#watch me put my love of music of the spheres everywhere

[starjxsung]

THIS IS SUPER LONG SORRY BUT the way how if I ever see Bang PD out on the streets IT’S ON SIGHT. I swear, everything from the disgusting way his greedy ass is trying to turn kpop into a monopoly to the way he seemingly is fine with putting even his own artists against each other and the way he’s so eager to essentially kill off kpop as it was built for years. I hate him so much.

I quite literally grew up listening to kpop. I got into SNSD at 12 years old, and my first album bought was Oh; the album where they literally created photocards. I loved watching variety shows, searching for translation to lyrics, and just immersing myself in this new culture that was so different from mine. And I was TWELVE. It boggles my mind that some suits in South Korea seem to think they need to make everything appealing to the west and basically white wash almost all the cultural identity of kpop for it to be successful. I started learning Korean at 15 because I loved kpop and the culture so much. That would have never happened if the songs were all in English and there was no culture displayed.

This little silly music genre has just been a part of my life and who I am as a person for so long, it’s a bit sad to see it at risk of dying. And not even with SKZ, because I honestly want to believe if anything 3RACHA would never allow JYP to force them into singing only soulless music (maybe I’m being too hopeful but I gotta believe lol). In the 14 years I’ve been a kpop fan, I’ve seen so many new things pop up; new types of content like SKZ Code and Going Seventeen that are basically a groups very own variety show on YouTube, lightsticks, photocards, new award and music shows, new trends like filming a challenge with fellow groups during comeback season, etc. And these are all things that enriched the kpop world so so much.

Not to mention all the things the first generation created and I just wasn’t around to see it happen. Kpop as we know it is the product of so many years of love put into it. I really hope it doesn’t die such a bland death for such asinine reasons like appealing to the west.

~🌷~

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ wow. I literally could not have said this better myself like I wish I could just print this out and mail it to every fucking company out there (more below the cut) ✂️✂️

I grew up the complete opposite from you consuming western content SO heavily, and let me tell you, as someone who’s consumed both, kpop is such a lifestyle. It’s literally every part of my day, from the things I choose to spend my money on, every piece of decor in my apartment, the music I listen to, the stuff I write. It’s everywhere!!!! And what’s been the most appealing to me at the end of the day is being able to immerse myself in something that wasn’t just the standard western music industry I was already familiar with. I love being able to understand new traditions, new words, learn about new foods, literally every single thing I’ve consumed in the kpop sphere until now has been a learning opportunity and I love it. And the same goes for anything I consume in other cultures- I get to learn about new cultures! That is so fucking fun and it promotes this beautiful mix of cultural appreciation that is essentially why kpop got so big. For these companies to act as though people aren’t making efforts to just assimilate with Korean culture and learn about it as they consume kpop content is just offensive. I’m not asking you for English music or to take the “k” out of kpop. I’ve spent years appreciating KOREAN music and understanding the intricacies of the industry like lightsticks, photocards, etc. For them to turn around and act like we have some aversion to the Korean-ness of it is so fucking low !!!!

I would love to think skz wouldn’t be swayed into stooping that low. I didn’t think bts rapline would have done it either (though you can TELL all 3 of them disliked it sooo much). It seems like these contracts really have them on a tight leash and maybe putting out western music has just become a part of it at some point :/

I really really really echo your statement of hoping kpop doesn’t die such a bland death with the direction they’re headed in. I read an article yesterday that said knetizens have been really unhappy with the western direction of kpop lately and that it detracts from their culture and I fully agree. Like somebody argued with me on this when I said it on my instagram story and at the end of the day it just feels weird to conclude that we need to “take the k out of kpop” if you’re not Korean 😭 yeah let’s take all the Korean culture out of a Korean thing, fantastic idea !

I could rant about this foreverrrr especially the shit about Hybe having a monopoly over the industry and actively ruining their own artists’ careers (new jeans I am so sorry 💔💔) I’ve just fucking grown to HATE Hybe as a company and I think it’s so cringe to see people defending a multi-million dollar industry that monopolizes everything in kpop now, cannibalizes the careers of their artists AND works with the shittiest stakeholders ever. Every company is fucking trash now Hybe, SM, YG they’re all so fucking awful !!!!

UGHHHH your views are always so refreshing I love u so much lmao 😭😭

[apencilandpen]

Hi friend! ⭐️,🎨, and 👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 for the ask game 💚

Hello friend!!!!!

Thanks for the questions! Okay, so I like to talk, so I'm gonna put it under the read more 😄

⭐️ - favorite comeback of the summer

Surprising absolutely no one, it's The World Ep. 2: Outlaw from ATEEZ. I'm a huge fan of concept albums, and they really pulled out all the stops for this one. I want to sit down and talk with them, their creative director, and the production team so badly.

Runner up albums would be SHINee's Hard and THE BOYZ's Phantasy Pt. 1: Christmas in August.

I really liked Shalala, Love Me A Little, and Cream Soda too, but didn't listen to the rest of the albums too much.

🎨 - favorite creation I made over the summer

I have a few!

I'm super proud of this guy! Hes got flair, hes got style, he looks like a slightly unhinged low level gotham villain! He came out basically exactly how I see him in my head, and it really pushes me to finish the rest of my Outlaw characters.

I tried a bunch of new things in this piece and it was super fun to experiment with. It also ended my Hongjoong art drought, so I'm very thankful 😌

I've got more, but I think 2 is enough for now 😄

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 (I could not find the original emoji to save my life) - if I got into any new groups over the summer

Okay, so the only real new group I've gotten into is the Japanese rock band One OK Rock, specifically their album Luxury Disease. I love their songs Save Yourself, Prove, and Broken Heart of Gold. Can't recommend enough!

But like in the kpop sphere, I fell headfirst into WOODZ's discography a few weeks ago and have yet to come up for air. I don't know why it took me so long to get into his music bc I am obsessed. I love Drowning, Trigger, and Chaser. I'm still the world's most casual NCT listener, but I have a newfound appreciation for Taeyong bc Shalala was infectious and I think he's insane (positive).

I kind of feel like I'm stepping back from getting Fully into new groups. Idk if I have the energy to commit to that right now 😄

Oh, also, Super Junior. My sister and I have been watching a lot of Korean variety shows on Netflix, and Heecheul is Everywhere. So, now I've listened to a bunch of Super Junior songs and they're so silly and so fun 😄

[tomicaleto]

Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.   

Thank you for tagging me @melli-chou​!

1. Windows of the soul, you should have knocked the door

Anakin stared at the costume on his bed. He was still unsure about the whole ‘Halloween party at the office’ thing Aayla had dragged him into but he was new at his office and he didn’t want to be put into the party-killer box so soon into his work.

“I got a VISA all on my own.” He told himself. “How hard can this be?”

2. Kiss me softly, love me roughly

It all started with a pair of cuffs. As Obi-Wan returned from his meeting, he found them laying on the ground, abandoned. He stared at them from his spot at the entrance of the room. Were those Anakin’s? It was unlike his padawan to leave things out of place, much less actual Jedi tools.

3. A hundred and one universes - chapter 8

 The war had only been over for a couple of months and the peace and recovery efforts were still going strong.

 The Republic’s political sphere had been completely turned into chaos as the reality of Chancellor Palpatine’s true identity and his actual role in the war was revealed. For the first week after his death, the Jedi order had withdrawn into their temple. For too long they had been forced to fight and die into a now pointless conflict and their first step before going out and helping fix the galaxy was to begin healing themselves.

4. But goddamn, you got me in love again

The music was loud all around him, Anakin could almost feel the drums beating in his own skin. The low, colourful lights jumped from greens and blues to reds that were almost pink and yellows. People on the dance floor laughed, drank and danced, adding to the chaotic picture painted by the lights.

5. Viridian afternoon

“Is this really  necessary?” Anakin asked, the sound of the bells tied to his curls jinggling as he turned to stare at the Radichet that was tying some see through fabric around his waist.

 He had been sent by the Jedi council to take part in the ritual that took place every ten years on the planet Achicor. The Radichet, an alien species very similar to humanoids (Anakin had yet to figure out where they were different), dressed up and celebrated for a week, burning particular dishes and incense in the name of their main god: Obi-Wan.

6. Michi, michi, miau

As soon as Obi-Wan had taken a seat on the bus on his way home, it had begun to rain. Hard. He sighed, already dreading the short walk from the bus stop to his house, nevermind that he had his umbrella with him.

 It had been a stressful day at work and he looked forward to finally putting on his slippers and drinking some warm tea. The beginning of spring, as it usually happened, had arrived with a chill and rain. Obi-Wan had taken to bringing his umbrella everywhere he went, at least when he saw the cloudy sky in the morning.

7.  More than one lifetime

 [Hyperspace. Coruscant to Lothal, 23BBY]

 "Master," Anakin broke the kiss with a whine. He was sitting on his master's lap, his upper robes on the floor of the cockpit and his padawan braid tangled in his master's right hand. "Please…" He begged, before Obi-Wan tugged his braid and kissed him again.

8. The right path is not often the clearest one

 The night Rin’s ghost appeared in his dreams, whatever plan Zetsu and Madara wanted Obito to follow became useless.

 At first, he thought she was only a nightmare, the hole in her chest and a bit of blood falling from her lips a haunting sight. Obito broke down crying and hugged her, blaming Kakashi, babbling at her how he would avenge her and create the perfect world for her. But then Rin shook her head and smiled sadly. He couldn’t stand watching her sad so he turned away and then he woke up.

9. Morning star, guide me home

“Mom, look!” Lady Alhue turned around to find her son excitedly holding several items floating around his head. She smiled and put down the knife she was using to fully turn and crouch down so Anakin could get closer. “I’ve managed to lift three more things this time!”      He was so bright, Darth Alhue couldn’t help but mourn the fact that he would soon have to be turned into the dark. It was the only option to keep him safe. She knew there were other Sith roaming around the galaxy, thirsty for power.  

10. Simple comforts

 The door opened and Obi-Wan stepped into the living room. Immediately he saw a lump of heavy blankets, Anakin’s seven year old sister buried in them, her cheeks flushed and lightly panting.

 In front of her, the TV was playing an old movie, one of Anakin’s childhood favourites, as he had mentioned once or twice during the first dates they had. Obi-Wan smiled at the picture and moved further in.

No pressure tags: @softieskywalker, @rexismycopilot, @sopherfly, @tennessoui

[widowsresolve]

the universal symphony

Because Jane + lyrics to semi-obscure Sailor Moon songs

[itstheendofthegoddamnworld]

Shadow Monster x Female Reader (Commissioned Piece)

So... I’m back. Been a while, but I have finished my third year at uni. Feels weird, but these three years have been a lot and I have many good memories. I look forward to the future and hope that I get to continue something I love.

Support me on Ko-fi!~  |  Patreon

Relationship: Male monster x human reader

Mornings Like These

On crisp days like these, mornings felt so much more appreciated.

Languid music filled the air as you poured your cup of coffee into the mug you got from the boys on Mother’s day, the same hum drawing from your lips, languorously continuing with your chores to yourself, when a pair of warm arms pulled you back into the reverberating chest of your lover.

“Mornin’,” you replied sweetly, earning a groan and kiss from Hank, his wispy black tendrils dipped in and out of the air when he was sleepy, trying his best to concentrate and not clip out. “Mornin’.” his voice was deep and rich like honey, always able to bring a smile to your lips and a shiver to reach down your spine. Maybe he was aware of how much you enjoyed his raspy voice every morning, teasingly luring you each time with it. 

“How’d you sleep?”

“Good, but I didn’t have you in my arms when I woke up.” Hank groaned against the back of your neck, idly sniffing your hair, but his arms would not budge when you tried moving to turn towards him. “I had to be up before the boys were,” you giggled when a wisp ticked the side of your cheek. “They’ve already gone out with Cerberus.”

“Good, that means I can have you all to myself,” he murmured incoherently, tugging you back. “Come back to bed, darlin’.”

“You know I can’t, I have to watch over breakfast.” You sang, turning a gaze to the pancakes already needing to be flipped. “They’ll burn.”

The sound he made was similar to a kicked puppy, whining in the back of his throat as he whined your name. “No buts, mister!” You giggled, enjoying how he grew lax around you, very much aware that he could phase-out of the air around you and head back to bed with a pout on his lips. “You can help by flipping the pancakes.”

“Or, I could help with something else…” he drawled, his entire demeanour changing so swiftly that you hadn’t been prepared. The mug in your grip almost fell to the counter had Hank, not been quick enough to pull it out of your grasp and put it down seamlessly. “You seem… tense.”

“I’m not tense, baby, I just want to make sure everyone eats and they don’t eat concrete spheres.” You twisted around to focus on the stove, but Hank was quick to pass through you, quickly to hug you now from the front. You halted, bumping head to chest almost clumsily, earning a deep rumble of mirth through your ears. “Oops.” He chortled, snuggling into you, pecking at your jaw.

