#the wonderful world of copyright

[regicidal-defenestration]

They just don't make the Doctor pregnant by putting a child in his leg like they used to

[problemcore]

hiiii halfway? thru the story. hard as hell to avoid spoilers online i need to stay away 😭 rant in tags, spoilers for 2.2 . i already reached 30 tags wow 💀

[fictionadventurer]

August: Day 25

Adventures

Spent way too long at the library

Checked out a book that was so old and hadn't been checked out for so long that it was no longer in the library's computer system

Enjoyed an hour of silence at home resting in the peace of the wind outside and the sunlight and shadows of trees flickering on the floor

Read poetry under a tree in the sunset

Writing

Read part of Ruta Sepetys' book on writing

Wrestled with the desire to write a personal, meaningful novel while having no idea what project could fill that need

[daily-public-domain]

Day 255: Giant's Causeway

link

–This image is part of the public domain, meaning you can do anything you want with it! (you could even sell it as a shirt, poster or whatever, no need to credit it!)–

[genuflectx]

I found the novels that were made by Fawnling’s old owner, and they are… nothing like the group she killed… so I’m a bit peeved and heart broken that it was scrubbed from the internet for literally nothing. “I’m using it for a book” my ass. It’s closer to ATLA than Fawnlings :^p

So while being nostalgic and a bit sad, I ended up discovering the books that were created out of Fawnlings being wiped off the face of the internet. For context, Fawnlings was an open art roleplay game and after the owners return after a 6-7 year absence (it had been run by the abandoned mods) she decided to shut it down to use her “original concept in a novel.”

I was a roleplayer there for roughly two years before that happened, accumulating almost 10 characters, but the group had 1,6k members and many had been there from the start. It was very popular, friendly, active, and well maintained by the passionate mods who the owner had left behind. Tons of the game, lore, and changes to the species were created by them without any direction from the missing admin.

Back to the discovery… I couldn’t find the book by looking up anything that had been an aspect of Fawnlings, so I thought the damned novel just didn’t or hadn’t come out. I found it by her pen name (or real name?) which I will not divulge even though she’s technically publishing under that name, and has been writing articles under a different once since at least 2021. But the reason I could never find the book in connection to Fawnlings was… because there is none.

The main reason she claimed to want to separate herself from Fawnlings, which led to her refusal to give the group to the mods who had been caring for it, was because she intended to use the IP she made in a novel. When the mods didn’t bite they made their own group with a separate similar species and new but also similar world mechanics. Sadly, the new group has never been as active as the old one, I’d say there is activity (like art) made every 3-4 months. I’ve seen a lot of RPs die, and it is dying.

Now, I find out that Fawnlings was deleted for nothing. The novel is just… an ATLA AU, sharing little to nothing with the destroyed Fawnlings group. Fawnlings were deer, the book is humans. The ex-owner played characters in the Irish/Scottish inspired part of the game, but the book is based on Asia (specifically Japan). Fawnlings didn’t even have an Asia inspired location (ironically the new game does, which she didn’t even play a part in). The second book is about pirates, Fawnlings didn’t have those nor could they make boats. There’s a map in the first book and none of the locations are named after anything from Fawnlings, so the herd names she had originally requested be changed weren’t even used in the book.

The only similarity to Fawnlings is shared by both ATLA and (again ironically) the new game that she didn’t even play a part in. That magic and gods had disappeared but are now returning, and the main character turns out to have powers. Blessings and curses are also a thing. I can see some vague plot points that resemble Fawnlings plots, but they’d never make that connection if you didn’t know her involvement and are again generic (royal betrayal- generic- and stealing children for a cult- generic). Basically, she deleted Fawnlings because she wanted to use… magic tropes that already existed? While everything else unique to the group and it’s members wasn’t even used.

What makes it worse is two things:

1. The article she published (again I won’t reveal her name) two months after the incident with the group about how you shouldn’t take negative comments personally and how it’s “something going on in the other persons life, not your fault.” Which is true advice but the context is shitty, she had been pretty heavily criticized at that time.

2. A Tumblr blog post months after (unless you get her Twitter which I won’t share you won’t find it, she didn’t use that blog much) the closure saying the story draft for the novel “started 9 years ago” and then a joke about “flushing” the evidence of the first draft.

getting into RPs is hard for me as an adult and I’m still peeved that Ciel had only just turned 1 in game year old when the plug was pulled, and the new game is as good as dead so there’s really no community to keep playing with. Imagine playing one giant DND game for 8 years, then the DM (who had been napping through the majority of it) throws all of it into a garbage can, changes 95% of the plot everyone loved until it’s unrecognizable and tries to monetize it against the wishes of everyone who contributed to it. That’s what it’s like ☠️ and the new DND game just doesn’t have that same spark or comradery, so most of the players left. Or, like making a rudimentary toy for the public to play with. Then they build onto the toy so it’s more fun, then after years you come back, yoink it from everyone, strip it of everything they made it into, and started reselling it under a different package. And the new toy they tried to replace it with just doesn’t bring everyone the same joy, so it starts gathering dust.

Does the DM have the right to throw away their campaign and ignore the feelings of others? And does the toymaker have the right to take their toy away and sell it? Yes, but it doesn’t make it any less shitty, especially when thousands of players were in that DND game/playing with the toy. “Has the right” is not equal to kind, ethical, or selfless.

Well, there’s nothing to be done, it’s been three years. But it wasn’t what I was expecting to find and it kinda fucked me up :p

[batboyblog]

Copy Right and Public Domain in 2025!

It's January 1st 2025 which means it's my favorite unsung holiday! Public Domain Day! This is the day once a year when, in the US, copyrights expire and things enter the public domain, meaning they belong to everyone! even you, Steve!

American copyright for books, movies, art work, and musical compositions (but not recordings, more on that later) runs for 95 years (way too long!) so today works published in 1929 join us in the public domain.

So whats free? so glad you asked.

Popeye the Sailor Man

Many people assume Popeye originated as a cartoon character but thats not true, he comes from a comic strip. The strip was called Thimble Theatre and Popeye was something of a late addition. Thimble Theatre was first published in 1919, so Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl has been in the public domain since before the big 20 year copyright freeze of 1998-2019. Popeye first appeared as a minor character 10 years into the strip's run but was so popular he soon took over and the strip would be renamed Popeye less than 5 years later. Now as always whats public is only what appears in 1929, later developments, remain copyrighted. Such as, while Popeye always had super strength its not till 1932 his superpowers were tied to eating spinach, and Olive Oyl originally had a different boyfriend named Ham Gravy, who she dumped for Popeye when he became the main character. It looks like Popeye is following tradition for famous now public domain characters and getting a quicky horror movie this year.

Tintin!

This is personally very exciting as someone who grew up with the Belgian boy detective. Like Popeye I expect a lot of people don't know that Tintin started off as a weekly comic strip. Indeed Tintin appeared as a part of a weekly youth supplement in the Catholic newspaper The Twentieth Century. Any ways, Tintin was first published in there in January 1929, and soon would start what would become the first Tintin story, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. Now only part of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets was published in 1929, the story line wrapped up in May 1930, so only those 1929 stories and what appears in them is free and clear and Tintin was published in black and white not color. Tintin's author Hergé had no idea what he was doing and was really learning on the job so In The Land of the Soviets is generally seen as his weakest outing and the only one he never opted to redraw in later years. Even so it's nice to see the character free in the world. No word on if Tintin will star in a horror movie.

Buck Rogers (but not really)

The original futuristic space man was published, again a comic strip, in 1929 which means he should enter the public domain today, but he won't. That's because he already is public domain! Before the Copyright Act of 1976 copyright was 28 years with the option to renew for another 28 years. The copyright on the original comic strips was not renewed so ran out at the end of 28 years, 1958. So Buck Rogers has been free and clear for close to 70 years now, whatever you hear about him today.

What else?

Famously last year Mickey Mouse entered the public domain, but all the entered public domain was one (maybe two) animated short, Steamboat Willie. Well this year a dozen Mickey Mouse animated shorts enter the public domain, including the first time Mickey has his iconic white gloves, and the first time Mickey speaks (the first thing Mickey Mouse ever says, voiced by Walt Disney himself, is "Hot dogs! Hot dogs!" in case you were wondering) This will give creators much more to work with if they want to use Mickey in their works which is exciting.

Speaking of Walt Disney, The Skeleton Dance is entering public domain, you likely don't know the title but I suspect you've seen at least part of it at some point

so look for this showing up on TVs in the backgrounds of films and TV shows in the next year or so

Books

The iconic novels of World War I, Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front enter public domain. In fact All Quiet on the Western Front entered public domain last year, but only in the original German, the 1929 translation by Arthur Wesley Wheen is whats entered the public domain now. John Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold, William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, and Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery (always get an Agatha Christie novel on this list for the rest of our lives). Dashiell Hammett published both Red Harvest and The Maltese Falcon, later made into one of the greatest films of all time, in 1929. Future children's book author E. B. White (who's go on to write Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little) and future New Yorker cartoonist and humorist James Thurber teamed up to write the delightfully titled Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do a book of spoof essays making fun of popular books on Freudian sexual theories at the time. The Roman Hat Mystery the first of the long running Ellery Queen mysteries was published, Queen would keep publishing mysteries into the 1970s (and Ellery Queen was a pen name for two people). Richard Hughes' A High Wind in Jamaica and Oliver La Farge's Laughing Boy also came out in 1929 and are in the public domain now. There's much else but those are the highlights sorry if I missed your favorite 1929 novel.

Movies

Alfred Hitchcock and Cecil B. DeMille's first movies with sound, Blackmail and Dynamite respectively, came out in 1929. Marx Brothers' first feature film The Cocoanuts joins the public domain. Other comedy land marks are Harold Lloyd's first sound film, Welcome Danger and Buster Keaton's last silent film, Spite Marriage (which Keaton also directed). John Ford's first sound film, The Black Watch, which also is 21 year old John Wayne's first appearance in a film, as an uncredited extra, he worked in the art department. Hallelujah the first studio film to have an all black cast came out that year. Also worth noting is The Hollywood Revue of 1929 a singing and dancing review, one of the earliest and the movie that popularized the song Singin’ in the Rain, maybe the first time a movie made a song a hit.

Musical compositions

musical compositions, ie the lyrics and musical notations you might see on sheet music are governed by the 1976 Copyright Act, and music written in 1929 is public domain. Music recordings are governed by a whole different law (we'll get there). Songs written in 1929 include Singin’ in the Rain by Arthur Freed & Nacio Herb Brown, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Black and Blue by the legendary Fats Waller, What Is This Thing Called Love? by Cole Porter, Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Alfred Dubin, You Were Meant for Me by Arthur Freed & Nacio Herb Brown, and also Happy Days Are Here Again by Jack Yellen which would become FDR's campaign theme song in 1932.

