#the leak that seemed so much like dumb fanfic I was like yeah that's totally fake

[meownotgood]

gonna delete this and go to bed soon but. if anyone wants to talk about act 3 of arcane my dms and asks. are open. because did anyone else. just not like it

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK] [WATTPAD] [QUOTEV]

Anna went stock still as their lips connected. It was magical, even if they barely enjoyed the contact before the starlet drew away, pushing her hand into her mouth.

"Oh. I'm…"

"Whoa," the younger woman breathed, turning to stare into the corner. "Ohhhh, that was… intense."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do something so forward out of the blue, I just… wanted to hug you, I don't…"

Anna took her own turn laying her index finger across Elsa's lips, cutting off further protests. "Dude, chill. It was just a kiss; a really nice one, but I'm not gonna die from it. And this one was on me, because I moved."

"Okay." Eyes leaking tears of frustration, she heaved a shaky sigh before confessing, "A lot is happening in a short time. I get to meet you, I pulled that stupid accent, you sang to me, and then I come out, now we're kissing… this is worse than an episode of my show. And that's saying something."

"What show? Wait… you didn't want me to know," she reminded herself.

"Oh… you might as well know now that you're in my hotel room. I'm Elsa Norberg. You might not know me unless you watch daytime soaps or used to watch Disney and Nickelodeon."

Though Anna had been shaking her head, one of her eyebrows raised a little bit in curiosity. "Like, old Nick? Wait…" Now she leaned very far forward to squint at Elsa's features, and the normally-poised actor had to fight down a giggle fit at her crush being that close. "Elsie North?! That chick who played Reenie on Dot And Vanessa?!"

"Yep, you got it," she laughed.

"Holy SHIT! I used to watch that show all the time! Wow, you dyed your hair - wait, you dye it now or you dyed it then? It looks pretty natural…"

"Dyed it then. That's also where the stage name came in; weird Aryan-looking girls from Sweden weren't the in thing at the time. All-American 'girls next door' were."

"Maaaan…" Clearly, she was a little starstruck but not as badly as other people she had met in her life. "You totally carried that show. It was dumb as hell and that guy who played Freddy was annoying; without you it would have been one season and done."

Laughing a lot louder, she gently pushed Anna's shoulder. "No, no. The two main characters were also good. But you're right, the scripts were almost as bad as the ones I'm working with now on my soap opera."

"Which one?"

"Into The Unknown."

"Ohhhh. Yeah, I've seen it on when I'm home sick or during the summer, but I don't really watch those things. No offense!" she added with a raised hand, as if to ward off Elsa's wrath. But her new friend just shrugged.

"None taken. The cast and crew are great, like family to me, but the scripts are the same cheesiness as every other soap opera."

The redhead nodded over toward the connecting door to the other suite. "That where she's from? She's really pretty, so I figure she must be another actor. That guy definitely isn't."

"No," she laughed in agreement. "Decidedly not. But he seems like a decent guy so far; this is my first time meeting him."

"Oh yeah… you did tell me you don't have very many close friends. I hope you're letting her in now. Well, unless she turns out to be a bitch, and then I'm totally okay with you ghosting her."

Rolling her eyes, she scooted closer. Even though it was hard to feel comfortable doing so, she wanted to try. "So far, so good. Don't worry."

"Yeah." Anna slipped her arm around her that easily. Leaned into her, nuzzled her neck. "Mmm…"

"Oooh…"

"Too much?"

"No, no. I just wasn't expecting… any of this."

Her other hand began to pet Elsa's stomach. "You say that like I was, but like… it's whatever. Life happens."

"It does. In very unexpected ways." But she couldn't entirely suppress a reaction to all this physical attention. Who could have?

"Elsa… you feel really good."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. I, um… like I said, I like girls but just, um…" She took a quick breath. "I kinda… only dated guys, because I was worried it wouldn't be the same. Dumb, huh? Obviously girls are fun to cuddle, too. Guess I was just being weird."

"You're talking to someone who's in the closet because her homophobic studio thinks it's bad for the conservative homemaker demographic," she snorted. "That's probably the stupidest reason."