“Hank, you know I don’t like it when you do that.” You sighed, earning the shadowy being to kiss everywhere but your lips in apology. “And now, you’re trying to make up for it.”

“No…” you snorted before you could even notice. “Come now, darlin’. I know something that could bring that pretty smile back on your face.”

“What would that be?”

“Well,” Hank slid his fingers into your hair, smoothing your scalp. “You, me and a warm bed that begs for you to come back.”

You finally looked up at him, the pout on your lips now was evident that his words were working on you. “Hank-”

“No, it’s fine, I’ll just go.” His grasp around you weakened but you had been quick to grasp his wrist before he had the chance to disappear. The look on his face told you that he was relieved you had pulled him back, his bright white eyes expecting and bold. “Is there something you need, darlin’?”

“Stay, here. With me.” You pulled him back to holding you, allowing him to peck and kiss at your face and neck. “Are you just going to continue doing this until the boys come back?”

“Maybe,” he hummed. “But I could also say things like how beautiful you look right now. How you’re practically glowing.” You scoffed, “Hardly, I haven’t had a shower.” Hank chuckled in your ear, nibbling your lobe, “We could always go for one, a quickie.” 

Your cheeks flushed as you startled yourself to almost knocking the batter of pancake mix to the floor, moving it just out of your view to turn and face your lover. “Hank.” “What? Am I making you flustered?” You felt his solid form ground yourself against your behind, grinding something against the small of your back. “Am I getting you a bit excited?

”“No,” you chewed your lip, turning so he couldn’t see how red your face was becoming, shifting eyes when you heard him laugh with amusement. “You’re just distracting me.”

“Oh? Am I?” Hank purred, grinding more of him against you, groaning at the small amounts of friction. “Maybe you need the distraction, my love.” The heavy weight from Hank was making you grow light in the head, your legs almost buckling from the feelings that were building in the pit of your stomach, fluttering with the familiar pleasures that roused when he brought the smallest of pleasures across your body.

You felt him turn you back around to face him, your hands wounding up being rested against his chest, pulling you to him to kiss your lips sweetly, his tongue swiping against your bottom lip silently, begging for an answer. You finally complied, delving into that sweetness as he held you so lovingly to you, forgetting about all but focusing on one another, tugging and pulling on one another for more.

What you failed to hear was the wide slam of the door, many footsteps coming through closer and closer into the kitchen, some laughter, some jovial conversations bouncing across the walls. “Hey, ma, you don’t know if you’ve seen- Oh my God!” The two of you swiftly pulled away from one another, flushed to the cheeks, when you looked back into the doorway, the wide eyes of Hank’s boys, Jason, Jacob, Jack and the youngest, Jeremiah staring back at you. Realising that Jack had been the one to ask the question, you looked to the boys: all similar in colourings of dark purple and blacks, their eyes a differing shade from the other of green, blue, yellow and fuchsia. At the front of them came padding in the large black hound that Hank had rescued, a fitting name of Cerberus, its shadowy form had billowing smoke trail off its large long legs, its large head fitting of a wolf than a family pet. Cerberus casually ignored the confrontation, wandering to his basket in the corner of the room.

The sight alone of the four boys made you want to burst out into laughter when you realised that you had been interrupted, but the wan look to their surprised, albeit revolted faces did bring the smile to curve the corner of your lips. “Eww, that’s so gross, guys!” Jason was the first to announce horrified, pretending to retch, Jack covering Jeremiah’s eyes before it was too late.

“Hey, it’s natural between adults who love each other very much,” Hank interjected, wrapping an arm around your waist, tugging you to him. “You would understand when you’re all older.”

“Yeah, but not like that!” Jacob exclaimed.

The youngest, Jeremiah was still attached “Yeah, get a room! Gross!” One look to one another and before long, yours and Hank’s laughter filled the room when he doubled over, you following, holding the side of the table for support as the two of you struggled to keep your composure. All boys seemed almost disappointed at the sight of you, especially the eldest two, both of their expressions matched how ‘parents’ would look to chastising their disobedient kids.

One look to one another and before long, yours and Hank’s laughter filled the room when he doubled over, you following, holding the side of the table for support as the two of you struggled to keep your composure. All boys seemed almost disappointed at the sight of you, expressions twisted to make them look like the ‘parents’ chastising their disobedient kids. “Alright, alright,” you cleared your throat, earning a roll of the eyes from Jason and Jack. “You two be off, be safe.”

“Yeah, yeah, take your time,” Jack remarked, grabbing the phone on the table before hurrying out the door, Cerberus striding by the hip of Jeremiah with little care of the situation.

“Well… that could’ve gone better.” Hank’s mirth was still warm like whiskey in his throat, pouring heavily over you as if to coat you in the deepness of his voice. A hand curled around the small of your back, pulling you close, distracted once more from the closed door and emptiness of the house. You scoffed, jabbing a finger into his shoulder playfully, “You’re a bad influence.”

“Me?” He laughed amusedly. “You see dear, I’m not the only one of a bad influence.” “Hmm, yeah, I beg to differ.” You kissed the corner of his mouth teasingly, earning the man wrapped around you to pout boyishly. “If you’re going to pout like that, you could at least help me, not wrap around me like a snake waiting for its meal.”

“Well… we do have the house to ourselves again,” Hank hummed, nuzzling your cheek affectionately. “The boys won’t be coming back for some time.”

“Hank… if you want to sleep on the sofa, so be it.” 

“No ma’am, I’ll help.”

[kittygamer429]

I watched Sonic Prime so here are my random thoughts without context:

fastest bitch alive gets hit by a train

Light up shoes time

He really would have killed him. Damn.

Ur playing Tetris you lying butt.

Bitch really invited herself in, went upstairs, got in a fancy position just to listen in.

I love sphere bot and cube bot so much

Free falling~

Go home to mommy~ Do you have a mom?

Really kill first no questions asked

Baby boi is still baby

Man’s is just playing Sonic

Crime agains rocks

TWIN? NOT TWINS!

Shadow hates rocks

The last tree~

Kiss kiss kiss

Blood thirsty baby. Checks out.

Shadow- stop destroying all the rocks

Lazer has more casualties than egg head

Amy do you need to be taller than them?

Sonic my man’s- ok we all free fallin’

YEET

“They tried to put me on the cover or voe~ but my legs were tooo long~”

Kill the child

*gut wrench* *peppy music*

WHY IS BIG EVERYWHERE

Shoes match the drip!!!

They did indeed fall from the sky

Chaos knuks chaos knuks

How many spears do you have??? Where are you keeping them??

Feral BABY!

Catboi

THE WALK

FERAL BABY FERAL BABY I LOVE THIS MAN

Queen

You have knife. Cute the rope you loser

I’m watching you, always watching

Bitch Ass

Girl is bitter. Understandable but still

Crazy queen

Thorny :3

You swing me right round baby right round

Impeccable aim

Point goes over head

You are a dumbass (affection)

Feelings

Animal noises always get me

My man’s, PLEASE STOP HEADING FACE FIRST INTO EVERYTHING

Oh no. He’s gonna piss on the moon

If he destroys more rocks I swear

Dead

PIRATE TIME

Dead men tell many tales

Rower

Knuckles hates rocks now

I’ve never been so confused in my life

This is the “last” last time well go through this

What is going on my man’s

Vaca time I guess

They all fed up with this man’s singing

SAILS

Your a captain now

He looks so innocent then I remember he’s a war criminal technically

Bitch can not be the funniest person rn

Those sure are words you just said

YOU ARE NOT GONNA SAVE A SHIP WITH FLOATIES

Pretty epic ngl

Pointy teeth :3

Pirate metal

Like a dog

Crazy boi

We gotta stop meeting like this

[sugar-petals]

I see that lately you’ve been reblogging the ice skating guy. Could you introduce him to us in the caro way??👀

i see, i see. you are falling for the beautiful ice skating guy. with delight do i talk about him. ♥︎ who are you asking about, then?

shōma uno (22) of nagoya, japan, the dreamiest ice angel you will ever see:

lucky newcomer stans: shoma is extremely easy to spot. 5′2, soulful, sparkly, and always headed for the podium because his artistry fucking slaps. this angel is the latest olympic silver medalist ✨

if you see a petite, serious-looking guy with thighs for the gods and impossibly elegant upper body work, you can be sure it’s him.

off the ice, look for this: the supreme doe face. dark uwu eyes, wide baby cheeks, 100% shook. needless to say: it’s over when he looks at you like that. 

something else to watch for when you want to spot the angel. his primary hobby is sleeping lmao! shoma naps everywhere. once, he was so exhausted, he was found cutely slumbering before his olympic press conference. 

meanwhile, his presence on the ice? expressive, alluring, aptly sensual start to finish. sometimes feisty, even. he saves all his energy and then delivers. it’s ballet on blades. the guy puts so much passion into his choreo. 

most well-known are the moments when he ends his program and switches back to his normal cute mode. that’s when you see the puppy gaze return.

bc the thing is: you won’t see shoma’s feistiness elsewhere. the japanese are already very reserved and shy, but he’s made an art form of it. his voice is quite light and high, that contributes to the effect. i have not seen one interview where he tries to stand out or embellish his answers. shoma stays true to his unobtrusive character, you’ll see him spaced out 90% of the time.

shoma is often freightened by social settings and fan service. if you didn’t know how he’s on the ice, you can easily get the impression that he’s avoidant or insecure. but it’s just this: he’d rather be gaming or eating than get animated and play celebrity. you have a cozy introvert here. he’s in the game since he’s 5 years old but still doesn’t show himself off, he’s in his own sphere. 

you might see him look overwhelmed pretty often, but the flipside of the coin is, shoma is humble and doesn’t act out of arrogance. for a skater this great, his ego is minimum inflated. he doesn’t like putting himself in the center. legend has it he could always win gold but takes default silver out of politeness 😂

what he does like and respond to is getting direct praise. shoma lives for encouragement. that shit flusters him immensely, and it’s something he accepts. when he’s uneasy in crowds he doesn’t smile very often. but to this day, fans shouting ‘shoma, you’re so cute’ before he starts to skate has proven to lift his spirits effortlessly. last time it happened, he immediately cracked a smile:

now, there is plenty to compliment. 

i mean, look. the sheer athleticism of this man. god knows how high he jumps.

from facial expressions to hand postures, everything captures the music. he looks fantastic. 

shoma has great sense of dramatism. what you’re seeing is always art. 

shoma’s infamous signature move is the cantilever. you can see why. the audience is losing their minds every time.

what else to praise? the absolutely beautiful costumes. 

shoutout to satomi ito who designs these.

the #1 shoma praise bot is skating god yuzuru hanyu (aka current reigning olympic gold medalist) himself. imagine this: a baby is babied by a fellow but slightly older baby. yuzu said this about shoma: “he is like a puppy!” what you see is what you get, shoma is as adorable as he looks. 

so, yuzu takes good care of him and makes sure smol shoma is always included even if he’s getting shy. even since the early days:

if you ask me, team japan couldn’t be any more handsome and princely. the sheer combined power of cuteness and skill. you’ll hear from these lovelies.

shoma and his younger brother itsuki are also pretty much inseparable. goals, this is the softest sibling insta you will ever see. once again, with sleepy shoma.

baby photos included. faith in humanity restored. 

he also has wholesome interactions with his idol and fellow skater daisuke takahashi. dai is a funky, bubbly personality and complements shoma’s introversion really well. 

another important person to shoma, if not the most decisive recently, is retired world champion stéphane lambiel. yes, this handsome swiss glamazon.

shoma went through a highly distressing period of being coachless last year. he parted ways with machiko yamada and mihoko higuchi (below) who were his coaches for 16 (!) years. they were a dream team.

so that he decided to go for something new ended up as the most heartbreaking shit. he lost his inspiration and will for skating and kept dropping to lower rankings. he broke down in competitions because his fans were cheering for him even if his skating deteriorated and he felt undeserving. 2019 was shoma’s existential crisis. he went to several camps to try out coaches, to no avail.

enter coach stéphane! who started to work with him last winter. oh thank god. lo and behold, shooms has been consistently improving and getting very smiley (!) ever since. these two go together like fries and ketchup. 

so, guess who is currently training in switzerland now. whole new world for the little guy 💕

stéphane is eccentric, cheeky, and bold enough to uplift and inspire him but also “so friendly!” as shoma described him. he praises genuinely and knows how to foster shoma’s talent. their language barrier is also no problem, lambiel is a polyglot. i think that stéphane is off ice what shoma is on ice, this is the perfect exchange. i love this song. 

the ice angel has quickly recovered from his misery thanks to the amount of positive feedback. on youtube, you find multiple fancams of stéphane getting very invested in uno’s performance from the sidelines 😄 shoma adores him and stéphane is a protective ice dad. just look at these two.

there’s no better coach he could have. stéphane’s choreographies perfectly cater to shoma’s poetic interpretation. so satisfying. so impeccable. as dostoevsky said, beauty will save the world.

last japanese nationals in december, shoma even took gold and cried from relief on the podium. he’s improved so much. stéphane will make him go far. 

what convinced him to coach uno was simply this: “his eyes sparkled!”. and yes, there’s hardly anyone who won’t be impacted by this.

this puppy has all of our hearts so let’s send out compliments to him. fingers crossed for shoma’s upcoming competitions and the next olympics where i am sure he will stun the world. i mean, he won gold in the baby boy hall of fame already. he’s a really great artist and soft person who deserves everything. thank you for attending my ted talk.

