#what the hell was that update they did to it they added like a whole ass. OTHER dungeon i never got to do cause im p sure you needed money

[icewindandboringhorror]

Lineup of all of the characters that appear long enough to need a visual representation of them in the game lol

[todayisafridaynight]

NO WAY YOU'RE A GAIA USER TOO I was so obsessed 😭😭😭

HELP NO YEAH I AM LERKJGA it keeps calling me back....... i think im over it but still.....

[starlemons]

Coffee and Crime ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ PART THREE

Pairing ✦ mafia!bucky x reader

Word Count ✦ 1.2K

Warnings ✦ overall story has a 18+ content warning, MDNI, mention of hospitals/emergency rooms, honestly pretty fluffy, cussing

A/N ✦ i've been on a writing streak the last few days, i'm already working on part four, hopefully should post it by tomorrow :)

PART TWO »»» Series Masterlist

I will update the series every 1-4 days depending on my schedule

You felt like absolute shit. Your whole body ached and waves of nausea flowed through you. Slowly you lifted your heavy eyelids and looked around. Nat, Clint, Thor, and Wanda all sat around you as you laid in a hospital bed. 

“Y/N’s awake.”, Wanda said to the others. 

Everyone looked towards you. 

“How you feeling?”, Clint asked.

“Awful.”, you groaned, “What the fuck even happened?”

Your memories of the previous night were a blur. The group looked around to each other silently debating who would fill you in.

“Do you remember anything?”, Nat questioned.

“I remember up to when we were on the dance floor but after that, nothing.”

Nat relayed the previous night's events to you, adding details of what happened after you blacked out. Like the fact that Bucky had personally driven you and Nat to the emergency room, and slipped one of the nurses a couple hundred to make sure you got the best treatment possible. 

“He also had me give him your phone number so he could check up on you.”

Internally you lit up, thrilled at the thought of the handsome man caring about your wellbeing. However, something cut through your mind, temporarily interrupting your joy.

“Did he get in trouble for fighting that guy?”

“There was no way in hell that guy was going to be calling the cops after what he tried to do to you so no trouble there and Bucky can’t get in trouble with the club seeing as he owns it.”, Nat said, “I found that out on our drive to the hospital because I had the same thought as you.”

Your brain was trying to process all of the information you had just been given, almost feeling overwhelmed by it.

A soft knock on the door turned all of your attention that way. A blonde nurse in baby blue scrubs was leaning her shoulder against the door as she opened it, a large vase of pink roses and tulips clutched in her hands.

“Miss (Y/L/N), these just got delivered for you.”, she smiled at you.

Thor stood and retrieved the flowers from her. Setting them down on the thick window ledge, he plucked the card from the stand it sat on, and handed it to you. You opened the envelope shakily, your body was still not fully recovered from last night. 

Hey Sweetheart, Let me know when you get out of the hospital, I sent you a text so you have my number. Hope you’re okay. I’m here if you need anything ━ Bucky

Your face blossomed with a blush.

“Who are they from?”, Clint asked.

With a wide grin you responded, “Bucky.”

A few hours later and the emergency room doctors finally cleared you to go home. Your friends helped you gather your belongings, Clint and Wanda telling you goodbye as you guys reached the parking lot. Thor kindly gave you and Nat a ride back home to your apartment.

After dropping you guys off he yelled from his car window, "Bye guys! Love you both!"

"Bye Thor, we love you too!", you and Nat yelled back to him as you continued up the sidewalk and into your apartment building.

After you crossed the threshold of your home, you immediately headed to your bedroom.

“I’m going to go shower and get this hospital smell off of me.”, you told Nat.

“Okay, let me know if you need anything, I’ll be out here watching TV.”

Entering your room, you immediately shed your dress from the previous night, tossing it into your dirty clothes hamper. You dug through your dresser selecting a pair of baggy grey sweats and one of your favorite oversized shirts.

After grabbing your clothes you head to your bathroom. Entering, you set your outfit and phone down on the sink, going to turn your shower on. You twist the hot water knob to the on position, the sound of trickling water filling the room.

You moved back to the counter grabbing your phone. As you unlocked it you saw a text from a number you didn’t have saved.

UNKOWN: Let me know when you’re back home, I’ve been worried about you. 

UNKOWN: This is Bucky btw. 

You smiled, saving his name in your phone, and shot him back a text.

Y/N: I’m back home, still not feeling amazing, but I’ll survive. Thank you for the flowers, they’re beautiful.

Bucky quickly sent you a response. 

BUCKY: I hoped they might cheer you up a bit.  Y/N: They definitely did. Also thank you for last night, I appreciate it more than you know. 

The typing bubble popped up and disappeared several times. You closed out of your messages, opening your music streaming app and turning on your favorite playlist. Locking your phone you set it back down on the counter and stepped into the shower. 

You felt some of the tension in your back slowly fade as warm water trickled down your body. After relaxing in the hot water for what you deemed long enough, you began to wash yourself, scrubbing a little too hard, trying to get the smell of the hospital off of you as well as the metaphorical feeling of Caleb's hands.

Once you felt that you were sufficiently clean, you grabbed a light green towel off the wall, wrapping it around your body. 

You reached for your phone again.

BUCKY: I’m just glad you're safe.

You saw that several minutes had passed in between that text and the following ones he sent.

BUCKY: Go to dinner with me? BUCKY: Only if you want to of course. I don’t want you to think you have to say yes just because I helped you yesterday. 

‘Men that respect boundaries are so hot’, you thought to yourself.

Y/N: Of course, I would really like that. 

You set your phone down again. Drying your hair and doing your skincare. After you finished, you exited the bathroom and flopped down onto your fluffy pink comforter. Exhaustion started taking over you and you crawled under your blankets, snuggling into your pillows.

Your phone buzzed beside your head.

BUCKY: Let me know when you’re free next, I have the perfect place we can go. Y/N: I’m going to take a nap, but when I wake up I’ll check my schedule and see what days I’m not doing anything.  Bucky: Perfect, sleep well sweetheart, ttyl.

You smiled softly, butterflies forming in your stomach. 

You reached for your TV remote, turning on a show to play as background noise while you slept. Your eyes closed, feeling very heavy and within minutes you were asleep.

Nat eventually came into your room and woke you up, letting you get a five hour nap in. She had made the two of you dinner, spaghetti and garlic toast. Your stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of food. Laughing, you followed her into the kitchen.

You pulled up your calendar on your phone, seeing when your next day off was, and texting the information to Bucky.  

Y/N: Just looked and my next day off is Tuesday. BUCKY: I’ll pick you up at 7? Y/N: That works for me :) I’ll send you my address.

After texting him your address you put your phone away, enjoying your dinner with your roommate as you guys watched TV. The two of you made it through several episodes of your show, before Nat started yawning, saying she was going to head to bed. You both went to the kitchen, rising your dishes and headed down the hall into your respective rooms.

You fell asleep, bubbling with excitement over your upcoming date with Bucky.

PART FOUR

I AM OPENING A TAGLIST FOR THIS STORY LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ADDED!

[niniluvsainz]

labyrinth ☽ ln4

masterlist!

in which... he has one friendship bracelet and a dream.

pairings... lando norris x fem!singer!reader

face claim: sabrina carpenter (but you can imagine reader however you'd like!)

warnings... simp lando, cursing, reader is insinuated to be american in one comment but you can just skip past that, use of y/n, oscar is trying so hard to not be noticed as a y/n fan, reader is basically taylor swift, you probably don't know when reader and lando get together bcs even i dont know but i added dates so maybe that helps?, oh and labyrinth the version that tay sang at the eras tour on the piano bcs that is superior.

author's note... yea we're burning tf out of the whole taylor / travis situation, but i'm adding my twist to it hehe

lando: it's today people.

max: WE KNOW

george: someone is moody.

max: lando, if by some chance you get to interact with her, don't say anything stupid. you've waited too long to fuck it up.

pierre: oscar, how much does lando bombard you with anything related to y/n?

oscar: i've listened to her entire discography without my consent. and i know her entire lore.

carlos: mate just have fun tonight

alex: lily said if you by some miracle get to speak to y/n to tell her that her biggest fan, lily, is her biggest fan

lando: great. oscar i'm picking you up at four.

logan: wait OSCAR'S GOING?

oscar: again, against my will.

nando: if you get to say anything to y/n tell her im a big fan

charles: NANDO TOO?

---

17 august 2024.

yourusername

liked by landonorris and others

yourusername uk i loved you too much! 🩵 thank you so much for an amazing tour. the past year has been absolutely magical, and i' so happy i got to spend it with you all. i don't know, maybe add a few more shows for next year? 🩶

view all comments.

user1 mother

user2 WE LOST THE OUTSIDE AND CASTLES CRUMBLING UK YOU WILL SEE HELL.

↳ user3 HOW DARE SHE MAKE THESE THE LAST SONGS FOR THE TOUR

user4 how does a 24 year old sell out stadiums internationally. i've been with homegirl since she was in her country yeehaw era 🥲

↳ user5 she is the moment. she is the music industry.

↳ user6 so real

gracieabrams loved opening for u bbg 💞

↳ yourusername I LOVE YOU SO MUCH 💖

milomanheim great work out there lil sis 🖤

↳ yourusername thank u for being there every step of the way bsf 🥹

---

vanityfair

liked by charles_leclerc and others

vanityfair formula one driver, lando norris, has been spotted at y/n l/n's headline tour! the british mclaren driver has been associated with l/n after publicly announcing he's a major fan. oscar piastri (not pictured), the other mclaren f1 driver, also attended the concert with his teammate. link in bio for more updates of celebrities spotted at this world-revolting concert.

comments have been limited.

---

landonorris added to their story!

caption: i'm deceased.

replies;

↳ carlossainz55 amazing, mate! show me videos when we see each other again!

↳ maxverstappen1 i sure hope after tonight you'll stop talking about her.

↳ charles_leclerc lowkey...jealous

↳ pierregasly i already miss the lando before he went to this concert.

↳ logansargeant american talent rahhh 🦅

↳ georgerussell63 haha she didn't talk to u.

↳ oscarpiastri don't tell me you caught my screaming during dont blame me.

↳ alex_albon so did you talk to her?

↳ fernandoalo_oficial i liked her song 'nonsense'.

---

"Lando, great qualifying for you today." The interviewer spoke whilst Lando adjusted the microphone in front of him. "It seems you had a great summer break, and it helped you recharge for the rest of the season, we hope. The internet was crazy when they saw pictures of you," Lando laughed nervously, as he knew what was about to be said.

"Tell us, how was summer break. We of course know what happened, but what did you feel was good about the break?"

"Er, yeah." Lando adjusted his cap. "I had an amazing break, got to see the family. And my idol." The blush was recognizable on the Papaya driver. "Y/N L/N. I went to her concert in the UK, and it was an enjoyable moment." Lando knew if he went further, he would just ramble on and on about Y/N.

"But, did you get to interact with her?" This was the question that made the British's smile falter.

"No, I did not, unfortunately." If one dream (other than being in Formula One and winning a WDC) would to come true, it would be to even interact with you. You were his idol, the person he grew up listening to. From when you were thirteen and releasing country songs, changing to pop, and to this day he was forever your number one supporter. No other person would be able to change his love for you.

"I actually made a friendship bracelet with my phone number on it, and another one with the letters L, N and my racing number. Just to keep to myself. The one with my number was for me to trade with her." Lando chuckled. "I know she probably doesn't speak to people before or after the concert. I mean, singing for three hours-you have to save every ounce of your voice for that. At the time, I took it personally. But now, I got to understand."

"And if you were to say something to her right now, what would you say?" The interviewer asked again.

"Um..." Lando thought about his words carefully. "That she's my absolute daylight. And I hope one day she comes to a race."

"Thank you, Lando." The interviewer said, before Lando was off the camera and another driver took over.

---

25 august 2024.

etentertainment

liked by milomanheim and others

etentertainment after mclaren's f1 driver, lando norris, expressed he went to y/n l/n's "the eras tour" but didn't have the opportunity to speak with her before or after the concert, the singer-songwriter has now been spotted at the zandvoort grand prix.

📷 : gettyimages

view all comments.

user7 OH MY GOD OH MY GOD WHAT WORLD ARE WE LIVING IN

user8 I'VE BEEN WAITING ON MISS L/N TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT LANDO

user9 MISS MA'AM STARTED FOLLOWING SOME OF THE DRIVERS TODAY AS WELL

↳ user10 omg y/n in her f1 wag era 🫢

user11 she clearly is losing spotlight in the entertainment world so she has to seek help elsewhwere

↳ user12 i dont know maybe being the youngest artist to cover the top fifteen spots in the charts, sell out stadiums for her tour, is constantly being heard everywhere because of her songwriting or her songs in general all while still finishing her studies at university seems pretty successful to me but i mean, why would a thirty-year old man think that's more successful than sitting on a couch all day having something shitty to say about a woman who is thriving in life.

↳ user11 i work from the office.

↳ user13 dad, why are you fighting on the internet again.

---

oscarpiastri added to their story!

caption: lando's live reaction to seeing yourusername in the paddock

replies;

↳ maxverstappen1 no he fell to his knees mid-paddock when we were walking back to start the race

↳ user14 OMG Y/N IS IN THE PADDOCK?!

↳ user15 lando is seeing stars rn

↳ user16 he literally said in the interview yesterday after quali he wanted y/n to come to a race, AND HIS MF WISH COMES TRUE THE VERY NEXT DAY?

↳ yourusername awee where is he i wanna meet him 🫶

---

maxverstappen1

liked by yourusername and others

maxverstappen1 lando fell to his knees seconds after this picture was taken. checo tripped over him. y/n helped them up, and lando threw checo out so he could be the only one to hold y/n.

view all comments.

landonorris no that was all you.

comments have been limited.

---

yourusername

liked by landonorris and others

yourusername oh look at that

tagged: mclaren, landonorris

view all comments.

maxverstappen1 he actually made dinner good. it wasnt poisonous this time.

↳ landonorris i always cook well. you just don't like my impeccable classy taste.

carlossainz55 thank you for coming to zandvoort y/n i dont think i could've handled any more of lando's horrible cooking skills

↳ yourusername you all had yukitsunoda0511 ? isn't he the chef around here

↳ yukitsunoda0511 every one of them don't understand food. i'm unappreciated here.

↳ yourusername i appreciate you yuki 🥺

user17 i hope she gets close to the grid

user18 why do i lowk want her to date lando 🤭

↳ user19 girl we all do

charles_leclerc it was so nice meeting you, y/n!

↳ yourusername likewise, charles! but i think i liked your girlfriend better ;)

↳ alexandrasaintmleux im all yours babe

oscarpiastri it was fun meeting u or wtv

↳ yourusername lando sent me the videos and i will release them.

↳ oscarpiastri YOU WOULDN'T DARE.

---

7 september 2024.

kellypiquet added to their story!

caption: good day with good people

tagged: maxverstappen1, yourusername, landonorris

---

1 october 2024.

Another interview with Teen Vogue you were currently attending. It was a video for "Answering Fan Questions". The interview was going smoothly, until you got to a question that almost made you giggle.

How did you end up attending the Dutch Grand Prix this year? You laughed lightly, unable to hide the small blush appearing over your nose and cheeks.

"Yeah, I had the opportunity to attend a Formula One Race this year. It was very fun."

Did you know one of the drivers attended one of your concerts? One of the team members from the magazine asked behind the camera.

"Two drivers," you corrected before trying to divert the answer back to the initial question. "And yes I did know of their attendance. I didn't at the time of the concert, but when I did, I got a message from another driver. Max Verstappen." You hid your face in between your hands because you knew you were about to look like a bloated tomato.

"Um, yeah--and he messages me on Instagram. He's like 'Y/N' and 'please answer me', and sent about ten messages before I noticed the messages. So I text back and I say 'oh hi'," you mimicked a high pitch voice. "And he ends up telling me how devastated Lando was that he didn't get to talk to me. So because he, and the rest of the grid, were absolutely annoyed about Lando talking about me, he invited me to the Dutch Grand Prix, because it was also his home race." The smile couldn't be stopped from spreading on your face. "And of course I'm sure the world of F1 saw how Max and Lando reacted. One fell and the other was crying," you laughed.

"But yeah, it started as a favor to his mate. And now we're all a tight circle. I think I have discovered my found family."

---

10 october 2024.

landonorris

liked by mclaren and others

landonorris oh my god! she's insane! she wrote a song about me... on the piano!

view all comments.

maxverstappen1 stop saying it. we get it.

↳ landonorris UH OH, OH NO, OH LOOK! i dont care

yourusername my number one supporter 😍

↳ landonorris since ‘09 baby 😘

charles_leclerc i helped her too

↳ landonorris um, am i supposed to thank you?

↳ user20 IM CRYUING

oscarpiastri can you both get off my timeline

↳ user21 remember oscuh, they both have blackmail material

↳ mclaren you're actually all about to traumatize him for life with these blackmail videos (we're gonna blast them at the next race)

georgerussell63 ew.

↳ yourusername shut up you literally are always all lovey-dovey-cuddly with carmie

↳ landonorris oh we also have blackmail of you and carmen

↳ georgerussell63 you are speaking with the blackmail ceo of f1, you know?

user22 AHH PARENTS FINALLY TOGETHER

user23 BEEN HERE SINCE KARTING LANDO SAID HE WAS A FAN OF Y/N

↳ user24 OMG SAME 😭

---

20 october 2024.

yourusername added to their story!

caption: austin time 🇺🇸 🏈, hacked bitches landonorris

comments have been limited.

---

12 november 2024.

yourusername

liked by landonorris and others

yourusername oh, i'm falling in love. thank u for being my muse, little lando. labyrinth out tonight @ midnight in honor of your birthday, noodles <3

view all comments.

pierregasly i cried.

↳ yourusername you screamed actually

↳ francisca.cgomes sent the video, babe 😘

lewishamilton so happy for you both

↳ yourusername i love you father

↳ lewishamilton go tell fernando that, i'm not that old

↳ fernandoalo_oficial yourusername hi lando didn't tell you but i'm a big fan

↳ yourusername i love you father <33

carlossainz55 lando was bold. he took a string with beads and was determined. i'll give him creds for that

↳ yourusername right like i had no faith in the man

↳ landonorris i can read the comments, you know

landonorris still starstruck but i love you so much

↳ yourusername i love you 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻

↳ landonorris i dont like that emoji

alex_albon lily when are u writing a song about me

↳ lilymhe are the playlists i make with half of them including all of y/n's discography not enough for me to show you my love?

↳ user25 you're so real for that lily

logansargeant now that we're basically related, can you add more shows so i can go to a concert

↳ logansargeant oscar stop hacking my account

↳ oscarpiastri i didnt do that!!!

↳ yourusername staring at you like a damn hawk when you were typing and i got the notification. just admit u like my music is it that hard?

↳ landonorris i will catch him singing one of your songs. one day.

↳ oscarpiastri good luck.

↳ logansargeant soo are you adding any more shows?

idk maybe thinking of doing a small drabble of how oscar and lando were at y/n's concert? i feel like i built up that suspense lmao but hope u enjoy 🫶

tags: @ultraviolencesam , @topguncultleader , @peachiicherries , @towkstiles

(strikethrough means i couldn't tag you, or your user couldn't be found)

add yourself to the taglist!

[hxney-lemcn]

Late Night Chaos — Daisuke x gn! reader

summery: things aren't looking too good, so the crew decides to open the cargo hold and find out just what you were delivering.

tw: nothing that isn't in the game.

a/n: Updates might be a bit more spaced apart, but I'm gonna see this to the end. I refuse to give up on it.

wc: 2k

Master List

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine

“I didn’t even wanna do this stupid internship.”

An admission into the night you're sure you weren’t meant to hear. Your insomnia grew worse, unable to get Curly’s painful screams out of your head or the plight you all found yourself. Only two months have passed, and you weren’t sure if anyone was even looking for you. Did Pony Express even have any tracking system to see if ships were down? Would they search when it was already too late? 

Your pessimism was shining through, but you tried to keep it to yourself, not wanting to smother Daisuke’s hope. It seems even he was prone to dark thoughts, but you’d be more concerned if he wasn’t worried at all. 

“If I just told my mom no I could be home right now,” Daisuke continued to mutter to himself. “Who am I kidding, I could never tell my mom no.”

“I wish you did,” you replied, eyes still closed and curled up in a ball.

“Y-you’re awake?” Daisuke gasped, but you made no sign of movement.

“Hmm,” you hummed, pressing your face farther into your pillow. “I wish you weren’t here.” Your words were harsh, causing the brunette to hesitate. You had gotten harsher after the crash, becoming more blunt.

But you had also gotten softer somehow. Sending him mixed signals, your harsh words softened when you gently stroked his cheek, eyes finally opening to meet his own. Anger, fear, sympathy, regret, so many emotions spun in your jewel colored eyes he almost felt dizzy. 

“I wish we met before this,” Daisuke said, voice cracking as he felt pressure form behind his eyes. Shit, he didn’t wanna cry, he had to be strong, for you and the rest of the crew. 

Your fingers brushed under his eye, catching a tear that was threatening to fall. Your silence felt warm, inviting, your gaze broke him, the dam breaking as his wishes spilled past his lips.

“I wish we were back on Earth. Hanging out in my room and this all just ended up being a bad dream. My mom calling us for dinner and everything is okay.” 

He was crying now, fat tears falling down his cheeks as you continued to stroke them. Daisuke wrapped his arms around your form, burying his face in your neck as he let out strangled sobs, not wanting to wake the others.

“I’m sorry,” You murmured into his hair, gently running your nails up and down his back in a soothing manner. “You don’t deserve this, none of us do.” 

…

“We ain’t touching the damn cargo,” Swansea argued. “The hold is locked down for a reason. The only thing worse than dyin’ slowly is not gettin’ paid.”

The whole argument seemed redundant. It seemed that Swansea was the only one against opening the cargo hold. He was a stubborn old fool in your opinion. If your speculation is right, and you won’t be looked for until your ship doesn’t come on time, then you’ll all have died from either starvation or lack of oxygen. Both those options seemed terrible to choose from, but a long, drawn out death was worse than a short painful one. For all you knew, you all were shipping food, or water, or something that could keep you all going just a bit longer. Especially since the cryo chambers were out of commission (not like there were enough for the six of you anyway. Besides, Curly had no chance to survive the freeze due to his wounds). 