"Nah. You have to work to eat. Like, obviously you can eat freakin' lobster whenever you want, but you couldn't if you got yourself kicked off the show, right? I get that. I don't really want to strip for internet randos, either; it's just work I don't mind and I'm good at it. Like most jobs."

"More than just 'good'. But I'm also sure you could go legit if you wanted to, you're so charismatic."

Grinning, she hugged her tighter. Elsa finally let herself hug her back, humming very quietly in appreciation for the closeness. "You nerd. But like… you're sweet. And you feel good. I could get used to it, and I wanna."

But what about Hans? Elsa thought it, didn't say it; she couldn't ruin this moment. Had already tried to before and it didn't work, so now she just wanted to enjoy this sweet creature in her arms. One she was embracing… then sliding her hand from hip to shoulder… up her neck, tilting her chin upward…

Kissing. This was a real, deep, passionate kiss that they both found themselves throwing themselves into with abandon, lips kneading, tongues tentatively poking at bottom lips. Elsa felt like she was coming home for the first time in ten years. So delicious… did everyone enjoy this as much as she was now? What a beautiful world they lived in.

Of course, it didn't take long for Anna to slide into her lap. And not long after that… she drew back from the kiss with a small smirk.

"Well, hello."

                                      To Be Continued…

[flyswhumpcenter]

Bad Things Happen Bingo! The event where you send me I give myself self-indulgent requests according to this marvelous card!

Corpse Party fanfic in 2019, would’ve fucking thought I could go this far in my previous fandom obsessions? Not me, that’s for fucking sure. So, huh... Here is my tribute to the first fandom to have brought me the whump chills.

(not to mention my first whumpy shit was for Corpse Party, so you bet your sweet ass that this stupid franchise is important to me whenever I remember about it lmao. Good horrific, whumpy times from 2013.)

I’ll Be Fine, I Guess

Summary: Sometimes you just happen to get stabbed in the dark corner of a shady alley to save your crush. That's how life is, sometimes.

Fandom: Corpse Party (Everyone Lives AU (yeah)) Ships: Ayushiki (Yoshiki/Ayumi)

Wordcount: 1.3K words

Event hosted by @badthingshappenbingo

AO3 version available here.

That was kind of… unfortunate, he’d have guessed.

Not that he didn’t expect that to happen, at all: it was kind of obvious he’d eventually find himself with God knew what in God knew where and die a painful and ridiculous death. His life had always been kind of ridiculous anyway: he’d obviously not leave the world peacefully with kids and grandkids and whatever the good and lucky people have in their life when they pass away from old age or sickness or whatever.

No, he was going to go out with style (and an end that could have featured in some shitty anime).

 Everything about the situation was awkward and ridiculous. They were in some shady back alley, there was his class rep getting assaulted by some ever shadier dude with a cutter, it smelled like piss and blood and garbage, and the guy was even dressed in black with a face mask and everything. It couldn’t get worse than that, really, in terms of clichés.

Alas, that was where they were currently standing. In a shady back alley, in the darkness, surrounded by foul odours and with blood pouring all over the place to match. The dude was unconscious on the floor, head smashed against some bin (ha, fitting), and there were tears mixing in with his blood and the rep’s DNA.

Yeah, it really wasn’t a good situation to be in, right here and there.

 “Oh my God, Kishinuma, why did you do that?!”

The class rep, Shinozaki, kept screaming in his ears as she was sitting him against a wall (more like he let her do so, her shaky little arms weren’t going to do that on their own). He’d have usually minded having someone fret over him so much to the point she was hyperventilating; but he found himself unable to make fun of that and instead decided he’d be a responsible senior for fucking once.

“Hey, Shinozaki… No need to cry, y’know… Just call an ambulance or somethin’…”

She stared at him with swollen, puffy red eyes and a bawling jaw, but only nodded in silence and pulled out her phone. Putting it right against her ear, he could tell her fingers were shaking like leaves in the winter wind, barely able to hold the thing in its place, as her voice only matched. Truly, she had never seen the horrors of the world.

She should have never had, all things considered. Shinozaki was too good for this bullshit.

 He simply listened to her telling the cops about the shithole they had found themselves in, lying his head against the wall. In itself, the wound wasn’t hurting as badly as he’d have thought: getting stabbed was like getting punched, except that he was bleeding profusely afterwards and that it was much worse to deal with. He had gotten punched before, that wasn’t a big deal. The pain only started flaring afterwards, and the blood loss was the worse experience he had ever gotten through (after getting disowned, that was).