[mindfulvenus]

Baking Cookies_Tendou Satori

About: Baking chocolate chip cookies with Tendou (๑❛ᴗ❛๑)

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1.4k

“Milk, eggs, butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and last but not least, the chocolate chips!!” Tendou smiled as he grabbed all the ingredients from pantry and set them on the countertop.

Today was a baking day, in which you and Tendou made some sort of sweet treat from scratch. It all started when you found out that Tendou had a hand in baking sweets and from there became a sort of a custom between you two whenever you could both find the time.

You were thinking about how gooey the chocolate chips in the cookies would taste after you and Tendou were done baking them as you grabbed the bowls, measuring cups, and mixer.

The smooth jazz music that came from your phone transpired through the house as the sun slowly set. It’s rays peeked through the windows of the house in a soothing orange color. The amount of clouds in the sky were plentiful enough and they looked as comfy as fleece blankets.

As you and Tendou set the ingredients and baking tools on the counter you guys looked at each other. Nothing but pure excitement and happiness through your faces could be seen.

“Shall we get started?” You say as you felt the excitement bubble within you.

“Of course, let’s start baking these scrumptious cookies!!” Tendou exclaimed throwing his arms up in the air as you both started to scan the recipe together.

“I’ll warm up the butter you pour the flour in the bowl, kay?” You instructed as you placed the butter on a plate and into the microwave.

“Kay, kay!!” He made his way to the bag of flour and lifted it up to the bowl. The bag was quite big and definitely heavy. As you finished softening the butter you walked over to Tendou, who seemed to be struggling a bit with the bag of flour.

“Here let me help you with that.” You gestured your hands towards the bag.

“No, it’s all good, I got this.” He groaned as he lifts the hefty bag so that the lip of it was facing the inside of the bow. The flour started pouring into the bowl, until you read the instructions and realized there only needed to be 2 cups of flour.

“Wait- Tendou stop pouring it, we’re going over the measurements!!” As soon as you had said that, the flour started to fall out of the bowl and onto the counter.

“It’s...it’s slipping out of my hands...” Tendou put all of his effort into the grasp he had on the bag only for it to fall on the floor, creating a big flour explosion all over the two of you and the kitchen.

The white powder was thrown all over your guy’s clothing and even reached your faces. The flour became airborne and the two of you entered coughing fits. When the powdery substance settled down, you and Tendou just looked at each other up and down with wide eyes. Within a matter of seconds though, you both started to laughing uncontrollably pointing out each others powdery faces and clothes.

“Tendou you goof!” You blurted as you continued laughing and pointing out the flour that covered his face.

“Sorry y/n but you look like the bigger goof here, I mean there’s flour ALL over your face!” Tendou retorted as he attempted to wipe some of the flour off of his face so he could properly see you.

“Ok ok, but we for sure know these are going to be the best cookies because the more of a mess we make, the better the cookies are going to taste!!!” You patted him on the shoulder dusting the powder from his shirt and you gave him a warm, excitful smile.

“You got that one right for sure, here let me get the vanilla extract and eggs!” Tendou gave you a thumbs up as he winked at you with a open mouth smile.

You grabbed the sugar, milk, and mixer as Tendou poured the vanilla extract and cracked the eggs into the bowl. You watched him through the action as he gave out his cat-like smile.

He was so gentle as he cracked the eggs as if he didn’t want to hurt them. It was moments like these where you could never believe how people used to bully Tendou. He always had a lovable smile on his face, even through his times of hardships. Whatever the circumstances, he’s been there for others, including you. It’s what makes him the strong, warm-hearted person he is today.

“Earth to y/n, are ya there?” Tendou waved his hand in front of your face as you were stuck in your thoughts and appeared frozen in time. You quickly snapped out of your daze, apologizing and putting the rest of the ingredients into the bowl. You turned the mixer on and waited for the batter to form.

After the ingredients were done mixing, Tendou poured in the chocolate chips. They we’re scattered everywhere and a perfect amount was within the bowl. You turned the mixer back on for five minutes and then stopped it. You both just knew that these cookies were going to be perfect. Tendou and you both spooned the batter into twelve round sphere-ish shapes onto the pan and threw it into the oven.

As the cookies were baking you guys jumped onto the counter sitting on top of it. The jazz music still played but it seemed to have been blurred out while you were making the cookies. These moments were always the best, no doubt about it. You started a conversation, talking about your week while exaggerating moments with your hand movements and Tendou did the same except he shared some stories of volleyball practice that were without a doubt entertaining.

By the time you guys were done chatting, the oven binged signaling that the cookies were ready. Tendou put on a pair of oven mittens and took out the batch of cookies. The chocolate chip cookies looked crips at the edge and nicely baked in the middle. You reached over to grab one but Tendou pulled the pan from out of your reach.

“Ah-ah, you’ll burn little hands if you grab one now. Just wait five minutes, kay??” He warned with a sly smile that took over his face. Thus, you and Tendou waited for five minutes talking about how good the cookies would taste once they cooled down.

Tendou hovered the back of his hand over the back of one cookie. His face lit up as a sign that the cookies were finally cooled off. You rushed up to the pan a grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and so did Tendou. As soon as you bit into it, you could feel the chocolate melt into your mouth along with the baked part of the cookie.

Within ten seconds, the cookie you were eating was no where to be seen, though Tendou was still finishing his cookie up. He always had such a small appetite compared to you but nonetheless, ate the cookie pretty fast. He had a little bit of chocolate on the tip of his nose from shoving the cookie into his mouth.

“You got some chocolate right, here.” Inching closer to Tendou, as one of your hands laid right next to his on the counter. To Tendou, the music that played in the background was no longer heard as he focused on the deep features that defined your face. You suddenly booped the top of his nose right where there was chocolate. His face lit up a little and a smidge of blush was visible.

He felt a soft yet suprised feeling that soon made him break into a fit of giggles and smiles. This feeling soon spread to you. The laughter died down and led to a comfortable silence that was soon broken.

“Thanks...thanks for always making me smile y/n, it means the world to me...” Tendou spoke softly looking down a little with a small smile and thoughtful eyes.

“Anytime Tendou and don’t forget that you make me crack a laugh all the time too! I mean, remember that one time in class...”

You carried into a conversation of all the enjoyable times that you and Tendou went through as highschoolers. Every day, hour, minute, and second you spent with Tendou you are thankful for. He is the joy of your life when things get difficult and your his happiness through his rough times.

The bond between you and Tendou will only continue to only grow stronger. You loved this dork and he loved you but to imagine all these feelings being revealed was something that won’t be seen until the far future, but when the secret is over, you can’t wait to just fall into each other embrace while baking cookies in the afternoon. Just like today.

[life-just-as-it-is]

“Maybe because I’m very much the same. Sometimes I’m blamed for being too open, too forward, and then for being too guarded and withdrawn.” (p. 10)

“It’s just that the magic of someone new never lasts long enough. We only want those we can’t have. It’s those we lost or who never knew we existed who leave their mark. The others barely echo.” (p. 11)

“Perhaps I preferred to doubt rather than know.” (p. 14)

“‘Maybe you’re not the kind who opens up to people.’ ‘But I'm speaking with you.’ ‘I’m a stranger, and with strangers opening up is easy.’” (p. 14)

“Aren’t those the absolute worst scenarios: the things that might have happened but never did and might still happen though we’ve given up hoping they could.” (p. 21)

“I’d begun to nurse the impression that in her eyes mine were just as beautiful.” (p. 24)

“‘I get, I get it.’ Replied the father, who rested a palm on his daughter’s face in a gesture that spoke all the love in the world.” (p. 36)

“‘I think people our age should be allowed to live out the term of their life as they wish. Depriving us of what we want at death’s door seems pointless, if not totally evil, don’t you think?’ ‘I think one should always do what one wants.’” (p. 39)

“As a French poet once said, some people smoke to put nicotine in their veins, others to put a cloud between them and others.” (p. 43)

“I just hope there is more than the day-to-day stuff. But I never found it, maybe because finding it scares me.” (p. 43)

“‘I hate that word: closure.’ ‘Maybe because you leave doors open everywhere’” (p. 47)

“‘I put so much stuff between me and life, you have no idea. But then all this is probably over your head.’ ‘No, it isn’t. I know some of it.’ ‘Oh? Like what?’ ‘Like… do you really want to know?’ ‘Of course I want to know.’ ‘Like I don’t think you're a very happy man. But then you're a bit like me: some people may be broken hearted not because they’ve been hurt but because they've never found someone who mattered enough to hurt them.’” (p. 54)

“I think the love I once had has run its course. What remains is just placebo love, easy to mistake for real love.” (p. 59)

“Everything in my life was merely prologue until now, merely delay, merely pastime, merely waste of time until I came to know you.” (p. 82)

“I shouldn’t tell you but I must tell you something I’ve never ever told anyone because I never met the one person who wants me as I am or, rather, as I’ve become.” (p. 83)

“Of course I have a secret. We all do. Each of us is like a moon that shows only a few facets to earth, but never its full sphere. Most of us never meet those who'll understand our full rounded self. I show people only that sliver of me I think they'll grasp. I show others other slices. But there’s always a facet of darkness I keep to myself.” (p. 84)

“... because I want the world to know us for who we are together. Otherwise there’s no point.” (p. 89)

“I want it to be with you. If those we know won’t have us the way we are, let’s get rid of them. I want to read every book you’ve read, hear the music you love, go back to the places you know and see the world with your eyes, learn everything you cherish, start life with you. When you go to Thailand, I’ll come along, and when I give a lecture or a reading, you’ll be there in the last row, just as you were today… and don’t disappear again.” (p. 93)

“You do make me love who I am.” (p. 94)

“She’s not all she’s cracked up to be, you know. She’s impulsive, and there’s always a tempest brewing inside her head, but she is more delicate than the most friable china. Please be good to her, and be patient.” (p. 100)

“Love is easy. It’s the courage to love and to trust that matters, and not all of us have both.” (p. 113)

“‘If I spoke to this wall, it would speak back.’ ‘What would it say?’ ‘What would it say? Simple: Look for me, find me.’ ‘And what do you say?’ ‘I say the same thing: Look for me, find me. And we’re both happy.’” (p. 115)

“Perhaps he’d seen that sometimes it’s better to stop things when they’re perfect rather than race on and watch them sour.” (p. 136)

“Maybe because I never really let go or lose myself with others. After an instant of passion, I always fall back to being the autonomous me.” (p. 141)

“De que serve ter o mapa se o fim está traçado. De que serve a terra à vista se o barco está parado. De que serve ter a chave se a porta está aberta" (p. 153)

“(...) he never really died for me. He’s just absent. Sometimes it’s almost as though he might change his mind and slip in through a back door somewhere. Which is why I’ve never really mourned him. He’s still around… just elsewhere.” (p. 170)

“I suspect we have first selves and second selves and perhaps third, fourth, and fifth selves and many more in between.” (p. 182)

“Which was when he had a stroke of genius, and used an expression that had become a catchphrase between the two of us: ‘I want to make you happy’.” (p. 198)

“(...) my mind drifted elsewhere, as it always does when I’ve had a bit to drink and hear a piano cutting through an ocean and seas and years away to and old Steinway played by someone who, like a spirit beckoned by Bach tonight, hovered in this barren living room to remind me: ‘we’re still the same, we haven’t drifted.” (p. 233)

“Find me, Oliver. Find me.” (p. 233)

“Perhaps, says the genius , music doesn’t change us that much, nor does great art change us. Instead, it reminds us of who, despite all our claims or denials, we’ve always known we were and are destined to remain. It reminds me of the mileposts and things that mattered despite our lies, despite the years. Music is no more than the sound of our regrets put to a cadence that stirs the illusion of pleasure and hope. It’s the surest reminder that we’re here for a very short while and that we’ve neglected or chatead or, worse yet, failed to live our lives. Music is the unlived life. You’ve lived the wrong life, my friend, and almost defaced the one you were given to live.” (p. 238)

“‘And I want to see the boy.’ ‘Did I ever tell you his name? My father named him after you. Oliver. He never forgot you.’” (p. 246)

“‘(...) regardless of where we were, who we were with, and whatever stood in our way, all he needed when the time was right was simply to come and find me.’ ‘And you did.’ ‘And I did.’” (p. 260)

[missinghan]

「 what am I // stray kids 」

❖ genre : sci-fi; superpower au; platonic relationship au

❖ word count : 3,9k (bullet points only)

❖ warning : explicit language, most likely ain’t scientifically true at all

❖ summary : superpowers manifest in certain individuals once they hit puberty and naturally, those odd abilities will vanish as soon as adulthood occurs; but how will those teenagers protect themselves from the curiosity of science?