Art!

a number of pieces by Salvador Dalí including:

Illumined Pleasures

The Accommodations of Desire

The Great Masturbator

are entering the public domain as is René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images.

Art is hard because while movies and books are clearly "published" and put on sale, what counts as "published" for a piece of art? the law is not totally sure.

Musical Recordings

as I promised, we got here. Till 2017 there were no federal laws governing the copyright of music recordings before the 1970s, it was governed by a confusing patchwork of state laws and it was not totally clear what was or was not free and clear even from the very earliest recordings ever. Now the term of a music recording's copyright is set at 100 years (way too long) so music recorded in 1924 is now public domain such as. Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen by Marian Anderson, Everybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Don’t Love Nobody But Me) by Louis Armstrong, California Here I Come by Al Jolson, Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, Shreveport Stomp by Jelly Roll Morton, Mama’s Gone, Good Bye by Ray Miller, and It Had To Be You by Marion Harris. Now many recordings a lot less famous can finally be preserved and digitized to save them for the next 100 years. Many abandoned works are literally rotting away since without the copyright holder's permission digitizing a work isn't legal.

[morporkian-cryptid]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Arsène Lupin Copyright Shenanigans

Have I ever told y’all about the absolute madness that is the legal issues around the Lupin franchise ? Probably. Can I find the post in question ? No. Am I going to tell you again ? You fucking bet !

The year is 1905, and detective stories are all the rage. Maurice Leblanc, a young writer, is commissioned by the magazine Je Sais Tout to write a short story on the same model as Sherlock Holmes. Maurice Leblanc says « Screw this detective shit », and creates the character of Arsène Lopin, gentleman thief.

No, this is not a typo.

Arsène Lopin, a municipal advisor in Paris, hears about it and contacts Leblanc. « You are not fucking writing a story about a thief who shares my name. » To which Leblanc replied, « Lopin ? No no, you misunderstand, this is Arsène Lupin, completely different person. »

And he gets away with it.

Leblanc writes a bunch more stories about Arsène Lupin, they get popular, and he decides he wants to write a crossover with the famous British detective, Sherlock Holmes. A crossover in which, of course, Lupin will win and Holmes will be humiliated.

Arthur Conan Doyle hears about it, and is not thrilled. He contacts Maurice Leblanc with a message along the lines of « You are not fucking writing a story where my Amazing-Original-Character-Do-Not-Steal gets bested by a thief. » To which Leblanc replies, « Sherlock Holmes? No no, you misunderstand, this is Herlock Sholmes, completely different person. »

And he gets away with it.

The years pass, more Lupin stories are written, they’re translated and exported outside of France, and wouldn’t you know it, Japan takes a strong liking to the « gentleman thief » archetype in general and to Arsène Lupin in particular.

The years is 1967, and mangaka Kazuhiko Kato, best known by his pen name Monkey Punch, is commissioned by the magazine Weekly Manga Action to create a manga for their first issue. He reads 15 of Leblanc’s stories, and creates Lupin the Third, a character who is the grandson of the famous gentleman thief. He does not bother asking the Leblanc Estate for permission, as Japan doesn’t give much of a crap about French copyright laws.

(For the record, Weekly Manga Action was the first manga magazine for an adult audience (outside of erotica), and Lupin III was published in its first issue, effectively making it one if not the very first adult manga in the history of manga.)

The Lupin III manga gets popular, is adapted into an anime, the anime gets popular, it gets translated into other languages and exported to Europe…

And then the Leblanc estate rears its head. «You are not making an anime about our character without paying us fucking royalties, » they say to Monkey Punch. To which Monkey Punch, channeling the spirit of the deceased Maurice Leblanc into his very soul, replies : « Lupin ? No no, you misunderstand, this is Rupan, completely different person. »

And he fucking gets away with it.

(Arsène Lupin became public domain in France in 2012. Before that, Lupin the Third took many different names in European releases, among which Rupan, Wolf, and in France, Edgar de la Cambriole (Edgar of Burglary).)

Additional tomfuckery :

The year is 1982, and science-fiction animated series are getting extremely popular. TMS decides to try and get a slice of the cake, and begins the development of Lupin VIII, a sci-fi spinoff about Lupin III’s descendant. The anime is being produced in France, and the Leblanc Estate once again rears its head. « Sure, you can make that anime, » they say, « but pay us fucking royalties. » TMS, as previously established, does not want to pay the Leblanc Estate diddly squat, and so they scrap half of the project, recycle the other half, and go « Lupin VIII ? No no, you misunderstand, this is Inspector Gadget, completely different person. »

The year is 1930, and famous Japanese writer Tarō Hirai writes The Golden Mask, a novel in which his detective character Kogoro Akechi goes up against none other than Arsène Lupin. Hirai’s pen name was Edgar Allan Poe- wait, wait, no, sorry, it’s Edogawa Ranpo, completely different person.

(Later, Gosho Aoyama names his character, Detective Conan Edogawa, after Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Rampo (and the anime is distributed by TMS).)

(More than fifty years later, the Lupin III anime makes a tribute to Ranpo’s Gold Mask with the double episode The Imperial City Dreams of Thieves.)

The year is 2021, and Capcom is releasing the video game The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, in which famous detective Sherlock Holmes plays a central role. Unfortunately for them, a few Sherlock Holmes stories are still under copyright, and the Conan Doyle Estate is about as stubborn and greedy as their French cousins. « Pay us fucking royalties, » they say.

In the English release of the game, Sherlock Holmes is renamed to, you guessed it...

...fucking Herlock Sholmes.

[neil-gaiman]

Hello Mr. Gaiman,

I know you are not a copyright lawyer, but you are an author who has been producing and interacting with copyrighted works for longer than I've been alive, so I thought I'd just ask: Where is the line between making a pop culture reference in a work and infringing on copyright?

I sincerely struggle to believe that every mention of characters like Yoda, Wonder Woman, or the Doctor in books, movies, songs, etc. gets approved by Lucasfilm, DC Comics, or the BBC before going out in the world, but am I wrong? Does having a character in a novel or comic book dress up as, say, Coraline for Halloween require coordination with you (and possibly Laika as well)?

While it's a long shot, I thought I'd ask you, in case you see this and have an answer.

Thank you for your time,

Brian

I can give you the same answer that a copyright lawyer would. At least at the beginning. "It's complicated, and it all depends," is how it would begin.

After that it moves into specifics. In the last season of Good Omens, for example, I got permission from Iain Banks's widow to have The Crow Road front and centre and to see the first sentence on screen. On the other hand I didn't get specific permission to talk about Doctor Who (or invent the 1964 Doctor Who Annual). (On the other other hand I knew nobody was going to complain about that because the BBC were the production studio making Good Omens and if they had wanted to grumble they would have let me know early.) We got permission from the Buddy Holly estate/music publishers to use Buddy Holly's song Everyday, but we didn't seek or get permission to use the song in the plot.

Fair use exists, transformational use of copyrighted material exists, and parody exists, and all of these things mean that if you're watching a Halloween episode of something where the kids are dressed as Coraline, Freddy Krueger, the Scream killer, and Pinhead, permission might have been granted or it might not have been requested.

[thatsbelievable]

A Message From the That’s Believable Guy

Hey, it’s me! The THAT’S BELIEVABLE guy! The one who writes all this stuff. I’ve been doing it now for about 8 years, give or take. Posting 7 times a day, every day. I’m grateful to everyone who takes a few seconds out of their day to read the nonsense I write. Thank you.

THAT’S BELIEVABLE is, was, and will remain free. So, in order to pay bills and buy clothes and food for my kids, I write other stuff for money. Most of those projects are work-for-hire, meaning, I don’t own the characters. I love working on these projects, because it’s fun to write stories with Spider-Man, Lilo and Stitch, you name it.

Then there are other things I write that aren’t work-for-hire — projects that I own (or share the copyright with an artist). One such project is THE MONSTROUS ADVENTURES OF MUMMY MAN AND WAFFLES. It’s a spooky humor middle-grade book I wrote, and that artist Robb Mommaerts illustrated. This is a story that has been zipping around my brain for nearly a decade, based on my childhood (and well, let’s face it, adult) love of classic horror movies.

MUMMY MAN means the world to me, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that HarperCollins actually published the book! And guess what? There’s a Book 2 coming next year!

But I want to create even more MUMMY MAN adventures. In order to do that, I need people to read Book 1 — The Monstrous Adventures of Mummy Man and Waffles. You can get your own copy at the links below (including autographed copies from Books of Wonder). You can also ask your local library to order a copy for you to read! Believe me, I know it’s not always in our budget to buy books. I’m often in the same boat. That’s why libraries are so important. Publishers count library sales, too! If MUMMY MAN does well in libraries, that can help move the needle! (Plus, librarians are cool.)

If you’ve made it this far, thank you very much for reading this. For reading That’s Believable. And hopefully, for being interested enough to get a copy of MUMMY MAN from a bookseller or your library.

Oh, and guess what? You can read a few chapters of MUMMY MAN for FREE, HERE!!

We now return you to our usual nonsense.

Get MUMMY MAN HERE!

Get an AUTOGRAPHED COPY HERE!

READ THE NAMES OF 33 BATS HERE!

[bartxnhood]

escort at the oscars | a.b

austin butler x fem!actress!reader

summary: getting lost at the oscar’s wasn’t on your roster. neither was getting austin butlers attention.

warnings: definitely poor representation of the oscars but idc this is just for funsies !

w/c: 3.1k

a/n: omg hi everyone !!! long time no see i know, life has been insane. i know no one will read this but ive had some HUGE life changes. i graduated cosmetology school, officially a nail tech now, yay me !! also, unfortunately, ill be having a hand surgery soon. so, im hoping i can write more before i can’t 😭. thank you to everyone who still supports me even though im not ac active as i used to be. one day i promise ill update regularly !!

a/n2: also, austin in the new bikeriders movie had me in a chokehold. the austin butler renaissance is upon us, people !!! (he’s also my bday twin WOO) and i know austin didn’t win an oscar for elvis but for the sake of the fic he did in this !!

not proofread

requests open

Copyright © 2024 bartxnhood. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

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since the red carpets were only carpets, you could have sworn they were easy to manage. the theater was only accessible by walking through a line, but that wasn't the case. after only thirty minutes, you had to make a big mistake by trying to use the restroom and ending up opening a broom closet.

“hey,” you heard a voice, and you quickly turned around only to find yourself facing austin. “the ceremony isn’t in the closet, darling.”

“right..” you whisper under your breath and close the door. you smile awkwardly turning on your heels and holding your clutch tightly.