On second thought, the situation was kind of ironic. He had had no idea why he had decided to save her from probably death (probably). He hadn’t even thought about it before jumping in some shady-ass street of the city where dealing drugs and public pissing must have been national sports. He had just… done that and he wasn’t even finding himself utterly stupid for doing such a dumb thing. Well, also all things considered, she didn’t seem to have enjoyed getting saved at all. Maybe he should have let her die.

Yeah, as if that was ever going to happen.

 Shinozaki eventually put down her phone, putting it back into her pocket, call ended. Tears still flowed from her eyes like river streams, hiccupping as she fretted again, hands flying all over the place and breathing hitching too often to his tastes.

“Hey, calm down, Pres… (He attempted a smile: everything not to make her worry). I’ll be fine… I guess… It’s not that big of a deal, just calm down…”

“How am I supposed to do that, Kishinuma?! You’re bleeding and it’s all my fault! I… I should be able to do something about it, but what?!” (There she went off again…)

“Dude, let’s not go down that road… It was that crazy’s fault, wasn’t yours…”

“But you wouldn’t be like that if I hadn’t been there!”

He wanted to sigh until the end of times.

“Look, Shinozaki, I could have not jumped in there… but I did… and it was my own decision… So stop panicking, won’t be helpful to any of us…”

She blinked for a few seconds, staying idle.

“You… You’re right…”

 Shinozaki rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her uniform top (oh, yeah, right: that had happened soon after club activities had ended, great), trying to settle her breathing down. Good, that was one step in the right direction. Very good, considering he felt his consciousness gradually leaving him. He needed her to stay calm until help was there so she wouldn’t do something stupid and harm herself in the process. Couldn’t be that hard, right?

He had a hand on his wound, in his left flank. Not the best place to be hurt (he’d have rather taken the hit somewhere completely inoffensive like, huh… Okay, maybe there wasn’t an ideal place to be stabbed in), but not the worse either. Probably didn’t hit anything vital. If he was lucky enough, he’d survive and be able to forget this all happened after he’d have inevitably entered a comatose state. Sleep sounded just fine right now: the smell of his own blood made him nauseous, it was harder and harder to stand with time passing.

 “Just, tell me somethin’, Shinozaki… How in the fuck did you end up here…?”

She didn’t respond, at first. Instead, all she did was to look away, bow her head down, bit her lip, and only then did she answer.

“I’m… not sure. I think someone pulled me in this corner by grabbing my arm and slamming me against a wall. Then he pulled out a knife and… and…”

“O-okay, thanks, don’t panic again…”

“I-I wasn’t panicking…”

“You totally were… (He smirked with the least credibility anyone could have ever failed to deliver on). Doesn’t matter. I’m just glad you’re fine…”

She seemed almost offended to hear him say that. Oops.

“And I’m not glad you got stabbed because of me, Kishinuma!”

“Oh spare me this crap, we just went over this already…”

 Shinozaki crossed her arms, obviously hurt to hear him say that (was he inappropriate? Was she too sensitive? Who fucking knew!), only to soon sob again and, this time, give up all hostility.

“I… just don’t want you to die on me, Kishinuma…”

“Oh, c’mon, I wouldn’t be a big loss… (Then he thought of everyone he’d leave behind today if he died at this moment: the class, Satoshi, Miki, her). I won’t die today, I promise… Just… don’t cry…”

She crossed her legs in front of her, arms wrapped against them. If he didn’t feel so weak, he’d have tried pulling her into an embrace, just to strengthen her and not feel like she could be blown away by a breeze.

“You promise…?”

“Yeah… I know it probably don’t hold much weight to you… but yeah…”

 He expected to get slapped, physically or verbally, but instead all she did was to put her hand on the one he had plastered over his wound like he was trying to repair a leak.

“I… I’ll believe you, then…”

Sirens started to echo in the distance as she looked at him in the eyes, no smile and only tears to be seen, fingers weakly clutching the back of his hand. It was unrealistic to witness, even if he was about to die would proper medical attention not be given to him soon. It was also pretty fucked up to realize he was somewhat happy to witness Shinozaki seemed to care.