❖ a/n : this isn’t a proper fic since I don’t think I’ll actually write smth decent out of this but I don’t want the idea to rot inside my dungeon either- so yea, bear with me through this character intro post(?)

— bang chan ↠ locating ability-wielders & teleportation

· sometimes when he’s running errands for his parents, chan can feel a distinct ‘zing’ ins his bones if someone else with unusual abilities is nearby and can describe their power perfectly to the t; he ignores it at first but learns to make do with it eventually; can teleport another person with him and also needs to calculate carefully before teleporting because he once ends up in the middle of a freeway instead of school resulting from lack of sleep.

· looks intimidating but is the first to talk to a new kid in class and show them around as he’s president of the school’s student council; smiles and laughs a lot once you get to know him, and is also very caring, reliable.

· he wishes to apply for a music production company after his college graduation but his family turned the idea down almost immediately and sent him to a boarding school in Europe.

· chan starts taking notice in strange things at his new school after the first few weeks; for example: how they unreasonably force students to have a daily health checkup, how their food taste like medicine most of the times, teachers don’t really seem to care about what they’re teaching and some of his classmates mysteriously ‘move away’ whenever security shows up at their dorm in the middle of the night.

· after finding out where they actually are via photos of students being locked up inside cells, arms and legs chained up like domestic animals, injected with odd substances on a daily basis which were taken by an anonymous individual, chan secretly packs his stuff and decides to ditch this so-called boarding school for good.

· he works hard to hide his identity ensuing flying back to his hometown for a solid three weeks and the fact that there are more people cursed with supernatural abilities begins dawning onto him; cutting off contact with his family completely, moving from one crusty apartment to another every month, chan tackles this crazy idea of assembling a group consisted of extraordinary people to give him a hand with creating a safe environment for the ‘gifted’ youths.

— lee minho ↠ collapse

· law major, quite the loner, raised by a single mother; didn’t have much since little but his mother’s love and affection make up for everything.

· looks intimidating, is actually intimidating; the only person he talks to in college is his dance coach, doesn’t like school nor has many friends; his slightest glare is as cold as a wife trying to win custody of her children in court.

· minho can make his surroundings crumble and fall apart with his mind, which shouldn’t be confused with telekinesis since he can’t physically move objects to his will; this deadly power is triggered whenever he’s experiencing extremely negative emotions like fear or anguish and he’s not (still isn’t) very good at getting a hold of it.

· a group of suspicious men shows up at his house one day as he returns home from dance practice; they claim to be an agency looking for up and coming talents but by the way that his mother is staring at the ground nervously with her legs trembling, his institution tells him that something’s off.

· he firmly declines their offer with a stiff “I’m uncertain that I’m the talent you gentlemen are looking for, but you should know that when the cops are here to fill out their reports, I’m gonna be very helpful, as helpful as possible.”

· “what other random merry of fucking misdemeanors are going to pop up once they go through your records? domestic violence? illegal substances and weapons possession? human trafficking?”

· with a gun to her head, his mom scrambles to her knees and begs him to go with them, admitting that she’s already signed the contract; if he follows their orders and agrees to become an experimental subject, she won’t have to worry about any financial problems for the rest of her life.

· in the heat of the moment, they ultimately force him to activate his power for the very first time; as a result, his house collapses, the death of his only family and the group of men following suit.

· “I’m too late.”

· chan manages to find minho under the aftermath, severely injured and is hanging by a string of life so fragile that can only be saved after undergoing a twelve-hour operation at the hospital.

— seo changbin ↠ sound waves manipulation

· a good student, reputable within his social sphere at school, and comes from a pretty well-off family.

· changbin is able to bend and control sound waves to his advantage; whether it’s simply for his musical instruments or moving objects around, he can also use something as minor as his own heartbeat when he’s emotionally unstable; using the ability continuously for too long can give him severe migraines and potentially damage his brain to a degree if he’s not mindful of it.

· he stays up late at night to write and produce his own songs, keeping it a secret from his parents; posts his own songs on a SoundCloud account, or performs even live at a random underground club under the alias SpearB if he has the chance to.

· an organization full of outlaw scientists comes across a video of his performance on the web, analyzing how he can enhance the beat, his vocal cords without the help of any form of technology, and just like that, he easily tops the list of their targets.

· having no choice but to do what they want when those men hold his parents hostage inside his family’s mansion, changbin gets sent to the same boarding school as chan but they’re being observed in different buildings for his power is on the more useful and dangerous side; hence, his classes consist of a smaller amount of students and they are put through checkups more constantly.

· he doesn’t really pay attention to the skepticisms that reek off all over the place as he’s too busy being homesick and studying because he fully believes that the harder he works, the more obediently he acts, the sooner they’ll let him go; all hell breaks loose when those photos are scattered everywhere, from the hallways to the bathrooms; changbin takes advantage in the riot to get himself out of there as quickly as he can possibly run to the airport.

· changbin swears to never trust anyone again until chan and minho find him sleeping inside an abandoned grocery store with a pistol inside his sleeping bag, two daggers concealed in his sleeves at all times.

· “are we seriously going to contain some headass who was this close to blowing my brain out of my head?”

· “huh, funny, last time I checked, you almost smothered me to death under a gigantic block of cement when I was trying to save your life.”

· “who are you guys and how the hell did you get in here? I don’t recall not locking the door.”

— hwang hyunjin ↠ permeation & memory manipulation

· a true theater kid, meaning he knows almost everyone but every single student at school knows him; naturally, becomes the Prince after playing one too many male lead roles because of his godly features; rather well-mannered and diligent though he doesn’t look like it.

· mistaken to be a player by every new batch of freshmen that only ever gets to watch him practicing his lines from afar, swooning tremendously whenever he ties up his hair; always carries a camera around, doesn’t like to have too many friends but if you get close enough, he’s probably the most fun to be around, won’t ever judge your questionable life choices.

· hyunjin’s ability allows him to walk right through walls as well as any other solid matters but it will drain his stamina painstakingly, causing him to run short on breaths after using his power to change his costumes faster between scenes; the thicker the wall is, the more strength it takes for him to pass through completely.

· he can also erase a certain chunk of memory from someone’s mind but he needs to physically touch them; has only used this ability one time to wipe his existence out of a childhood best friend’s mind before moving away from his hometown. 

· his interest in photography sparks the moment his uncle comes back from a business trip and gives him a toy camera, it’s nowhere near the real ones but the ten-year-old hwang hyunjin sure takes it very, very seriously; after a decade or so, he has replaced it with cameras that actually work and developed quite the talent for taking photos of sceneries and people (jisung is his number one victim but he can’t care less as long as he looks decent and that hyunjin won’t save any crack ones to blackmail him).

· suddenly gets a sketchy summer scholarship to a boarding school in London (the same so-called school that Chan and Changbin went to), his mom encourages him to go after looking it up on the internet without knowing the chances of her own son being exploited for twisted science is shockingly high.

· and the culprit who takes those photos during a wandering around school after curfew is none other than hyunjin himself; he knows damn well posting those photos means getting himself into trouble but heck, his conscience forbids him to leave this hell-on-earth place without alerting these innocent people.

· so the night before those photos are spread everywhere, in every corner, every edge of the building, hyunjin smashes his camera completely with a baseball bat and burns the broken bits in the school backyard; he tries getting through those sleep-deprived men in their fifties who aren’t likely paid enough with his ability and flees.

· surprisingly, he comes rushing into his best friend’s house right after his horrendous flights only to find him being surrounded by three mysterious men.

— han jisung ↠ plunder

· the jokester of the class, takes great joy in stressing the living daylights out of his professors with irrational questions that aren’t necessarily relevant to the lesson, procrastinates, and sleeps through lessons like there’s no tomorrow but still keeps that shiny ‘A’ on his report card nonetheless.

· being friends with hyunjin results in occasional admirers here and there for him but he does kinda have his own fandom base after being pulled upstage out of the blue in the middle of last year’s spring music festival, musing him an opportunity to show off his rapping skills; because of that event, he takes writing music more seriously with the stage name J.One.

· if jisung is being honest, he hardly uses his power since it’s basically taking over anyone’s body and mind for a maximum of five seconds meanwhile his own body is immobile; and if any physical effects occur (for example, a basketball hits him on the head spontaneously), he’s obligated to endure that pain for that person until they become conscious of their own body again.

· he’s not a creep, he swears.

· and who knows? what if his body gets kidnapped within those five seconds?

· hyunjin and jisung know about each other’s ability but don’t really discuss nor talk about them because they don’t find walking through walls or temporarily possessing someone’s body cool.

· well, that’s that until chan, minho and changbin show up at his house the same day when hyunjin returns from his summer exchange program with a cut lip and bruised knuckles. 

· “han jisung, you’re going to have to come with us unless you want to live inside a cage for the rest of your life.”

· “I’m sorry, are you threatening me?”

· “we’re trying to protect you, smartass, you’re far too dangerous to be roaming the streets so freely.”

· “....me? I’m dangerous?”

· jisung not knowing the slightest bit about his own ability downright baffles chan—he’s only scratched the surface of it at this point; his true potential is if he’s taking over another ability-wielder’s body, he will then take their power for himself; and jisung can’t remember the last time he properly uses it either.

— lee felix ↠ imperfect invisibility

· initially lives in Australia but after finding out about his ability, he moves to Seoul with his parents to live a quieter, more covered-up life without being surrounded by too many relatives.

· an absolute sweetheart, smart, kind, honest, a little slow to read in between the lines at times; can concentrate relatively well on an empty stomach, but gets drowsy quickly after eating, especially big meals. 

· lix is also homeschooled up until high school in order to avoid any unwanted situation; later on, applies for a course that can be taken online for the most parts at an average-ish university to not draw so much attention. 

· since he stays at home most of the time, he spends lots of time playing different video games, experiences random cooking recipes without burning the house down, and teaches himself how to dance through online tutorials, getting awfully good at it fast partially thanks to his natural flexibility.

· he can disappear from a single person’s field of vision for as long as he wants to but it’s still limited and considered flawed since felix can only disappear from the sight one person of his choice at a time; although it can come in quite handy whenever he gets shoved into a dark alleyway by random people varying from cheap pickpockets with a box-cutting knife to muscular men dressed in black.

· learns boxing during middle school so he can still kick asses to preserve his own life.

· felix once punches jisung in the gut and slaps hyunjin in the face with a cabbage after seeing them follow each and every one of his movements the moment he steps out of the supermarket—he’s got used to listening to people’s footsteps over time. 

· “okay, first of all, ow, and second of all, why did I get the punch and he got the cabbage?!”

· “oh, don’t be such a baby.”

· “you two don’t look like those balding dudes in money-dripping black suits...what are you on? crack? what do you want from me? money? food?”

· “of course we’re not balding men in their forties! I take personal offense to that! and please, who do you take me as? a total creep who only ever knows how to follow people with his stupid sidekick tagging along for background noises?”

· “HEY! I NEVER AGREED TO BE YOUR SIDEKICK!”

· “well, it’s time you fucking did then, han.”

· “you know, I suppose this is the part where you two put me to sleep with some kind of drug and bring me back to your excuse of a headquarter.”

· “oh, did you bring the anesthetic pills?”

· “I thought Changbin gave it to you, no?”

— kim seungmin ↠ time-leap

· born in a middle-class family, very studious but also enjoys playing baseball during retreats, takes time to open up to people so he has more acquaintances than close friends but he doesn’t mind, that way he has more time for himself. 

· definitely and never will be the kid who lets his classmates take advantage of his wit, he does do a good chunk of every group project but makes sure everyone has at least one decent thing to do (low-key loves bossing people around); can be pretty distant at first, but he just weirds people out after getting closer and doesn’t hold grudges.

· seungmin is capable of bringing himself back to a specific past event to alter the future outcome though it won’t work most of the time unless he really, really has to for safety purposes or the situation gets out of hands; time-leaping won’t activate if he wants to retake a test but works like a charm when he tries to save a kid on the street from a car accident.

· actually does deep, proper research into other ability-wielders and often stays in school during nighttime to read the news, articles or anything that he can find on the web to learn about how that one cryptic boarding school in Europe that’s accused of abusing their students got shut down all of a sudden, the students never return and family members never bother to look for them. 

· hence, he adapts to hiding his ability and himself fairly well—never takes the late-night buses, doesn’t try to become close and bond with other people, asks his parents to change the door lock every month, burns bills each time he purchases something but he tries not to go out as much as possible. 

· seungmin has seen hyunjin use his power once by accident but decided to say nothing about it; eventually finds chan’s headquarter (which is just his crusty apartment) by following jisung and hyunjin after their practice hour, baffles them all a little but joins in no time. 