“But it could be something useful,” Anya argued back. “I think-”

“Could be what?” Swansea cut her off. “Hopes, dreams and marzipan? Hah!”

“Could be food,” You interjected, glaring at the oldest of the crew. “Protein bars, chips, hell maybe we’re lucky enough to be carrying canned goods.”

“If it helps us survive it’s worth it,” Jimmy added with a nod. 

“Man,” Daisuke spoke up. “Pony Express bosses really aren’t chill at all, huh? C’mon, a quick look won’t hurt.” 

You nodded in agreement before Swansea brought up a good point, “How exactly is this group therapy committee planning on gettin’ in there?”

“Oh, right here boss,” Daisuke pointed to himself with a smug grin. “You’re looking at the meanest swing of the regional junior baseball team! Nearly straight up corked a kid once! I can take the utility ax-” You couldn’t stop the snort that came out of you, hiding your face behind your hands as everyone looked at you with various emotions. 

“You were goddamn born fully corked,” Swansea glowered, face twisted in a harsh sneer. 

“That’s enough, Swansea,” Jimmy intervened. “There has to be an ‘in case of emergency’ way inside.”

“If I remember correctly from reading the safety protocols…” Anya trailed off. “The doors should have an alternate access code, but it can only be uncovered using a code scanner device.”

“And only the captain has access to the scanner,” Jimmy continued. 

“Of course! Go ahead, just ask him all about it then,” Swansea mocked. “Maybe he’ll sing ya the blues too.”

“We can just look for the scanner,” You brought up. “It’s probably either in the captain's quarters or the cockpit.”

“I’ll figure it out,” Jimmy waved you off. “For better or worse, I’m captain now.” You tried your best to hide the offended look that fell on your face, but it was hard to do so when Jimmy rubbed you the wrong way. Sure, it made the most sense for him to be acting captain since he was Curly’s co-pilot, but you didn’t like the way he acted like he had to do everything himself. It was giving you ‘I need to do everything my way and feel better about myself’. 

“Right on!” Daisuke cheered, before you all split your ways. Anya ran off to medical, Swansea stopped Daisuke from following him while Jimmy probably went towards the cockpit. That left you and Daisuke to sit in the rest area, the led screen shone an image of a warm sunset, permanently stuck after the crash. 

“You really think there might be food in the cargo?” Daisuke asked, resting his head against the top of the chair.

“It’s probably wishful thinking,” You grumbled, taking the seat across from him.

“Damn,” He sighed. “I was kinda hopin’ for something other than soup.” 

“You dissing soup?” You asked, raising your eyebrows. “I’ll take your portion too if you don’t want it.” Wait! No!” Daisuke exclaimed with a chuckle. “I take it back, I mean I love love love soup and want to eat it every day!”

“You’re such a dork,” You laughed, gently kicking his foot. 

The door slid open, halting your conversation as Jimmy walked up to you both. He stared at you both intently, and you felt a bit uncomfortable at the irritable stare in his eyes. You slowly realized he always looked that way.

“Looks like it’ll be soup again for dinner,” Daisuke spoke up first. “You wanna rock paper scissors for the chicken noodle?”

“That’s my favorite,” You pouted. Daisuke tended to make you feel more relaxed, no matter the situation.  “Ah, nevermind then,” He sighed. “It’s theirs.” Gosh, he never failed to make you feel warm either, even in your dire circumstances. 

“How much food do we have left?” Jimmy cut in, ignoring your banter altogether. 

“I’d say four months-ish,” Daisuke replied. 

“Hmm, less than the remaining air supply, but we can make it last,” Jimmy muttered to himself holding a hand up to his chin. “In theory. We’ll be poking new holes in our belts to pull that off.” The thought of starving unsettled you, but it was an unfortunate possibility. But then the question is how much air supply is left? That was something you couldn’t conserve…well, unless someone died…but even then it wouldn’t be much.

“Man, my mom will straight up stuff me when I get back,” Daisuke laughed, trying to keep the atmosphere light. “I’ll look like Swansea!” You chuckled bittersweetly, shaking your head amusedly. “We’ll have a rad story to tell,” Daisuke continued, looking between you and Jimmy with a strained smile. “They might even write articles about us. We could be on TV!” Once again there was a pit in your stomach. No matter the outcome, you were sure to appear on TV…

Jimmy also seemed uncomfortable, eyes shifting, and posture ridgid, “Uh, it’ll impress the ladies too.” You nearly broke out laughing at how awkward Jimmy was, coughing into your fist to hide it. Even funnier was it seemed he didn’t realize you and Daisuke were already in a relationship.

Daisuke looked confused, glancing at you briefly before uttering a confused, “Uh…yeah…the real problem is running out of toilet paper. Fatal stuff, man.” This time you couldn’t smother your laughter, hiding your face from the two men before you. 

“Seriously!” Daisuke emphasized, grin turning brighter at your laughter. “We should leave that part out for the press.”

“Totally,” You agreed. “Wouldn’t want the ladies to know.” This time Daisuke snorted, Jimmy nodding uncomfortably before leaving. The two of you cackled for a few more seconds before calming down.

“I thought everyone already knew we were dating,” Daisuke said, confused. “Not like we’ve been hiding it.”

“Just goes to show how much he cares,” You shrugged with a sigh. 

“You think he got the code scanner?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.

“I’d think so,” You nodded. “Wanna head to the cargo hold?”

“Yeah.”

…

Mouthwash. 

You were hauling fucking mouthwash. 

It felt like a tiny bit of your sanity slipped away. You weren’t the only one though, everyone looking at the contents of the box in disbelief. 

“Mouthwash?” Anya asked in a shaky voice.

“Un-fucking-believable,” Swansea cursed. 

“There’s gotta be an ocean of the stuff in here!” Daisuke exclaimed. “The room looks freakin’ endless!” You felt dizzy staring at the rows upon rows of shelves, boxes stacked to the brim on each one. 

“This is what they’d have six people hauling for over a year?” Jimmy scoffed in disbelief. “All of this…for mouthwash?!” You tensed slightly at his shout, but quickly focused on Anya as she spoke up.

“The sugar content probably offsets any potential as a disinfectant…” Anya informed, reading the ingredient content. Great, this was completely and totally useless-

“Disinfectant? What’re you-” Swansea grumbles. “Let me see that!” Snatching the bottle Swansea reads the contents as well. “Fourteen percent ethanol.” Suddenly he bursts out laughing, seeming a bit manic. 

“Haha?” Daisuke gave a confused laugh, clearly not understanding the implications. “I s’pose we’ll smell good at least…?”  “That’s right kiddo! You can bet your ass on that!” Swansea continued to laugh. 

“W-what are you doing?” Anya stuttered, eyes wide in concern. “Stop that!” Instead, Swansea starts to chug the blue liquid, causing your stomach to churn. 

“Whew-whee,” Swansea, sighs. “Ohhh, shut up. I’m just an ol’ codger taking care of his dental hygiene.”

“You hear that?” Swansea continues, glancing at you all. “That’s the sound of fifteen years of sobriety popping like a cyst. A glorious, magnificent, red hot cyst. Good riddance and cheers! To Captain Curly! Hear, hear!”

“Guess anyone could get seriously blasted off of this stuff,” Daisuke mutters loud enough for us all to hear. 

“Yeah, and give you a seriously bad stomach ache,” You grumbled. 

“And kill you in the process,” Jimmy huffed. 

“This can’t be real,” Anya bemoans. “I-There’s no way…”

“Now we can go out in style,” Swansea grins nihilistically. “Daisuke! Come here! Anyone ever teach you how to drink like a man?” 

You felt your stomach drop, one alcoholic was bad enough, you would be damned to let Swansea drag Daisuke down with him. 

“C’mon,” You muttered, grabbing Daisuke’s hand and dragging him past the rest of the crew, head down. 

“Somthin’ wrong?” Daisuke asks once you're both back in the main hull. 

You blinked at him like he was dumb, “Seriously? This whole situation is wrong! And now Swansea’s out of commission if he’s gonna nurse that goddamned mouthwash!” You let out a frustrated sigh, running your hand through your hair. 

“And he’s trying to take you down with him.”

“I won’t drink it if that’s what you’re worried about,” Daisuke mumbles softly, eyes filled with concern. 

You side-eyed him, feeling anxiety claw at your chest, “And how do I know you’ll keep that promise?”

Daisuke opened his mouth, but nothing came out, confirming your fears.

[moonchild9350]

Sign The Dotted Line (Chapter One)

Series Summary: You are an ordinary person, working an ordinary job, nothing too special until you come across an ad for an application to become the new company assignment girlfriend of Lee Minho. You take the chance to apply and what happens next changes your life forever.

Pairing: idol Minho x fab reader

Genre (series as a whole): fluff, angst, smut-18+ MDNI

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings (this chapter): none

Notes: Welcome to the Sign the Dotted Line series! I'm super excited to release the first chapter! Don't worry, Minho makes an appearance but it'll be much later in the chapters.

New Chapters will be released on Saturdays at 1pm CST.

If you'd like to join the tag list (for this series or general) let me know! (age must be in bio or pinned to be added).

If you like this fic, reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated :)

Please do not copy, translate, modify, use, or repost this work elsewhere without my permission. ©moonchild9350 (2024)

Next | Series Masterlist

You remember exactly where you were the day you got the email, what you were doing, how it felt outside. You remember exactly how you were feeling the day your life changed forever.

“Hmmm what should I wear to tonight?” You asked your friend Lexi. You were having a tough time picking out an outfit, both you and your friend planning to go out tonight. You both had a tough week at work, deadlines were approaching to secure a major deal and tensions were high. Now it was Friday, Lexi suggesting you both go out to take your minds off work. Of course you agreed, needing any type of distraction you could get.

“Wear that crop top with your leather skirt,” Lexi said, pulling out the clothes from your closet.

You took the outfit, agreeing with her choice. Slipping it on, you stopped in front of the mirror, making sure everything was in place. Lexi made her way to you, phone in hand.

“Selfie time!” Lexi shouted, you covering your ears at her outburst. You giggled and posed, Lexi taking multiple pictures of the two of you. Lexi’s phone dinged, notifying her that the ride share was here. You grabbed your phone and bag and followed your friend out the door, walking to and sliding into the car.

The night was filled with fun. You both danced the night away, work completely forgotten. You did have a drink or two…or four, your head fuzzy but not enough to not know where you were or make a fool of yourself. Your feet were started to hurt, the combination of hours of non-stop dancing and heels taking its toll on your poor feet. You both decided to finish dancing to the song playing and then leave.

Lexi ordered another ride share, both of you waiting outside. The fresh air was refreshing, a slight breeze blowing to cool you off. You browsed your phone, clearing out your notifications. As you were waiting, you visited your favorite band Stray Kids website, looking for any new updates. There was one new notice, asking for applications to be considered to become Lee Minho’s girlfriend. You blinked your eyes once, twice, and then read the notice again, in disbelief at the ad. This was a prank. Yes, most definitely a prank played by the company.

Tapping Lexi’s shoulder, you showed her the ad. “What?! Is this real?” She shrieked.

“Looks like it,” you said, a frown on your face. You loved Minho, he was your bias after all. How cool would it be to become his girlfriend? It’s not like you haven’t imagined this exact scenario in your dreams.

Lexi was scrolling through the notice before handing you back your phone. “You need to apply!” She said while winking at you.

“Hell no!” You said. “I’d never be picked. I mean look at me! Why would THE Lee Minho want to date me?”

“Because you’re hot as fuck,” Lexi responded laughing. “It won’t hurt. Worst case scenario is you’d never hear back from them.”

You considered your friend’s statement. She was right. Why not take the leap of faith and apply. It would be a dream come true after all. “Ok, I’ll do it,” you said right as the ride share pulled up.

“That’s my girl,” Lexi said getting in the car before you. You looked out the window the whole ride back to your place, thinking about what you were about to do. Once inside, you changed into some more comfy clothes and slipped into bed, Lexi following suit as she was staying over. You pulled up the notice once more, reading it over.

“What is it asking for?” Lexi asked, leaning over your shoulder to get a closer look.

“Besides basic information like name, birthday, they want to know my occupation, family history, of course where I live, and a background check. They’re asking more information too. It’s like they want my whole life story,” you said nervously chuckling.

“Well makes sense doesn’t it?” Lexi said yawning. “They have to make sure whoever they pick isn’t a pyscho.”

It did make sense. I’m sure they only wanted the best for Minho. Someone who could withstand dating an idol, but also probably for Minho’s safety too. You started filling out the information they wanted, hoping even just a little that you would be considered. It took you a little over an hour to finish the application in its entirety. You let out a breath after submitting the application. You looked over at Lexi to let her know you were done, but noticed she was passed out, little snores coming from her mouth as she slept.

You set your phone on its charger and turned out the lights, settling in for the night. There’s no way they would choose you let alone consider you. Right?

You felt something hit your nose again and again. You scrunched up your nose, eyes fluttering open to identify what had disturbed you from your slumber…or more so who had disturbed you. You opened your eyes to see Lexi hovering above you, booping your nose with her finger.

“Wake up,” she said as she kept booping your nose.

“Ok, ok I’m up. “ you groaned, swiping her hand away and rubbing your eyes. You sat up in bed, letting out a yawn. Lexi handed you a cup of coffee fixed exactly how you liked it. You graciously grabbed the cup, taking a sip before cradling it in your hands.

“So, did you submit the application? Am I looking at the girlfriend of Lee Minho?” She asked smirking.

You laughed, shaking your head. “I’m not going to be Minho’s girlfriend. There’s so many other people out there that would be better for him.”

Lexi scoffed, “please, you’d be perfect for him. Don’t put yourself down.”

You just shrugged, getting out of bed to get ready for the day. After getting dressed, you took your cup and went to sit in the living room. You checked your email, looking for any word from the company. You were trying not to get your hopes up. There’s no way they would choose you. Not in a million years.

The rest of the weekend passed, your days spent at home relaxing, and preparing yourself for another hell week at work. You hated this job with a passion, sitting at your desk all day, discussing projects and sitting in meetings. You wanted to quit, but the pay was great, allowing you to live in a decent area in town. But if someone offered you another position, you would take it in a heart beat, getting away from the constant stress and toxic workplace.

The beginning of the week came and went by quickly, your days spent at work, just to come home, eat, and pass out from exhaustion. You only had to get through one more day and then you were off. You had been checking your email daily, multiple times per day at that, looking to see if you had any emails in regard to the little application you submitted over the weekend. Each time you checked however, your hopes were squashed, your email only being filled with spam.

You made dinner, and sat in the couch propping your feet up. You let out a sigh before digging in. You went back to your phone, scrolling through social media. After eating, you sat down your plate and settled in to watch tv. The night went on, you dozing off after a hard day.

You woke up with a start, looking around to see where you were before realizing you were safe at home. Rubbing your eyes, you got up from the couch and walked to your bedroom and got into bed. you checked your phone before setting it down for the night and noticed you had a new email. The title was in Korean and your breath hitched a little. Clicking on the email, you held your breath as you read the words in front of you.

They wanted to interview you tomorrow if possible before advancing you further in the process. Looking at the time they requested would be right toward the end of your work day. You’d have to step away for the video chat. You were more than happy to do so. You replied with a yes and set your phone down, closing your eyes to sleep and dream of the possibilities in your future .

The next morning, Lexi stopped by, coffee in hand so you could go to work together. You were giddy, practically bouncing on your feet, as you scampered through your apartment to finish getting ready for work. Your friend noticed something was up. You were never this happy to go to work or this happy in the morning period.

“Ok, what gives? Why are you so happy?” Your friend asked you, watching as you turned away to hide your face. You continued fixing your lunch, a smile on your face.

“So I checked my email last night before bed and um I got an email from the company asking to do a video interview today. “ you continued to prep your lunch, waiting for your friend’s reaction.

“Holy shit really?” She said, clapping her hands in excitement. “See I told you! You’re a catch, I knew they’d be interested.” You turned to face Lexi, a huge grin on your face.

“What time is the interview?”

“8am Korea time so 6pm our time. I’ll be working late today, so I’ll have to find somewhere to sit for the interview.”

Lexi nodded, “well you could always use the conference room. It’ll be empty by then.”

You shook your head in agreement. Making sure you had all your stuff for the day, you looked at friend and said, “ready?”

Lexi sighed, “no not really, but don’t have a choice do I?”

You grinned, grabbing your keys, “nope!”

Work was hell per usual, your day filled with answering calls and working on projections. You were stressed, every client you dealt with today must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, because everyone was pissy. But, the hours dragged on, the office buzzing as everyone worked on their various projects.

It was getting closer to 6pm so you grabbed your laptop and pulled up the video invite, making sure everything was ready for when the time comes. Satisfied, you picked up the laptop and made your way to the conference room, shutting the door behind you. You took a seat and made sure everything looked ok around you as well as made sure your outfit was fixed, wanting to make a good impression. At least you could look good if nothing else.

You logged in and waited for whoever to enter the meeting room. At exactly 6pm, someone popped up on screen. She was really pretty, long black hair cascading down past her shoulders, with light makeup on to accentuate her features. She smiled at you before speaking in Korean. Shit, you thought, you didn’t know anything in Korean besides hello and I love you.

You felt stupid as you politely stopped her before saying, “Im sorry, I don’t speak Korean.”

She looked taken aback for a moment. Great, you thought. She’s probably thinking why would you apply for this if you couldn’t even speak the language. You felt your face getting hot, embarrassed at this setback. However, the woman just smiled and apologized, this time in English. You let out a breath, happy that she didn’t think you were crazy…at least she didn’t show it.

Despite the little hiccup in the beginning, the rest of the interview went well. She asked you a ton of questions about yourself and your personality. She also inquired about your job and asked about details for that. You felt exposed, sharing things that even your best friend would most likely not know. She also asked you how you deal with pressure, which you answered to the best of your ability. You had some experience with how to deal with pressure in your current job, so it was helpful when you came up with a response for her. She also ran through scenarios with you, such as what would you do if people spoke not so kindly about you online or what would you do if paparazzi came up to you and started asking questions about Stray Kids. Of course you had no experience with this type of situation, so you just came up with the best answer you could, answering as truthfully as you could.

For over an hour, you sat there and answered question after question. At the end of the interview, she informed you they would run a thorough background check on you and would notify you if they want you to proceed. You thanked her for her time and said goodbye, shutting your laptop and leaning back in your chair. You took a deep breath and let it out, happy that was over with. That was more nerve wracking than the interview you had for your current job.

You gathered your stuff and exited the conference room, making your way back to your cubicle. Lexi was sitting in your chair waiting for you, no doubt ready to ask you how the interview went. You shook your head indicating not here and packed up your stuff to go home. Lexi got the hint and nodded, leaving to go pack her stuff up as well. You both left the building, making your way to the subway.

After walking a while you told Lexi all that occurred during the interview, how you were asked lots of questions and what she told you before ending the call.

“Whew, that’s a lot y/n. I get it though. She has to know your whole life story if you’re going to go on to date an idol.”

You nodded, agreeing with your friend. You secretly hoped you would get to the next step, but only time would tell. You parted ways with Lexi once you got to your stop, saying goodbye. You were happy it was the weekend as you were more than ready to do nothing and just rot on the couch.

Once back home, you got ready for bed, snuggling into your blankets, happy to be home. You closed your eyes and dreamed of sweet dates with a man, holding hands while walking down the street, going on picnics with him. The man was Minho, your mind already keen on the idea of dating him. You slept soundly that night, content with your dreams.

The weekend passed quickly, as they often do. It was Sunday night once again, and you were cleaning up your apartment, when you got a notification on your phone. You picked up your phone to check it, thinking it was probably Lexi, but you noticed it was a new email. You opened up the notification, quickly skimming over the contents of said email. What you read made you drop the towel you were holding. You read and then reread the email.

They picked you. You were to be Minho’s girlfriend. You were in shock, but also super happy. You did a little dance around your apartment, too happy to stay still. After a mini celebration, you called Lexi to share the good news. She was ecstatic for you, joining in on your celebration.

“So what’s next? What do you have to do?” Lexi asked once you both calmed down some.

“It looks like I have to fly out to Korea in 2 weeks to officially start my role…” your voice fading out with the realization how soon that would be. You would have to put your notice in for your job tomorrow and start packing up your stuff. It was definitely going to be a busy two weeks.

“Well you know I’ll help you. Damn, that means you’ll be in a whole other country.” Lexi said. “I’ll miss my bestie.”

“I’ll miss you too! But we can always talk and video chat!”

Lexi agreed, “you better!”

You chatted with your friend for a little longer before hanging up to get ready for bed. It was a normal workday tomorrow after all. You could hardly sleep though that night, your brain stuck on the fact that your life was about to drastically change in the next few weeks.

The day had arrived for your flight to Korea. Lexi went with you to the airport to see you off. You gave her a big hug. You were going to miss your friend, but would try to fly her out so she could visit once you were settled.

“Let me know when you land ok?” Lexi said. Her eyes were glossy and you could tell she was trying not to cry. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Me too,” you said, trying not to cry yourself.

Right then, an announcement overhead announced that your flight would be boarding soon. You sighed, giving your friend one last big hug, before grabbing your bags and walking to the gate to board. Once your ticket was scanned, you looked at your friend once more and gave her a wave before walking down ramp to get to the plane. This is it. You were really going to Korea to date an idol. You settled in your seat for a long flight.

You slept most of the way, exhaustion from the last few days catching up to you. You had landed a while ago and had retrieved your suitcase. You made your way outside, looking for the company car that had been sent to fetch you. Locating the car, you slid in looking out the window at the unfamiliar city around you. It was busy, the workday having just started.

The car brought you to the company building, pulling up to the curb. The driver got out to help you out of the car. You thanked the man before walking through the front door. You showed your email to the security guard at the front desk. He nodded and made a call, presumably to the manager of Stray Kids. He motioned for you to sit, which you did.