“i was just uh..looking for the restroom but i couldn’t find it” you laugh, looking down and shaking your head, and begin walking away from the boom closet.

austin couldn’t help but chuckle, following behind you while holding his hand behind his back as he walked slowly for you to match his stride.

he could tell that you were an up-and-coming actress, something about the way you carried yourself gave it away, and he could also tell that this was your first time on a red carpet by the way you were clutching your clutch bag so firmly like your life depended on it.

“you look nervous,” he said softly, “it’s your first time on a red carpet, isn’t it?”

you smile sheepishly. “that obvious, huh?” you trail behind austin assuming he is taking you to the restrooms.

“never knew how big these places are” you laugh, holding up the end of your dress so it doesn’t drag.

austin could see how nervous you were by the way you were holding your dress up while you were walking, and he thought that it was adorable, honestly.

he chuckled as you mentioned how big the venue is because you weren’t wrong, it is pretty damn big. “ive been to a few oscars now and i still think the venue is too big,” he said with a laugh, as he walked by your side with that perfect movie star strut.

“which movie are you nominated for?”

you had never been to something like this, and you didn’t even have a premiere for your movie. but somehow, critics loved the movie and now your movie was nominated.

it felt like it happened overnight.

“blue moon” you answer, not expecting him to know it.

the movie was set in the second world war and your character was the spouse of one of the soldiers. after he died, your character joined the war.

it was an underground film, your first lead and you didn’t expect anyone to pick up the movie. but someone did, ended up being shown at a film festival and the critics fell in love with your performance. and that’s how you landed a nomination for best lead actress.

austin’s eyes widened as you mentioned the movie you’re up for, blue moon; he enjoyed that movie, and as he thought about it more he really couldn’t deny that you were fantastic in it.

“no way,” he said in disbelief, “no wonder you’re nominated for best actress, you were incredible in that film.”

“thank you” you nod, noticing you have finally made it to the restrooms.

“and thank you for showing me the way” you chuckle, dropping the train of your dress then stuffing your clutch under your arm and sticking out your hand.

austin takes your hand with a gentle yet firm grip and smiles, nodding. “no problem, glad i could be of help.”

“i’m y/n l/n” you introduced. “it was nice to meet you, austin. thanks for this” you grin, retracting your hand.

“i guess ill catch you later..”

“it was a pleasure to meet you, y/n,” he replied with a smile before watching you walk into the restroom, and he couldn’t help but keep his eyes on the door as you disappeared behind it.

he thought you were pretty. very pretty, and he kind of regretted not asking you for your phone number before you disappeared.

so, austin stood there leaning against the wall deciding he would wait on you. just in case you got lost again.

no other reason.

after relieving yourself, you stand in front of the mirror taking in a couple of deep breaths to calm the pounding in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

you open your clutch, picking out a compact and a lipstick. you swipe the color on your lips to touch up the splotches, and quickly powder your face.

you put everything back in your clutch smoothed out your hair and admired your dress.

floor-length satin gown in your favorite color, a ribbed corset look.

“you can do this, y/n/n..” you whisper to yourself then pick up the train of your dress and exit the restroom, hoping you won’t miss the award ceremony.

austin was now pacing in front of the restroom, waiting for you to exit, his eyes fixated on the door, and he found himself running a hand through his styled hair, ruining the gelled look.

he wasn’t sure what had compelled him to wait for you, but here he was, still waiting outside the restroom, tapping his foot anxiously and checking his watch now and then.

austin leaned back against the wall as he waited, trying to look nonchalant as ever, and once the restroom door opened, a soft exhale left his lips.

you let the door shut behind you while smoothing out the front of your dress and began walking down the hallway until you stopped seeing a figure.

you look up from the floor and spot austin, assuming he is waiting for you.

“austin?” you ask softly, taking in a deep breath.

austin’s eyes softened at the sound of his name, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of you once he saw you walking towards him, smoothing out the front of your dress and making sure it was wrinkle-free and free of any stains.

“hey,” he replied with a smile and nod, “i was just, uh, making sure you didn’t get lost, again.” austin laughed, looking at you through his eyebrows.

you couldn’t help but chuckle, “no worries, restrooms are pretty simple,” you reply with a toothy grin.

“but, if you wouldn’t mind showing me the way to the theater?” you ask, knowing if you didn’t have the guidance you’d definitely get lost and miss the entire ceremony.

and you didn’t need that kind of embarrassment.

though, deep down you know you wouldn’t win tonight, but still, you wanted to experience being at the freaking oscars!

austin smiled at how eager you were to not get lost again. he chuckled softly as you asked him to guide you to the theater, and he pushed himself off the wall, taking one last look at his watch before walking closer to you.

“and here i was, thinking you’d never ask,” he joked, before holding out his arm for you to grab and wrap your own around.

“don’t wanna risk you ending up in the broom closet again,” he teased.

you drop your head, smiling, and then laugh at his comment about getting lost in the broom closet.

“listen..” you say softly, covering your face with the clutch. “i would say it was one mistake, but with my luck, it’s bound to happen again.”

you carefully take his arm and begin walking towards the theater. you can feel your cheeks warming up.

here you are, lost at the oscar’s and now having the austin butler escort you into the theater.

when you attempted to cover your face with your clutch, he rolled his eyes and gently grabbed it, pulling it away from your face. “no hiding.” he teased.

as you walked side by side, down the halls and towards the theater, austin couldn’t help himself but glance over at you now and then.

he smiled when you laughed at his joke and chuckled even more as you attempted to defend yourself. “just one? you’re sure about that?”

you smile, looking ahead. not being able to look him in the eyes. “no..” you laugh.

“on my first day of filming, i got lost and accidentally locked myself in the hair and makeup trailer” you giggle, recalling one of the most embarrassing moments that’s happened to you. though, this one trumps that.

“no way..” you hear austin laugh wholeheartedly, a sound so beautiful it could turn your legs into jelly.

“yes way” you laugh back, nodding. you weren’t paying attention and almost tripped over the end of your dress.

“here, let me help you with that” austin offers, picking up the train of your dress so you can walk more comfortably.

“see? clumsy.”

austin grins, holding the satin fabric in his hands as you continue towards the theater. “we all have our quirks” he adds. “you’ll warm up to this life, it’ll become easier and if it doesn’t, i’ll help you navigate this journey.” austin spoke without really thinking.

you finally see the two large golden doors which lead into the theater. “ready?” austin grins, raising his eyebrows before opening the door.

when the door opens you’re hit with a soft wind of cool air, the sound of people chattering, and the camera crew getting ready to go live.

“well, let’s hope i can find my seat with ease..” you say walking down the aisle with him towards the seconds for the nominees. “i’ll help,” austin says and begins scanning the row of seats for your name.

y/n l/n

“here you are.” he points to your name plastered on the back of the seat. “right next to mine” he leads you to the two end aisle seats on the front row. your crew sat behind you and austin’s was right next to him.

you were shocked, walking to your seat and letting go of his arm. austin drops the end of your dress gracefully, making sure it doesn’t get dirty.

“what a coincidence, huh?” you take your seat, crossing your legs and placing your clutch in your lap.

austin had what you’d call a shit-eating grin on his face as he sat next to you. “coincidence? or the universe giving us a sign?”

he could tell you were feeling out of place, but he silently tried to make you feel more comfortable by flashing you a reassuring smile.

you shrug, smiling as the staff prepares to go on air. you take in a deep breath, calming your racing heart as you watch the host enter the stage.

“good luck tonight.” austin leans in, whispering. you turn to face him, “you too”. austin winks and then focuses his attention on the stage as the lights dim.

you follow suit, the ceremony officially begins.

a short video montage of all the movies nominated begins to play, and for a second you see yourself.

wow.

after the video, the lights come back on, and out steps the host.

“hello, and welcome to the ninety-sixth oscars, everyone! look at these beautiful faces!”

the room explodes into applause and cheers from the guests.

there’s more to the introduction, bad jokes, awkward laughter, and overall a very, very, long introduction before getting into the awards.

tonight was going to be very long.

“and the nominees for the best lead actor” the host announces, letting a brief video play of all the nominees and their movies.

some actors you knew well, others you didn’t.

“and the oscar goes to..” the host drawls, opening the envelope and a smile appears on her face.

“austin butler!”

the crowd erupts into a roar of cheers and applause, people standing up all around, yourself included. austin stands up hugging his team around him and his friends. he turns to you, smiling as if he won the lottery. “congrats!” you pat his shoulder as he walks past you on stage to accept the award.

“wow..” his deep voice rang through the microphone, looking at the audience and fellow nominees. “i’d uh..wow..all my words are leaving me…i’m standing in front of my heroes. i’m so incredibly grateful to be standing here, i just wanted to say thank you to my team, all the producers, writers, directors, costume, and makeup. everyone. and the presley family for guiding me through this whole process. thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. and lastly, thank you to all the new people i’ve met” he looks towards you. “i’m so grateful to be standing here. thank you.” he blows a kiss to the crowd before disappearing backstage.

the rest of the male categories went on in between intermissions. many of your favorite actors won, and movies.

then, before you knew it, the female categories were beginning. you saw austin returning to his seat before the nominees were announced.

“now, let’s take a look at the nominees for best female lead role…” the host begins.

like the male category, there are videos of each nominee and then you’re face pops up in a small montage of your movie with your name announced.

austin looked over at you when your face appeared on the big screen, he saw that look in your eyes. he couldn’t describe it. awe? no, it was something more than that. something he had never seen from any of the people he worked with. he had been to many events like this, but you…something about you.

“and the oscar for best female lead role goes too..”

anticipation.

so many great and talented women in this category, that you feel honored to even be considered as good as them.

what if you didn’t win?

but what if you did win? you didn’t even think you prepare an acceptance speech because there is absolutely no way someone like you could-

“y/n l/n! congratulations!”

the world stopped, people around you standing up and applauding. you.

you sat there, mouth agape staring at the stage with your face on the screens like an idiot. your crew grabbing your shoulders to congratulate you as you stand up. hugging some of your crew, then looking at austin wide-eyed. he’s smiling at you, saying something like “i knew you’d win” but you couldn’t be sure, you were in shock.

you begin towards the stage, austin trailing behind you holding your dress so you won’t trip. if there’s one thing austin learned about you tonight, you were clumsy.

you look back, thanking austin with your eyes approach the host, and accept the award.

“oh man..” you begin, feeling tears prickling your eyes. a quiet laugh escapes your throat, looking down at the golden award and then back to the crowd. “i didn’t have a speech prepared, i didn’t expect to win at all. but i wanted to thank everyone who worked on the set of this movie. thank you to the director who saw my indie films and thought i had the talent to portray my character. thank you to my team who always supported me. thank you to my family who always believed in me..who pushed me to work harder..” you sniffle, lip quivering.