· after asking hyunjin to erase his parents’ memory about himself, seungmin gives everyone a hand for their plan of building a school and campus, completely safe and under the radar for other ability welders until their adolescence is over; he time-leaps back to back in order to collect as much information about lottery tickets as he can.

· another flaw occurs when he travels to the past for the third time: his eyesight gets weaker and weaker every time he time-leaps so he starts wearing glasses as a temporary resolution but chan stops him when he tries to do it for the fifth time, saying that they would rather work hard for a little longer than have seungmin lose his vision forever. 

· after over a year or so, they successfully repurchase an education organization and officially establish an exclusive academy for ability-wielders, reaching out to those individuals before scientists can get a hold of them. 

— yang jeongin ↠ superhuman speed

· the quiet kid who most likely won’t talk unless the teacher asks him to answer a question or someone tells him to let them copy his homework; has his earbuds in most of the time to pretend he can’t hear what people are saying so he won’t have to interact with them. 

· joins after you when chan finds him hitting a wall head-on at an abnormal speed while trying to save a kitten in the middle of the streets. 

· jeongin has extremely enhanced agility and reflexes but he still lacks accuracy for he is naturally a clumsy person; therefore, changbin tells him to wear a protective layer under his uniform so even in the worst-case scenario, he can jump off a building and make it out with minor scratches. 

· reluctantly buys lunch for every member of the student council (aka 00 liners + you) on a daily basis although he can’t really see which kind of sandwiches he’s grabbing at and they end up being mushy most of the time. 

· and for those people who say his resting face is scary, he’s mainly just frustrated because of his friends. 

· also usually is the one who returns with the most injuries because of his own ability—he always flees like his life depends on it to save jisung’s ass from being hit by a truck and hyunjin’s camera from being crushed (the sole purpose of the student council will be explained more thoroughly later).

· has single-handedly saved everyone inside a bookstore when a sudden fire breaks out. 

· minho scolds him and felix a lot for spending too much time at the arcade after school instead of doing their required tasks. 

· acts all tough and mature since he’s the youngest of the squad, loves to make fun of jisung for his height but still is and probably will always be a complete child who hates eating vegetables with a passion; gets yelled at a lot whenever there’s a BBQ party since he only ever eats meat. 

· “corn? why are we raiding the Asian market for corn at one AM?”

· “an outdoor, wholesome BBQ isn’t complete without corn, duh.”

· “do you want to get us caught?!”

· “oh please, they’re going to show up either way.”

· “YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE!”

— y/n (reader) ↠ telepathic manipulation

· president of the student council, stubborn, slightly less bossy than seungmin, appears to be apathetic and cranky mainly because you can’t sleep that well; with that being said, you don’t feel too tired during ungodly hours when people are tossing around in the comfort of their bed but snap at irritating people a lot in the morning if they’re making too much noise. 

· your ability allows you to control people to your will, from something as meaningless as slamming their head through a wall to life-threatening actions like forcing them to point a knife at their own throat; it’s somewhat similar to jisung’s power though you don’t have to physically feel what your target is going through and you don’t need to worry about taking over their body.

· the only downside to it is that you easily fall asleep the moment you set your target free.

· minho is the one who gets you out of the laboratory where your parents were working on a huge, secret project about individuals with supernatural abilities for an unknown organization; you’re unfortunate enough to become their first-ever experimental subject which only nourishes resentment slowly, gnawing at your sanity while you’re dreading each day behind those cold metal bars. 

· perhaps joining the student council is what makes your life less depressing, perhaps; you’re far too busy facepalming at the beautiful monstrosity of their friendship and feeding them ensuing returning to the dorm after school since those boys only know how to eat, cooking is too much for them to comprehend (albeit felix).

· when your family was still… normal, your parents sent you to martial art classes every weekend so like felix, you don’t actually need your power to save yourself from some random mobsters on the streets.

· you’re also the only person who eats vegetables properly and even tries to incorporate more fiber into their diets but as always, they never listen, especially hyunjin when it comes to green onions.

· don’t have the best reputation in the academy because the idea of letting the new girl with a seemingly useless ability become president of the student council isn’t very appealing to many people, and it doesn’t help when every member of the council is exclusively allowed to drop out in the middle of a class to ‘collect’ any ability-wielders that chan manages to locate that day since he’s always worn out with changbin and minho from boring paperwork as well as other businessy stuff.

· even when your ability is considered almost perfect, you’ve only used it once when you thought minho was going to sell you off to another place and almost made him put a bullet through his own brain; you’ve refrained yourself from using it since that day.

[theshy1sout]

Inseparable - Chapter 1

7th February! What a lovely day to start brand-new trolls Au!

As I promiced, this is part 3 of 300-special This one is again for @starlight-jamy who asked for broppy oneshot. I’m sorry, it’s not a oneshot. It’s the whole frickin fanfiction. It’s also kinda my gitf for you, my followers, cause today is my birthday! I Always wanted to give people things at my birthday, just like hobbits.

Today I post first two chapters. And then I will post a chaper every Sunday. (today is Sunday, right?). Short chapters. Usually 2k words, sometimes more.

Ship: Broppy

Rated: Nope.

Au: Trolls Mythology Au

Type: Slow Burn Fluff :3

Ao3 

Summary:  - There's the guardian of the Night, but no one takes care of the Day - Peppy, the God of Friendship and Harmony, King of the Gods, looks around the big hall to get everyone's attention. Gods listen to him as always, carefully and with huge respect they have to their master. He catches even Branch's attention this time. - I summoned you to discuss this very important topic. - King Peppy raises his hand and turns to the beautiful pink lady in the bright blue dress. - My daughter becomes a full goddess today. And it would be an honor if you all agree that she is a good person to take care of the Day, which means holding the Staff and looking after the whole living world under its Light.

________________________________________________________________

Far, far ago, when the gods walked through the Earth and love didn't exist yet, trolls were like other creatures in the world. They didn't have the awareness, free will, or feelings deeper than the animals have. The only difference between them and critters was some kind of civilization. They worked, played, and bred during the day and rested during the night. They built villages and formed families and communities. But all the things they made were the result of the intervention of gods [divine intervention], who wanted the best for their creatures. Immortals taught trolls all about working, having fun, building villages, and playing music, but trolls couldn't create things on their own. And no one saw anything wrong with that, because nobody knew it could be different.

Day passed by day and nothing has changed. Whenever it's time to rest, Branch, the god of the Night, walks on the highest hill and grabs the Staff Of The Light, making the gold shining Sphere on it glow much less bright than during the Day. In Branch's hand, a magic source of light that trolls call "the sun" beams slightly bright blue. The whole world meets the darkness and the silence; every creature on the Earth can do nothing but sleep and rest. When the day is supposed to be started, the God of the Night walks on the highest hill again to dig the Staff Of The Light on the top, and freeing it from his cold hands puts brightness on the whole world.

- There's the guardian of the Night, but no one takes care of the Day - Peppy, the God of Friendship and Harmony, King of the Gods, looks around the big hall to get everyone's attention. Gods listen to him as always, carefully and with huge respect they have to their master. He catches even Branch's attention this time. - I summoned you to discuss this very important topic. - King Peppy raises his hand and turns to the beautiful pink lady in the bright blue dress. - My daughter becomes a full goddess today. And it would be an honor if you all agree that she is a good person to take care of the Day, which means holding the Staff and looking after the whole living world under its Light.

Everyone's eyes lay on the young pink-haired woman, who stepped shyly onto the middle of the Hall of Parley. She takes a deep breath and smiles, mostly to reassure herself. But when she notices friendly smiles appearing on more and more gods' faces, she feels kind of proud and excited.

-My King, I think there's nothing to discuss - Holly, goddess of Hospitality, points out. - If there's someone who fits perfectly for this job, it is Poppy for sure!

- Hell yea! - Barb, Queen of the Underworld, yells. She always finds a reason to yell.

- I'm not that sure - Delta Dawn, the goddess of Justice, adds. - Isn't that too much for someone that young?

- Poppy, tell us - Quincy, the god of Wisdom, turns to the pink little lady in the center. - How would you feel about that responsibility? Isn't that too overwhelming for you?

- It is, I guess... - Poppy starts, looking down. - But I have been watching trolls and other creatures since I was a child and... I really attach to them. I enjoy making them happy more than anything else in the world and if you give me your trust, then I'll do everything to protect them and give them all I can.

She ends with full confidence and when she looks up again, she sees all the gods smiling at her, nodding. Cooper, the god of Fun, starts applauding with joy and everyone slowly stands up and joins in. Besides one person... But Poppy quickly forgets that, cause the low tone of her dad's voice catches her attention.

- So that's it! - King announces, also standing up. - I have my honor to introduce our new Immortal: Poppy, the goddess of the Day and the Light!

Gods and goddesses start yelling and cheering. Poppy doesn't even notice when she ends up surrounded by them. They all grin and laugh, wishing her the best and congratulating her over and over. She's never got so much attention, it's even a bit overwhelming. But in this crowd of Immortals, one wish sounds a bit different than the other.

- I appreciate you. Good Teamwork!

Poppy turns to the dull face of Barb. Queen of the Underworld doesn't look like she's joking.

- Teamwork! - Pink girl tries to play amused. - With whom?

- Don't ya know! - Barb laughs at her and throws her hand at the corner of the hall. - Him.

Poppy lifts her head to look above her arm. Far from talks and laughs, there's the guy with a grey hoodie on his head, all covered by a long, dark capote. His face isn't visible, but for some reason, Poppy is sure that he isn't looking at any particular thing. He is just here, sitting very still on his god's seat. As if his presence here was enough to call him a part of the event.

- Branch. The god of The Night - Barb accents the word 'god'. - The guardian of the Darkness and the Silence. And the most important for ya: the one holding The Staff of the Light. - Goddess shows her teeth in a kinda creepy way. - Just like you.

- He's um... - Poppy now has so many questions, that she doesn't know from which she should start.

- You'll get to know him - The pink-haired girl feels a hard hit on her back. - Don't worry, I'm just playing with ya! It's just holding some dum' stick! You give it to him in the evening and then he gives it to you back in the morning. Easy!

- But why is he...

- Nobody knows, he's just different! - Poppy is interrupted once again by the energetic Underworld's Queen. - To be honest, I don't even know how he looks like.

- He's never shown his face?!

- No... I just don't remember. But that's enough about this grump, let's talk about a much funnier thing on the Earth! Or should I say: Under the Earth!

Poppy already feels a bit overwhelmed by the goddess energy. All she really wants right now is to talk with her father and start her job. But she thinks, if she was waiting for it whole years, then she can hold a few minutes more. Right?

- What do you mean? - She asks, not even hiding her tiring.

- Girl, you'll see, nights will be so boring for ya there - Barb starts a bit less loudly and less throwing-her-arms-and-legs-everywhere-ly. - Underworld is always welcoming ya. There's a wild, loud party nonstop!

- What's a party?

- You'll see - Barb smirks at her and finally starts moving away from her. - The total opposite of boredom.

- Ok, thanks - Poppy waves at her, trying to smile as wide as she can. - See ya later! ...I guess...

After way too many wishes, pieces of advice, and cheers, after another long talk with her father, after a million little things she has to go through, Poppy finally steps on the hill and faces the Staff of the Light. Don't get her wrong, normally she really enjoys hanging out with others. Well, she was mostly spending time with King Peppy or trolls on the Earth until now. She feels like she should have taken this opportunity of talking with every single Immortal much more than she did. But she was looking for this little moment almost her entire life. She couldn't think about anything but standing here, on the hill, in front of the Staff of the Light and grabbing all of her dreams, the role of her life, her vocation, her...

- You're gonna grab it or not?

Poppy blinks, surprised. She looks around just to notice a silhouette darker than the Darkness itself. She needs a minute to realize who is he. The god of the Night. Of course, he's here. It's his job to be here. It is still the Night after all. But she is a bit upset at him for destroying the magic of the moment.

So once again Poppy glances at the Staff of the Light, takes a really big breath and... She grabs it! And with her very first touch, the sphere on the top explodes with gold light and the whole world is being filled with so many beautiful colors and Poppy has never been happier in her entire life. Even a dry "So see ya later I guess" by Branch can't destroy it. Ah! She is so happy! She runs down the hill with the Staff glowing in her hand, laughing so loud and so long, till her cheeks start to ache and she loses her voice, but even then she is so happy. So happy.

After one day, and then another, and then one more, and then the whole week of enjoying this exhaustingly happy moment in her life, it comes the time to grab the Staff seriously. Poppy knows exactly what she wants and how the perfect Day should look like. She has planned it for years! So the first thing she changes is the start and the end of the Day. She adds so many colors to the sky: pinks, oranges, reds, and yellows. She asks Suki, the goddess of the Music, to make melodies for birds to let them greet every Day's beginnings and ending. With Milton, the god of the Critters, she teaches birds to sing them. She designs with Satin and Chenille, the twin goddesses of Beauty, new kinds of flowers. Every Day she runs through the whole Earth creating new things, changing the old ones, adding colors and light everywhere it is possible.