A few minutes later, the same woman who interviewed you walked toward you, extending her hand out to shake yours.

“Y/n,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you in person. Was your flight ok?”

“Nice to meet you,” you responded. “It was a nice flight, thank you.”

She smiled at you before gesturing toward the elevators. “Shall we?”

You nodded and grabbed your bag before following her to the elevators. She punched the number five and stepped back, the both of you standing in silence as the elevator ascended. Once on the floor, she motioned for you to follow her.

“So you can drop your stuff in my office. We’ll go over some logistics. Have you look over and sign the contract and then you can meet Minho.”

You were taking in the halls around you, while trying to listen. “Ok, sounds good,” you said. You both came to a door, before she pushed it open, allowing you to step into the room first. She pointed to a chair in front of a desk. You took a seat and waited for her to speak. She briefed you on your role, which was to be the company appointed girlfriend to Lee Minho, one of the members to Stray Kids. You were to serve your role for a minimum of two years and at that time the contract could be extended or terminated. She went over some other things as well, before handing you the contract to sign.

You took the paper and pen she handed to you, took a deep breath and signed your name on the line. It was official, you were Minho’s girlfriend….at least on paper.

“Well are you ready to meet Minho?” She asked you.

You swallowed before meekly saying yes, your nerves getting the best of you. What if you made a fool of yourself? What if he laughed at you and thought you a joke? Your mind went through a million questions, not noticing that the manager had left.

A few minutes later, she walked back into the office, a man in tow. He had on gray sweat pants and a white t-shirt on. In all his glory, Minho stood before you. You were speechless.

The manager looked between you two before saying, “Minho this is y/n. She will be your company appointed girlfriend. I’ll leave you for a moment to get acquainted.”

You watched as she walked out the door, softly closing it behind her. You looked from the door to Minho, his eyes trained on you and…was that a scowl? He didn’t look happy to see you, but that couldn’t be it right? He didn’t know you enough to hate you right?

Taking a breath, you decided to suck it up and introduce yourself. “Hi Minho, I’m y/n, it’s nice to meet you! I hope we’ll get along well.” You said with a smile on your face. Minho just looked at you, his eyes hardened. The man was glaring at you and it was making you uncomfortable. You had no clue what to do or say. Despite this, you were not prepared for the words that would come out of his mouth as he continued to glare at you.

“I don’t need you, you should go back home.”

You watched as he turned on his heels and walked out the door, leaving you standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Well shit, you thought. This is going to be fun….not.

Taglist: @jehhskz @jeonginsleftcheek @thesilvernight0wl @armystay89

[badaboomx]

Every night (doing you right) | Bada Lee x Reader

PAIRING: G!P Bada Lee x Fem!Reader.  SETTING: Underground dancer Bada Lee is quite the popular girl in town and way out of your league. Or so you think. (Continuation of 'Did I mention') WORDS: 6k PART: 2 of 3

ⓘ This one doesn't have smut, but it does have risque elements. Proceed with caution.

Lusher’s encouraging words were one thing, but the next thing was getting over this strange block that kept you from uttering a single word about the subject. By not bringing it up, it seemed that Bada didn’t feel like bringing it up either, creating a strange and stupid situation that wasn’t entirely hopeless but infuriating.

For example, the next time you saw Bada was not the time or place to bring it up. Lusher needed to bring back a couple of jackets that Bada borrowed her, and so she dragged you with her. Bada was at home, doing some maintenance to her car by the time you both arrived. And just by being in her presence you could feel yourself slowly reverting to when you first met her – nervous, unsure of whether you should be there or not. But when you both were close enough…

“Hey,” Bada said simply, giving Lusher a quick hug. “You look like hell.”

Lusher, who hadn’t slept trying to study, playfully growled at her. “Whatever,” she sounded so tired, too. “Where do I put these?”

Bada pointed her head to the table deep into the garage, watching Lusher go.

Her greeting to you? Bada looked at you for a second, the most subtle smile appearing on her face. “Hey, scared puppy,” she said lowly. “Still afraid that I’ll bite?”

You shook your head, unable to even say anything.

“Then come here,” she said, beckoning you to come close for a hug. 

You hesitated for a second, but still let her do so. It was a quick, simple hug too. Yet it felt really nice, comfortable. You felt safe all over again for that brief moment before you both pulled away. Quietly looking at each other; she didn’t mention it, you didn’t mention it. Bada smirked a little and patted your head as she pulled away fully, looking back at Lusher and talking to her about the jackets.

You stood there, like an idiot. Watching, yearning, debating whether or not to take this time to do anything. But it wasn’t the time, you just couldn’t.

Bada went back to work while you and Lusher left her to get back to it.

But let us not fool ourselves. Opportunities weren’t lacking at all. You both just never brought it up for some ungodly reason. Listen, it’s almost hilarious, let us recount the time.

It would be a whole week before you would get to see her again, however. First off, you were added to the girls’ group chat and introduced to all the girls in the crew, which just grew your social circle just as you wanted. But what was interesting was just how little Bada spoke in that group chat as a whole, despite being the leader. Every now and then she joked with the girls, but by comparison to how chatty everyone was she certainly didn’t talk as much. While the girls kept you entertained, and you were very happy to meet them, a side of you longed to hear more of Bada. That detached presence made her look all the more cool and elusive, but it made you yearn to see her more. It gnawed at you to the point you went to her profile, seeing her social media and noting there was only instagram to check out. As you’d expect, she had only shared a few pictures of herself with the team during practice, some outfit from a competition three months ago, and a clip of her working on a drawing. Not as updated as you wanted to, but it checks out as someone who keeps to themselves.

Truly a woman who was a privilege to witness in the flesh, you’d come to realize. That only made Bada’s presence all the more cathartic to you, especially when you met her again after a while.

Picture this, you were walking down the streets after a class and Mr. Annoying (as you’d come to call him) classmate insisted on following you home. Not walking you, cause that would imply that you said yes. He just had temporary deafness whenever you said ‘Leave me alone.’  Still, you did your best to ignore him as he chatted away and tried to get you to respond to something, subtly throwing an insult disguised as a compliment to get you to shout at him, or even apologizing for how weird he was. But you really didn’t say anything, knowing that because you were the new kid in town he thought he had the advantage to do whatever he wanted.

You were wondering what the hell to do, where to run, until–.

“Hey.”

You stopped in your spot and turned around at that voice that was like the heavens had opened up for you.

There Bada was in all her towering height and imposing presence, wearing a black cap that obscured her eyes and baggy, hip attire that felt just as menacing. That relief washed over your body entirely the moment you recognized that woman, like she was your Prince Charming but better. Behind her were Lusher and the others who were unsure of what to do and kept their distance, but were ready for anything. Bada, instead, approached casually and cooly, getting closer to you. “We’ve been looking for you,” she said, staring at you and then at Mr. Annoying, pointing at him casually. “He’s with you?”

“Yeah!” The guy didn’t like this, but he pretended to be a normal friend of yours. “I was just walking her home,” he lied, starting to back away – perhaps intimidated by Bada’s presence.

Bada looked at you as he said that and you shook your head rather violently. To which Bada only looked at him and smiled. It was an odd smile you’ve never seen on her, but you could tell it was merely to avoid escalating the situation and putting you in danger. “Thanks, I’ll take it from here,” she said firmly and matter of factly, reaching a hand out for you to take, which you did instantly and moved to get behind her immediately.

“H-hey, wait just a minute,” the guy said, reaching out to try and grab you. 

Bada stood in front of him to avoid even getting closer to you, swatting his hand away. “I’ll take it from here, you can go,” she sounded less nice now, with more authority, but spoke low to not create a commotion.

Which the guy had no issues in creating. “How do I know you guys are her friends, huh?” He pointed at Bada with an accusatory finger as he yelled, relentlessly (even if slowly) trying to find a way to circle around Bada to get to you, but Bada was faster and taller. People around you either ignored him babbling or turned to look with a bit of concern. “She doesn’t have any friends, I know that.”

Bada on the other hand, discreetly took the keys to her car and subtly motioned to Lusher to take them, which the brunette did quickly dragging you and the rest of the girls towards the car and hopping in. The guy saw that and started to get a bit more physical with Bada, now throwing his body to get past her only to receive a hard shove from her that sent him back hard. But he was like a desperate, drunken man who kept lunging forward and threatened Bada with violence now, trying to get the bystanders to be on his side by shouting that you were his girlfriend and that these bandits were taking you. The only thing he was getting was the attention of two waiters from a nearby restaurant trying to hold him back and placate him. The girls had hopped in the car, Lusher had started it and backed up a bit so that Bada could make a quick getaway.

But then the guy called Bada a freak and a multitude of… other very offensive things that I would rather not say here. 

The girls heard it, you heard it and you thought Bada would just let it go and get in the car. It hadn’t dawned on you then. But Tatter’s immediate reaction of getting out of the car after hearing that told you everything about it.

Bada decked the man right in the face, cleanly, watching him fall backwards on the floor and pathetically lay there for a second. She was angry, and if it wasn’t for Tatter holding her back she would’ve lunged forward to give him more. You hopped out of the car yourself, just to give Tatter a hand, coaxing Bada to just get in the car. With both Tatter’s and your calming words, Bada only warned him to leave you alone from now on and got in the car with both of you. 

The car screeched out of there, leaving skidmarks and a cloud of smoke and then you guys were out of there.

The atmosphere in the car was tense at first, with Lusher driving off quickly and Tatter keeping her eyes peeled on the road. Kyma and Minah sat tensely, looking around and at the window as if scared that the cops might approach them for what just happened. But Bada was still angry, at least at first. The labored breath gave it away, seated against the other window and almost unable to face the girls after that – unable to even face you, who sat right next to her. 

Just looking at her you were fascinated at this new side of her. Someone so composed, so chill, losing their cool and even looking angry at herself for showing that side to you and the girls. It… made you want to care for her, pushing aside any nervousness you had.

“Hey,” you softly said to Bada, making her look at you. “You okay?”

Bada shook her head a little, taking off her cap. As she did though, you noticed the slight bruising on her knuckles. 

Without realizing, you reached over and grabbed her hand to look at her knuckles and that made you both stop to look at each other for a brief moment. She looked a bit surprised, but you kept going, brushing your thumb lightly across her knuckles. “We gotta get you something cold.”

“I’m fine,” Bada said softly, a slight smile cracking up her stone-cold expression. “Just…”

You looked back up, waiting for her to keep going, placing your palm gently on top of her knuckles.

And she seemed to like that, looking at both of your hands and then up at you with a small smile. “Just keep your hand on mine, that feels better.”

Thump.

That made your heart beat very loudly in your chest, it trembled at the sweetness of that statement, at the loving look in Bada’s now visible eyes. She stared at you, straight to you, without caring if anyone else noticed or if anyone else heard it. Electrifying, tentacling all over your body. 

Then as you guys got further and further away (metaphorically and literally) from the crime scene, the tension lifted. “That was sick,” Lusher laughed out, breaking that heavy air and making the rest of the girls cackle at the suddenness.

Hell, even Bada seemed to find it a little funny. 

It turns out the girls had just finished their dance practice and were just about to drive to eat somewhere. By freakish coincidence the girls were just walking out of the studio and were going to take off, and you had walked right past them without noticing. Bada was the first to catch the situation given the way you seemed stressed and the way the guy kept talking up a storm, so she came to your aid without hesitation. Not thinking it over for a second, just acting on the instinct to protect a friend.

You looked over at Bada, muttering a soft ‘thank you’ to her. 

Bada merely smiled and bowed her head a bit to you. No more words spoken.

I’m almost exaggerating. You both didn’t really speak much for the rest of this impromptu hanging out session. When you all arrived at the crew’s favorite place, you and Bada were just inexplicably drawn together, walking near one another and instinctively sitting next to one another. You were about to sit on your own, until you saw Bada pull the chair for you to sit proper. Then, as everyone was eating, she was taking care of everyone as it was her tacit responsibility as the leader and the oldest member, but with you…

“Open,” Bada said softly, holding a piece of food up.

And of course you let Bada feed you. It was a gesture that made you shy, but it filled you with a lot of warmth. It felt different than how she took care of others in some way, but you couldn’t exactly put your finger on it. Not like there was a space in that nogging of yours to think about anything else but the elephant in the room that you had to bring up at one point. 

One point.

“Hey, you have some sauce under your lip,” Tatter warned you, showing you where exactly.

You looked at the blonde woman, still partially lost in your wordless thoughts, so you unintentionally just stared at her in total silence. 

Lusher, who was the only one who knew anything, laughed to herself while Kyma and Minah tried to get your attention. 

Bada gently grabbed you by your chin and made you look at her while she looked at the stain and kindly wiped it off you with her thumb. A slight graze, her thumb barely touching your lower lip, but it paralyzed you and created a warm flush to run down your spine. “There we go,” Bada said with finality, sucking the sauce from her thumb and returning to her meal like the rest of the girls.

You would have to bring it up at one point…

But that moment wasn’t now, because just like that the moment was gone. When you and Lusher returned to your dorms, Lusher hit your arm playfully and hopped a little in her spot. Gushing over what happened today and how romantic it was, and all you could do was stand there and blush.

The next time you both would meet wouldn’t be for another three weeks, though some interactions were sprinkled in between. Brief moments that were not substantial enough for you to bring up whatever happened at the party, but enough to remain in your mind. 

First off, Mr. Annoying has resorted to never even looking at you, but initially he tried it again. Just like she was called by some ethereal being to help, Bada re-appeared to aid you. Ah, it was like she emerged from the shadows off the Café nearby, standing so casually besides you, but just off enough that she was behind. The guy noticed instantly and just walked away, popping up his collar and hiding his shameful face. When you turned around to see Bada, she smiled. 

“If he gives you more grief, let me know,” she merely said, walking away with what she had ordered. A chance meeting, where you could barely thank her.

He never tried it again.

You also got to know more about Bada through the mouth and perceptions of others, beyond the dance crew. 

Lusher dragged you out of your books and back outside into the real world, getting you to meet someone else from her seemingly endless circles of friends. This time it was a quiet bar in the middle of the week, meeting up with a woman who was like that older sister you would love and hate to have.  A conversation over a pool game had you three traveling to many topics, but it briefly stopped on the topic of Bada.

The woman, whose name escapes you, and who was winning the game, casually chatted while playing. “That Bada has a lot of the girls in the scene thirsty,” she laughed, shaking her head. “Apparently, she’s quite the lover girl.”

You gulped quietly, looking over at Lusher who instantly chimed in.

“How so?” Lusher asked, acting oblivious but having a subtle shit-eating smile and glance.

“Well–.” Smack! Another ball in her favor. You weren’t going to play any time soon. “These are just rumors, of course. But I hear she’s quite the heart throb, a very–.” Smack! Another one in. “Good lover, I guess.”

“Ooooh, really?” Lusher wiggled her eyebrow, looking at you.

But this only made a strange gut feeling emerge for you.

“Bada’s a good dancer,” the woman shrugged. “So, you can do the math. It figures she would be a –.” Smack! “Good fuck, pardon the expression.”

Ah, there was a swift twinge of jealousy when you heard that. It was irrational, right? Women that were with Bada before you even met Bada, yet they seemingly had such an easy time getting with her. THAT is what made you feel jealous, as ridiculous as it is. But it’s not just that jealousy, is it? It’s the implication that Bada has been here before. Bada had plenty to choose, plenty to chase, it was so easy for her and she wouldn’t sit down and think about you. 

But the previous incidents and everything you knew now made it difficult for you to fully believe that and give up. But you couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Especially after meeting up – on a different occasion – with one of Bada’s previous flings. This time, Lusher and Tatter were with you. A workout session together at the gym led to meeting with Bada’s fling by chance. The conversation wasn’t naturally landing on Bada this time, but Lusher – who is more invested in this than the rest of us at this point – directed the conversation towards it.

“You know,” Lusher started, patting the unknown woman we don’t really need to describe in the back. “We’re going to have a party at Chocol’s sometime next week. Me and the girls are coming over if you want us to–.”

The lady seemed to pause a little, slowly turning to see Lusher. “Who is going to go?”

“It’s a handful of people, Bada’s coming to pick me and m–.”

“Oh, I’ll have to pass darling,” the lady laughed in good humor, patting Lusher’s shoulder. “I’m in the process of getting a boyfriend, and he’s not very fond of Bada.”

Lusher was actually surprised and now you just felt bad, but before she could even think about anything to say…

“What’s wrong with Bada, though?” Tatter asked.

“That’s just the problem, nothing’s really wrong with Bada,” the lady shrugged. “We just… had a very intense but ultimately stringless relationship.”

Silence reigned but not with tension. Because Lusher and Tatter were standing there still like the emojis, it was pretty funny. I think they both didn’t really understand the implication, but you did. “And that matters because…?” Tatter asked, shrugging.

“Let’s just say, Bada and I never resolved that. And he’s… a little jealous about that.”

“Wouldn’t this be a great time to just… talk it out?” Tatter said, not knowing the entire reason Lusher even brought it up.

You could tell Lusher hated that because her eyes widened to the point where murdering Tatter was written all over her orbs, but she quickly relaxed back to her normal expression. I, too, want to murder Tatter because this means now we have to name this random lady and give her some importance, UGH.

The lady in question, Hyemi, merely told Lusher and Tatter that she would give it a thought and call them to confirm her attendance.

When she walked away, Lusher looked at you apologetically.

Now you truly didn’t feel confident about whatever was going on. Was Bada just after another conquest? Were you just another future fling? Or… was there more?

Tatter looked at you both with confusion. “What… is going on?”

Bada’s car had a strange air to it that night, with you in the passenger seat and feeling like someone was staring dagger glares at you from the back.

The night of the party finally came and you, Lusher and Tatter all gathered in your dorm room an hour before being picked up by Bada. Just as you all chatted away, a text message popped up on Lusher’s phone. It was Hyemi confirming her assistance and asking if she could be picked up. Lusher looked so annoyed by it, and Tatter – who now knew about everything – was apologetic to you both about it. You told both of them it was alright, that there was no need to show animosity to Hyemi. But deep down inside your feelings mirrored Lusher.

Fast forward to you four meeting up outside your dorm complex waiting for Bada. The conversation and the vibes were as chill as Lusher and Tatter could make them, the tension not there yet – or at least something only you could feel. But when Bada’s car slowed down across the curb, suddenly there was some visible tension on Hyemi’s part. 

“Yo,” Lusher said, walking up to the passenger seat.

“Come on in, ladies,” Bada merely said at first, looking at the girls getting in. Until–. “Yo, puppy,” Bada started, turning to see you about to hop in. “Sit shotgun for me, will you? I need a good pair of eyes where we’re going.”

Hyemi looked at you then at Bada. “I can do it.”

Lusher was faster than lighting though, dragging you out from your position and getting in instead of you to block Hyemi’s path. “I thought we were going to Chocol’s?” Lusher asked, just to drive the conversation away from having Bada change her mind. 

You got yourself comfortable in the passenger seat, closed the door and could feel Bada’s eyes on you for a moment too long. 

“We have to pick up Minah,” Bada replied with a chuckle, pulling out her phone to text her. “You guys look good, by the way.”

“Thaaaank you,” the girls all said harmoniously, all sounding just as giddy. 

And you just quietly blushed with a big smile, unable to respond verbally.

Bada put the phone away, looking at your reaction and smiling. “Put your seatbelt on, puppy,” she said lowly, starting to take off.

The silence in the car made it so that everyone could hear that, so you slowly looked back and noticed Hyemi’s look – or what you could see in the darkness of the car. You put your seatbelt on and started to feel that tension among all of you on this silent ride. It isn’t until Lusher and Tatter start to chat it up and lighten up the mood that you felt that suffocating tension let up a little bit. You weren’t sure if Bada felt it, or if it was just you who knew all the context. The tall, elusive dancer just kept her hand on the wheel cooly and let everyone else do the talking. You wouldn’t know, you couldn’t tell.

This party was going to be quite a disaster.

Despite it being a house party, there were quite a few people attending. Yet, this felt like a private little gathering, private enough that they weren’t letting anyone in without someone who knew Chocol personally. For this, Bada personally grabbed your hand and said. “I have to vouch for you, stay with me.” While the girls all were allowed in without hesitation and with warm greetings. 

By the time Bada came up to whoever was acting as the doorman, they had eyed you and squinted. “She looks like a scared puppy.”

Again?! Damn it, you really couldn’t get that look off your face. 

Bada laughed and patted your head a little. “She does, doesn’t she? I’m taking her under my wing, this scared little puppy.”

But when Bada said it, you consistently melted without hesitation. Instinctively, you hugged her arm a bit when she said that, which made the doorman look at you with some surprise.

“So, can she come in?” Bada asked politely, but still as cool and confident as ever.

Without a word and just giving Bada a look that you couldn’t decipher (but it was definitely cheeky), they moved aside and let you and Bada into the on-going party. Good music blared from the speakers, the people were up talking, or dancing,or by the nearest table playing poker, chatting it up in a group near the couch – and god knows what else. It was a brand new world opening for you, it was overwhelming.

And yet, something about this felt somewhat familiar. Like a smaller version of the party Lusher took you at the beginning of this story.

Bada looked down at you and chuckled. “You’re gonna rip my arm off.”

It took you that comment for you to realize you’ve been clinging to her arm like crazy. Instantly, you detached yourself with a barely coherent apology. 

“No sweat, puppy,” Bada laughed, patting your shoulder and looking around. “Let me get you to Lusher and the girls before I leave you.”

You looked up at her instantly. “Leave me?”

Bada laughed a bit more and patted your head again. “Not for long, I just gotta do something.”

And you knew Bada enough to know she wasn’t going to explain, instead she locked eyes with Lusher, tilted her head up just enough in knowledgement and held your hand as she made her way through to Lusher. Once you were near Lusher, Bada bid you farewell and disappeared from your sight.

“W-where is she going?” Lusher asked you.

You could just shrug and shake your head, knowing just as much as they knew. Hyemi stayed put in her place though, even though she had followed Bada with her eyes and was laser focused on talking to her.