 Now to see if he’d be able to keep his promise…

[jlf23tumble]

Four Hangout: Recap

Oh, man, I know I “owe” this one, so I’m doing it, but I hate it for about 15 different reasons, 14 of those being Ben Winston, which means I’m gonna keep this fairly short. The Four Hangout (lmao, I will never stop laughing at the attempts to team up with Google’s shitty tech) predates my entry into this fandom, so I’m not as on top of every little thing that happened around it (and my god, there were some doozies). I’ve found other posts that do a better job of transcribing some key moments), but I’m sure lots of others are out there, and as ever, I recommend taking 35 minutes to stare at this work of art for yourself.

Whenever I’ve seen gifs from this, the read is that at least two people are coming off a coke bender as we all focus on Ben’s rather ham-fisted attempt to get Louis to admit that he hates people thinking he’s gay. But in rewatching it in full now and knowing more about the context around it, the true vibe is exhaustion mixed with some very real anger/mulishness aimed at management in general and Ben in particular. Because the point of the Four Hangout isn’t to promote Four, the album, but to exonerate the D’s management team, blow smoke up Ben’s ass, and “clear the air” about whatever rumors have been going around that the D’s team doesn’t like, all posed as questions theoretically from the fans, yet weirdly management focused.

I’ve found lots of good blog posts that summarize these 35 or so minutes, but here’s an executive summary of my comments coupled with others I’ve found:

Ben Winston is an insufferable dick

The D is so fucking TIRED at this point, everyone’s low energy, but Louis’s voice is the softest, raspiest, most enchanting thing

They regularly creep on social media and are up on pretty much everything fandom related

There are no rumors they need to dismiss except that they’re currently alive, go on, ask them twice!

Liam is great at delivering the corporate spiel

Harry really did get them sneezes out

The Louis/Ben feud is one thing; the Harry/Ben feud is a whole other

Louis reads fanfic (and has some faves!)

Narry are ride or die WMYB, except for when Harry needs to have a go at Ben

Zayn has somehow made himself look even more godlike

Louis has super cute socks

With that in mind, let’s jump into some key moments, but I’m paraphrasing a lot because it’s so hard to hear over all the cross-talk, asides, and inside jokes. More under the cut!

Shout out to Louis's collarbones and quiff combo...his voice is about to give out, but he’s so OPEN and present for this total shitshow, even when he defiantly refuses to take the path he’s being guided down. Also, please @ god let me play some poker while we enjoy a bacon butty over brunch, his face as Niall introduces Ben as a “very, very good friend of ours” (me as both Ziam and Harry):

One of the most subversive things this band does is effusive praise when they’re pissed off, and never is it clearer than here, when Niall gushes on about all the wonderful work Ben has done for them, and the other boys pick up on it and start whistling and clapping (Louis: “My hero”; Harry: “LOOK AT THOSE TEETH!”) until Ben gets extremely uncomfortable.

We’re off to a good start, with Ben being sure to preface that all of these questions are from the fans, and then Harry asking Ben if he’s wearing makeup (Ben, mildly affronted, “No, I’m not wearing any makeup, but you guys do, you wear a lot of makeup, don't you, Harry” [Harry: “Tons”; Ben: “Well, you need to”]).

The first question is about the difference between this album and their first one, and it’s such a stupid, easy question that I want to answer it for Niall because I can do it in my sleep. Ben then asks Louis if he likes visiting the X Factor, if it reminds him of the old days (you know, four years ago), and AGAIN, this is a dumb-ass question, and Louis’s a pro, so what do you think he’s gonna say? (Of course he likes visiting, it’s lovely to go down and relive it). Is Harry nervous about playing there again tonight? Nope, it’s fun!! He can enjoy it this time around! Simon Cowell doesn’t give him ANY anxiety!!