Until one Day she finishes all of her ideas and she can finally make the last point of her plan: enjoying the brand-new happy world she created.

But after a week of just guarding the Day and taking care of the Light Poppy feels there's something wrong. She has missed something. She is lost in her thoughts, trying to find the missed thing, when she walks on the hill, like every evening. She hears peaceful "Good evening" and feels it when somebody's hand takes the Staff of the Light off her. Poppy blinks like she's just woken up, but before she can answer, Branch throws "Good Night" and walks away.

''Oh. So that is the thing." Poppy thinks, ashamed.

It's been half of the year since her pink hands grabbed the Staff for the first time. The goddess was too busy with her big plans to even notice the Night. After giving back the Staff, barely even noticing Branch, she just falls asleep. She always finds sleeping the most boring thing ever, cause it's just laying down and closing your eyes to open them a few hours later. But although Immortals don't need to sleep, after a whole day of running and creating she was just exhausted.

And now Poppy realizes that the god of the Night was greeting her every morning and every evening and she has never answered him. It isn't even rude or mean, it is a complete disaster! Poppy as a daughter of King Peppy, the god of Friendship and Harmony, should be the one making friendships and building harmony, not ignoring people!

She has to fix that now.

__________________________________________

Special thanks for @livinginithilien-blog for editing the chapter in the middle of the night XD

Chapter 2

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @osleyakomwonkru (she/her) what are you working on right now? Several things! I’m the queen of many WIPs (let’s not even talk about the ones that are languishing in the limbo of old fandoms). But my priorities right now are my own Season 7  and the promptfills that I’m doing for Bellarke Writers for BLM (but not for Bellarke). I started working on my Season 7 fic last summer as soon as 6x13 aired because I couldn’t wait nine months to find out what happened to Octavia, I needed to answer that myself. So I spent months writing and planning and researching and compiling lore so that I could answer that question myself. Started posting it episode by episode at the beginning of 2020. Then pandemic got in the way of me finishing it before the official season 7 started airing, so right now the first 9 episodes are up, and the last 7 will be up after the official season 7 is finished. So if you want a season 7 that has a bit less planet hopping, more Bellamy, more TALKING and characters taking the time to sort through issues rather than the season 7 we’ve been having, then please check it out! what’s something you’d like to write one day? I’d like to actually finish and publish the myriad of original works I have in a state of perpetual incompleteness. I’ve been writing stories ever since I could hold a crayon, and I’ve never stopped. But the past decade I’ve been focused on a lot of fanfic. what is the fanwork you’re most proud of? Well, I love all of my word-babies, and I’m super proud of my S7 fic as mentioned above, but outside of that series, the fic that holds a special place in my heart is “fly away to heal my broken spirit (there might be peace on the other side)”, which is an Octavia-centric character study written between seasons 5 and 6, whereupon landing on the new planet, Octavia takes off on her own and takes the time she needs to heal from the pain of her past. why did you first start writing fic? Well, the reasons why I first started writing fic are perhaps different than what they are now. I started writing fic when I was a child, when I didn’t even know it was something other people did, let alone something people shared with one another (this was back in the Days of Yore before the Internet, so while now I know fanfic was going on at that time, it wasn’t easily accessible). The longest fic I’ve ever written was when I was a preteen, and it was 943 pages, handwritten, and it was a self-insert RPF where I became best friends with Alanis Morissette. Back then, I wrote fic because I wanted more stories, more adventures with the characters I loved, and in the case of that self-insert, I wanted to be a part of those adventures. But now I write fic for different reasons. Now I write mostly because I want to address the parts that canon leaves out. The parts that aren’t “exciting” for a TV audience, because they’re not full of flashy explosions and fights and whatnot, but that I want to see because they’re a vital part of the character journeys - the talking, the healing, the things that should be addressed so it makes sense to go from A to B in the storyline but tend to be swept under the rug. I’m in a fandom for the characters, so I want to see them and their thoughts and feelings addressed properly and not just get shuttled from one Plot to the next. So as this applies in this fandom, that mostly revolves around letting characters take the time to talk to each other, to sort out their issues, stuff like that. Because after everything they’ve been through, they need this! what frustrates you most about fic writing? Too many ideas. I have so much I want to write, but I also don’t want to abandon projects so it hurts to have to put ideas on the backburner. Also - middles. I often know how I want a story to start and how I want it to end, but the part in the middle is always a bit fuzzier. Middles are hard. what are your top five songs right now? Lunatica - Heart of a Lion (perfect Octavia song!) Icon for Hire - Supposed to Be (also a good Octavia song) Beth Crowley - Don’t Think Just Run (ditto) Really Slow Motion - Unbroken (same) Miley Cyrus - Mother’s Daughter (Hope’s theme song) what are your inspirations? Music is a lot of my inspiration. I have an entire Octavia playlist, and Spotify is really good at recommending more songs to go on it. Spotify has the only useful Internet algorithm. Also, just those moments in canon where you go WTF and you’re like… I need to fix this. Or, “there has to be more than just this”. A lot of scenes demand more than what we saw on screen, so I’m here to provide.

what first attracted you to Octavia? what attracts you now? I started watching t100 between seasons 4 and 5. The specific reason why I started watching was Chai Hansen (Ilian), because he’d just been cast on Shadowhunters, and he was hot, so I went looking to see where else he’d appeared and happened upon this show. So I watched some of his scenes on YouTube, and was intrigued by this chick (Octavia) he was with. Then the next scene I saw was Octavia winning the Conclave in 4x10 and making her speech of unity, and I was sold. I was all “I need to know who this girl is and how she got here”. 

So I went back to the beginning, and yes, she was the one. I have A Type when it comes to fandom favourites, and she fits it to a T - the misunderstood badass with a tragic past and a dark side. Octavia Blake, Regina Mills, Magnus Bane, Eliot Spencer, James “Sawyer” Ford, Juliet Burke, they all fit that same archetype. 

 I just love Octavia so much, because she’s been through so much and she’s still standing and she’s grown and changed and evolved and it’s all been beautiful. Even the dark parts. Especially the dark parts. Because without them she wouldn’t be who she is now. I hate it when people say she’s “back to her old self” now. No. No she’s not. She’s a stronger, wiser and more mature version of herself, and she wouldn’t be that without her darkness or without her healing. I could go on more, but for that you can just go to my blog and read all of my meta. BESIDES Octavia, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? Uhhh… well, Octavia’s kind of my brand. So everything does kind of revolve around her. But I also adore Echo, Diyoza (sob!) and Hope, and I’m so glad that canon Hope is like the Hope I wrote in my S7 fic - fearless, reckless, committed to her family and questioning what makes otherwise sensible women willing to die for Bellamy Blake. I ship Niytavia, and a fair amount of my Niytavia fic is written from Niylah’s point of view rather than Octavia’s. I’ve also written some bunker-era Mackson as best friends to Niytavia, but Miller being a jerk in season 6 has kind of soured that ship for me. But after 7x10 I’m hopeful that he’ll pull his head out of his ass so that I can like that ship again, because Jackson is still all kinds of lovely. 

But if we REALLY need to depart from the Octavia sphere, then Murphy’s my man. I don’t have a horse in the race as to which ship he’s a part of, because I can low-key ship him with just about everybody (even Octavia).

why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? Because I wanted to do something to contribute to the BLM movement, but since I live in a tiny northeastern European country and have no money, going to protests or making donations myself isn’t something I can do. But I can write words so other people donate money, so here I am! 

what’s your writing process like? I don’t have a set process. Sometimes a story just FLOWS and I’ll get it done in a few hours. Sometimes it involves a lot of throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks and days and weeks of contemplation and starting to write and hoping it’ll come together at the end. Same applies regardless of what I’m writing, be it my own idea or someone else’s. what are some things you’d like to recommend? My partner in crime in plotting my S7 epic, who I’ll message at 3 in the morning looking to brainstorm ideas, @easilydistractedbyfanfic . You want Murven? They’ve got you covered. Also, tacos, cheesy pasta, and sushi. Because food is delicious and I’d like to be in a country where I can get tacos again, so if you’re in a position to be able to eat tacos, eat tacos. They’re not available everywhere in the world. You can find @osleyakomwonkru here on Tumblr, or you can find her on AO3 here. If you’d like to request a fic written by her, you can do so via @bellarkefic-for-blm.

[eternaleve]

I’ve spent the course of COVID lockdown cycling through hyperfixations while also trying to engage in some much needed therapy (lolsob), and I’ve been essentially encouraging myself to try and do more things I can enjoy without feeling shame. Anyway, that’s a short way of saying I decided to blog about all the music videos of Depeche Mode for reasons of science.

The science is that my basic premise is that most of the videos are pretty bad in ways that I find to be pretty strange. Full disclosure is that I spent my teen years being a huge Cure fan and there’s an overlap there? Of songs with very niche high-concept ideas that don’t necessarily map onto a model of popular music but found mainstream success in the rise of new wave music in the wake of the collapse of first wave punk and amplified by the creation of music videos and music video TV. And I owned all the Cure music videos and played them on my iPod Nano because I was a very strange child. But to get back to my central thesis, many of The Cure’s videos are very stylised and fun and memorable in ways that are good. And yet, despite existing in the same sphere and having an overlap of fans, the music videos for Depeche Mode mostly stay bad until the end of the eighties, a fact I will prove by watching them all.

Can you tell that I am bored because i have lost my job and my mental health is making me fixate on strange shit currently because that is absolutely the case right now

Speak & Spell

Dreaming of Me (Feb 1981)

The single art is really lovely - the red/yellow contrast is very striking against the white, and I really love the design. Hey remember when people used to go out and buy singles and you would appreciate them and the work that went into them? I don’t think I’ve bought a physical single since I was about sixteen. I used to buy them from the Woolworths music department because it was cheap and all my friends worked there, so they had a pretty lenient attitude about what exactly constituted paying for things. Woolworths policy of only hiring teenagers is probably what destroyed their business.

Anyway, Dreaming of Me did not chart super well, getting to number 57 and having no official music video - or actually getting onto the album. It wasn’t included on Speak & Spell in the UK until the 2006 re-release. So, there was no music video for me to look at…

Apart from this video I found from local TV in 1981 to promote the song. It’s a maybe-music video. Because music videos had only been around for about six years and MTV didn’t exist until later in the same year, my guess is that Mute Records were pretty cautious about putting money into a medium that might cost more than they would get in publicity. That’s only a guess. I don’t have a crystal ball for forty years ago. 

Anyway, here are some children recording music.

If i was 19 and someone offered me a recording contract I would have taken it without thinking (like i took on all those student loans without thinking through any consequences wompwomp) but now I am nearly thirty I watch this and think, ‘These children shouldn’t be outside unaccompanied’. The passage of time has made a fool of me.

They go bowling and play Space Invaders which, hey, still sounds like a great night out to me, but I’m guessing that because this is very clearly aimed at teenagers the TV producers didn’t want to encourage teen drinking by showing them performing a gig at a club night.

I call it high fashion. The all-grey really sells it.

This reminds me so much of a advice column in teen magazines - when they’d have problems set out in a little faux-comic strip of still photos? ‘My best friend stole and read my diary’ ‘My crush found out about how I feel and now he’s going out with my best friend’, that sort of thing. That is also a classic carpet pattern. I think my grandma’s living room had that carpet. 

The video is very naive! It’s the sort of thing we would all see now on Youtube from bands just starting out and it is wild to me that this went out on TV. It’s very un-glossy and normal, the stuff that bands put out on YouTube now because of DIYness.

New Life (June 1981)

This is also a really great piece of single art. It’s very bold and striking - it would definitely be the standout record in a sea of other 7’’ released the same week. It also doesn’t particularly match the tone of the single but eh, it looks pretty cool. New Life did much better than Dreaming of Me and got up to number 11 in the UK singles chart. Still no official music video, but the charting meant that the band got onto Top of The Pops! ToTP was cancelled when I was a wee baby teen, because the BBC decided to stop caring about yoof viewership and promoting music was circling the drain everywhere as streaming hit, but it was the place to promote music so was definitely a sign that You Had Made It.

So, last video was silly and made by children, but now they’re wearing see-through mesh shirts, leather trousers, and leather hats with a design that I am a little bit dubious about. I grew up on the oi/punk scene and let me tell you about how many first wave punks wear iconography of bad regimes for faux edginess reasons because I met a LOT of them in my time.

Oh boy do i have thoughts about that hat. It also looks like a Leather Daddy hat which, well, let’s leave that thought to one side. Most ToTP performances were lipsynced. Playing things live would sound weird in the studio, be picked up strangely by the audio equipment and the cameras, so 99% of performances were mimed to the single. Now, some acts would deliberately play up to the pretence and refuse to act like they were doing anything that corresponded to the song - The Jam, The Communards, and The Cure are literally the first examples that come to mind who would just… not do anything close to pretending it was real. 