Still, Lusher pulled you into the conversing bunch on the couch and introduced you to them, wanting to distract you while Bada was inexplicably gone. And while it worked, every now and then you instinctively looked around for her. Until the people around the couch felt in the mood to play a little good ol’ truth or dare, then your attention was fully drawn to this fairly entertaining game. In the mixtures of truths and silly dares you found solace and laughter, even connection with these people. Your first turn was a truth and you were giving leniency, a question that was safely scandalous but not too revealing. It got people chuckling, it got you blushing, but it got you in the mood of the game.

However, at one point Bada had returned to the group without explaining herself. Cooly just grabbed a drink and a snack from the nearest table and sat between Lusher and Tatter. Without a word uttered unnecessarily besides greetings, she had joined in the game and was soon asked the imperative question. Truth or dare. Without thinking much, Bada shrugged and called for a dare. And because someone up there has a sick sense of humor…

“I dare you to go 7 minutes in heaven with someone here.” 

The Oohs and Aahs weren’t as big as you thought they would be, instead there was quite a bit of laughter. For a second you thought there was a joke you were missing, or perhaps an incident that you weren’t told about. By the way Bada laughed and rolled her eyes it was perhaps the latter. Wordlessly, Bada chugged down the rest of her bottle and without much flare placed it on the ground, right in the middle of the group. With one twist of the wrist, it spun like crazy.

And then it slowed down to a steady stop. The mouth of the bottle slowly came to a stop and your heart stopped the moment you saw it slow down on you – but not enough. It skimmed past you onto the person right next to you.

Hyemi.

The reaction was mixed, with some people laughing and others discussing whether or not that should be allowed, but nothing concrete. Tatter felt horrible and Lusher wanted to eat the bottle on your behalf.

Hyemi, on the other hand, looked anxious about it. Not quite disappointed, but not quite celebrating.

Bada had the subtlest smirk on her before she got up. “Alright, let’s go. Start the timer,” she said, simply walking away from the group and hoping Hyemi would follow suit. And Hyemi did, no words spoken on her end.

Oh, jealousy boiled madly inside of you, but you tried your best to keep in your spot and keep track of the game around you – that undoubtedly continued while Bada was in… those 7 minutes of Heaven. The laughter and chatter became background noise as the minutes went by though. You could almost hear the clock ticking away, chipping off at the time nibble by nibble. Silly dares came and went, sour and hard-hitting truths and the philosophical discussions that came after it persisted and you were just entrapped in your own circle of thoughts.

What if Hyemi decided her chemistry with Bada is better and most important? What if she opts to cheat (well, she’s not cheating yet) on the guy she likes with Bada? What if Bada finds herself more interested in Hyemi and doesn’t… look back at you?

What if Bada gets bored of this chasing around, cat and mouse thing?

You felt like you could no longer stand around and wait for answers to rain down to your lap, not like this. At that moment you stood up and excused yourself from the game, trying to be as discreet as possible as you made your way through the small group of people lounging about. Lusher was confused, Tatter was even more so, but they figured they would get the gossip later. You barely even made it outside of the living room space before you stopped in your tracks in the hallway. Hyemi and Bada were just walking out of the closet from under the stairs, turning off the light as they chatted very… amicably about something. You didn’t know what, you couldn’t hear, but you didn’t care to.

Nearly stomping your way there, you walked up to the girl’s face and you could only hear Bada briefly say. “7 minutes passed already?”

But you didn’t care, nor did you stop to think. You only said. “I need to talk to you,” to Bada, looking up at her and then pushing her back into the closet. You turned to Hyemi who looked utterly confused and apologized briefly before going into the closet and closing the door shut.

Bada was the one to turn on the light, a bulb hanging loosely from the closet’s ceiling. She was hunched over just a bit, the place a bit cramped for her height. The expressions in her face for once betrayed her coolness and showed confusion, but you had never looked more determined. Well, okay, maybe a bit like a scared puppy, but desire was written all over your face and Bada could only catch a glimpse from it before you just went for it.

Cupping her cheeks, you leaned in and pressed your lips against hers in a passionate yet pure kiss. It made Bada’s gasp get caught in her throat, her hands not sure where to go, until she eased into it. She responded smoothly, a hand placed gently on the middle of your back. Not pushing you in, but not pulling away, just letting you lead in this moment of boldness from yours. You, without realizing, pushed your body against hers and made her walk backwards against the nearest wall. With her back against the wall and with you pressed against her, her other hand caressed your arm and the other one pulled you closer in – the kiss going from a rather desperate and chaste kiss to a more passionate one that still held that restraint of a first kiss. Which was surprising coming from Bada, who seemed like the kind of woman to go full speed ahead even in a kiss. But no, she was slow, touching you in the most gentle way, like you were the petal of a rose that she was trying to preserve for as long as she could. 

As much as you didn’t want the kiss to end, you had to pull away to breathe. It was like the kiss had knocked the winds out of you, like you weren’t prepared for this, so when you pulled away you realized just how much you went in unprepared. Your labored breath in no way matched Bada’s; you looked so much more worked up about it that you could only hope Bada didn’t notice. But why were you playing all cool? You were blushing hard, still pressed against her, you had pushed her in here to kiss her; you didn’t have to pretend to be so cool.

But Bada… seemed to find it quite cool, smirking. “I’ll be damned.”

You gulped, looking at her and taking in the way she looked at you. Her eyes were fixed on yours and had a vague look of surprise that you hadn’t seen on her. Her cheeks slightly flushed, her lips so thick and delightful. Something about the way she looked at you had you bewitched, shaken down to your core. You pulled away further, clearing your throat as if to recompose yourself, and then noticed a little tell-tale bulge from Bada.

Oh my, you couldn’t stop staring. A dormant beast that was only half awake and it already seemed to be quite the… endowment. You felt that exquisite, fuzzy pressure in the pit of your gut and it excited you. God, you couldn’t stop staring at it and that amused Bada quite a bit.

“Never seen one?” She cheekily commented, getting your attention.

You looked up at her, probably confused or–.

Then someone knocked on the door. “Yo, Bada? We gotta go.”

You had instinctively looked at the door, then at Bada. It dawned on you that this might have not been the best moment. With a small smile (was… that annoyance in her eyes? a twitch in her lips betrayed her composure but you didn’t know if you were imagining it), she patted your head and walked away from the situation, hiding her hardness as she did – like it was nothing. And just like that, she was out of your grasp.

And while some self-doubt plagued you, there was something there. A sliver of hope that Bada might actually like you. When you walked out, Hyemi looked at you with slight dejection but overall with some respect. Whatever she was thinking about she did not tell you, but frankly it wasn’t your business either. You both just silently walked back to the group who saw the absence of Bada and figured not to bring it up. Lusher was confused as Tatter was, but ultimately they did not bring it up either.

The rest of the night was enjoyable, even if it went by in a flash. A hazy flash that you remembered bits and pieces of, namely the craziest confessions in truth or dare, the tensest games of poker and the silliest dances ever seen on the dancefloor. All in all a pretty fun spectacle that seldom had Bada as a witness, seeing as she had only returned at one point towards the end of the evening party to catch up and drive all of you back home.

The ride back was quiet, like everyone had partied out their energy and didn’t feel like even chatting about it. In the passenger seat was Hyemi, Bada was the one driving and Lusher, Tatter and you were all decompressed and nearly limp in the backseats. At one point Lusher was even heard snoring, which seemed to bring a smile to Bada’s lips. Tatter quietly slept and you pretended to sleep, wrapping your head around what happened. Quietly untangling the complicated feelings you had and trying to figure out how to… well, get some alone time with Bada to talk to her about whatever the hell happened there.

But you suddenly heard a quiet voice break the silence.

“So, what are you doing after you drop us off?” It was Hyemi, careful not to disturb the sleep of those next to you, perhaps thinking you were asleep too. You carefully listened while pretending to be asleep as well.

Bada shrugged at the question. “Get back home, maybe.”

There was a small beat of silence, then Hyemi boldly spoke. “Do you… wanna come over to my house then?”

Your heart sank and you didn’t know how you managed to stay quiet.

Bada responded with silence, eyes forward on the road.

“Bada?”

“I’ll think about it,” Bada said firmly, bringing a full stop to the conversation that Hyemi wanted to continue, but she listened to that implicit command from Bada and kept quiet.

First one dropped off was Tatter, the second and third were you and Lusher. You were nearly carrying Lusher at this point, who was way beat and too sleepy to coherently stand on her own. So, Bada hopped off the car to help you carry Lusher. On the way to your dorm room, you both kept quiet – foolishly perhaps, or maybe you both didn’t want to bring anything up with a half-asleep Lusher. Either way, Bada dropped you both to your dorm. Curiously, she looked around after placing Lusher on her bed, smiling at the homely feeling but not telling you a thing. Instead, you both looked at each other, like you both wanted to say far more than you both let on.

But you both bid your goodbyes and the opportunity slipped past your fingers. It drove you crazy looking at her walk away, knowing that she’s going to be with Hyemi for god knows how long. Knowing the history between her and Hyemi…

You could only catastrophize, unwillingly imagine how it was going between them as you stared at the ceiling. Lusher soundly asleep, almost snoring, and you only hoping you could be wrapped around with the warmth of deep slumber.

Until an hour later, you received a text you never thought you’d receive.

[radioapplerevue]

Radioapple Fic Recs

Finally got around to organizing a rec list. Going to pin this, since I see people ask for recs a lot. I expect I'll be updating this periodically, too, as I've only just started adding things to it.

These are my personal favorites. For context, I'm an almost 40 year old aroace person whose favorite fics tend to be those who take you apart and then put you back together, haha. Putting them under a read more because I expect this to get long.

The Ruination of Lucifer by @syaunei. (Explicit)

Remember what I said about taking apart and being put back together? Nothing has come close to toppling this fic for me when it comes to emotional catharsis. One of the things I love most about it is how directly it deals with Lucifer's severe depression and the consequences of it, as well as the many, many centuries of him having to deal with just being Who He Is, Where He Is. He's terribly wounded and suffering, but he's also indisputably the King of Hell, with all the power and all the knowledge and all the experience that comes with it.

This fic also stands out for being from Alastor's POV, which I love, because as much as this fic is called The Ruination of Lucifer, the subtitle could be "How Alastor Fucked Around and Found Out". Both of them are getting broken down here, and both of them are -- hopefully -- learning how to grow and move forward. It also takes into account Alastor's asexuality and his unconventional approach towards sex, and what it can (or can't) do for him.

Mind the warnings, though, because shit does get heavy in here for a while. And enjoy the gorgeous illustrations by @betti2024.

2. Lucifer and his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Relationship by @keelywolfe (ratings vary by part)

This series has me in a chokehold. It's considerably softer than many Radioapple fics, but it really draws you in and makes you so invested in these two idiots and how much they care about each other but also how bad they are at understanding how much they care about each other. It's Lucifer's POV, which causes Suffering not only because he's an incredibly unreliable narrator, but because there's Something Going On with Alastor that we know nothing about except that it's Bad. And we (and Lucifer) are dyiiiing to know what it is, haha.

There is a lot of sex in this series, but there's something about it that's very compelling to me, especially from Alastor's side. The way he is written in these encounters is just so... tender. It's obvious that (most of the time) he's not getting anything really in terms of sexual gratification, but he's getting a great deal in terms of gratification of a different sort, and the fact that it's so clear that he derives as much -- or perhaps more -- pleasure from that as Lucifer does from the sex itself is so delicious.

But my favorite aspect of the whole thing is that no matter what conflicts are going on -- whether outside of themselves, or of their own making -- Lucifer has become Alastor's safe harbor. And that kills me.

3. Bedtime Rituals to Try Out Before the Next Angelic War by @miribalis (teen and up)

Did I mention I like soft? Because I do. And there's something so lovely about the slow, careful way their relationship progresses here, especially on Alastor's side. My issue with this fic is that it ended, haha! I was so looking forward to seeing where it went, because I got addicted to the particular tender rapport that the two of them built. But being left wanting more is hardly a knock on the fic itself, and it's absolutely a treat to get to read.

4. All changed, changed utterly by @tollingreminiscentbells (explicit)

This series is very different from the rest. It's a canon AU where Lucifer and Alastor first met when Alastor was still alive, and then proceeds to go into canon events from there, with Lucifer being the one holding Alastor's leash. There's a lot to chew on, and the author has chosen to go a very different route regarding biblical mythology than the show does. Definitely something I recommend if you want a deep dive into a really meaty series, that delves into both the dynamics of Heaven vs. Hell as well as the worth of free will, as embodied by Alastor (for better or worse).

It also includes one of my new favorite recurring things, which is Alastor's 'delusional not-sex'. (It's sex.)

5. devils don't fly (don't expect me not to fall) by @corgiss (mature)

I think it's becoming apparent that I really enjoy fics that begin with the two of them butting heads, and sometimes stumbling into a huge blunder, only for them to slowly grow together into something much softer than either of them likely intended. This is one such fic. It also involves some fun stuff with the rest of the cast, and a masquerade. Gotta love that.

6. Of Saints and Sinners by @morningstarwrites (teen and up)

This fic is probably the most lighthearted of the radioapple fics I read, haha. It's a fun romp and has definitely made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. So if you're looking for something that preserves that antagonism-to-grudging-friendship-to-oh-no-we've-caught-feelings kind of story, but with more comedy and less angst, this is the fic for you! (I mean, I have no idea if angst is going to happen in the future, but so far.)

7. hit me where it hurts (the bruising will be worth it) by RestlessWanderings (mature)

This one can only be called radioapple if you squint, but I'm including it because a) it's by far my favorite take on the hotel battle scene, b) I love when Lucifer gets fucked up and people get scared for him and c) it's technically part of a radioapple series. I don't know if that series is still going to happen, but I do enjoy this plenty on its own!

8. Lucid Dreams of New Orleans by @radiaurapple (teen and up)

This is fic has a very unusual set up -- it deals a lot with memories (mostly Alastor's) with Lucifer along for the ride. If you're interested in seeing Alastor's background and relationships in life fleshed out, with the addition of Lucifer both within those memories and outside of them (and, perhaps, a bit of the other way around), then you should enjoy this journey! Also, pining. Gotta love pining.

9. Take Your King to Work Day by @decembercamiecherries (gen)

This is just a one-shot that I love. It's funny and clever and so very, very Lucifer and Alastor in a nutshell.

10. Line of Sight by @yersifanel (ratings vary -- teen to explicit)

I really enjoyed this series that was done for radioapple week. I'm always into it when Alastor thinks he's being clever and has everything under control and then it comes back to bite him in the ass when he realizes that what he wants isn't what he thought he wanted, and isn't that fucked up, how dare this happen to him. (Basically, I love him being a melodramatic baby over things that are actually not an issue at all. ) The drama of it all! (Alastor is the drama. That's it.)

11. Hunger Pains by @theaffablescamp (explicit. VERY explicit)

This is porn. Ha no it's not just that at all, but as a heads up, this is a very explicit series. So much smut. So if you're not into that, it's not your thing. Basically, Alastor eats a lust demon which does not turn out well for him, proceeds to make a deal with Lucifer to 'fix' the problem, and then creates many many more problems for himself along the way. This series is great for the incredible mental gymnastics Alastor uses to avoid the answers that are staring him right in the face in favor of much worse ones. Also, for a confident Lucifer who often has the upper hand and tries to nudge Alastor into actually acknowledging what he wants (and usually failing). It's messy and fun and very hot.

12. Between the Shadow and the Soul by @winterveritas (explicit)

This series has a bit of a different Alastor than a lot of them, where he's interested in Lucifer off the bat and intent on pursuing him. Of course, being Alastor, he has no idea what he's doing (even when he thinks he does). I am particularly fond of the second entry in the series, because hurt/comfort is my lifeblood. Also, it includes the most creative disposal of Lucifer's wedding ring that I've seen. This series is definitely on the softer side, which is something I take comfort in when some of the other fics hurt me, lol. I certainly hope to see it continued!

Hold here for more! There are a bunch of fics I’m following but am unsure if they’ll ever be finished — which is fine, writers don’t owe us anything! But it will definitely determine how high up they are on my favorites, haha. And of course people are posting new ones all the time.

[mafiatsunafish]

The daggers were surprised to see a man that looks like a younger version of Rooster walking into the Hard Deck.

He had the pilot starter pack, Hawaiian floral print shirt, sunglasses hanging on his inner white shirt and all that jazz.

But there was something just so wrong with him, the daggers couldn’t seems to wrap their head on what exactly was wrong.

And then they saw Hangman trailing behind the said man looking weirdly worried and awkward.

“Roo, I’m sorryyyyyy.”

The blond’s apology spooked the entire squad cause the know he DOES NOT say sorry to anyone, except when he really screwed up.

Another thing, so that man was Rooster but apparently just missing something?

Ah

A small cartoonish light bulb appeared on Phoenix head. She shouted:

“Hey Rooster, where the hell is your mustache!?”

It has been years since the last time she saw his bare face like that, ever since their orientation at flight school. Therefore, this creeped the fuck out of her.

Now the other daggers took a few seconds to reboot their brain and updated on the situation, started to boom bard the tall brunet with many questions.

To be fair, none of them NONE OF THEM ever see Rooster without his infamous porntasche, so oh my my for them.

Then Halo seemed to find out another thing that just out of place on Rooster point out.

“Rooster, that is one nasty black eyes you have there man, alright?”

The pair, Hangman and Rooster now sat with their squad, the blond still looked weird and the brunet looked so done but still somehow amused.

“Just feels like I want to shave it.”

Rooster shrugged easily.

“And the black eye in on me.”

Hangman suddenly answered and that take their friend out.

“Uhmmm.. what happened? May I asked? Should I even know?” Coyote asked wearily.

“This bastard, decided to shave his face, bare, without saying anything. Then acted like nothing happened, hugged me from behind when I was cooking. I turned around to see a fucking stranger standing in my kitchen so I punch him.”

“What!?” Their friends shouted

“It’s not my fault that I’ve never see him without damn thing on his face!”

Hangman shouted back while Rooster just laughing beside him.

“I vetted him for that, the last time I saw our chicken’s bare face was in our first week of flight school and that was years before Hangman meet him.” Phoenix was also laughing now.

“I’m alright now, just a punch. He screamed bloody murder when he saw my face like this too.” Rooster added

“Roooooo!” Hangman hid his face behind his hands and Rooster just kissed him softly on his side, still laughing of course.

“It’s ok darling.” Rooster said to his lover.

“Damn, but I understand what Hangman did cause you looked so weird” Bob said while giggling.

“Please put it back.” Fanboy distress mumbling get drowned among his squad mate various noise of amusement.

(The first time Mav and Ice saw Rooster with his mustache through a picture Slider sent them.

Slider was stationed at Rooster based then, he had to call the husbands to warned them first, before sending the picture.

But still.

Mav almost have a panic attack and Ice was so shocked, they then just crying that whole evening. Nothing can prepare them to see how much their godson looks like his father. To the point they almost believe that was Goose, standing there in his flight suit, smiling brightly at them.)

(The autocorrect had me rolling fr )

[ender-cloud]

JASPER MY KING 🙏🙏🙏

Spilers under cut

There was none last week because it’s been really busy last week and this week, but I just felt like I had to

Lyn brought up that Jaspers inspirational speech is happening at the same time as Hyde’s breakdown and now it’s all I can think about.

“Guys we must face this hard ship” vs “HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT” is just a really fun image in my head

“YOU should be upset” instead of WE, this mean that Jasper actually isn’t mad at Jekyll because he does Understand.

I wont go into to much detail because I already did in a different ramble

I love the lodgers expressions, they don’t show up often but when they do the absolute most characterization is shoved into them

The last page too, they get no time but when they do they leave an impression

At first I was expecting Jasper to say what we all already know, but adding some new information lets us know both how chaotic the society is and how much Jasper has gotten to know about everyone and how he has come to really be apart of the society

The lodgers also seem to respect him, he was able to get their attention despite their frantic nature and they actually seem to be listening to him

He is a voice of Reason in this confusing time, reason that most of the lodgers seem to be lacking at the moment

Jasper has grown from the shy, quiet new guy to a more respected and valued member because of the one on one work he did with Jekyll that helped him learn more

Jasper has been more open to speaking his mind, first with Jekyll, then Racheal, and now all of the lodgers, He has the qualities of a leader, even if he may not personally think so

I hope I am not saying all of this just for the lodgers to not listen in the end 🙏🙏🙏

I dont really have much to say about this Panel, It just made me chuckle and I felt wrong not including it.

As more updates are made the more I like Victoria, she’s just so interesting with everything and I love seeing her in different situations with how she acts to them

Anyway Back to Jaspers speech

I feel like this was really the best way Jasper could’ve ended it, bringing back the whole reason why Jekyll had made the society; a safe community where Scientists could go and be protected

A place where they could help each other on their research, find lab partners and eventually find patrons

Also the thing about Risks and experimentation, Jasper has a point, you wont always get your experiment right, just like Jekyll; he wanted Hyde to be seperated from him, and it didn’t work out 100% correctly.

And people DO get hurt, both emotionally and physically, while the lodgers are all betrayed about what Jekyll has done it is very likely they would’ve done the same

No one wants to admit when there wrong and no one wants to admit defeat, it’s something we see with both Jekyll and Frankenstine many times, hell, it’s something we have all experienced in our own lifes.

While many people would probably understand what Jekyll had done and was going through if he told them sooner, he was scared. He’s the leader, he cant just admit that he made a mistake, he feels like he needs his perfect reputation.

That is why Jasper is trying to get the lodgers to understand, he is making them realize why Jekyll had done it, and while it might’ve not been right, they all know they would do the same

Jaspers words are powerful enough to hopefully convince the lodgers and redirect their anger for now and have things simmer down for a bit

[arealphrooblem]

Kidnapped by the Boss Part 7

Hey guys! Sorry it's been like a million years since I updated anything! I got burned out for a while and I'm slowly getting back to it. Hopefully with summer break looming, you'll see more of me!

Synopsis: Civilian is a secretary to the Prime Minster. But when the political summit between the city states goes awry, she finds herself kidnapped by the very boss she tried to protect and nothing is what it seems.