“thank you. thank you so much.” you cry. “and thank you to austin, who helped me when i got lost, otherwise i would’ve missed the best moment in my life”. you look towards austin, your teary eyes glittering underneath the lights. the crowd laughs at this, finding it humorous.

austin smiled as he listened to your heartfelt acceptance speech. he couldn’t help but feel proud of you, watching the way you held the award in your hands and thanked everyone who had helped you along the way.

his heart skipped a beat when you mentioned him in your speech. he chuckled softly as the crowd laughed when you joked about getting lost, and he felt a warmth spread through him as he heard you express your gratitude towards him.

“and to all my fellow nominees, i can’t believe im standing in front of you. i’m so honored to be here with you tonight. and i realize i am rambling so i will accept this and go” you laugh, waving to your crew and exiting the stage.

as you walked off the stage, austin stood up and applauded once again, clapping louder than ever before.

the rest of the night continued without fail, the whole thing continued for about three and a half hours. you knew it was going to be long, but you don’t think you’d ever get used to it.

the ceremony ended, leading you and the other winners backstage to get pictures and interviews.

you stand with your friends, who also are a part of your crew. you’re still absolutely shocked. crying on and off as they congratulate you on one of the biggest achievements of your career.

you weren’t aware of austin approaching you until you felt a hand on your lower back. you look over your shoulder and see his baby blues. “austin!” you grin, turning your body toward him. “hi, darling. congratulations.” he says, gesturing to the award in your hand.

“thank you” you bring the award up to your face, grinning like a proud parent. “and congrats to you”

austin nods, looking down at his award. “looks like we both got pretty lucky, huh?”

you nod, agreeing. “i guess so..” you say softly.

you see austin’s eyebrow raise, his eyes dancing over your figure against the wall. you couldn’t quite place what he was thinking. he could be thinking many things, but you wouldn’t know. he was too hard to read, for you at least.

“say, uh..” he smirks, biting his lip. “how would you feel if i asked for your number?” his extra arm came up to the wall beside your head, entrapping you.

oh boy.

you hold the award close to your chest, looking up at him. “well, i’d feel like i’d be dreaming but im not going to say no.” you answer.

“good because i don’t know what id do if you said no” he chuckles, his eyes not leaving yours.

“i’ll call you, we’ll go out sometime. i wanna know more of you. if it’s anything like i saw tonight, i think i might fall in love with you.”

you can feel your ears burning as he speaks, his raspy voice making your legs feel weak. his eyes looking down on you, god. he was driving you insane. his slightly gelled hair, his grey suit, his cologne.

he was so close.

“then i guess you should be ready for that,” you say, smirking.

you heard your name being called, your manager trying to get you for an interview.

you push yourself off the wall, but before you leave you pause. “call me.” you wink and then walk away, leaving austin’s world rocked. never had he met someone like you, never has he been this intrigued and captivated by someone.

thank god he found you when he did.

[harzilla]

I keep thinking of the self aware Twst AU's and I see folks writing it for angst or horror and I love it. But comedy. Make it funny. Explain the game mechanics to them.

"What do you mean you managed to max out Idia's friendship level, with stickers?"

Idia holding up a sticker album: "Well to be fair, they're really cool stickers."

Ace: "Why the hell does Azul have the highest friendship points."

"Listen, his dorm card is really really good...."

Ace: "He enslaved us with a contract!"

"Hey, you get a solo element card with a strong heal and then we'll talk about you getting all the stickers."

Azul: "So you're telling me that, our world is being used by a mega corporation to take money through a predatory gacha system that takes in millions and it's legal in your world?"

"Yep."

Azul: "I wonder if I can take them to court for use of my likeness without consent."

"I'm not sure copyright law crosses dimensions, but let me know if you figure it out."

twst guy complaining about how long class is taking, just to watch you pop a candy in your mouth and, why the fuck has class suddenly gotten an hour longer? The guys quickly learn you can be petty too when they mouthed off to you one to many times so you kept extending class time until they crack and apologizes.

[dreamescapeswriting]

Stray Kids Reaction || Falling Asleep To His Voice

Skz X GN!Reader

⤜Copyright: © DreamEscapesWriting - January 2024

⤜MASTERLIST

CHAN:

Chan was completely taken aback when you told him that you wanted him to talk to you in order for you to fall asleep. You never wanted him to think badly about it, it was you that you simply found him relaxing to be around and he felt like a safe space for you.

"It's because I used to watch Chan's room to help...Your voice helps me." Your admitted as he looked down at you and nodded a little, still unsure on what he was supposed to talk about but as time went on he got used to it all.

MINHO:

It weirded Minho out at first and he was kind of offended that you found it nice to fall asleep to him while he spoke to you, but after explaining to him that you didn't find him boring just relaxing he started to do it for you until it was an every night kind of thing. You didn't even have to ask anymore, you'd curl up in bed together and Minho would already have a story that he'd heard that day or something he'd learnt and wanted to share it with you.

CHANGBIN:

Changbin outright refused to do it for you, he thought that it meant you found him boring to talk to and had tried to spend the night on the sofa instead of in bed with you - but you didn't let it happen.

"I don't find you boring, I find your voice relaxing." You explained as you curled up beside him in bed, he was still unsure of it all, wondering if one day you'd leave him because you easily fell asleep to him.

"Please Binnie, I love you, okay? I just find you calm." You whispered as he nodded shyly at you, letting out a small sigh as he tried to think of a story he could tell you.

HYUNJIN:

You were on a plane and no matter what you couldn't get yourself to relax and try and sleep, which was needed since the jetlag was going to throw you through a loop when you landed.

"Can you talk to me? To help me sleep." You begged your boyfriend who was taken back at first but as soon as he started to talk to you about the kinds of paint brushes he was switching to he watched your body visibly relax and he started going into great detail about the types of brushes they were.

JISUNG:

Jisung was thrilled at the thought of getting to do this for you, you already did so much for him so getting to return the favour was something he was enjoying. That and he got to tell you all about the anime he'd been watching in great detail and length while you tiredly asked questions or just fell asleep to your boyfriend's excited voice. Nevertheless though, Jisung adored getting this time with you.

FELIX:

Felix didn't ask too many questions when you asked him to talk you to sleep, he just did it and every single night without fail he would be there talking to you to get you to sleep. Tonight was no different either, he was on his computer playing a video game and he talked you through it, explaining every character's back story as well as their special abilities not even noticing that you'd nodded off until he heard a faint snoring.

"Goodnight angel." He chuckled to himself before turning back to his game for a little while longer.

SEUNGMIN:

Seungmin was a little thrown off by the idea of it but he was slowly warming up to it. You had always struggled to sleep but if Seungmin was there you had hardly any issues at all, especially if he'd talk softly and slowly to you lulling you into sleep.

"I'll tell you about what happened at work," Seungmin stated as he ran his hands up and down your arms, you were already sound asleep by this point but he enjoyed still talking to you and watching as you when you'd smile in your sleep.

JEONGIN:

Jeongin thought that it was the cutest thing in the world when you would fall asleep to the sound of his voice. He'd always brag about it to the boys who then teased him for having a "boring voice" but it wasn't like that in the slightest.

"Does that mean Yn finds you boring?" Felix asked as you all sat around the dorms one rainy day, your head resting on your boyfriend's shoulder.

"No, it means I find him soothing." You mumbled at him, rolling your eyes as you cuddled closer to Jeongin. There was something about the rain and being curled up beside him that made you feel as though you could sleep right now.

"I love you." Jeongin whispers as he threads his fingers with yours and squeezes your hand a little.

@chiisaiblog @sw33tnight @kaitieskidmore97 @laylasbunbunny @stayconnecteed @saymyspringrain @toplinehyunjin @katnisspeetaprim @acciocriativity @wolfgurl2600 @just-aelia @choisoorin@straykids5star @minholythighs @midnightfrog625 @beccaskz @compersian @scarletemeterio @alicejustwakeup @halesandy @junhannies @gothic4under4lord @lixie-phoria @soulphoenix1618 @aerastus @jin-from-the-block @peachyproductions @lenfilms @elizaschuyler18 @piratequeen-impact @kpopmenace143 @minhosify @loveforred

[omgthatdress]

An Analysis of the Ubiquity of Mall Brands in the late 1990s to early 2000s, or

I Fucking Hate These Guys

by OMG!thatdress

If you were a tween to teenager from roughly 1997 to 2004, chances are, you were left with profound life-long trauma caused by someone wearing Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren, Nautica, American Eagle, The Gap, Old Navy, or, if you were came along a little later, Hollister or Aeropoastale.

I cannot overstate to my young followers how over-saturated these brand names were in teen culture at the turn of the millennium, the extend to which EVERYONE was wearing them, and yet, in a weird way, how light the imprint they actually left on fashion history was.

Watching iconic teen shows of the era, you don't see any of them because a.) TV teenagers tend to be way cooler and more stylish than awkward and desperate real teenagers actually are, and b.) these brands were all copyright protected, which kept their names and logos off the airwaves.

Look in a middle school yearbook, however, you'll see it. Look at your aunt and uncle's high school photo albums, you'll see it. Ask any late Gen X or early Millennial. It was real and it was fucking awful.

The big question is why? Why? WHY, GOD WHY?! There's a lot of answers to that question.

First of all, I'm going to cite this absolutely wonderful article from Collector's Weekly about why everyone's grandma had a hideous orange couch in the 70s, and give the most simple and straightforward answer: it's what was available.

This is when the concept of online shopping is still very much in its infancy, and the hub of American consumer culture was still your local mall. If you needed new clothes, you went to the mall. And guess what stores were at every local mall? You guessed it.

For the second answer, I'm going to dig up this utter relic from the early days of internet meme-ing, that has nonetheless stuck with me and had a profound impact of my understanding of how popular fashion works:

I'm pretty sure that the reason Abercrombie & Fitch manages to survive as a brand today rests solely increasingly middle-aged Millennial men whose sense of style has refused to evolve past the shit their mom bought them in high school.

And why the hell would they? Nobody wore Abercrombie because it made them stand out or feel special. I'm still pretty convinced that nobody actually *liked* the aesthetic or thought the clothes actually looked good. You need not look past the basic color palette to understand these were not brands meant for uniqueness or self-expression.

While Britney Spears pranced around stage in her iconic neon colors and body glitter, American teenagers existed in a never-ending hellscape of washed-out neutrals, faded denim, and American flag primary colors.

All of which served its exact purpose: it was safety. It was a way to appear cool if you didn't want to go through the ordeal of actually having a personality or a sense of style. Which, of course, goes back to point number one: it was just shit you bought at the mall because you needed clothes.