This is not that. It is very earnest and awkward and serious, which sort of makes it very sweet.

Just Can’t Get Enough (September 1981)

Right, that is shibari, isn’t it? I’m not blind, am I? It’s a very striking image that 99.9% of people would not recognise other than being a striking black and white image. 

I don’t think I can overstate how… innocent, in a way, this point of time was? As in the general level of knowledge about non-conventional stuff in the wider public at large. As in my mother, an almost teen at this point, saw George Michael walking with his boyfriend in central London and had no idea he was gay until he came out. It’s actually the widest cultural gulf I can think of between her teen years and my teen years because I was very aware of queer people from a young age.

Anyway, moving on, I feel like it bears repeating that this song fucking slaps. It’s the last single to be written by Vince Clarke and the last single until 2006 to be written by someone other than Martin Gore. This is one of those songs that just works on every level. Can you imagine coming up with this for the first album of your band? That blows my mind. It’s so overpoweringly good that it was probably for the best that it was saved for last - coming out the gate with a guaranteed fucking banger was been the nail in the coffin for a lot of other eighties synth/electronica bands. They scored a huge hit and then nothing after that managed to be as good or meet the hype. Depeche Mode had built up a far bit of radio play and interest before dropping this which turned out to be very good in the long run!

This got to number 8 on the UK charts and the first to get a music video! It is the only one with Vince Clarke. Full disclosure in that I had this song on my iPod through downloading the video to my computer (that’s how we got songs without using stuff that would give us viruses because i got a ton using bearshare for rare cure demos) and I remember watching the video, all of sixteen years old, and thinking, ‘Man, all these people look so grown up, compared to me, I can’t wait to be an adult!’.

Twelve years have changed my view, somewhat.

Look at this little baby man. Were you in one of my A Level classes - as in, ones that I have taught, not ones that I have been in.

Vince Clarke, however, has had a significant glow up in the six months and now looks like he is the bouncer in a leather bar. This is the One Adult in the room.

Ahh, I see it’s Open Mic Night at the local leather bar. You know what I was saying about how teens in the eighties tended to be significantly more naive about what we might call certain signifiers? Because what this outfit says to me, a queer woman in 2020, is susbstanitally different than to my mum and her friends watching this when it first came out. She would read this as ‘This is totally rebellious and cool!’ while I go ‘Someone just joined the university kink club and spent all their bursary’.

I don’t remember the member of Blazin’ Squad that wore a slave harness. (Now, there’s a reference that shows my age. A Blazin’ Squad reference in the year of Our Lord 2020. Hoooo boy.)

I read somewhere (that I can’t find now because, of course I can’t) that these are the band’s girlfriends and I always remembered that because it made me think, lol, same. One of my closest friends is the Head of London, so she’s in every band in London and if she’s not in yours yet give her time, and my partner was in a locally successful metal/hardcore band for about a decade and being connected with any sort of band means you will be helping out hugely behind the scene constantly. I have held lights, moved speakers, picked up instruments, been in music videos, and have bought tearaway trousers and glowsticks for gigs. You get called in to help all the time which is a lot of fun, so that fact always just stuck with me. It also makes sense financially because then you don’t have to hire any professional backing dancers, you can rely on people who will happily do it for free (while looking pretty rad while doing it!).

Anyway, the band look like those generic raiders that you run into when randomly walking across the map in a Fallout game.

I love awkward choreography in music videos. It feeds me.

Filming a night out provides A) Great footage and B) Can be done for limited overheads, leaving more money to be put into promotion. 

I always like seeing this sort of footage in music videos. I tend to see a lot of it, given the DIY punk scene, and it always charms me. I am easy to please. And all those women have the most amazing eye makeup that makes me super jealous because it all looks so good.

That hat is on point. This looks like a still image for some sort of cyberpunk big band style swing revival that, sadly, lives only in my dreams.

It took me so goddamn long to screenshot this shot probably because i was also blasting dream nails whoops

Anyway those are my reactions to Speak & Spell’s one solitary music video with some other things thrown in and this took me way too long. I make myself laugh though, that’s the main thing. I will do A Broken Frame… at some point. I think I have a bunch of vinyl for A Broken Frame? My mum actually bought all the singles for that album and I stole most of her collection years ago. I will have to search and see what I can find.

[majorxmaggiexboy]

&& watching treasure planet (1/2)

the menu  music is giving me some lil How to Train Your Dragon vibes and i am already Happy

THX NOISE

the music! is so! pretty!

“the aethirium”

ship creaking asmr

THERE HE IS

man if that ponytail ever came undone thatd be an interesting visual huh

10/10 would wear that outfit irl it wouldn’t even be cosplay

dude’s got the laws he breaks memorized

“BACK! OFF! SIR!”

the angst begins already

how old is this child? he is TINY

he might have a criminal record but idk i think it’s sweet he immediately runs to try and help

love how this dude’s like “beware the cyborg” and then not only do attackers show up immediately but then Delbert and Jim immediately go join a crew with the exact Cyborg dude was trying to warn them about like. the odds.

the shot of Sarah looking back at the burning inn is Too Much. I die.

*unlocks the sphere w/o even trying* jimmers

the spaceport is making me dizzy oh heck oh no

love the Cap’n and Mr. Arrow

Her face when she gets the map OwO

just say ma’am Jim it won’t kill you

SLOUCHY

come on Jim he might literally be the exact cyborg you were warned about but don’t be all judgemental.

MORPH

im cry how did Delbert manage to hire the crew that burned down the inn tho like. DUDE.

Jimmer trying to be clever and figure out if That’s The Guy but Silver’s Poker Face is Too Strong

DELBERT DID YOU NOT BACKGROUND CHECK ANY OF THESE PEOPLE YOU’RE ABOUT TO HAVE AROUND SARAH’S KID FOR MONTHS ON END

i’m so nervous. Protect Him.

DUDE STOP

i’m uncomfortable

dude: *commits violence against a kid* the entire damn crew: “HECK YEAH THIS IS GREAT”

“What’s all this” I’ll tell you what it was Rocky it was the crew being a bunch of FREAKS is what it was

“Pick your fights” DUDE WHEN WHERE THERE AN OPTION. WHEN. WHEN DID YOU SEE AN OPTION? i mean yeah he didn’t HAVE to sass the bug guy but MY DUDE? FELLA? HE WAS ALREADY IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING MURDERED IDK WHAT YOU WANT

restraining orders. restraining orders everywhere

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AM A QUESTION TO THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD NOT AN ANSWER TO BE HEAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRD

OR A MOMENT

THAT’S HEEEEEEEEEEEELLD

IN YOUR AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARMMMMMMMMS

@ jims dad die pls u suck

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WANT A MOMENT TO BE REAAL

WANNA TOUCH THINGS

I DON’T FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL

WANNA HOLD ON

AND FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL AVALON I BELONG

“Now you know me, and I’m not afraid” no but i am WEEPING though

I WANNA TELL YOU WHO I AM

@ jims dad YOU SUCK. YOU’RE THE WORST. HOW DARE

AND LIES THAT I’LL NEVER BELIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIV

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WANT A MOMENT TO BE R

SILVER YOU ARE THE RAT BASTARD OF THE YEAR DON’T BE SPEAKING TO MY BOY

DON’T EVEN LOOK AT HIM DUDE

were they about to have a nap together

the sheer terror of “SILVER-!” when dude falls off the thing someone please hug this kid

Delbert said this voyage would be ‘character building’ but what he really meant was “we’re gonna go collect some TRAUMA”

FIGHT ME MR SCOOPS THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNCALLED FOR

“I have a lot of help to offer, anatomically” DOPLER SHUT UP

LIKE HELL HIS LIFELNE WASN’T SECURE SCOOPS FIGHT ME. DENNY’S. THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE BASTARDRY OF YOUR ACTIONS IS APPALLING SIR

Silver, “It’s not your fault” doesn’t cut it. You’ve got to actually tell him, “So it turns out ya didn’t get a man killed, Jimbo. It was actually murder as a direct result of the mutiny I’ve been planning this entire time. Also, I’m A Horrible Person”

BABY

SILVER YOU DID NOT EARN THAT HUG

overhearing all that DX Jim i’m so sorry DX

cutting for length bc tumbl refuses to let me put a readmore

[i-just-like-commenting]

The Witcher review

When I first read critics’ reviews of this show, they seemed to fall into two camps: non-fantasy fans who dismissed it as nonsense, and fantasy fans who said it got good but took a while to get there. Knowing I was a fantasy fan, I figured I might be in the latter camp, and started watching it. Casually at first, one episode a day, taking a break for Christmas…and then about halfway through I was hooked and marathoned the rest of the series. I genuinely liked this series…but it has problems, and I can see why it lost a lot of non-fantasy fans from the outset. Let’s get the bad out of the way first so I can gush about the good.

Barriers of Entry

Most TV viewers are not fantasy readers. Those of us who are may regret that, but it’s not a genre that everyone gets into, and it has its own storytelling quirks that can be off-putting to newcomers. This is why, for all that it failed in later seasons, Game of Thrones did well for general viewers in its early seasons. The small bit of fantasy hinted at isn’t all that different from the zombie films people are used to, and the rest feels mostly like period piece drama. Magic only gets introduced gradually, with an explanation of what it is and how it works as it’s introduced. Also, there’s a map.

The Witcher doesn’t have any of that scaffolding. It is full high fantasy, magic-heavy, thick in world-building from the very instant it opens. It explains very little about anything; by the end of season 1 I don’t know what Cirilla’s powers are, how Witchers are made, or what the Conjunction of the Spheres is that gets repeatedly mentioned. Now, as a fantasy reader I’m used to this; ideas and supernatural mysteries get introduced and not explained until later because the characters in-universe understand the and don’t need an explanation. All I need to know is that Cirilla has some dangerous power that Nilfgaard wants, that Witchers are made and not born, and that the Conjunction is an important thing that happened in the past that may be relevant in the future. Presumably all will be made clear in time.

But I really would’ve liked a map. Up until the penultimate episode we’ve no idea of what this place looks like, how everything is connected to each other. It makes the stakes of Nilfgaard’s invasion harder to fathom. How big are they as a kingdom? How at risk are the Northern Kingdoms? How many Northern Kingdoms are there? A few map shots in the first episode as Calanthe prepares for war, a few more as the series progresses, all of that would have helped situate the story and have it feel more grounded spatially.

As for temporally…

Timeline Shenanigans

I have no problem with this series choosing to have three different timelines for its three different characters that don’t meet up in the “present” until the final episode. Certainly there have been excellent series that have done this in the past (N.K. Jemisin’s Fifth Season comes to mind). But time stamps would’ve been really nice. Let the first episode play out as it does, but when we jump back to Ciri for the last time, have a heading that says “30 years later,” confirming to the audience what they suspect from some throwaway lines about Calanthe, that this is taking place much earlier than Ciri’s scenes. Do the same when Yennefer is introduced, keep updating how far along we are with Geralt’s story, not just to clarify the timeline but to also build suspense as the viewers realize that the plotlines are catching up to each other.

However that wouldn’t fix all the problems inherent to the time-jumping. Between episodes 5 and 6 we find out, for example, that Yennefer and Geralt have met several times already and are pretty heavily involved with each other. It works well enough because the actors are very good, but it’s a bit “oh, really?” when you find that out.

Likewise, I have no idea how long Jaskier has been around having an obvious crush on annoying Geralt; is it months? Years? I think it’s years, because that’s the same time frame for Geralt and Yennefer’s hookups, but maybe it wasn’t that long? And how long did Yennefer’s education take? When did her immortality kick in? How much time passed between Geralt and Yennefer breaking up and Geralt deciding to seek out Ciri? Was it right before? Years later? How old is Jaskier supposed to be at this point? Was Yennefer’s joke about crow lines an indication he’s approaching middle age? Time stamps!

This show is really lucky it had as good a cast as it did to carry it through these narrative issues.

Special Effects

The elves, hedgehog people, and fauns all look…bad. Like, almost Halloween costume bad. Don’t know what else to say. The other effects were really good, so they stuck out.

But now let’s talk about how this series rocked:

Have I mentioned this cast is fantastic?

So my interest in Henry Cavill may have been less than high-minded, but he is in fact absolutely fantastic in this. The show also walks that fine line with “jerk with a heart of gold” characters where it explains their dickishness without excusing it. We understand that with the life he’s led and the discrimination he’s faced why Geralt is cold and aloof, but we also see how being that way destroys his relationships with people he cares for, especially in episode 6. And Cavill manages to convey perfectly how, at the moment he sees Ciri, Geralt realizes that his whole life has been leading up to him taking on this role as protector and guardian. He needs someone to need him, even if that terrifies him.