Part one here

Part six here

"What is this?”

It looked harmless, a small metal rectangular wrist band with no buttons or engraving or adornment of any kind. She didn’t trust it, regardless, not that that mattered to Rook, who kept his explanations to himself as he grabbed her hand. She tried to jerk it back, but his grip turned bruising and iron tight as he latched it shut.  

It hugged tightly on her, a nearly imperceptible hum against her skin. Only a tiny seam remained on the bottom, with no button or latch or catch to open it.

“What is it?” she demanded, swallowing down a flutter of panic.

Rook rolled his eyes. “Relax, princess. It’s just a tracker.”

“A tracker?”

“Yeah. Consider it your freedom. Now you can go anywhere you want and no one has to worry about you slipping out to somewhere you shouldn’t be.”

She gave him an appraising look. “Are you going to come fetch me if I go somewhere I shouldn’t?”

“No. I’m just going to push a button and an electric current will take you out until someone finds you.”

He gazed back, utterly impassive, and Val couldn’t tell if he was trying to scare her or not. She refused to be cowed though.

“How strong of a current are we talking about?” she asked

A smirk spread slowly across his face. “Why don’t you get near an airport and find out? If it doesn’t kill you, then you’ll have your answer.”

Val jut her chin up, meeting his smirk with a glare. “Do you get a kick out of trying to make me afraid? Does it make you feel tough?”

He snorted and stepped closer to her. She stood stock still as he linked their arms together.

“You’re in enemy territory, Val,” he murmured, ducking his head down close to her ear, like he was sharing a secret.  “I’m just trying to keep you on your toes.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

The corner of his mouth lifted up. “My king wants you down for lunch in his office. I’ll show you the way.”

The king’s office looked much the same as it did when he was Eugene the Prime Minister. Papers scattered in random piles, post it notes scribbled with cryptic notes only he understood. Reminders taped on walls, the desk, the door.

A table was cleared off, the papers clearly dumped on the desk. A spread of soup and sandwiches sat on it, the king sitting in one of the chairs, waiting. Val was hit with a pang of nostalgia, because this set up looked exactly like the ones they had during campaign season. She didn’t know if he did it deliberately or if this was just how he ran his life.

“Afternoon, Val,” he said with a smile. “I see you have your tracker now.”

“And potential execution device,” she added dryly.

He shrugged. “Only a stupid person would need to worry about the electric shock and you are not stupid.”

“That makes me feel so much better.”

He smiled again, ignoring her sarcasm. “Have a seat.”

She reluctantly joined him and helped herself to a sandwich, knowing this whole charade was just to watch her eat. Rook did not join them, preferring to lean against the wall next to the king. It felt a little unnerving to eat under both of their stares but she knew there’d be hell to pay if she didn’t.

And she had to admit, the food was painfully delicious.  

“You now control the lock on your door,” the king said (Aris? It still didn’t feel right but neither did Eugene). “You may stay or leave your room as you please. All unlocked areas of the castle are open to you, as well as the grounds. If you wish to head into the city, Rook will escort you.”

Rook’s mouth fell open in outrage. “You cannot be serious! I babysit her enough as it is and you want me to take her out for ice cream and shopping? Who is protecting you while I run bullshit errands with her?”

“Hey! Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I have a shopping addiction,” she snapped.

“Like you wouldn’t jump at the chance to blow all the king’s treasury just to fuck us over.”

“What the hell am I going to be buying to drain it — a super yacht?”

“Children, please.” The king — Aris — held up a hand. “It’s not an ideal situation for any of us, but the two of you will have to give each other a little faith.”

Val and Rook let out twin snorts of derision and then shot each other matching glares.

“As I was saying,” Aris said with a warning look, “you have been given a probationary amount of freedom, Val.”

“Probationary?” So this was temporary?

“Yes. Your privileges will change depending on your actions. If you stay obedient, prove yourself, then you freedoms will grow. If you try to circumvent your restrictions, you will lose your freedoms and live in a cell much less cozy than the rooms I’ve given you.”

Obedient. Like a toddler. Like a dog. 

Not for the first time did helpless rage well up in her throat like acid. So many retorts and screams crowded her mouth that it rendered her speechless, unable to choose which to say first and terrified to say any of them.

Eug— Aris — looked at her in such smug satisfaction, as if proud of himself for bestowing a phenomenal gift. If Rook wasn’t in the room, Val could have hit him. Her fingers curled in on themselves to fight the temptation regardless.

“Do you have any questions?” Aris tilted his head slightly, studying her.

She used to love having his full attention on her — something made rare and precious because of his busy schedule and bouts of scatterbrained day dreaming. Right now it made her skin crawl, adding fuel to the feeling of constantly being under surveillance, never able to relax.

“Can I go now?” she asked tightly.

His gaze ducked down to her half-eaten lunch. “You haven’t finished your food.”

The rage leaped up, like a kerosene drenched campfire. She felt reckless and wild with it and without a second thought, flipped her plate off the table to watch it shatter to the floor, food spraying over the lush carpet.

“I’m done,” she said. “Now?”

She had no idea what her face looked like at that moment, but whatever Aris saw on it made him sit back in his seat.

“Yes,” he said slowly, warily. “Of course.”

Val stood so far that her chair fell backwards. “Thank you,” she bit out, dripping venom, before striding out the door.

She had no idea where she was headed, and she didn’t care. Val picked a direction and walked as fast as she could towards it. If it led her to a so-called restricted section of the palace, then maybe that would put her out of her misery.

The padded footsteps sound too close and too late to react before a hand grabbed her shoulder. Val whirled around, fist striking out in pure instinct at the warm body behind her. In less than a second, that body gripped her wrist and shoved her against the wall of the hallway.

Rook.

Of course.

“Someone is very cranky today,” he said, the corner of his mouth tugging up in a smirk.

“Let me go,” she snarled, pushing ineffectively against him.

Rook complied, releasing the bruising grip on her wrist and taking a wide step back, hands up in mock surrender.

“Not many people can scare the king, but I think you managed it just then,” he said.

“What the hell do you want? You have a tracker now. You don’t need to stalk me anymore.”

“We never finished our tour. I wouldn’t want you wandering somewhere you shouldn’t and getting electrocuted on your first day.”

“I’ll figure it out on my own, thanks.”

Rook gave her that same kind of stare Aris did — an assessment. Complete with head tilt. They must spend a lot of time together.

“You’re very angry for someone who was just given a significant amount of freedom that they quite frankly don’t deserve,” he said slowly.

She gave him a poisonous look. “I am not talking about this with you.”

And now that smirk again. “Thank god. I’m not paid to be a feelings person. But I think I know what you need.”

“A long walk off a tall cliff?”

He snorted. “Tempting. But no. Follow me and find out.”

It was probably a stupid decision to follow the most untrustworthy person she’d ever met, but having more opportunities to hate Rook offered her a welcome distraction. So, against all sanity, Val followed him down to an elevator and watched him push the basement button.

“Is that where you keep the torture chambers?” she asked, half joking, half . . .not joking.

“Sometimes it feels that way,” he muttered back.

The elevator dinged and opened to gleaming wooden floors and bright lights. It looked like the reception of a swanky business more than a typical basement. Down a short hallway sat an interior room lined with windows and inside sat various mats, weights, and other equipment.

“You brought me to the gym?” she asked dubiously.

“Yep.”

He made a bee line to a tall metal cabinet and pulled out boxing gloves. “Catch.”

Too fast for her to react, they hit Val square in the face and fell to the floor. She sent him another glare as he snickered before bending down to pick them up.

“You want me to hit something?”

Which actually sounded great, come to think of it.

“I want you to hit me.”

Oh even fucking better.

It felt too good to be true. But Val watched as he pulled out two wide padded circles and fitted them over his palms before he stepped onto one of the mats.

“You gonna put them on or are you chickening out?”

She yanked them onto her hands, their weight surprisingly heavy and then followed him onto the mat.

Rook held up his hands in the mock surrender pose.

“Hit these as hard as you can.”

“You’re serious?” She eyed him dubiously. “What if I hit you in the face?”

“You won’t.”

“You sure? It seems real tempting.”

He grinned. “The day you land a hit on me, I’ll smuggle you back home myself.”

As much as she wanted to deck his face, Val knew a trap when she heard one. Instead, she followed his instructions, landing a blow square against the right hand pad.

He didn’t even budge.

“Come on, Val, I know that’s not all you got. You were so full of rage earlier. Don’t tell me it left already.”

Oh, it didn’t. But she felt nervous putting her full effort in. Either it would hurt him and he’d make her pay or it would be pathetic and he’d mock her.

“You can’t laugh,” she said.

“Oh, I’m going to laugh. Now fucking hit me already.”

She took a deep breath and then slammed her fist against the pad with all her might. He never lost his footing, but she was pleased to see his body sway a fraction.

“Much better. I knew you had it in you. Do it again.”

“What’s the point of this?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Stress relief. I love hitting things when I’m mad. And if you’re hitting me then you’re not hitting my king. So come on, Val. Give me everything you’ve got.”

He asked and she delivered. Val channeled all the injustice, the fear, the grief that the last week had brought her into her fists, driving them over and over into Rook’s padded hands. She didn’t stop, not when her arms started to shake, not when sweat soaked her back, not when a lancing pain hit her shoulder with each impact. It was mindless violence with no victim and it blocked out everything else.

“Ok, okay, Val. That’s enough.”

His voice echoed distantly and she dismissed it instantly. He took a step back and she chased him. It wasn’t until he wrapped his arms around her from behind, trapping her arms against her sides.

“That’s enough Val,” he said in her ear.

She was breathing like a winded rhinoceros, her chest burning with it. But with each slowed breath, exhaustion threaded itself through her limbs and tugged. Eventually she slumped against his chest, happy to let him take all the weight of her. Even then he did not budge.

She was too tired to be angry now.

“Your form is absolute dog shit,” he said, his grip cautiously loosening. “But you have some potential. I could train you, if you wanted.”

“Train me?” With supreme effort, she pulled away from and turned to face him. “Train me in what?”

“Boxing. Mixed martial arts. Basic self defense. You can have your pick.”

“You want to teach me how to fight?” She crossed her arms. “Is this some kind of trap? What’s the catch?”

He raised an eyebrow. “There’s no catch. It would get you in shape, get your mind off things. Give you some sense of control.”

“And then I could use it against you.”

He had the gall to laugh at that, head thrown back. “Not in a million fucking years.”

“You think I could never be a threat to you?” Now she felt insulted. “Is it because I’m a woman?”

Rook rolled his eyes. “The scariest people I’ve ever met have been women. But a few weeks or months of the basics is never going to match years of intensive training. If you ever manage to hit me, it’s because I let you for your pride.”

He held out his hands for her gloves and she pulled them off with surprising reluctance.

“Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you the way back to your room. You need a shower.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly.

But a tiny flicker of gratitude wormed its way through her chest as she followed him back to the elevator. The exercise had cleared her head. She felt soothed, the tightness in her chest dissipated. Rook undoubtedly had ulterior motives for helping her, but he still could have let her drown in her own rage until she did something stupid that he’d gleefully punish her for.

Instead he gave her a much needed outlet.

She didn’t know how to feel about that.

Let me know in a comment if you want to be tagged!

Part 8 here

Taglist

@rivalriotrenegade @sunyside-world @fishtale88 @those-damn-snippets @suspiciousmuffin @thats-alittle-gay @girl-of-the-sea-and-stars @tobeornottobeateacher @burningkittypoet @kurai-hono-blog @clover-sage

[emilyprentissluvr]

A New Light (Don't Blame Me: Chapter 5)

Emily Prentiss x Reader

Summary: Emily knew it was wrong. She knew you were the most dangerous woman the BAU had ever seen. Yet, she couldn't seem to stay away from you.

Warnings: Typical Criminal Minds stuff

Words: 2k

"How's that big head of yours?" Emily asked as she leaned against the door frame of Derek's hospital room. She had come straight from the crime scene, where Hotch had received a call that Derek was being released but needed someone to pick him up. Emily immediately volunteered, the lingering guilt still at the back of her mind. 

"Always the flatterer, princess." Derek chuckled as he packed his bag, "Doctors think she drugged me transdermally."

"Jesus. She really was two steps ahead of us," Emily sighed, and Derek nodded in confirmation, "Hotch said she struck again?"

"Yeah, she's taunting us," Emily said.

"This is my fault. I should have done more to stop her-" Derek started before Emily cut him off.

"She drugged you, Derek. No one could have seen that coming."

"I know, but-"

"Ah! No buts! Except for yours, which is about to get pushed around by me in a wheelchair." Emily smiled as she gestured to the wheelchair outside of his room.

"Like hell I am," Derek scoffed as he tried to walk out of the room but was stopped by Emily. 

"It's hospital protocol. And I'll call Dad if you don't cooperate!" Emily threatened.

Derek rolled his eyes but eventually sat in the wheelchair. Emily could be very scary when she wanted to be.

Out of everyone, he was glad that it was Emily to get him. They shared an easy camaraderie, which was exactly what he needed. 

"I don't think Hotch will approve of you calling him Dad." Derek quipped back as Emily pushed him through the halls of the hospital.

"Yeah, you're right. Mom suits him better." Emily smiled, causing Derek to laugh, "Ten bucks to say that to his face." 

"Oh, you're on," Emily said, flicking the back of his head, and their bickering continued all the way to the car. 

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

"Alright, my beautiful crime fighters," Penelope started as she walked into the conference room where the rest of the team was. As soon as Emily and Derek had walked into the bullpen, Hotch had called everyone to debrief and review new information.

"I found a whole lot of nothing with the information Derek gave us, but I did possibly find something!" Penelope said as she connected her computer to the TV. 

"I ran the name Y/n Y/l/n, and unsurprisingly, I found nada. However, I ran the name Alex Painter, Y/n's first victim, through VICAP and got this.."

The technical analyst pulled the picture up, and the team sat in confusion.

"Alex Painter was a woman?" Emily asked, extremely skeptical if this was the right person.

"And she was killed in 1991? Assuming Y/n is in her mid-20s, that would put her at about 6-10 years old when she killed Alex Painter." Spencer chimed in.

"COD was blunt force trauma to the head; I mean, even though it sounds unlikely, it isn't entirely impossible," Derek said.

"I've seen it before," Rossi added. 

"You can't be serious," JJ said defensively, causing the whole team to look at her, surprised by her uncharacteristic tone, "She was just a kid. There's no way she could have done that by herself."

"I'm with JJ," Emily said, although much calmer than her blonde counterpart, "Something's off. This is either the wrong Alex Painter, or we're getting into something a lot bigger than we thought."

The rest of the team nodded; not everyone was on the same page, but everyone knew something wasn't adding up. 

"Well, that's my cue to do more sleuthing. I will update you guys when I'm done. PG out." Penelope declared as she grabbed her stuff and made her way to her lair for the foreseeable future. 

"While Garcia's doing that, I want a new profile on Y/n, especially after last night,"  Hotch said as he motioned to the numerous boxes on the table. "Go over all the case files again; maybe there's something Interpol missed." He said before going to his office to no doubt do his own work.

"Well, this should be fun," Derek grumbled, earning a sigh from everyone else.

"Coffee, anyone?" Emily asked, knowing this was about to be a long day. Everyone gave a pleasant nod. Before she left the room, she turned to JJ when no one was looking and mouthed "tea," to which JJ gave a grateful smile.  

As Emily was brewing the coffee, she felt her phone buzz. Not thinking anything of it, she pulled it out of her pocket. But when she saw the sender of the text, her heart dropped. 

Y/n (10:23 am): Did you like the flowers?

Emily scoffed, about to turn her phone off, when another message popped up.

Y/n (10:24 am): It was hard to find them on such short notice. But only the best for you, darling.

Emily (10:24 am): I don't want anything from you.

Emily quickly typed out. She didn't know if this was against protocol, but she couldn't just not respond. 

Y/n (10:25 am): We'll see about that.

Emily pocketed her phone, leaving the conversation at that before turning to the coffee pot and filling up everyone's mug. 

"Thanks for the tea," Emily heard from behind her and turned to find JJ.

"Of course. You feeling okay?" She asked as she handed JJ her mug, "No morning sickness, thankfully. But I give the smell of coffee two hours before it makes me puke."

"I'm sorry," Emily said apologetically, but JJ waved her off.

"So, have you put any more thought into you and Will?" Emily asked, trying not to pry, but she also wanted to get her mind off of Y/n.

"I don't know," JJ sighed, "He was blowing up my phone last night."

"After you told him you were at my place?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, he was just worried," JJ said quietly. 

Emily tried not to let her emotions play on her face, but god, she couldn't stand Will. 

"Well, you're welcome to come over whenever. And if you need me to talk to Will-" Emily started before JJ cut her off.

"It's fine, Em. But thank you." JJ said appreciatively, squeezing Emily's arm. 

"Yo! Where's that coffee, princess?" Derek called from the conference room. 

"Well, duty calls." JJ chuckled as she helped Emily grab the mugs. 

When they returned to the conference room, there were files everywhere. It was going to be a very long day.

By 6 pm, it seemed as if they had made no progress. Emily's eyes were strained, and she honestly didn't think she was retaining anything she was reading. 

"This is insane," Derek muttered as he picked another file out of the box.

"What is?" Spencer asked, adding another file to his stack that was probably double the size of everyone else's.

"Her victim count. It's insane." Derek said as it was the most obvious thing.

"Why? Cause she's a woman?" JJ asked.

"Yeah," Derek said sarcastically, causing Emily to throw her pen at him, hitting him right in the forehead, "Hey! I was kidding!"

"I know," Emily smiled, and Derek rolled his eyes.

"What I meant was that she's in her twenties and already has a kill count in the hundreds. What happened to her that made her into the killer she is?" Derek questioned.

"I don't know. And until we figure that out, we stand no chance of catching her," Rossi added.

Emily bit at her bottom lip. She didn't want to think about how many more people were going to die before they caught Y/n.

"Maybe I can try and lure her out again." Emily offered and was immediately met with a resounding no from everyone.

"We already did that, and it didn't work," JJ said. Not even wanting to think about sending her friend to meet Y/n again. 

"And besides, you know that's not how we work, Prentiss," Derek said.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right." Emily said with a small nod. But she couldn't help but think they could catch Y/n quicker if they did, except for the fact that Derek was right. The BAU didn't go undercover and lure people; they profiled and caught unsubs from an outside perspective. And that's how Emily wanted to do things from here on out. Right?

It was almost 8 pm by the time she walked into her apartment. The last two days were catching up to her, and Emily wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next 12 hours. She quickly popped a frozen pizza into the oven before going to change. 

As she waited for the pizza, she browsed through her bookshelf when she suddenly remembered that Y/n told her she was a writer. Was it possible that Emily had read one of her books? She had quite a hefty collection in her apartment, but it wasn't even a fraction of all the books she'd read in her life. 

What kind of books did Y/n write? Emily wondered. Mystery? Romance? Fiction? Fantasy?

And what got her into writing? How did she even have time to write and murder hundreds of men?

The oven rang, pulling Emily out of her thoughts. She shook her head as she walked back to the kitchen. Reading was supposed to help her get out of her head, and all she could think about was Y/n. 

She took her pizza on the couch, putting on some reality show that she didn't pay any attention to. 

After about twenty minutes, Emily pulled her phone out and went to her text messages with Y/n. She knew she should tell Hotch she was in contact with Y/n. But what if Hotch disapproved and made her end it? She couldn't get rid of the only lead they had, so maybe she should wait until she got enough out of Y/n. 

So, without thinking too hard about it, she texted Y/n. 

Emily (9:02 PM): Alex Painter.

The name was all Emily typed before turning off her phone. She knew Y/n wouldn't be able to resist talking to her. And even if the younger woman didn't give her anything, what harm could it do? It wasn't like the team was making much leeway anyway.

Y/n (9:03 PM): I thought you wanted nothing to do with me? Change of heart?

Emily (9:03 PM): No. I just want to know about Alex Painter. 

Y/n (9:04 PM): What about her?

Y/n (9:04 PM): Also, this is not the kind of late-night text I prefer, Emily.

Emily scoffed, ignoring the last message.

Emily (9:05 PM): Did you really kill her in 1991?

Y/n (9:05 PM): I don't know, did I? I thought your team was supposed to be good at stuff like this.

Y/n (9:06 PM): Also, what are you wearing?

Once again, Emily ignored the last message.

Emily (9:06 PM): You were just a kid in 1991. How were you able to overpower a grown woman?

Y/n (9:07 PM): Answer my question, and I'll answer yours.

Emily groaned as she looked down at her outfit. She knew what Y/n was doing, and she didn't want to play into her game. But if she could get an answer, it would be worth it. And it wasn't like she was doing anything illegal.

Emily (9:09 PM): An old Yale T-shirt and flannel pajama shorts.

Y/n (9:09 PM): Surprising, but nonetheless hot. Want to know what I'm wearing?

Emily (9:09 PM): No. I answered your question, now answer mine.

Y/n (9:10 PM): Bummer. If you wanted to know, I would have told you that I am taking a very relaxing bath right now and am wearing absolutely nothing.

Emily gripped her phone, cursing her brain for visualizing that for even a second. God, this was a bad idea.

Y/n (9:10 PM): And if you had said please, I definitely would have sent you a picture. 

Emily (9:10 PM): Back to Alex Painter 

Emily typed, not wanting to entertain Y/n any longer. 

Y/n (9:11 PM): Yes ma'am.

Y/n (9:11 PM): 1991 is correct. More specifically, I was 7. And to answer your question, I took the last hit.

Emily (9:11 PM): What does that mean?

Y/n (9:12 PM): You tell me. But I have to say I'm quite bored of this conversation now. We'll talk later, darling.

Emily shut off her phone, knowing the conversation was done. But what did Y/n mean by her taking the last hit?

Emily quickly went to clean her kitchen before getting into bed. 

She tried to sleep, but all she could think about was Y/n. 

[mirandyficlists]

Fic Searches sometimes take Time.

Hey there my Mirandy Dandies hope you're all well.