It wasn't enough to save you once the school bully caught that whiff of autism and/or queerness on you, but it was enough that you could blend into the herd and pray no one ever noticed you.

Underneath it all was a very subtle undercurrent of class and classism: to wear mall brands was to declare to the world that you could indeed afford to shop at the mall. It meant you weren't, god forbid, poor.

Status symbol clothing goes back to the invention of clothing itself. The concept of brands as status symbols is still very much alive and well, its just more limited to actual luxury brands nowadays. One need look no further than your favorite high-end children's clothing website to see that rich parents still very much think it important that you know their five-year-old is wiping its boogers on Versace.

None of these brands were actual high-end luxury brands, but they still advertised and presented themselves as such. Their ads featured signifiers of "all-american" (read: White) wealth: yachts, skiing, horses, beaches, shirtless dudes with chiseled abs playing verious sportsballs.

The color palettes and cuts mimicked the preppy "Ivy" style of the New England old-money elite, along with their hobbies and lifestyle. You may not actually own a horse, but you can wear a polo shirt. You may not be able to run without breaking your ankle, but you wear the same shirt as the dude holding a football in the ad.

It was an elitist, White and skinny image that didn't age well into the diversity and body-positivity of the 2010s.

In 2003, a lawsuit was filed against Abercrombie & Fitch alleging systematic racial discrimination. People of color were rarely hired, and if they were, they were given jobs in the back, away from customer view. In 2005, the U.S. district court approved a settlement of $50,000. A few years ago, Netflix released the documentary White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch which admittedly I haven't watched yet because my hatred runs too deep to remind myself of its existence.

It was a hatred of Abercrombie & the (white, thin, neurotypical, heterosexual) conformity that it represented that drove me screaming into the loving arms of Hot Topic and Linkin Park. Jordan Calhoun wrote an excellent article for the Atlantic about his experience growing up poor and Black and not fitting in to the Abercrombie aesthetic.

I would be very remiss if I didn't bring up the "urban" mall brands of the early 2000s: Fubu, Sean Jean, Ecko, Baby Phat, among others. They were favored by Black teenagers and White teenagers who wanted to be Black. I know there's a lot to be said about these brands, but I'm too Caucasian to really be able to talk about them with nuance. Maybe someone else will, and I will be very happy to listen.

As much as I hate Tommy Hilfiger, I really do have to give him credit for recognizing the incredibly lucrative "street wear" market and selling power of hip-hop. While most of these mall brands kept their image sparkling White, Tommy made Aaliyah his brand ambassador and regularly appeared in the wardrobes of popular rap and R&B artists of the time.

It'd be very easy and very reductive to say that the changing ideology of the 2010s was the downfall of preppy mall brands, but really, the thing that truly killed them was the downfall of the mall itself. Shopping habits changed, and logos and brand names no longer held the power they once had.

The moral of the story is that being a teenager is fucking hell, and these popular brands both offered the safety of conformity and a status symbol to hold over the heads of the poor and uncool. The irony is that everyone who hated them as teenagers (read: ME) and the freaks who grew up to truly love the power of self-expression through personal style (read: ME) became the truly cool people. If you wore Abercrombie you grew up to vote for Donald Trump.

GO GOTH. PREPS SUCK. THE END.

[hikamuree]

someday, someday . . . wc: 569. a messy draft i wanted to share <3

The doctor and nurse had left two hours ago. You rested on the marital bed, with Arthur stroking your sweaty hair, until you fell asleep. He rose to leave the room, glancing at the wooden cradle and mingling at the tiny clenched fists of your little daughter —another sleeping angel, another girl in his life. He reached over to slide his thumb into the baby's palms and unearth her pristine fingertips from her soft skin. She jerked, letting out a faint whimper, but never opened her little eyes. Arthur shushed her sweetly and left her alone, heading for the kitchen.

The kitchen in complete silence and the peace that only complete well-being brings bathed Arthur in tranquillity. He closed his eyes and slumped into one of the chairs. A hand went up to his eyes. His baby was born healthy, you, his wife, had no complications and were recovering your energy, he managed to hold your hand all the way without fainting from nerves. Everything had turned out the way he never thought he deserved: too well. His hand slid down to his beard, scratching it, sorting his thoughts and holding back the tingle of the booming tears. He had waited for this moment since he left the gang with you. Everything since then had been built up for this wonderful scene —and those to come. Now he imagined your baby's soon-to-be round eyes, a blue copy of his he hoped, innocent and always confused at the stimulations of an unfamiliar world, and the first babbles, vain attempts to copy the language of his elders. On the other hand, he could imagine you with your love-struck eyes in the presence of such a tender creature, laughing softly at the child's frustrated attempts to communicate. Both of you blowed away to the little one who shares your name. Your beautiful name.

And it might be a common agreement among parents to expect a baby boy in the cradle, but Arthur differed from them. He couldn't care less about the sex of his baby, more he prayed for proper breathing, a snuggly blanket, a healthy weight —chubby he preferred, if asked. And most of all, that it would be his to care for. He could already think of all the things he'd teach her and those he wouldn't —like holding a rifle or a shovel, he'd take care of that. You and the little girl wouldn't have to think about surviving, he would keep you safe. He would dedicate all his days, work day and night, put up with tyrannical employers, demand his tired body for a few more coins, hold a smile at home and inhibit his violent instinct, reserving it for when he must protect you. He would build a new world for you, he would rebuild himself for you.

He didn't have his parents around, but his little girl wouldn't go through that. She'd have you, her mother, to school her, him, her father, to take her fishing, teach her to draw, to make good decisions, to defend herself with her mind and to take care of her body. She would be a standout among the other girls, she would be strong and revolutionary. That little girl will blow everyone away, someday.

And he would shout "look at my girl!" and then kiss your temple, thanking you for the amazing child you gave him.

copyright © 2025 by hikamuree. I do not give permission for my writing to be copied and reposted.

[scarletwinterxx]

in the quiet of us - choi seungcheol imagine

tbh this fic came about while listening to milk teeth and did you like her in the morning by niki 🥺 dare i say i'm getting better with the angst haha ofc it's gonna end in a cute way

anywayss i hope you like this one🤍

for my other svt fics, check them here

if you want, u can buy me coffee(totally optional but any donation is very much appreciated!) thank you🥺💛

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2024 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

(pics not mine, credits to rightful owner)

You and Seungcheol have been dating for nearly a year, and on the surface, the two of you seem to be an ideal couple—you’re the shy, introspective type, while he’s outgoing, expressive, and always the center of attention. 

Your love for Seungcheol is quiet. It’s gentle, steady, and sometimes, you feel like it’s almost too quiet to be enough for someone like him. You have always loved him in a subtle, understated way, hoping that your affection is enough without needing to shout about it. Seungcheol, on the other hand, is the type who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s affectionate, always complimenting you and showing his love in grand, showy gestures. 

He never shies away from declaring his feelings to the world.

You will never tell him your reasons for holding back when the truth is you love him with every piece of yourself. You’re terrified that your calm, reserved nature won’t compare to the passion and intensity of his past relationships. You about his ex-girlfriend, the one he once spoke of like she was his soul mate. Cheol has always been open about his past, and while he never directly compares you to her, you can’t help but feel like there are times you’re falling short of the vibrant, adventurous, free-spirited image of the girl who’s still a part of his memories. 

You and Seungcheol are sitting together on the couch, having just returned from a weekend getaway. You’re quiet, lost in thought.

"That trip was amazing, huh? I love how we just got to be spontaneous and go wherever we felt like." Cheol says while looking through the photos of your quick weekend getaway with some of his friends, you watch the big smile on his face 

"Yeah... it was nice." softly you say, Cheol being the mind reader he is, immediately looks at you when he hears your voice

Leaning closer to you he asks, "You don’t sound convinced. What’s on your mind?"

“I’ve been thinking a lot about... us, actually."

Cheol felt his heart skip a beat, and not in a good way. There’s so many breakup scenes that start off with those same words

"Us? What about us?" he asks

"I know you’ve had past relationships. I know you loved… you loved her. And I... I don’t know, Seungcheol. I can’t help but feel like... maybe my way of loving you isn’t enough."

Your sudden confession makes him sit straight up, wondering where all of this is coming from, "What do you mean? Of course, it’s enough. You love me in your own way—"

"But it’s so quiet. I’m not like the others. I’m not as... exciting or loud or memorable. I don’t do the big, dramatic gestures like they did. I’m just... me." you cut him off

You see hurt flash across his eyes, wishing you never said anything. You should’ve just said nothing. To avoid his stare, you look down at your hands that were resting on your lap 

"You’re not being fair to yourself. You’re everything I want, just the way you are." he whispers, feeling more sad and disappointed that you think that way about yourself when you’re quite literally everything to him.

Softly, almost to yourself you say "I’m just scared that you’re going to wake up one day and realize that I’m nothing like the girls you’ve loved before. That you’ll want... someone more. Someone who loves you in a bigger, louder way."

He looks at you, a thousand things running through his mind.

"Look at me." he tells you but you don’t move from where you’re sitting

"I just... I don’t know if I can keep pretending that everything’s fine when I feel so... small in your love." 

Gently turning your chin to face him, he smiles at you

"You don’t have to pretend with me. Not ever."

"But what if I’m not what you need? What if you want someone who—"

Cutting you off gently, he speaks again "I don’t want anyone else. I want you. I love you, the way you love me, and it’s more than enough. You don’t need to be like anyone else, because there’s no one like you. You love me in a way that’s so quiet, so steady—it’s the kind of love I’ve always needed, even if I didn’t realize it until now."

You can’t stop the tears falling down on your cheeks, Cheol does that for you. He wipes them away one by one, with each one he says a vow in his mind to never let anything or anyone even himself make you cry in this lifetime. 

"But... I don’t know how to love any other way. I’m not like you. I can’t... do all the big things you do for me." you whimper

"You don’t need to. I don’t need grand gestures. I don’t need loud. I need you, exactly as you are." he shakes his head, holding your face between his hands

He waits for you to say anything else but you don’t. You just embrace him, letting yourself fall apart infront of the only man who knows how to fix it all. And he lets you be. He lets you cry in his arms until you fall asleep, he lets you let go of what you’re feeling. Whispering words of assurance and affirmation, letting you know you’re not alone. 

You’ll never feel alone as long as you have him. 

The next morning, after a long conversation, you and Seungcheol are sitting in the kitchen together. He already made breakfast for the two of you. 

You look at him, still feeling a bit unsure but more at ease.

“So... you’re okay with the way I love you? Even if it’s not loud?" you’re the first one to speak

Softly smiling, he takes your hand "Your love is exactly what I’ve always needed. You love me with a softness, a patience, and I’m so grateful for it. I love how you take the time to listen to me, to show you care in the quietest ways. You don’t have to change who you are for me. I want you."