And then there’s Anya Chalotra as Yennefer who you might call a deuteragonist since she doesn’t show up until the second episode and isn’t the title character, but honestly the show is as much about her as it is about Geralt. You start with her as an abused child with a spinal deformity who thinks she’s unimportant and worthless. You have her trying to conform herself to the purposes others give her, literally changing her body to meet their expectations, failing, flailing about trying to find a purpose, and then in the final episode landing on the grim realization that she is the only one who can protect all the Northern Kingdoms. It’s an excellent arc, even with the timeskips sometimes making it not as smooth a one as it might have been. Again we have Anya Chalotra to thank for making it work in spite of the narrative missteps.

Even Freya Allen, though she doesn’t get much to do plotwise, does a great job portraying the internality of Ciri’s journey this season, as she slowly realizes her beloved grandmother may have, in fact, been terrible – but that this doesn’t justify what was done to them.

Relationships you can root for

Two broken and emotionally distant people learning to break down their barriers and be vulnerable to each other? Sign me up, nothing is hotter. I really like Geralt and Yennefer, and I honestly hope they find common purpose together next season and realize that, wish or no wish, they’re good for each other and should try to work it out.

But Jaskier and Geralt’s relationship is honestly great, too. While I don’t think they’re sexually interested in each other and therefore this counts more as a “bromance,” I also hate the term “bromance” and prefer to just say that their unacknowledged but obvious affection for each other is charming. I’m guessing Jaskier will come back later? Maybe he was just in the short stories they use here, but that would be a shame.

The soundtrack “slaps” – that’s the term young people are using, right?

While “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” is attaining meme status and so many Youtube listens that it threatens to break into Billboard’s charts, let’s not forget how all the music in this series is so good. Like, literally, even if you can’t get into the show at all because of its other problems, check out this score, it’s amazing. It is incredibly frustrating that it’s not up on Spotify yet, though a few tracks are available on Youtube.

Its total embrace of being a fantasy series

And here we come back round to the beginning of my review. While Game of Thrones did well in its early seasons by easing its audience into its fantasy setting, as seasons went on it seemed progressively more and more embarrassed that it had to be a fantasy story. The Stark children’s warg powers are forgotten, prophecies are removed, the House of the Undying is reduced to like one room, bye-bye krakens and any kind of water magic, Euron’s just a pirate now, and who is this Lady Stoneheart you speak of? They even dispensed with the big final threat of the White Walkers as quickly and unceremoniously as possible, just so they could get back to the politics.

The Witcher, on the other hand, is a fantasy series from its first frame to its last and loves it. There’s monsters and magic everywhere, Destiny sets everything up to follow fairy tale rules, and humans share the world with multiple other sentient species. It does not apologize for this, and it has a very lived-in feel to it that many magic-heavy universes fail to achieve. You believe that this is a world where the supernatural is natural, where people have seen and lived alongside magic their whole lives. We see how magic is integrated into combat, healing, and politics, and it’s all believable in spite of how unbelievable it is. It makes it refreshingly fun and escapist without feeling completely divorced from reality.

So overall, I recommend the series while really wishing they’d structured it more clearly and accessibly. And had better makeup effects because ugh.

[ninzied]

north/south

she doesn’t cry.

a pepperony/stark family fic. spoilers for endgame.

She doesn’t cry.

Pepper knows it’s to be expected. That she doesn’t understand; that she can’t understand, that she doesn’t know how. But there’s no comfort to be found in the things that are expected, when there’s nothing expected about any of this.

She doesn’t cry. She eats the food, or she at least picks at the food, poking the grapes around on her plate, and pouting at the “weird stuff” she doesn’t like, arugula in the salad, and “the hard bread” that she ends up licking all the toppings off of.

She is her father’s daughter, through and through.

There are sliders, but they didn’t come with any cheese, so Happy swipes some cheddar off the charcuterie board, stabs a toothpick back through each one and heats them up in the microwave for her.

She asks for ketchup, and Happy looks lost for a moment until Butterfingers unearths some packets from underneath papers at Tony’s work station.

“We have no idea how long those have been there,” Pepper starts to scold them both, but the anticipation on Morgan’s face – and Happy’s, too, really, even the robot is tilting its little makeshift head at her – suffice it to say she doesn’t go anywhere with the rest of that sentence.

It wedges a small crack in her heart, but only a small one, when Morgan takes her plate of small cheeseburgers and plops herself down on the couch by the fire. Only the smallest of cracks. There isn’t much left that hasn’t already been broken.

Morgan sits and looks around her, expectant. She’s waiting for something, and Happy’s trying his best to figure out what, when Pepper gestures at the table. The mask isn’t there anymore – it’s been replaced by the food, and a very somber Nick Fury who’s deep in discussion with Miss Danvers – but this is the last place Morgan had seen her father.

And it would certainly stand to a four-year-old’s reasoning that this is the first place he’ll come looking for her again. She just has to wait long enough.

Morgan turns to Happy with her untouched plate and says, “I thought you said Daddy liked cheeseburgers too.”

Happy’s face falls, and he’s rushing forward to do damage control while Pepper – Pepper’s just trying to breathe, because it’s hard suddenly, when her chest feels like it’s turned to ice. It was ridiculous to think that she was done breaking after all.

She remembers, at least, how to take one step, then two. In fact, she makes it all the way to the bookcase before completely falling apart.

…

Their life together is on those shelves. Pictures of Morgan, mostly. First breath. First coo. First sneeze, because that was not a battle that Pepper found worth fighting with Tony. First steps, first bite of cake at each of their birthdays. Chocolate for Morgan. Red velvet for Pepper. Anything topped with a disgusting amount of sprinkles for Tony.

Then there were the drawings of them with matching shrapnel hearts that glowed, Pepper’s on a necklace, Morgan with her little bracelets. Multiplication tables that Tony had proudly framed even though all of the 3’s were written insistently backwards. Crayon portraits of dogs that Pepper always said no to.

She should have let them have a dog.

But it’s not any of these things that shatters that last piece of her left still standing.

She’s always aimed for cleanliness, but living with a child – make that two, on most days – was not exactly conducive to keeping a place tidy for long.

There are toys scattered here and there, stuffed animals and small handheld robots that were ostensibly made to help with the chores but more often than not got caught up in turf wars with the lions, not to mention one very nefarious hedgehog.

The hedgehog had been borne of a so-called math project of theirs. They’d repurposed a coconut plushy, and then proceeded to cover every inch of it with Pepper’s hot glue gun, bits of fabric, and hair – hair from Morgan’s toy trolls, her Raggedy Ann dolls, and the My Little Ponys that Bruce had sent her one year for Christmas.

They’d completed the look by jamming in colored paper clips for paws, and adding on black button eyes as an after-thought.

It looks – well, it looks like a little monster, quite frankly, but Morgan adores it, and so had Tony. He’d been beside himself with delight when she christened it “Hairy Ball” – Harry for short, at Pepper’s insistence.

…

(“I…don’t understand this, but I suppose I will have to accept it.”

“Potts, it’s the hairy ball theorem,” said Tony, with Morgan giggling away in his ear as he hoisted her higher and higher. “Simple topology. Take an even-dimensional sphere, and any continuous tangent vector field must have at least one point on the sphere where the vector equals zero.”

“I’m sure it does, Tony.”

“In essence, if you try to comb a hairy ball flat, there’s always going to be that one stubborn tuft that sticks out.”

“I see,” said Pepper, entirely humoring them. “And this is useful because…?”

“Because it’s funny,” said Morgan, kissing her hedgehog in the middle of its lumpy forehead.

“Because it’s funny,” Tony had echoed, like no other explanation mattered more than this one, and they shook their heads at each other with perfectly matching affronted expressions.)

…

Harry the hedgehog is squashed beneath a teetering bookstack, its felt-tipped nose poking out from behind a textbook on origami.

Pepper bends down as if on autopilot, straightening things and dusting down the edge of the shelf. There’s a rectangular clearing where PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART had so recently occupied space.

She sinks onto her knees for a moment, the hedgehog’s paws pressing into her fingers. One of the seams has ripped in the body of the fabric, spilling out stray wisps of cotton, and when she runs her palm over its patchwork of hair, smoothing out some of the tangles, its nose perks up as though trying to sniff at her hand.

…

(“Look, Mommy,” Morgan demonstrated for her, vigorously brushing back as much hedgehog hair as she could. “It’s sticking up here – and see, here – also here—”

“I have an idea where you can try that theory out next,” Pepper winked, much to Morgan’s slyly growing delight.

“Like…Daddy’s head?”

“No, sweetheart,” and their little girl giggled again as Tony looked at them both in mock betrayal, “not like Daddy’s head.”)

…

One of the paper clips comes loose, dangling uselessly before slipping between Pepper’s fingers. She watches it fall, blurring together with the rug at her feet.

Her shoulders shake, and then they’re only shaking harder as she folds herself up, as small and still as she can make her body so that Morgan doesn’t see her cry.

Grief surges up from every corner, so cold it burns everywhere that it touches, and just when she thinks she has nothing left it comes crashing out of all that nowhere again, drowning, drowning, if only it would just let her fucking drown.

…

(“That little guy can help predict the weather too, you know.”

“Oh, not that hedgehog theory again.”

“Theorem, Potts. Theorem. And hear me out – you’re looking particularly ravishing today, by the way—”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, but he kissed her neck and it made her feel so very warm all the same.

“—so Earth’s atmosphere, right? A spherical surface.” He took her face into his hands. “Let’s say there’s a storm brewing, blowing its wind east to west. There are – guaranteed – at least two spots where everything stands perfectly still. There is no wind.” Tony leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Here.” He tipped his head down to hover his mouth over hers as she smiled. “And here, too.”)

…

Pepper’s lost him so many times, but he always found his way back to her in the end. This time shouldn’t have been any different.

This time shouldn’t have been any different.

Everything’s quiet. The music has stopped, even the clinking of silverware, plates, all the small talk. Maybe she’s imagined it, but she can’t hear anything else beyond the soft raggedness of each breath as it shakes its way in and out of her body.

“Mrs. Stark?” A voice, sounding more distant than it probably is, and then a light awkward tapping on her shoulder. “I mean, Miss Potts. Mi—umm.” Peter Parker clears his throat, and she blinks, blinks, blinks until the hand he’s held out to her comes into focus. “I think you dropped this.”

She takes the paper clip, and manages a watery chuckle when Peter moves his other arm around, into her line of sight, and Morgan’s at the other end of it, holding on to his wrist. There’s a smear of ketchup on her chin, and Happy close behind her, a crumpled up napkin in hand.

“Oh, my darling girl.”

Pepper opens her arms, and Morgan climbs onto her lap, tiny hands already hard at work to wipe away the wetness on her cheeks. Her fingers dance over the smile that Pepper musters for her, and then Harry’s face pops back into view, Morgan carefully lifting him up to give Pepper a fuzzy little kiss on the nose.

“I miss Daddy.” Morgan’s voice is so small – the smallest, most powerful sound that Pepper has ever heard, but now’s not the time for her to break anymore.

“I know.” Pepper tucks her hair back, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Morgan burrows closer, the weight of her settling like a permanent warmth into Pepper’s chest. “I miss him too.”

“He’s really not coming back?” She’s cradling Harry, touching the open seamful of cotton with unsteady fingers.

“No, sweetie. But he loved you so, so much.”

Peter’s furiously rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, and Pepper beckons him over, patting the spot of rug next to them. He looks uncertain, but it doesn’t last long before he’s collapsing himself down, shoulders quaking as she puts her arm around him too.

Morgan sniffles into her neck, her whole body tightening as though trying to resist all this sadness she still doesn’t know what to do with, how to make it go away. Pepper murmurs soothing things in her hair, and then she closes her eyes, if only for a few blessed seconds, so that the world can stop spinning and just give her daughter a moment to cry.

It almost hurts, not to let herself cry with her.

“Hey, Miss Pepper?” says Peter, after a while. He’s dabbing his nose with a clean handkerchief that his Aunt May has just brought him. He points at the hedgehog, its missing paw still clutched in her hand. “What is…that?”

Morgan pipes up, before Pepper has a chance to say otherwise, “This is Hairy Ball.” The words come out a bit gargly and hoarse, but she straightens a little, looking pleased that someone is asking.

Happy coughs out a laugh into his hand. At the edge of Pepper’s vision, she sees Nick still over by the food, his one good eyebrow nearly shooting right off of his forehead.

Peter, meanwhile, looks simply floored. “As in the theorem? Cool.”

“See, Mommy?” Morgan wipes at her eyes, and graciously passes the hedgehog over for Peter’s perusal. “Daddy and I told you.”

“You most certainly did.” Pepper leans back as Morgan points out all of Harry’s features, Peter following raptly along and nodding his head at all the right moments. That crack in her chest opens just a bit wider, leaving a hitch in her breath that aches, and aches, and aches.

Her eyes are burning again.

But it’s okay, Pepper thinks, because there’s no other option. She’d made a promise to Tony that they were going to be okay. She has to believe it will look different from this, someday, but for now—

For now, they can take turns standing still.

[ao3.]