After a number of particularly noxious Anonymous messages from someone, or possibly several someones, kvetching about oh so many shortcomings with my Tumblr site and my other actions in the fandom as a whole, I felt I needed to make this post to clarify a few things about:

What I do,

What I'm able to do.

What I'm willing to do

The way this platform works...something, bear in mind, that I can't change.

I am a diehard Mirandy Dandy and one of the things I love to do is to SHARE the goodness and to chat about fics whenever I can. Having been a victim of the loss of Angelfire and Geocities when so much amazing fic was lost to us in the Xenaverse and other of my earlier fandoms, when I became a Mirandy Dandy I was not going to see myself in the same limbo and made a point of fully harvesting all fics as they were posted and keeping external copies of my treasures, updated monthly whenever possible. I did this, by the way, from the beginning on LJ to the present and let me tell you, keeping track of and harvesting fics from LJ was not easy and took a hell of a lot of time copying and pasting but I did it to the best of my ability.

The Mirandyverse is now 18 years old (we should all buy us a drink…well in the UK anyway, lol.) and we have people finding the Dark Side every week. Now these newbies and youngsters have often never set foot on LJ, if they’ve even heard of it, some have never set foot on FFnet even not to mention places like Passion & Perfection and the Pink Rabbit Consortium, and therefor have missed out on some great gems and giants of the days when new fics came out thick and fast. Thus the difference between the 3732 fics recorded for DWP on AO3 and the 5422 fics I have listed on my spreadsheet. Added to this the number of fics that have since been deleted or lost in other ways and you end up with the Newbies truly missing out.  And so I try to spread the goodness as best I can and share my harvested treasures when asked, as well as letting the masses know about that on several different platforms.

Because I love the fandom as I do, a significant amount of my time is invested in it, but as with everyone, I have a real 3D life that demands my presence and attention regularly and sometimes exclusively when, well, when shit happens as they say. Add to this my personal disabilities and I sometimes struggle being able to do things and thus have to let some things, like fandoms, slide in order to cope with the day to day. But when I’m better I always come back. And my disabilities can bear good fruit too, in this case my fic Spreadsheets, necessitated for my enjoyment because of my medically induced memory problems but that have been used and enjoyed by the fandom as a whole. Silver linings and all that.

I am always willing to share the Mirandy goodness in anyway I can manage. I LOVE being able to send deleted fics to people who either haven’t read them or aren’t able to access their old favourites because they were deleted. Hence my spreadsheet which keeps track of the existence and whereabouts of about 97% of all Mirandy fics online. And also my Themed Rec lists, now numbering 157 different groupings. All of which assist me in helping out with fic searches which I always try to source whenever they are presented, and that sourcing includes seeking help of other Dandies on different platforms.  Now, just to clarify, none of these things are complete or exhaustive, but I do keep them up to date within the limitations stated above AND try to make sure to share them online at least every couple of years. I don’t mind doing it, it gives me pleasure, but to my nasty Nonnies from earlier and any other Trolls who might be lurking…I AM UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO DO ANY OF THE THINGS I DO FOR THE FANDOM. I do it out of love of the Mirandyverse and the vast, VAST majority of truly wonderful Mirandy Dandies.

Tumblr is, as we who tumble know, both glorious and hideous as far as social networking platforms go, and has always been meddled with by admin for the sake of selling it off and trying to monetize it into oblivion and not to actually improve the functionality for the users in anyway. And that is the arena in which I operate this Tumblr and adapt how I do so in order to accommodate my needs.

So just for your collective FYI specifically regarding Anonymous asked fic searches…

If you have sent an anonymous fic search and have not seen an answer posted for a very long while:        

I am NOT ignoring you.

                                I am NOT ‘being lazy.’   

                                I have NOT deleted your request.            

                                And believe it or not I have NOT forgotten about you.

I check my in box weekly to remind myself of the searches I am still tracking down, so

not getting a response to an Anonymous ask only means I have not yet found your fic, but I am still looking for the fic, when time permits me.

Because you sent an Anonymous ask, if I try to answer it and let you know that I’m still looking for the fic, the ask is removed from my in box and I no longer have it in an easily accessible place to remind myself to continue the search.   So instead, I keep the asks in my in box until I find the fic requested, which lets be honest my Dandies, given some of the descriptions or key points you sometimes give could be one of several thousand fics and it takes some time to sift through, lolol.  If you want to be kept updated on the search progress, then it is much better if you PM me directly so that I can communicate with you.

To finish off I do want to say, ANY Mirandy Dandy is ALWAYS welcome to contact me with asks and questions in what ever way best suits their needs all I ask is that you appreciate any limitations attached to your preferred method and behave accordingly.

The Mirandyverse is generally a stress-free and positive place to be and always has been, and it is my dearest hope that it continues to be a space free from the toxicity that often invades other fandoms.  To that end I will always continue to offer my services to fellow Dandies in a spirit of helpfulness and sheer Joie de Vive.

Long live the Mirandyverse!

[he-goes-down]

There Was A Time:

Previous chapters/ warnings

10. Raw Power:

A/N:

Guys don't kill me, it has actually been a year since I've updated this shit (Whoopsie!)

and since I'm only taking STEM subjects this year my English has depleted and my writing skills and style probably changed slightly

This chapter is dookie so you can slaughter me dw!!

Second Persons POV:

It had been a few weeks after the party and that day at the hospital, your had nausea died down a few days after using the pills you were prescribed, but your head was still filled with the thoughts of Axl’s confession. That stupid cunt. Making you lose focus every day, trying to come to terms that you’re in the past but also present is bad enough, but having to be professional when you live with THE Axl Rose who just so happens to like you. Is very much the definition of hell on Earth. But for this week you had to buckle down and focus, it was finally the time to get the boys in the recording booth and get those sweet demo tracks out and get labels signed to their rock n roll assess and get working on Appetite as soon as possible.

It's the night before they have to make their way to Sound City for their recording, the guys went out to celebrate and drink, as per usual. You on the other hand did not feel like having to handle a hangover and their nonsense when managing them tomorrow. Duff was the only one that stayed home to have a fat cat nap. You swore that man could sleep through a tornado even if it swallowed up the whole house while he was in it. That’s why you didn’t really care to be quiet while you were cleaning and vacuuming the kitchen, even dancing around and singing out the song that was in your head out loud. On certain days where your brain was in more of the future mindset, remembering pop culture references and events from the 21st century, and today was one of those days. Your hands were on a cloth wiping down the counter while your feet stationed on the floor but your legs moving to the choreography of ‘Single Ladies’ in your head. Still remembering every move from muscle memory. The lyrics of the song came out while the beat played in your head. At a point cleaning the kitchen was second thought as the lyrics were spouted “If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it” “oh,oh,oh,oh,oh,oh,oh” and so on and so forth. And with spin you stopped in your tracks. 

Duff stood at where the living area began and hallway ended, in long flannel PJ pants, overworn Ramones shirt, his long blonde hair messy from sleep ad his clothes slightly crumpled. But his eyes looked wide awake as the green in them stared at you in bewilderment and slight confusion. You couldn’t tell what thoughts were going behind his eyes. (But I’ll tell you) One, the way you knew a random dance choreography to a song he’s never heard of confused him, but he analysed the shit out of the lyrics that he heard, did you write the song yourself? Was it about him? These questions filled his head. His crush never faded, and this kind of made it more difficult as to him it felt like you were subconsciously telling him to make a move before you were unavailable, but his brain was a bit fried from sleep to rub two neurons together like that. Adding the fact, his brain short circuited when the lyrics ‘Your love is what I prefer, what I deserve’ hit his ears. Upon never having heard of this song and knowing you often help write lyrics for his own songs he (sleepily) deduced that you wrote the song yourself. And now his brain is running a few hundred miles per minute thinking about the implications. You on the other hand are a bit mortified that he just saw you doing whatever that was. He opened and closed his mouth like a guppy for a few seconds before he spoke. “Uh… What was that?”. What was that? The fuck does he mean what was that?  This hoe doesn’t know Beyonce? Is he stupid or an idiot? “What do you mean you haven’t heard of Beyon-…“ You cut yourself off, remembering it’s the 1980’s Destiny’s Child wasn’t even thing yet. A soft inhale and you make up an excuse. “Uh, just a song I heard on a niche radio station once when I was younger… used to do the dance in the living room when I was younger… still remember it I guess?” It wasn’t a total lie atleast. Duff just gave a nod, rubbing sleep out of his eyes with a still slightly bewildered look.

You don’t know how but in the course of the next few minutes you were teaching Duff how to do the dance choreography to Single Ladies. To be quite honest, he did it better than any just dance routine. He was lanky and had virtually no ass but he made it work. The situation went like this: Duff would put his leg up and you would smack it down. “No, it’s hand, hand and leg up, leg down hand, turn this way…” You showed him slow motion, and he stared intently. To try get the dance right of course. Not just watch you. Then he finally go that part right, you showed him how to do the next section. Unfortunately forgetting you were still mopping the kitchen floor and you slipped on a wet spot, but Duff quickly caught you. (Isn’t he just so dreamy). Then for the rest of the night the two of your laughed and giggled and bonded together, dancing together and by the end having a little slow dance in the kitchen before it got interrupted by the drunk men coming back into the house

The next day, thankfully the boys didn’t go to overboard with drinks last time. Izzy kept them in check, sometimes it felt like he was on your side when he did stuff like that, but then he’d go right back to giving you glares and muttering not so PG words under his breath. After the shitty drive to Sound City with Axl’s car stuttering and backfiring with every little rock it drove over, you made it in one piece some what. “When we get famous I’m gonna be the one buying you a new car to replace that ticking time bomb!” Slash shouted to Axl as they walked to the door. “I’m never letting her go, she’s a classic.” He says as he locks the driver door, but it pathetically falls off its hinges and on the asphalt of the car park with a clang. Steven and Slash nearly piss themselves laughing, Axl gives a glare and scowl, Duff looks back at them calling them, “Come on guys, we’re already late to our session because of that damn car, let’s get inside.” Duff said and smiled down at you knowing that you wanted the same thing, and he was kind of trying to impress you with being a responsible type. With a small smile and nod, you all go inside to the recording studio. Walking down the cramped hallway with dim lighting and maroon carpet under your feet, you find the designated recording booth and go in, it’s much bigger than expected. The production booth has a couch big enough for three people and all five of the guys could fit in the actual recording booth with instruments and all, might be a tight squeeze but not that bad. You sit at the producer booth, to 21st century you this looks an ancient relic, but luck 80’s you could make sense of this. You pressed and shuffled dials until you were satisfied as the boys got their equipment set up. 

You pressed the mic button so that your voice resonated into the recording booth they were in. “Alright, which song are we gonna start with first?” You spoke into the mic. And like parrots they all answered differently. “Night Train!” “Move To The City!” “Out Ta Get Me!” “We should start with my song-“ “No idiot we’re not doing that ten minute sad piano shit, this is a rock band, we’re not Elton John!” Great. Not even a second into recording and they’re having bitch fights. “Guys, guys… let’s just go alphabetically…” You speak into the mic again, and sort the papers with lyrics and notes on it. “Damn children…” You say, but luckily the mic is off. You find a paper and press the mic button again, “We’ll start with Anything Goes alright? Sound good?” Axl and Izzy crossed their arms looking away and grumbling while the other three gave thumbs ups. This was going to be a long day… 

For the rest of the session it actually wasn’t half bad, the songs were like second nature to you, but a lot of them were slower and not quite right but you pulled through, you couldn’t just nit pick everything into perfection in a day. However, Axl thought he could. With every argument you tried to dispute from Axl’s side, he didn’t once glance at you and just crossed his arms looking down at the floor and huffing like child. Izzy, who was the one Axl argued with the most, was being hostile and quiet to you as well, but that’s a given because you knew he disliked you (for reasons unbeknownst to you). However the situation was complicated between you and Axl, you knew that it would be awkward and there would be tension, but the way it was handle was making putting a feeling in your gut like your stomach was eating itself. Whenever you spoke into the mic it was just Duff, Steven and Slash answering, and answering on behalf of Axl and Izzy, Izzy’s reaction was a given, but Axl’s seemed very out of place.

Once when they took a small break, you could sigh and creak out your neck from the kinks of stress. You looked to the boys, Duff and Slash just lazing on the couch or floor drinking a beer. Steven moving his toms around and Izzy tweaking his guitar and writing things on his song lyric papers. Axl nowhere to be found. You rubbed your face with another sigh, you had to speak to him. Get this attitude of his under control, or just sort this situation out. You turned to Duff who was sitting back on his hands on the floor. “You seen where Ax went?” You asked him. “Uhm… I think one of the equipment rooms.” Duff responds. You nod and walk out the room, down the maze-like hallways to try find Axl. You peaked in every room you went past, then started hearing a soft piano melody. There he is. And followed the sound of the keys, weaving through the corridors, getting closer. Getting to the room, you stand in the doorway, seeing Axl sitting by a grand piano, his ginger hair cascading over his shoulders and focused but calm expression was… quite gorgeous. His fingers tickling the ivories, you recognised the melody instantly. But you had to speak up and let him take credibility for his own songs. “Beautiful song… when did you write it…?” You say, and Axl looks up, your eyes meeting. He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. “A while ago… I got some lyrics, but I can’t get this stupid piano piece right…” He was avoiding the question. You figured it out quickly, ‘November Rain’, the first time you and Axl kissed was when you drunkenly danced in the cold November rain. It was a stab to the gut, having to act like there was nothing wrong, when the realisation dawned that the most beautiful ballad ever written was about you. “Want some help…?” You asked trying to connect with him again and change the subject in your mind. “No. Go away.” Another quick attitude change from him. ‘Fine, today is not the day’ you think to yourself. But soon you’ll have to thaw this out. 

You walked back to the record booth, seeing Steven, Slash and Duff not there. Izzy left. But you did find a note from Steven saying ‘Going to a record store for inspiration be right back. (And Slash needed to piss but there’s no stupid bathrooms in there) -Steven’ You let out a small chuckle and sticks the note back to where it was. You looked over to Izzy, seeing him still writing and tweaking away at his guitar and strumming some strings. You walk over to him crouching down next to him, already feeling the tension from him, but asking the words anyway. “Do you need any help?” He glanced to you for brief moment before looking back at the papers in front of him, and begrudgingly speaking to you but not looking at you. “I don’t know which song to choose to send out…” “Lemme see.” You held your hand out to take the papers and he scoffs and puts them slightly roughly in your hands. He continues to look away, feeling a little awkward that you’re looking over his work. It was like that day when you were sick and you two actually had a nice moment. But the connection on that day felt too weird to act on or talk about, for both of you. “Ah, I remember these ones…” You said and Izzy internally cringes. Mentally he’s gouging his eyes out and the word ‘Oh my god can this bitch shut the fuck up’ is running through his head. “I’m sure you can send in both of them” “Okay yeah but which one for the album?” Damn he retorted with sass and attitude. You told him that ‘Think About You’ was a bit more tame for the public and new audience’s for a debut album than ‘Back Off Bitch’ and reminded him that they could always make more albums one day and add it in.

Following that, after the break, the boys came together again to keep playing. They recorded songs and even made new ones up on the spot. The next few hours were fun and productive, minor arguments, minor setbacks. This was amazing, every felt like it was falling into place. You were proud of them, proud of how far they’re coming and how far they will go in the near future. It was an exhilarating feeling, seeing them like this, feeling that electric talent emanating from them. They had a real raw power and energy that the sponsors will love and the public, in time. But that positive vibe didn’t last long. They started their playthrough of Back Off Bitch. Axl singing the spiteful and angry lyrics. You knew that he wasn’t the one that wrote the lyrics, but the fact that he was looking right at you while he sang the lyrics, made a few heart strings churn uncomfortably. His blue eyes practically pierced through yours and into your soul as he spat out the lyrics, “Face of an angel with the love of a witch” and adding along “It’s such a pity that you’re such a bitch.” And then they finished the recording, but Axl’s eyes were still glaring into yours.

You had enough of the bullshit, professional or not you needed to sort this out, he can’t just jump from “I want you” to acting you’re the scum of the earth for rightfully rejecting him. 

The boys started packing up. You opened the door between the production booth and recording room. “Axl. Outside. Now.” You said like he was bad dog that just shat all over the new white carpet. The rest of the guys went ‘oooo someones in trouble’ but quickly shut up and continued packing up like nothing happened when Axl glared at them, and he followed your lead out of the building.

“What the fuck was that?”

“What was what?”

“Don’t act ignorant.” You crossed your arms as you looked at him and he mirrored your stance. “What? It’s literally my job to sing.”  He says like nothing is wrong, but his tone indicates his frustration and inner thoughts. “Yes, it’s your job to sing. Not behave like a toddler. What is up with this attitude today?” “I don’t have an attitude.” He retorts and his teeth gritting. “Then what’s the problem? I thought we were okay after the hospital. No hard feelings. But today? Telling me to fuck off and intentionally look at me while singing? What’s your deal?”

“What’s your deal with Duff?”

“What…?”

The change in topic through you for a loop, what did Duff have to do with this? You stepped back a bit and your shoulders slumped with a less defensive angry look, and now more confused.  “Answer the question, and don’t you go playing stupid now.” He says more sternly. “I don’t know what you’re on about” Now you’re starting to sound like him, but this time you really didn’t know. “Oh really? Does dancing in the kitchen with him last night ring any bells? Dancing like we did in the park, remember?” Oh… he’s jealous. “That’s not-“ “And sleeping in his room? Out of everyone it had to be him? So, you and I have to be professional but oooh no, Duff gets to have a free pass.” 

“It’s not like that. Duff and I are just friends. And being professional counts for everyone in the band. Not just you.” You say more calmly. He huffs with a scoff and looks away. “Alright… I’m… sorry. I guess I just wasn’t thinking…” He says still grumpily but apologetic none the less.  You flick his forehead as you walk past him back into the building. “You never think anyway” “Hey-!” He tries to rebuttal in annoyance, but it quickly fades with a small sigh, and an infatuated smile comes one his face. He gives a soft chuckle, he really couldn’t stay mad at you forever, and follows you back into the building. All forgiven, but not all forgotten.

[junktastic]

Hi everynyan,

Some of you will remember that I was taking names/addresses to send out free stickers in September. I am almost done sending them out now, so here's a quick update on that.

The Good!

I like this a lot! It's fun to do. For reference, I'm printing, laminating, and cutting these myself at home, so I'm learning a lot about my machine. I like being in charge of the quality control, I like doing the logistic work. Idk. It's fulfilling to me.

It's also really delightful to see names on the list who I've known of for a long time. Old and new faces, people all over the world, I love seeing people adopt a catgirl. :3 And for free! I'm by no means making a lot, but being able to provide something fun and physical to the people who enjoy my art for free is just! Wow!

The Bad!

Everything that could have gone wrong during this process did, which is why they're going out so late. The at-home manufacturing process was relatively simple but the materials kept being funky, or I'd do something wrong, so I'd have to toss something that I'd completely fucked up, OR I'd just miscount how much stuff material I had left. It's been a pain in the butt, so I'm glad it's done and that I've learned so much from it. I ALMOST FORGOT, I DESTROYED ONE CUTTING MAT MAKING THAT ROGER STANDEE FOR MY WEDDING LOL SO I HAD TO SPEND TIME CONDITIONING THE NEW CUTTING MAT! UGH!

There's also: the money. I know it's gauche to talk about it, but doing this was pretty expensive. I live in Canada now, and most of the letters were going out of Canada, so that postage added up. Materials cost, time, it's a pretty good chunk of change, but I didn't go broke so I want to do it again.

The Other?

I definitely want (and plan) to do this again very soon. I'm talking within this month. I'm making Christmas cards! I've already set money aside for this so it's all good, and it involves less at-home manufacturing since I can just reach out to a local print shop.

I know some people were wary of the google form, but I can't really find a better alternative at this time. MailChimp has had at least one major information leak in 2024 alone, so I am not sure where else to turn for collecting addresses at this time. I had a few people who did not give me towns/zip codes, and the street address would have three or four towns in that state alone with that address. Since I didn't collect e-mail addresses, I didn't have any way to reach out to entrants about this. If you don't see your sticker in the next few weeks, this might be why! I also plan on adding a checkbox just to confirm that the person requesting the sticker is over 18, NOT because I plan on sending anything saucy, but I know what it's like to be a teen with parents who open you mail, an I don't want to cause problems for anyone because Mom and Dad think fairies are satanic or something.

Most people I've talked to about all of this have really emphasized that I need to reopen my Patreon. I'm not saying anybody is wrong on this, but it just makes me feel so uncomfortable. I think anyone who's followed me for a while has seen me try and fail to do art full time or, hell, even have a schedule for something, and I've failed every time. I'm so scared of failing people again. How can I ensure that I'm producing things on time, to a standard I am happy with, that anyone willing to support me (in this economy?) would also be happy with? It will probably happen, but I'm just so... Plus, with all honesty, I have a commission backlog that I need to finish first! I'm bad at the business part of this whole thing, I think. I'm a blue-collar labourer in my heart.

That's my update! I wish you all well, please stay safe and take care of yourself and those around you. I'll post again when I'm collecting addresses for the Christmas cards.

[seaofreverie]

They Might Be Giants at the Roundhouse, London, 17th November 2024

Happy 35th to Flood, hooray!!!! So here's this thing that I've put together just in time for this occasion, my written record... I mean, my very lengthy and detailed review of the first and so far only TMBG show I’ve attended, on November 17th 2024 in London, so, the last show of the so-called “30th anniversary” Flood tour.

And yeah, I mean it that this thing is lengthy and mostly my personal insights on stuff but still, I wanted to share it since this was an event that I’d been anticipating for many many months, and I tried my best here to capture all the feelings this day brough and the whole magic and all the amazement surrounding it.

I’m also going to put here all of the 7 videos I took during the show, ranging in length from 7 seconds to 7 minutes. And they were taken from the front row, so the view is pretty great and something worth sharing I think!

So yep. Hope you enjoy!!