This makes you smile, little by little your worries disappear. You know it’s going to take some time before you feel okay, it’s a war between you and mind and yet here’s Cheol ready to fight that battle with you.

"I’ve always loved you like that. I just didn’t think it would ever be enough." you whisper

He walks over to your side, leaning in and kissing your forehead) "It’s more than enough. You’re more than enough. Always have been." he tells you

Later that day, Seungcheol left to get some errands done. When he comes back, he surprises you with a small gesture—no grand gesture, just a simple note with a favorite flower from the garden.

"Seungcheol, this is... really sweet." you smile up at him

Leaning against the doorframe, looking at you with affection "I know it’s not a big, loud thing, but I hope it says what I’ve been trying to tell you: I love you exactly as you are. In your quiet, beautiful way."

"I love you, too. In my own way." chucking softly, you shoot him a smile. Walking towards where he was, you throw your arms around him. His arms immediately wraps around you, 

"And I’ll never want anything else."

[badaboomx]

Did I mention... (Bada Lee x Reader)

PAIRING: G!P Bada Lee x Fem!Reader.  SETTING: Underground dancer Bada Lee is quite the popular girl in town and way out of your league. Or so you think. WORDS: 6k PART: 1 of 3

ⓘ  No smut for this part, only delicious build up! Some risque insinuation towards the end.

“Here,” a tall, cool dancer said to you in a low tone, holding a piece of chocolate and offering it to you.

Playfully, you shook your head with a big grin to boot. A nice offer you would take with no hesitation any time, but tonight you felt all kinds of playful after the adventures for the night. 

“Oh?” said the dancer, approaching you and getting so close that you could only back up against the wall now. With chocolate still in hand, she grabbed you from under your jaw with the other. “Open,” she commanded, lowly, that playful smirk still plastered on her face. “Be a good girl and open up.”

It was like butterflies blooming everywhere on your body, tickling skin and making the hairs of your body perk up and sway at the tension. Body against body, the idle sounds of the busy world around you an accompanying piece. Your lips parted, opening for her, and you just watched as she slowly and carefully placed that piece of chocolate in your mouth, but before she could remove her hand you cheekily wrapped your lips around her fingers and sucked them, pulling them out of you, just to watch her expression. Just to hear that reaction from her.

And I bet you wonder how you got here.

Well, let’s go back a few.

Let’s start with the fact that you were so bored you felt you could dislocate your shoulders and have an infinitely better time.  Drunken bodies pushed past you stumbling, making you spill the drink you have not touched since you got it; wild frat boys dared each other to drink more and more with weirder contraptions while a good chunk of the attendees kept within their groups or kept themselves busy with their phones. Or making out with their dates or one-night stands, if not outright fucking but you weren’t here to confirm that. You just… wanted some fun, but that was nowhere to be seen in the sea of students that you cared little for. The music didn’t even blare bombastically from the speakers, a low and chill (but admittedly lame) mix of the most generic copyright free beats found on youtube and it seemed to never end in your perspective. Succinctly put, this party sucked pretty bad. You had been standing there on the corner effectively for two hours and all conversation you tried to have failed immensely for a variety of reasons we don’t even have time to recount. 

What a way to kick off your exciting new life, huh?

The first party you’ve gotten invited to and it has turned out to be a waste of time – and a waste of a good outfit. Being new in town had its drawbacks, and they seemed to outweigh the pros of getting to meet new people and starting over fresh. What a damn shame. At one point, you just left that cup half full and slithered away before any drunk dude tried to talk you into staying in the party. Surprisingly, slipping out felt not only like you were a lame party pooper, but like you suddenly had the spotlight with several people pointing out that you were leaving and even asking what’s up. What a goddamn nightmare.

“I have never seen more dead people in a party,” you said jokingly to your roommate, Lee Seoyoung, who was dressing up for a party of her own and was willing to listen to you vent before she went out.

“I warned you,” she tutted. “Those people are only entertained by booze and you don’t even like alcohol all that much.”

With a sigh, you plopped down on the couch, still dressed to the nines. “Is my new life here going to be a bore just like at home?”

“No,” Seoyoung began. “I told you that you can tag along with me tonight, you idiot,” she said so casually as she was putting on her shoes.  

You sighed, sitting back up. The idea seemed good, more fun than whatever the fuck was the party you just escaped. Still, you had your doubts. “It just doesn’t feel like my scene, I don’t wanna stick out and be bothersome for you.”

“You’re just scared to check it out,” Seoyoung poked, teasing you. 

And you couldn't really deny that. It did intimidate you a bit. Mostly because Seoyoung explained before that this party was some sort of underground party. Music, dancing, live performances and battles, all unlike the frat boy disaster. It didn’t seem like your scene, you know? As described by Seoyoung (Or, well, Lusher as she was called in her dancer circle), these people were pretty cool, sounded tough as nails and – somewhere in your irrational part of your brain – sounded like they would tease you out of the place. To boot, this party was only attended by those who were IN and knew it was happening. That alone sounds exclusive, like you have to earn your way in.

But you technically had, you just lucked out in working for it as much.

Seoyoung – er, Lusher – stood up and grabbed you by the wrist and pulled. “Up, we’re going.”

��But Luuuushh–.”

“Just check it out for today, then if you don’t really like it you can just not go, deal?” Lusher insisted with a pout of her own.

And you couldn’t say no to your roommate that has been nothing but an angel to you as a new arrival. So, you accepted, letting Lusher drag you out of your cocoon and open an exciting world to you.

The guy guarding the front door was intimidating at first glance, but upon seeing you and Lusher approach his demeanor changed to an enthusiastic and friendly one. Lusher greeted him and told him you were tagging along with her for the night. 

“She’s new in town,” Lusher patted your back.

“She looks like it,” the guy teased, pointing at your eyes. “She looks like a scared puppy.”

And he was not wrong, but once it was brought up, you tried your best not to look like it. With encouragement from Lusher and the guy, he let you both in. A well lit hallway with some party goers chilling away from the crowded party and the music to perhaps chat more calmly, yet it was as intimidating as anything. You felt as if they discreetly stared at you, judgmentally, when in reality they only looked curiously and moved on. It was hard to get out of that headspace, so new to something like this in an already new town. 

Walking down the hall with Lusher was equally nerve wrecking, feeling the muffled music grow a little louder with every step. Turning the corner, walking down another hall, the music now engulfing you with its catchy rhythm, the door opening to you and revealing a very vibrant, moved party with great music coming off proper speakers. An actual crowd of people danced, while another chunk of the crowd hung out, either standing or sitting elsewhere. It felt and looked different, even the atmosphere was different. No fancy lightings, no fancy decorations or structure – just a repurposed warehouse with plenty of space that has been cleverly remodeled with little budget. It looked and felt like one of those underground party places in movies and music videos.

“Cool, right?” Lusher said loudly, making herself clear atop the chatting crowd and the dance music. 

You were almost overwhelmed, looking at her still looking like a lost puppy.

“C’mon, it’s less intimidating than it looks,” Lusher insisted and tugged you along, making both of your ways deeper into the heart of the party. 

You weren’t sure if Lusher was just saying this to make you feel better or if it was truly as she said. Either way, you stuck close to her and nearly clung to her hand for dear life as you traversed through the confusing mass of bodies. Some people even greeted her, acknowledging her with a cool tilt of their head, an enthusiastic shout, or a secret handshake. A fascinating world where everyone was familiar with one another to some extent at least, you surely felt like you stuck out. 

“Yo, Lusher!” one of the party goers greeted. “Bringing a girlfriend along at last, huh?”

Lusher laughed and shook her head. “Nah, not this time. She’s my new roomie.”

“Sweet!” the stranger said, looking at you up and down. “She looks like a scared puppy–.”

“Yeah, I’m breaking her in,” Lusher quickly rebutted, trying not to dwell on you lest you become more scared. “Hey, where are my girls?”

“Ah, I’ve only seen Bada and Tatter,” they looked around and pointed towards the corner of the warehouse – a place filled with booths and other seats. “There they are.”

“Thanks,” Lusher and the stranger did a handshake that you have no idea how was possible and bid farewell, heading towards the elusive location. 

En route to meet the so-called ‘girls’ you heard someone pick up the mic and start talking, getting the crowd to holler and shout. It was so overwhelming, passing through masses of people you didn’t recognize and listening to whatever the person was trying to say while clinging to Lusher’s hand. God, maybe this wasn’t your scene after all.

Then, you saw them.

“Ah, there they are,” Lusher shouted, pointing at them for you to see them. And you have never felt more nervous. “That’s Tatter,” Lusher pointed to a girl in blonde with a resting bitch face who was casually chatting up to… 

“And that’s Bada,” Lusher pointed to a woman whose aura was imposing and intimidating. It took you a second to truly take in who you were observing, even while Lusher was dragging you up to meet them.

Bada, whoever that woman was, looked as intimidating as the word itself. A brunette – wait, two-toned, brunette with blonde streaks – donning a black beanie, matching black baggy pants, and a gray hoodie with a cool design down the arms. Even when talking to someone she seemed to know she exuded an air of coolness you could only describe as imposing. By presence alone, you couldn’t tell if she was a rapper or a dancer but you were certain that she was a performer, as if you could feel that she was born to be on stage.

It made you nervous.

Especially when she turned to watch you and Lusher fast approaching, tapping Tatter and pointing to watch. Tatter jumped off her seat first and Bada slowly followed, a lot more relaxed than Tatter who seemed to be anxious to talk to Lusher. In comparison to Tatter and Lusher, Bada was a giant too. Broad shouldered, lanky and tall. All the makings for a menacing person who could devour you in a second. Yet, upon greeting Lusher with a hug, she smiled ever so slightly.

Now you didn’t know exactly how to feel.

“Glad to see you made it,” Bada said, patting Lusher’s head.

“I can’t just miss a party,” Lusher pulled away and looked back at you, pulling you in closer. “Here’s my new roomie, you remember I told you about her?”

Bada looked at you for a moment that seemed to stretch on and on. Confusing feelings bubbled in your gut, waiting for Bada to do or say something – anything – as you stood there like a fish out of water. Finally, while Lusher was giving Tatter a hug, Bada stretched out her hand to you. “You’re the new face, right?”

You nodded, then tentatively gave her hand a shake.

“You look like a scared puppy, you know that?” Bada said, a subtle smirk coming to her lip. 

“Yeah…” And for some reason, hearing it from her made… your heart flutter. 

Tatter and Lusher quickly got engulfed in a conversation of their own, gossip taking the wheels above manners really, and Bada – having noted this – got closer to you.  

