed your lips to his to shut him up. After a moment of shock, his arm held onto your hip and pulled you closer to him as his other hand held your chin up. Your left arm stayed around your laptop and your right one found its way to his cheek. You only stopped once you thought you were about to drop everything, but even then, your forehead stayed settled against his as you both breathed heavily. 

“It’s about you,” you whispered. “You said to write it into a song. About never being in love. But you were right. I think falling in love is more real than I gave you credit for.”

“How so?” He said as a smile graced his face. “You falling in love or something?”

“Don’t make me say it.”

“Maybe you can just sing it for me sometime?”

“My door is always open.”

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