Every once in a while a day comes along in your life that feels like it’s been taken straight out of a movie. It’s hard to tell how often that happens, but probably not too often, since I can’t remember the last time it did before this. And what I mean here is that the day of my first TMBG show was pretty much nothing but moments that somehow felt just RIGHT, like everything was coming together just PERFECTLY, so that I could have the best possible experience and the best imaginable time!! Starting with my biggest wishes and hopes, down to all the extra details that I didn’t even think about previously. But anyway…

Before the show…

You’d think that I would start officially #freakingout about one of my biggest dreams in life coming true (seeing my favourite band, who are also one of my biggest special interests, in REAL LIFE, and enjoying one of their amazing live shows IN PERSON) earlier than this, but that only actually started on the evening of the day before the show. And because of that the entire next morning and afternoon felt really weird and tense in a way that I can’t really describe. But I hope you get what I mean. It’s like wow, it’s finally happening, but noooo wait hold on, I’m not ready yet…

And so my travel companions and I spent most of the day walking around Camden Town where the show was taking place, but for me that whole time was this really weird mix of feeling like I’m walking on clouds and like I’m just entirely somewhere else and also awaiting the scariest most important exam of my whole life.

We arrived by the venue sometime around 1 PM and when I saw the poster plastered on the wall that listed “An Evening With They Might Be Giants” among other acts, that was the moment when it maybe finally hit me that THIS THING WAS REAL. And maybe this is a good time to mention that the only thing left on the long list of all the things that could possibly still go wrong at this point, was managing to get a spot as close to the stage as possible, so, in the first row. And there were already two people just standing there by the venue when we got there and I actually couldn’t tell if they were already queuing up because, well, it was still so early. But I’m about 100% sure now that, in fact, they were.

Another important thing to note is that I was hoping to meet my friend at the show, who also attended the previous night’s show in Bristol, and me impatiently awaiting any sort of updates on how all of that went definitely added to all the nervousness I was feeling that whole day. And also, when I decide on something, well, I’m stubborn as hell so it HAS to go the way I planned it or I will be pretty much devastated.

But it was still super early and we had to get dinner and all that stuff so we left for now. And after some time I eventually got a message from my friend saying that NO, 5:30 will be too late for the first row, probably, and I was uhhhh, very on edge at this point. But ok. Better wait too long in the queue than regret not getting there earlier forever.

It was probably a pretty unusual sight to my brother (who I dragged along with me to the show) when I practically RAN to the venue when we were close to arriving there sometime past 4 PM. I swear I remember imagining that I’m already seeing a huge queue of people in front of me somewhere in the distance until I get closer and am relieved that no, no such thing happening, thank god. I mean, well yes, I was REALLY not even remotely chill about this whole thing guys. And yeah, it’s important to mention that I did travel over 1500 kilometers or so just for this show and nothing else. The whole trip and all the sightseeing I did in London in the days leading up to this day and afterwards was just an added bonus.

But alright, we got there. And what we were met with instead were maybe 15 or so people who were mostly scattered in small groups around the entrance. And a guy playing an accordion. Just in case I needed that extra confirmation that, yes, the gig I’m going to will be HERE and not in some other place. Yet I still had this worry as I started talking to one group of fans that waitttt, maybe they’re actually talking about some other band and I’m making a fool of myself…

But well yeah anyway, we were there, it was time to just wait for the big event now, time to be brave and use this opportunity to chat with other fans even a bit… And so I did, and despite not really having any opportunities to actually TALK in English to other people most of the time, I think I did pretty well. One thing that stuck with me the most for some reason was how these two guys were talking about how one of them doesn’t like BOOK and how that’s scandalous according to the other guy pretty much, and the other guy's statement on Synopsis For Latecomers was that whatever your opinion might be on the song, it’s still definitely a THEY song (I love that and I think about that all the time now, like man, it really is just They in a nutshell in a way).

And then my friend and their bestie arrived!! Just after we (all the people who were waiting already) decided to form some sort of actual queue. We found ourselves at the end of it, at least for now… And the remaining 2 hours of waiting for the doors to open were before us. It dragged on a bit of course but not TOO terribly, since I could catch up on all sorts of stuff with my friend, because we haven’t actually seen each other in oh, well over a year!

We talked about the Bristol show too among many other things, and I learned some important things, such as how Lie Still, Little Bottle got played already the day before, soooo… probably not much of a chance of it returning this evening (this might be like the only real thing I wish was different about this day because, AAAAHHH, THE STIIIIIIIIICK!!!!!! how I’d have loved to see that… But never say never, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be just YET!). And also how today the queue was luckily much smaller so, no being stuck in the third row this time!

Also, it started raining eventually, as it does in the UK, right, (it actually wasn’t rainy at all for most of the week I stayed there, just that day pretty much… another one of very few somewhat unfortunate things about this day) and it rained for probably close to an hour, and by god, did it get freaking FREEZING very fast. I inevitably had a huge cold for several days afterwards because of this, but well, what even is this sort of sacrifice, when in exchange you get the best possible concert experience. Because yeah, it definitely paid off to get there early, the queue never got SUPER long but still, wouldn’t have ended up where we did if it weren’t for that long wait.

And maybe now I should say some more general things about the wait, which is that this whole time, when I wasn’t feeling impatient, I was really just, truly soaking it all in (and not just the rain, lol). And a crucial part of that whole wait was that the accordion guy was still playing his songs, many songs of TMBG and at least a couple of John Linnell’s State Songs. I realize now that I should have written them down right after the show, because now all I remember him playing are Erase, South Carolina and West Virginia.

One funny thing that happened was when some guy walked by our (by then) pretty long queue and seemed surprised that there were so many people waiting for something. So my friend told him that we were waiting for a show and that it was a They Might Be Giants show, but what did he actually hear??

The guy: …Michael Jackson? But he’s dead!

So I guess that English speakers will also get the band's name terribly wrong sometimes, not just every vinyl vendor I’ve ever talked to back at home, lol. But yeah, he eventually got the name right but still, it’s really funny to think about… There May Be Giants, Michael Jackson… it’s all the same thing.

But alright, the last few minutes were drawing near… And then, at long last, we were in! And I guess I was so caught up in the moment (and also the fact that the security guy had a bit of an issue with my metal pins that I put on my jacket without really thinking about this possibly being a problem, oops) that I almost screwed up big time in a way because hey, we’re in, you’re free to go now, get your spot by the stage as fast as possible!! And so I got myself together, followed the example of my friend, and did that.

And ok, all in all, this was absolutely surreal to me. Only the very first of the many biggest this CANNOT be real moments of the night. Realizing that wow, we’re actually here… Nothing went terribly wrong in the end, we travelled all this way just to get here and here we are. And we’re in the first row!! OH MY GOD!! The folks who were ahead of us in the queue lined up by the left side and the middle of the stage, so we ended up to the right of Linnell’s keyboard and right in front of Marty’s drumkit. So we still had a very good viewing point if you ask me!

And I could NOT believe how close we were, the stage and all the instruments were SO CLOSE!!! This was actually my first time being in the pit at a concert, I’ve only ever known the balcony view… Meanwhile here they were, the legendary Main Squeeze in the REAL WORLD, the jackalope thingy on the drum kit that says They Might Be Giants… The pre-show music was blaring, everyone else was getting excited and I was suddenly HIT by all of it and how unbelievable and amazing and perfect it was and I was so so close to just crying right there because of it all…

But well, I collected myself and faced the fact that there was still at least an hour of waiting ahead of us (turned out to be an hour and a half, because the doors opened earlier than originally scheduled, but the show didn’t start until the original 8 PM anyway). But at least we were inside now, so no more freezing! And we could actually even sit down for a while finally (not that anyone besides me or my two friends did that from what I could tell, for once I managed to not care about how I appear to others and do what’s considered “normal” and it’s so great and important and such a big part of why this was such a wonderful evening in the end).

I also need to say that wow, Flansburgh’s intermission playlist really is so good. Not gonna lie that I was really excited for this part of the show as well, and I even had some very satisfying moments of recognizing a song or two and telling my friends about it (Funkadelic’s Can You Get To That will have a very special association for me now because that’s what was playing when we first got there). Some other memorable moments include when crew members were milling around the stage, and I’m pretty sure that none other than Stan Harrison walked in for a moment too?? Because those moments also served as constant reminders that THE GUYS will be here too, so soon…

Show time!!!

Set 1

Alright, time for what we all actually came here for. Time for the show. The lights went down for a moment, there were moderate amounts of screaming that made me feel like I’m back on a school trip visiting a theatre with other kids, who start screaming the moment it gets dark right before the play starts. But this time I was (even if just mentally) screaming along.

The recording of the song They Might Be Giants started playing, we watched a short animation on that huge screen at the back of the stage, and then, the scariest and most unexpected thing happened. The whole band walked in and after a couple seconds launched right into Synopsis For Latecomers. And I’m saying this kind of as a joke but actually though, can we agree that the emotion that comes with the first time you see *your band* in the real world is just something else completely and kind of impossible to describe. Because in a way it’s also just so funny: you arrived here specifically with the intention of seeing these guys and then, when that actually happens, it feels like the most shocking event of your entire life. A little MIND ERROR moment, wait hold up kind of moment, or even… a Brain Problem Situation, if you will.

But ok, I also need to admit that it didn’t help when I got distracted over the fact that less than half a minute into the song, someone from the crew walked onto the stage to fix something about Danny’s guitar. And with all that stuff put together I was only half aware of what was even happening and being played most of the time, and like a second passed before we got to the horns part of the song, and the horns entered the stage (accompanied by cheering from everyone). And it was all just. Happening. Right in front of me. Like it’s nothing and no big deal at all.

But anyway. While I’m still on the topic of this song I need to say that out of all songs played this one still stuck with me probably the most in a sense. Because days after the show I could still hear it still playing in my mind aaaaaaaall. the. damn. time. So all in all, this was definitely a total BLAST of a first impression. This is an amazing live song, and a 10/10 show opener, which I think is also fully supported by my reaction to it, as documented here. And the horns!!! The horns, ladies and gentlemen!!!

After the first song we got greetings and an introduction from Flansburgh, who said that this was the last show of the run of Flood shows… and that they had to figure out a way to include all songs from Flood in the show. So what got played next was the obligatory Particle Man, something that I found myself being all sort of like “alright, of course…” about at first... I mean… it is funny and don’t get me wrong, this song is great live, and I loved the whole “Triangle Man, take off for the planet, for the planet VENUS!” bit of course (oh it was really really great and GRAND and loud), but I guess this also shows how very quickly I got into this whole spirit of a regular TMBG show goer of sorts, who already sort of resents one of the most played songs… even before actually hearing it.

Next up was Meet James Ensor and here’s another really funny thing: how surprisingly hard it can be to identify the song that’s being played during a show. You know them all and know all the lyrics, and yet you aren’t aware of what you’re actually singing??? *HOW* does that work!! Because the whole time I thought it was actually James K. Polk, later I couldn’t remember which of the two it was actually… And I only realized which song this actually was on the next day, when a random bit of conversation reminded me that yes, those were the lyrics of Ensor that I was singing yesterday.

However, you must forgive me for these follies, because it’s hard to think clearly when you have to catch up with the fact that without pause, the next thing played is The Famous Polka. It’s like oh my god it’s actually THE Famous Polka. The infamous Famous Polka stage collapse incident (so, the first thing that comes to mind concerning this song, to me) aside, another notable thing about this song is that it’s SUCH a blast of energy live. I want to say that around this point of the show I started really getting into it and singing along and stuff (well, not singing yet on THIS song) and I’ll add some more general thoughts of this nature at the end of the post but by god, is the pure energy and excitement of a TMBG show impossible to convey in any recording. I think you just really have to be there to really understand what it’s all about. And a song like this one might be one of the finest examples of that.

And now, for something completely different… Moonbeam Rays! Lovely song that mostly helped me get into the mood of how beautiful this whole moment was, you know… I might be wrong about when exactly that was, but I got seriously close to crying once more during the show, and it’d be probably a fair guess to say that it was sometime during this song. And afterwards, we got some more insights from Flansburgh.

JF: This is the last show of the Flood show thing. (audience makes a sad “oooooh” sound) Yeah, it’s a little bit sad… it’s a little bit *excellent!* (audience laughs)

And then the Johns started talking about how they “started doing this pre-pandemic…” And it delighted me SO MUCH that they pointed this out because I could never get over how the Flood anniversary tour started when the album turned 30, and at the time of the last show of the tour it was two months away from turning 35!!

JF: It’s taken more years to celebrate the anniversary of Flood than it took to *make* Flood.

But as Flansburgh said, it was time to move on to some other, less popular things… And also he shared with us that he walked through a beautiful part of London today, wondering how it would feel to have enough money to “belong there”. Linnell said that he was resting up for the big flight, and that he was actually resting up for it RIGHT NOW.

JF: There’s nothing John Linnell likes more than a *paid rehearsal*.

JL: It’s a sweet ride… When you get to be *this* age…

JF: Nothing matters at all.

JL: Every day above ground is beautiful.

If you ask me, that last sentence deserves to be immortalized as one of the most iconic stage banter moments, and in a way it already has, because it inspired this wonderful piece of art, and who knows what else.

The following songs were Letterbox (and a short break from singing from me, because that song is already impossible to follow with, and then you add all the excitement of the moment and it’s impossible impossible) and Twisting!!! This started a long series of songs where the moment it starts I get super excited because I KNOW this song is a huge deal and a favourite but it takes me at least a couple of seconds to get to WHY this is a huge moment… through remembering and recognizing the song. And AAHHHH this song was so amazing, the bridgeeee, and then also the extra outro with the guitar solo and all, the energy!!! God, it truly is incomparable. And I totally didn’t expect that outro so that made it all an even better time.

And so we were well into the Flood songs segment, because next up was another of my top favourites from the album, Someone Keeps Moving My Chair! And another wonderful sing-along moment, but honestly, which of all these songs was not… (other than Letterbox, but that was just because of my lack of practice with that one). Chanting the title of this song, especially that one penultimate, elongated CHAAAAAAIIIIIIIR, kind of healed something in me I think.

After that was done, the Johns gave us some more insights into the performer’s life and all the things that they’ll never get used to, such as crowds that continue beyond your line of sight.

JF: …So you sort of think like: “I gotta get these people going, I gotta rock these people…” And then it’s like: (said in a silly, high-pitched voice) “But there’s no end!...”

Flansburgh remarked on the special challenge that they had come across this time, which was that we were all in a circular room, which is exciting, but means that people continue past where the stage is…

JF: I hope you guys got your tickets on Stubhub or something. I mean, can you even see us? I can barely see *you*. In a hockey match this would be unacceptable.

Another thing that Linnell would never get used to was when there’s a huge crowd of people, all of them happy and singing along, but then there’s one guy “who’s got this sort of Charles Manson expression”. This one really made ALL the people laugh. The Charles Manson guy included I hope.

JL: Never got used to that! For some reason.

JF: Tomorrow: Get. Linnell.

(JL pretends to be writing something down)

JL (addressing the audience): Not to put any ideas in your mind…

But moving on, as I said it was more Flood time indeed, with Whistling In The Dark. Me calling each single song amazing and a blast and so much fun is probably already getting a bit repetitive by now, so one special point of interest with this one and its live version is when near the end we get this little vocals only moment and then the horns come in again, then joined by everything else with such fanfare… simply triumphant.

Also, maybe this is a good moment to say that man, on one hand thinking about this show and how I’m going to hear THE ACCORDION was always a huge deal, but even then, I wasn’t prepared for how cool the accordion really is in person. It sounds kind of different from what I’m used to from recordings, and definitely makes a heck of a great impression all in all. One could wonder why it’s not more popular in rock music, because really, just how amazing is it?? And it can create all sorts of moods.. which is something I’m just about to get into properly too. Also, speaking of horns, Flansburgh gave a special shout out to the horns at this point, and began to introduce the next song.

JF: This next song is called The D-... uh, I forgot what it’s called, but… (JL laughs)

Even if it weren’t for this slip-up with the name, I already could tell from how Flansburgh went back to talk about how this was a song put together by Stan Harrison and introduced all the guys individually… That *IT* was in fact happening, one of my biggest hopes when it comes to songs I wanted to hear in person the most. The Darlings Of Lumberland - THE horns song to beat them all. And at this point I had to get my camera ready and start recording because well, this would definitely be one of the most preservation-worthy and outstanding moments of the show.

I was not mistaken of course, the way all the instruments complement each other here, most importantly the horns and the accordion, is something beautiful. This is one of the best examples of how the studio version just sounds so WEIRD to me now, even though it’s been my big favorite for a long time in that form as well. All in all a hypnotising moment, and coming back to my earlier question, maybe THIS was the only other song that you don’t really sing along to, because you have to just. Take it all in. Soooo much going on. And yes, no less important, THE CHOREOGRAPHY - *EVERYONE* did the hand thing!!! So you know, another good reason to have this one specifically caught on film.

Anyway, I was going to put my phone down for the time being but THEN... could it be, another of my top wished-for songs?? Cause yeah, without a pause we got the one and only screaming introduction to Let Me Tell You About My Operation from Flansburgh and oh boy, is this yet another song I could talk for many minutes about. First of all, I had very very high hopes for one of, what I think is often referred to as, Flansburgh showman moments. So, songs such as this one, Lie Still, Little Bottle, She’s Actual Size, and a couple others.

This song is a whole new story live, alright. Again, you have to be there to really get what it’s all about I think. JF’s energy is very infectious and awesome here to put it just mildly, and the horns add a whole lot, the whole song is just one big moment of old-timey big band-style musical bliss. And then there is also time to shine for all the other guys in the band, with awesome solos from Dan and Marty (ok, it appears that there was no special Danny time though?? Sad), AND the horns on the horns. Also Linnell doing this sort of thing on the keyboard where he plays all the notes quickly, sort of sliding down or up all the keys… Ok, I looked it up, I think that’s called glissando? So yeah, that also stuck in my head especially, because it was so fun. One of the top 5 moments of the show, without a doubt.

And now, alright, When Will You Die? is not a song that ever struck me as much of a favourite, besides being a very outstandingly hilarious and real song when it comes to lyrics of course, but I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t very happy to hear this one too. Singing these lyrics in a room full of hundreds of people who did the same was an incredibly grand moment, ok.

And then… then we were met with the haunting sounds of the intro of Road Movie To Berlin. A song that’s still, even after dozens of relistens, a whole experience each time I hear it when listening to Flood, and, as you might expect, it’s even more of an experience live. And I’m of course mostly talking about this whole sort of breakdown section near the end, but just the whole entire thing really hits anyway.

So when it started I definitely had a little moment of “oh shit, here we go, THE moment is here…”. Something akin to this happened over and over during the whole show obviously, but still, I feel like it was especially big here. Another thing is how later my friend laughed that they once again felt like they were the only person singing the secret third verse. Well, at least one more person did (me). Anyway, all in all it was just, magical, truly.

So, uh. Now, enjoy some top-notch banter that followed.

JL: So, uh, what’s going on here.

JF: We’re in London, John.

JL: We’re in London, we’re doing songs from Flood.

JF: We’re in yet another circular building.

JL: Right.

(a moment of silence)

JF: We’re doing songs from Flood. This is one of them.

(some people in the audience make clearly audible “wooo” noises)

JL: We get to woo.

(people laugh and woo even louder)

JL: There’s this thing in Britain where people get creative with the interactive thing. And it’s kind of good and it’s kind of, like… it worries us. The drunken part of it. It’s a problem.

(someone in the audience laughs in a very pronounced drunken manner)

Ok, Women And Men, that was the next song. Not much to say about this one to be honest, or like, anything at all really. And then more Flood, in the form of Your Racist Friend, which totally rocked, and we, I mean WE specifically, had the pleasure of standing where we could enjoy how Jordan Katz played his trumpet solo right in front of us. Honestly, this was kind of the only major downside of standing where we stood, that the horns were kind of hidden from our view for the most part… So this was a GRAND moment.

I have found that no matter how many times I watch recordings of it, the way Stellub gets introduced at these shows is always extremely funny to me, so here’s, like, almost all of how that went this time.

JF: Folks, we’ve got a very special treat for you right now. When we first embarked on doing these Flood shows, we thought: what can we do to make the show a little more challenging, a little more of… an endurance test. So we thought, we’ll take the time out to learn a song *sonically in reverse*...

(a long pause prompting audience laughter)

JF: …present it to the crowd… who might not enjoy that. (audience laughs) But then, we’re going to record it, on our very special fancy video recording machine, and we’re going to reverse the tape, and present it to you at the top of the second set, which will be… *pure entertainment*.

(audience laughs and woos. claps, also)

JF: …so think of the next two and a half minutes as a *musical investment in your future* (audience, well, laughs). If you brought friends here, we understand; they might be looking at you, going: “WHY?” (audience laughs some more) “Why this, why now? Life is complicated enough, why do bands *insist* on performing songs in reverse?”. But I can assure you, it’s a huge payoff. Especially if the machine works.

At this point I should give a shoutout to my uninitiated brother, who is not a fan of TMBG and whom I sort of dragged along with me here, although well, he did agree to this whole thing (besides the standing in the rain for two hours. He says that’s the part that he didn’t need to experience but well, what could *I* possibly do about that). Because he told me later that yes, the song in reverse thing was pretty cool. Well, I guess I could say as much anyway from how he definitely seemed very amused by Flansburgh’s introduction. But he also told me that if they didn’t say anything about this song being played in reverse, he wouldn’t even be able to tell, because it didn’t sound all that different from all the other songs. So I guess that answers my question of how newcomers may perceive TMBG’s lyrics, in a way. At least in the live show environment. It must be a lot to take in at once.

But anyway, the Johns joked about this whole thing some more (and how the screen was unusually huge for them and had this whole sort of 70s delay effect) and Linnell informed us that he would kick one of his shoes off at the end of the song and that we would also see THAT backwards.

JL: It’s just gonna be CRAZY! It’s gonna look… can’t even describe it.

JF (in silly gruff voice): Tonight! On video tape!

So, Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love. You know, it’s just yet another of those things where I’ve been awaiting THIS MOMENT, IN REAL LIFE for so long. Very fun and at this point I sometimes even feel like I might be more familiar with the reversed sound of this song than the original… Like, it comes to mind more often. “stiiiiillub rah-fahs”, “stosh-nog, stosh-lut-sip” and similar phrases followed me around for days after the show. And I love how expressive the Johns are during this song, it’s just this whole theatricality of it that makes it very funny and awesome.

My favourite moment was when, in spirit of, well, all of this being performed in reverse, Marty also did the counting down to the start of the song with his drumsticks, but at the end. I read later that Linnell also used to sometimes instruct the audience to applaud before they start playing the song and damn, I wish he still did that because that's just hilarious.

And could this really be… the last song of the first set already - Brontosaurus. One thing about this song is that I used to not care about it much, until I saw a recording of their first live performance of it all the way back sometime around the end of 2022 / beginning of 2023, when I just about cried from the wonder of it all. This song is just a whole new thing live, in huge part thanks to the horns of course. Cathartic maybe is the right word for it. One of those songs that I could be pretty much 100% sure I would hear on this day but even despite that, when it actually came to it… Very very beautiful moment. Maybe this is when I almost cried again actually? Well, there were many contenders.

Set 2

So as you just read here, there was an abundance of stuff in the first set already that had me all like “this is the BEST!!!”, yet… We had this little moment of doubt with my friend, because: a) they were hoping to still hear at least a couple of songs that they didn’t already hear the previous night, b) I, having “analyzed” the setlists from this leg of the tour so far, in order to assess how likely I’d be to hear some of my favs, and if there’s any logic to how they change from night to night, decided that there’s two main setlist that the band alternates between. But based on the first half of the show so far it seemed to me like this was going to be a very similar set of songs to last night’s, and out of those two variants, the one I was hoping for less than the other… It was mostly them playing Darlings today once again that made me think this.

And all in all in my head it was like, well, I’ll probably get either the show with Darlings & Lie Still, Little Bottle (+the STICK!!!) OR the show with lots of miscellaneous songs that were very high on my wishlist. So, in either case I’d be happy, but maybe a bit more happy if we got the second option here…

Anyway. What I’m saying is that, keeping all of the above in mind, and how my expectations for the second set were shaped by that… I really can’t overstate how much of an UNREAL NO WAY YOU GOTTA BE JOKING THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY HAPPENING RIGHT??? time it turned out to be.

So let’s get right into why. And boy, there’s a lot. In a way this is when this show REALLY started for me, not that what was earlier wasn’t incredibly fun and amazing already but. This was just a whole different league. It’s like, I could say that earlier I felt at moments like I’m sometimes transported into some alternate dimension, and from here on it was all just, being transported into that joyous alternate dimension for the whole duration of the show. The TMBG dimension. I’ll get back to this, but being here was really just something like, a different type of existence, so different from the often bleak daily life that I’ve been way too familiar with until then.

One thing that sort of added once again to this whole “it’s all perfectly falling into place” feeling, even before the show started up again, was how I tried to pay attention to the intermission music again, and remembered from my days of watching many live show recordings in late 2022 how someone pointed out that when this one specific song plays, you can tell that the show will start in just a moment. And yeah, they were right. Girl Don’t Come started playing so I knew…

And so the second set started with the reversed recording of the Stellub performance of course (how many times have they performed it by that point? Over a hundred? But yeah, it was scarily accurate, as always), and the alternate version of Hearing Aid with this whole little animation thing, which was also a lot of fun to watch actually.

And so the band was back for the second round… with Memo To Human Resources! So I’d known for a while that this song has been a pretty oft played one recently, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any recordings of it live? And to be honest my memory of this song is really blurry, so it’s still kind of an enigmatic moment to me now, all in all I’m sure though that it must have hit the same way Moonbeam Rays or Brontosaurus did, and that might explain this whole effect it presumably had on me, heh.

And now, ok. Man, It’s So Loud In Here will never ever feel the same way to me again. Because actually nothing could have prepared me for how amazing it was live. And I didn’t even particularly anticipate this one, but when we got to it… I knew already that it was going to be a blast.

I remember thinking that this is one of those moments that you simply can’t capture in any way, you’re just fully here in the moment and you live it there and remember it forever. I was also thinking about the meaning of the song, about this classic TMBG fashion of singing this song in this huge room full of people, a song about how it’s so loud in here. And I was wondering if that’d be another of those little confusing moments for people unfamiliar with TMBG because yes, I suppose it’s pretty silly… On top of being an incredible and actually moving experience. I’m shedding a tear just thinking about it all now.

So now, more Flood time! Minimum Wage, a song that, per Linnell’s words, they’ve been playing “for 40 years”...

JL: …And we just got to the point where we all end at exactly the same time. We had so much integrity for so long… And now we’re just sleek… robots up here.

JF: Yeah, that AI showbusiness stuff. Nobody likes it - you gotta do it, you know. It’s the way people DO IT!

JL: I’ve got six fingers…. (JL demonstrates how he has six fingers, apparently)

JF: Yeah, yeah… (with emphasis) *AI*.

(long pause prompting audience laughter)

JF: It makes its own punchline!

But um, what was next on the agenda (John)? More songs from the Flood album, oh yes! Let’s give the people some more of what they want!

JL: That feisty… that album by that bunch of maverick… young… rulebreakin’... (pause) But those days are gone.

JF: Well, the one thing that remains is the barricade putting eight feet between us and the front row. That’s the important thing. The distance.

JL: And you know, it’s not for *our* protection, it’s for *yours*.

Alright, so here’s another song. Here’s another song from Flood. And that song is We Want A Rock. What I remember the most about this one is, once again, the beauty of being able to sing these “ridiculous lyrics” when everyone else is doing the same thing, when we’re all singing about how everyone wants a rock to wind a string around and about how everyone wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads but someone in this town is trying to burn the foreheads down. At some point I just couldn't help having a little laugh over the joy of it all. And also, *boom boom boom* “ooooOOOOOOH!!” *boom boom boom* “oooooOOOOOOH!!”

Then it was Marty time, starting with the drum intro and the BUZZER, for it’s time for Hot Cha! Which becomes even more of a blast with the HORNS of course, and at the very end, can you believe it, I forgot that they change the last line of the song to “please come home” live, so I was slightly taken aback by that. Yes, that’s important to mention here, somehow.

Flansburgh introduced the next song as a song from the Lincoln album and for some goddamned reason the only song I could think of at the moment that fit that criteria was Shoehorn With Teeth.

It was not Shoehorn With Teeth. It was the song that came back to live rotation earlier in 2024 during the spring US tour, but seemed to fall from it afterwards once again, which was a shame, because it’s like, probably my favourite TMBG song to be honest and its newest live rendition was absolutely breathtakingly amazing from what I’ve seen from recordings online. I’m not sure if I was aware by that point of how it miraculously returned as an encore at the show of the night before…

But still, this was like the biggest “this can’t be real actual and happening right now” moment of the night, and maybe. of my. entire life?? And it of course took me a couple of seconds to recognise the song STILL, besides the instant punch of that *feeling* that happened the second the song started. Yeah, Where Your Eyes Don’t Go, played live at my show just like I dreamed about, no big deal, everyday stuff, haha.

The song really IS freaking amazing live though. Where would we be without THE HORNS!!! And honestly I could say a bit more about this “fav song” situation, because not only is it of course among my most beloved ever songs at this moment and has been for over two years, I also remember distinctly that it was the FIRST TMBG song that I loved and couldn’t get enough of and replayed over and over, and it’s a big reason behind why I became a fan in the first place. So, the extra beauty of the significance of it all, it just blows my mind completely.

So, Lucky Ball And Chain was a short little break for collecting myself again, because obviously we were far from done with all the biggest wonders of the night still. And I’m not saying that the song wasn’t a good time, it of course was just like everything else here, so it’s safe to just assume that without me specifying each time. Lol.

But, as I said, the break was short. I would have put seeing Spy live somewhere at the top of my general life goals / bucket list thing, if I had one, that is. I had been very vocal about wanting to see THAT song in particular in discussions with my friend, so the excited glance we exchanged the moment this song started was absolutely priceless and a thing of pure wonder.

Anyway, we all know Spy. We all know that it’s one of the most often played live songs of theirs, and that the reason behind its live durability is the several minutes long improvised jam band section at the end. And I might be one of those maybe rare kinds of people who wouldn’t mind hearing it a hundred times more. It IS improvised after all, so… different each time, ha! It was also very vital to me that I get to take part in the audience participation segment of it… and this is also what was granted to me on this magical evening by whatever godlike forces exist above.

So yeah, this was yet another among the top 5 show moments of course… The biggest highlights here were when Linnell did this sort of old-timey speech (“THIS! Is the *sound* of the thirties. The sound of the SWING ERA!”) that’s probably a reference to something that I’m completely unfamiliar with so that only makes it funnier, and the whole audience conducting part from Flansburgh at the end, because man, he was having a total BLAST with this, it was such a joy to see. And we were all also having a great time, by doing our part and screaming as if we’re in hell. All I’m trying to say here is. I love hellish noise, I love cacophony. This is my perfect kind of show experience, I won’t be hearing any arguments about this.

Ok, so what was the next thing that the Johns prepared with the intent of dealing the biggest emotional damage imaginable to us? Well, remember how Last Wave had never been played live until earlier this year and then they never played it again. Guess what happened now. Well, that’s yet another of the huge and one of the earliest personal favourites of mine returning onto the setlist on the previous evening actually.

This song is. Augh. I just love how it has this sort of elegant, but emotional sound that kind of sets it apart. It’s a completely singular song to me in every sense and I always wondered why they never played it live, but now I’m just glad they finally started playing it. Gotta love yet another AMAZING trumpet solo from Jordan Katz and the Johns’ overdramatized delivery of the lyrics, it’s so much fun. And this song also provided us with some more epic Marty moments, especially the solo and the ending, both just like on the studio recording technically… So maybe that’s why they were so great to see recreated in real time too?

JF: I think we were all a little stunned by the majesty of the ending of that song.

Two days before the show I went to the Natural History Museum here in London, and that's actually very relevant here because when I saw the exhibit that was entitled “Mammals” in that museum, that was when the SONG Mammal started following me around in my mind, for like, most of the remaining time of that day. And I had the amazing realization that oh, it’s not impossible that I could hear this song this next Sunday, played live, so awesome!!

So yeah of course, they played Mammal next. And honestly I’m not even that attached to this song, I do still love it though and it’s one of those situations where I see myself become excited over songs that I feel like are big fan favourites and something that other people are probably very happy about hearing, heh. But maybe even more important yet is that this meant APOLLO 18 representation!! So special to me.

Now I’ll just say that it’s worth it avoiding spoilers sometimes. Like, show spoilers, because I guess I didn’t actually watch that much recent footage and so I had no idea about what other awesome fun stuff was just about to happen.

JF: Folks, folks… we’ve been informed by the people who work here that every single person in the audience tonight is carrying a silly little phone with them. And we'd like to take full advantage of that right now…

We were instructed by Flansburgh to get our phones and open our camera and set it to selfie mode! And then Turn Around, Turn Around, (there’s a thing there that can be found)…

JF: We can see you now and I can tell that nobody is doing what I’m talking about.

You know, so this is when you get to live that wonder of actually BEING THERE once more. And enjoy the way that specifically TMBG shows are, because I’ll be real, I can’t think of any other concert where I could see something like this happening.

JF: Everybody, spin around for just a little bit, get a selfie and we’re gonna photobomb your selfie.

JL: Which we tried to do last night and nobody was getting it!

JF (interrupting): That’s not true! On social media you’re gonna see some very good evidence that some people got together over the course of the twenty minutes we dedicated to this portion of the show.

So yeah, now I can even keep on living my life knowing that I technically have a photo with my favourite musicians in the world. Definitely not something I expected to gain after this day.

JF: We’re gonna take a lot of time doing this. This is possibly the least important thing we’ll be working on…

So that was awesome!!! BUT WAIT THERE WAS MORE!!!!!!

JF: Ok folks, this the second part of the test: see if you can find the flashlight portion of your phone - the more traditional rock portion.

That “more traditional rock portion” part must have been lost on me then, because this was still a singular moment to me (I haven’t been to many live shows before this anyway), and I could only really think of one other thing that this immediately reminded me of. I like yearning for all sorts of things, including those that are in the past now and that I never even could have had a real chance of participating in. Such as the Hollywood Bowl show in 2023, where TMBG opened for Sparks, and during the Sparks show and the song All That everyone in the audience took out their phones and there was this whole sea of lights, people swaying with their phone torches to that song. So, yes, I was NOT expecting either that I’d get to experience THIS as well. After all.

At first I wasn’t even aware that all the stage lights had been turned off for the next song, because with all those torches facing the stage it was so bright in here!! And the song that got this special treatment was Dead - very fitting I must say. The large procession waved their torches AND sang, and I can hear it on the recording of this song especially that the audience was really into the singing part. Loud and beautiful and touching to be there.

And then it was time to thank the band, since the end of the show was actually drawing closer and closer, as absurd as it may have seemed to think about… (not that there was really time to stop and think about that anyway). And I think the Johns did some sort of jab at Elektra Entertainment here, but I unfortunately couldn’t catch what they were saying, rip. Anyway, it must have been very funny I’m sure.

So what songs could possibly still be left and ahead of us now? Two more songs from Flood, here we go.

Why is the world in love again? Because it's time to be marching hand in hand and singing Theme From Flood! And once again being reminded of how WE'RE ALL HERE TOGETHER. All in all, the moment of this song, and it going right into Birdhouse In Your Soul, yes, that was just as ethereal and unreal as I imagined it would be. Even now, as I'm thinking back to it, I start to feel overwhelmed with the excitement, how I was just sort of going “YES YES YES!!!” in my head, after the “I'm your only friend” bit, when it gets kind of quiet for a second and it starts up again we're all jumping and cheering. I could only try to picture an approximation of this scene in my mind months earlier, so thinking about how this actually happened is still absolutely surreal to me. There's just nothing else like Birdhouse.

…

Damn it, I still have a bit more of the show to write about, it’s not the time for tears, brother.

I didn’t want the song to end and it almost seemed like the band didn’t either, because Linnell kept singing the “soul” at the end for several more seconds and also making it goofier still.

Encores time

End of show? No, two encores now. The encore waiting and clapping time until the band comes back on stage felt much much shorter than it always did when I watched recordings of shows. Shouldn't be surprising but everything here felt like it took 10% of the time it actually lasted.

So it was time for the most wondrous thing, a John and John only performance as a duo! This wasn't a total surprise to me, because I knew they switched up the way they play this particular song once again, on some nights at least, but I couldn't be sure that I'd be blessed enough to witness it myself too… And here it was, about to happen!!!

People were screaming Istanbul a lot. I could’ve been easily more annoyed by that, but you know what, I think this is necessary too. How could this be a REAL concert experience without a bunch of presumably drunk people shouting out the titles of songs and being annoying. Maybe if one of those people was standing close to us I'd be talking differently, but… It's part of the charm, sorry.

It was in fact Istanbul (Not Constantinople) time. I’ll be honest, if it weren’t for the duo format I would have not cared for this song any more than I did for Particle Man. But it turned out to be one of my favourite things on this show, yeah, this evening subverted so many expectations in every sense, alright.

You could argue about the significance of the duo format here because OMG, it’s just like in the old days!!!! The good old days or whatever. But no, it’s also just… I don’t know. Even to me, who obviously hasn’t known TMBG for that long, it was another of those kind of touching moments. And what made it all even better was when soon after this show, I happened to watch a video of a Flood show… from 1990. Like wow, this really is kind of just like the 1990 duo days. EXCEPT it’s much cooler now actually.

I didn’t record this song but definitely would have if our view for it was better. Well, thankfully someone else took care of that anyway. And I think that instead of me trying to describe it here, everyone should just do themselves a favour and watch it. I can't get over how beautifully unserious and funny this performance was, watching that must have been the most fun I've had in a looooong time. Again, top 5 moments of the night, maybe top 3 even.

Now, what were the funniest bits. “Peoplejustpeoplejustpeoplejust…” and the Get In The Car bit. And the “yeeeeeees”. And the “noooooo”. And the “istanbuuuuuuul…. ouuuuu…. oouuuuuu…”. You get it, right.

Can’t Keep Johnny Down was the second song of the encore and this performance is the only reason why this song suddenly became like, a literal favorite. The power of live shows! Now whenever I hear it I'm just like. OOOOOH Johnny. Save me Johnny, save me.

Linnell told us “thanks so much, you guys are great!” before they all left the stage :) And of course there was still one more song that I had to hear today. So after more clapping and cheering they were back on stage again.

JL: Yes! Thanks a million. No! Two million! (in a bit of a jokey voice) …I’ve never thanked that much before.

And you know what, I choose to believe that he meant it.

The last song of the night was Doctor Worm. I don’t know what else I can say about this song now, just that upon relistening to this whole show again I’m realizing that I could just. call this song kind of a perfect live song. Maybe I associate it with live shows more than anything else since it's not featured on any studio album and I've definitely heard it wayyyy more times in the form of live recordings than the studio version. And also maybe I lied that Synopsis haunted me the most after the show, Doctor Worm must have been even more insistent in that sense, and I had no issue with that honestly.

And so, with the last one “They call me Dooctooor WOOOOOORM!!” and a finishing BWAAAAA from the horns, the show was over.

After the show

Don’t worry, there’s much less to talk about now in terms of the after show stuff compared to before the show. Just this one important thing that, yet again, as if this wasn’t ENOUGH ALREADY…!!! We had to hang out by the stage for a bit longer still, because there’s a chance of ending up with a SETLIST. Or a drumstick. But I guess the setlist was more important.

And Marty walked over to us. And handed us the setlist. I mean, it was my friend who grabbed the setlist, but to me that was just like we all were chosen, it really didn't matter to me who actually had it. So it was a win! I really couldn’t ask for anything else by that point. I got it all.

Then we had to wait for a bit by the merch stand because lots of folks gathered there and thankfully, there was still lots of stuff to choose from! I would have loved to go a bit more crazy with this maybe, but since I still had to keep in mind having to travel back with all this stuff, flying, customs and all that… I settled for a tour shirt, because yeah, a shirt with the dates of the tour I ATTENDED printed on it? I needed that, that would do as the only physical souvenir even, no need for anything more (well, I actually did get a bit more, because the very next day I went by a random record store here in Camden Town in hopes of finding THE album somewhere in London still. and guess what I found….., but that’s a whole different story so let me just limit myself to only the day of the show in this post). The shirt is a total slay by the way, I love the burgundy color.

After we left the venue we still managed to bump into more folks going back from the concert. And like 3 different people in total who asked us about the setlist and where we arrived from, said that woooow, you deserve to have it then. Thank you people for also appreciating all the hard work that went into this.

My brother & I had a very short way back to our hotel now, so in the end it really felt like we just returned from a quick little fun event just down the street. Even though we travelled pretty far to get here, you know. So it didn't even feel like some huge endeavour or anything all that unusual, and I mean that in the best way possible.

So my day ended with my head full of thoughts and images and fragments of songs looped ad nauseam. And also with an aching back and no energy left in me to stand for even one more minute. The tiredness was very real but I must say that tired-happy might be one of the best emotions / states one could have to deal with. I hope I can do all of this again someday, because I’m actually so serious that I wouldn’t mind going to a TMBG show every other evening if I could. That’s the dream actually.

Miscellaneous T(houghts) time

Ok, I swear I’m almost done. Just a couple general / finishing observations about the show as a whole now.

● First of all, I want to come back for a bit to that TMBG dimension thing. Because this whole thing really was sort of like entering some sort of different mode of existing. The Johns are very funny guys and the whole band’s energy is extremely infectious, but I also think it’s a very special thing how their stage presence creates this whole atmosphere that’s just completely laid-back and fun in the purest form of fun. Even when there’s a big crowd and we’re in an “important” venue. Because you sort of really feel at home, like you’re exactly where you belong. And earlier I could imagine it being more like, oh the stakes are so high, because this is THE EVENT, finally. And in reality this was the most relaxed I’ve felt in a very long time. And I was almost painfully aware of how I was watching it all with sparkly eyes, hoping that it’s maybe not too obvious because waaaah, embarrassing, it’s not like I’m having the best time ever right now or anything, please.

● However, all of the above definitely had a lot to do with how the audience was at the show, and I was just really surprised by how very awesome the audience's energy was. Like I could imagine it being maybe less enthusiastic after all because uh well, maybe a lot of people actually could be here more for Flood and Birdhouse and all that rather than the actual band… Shouldn’t have underestimated this fanbase, because the audience was so responsive to everything and just made it feel even more like the explosion of joy it really was. And I really felt like I was with *my* people, and, especially when it’s a huge group like this.. that’s very rare and special to me.

● I’ve discovered that in TMBG dimension time isn’t real because I swear, when the first set was coming to a close, I felt like maybe only 20 minutes passed and we’ve only heard maybe 6 songs so far, instead of the actual. 17 songs. 17?? damn, that's a lot of songs. I actually haven’t counted them until now. And it was 33 songs in total, 36 if you add the intros and reversed Stellub, huh!

● You people weren’t lying about the Linnell stare. Actually, related to this, another worry I sort of had before this was that should I end up close to the stage, I might feel too awkward about being possibly perceived by the band in any way to truly enjoy myself. But that actually wasn’t the case at all, not counting like a couple of moments only where I’d make maybe-imaginary, maybe-real eye contact with someone from the band and have to look way fast because noooo, don’t perceive me actually, lol.

● And again, you people weren’t lying either that these guys have unbelievable amounts of energy that make you feel like an old man who can barely stand for a couple hours in comparison. This is coming from a 23-year-old, maybe not the most athletic person in the world, but still. Also, Marty really is the guy of all time, loved watching his antics. And one more special shoutout to the Tricerachops Horns, because yes, these songs I’ve loved for a while already CAN get even better and simply epic and beautiful.

All in all, best show ever! Honestly, I don’t know if any other show could possibly top this. I would be very happy to be proven wrong of course, especially if that were to happen because of another TMBG show. Thank you Johns and everyone else for this evening, it was a dream come true and I’ll never forget how out of this world and amazing it was!!