“Never been to a party like this before, have you?” 

“Is it too obvious?” You looked up at Bada, who kept eyeing you curiously, like you were someone from a different planet. Yet, it wasn’t ever rude, just boldly inquisitive. “Yeah, we didn’t have these in my town, I think.”

“That you knew of,” Bada shrugged, slipping her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants. “We don’t bite though, baby. You’ll be fine.”

Baby…? Ah, something like that was not something you heard often. You would generally find it condescending or patronizing, but coming out of Bada? It was almost heavenly, and you didn’t even want to feel that way! You can’t just get nervous and charmed this easily. You sighed out and scratched your head. “I don’t know, you people here look pretty tough,” you paused, looking at her. “And hungry.”

A soft chuckle came out with a smirk, Bada looked around at the crowd around all of you. “Half of these people are mushy for the right things, don’t worry about it.”

That made you curious. Even if you hesitated in the question, you let it out anyways. “Are you like that, too?”

Bada kept quiet for a second, the ghostly essence of a smirk still there on her lips as she shrugged. So cool, like she was tacitly telling you that you wouldn’t know – and you would only find out if she wanted you to. That silence was far from awkward, it was rather refreshing, like Bada wasn’t afraid of silence (or, well, silence between the two of you, considering there was a whole party going on behind you). And she wasn’t afraid of looking at you in the eye as she let the silence flow. Warmth started to spread on your cheeks, painting your face a shade of pink and tell-taling how you were feeling about Bada staring at you like that.  

“Bada?” 

You and Bada turned to see Lusher and Tatter. 

“I need to talk to Tatter alone for a second, can you watch over my roomie?” 

You stood up straight the second you heard that. Was she really just going to leave you like that? 

Bada nodded. “I’ll take care of her, you do what you need to do,” she said like she was a leader, concisely and firmly – like she was a reliable person and could take care of it. Perhaps it was a bit of a late connection, but it had dawned on you then as Lusher and Tatter walked away that you were standing in front of Lusher’s dance crew leader, and her mentor.

The tall woman looked at them walk away, just to know where they were heading off, while you looked up at Bada with this brand new perspective. And you were getting a little more nervous. 

Lusher had spoken to you briefly about her dance team and her leader, but not by name. What you knew about this elusive leader was that she was quite the popular lady among the dancer and rapper circle. A once-rapper that fell in love with dancing and switched specialties, now fully a dancer that battles occasionally and competes with others in tournaments. She’s considered quite a competent battler and a very talented dancer (and choreographer) and quite the ladies magnet. You didn’t quite know why for that last one, but it made you nervous.

“Yo,” Bada said, pulling you out of your own thoughts with a snap close to your eyes. 

You looked up at her again, gulping and hoping she didn’t hear or notice that.

“You okay over there?” She merely asked.

You cleared your throat and tried so hard to play it cool. “Y-yeah!”

Bada looked at you in silence, face completely impassive before she chuckled a little. “C’mon, sit down.”

You went to do just that, trying to hide the fact that you felt your knees weak enough to give in at any second. But you soon sat down, facing the big moving crowd full of life. Bada had taken her seat near you but at an arm’s length, grabbing a bottle from the table before placing her feet on it casually. You can hear your parents saying that’s a rude gesture, but you can’t help but to find it very… familiar, casual, even cool. 

Then silence, at least between the two of you. You couldn’t really be as comfortable as Bada seemed to be, and you felt your palms sweating already, and you could tell Bada was staring at you. As if she was waiting to see how long it’ll be until you said something to break up the ice. Amused by you, perhaps, or maybe secretly getting a kick out of making you just a bit nervous. 

“So,” you broke first, pouting a bit. If you were going to be stuck with her for the time being, might as well try to get to know her, right? You thought to ask her something about herself, and so you began.

 “You…” 

But you trailed off, looking at Bada. 

That woman was just… staring at you, patiently waiting for you to continue but you couldn’t really keep your mind away from getting distracted as you saw the woman upon closer inspection. Her wide, full lips donning a strikingly pink tone, almost beckoning for you to touch them or to feel them on your body; her nose lovingly sculpted in harmony with her eyes. The way she looked at you, with her facial expression still neutral, made you wonder what she was thinking at that moment. By the time she spoke, nothing in her face changed. Just a blink of her eyes.

“I…?” Bada prodded, trying to get you to say what you wanted.

“Uhh,” you nervously rubbed your neck. What was it that you were gonna ask her? Damn it, you couldn’t remember. 

Bada chuckled a bit. “We got time before they come back, don’t worry.”

The levity made you smile shyly at her. “Sorry.”

Bada shrugged, taking a sip from her drink before she spoke again. “I don’t mind. At least you’re not pretending to be above us or cool.”

“P-people do that a lot?” You stammered out against your better judgment, but genuinely curious about it.

“Oh yeah. Especially to me,” Bada instantly replied. “You’re doing good so far.”

That made you feel better, and a little less nervous.

But before the silence could sit, Bada up and asked you a question herself. “What brings you here if this isn’t your scene?”

You shrugged. “I was at a frat party before this. It sucked.”

“Yeah,” Bada laughed, leaning back and resting her arm on the top of the booth’s cushion. So laid back, comfortable, but still keeping her distance. “Lusher told me those guys over there don’t know how to party at all.”

Her laugh was nice, you wanted to hear it again. Not realizing it, you scooted closer to her as you spoke, feeling somehow magnetically pulled now. “It’s not the first time?”

Bada shook her head. “Nah, it’s been something Lusher learned real quick when she enrolled there.”

“Guess I learned too,” you said, glancing at her and noticing that she’s… eyeing you. Up and down, like she’s analyzing you now that she’s close enough. You tried not to let that get to your nerves. “I-I just wanted to have a fun night, meet the place I’m gonna live in for a while, make friends, you know?”

Well, you stammered a little but you finished the sentence.

Bada nodded, sympathetic but not saying anything for a second.

“And this isn’t my scene, b-but Lusher insisted and I think she’s so cool. You guys are cool too, but you people scare me, you just seem so tough and–.”

Bada chuckled then, putting her hand up to stop you from speaking more. “Calm down, puppy. I got you.”

You blushed in embarrassment, tightly pressing your lips together as if to stop you from screwing this up more somehow. 

Bada just looked at you though, an unmistakable glimpse of fondness so palpable in her eyes at the way she looked at you. “Do I scare you?” Emphasis on the I.

Yes. Yes. Oh my god, yes. She scared you in a way that was so exciting you couldn’t even put it into words. She fascinated you so much, like a brand new story unraveling before you. Lips parted, you were ready to say something. 

But words weren’t coming out.

Bada was willing to wait patiently, seriously curious, but a tapping on her shoulder brought her out of the conversation. You could almost sense a vague annoyance in her eyes before she turned to see who it was.

“You busy, Bada?” A stranger, someone who barely acknowledged you.

“I’m totally free right now,” Bada said firmly, but you could tell there was a twinge of sarcasm sprinkled on top of it. “What is it?”

“We need you to take the stage for a second, the guys playing after the DJ are caught on some fucking traffic, can you believe it?”

Bada nodded slowly, like she barely cared. “Crazy,” she slowly looked over to you. “Traffic on a Saturday night, can you believe it?”

You had to stop yourself from smiling and giggling at Bada’s reaction to this sudden request.

“We already got someone but we also–.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bada waved her hand and stood up, getting the guy to be quiet. “Explain it to me on the way there,” she then looked at you, leaning in so she doesn’t have to shout over the music. “I’ll be back in a snappy, you be a good girl and wait here.”

That sent shivers down your spine. It was a direct command, full with a nickname to get your legs turning into jelly. You could only look at her and nod rapidly, hypnotized, probably looking like a scared little puppy. 

With that, Bada walked away with the guy. Confident, chin tilted up, leading the way for the guy who kept yapping. Just by watching her walk away you felt so insecure, and it didn’t take long for you to notice it. Like suddenly the support beam that was Bada (and by extension Lusher) was ripped out from under you. So, you remained seated like the good girl you were.

To distract yourself, you wondered what exactly was Bada going to do on stage. Curiosity built up more and more, considering Bada was the leading lady of a dance crew and if Bada was so popular, she had to be good right?

The DJ finished his set and bid farewell for the night, introducing two last-minute hosts to fill the stage (and stretch the time) and entertain the already hyped crowd. The crowd welcomed Bada and an equally tough looking lady with warm applause and cheers. Soon enough, you understood what was that magnetism that Bada seemed to have on people. Her charismatic presence was palpable even on stage; from the way she held the microphone, the way she walked around on stage like she was born on it and owned it, to the way she interacted with the other host and the audience. So smoothly, like there was no one watching. 

Her true power came on when both hosts decided to host a little impromptu battle against each other. Lyrically and physically. By physical I mean dancing, this isn’t a fight club. Though you were sure that Bada knew of an underground fight club somewhere. First, they both duked it out on a freestyle rap. Frankly, you couldn’t even hear what they were saying, observing the crowd gather closer and cheer for the punchlines that both girls were throwing out there. You were just in awe watching Bada’s passion for this art form, the way she spoke to the microphone and the attractive vein on her already attractive neck, the gestures she made like it was second nature to her–.

Oh you looked like an idiot didn’t you? Jaw dropped, leaning in, absolutely enwrapped in the spectacle.

The crowd decided and after a neck and neck battle Bada lost this part of the battle. The face-off wasn’t over, though. Soon enough, a hard hitting instrumental blasted through the speakers, its rhythm instantly infecting both girls on stage immediately. The winner of the last round went first, and you were impressed by the way they could even move their body. Hell, you didn’t even know half of that was possible. But then, Bada was up.

“Hey, what’s up?” Lusher said, coming out from wherever her and Tatter went. However, she took one good look at your flabbergasted face and looked at the stage. Then, she just nodded and sat beside you, observing Bada tear up the stage.

And tear it up she did. That woman was a force to be reckoned with, able to be smooth and rough, fast or slow – even go from intimidating and hard hitting to sensual and flirty. The way she moved her hips was so exquisite, full of vigor and flavor and you couldn’t help a tiny little gasp coming out of you; the way she had such a control over her body and how her popping looked so powerful and like it could break the floor. So easy flowing, so confident… No wonder there was such a craze for this woman. It even explained Lusher’s pride on having a dance crew with her, like she was the cool mentor figure you want on your side for battles.

The crowd went wild, the other dancer even had to laugh at the ingenuity of some of Bada’s moves, so this round was unmistakably Bada’s win in the bag. Just in time, too, seeing as the next performer had arrived and was ready to take the stage themselves. Bada and her impromptu co-host both came off the stage and your eyes couldn’t stop following Bada – who was quickly swarmed by people congratulating her, greeting her, and you could even notice some girls come up to her to… well, you didn’t know. All you knew is that even from afar, you could tell some of them wanted to stick around Bada for the rest of the night, and you thought for a second that Bada would ditch you to stick around people who seemed to be more confident and cooler. Yet, Bada excused herself politely and moosey’d on over to where you and the girls were sitting.