The next question is about the simplicity of the old days, and my god, does my heart break for Liam saying that they had to work really hard back then, so it’s nice that four years later, they get a few more vacation days. Louis agrees, adding that the first American promo trip was a grind where they did 10 things a day (multiple interviews, signings, radio appearances, rehearsals, and shows)

Ben asks if they ever go back and watch clips of themselves from their early days (this genuinely does seem like a fan ask), and wouldn’t you know, Niall was just chillin’ out last week, rewatching all the video diaries again. Louis admits that his red trousers and braces were loud, but they worked for the time, “Or do you disagree, Ben?” (Ben: “No, I loved it.” Louis: “Thank you.”) And I wish I could travel back in time both so I could kill Hitler AND witness Ben showing up somewhere in a pair of Toms, only to be faced by Louis Tomlinson telling him that he wore that style two years ago, and he wouldn’t anymore, which Ben says cut him down to size (I highly doubt that, but I would have love to see it).

All of this fashion talk is side-winding into a question about who tells them what to wear and whether they have control over their image now. They all note that they wouldn’t have dared to push back in year one, presumably because “experts” were telling them what to do, plus it was all free (which makes all the dragging on their old looks extra fun to watch). Then Ben asks whether they make their own decisions now, and Liam says yeah as Louis smirks, lmaooooo, which morphs into, well, we have much more input than we used to have. I’m here for Harry giving a slow, long-winded answer as a construction project starts up somewhere in the studio, and Louis yells, “Keep it down” into his mic.

Ben, I mean, the fans want to know what piece of advice they’d give the fetus versions of themselves, if they could go back in time, and Louis advises his younger self to have a second glance in the mirror and see if he’s really sure about that particular outfit. (Ben: “Is that…really?” Louis: “No, Ben, I’m just trying to make a joke.”). Liam would fight the haircuts, and Harry would burn the supras (I’m assuming; Louis: “They were outrageous”). Zayn would tell his younger self to have a bit more fun, to try and take it all in and enjoy it more. :(

“The fans” are curious about the negative side of social media, how the D just exploded on YouTube and Twitter after X Factor, and does it ever go too far? Liam channels my inbox and says that people forget there’s a person on the other side of an anon message, that these guys see all the things that are said about them, and they’re self-conscious with cameras and comments, but it’s okay, they put up with it. Louis’s addicted to Twitter, and says that there are negative people there, but you’ll find negative people on every social media platform and in real life, too, it is what it is.

Of course, “the fans” are curious about how all this social media shit affects their girlfriends, and I would kill to hear more about what Narry, the two singles on this couch, keep giggling about in this ridick convo that I’m not even gonna bother to sum up.

Ben’s curious how the fans always manage to leak everything the band does, and yes, Louis, tell us more! How does it make you feel? Liam thinks it’s anticlimactic, Niall’s only beef is when something is leaked a week before it’s out, and everyone else just gets annoyed if it breaks the structure of a rollout, but nobody talks about songs that are leaked that were never meant for official release (cough cough, "Home”), and Harry’s just happy people get a sneak peek and then still buy the album, so all is good. Me as this exchange: Ben, incredulously, “It’s amazing they’re able to constantly do it”; Liam: “Lots of high-tech people out there.”

Probably my favorite part of this is the fanfic discussion, which kicks off with Ben’s “I've noticed, not that I’ve read it, but there's been a lot of fanfiction published about you boys, books published, have you any read it?”

Zayn avoids it at all costs, but Louis’s aware of a fic writer’s book deal (who????) and says that he’s come across some of it on twitter (!!!). He finds some of it utterly bizarre (looking at you, self-inserts), but he’s read some nice little stories, and he’s seen some that go very deep and very, very weird. Liam acknowledges that it’s a whole different world, that he gets the idea of it, of fans putting themselves in situations with them (and Jesus Christ, it kills me that they’ve had to read self-insert wattpad fics), but some of it blows his mind. Niall doesn’t know where to go looking for it, but don’t worry friend, Ben’s gonna hook you up with his favorites! Harry is noticeably quiet during ALL of this.

With a horrible segue, Ben says, “Speaking of things that are made up, what’s the biggest rumor you’ve heard about yourself, this is a question lots of fans are asking” (SURE THING), and Harry never gets enough credit for his dry delivery, such as the way he says, “We’ve all been dead a couple of times.” But Ben can’t let it go, and that’s when Louis does his whole, “No”….dramatic pause (he might be saying “Go,” but the point is, he lets this bit drop where it lands). Zayn jumps in with the rumor that Niall used to be a jockey, and god bless him, honestly.