Wait, you and the girls?

You woke up from your little trance and looked at Lusher and Tatter who were gossiping and giggling like you weren’t there. It wasn’t until the brunette noticed you that she smacked the blonde on the leg and both exaggeratedly pretended to look innocently at you. 

“What are you guys doing?” you asked, leaning and trying to tune out the music and the talking coming from the stage.

“Oh nothing,” Tatter began, fixing her hair.

“Just talking about how you look like you’ve never seen people dance,” Lusher said boldly, earning a gasp from Tatter who smacked her in return. “What? It’s the truth.”

“S-shut up–. I was just watching Bada dance!” You replied defensively, as if hoping they hadn’t watched you gobsmacked for the entire battle.

In response, both Lusher and Tatter opted to imitate how you looked – and at the sheer timing of them doing it perfectly in sync, bursted out laughing together, complete with claps and smacking each other.

You just had to sit there and take it, even if it was making you blush with embarrassment. Internally you panicked a little, seeing Bada bid farewell to the people who were walking with her and walking up towards you. She looked at you and in that moment it felt like everything was in slow motion. And that made you blush harder. 

“Hey girls,” Bada said, looking at Lusher and Tatter still recovering from their laughing fit. “C’mon, my dancing wasn’t that bad,” she jumped in, jokingly.

“No, no, no, it’s not that,” Lusher and Tatter said in unison, shaking their heads and hands.

Bada looked at you, pointing at the two dopeys with her head. “What are they laughing about then?”

“At me, watching you,” you said honestly, not daring to look at her.

Bada didn’t question that, as if she already knew what had happened. You didn’t notice or know, but she was staring at you, eyes squinting a little bit and discerning that faint pink on your cheeks. Either way, she sat nearest to you. “I’m sorry, duty called.”

You bravely looked at her and shook your head. “I-It’s okay. I a-actually wanted to see you dance.”

At that, Bada looked like she wanted to ask something, but opted out of it. Maybe it was to reiterate the question of whether or not you were scared of her. Instead, the question that came out was.

“How was it then? Did you like it?”

Are you scared of me?

“It was really cool,” you said.

And yes you were scared of how much this woman rocked your world.

Oh, she was rocking your world and you could feel your knees about to give in at any moment. But if your knees gave out now, you would only fall against Bada’s moving body. It was inevitable that at one point the girls would get up and go dance, but you didn’t expect them to not only drag you, but to drag Bada along to dance with you.

“Guys, I don’t know how to dance–.”

But Lusher didn’t seem to care, and Bada seemed to care even less.

You, fish out of water that can barely dance, paired with the smoke bomb that was Bada. A cruel joke, you felt, but Bada didn’t seem to have troubles with leading you and teaching you. With the patience of a saint, Bada leads you into what should really be a sensual dance together. Yet, it was filled with shy smiles from you and encouraging smiles from her. When your confidence in it grew, you moved with intent and Bada noticed. 

At this, she directly spoke to your ear. “See, you have it in you,” it was soft encouragement, a hand carefully placed on your tummy as she got into it as well. You could understand then why the girls enjoyed doing this, just drifting to the music was fun, being this close to someone attractive made you feel so much more confident and excited. With the way Bada looked at you here and there, you found yourself intoxicated by her presence like many of the other girls who were crushing madly on her. Ah, you could understand them, you could understand the desperate need to make a move.

But you couldn’t. Not when you felt something interesting when grinding against Bada, your hands instinctively landing on Bada’s thighs upon feeling it. A surprise, for sure, but a very… fascinating one.

You almost second guessed whether or not you felt it and wanted to check again, but when Bada slowed down to a halt it became clear. Clarified further by that groan to your ear coming from Bada. “Fuck,” like she didn’t expect that herself.

But before any of you both could do anything, the music came to an end. The person holding the microphone babbled away while Lusher approached you and Bada, taking advantage of the moment to talk to you both.

“Yo, we should get going. It’s getting a bit too late.”

You were a little flabbergasted, it showed a little on your face when you looked back at Bada. But Bada looked at you with that same composed look, yet she softly apologized. 

“Sorry about that,” and it was just for you to hear. But loudly and firmly, she responded to Lusher. “Let me drive you home.”

The sea of meaningless words kept clashing into each other and creating nonsense as you kept reading. God, studying was no use right now. In your mind there was only something running around endlessly and that was Bada. 

You couldn’t stop thinking of the ride back home from yesterday. Bada cooly driving everyone, unfazed by what had just happened between the two of you. You were on the passenger seat, looking at her discreetly and noting – at least in the beginning –  that subtle, tell-tale bulge. A bulge that soon enough dissipated, as if Bada put it under control. It fascinated you, seeing as you hadn’t noticed before that moment, but above all what fascinated you was how casual she was about it. And how she seemed to notice you staring every now and then. Responsibly, of course, she didn’t keep her eyes off the road when the car was moving even for an inch, but when slowing down to a stop to drop off Tatter, Bada looked at you and noticed you already were staring. Against your better judgment, you didn’t look away, instead you locked gazes with her while Tatter gathered her things to hop off. And in that brief moment you both looked at each other, she… smirked. 

Like she knew why you were staring at her for starters, like she was going to talk to you about it at one point. Just not that night.

But you couldn’t feel the same certainty and confidence you felt then. Not after waking up the next morning and realizing you were probably way out of her league, the bits of liquid confidence that tasted like hellish alcohol dissipating from your system.

Now, studying was impossible and your mind was restless. 

Lusher was also sprawled across her bed, the book just covering her face. She was exhausted by the night before and struggling to study for different reasons. But she was more confused as to why YOU were struggling. You had been a studious kind of reader, a better student than her in the short amount of time you were her roomie. So, she grabbed the book, closed it and found enjoyment somewhere else.

Poking your brain for a second, figuring you out.

“Can’t study either, huh?” She asked first, her voice breaking the heavy silence. 

“Nope,” you replied, forehead to textbook now. “Not at all.”

“Last night wasn’t THAT wild though,” Lusher said. “I thought you avoided drinking that much for the same reason.”

You sighed and opted to lay face up, closing the book. “It’s not the drinking.”

Lusher looked confused. “Then, what is it?”

You really had no idea how to even begin explaining it, or if you should even tell your roommate that the leader of her dance crew was the one thing consistently on your mind. “I… I don’t know.”

Lusher squinted, her brain starting to function. “I thought you had fun, you look like you’re hungover more than anything.”

“No, believe me. I had a lot of fun, it was great! But…”

Is it too corny to say you were hungover from the rapid growth of a crush? A crush who you danced with and had in your space all night? Definitely felt like you were yearning for her to start with, like you needed to be near her to survive. Ugh! Stupid feeling, you hated it and its very silly side effects. You truly couldn’t word this to Lusher in a way that was logical or anything, so you gave yourself the moment of silence to try to come up with something.

That silence was more than enough for Lusher to click things together. She may not be good for studying, but gossip is her Ph.D and life. It dawned on her and while she was still piecing things together, she gasped out. “Oh my god,” she excitedly slid to the edge of her bed. “It’s Bada, isn’t it?”

Your eyes shut open wide and looked at her. “N-no?”

“Oh you’re lying,” Lusher pointed at you, breaking out into laughter.

You were blushing all over again, grabbing your pillow and covering it – almost as if to smother yourself to get away from embarrassment. 

“Aw, c’mon, I don’t blame you!” Lusher insisted, skipping over to the edge of your bed. “Don’t be embarrassed, Bada is quite the looker.”

You groaned into the pillow and Lusher grabbed it away from you, giggling. “She’s… so pretty.”

“Yeah,” Lusher nodded. “She’s also really hot, isn’t she?”

“Lusher, she’s your leader.” “So? I can find my friends hot,” Lusher shrugged. “Like Tatter is hot. And Bada IS hot, you can’t deny it.”

You rolled your eyes, but couldn’t help but to smile at that. “Yes.”

“Aha!” Lusher snapped her fingers. “Then wait,” she calmed down a bit. “Why were you so dejected just now? Aren’t you supposed to be like… giddy about it?”

You shook your head. “I am, but… Y’know. I talked to her a lot and she was so fascinating to me, like there’s a lot to learn about her. And we even danced and all but… Bada is out of my league.”

Lusher wanted to slap you and you could tell. “She spent the entire night with you, you idiot.”

“Which her heartbreaker type can do,” you reasoned, raising a finger matter of factly. 

Lusher was about to retort, but thought it through for a second. “She used to, not so much anymore.”

“See?”

“Okay but,” Lusher insisted, trying to defend her leader now. “She doesn’t do that and I think she respects that we’re roommates to even try that, okay?”

You couldn’t give a rebuttal to that.

Lusher adjusted in her seat. “Besides, when she was done dancing with you she looked like she needed some fresh air. Like you rocke–.” Lusher stopped abruptly and gasped, hitting your arm playfully. “Tatter was right!”

You were trying to get away from her smacks. “Wh-what, stop that!”

“Oh my god,” Lusher giggled, trying to lower her voice a bit. “Tatter mentioned that when she saw Bada take us to her car, she saw Bada a little flustered, trying to hide her–.” Lusher looked around, then whispered away. “Her hard on.”

You gulped, looking at the ceiling and not daring to keep eye contact with your roommate. 

“Listen, Bada doesn’t get hard-ons like that ever,” Lusher insisted, hitting the mattress repeatedly. “Ne-ver. I’ve seen her dance with so many people! She has been grinded on plenty of times, and believe me even I danced with her once. I have never seen her have a hard-on. Which, I will admit, did wound my ego just a bit,” dramatic pause for Lusher to place her hand on her chest. “But Bada has never gotten hard.”

You rubbed your arm. “M-maybe Tatter misunderstood–.”

“That girl has 20/20 vision and can see ants running on the ground, I doubt she would not notice,” Lusher said way too excited. “This is good gossip, oh my god.”

You covered your face. “Stoooop, it still doesn’t mean anything.”

“Yes, it does. It means you affected her a little, enough to catch her off guard. Bada doesn’t just get flustered like that, not in all the while I’ve known her,” Lusher insisted, as hopeful as you should be. “I don’t care if she’s out of your league or whatever, if you like her and she likes you back, give it a try. You already got her once, right?”

Lusher does have a point. What gives if Bada is out of your league? Why not just try it and see where it goes? Why not just chase after the woman who already seems to pay particular attention to you?

Why not?