Ben realizes he’s not getting anywhere with this, so it’s time to move on to the actual album, why is it called Four, etc. It’s not really all that interesting, tbh, nor is the name they didn’t go with as a band (Liam’s dad’s suggestion, which was USP, if you’re curious). Liam figures USP will flourish one day, and this whole section proves how funny Liam actually is. I’m curious about all the One Direction tribute bands they’re mentioning, and I’m totally down to check one out if they’re ever in my area, just fwiw.

Anyway, moving on! What song are they most proud of? Zayn loves “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and Louis is WAY into “Fireproof,” which Liam’s down with, too. The part that’s interesting gets glossed over because Ben’s an idiot, but they talk about how many songs they’ve written that don’t make it to the album, like, Liam has a tattoo that says “somewhere is a place that nobody knows” from a song we’ll never hear called “Man on a Mission,” and how many others are stored in this vault (23 or 24 were in the final running for this album, where are they)? Harry suggests those songs will be on USP’s first album, and I will absolutely buy it. His story about the Norway bus trip makes me want to dig deep (he was on a party bus in Norway and heard one of their songs, sung by them, that had never been released anywhere, and he was the only one who knew it).

Zayn hints a bit at what happens (voting), and Liam hints at all the meetings, but I would love to know so much more about this process, especially since Niall says that lots of people are in these meetings, with lots of opinions (Simon, label, other managers).

Ben says that another recurring question is about what “Stockholm Syndrome” means, and I love the Alex Turner-esque dodge we get on Harry literally describing what Stockholm Syndrome means, without any real insight into what the song’s about. Still, I live in the awkward that happens right after this drops, with Ben still somehow trying to get them to admit they don’t feel trapped, lmao:

Ben asks about which songs are about specific people, and god, I don’t care because all of this section is lies. Then he tries to get them to talk about songs they don’t like, and they aren’t here for that, like, Liam will say he can’t casually listen to WMYB, but he loves performing it, and the best part of this is Harry saying he’ll crank that song and mouth along, pretending that he’s Niall.

For their favorite songs, Liam goes with “Fireproof,” Louis goes with “Midnight Memories,” Niall goes with “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” Zayn can’t pick one, and Harry says “Best Song Ever.” Ben likes “Through the Dark” because of course he does, and that’s when the needling from Harry starts about “Gotta Be You,” and I don’t understand, but I live for him on the attack, so geddit, son (also, Niall, with his “your boyfriend’s back, and you’re gonna be in trouble,” etc., YES).

Another question Ben kept getting from fans (got it!) is what would be the one thing they’d change in the past four years, and Louis starts with, “Why would you want to? It’s been great, there’s no point.” Liam agrees, and that’s that. Ben’s next question is what moment they’d relive in the past four years, and Niall says he was really nervous at MSG, although Zayn thinks it was a great gig BECAUSE they were nervous. Nothing’s really happening here, so Ben asks Harry what’s going on with his hair (I guess “the fans” want to know?), and Harry just says it tends to grow, that’s what hair does, and he’s letting it all hang out.

Another “fan” question that makes me laugh from Ben: “Who makes the decisions in One Direction? Is it always your call?” And they all say NO, but Liam jumps in with, “It’s totally us, people ask us now, ultimately we call the shots,” and there’s a LOT of back-chatter here, so draw what you see.

Ben tries to push how much they love the “Night Changes,” video, and AGAIN, Harry gets on his case about “Gotta Be You,” and someone else covers it better than I ever could, but this goading by Harry is wonderful. Ben’s creative process for video concepts is fascinating because he basically admits that it’s easy or it’s really hard (read: he steals it or just throws a shitty idea to a wall to see if it sticks).

Ben asks if they get nervous about people liking the album, and Louis says they care if critics like the album or not, but really, he’s out there on twitter searching different song titles to see the fan reaction. This is also when we learn they aren’t on ye olde social meeds that much anymore, but they all enjoy a good old-fashioned creep session (Zayn especially). Harry’s comment about feeling vulnerable when you release something you’ve been working on for a year feels especially poignant—he gets excited and nervous all at once—and I really don’t get this whole controlled leak promo thing they did for Four, but who am I to question Modest or Syco?? All I want to know is what Niall’s talking about on the side.