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minor-solemnity · 3 years

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Request:

Pairing: Tom x oc/reader

Summary:

Tom and oc go to the slug club yearly galla and oc is the loud Gryffindor 2nd in class and her and tom have been nemesis for long but the sexual tension is real and then tom sees her dancing with potter ..

Slughorn is like “ahh two of my favourite students” and he introduced them to a lot of people and a little girl spills something on tom and oc defends the girl and slughorn is like why dont you help him change oc ( as tom had some injury and was drenched and couldn’t change on his own ) and when they fight all the way to his dorm and she only agrees because slughorn tells her to and then when she helps him out of his shirt there is a lot of sexual tension and then kiss or maybe have sex in his dorm

And in the end she ends up sleeping on his bed and he like sees her face glisten in the moon light and is like fuck i like her even though he was trying to convince himself he didnt care abt her throughout the party ? And in the morning she is like well you slytherins have great beds you rich aristocrats or something and he just laughs and kisses her and malfoy is like well who would have thought the slytherin ice cold king and the Gryffindor lioness

I dont know feel free to change it up and if you donr want to then thats ok too it would mean a great deal to me if you write it no pressure tho..( going anon because i am shy )

~ red

Heyyy so I took a few liberties and this is gonna be a two parter because I have zero chill apparently but I hope you like this, Red!

Next part will be up in a day or two :)

Never Gonna Give (You Up) Pt.1

You smile up at him as innocently as you can. You know you shouldn’t bait him. You know you’re being immature. You know that if this night descends into one of your usual verbal sparring matches you won’t be impressing anyone, let alone Christella Beaufort. But something about him brings out the worst in you. Makes you feel slightly wrong-footed which in turn makes you want to push and needle until he reacts.

You take a moment to marvel at the decorations for this year’s Saturnalia party. Every year, Slughorn seems to set himself an unofficial challenge to out-do himself with more elaborate designs. This year, the theme is clear: gold. Just lots and lots of gold. From the tablecloths to the chairs, to the golden snowflakes that melt into nothing a couple of feet above your head, to the floor which has been charmed so that whenever you take a step you leave a shimmering footprint in your wake. It’s bright and festive and you can’t help but smirk at the thought of Tom Riddle being stuck in a room full of Gryffindor colours.

Speaking of the devil, you spy Riddle talking to Slughorn and one of the Ministry officials that often grace Slughorn’s get-togethers. You don’t particularly want to go over and talk to him, but you do want to make yourself known to Slughorn and find out if he managed to Christella Beaufort on the list this year. She’s the Head Curse-Breaker at Gringott’s, fiercely independent, highly intelligent, and so tenacious she had singlehandedly opened the door to witches wanting to go into the profession. In short, she’s your idol.

“Come on, Potter. We’ve got pleasantries to make and hands to grease.” You grab Fleamont’s hand who you’re attending the party with (as friends - you’ve made it very clear to him that you’re not interested in finding out whether his skills on a broom translate off the pitch). With that, you stride over to the drinks table where Slughorn and Riddle are chatting, Fleamont stumbling after you, his hand still locked in yours.

“Professor,” You greet Slughorn with a warm smile, “I have to say, you’ve outdone yourself once again. I’m particularly fond of the colour scheme this year.”

“Ahh, my dear girl, how lovely of you to join us!” Slughorn cries jovially. He pats your shoulder and you watch as his eyes slide to your hand, which is still clasped around Fleamonts. And (not that you care) you notice that Riddle’s eyes are also fixed on your intertwined hands. You let go of Fleamont’s hand and it has nothing to do with the frown that’s now marring Riddle’s brow. He casts a fond (and slightly calculating, truth be told) eye over the three of you. “My three best students! First, second, and third.” Your smile turns strained and over Slughorn’s shoulder, Riddle’s charming smile turns smug.

Slughorn introduces you to the Ministry official - a boring looking man who you promptly forget the name of but who Fleamont seems entirely taken by. Before you know it, Potter has abandoned you to talk shop with Slughorn and Mr Ministry and you’re left with Riddle.

Lovely.

Just. Lovely.

At least there’s champagne. The other professors might disapprove but in all your years of Slug Club Saturnalias, Slughorn has never once skimped on the champagne. You reach for a glass and look at Riddle with a critical eye, searching for any imperfections. Frustratingly, you can’t find any. Riddle is, as per usual, the most handsome man in the room. Pale skin, impossibly dark eyes, refined features and cheekbones as sharp as his tongue. Metaphorically speaking. Though the idea of Riddle with a forked tongue is enough to make you snort into your champagne flute.

Riddle’s attention snaps to you and he raises an eyebrow, unimpressed, impatient, annoyed with you already and making absolutely no attempt to hide it. “Did you find something amusing?”

“Oh, no. I was just taking in your general appearance,” You say, waving a handle vaguely towards him. You smile up at him as innocently as you can. You know you shouldn’t bait him. You know you’re being immature. You know that if this night descends into one of your usual verbal sparring matches you won’t be impressing anyone, let alone Christella Beaufort. But something about him brings out the worst in you. Makes you feel slightly wrong-footed which in turn makes you want to push and needle until he reacts. It doesn’t help that the rivalry you’ve had with him since first year has only become more intense and heated as you’ve gotten older.

His eyes narrow and he drags his gaze across your body. The moment stretches and your cheeks flame as his eyes follow the nip of your waist and the curve of your hips. Your mouth goes dry. Because this is another thing that you hate about Riddle: he never fails to make your stomach swoop. By the time he raises his eyes back to yours, his expression is one of ironic amusement. “Colour me impressed,” He murmurs, angling his body ever so slightly towards you and you have to force yourself not to take a step back. “You actually look… passable this evening.”

Prat.

You should walk away. You should find one of the fancy people that you’ve been desperate to meet since your invitation arrived a month ago.

You don’t.

You stay and bicker with Riddle, throwing increasingly caustic taunts and jibes at each other whilst you sip champagne and pretend that you’d rather be anywhere else. You realise about twenty minutes into a debate about Minister for Magic Spencer-Moon’s policies (you rather like the pro-muggle legislature he’s attempting to pass and Riddle thinks you’re being horribly naive) that Riddle is still here. Which, well, obviously he’s still here; he’s talking to you right now in that same condescending tone he uses to tell students off for staying out past curfew. But he doesn’t have to be. Riddle is as ambitious as you are, more so, even. So why has he spent most of the evening with you and not sucking up to the many rich and talented witches and wizards in attendance tonight?

You glance around the room, suddenly aware that it hadn’t even occurred to you to leave. You’ve been so wrapped up in your conversation that everything else had just sort of… faded away. For reasons you are unwilling to examine too closely, you feel yourself grow warm. Riddle is still talking, gesturing animatedly with his champagne flute, looking horrendously handsome and like… oh Merlin, he looks like he’s enjoying himself. And that is… Well, quite frankly, that’s enough to make your brain grind to halt from shock.

You’re saved from your inner turmoil by Fleamont who appears at your side and wraps a hand around your waist. Riddle’s expression shutters. He looks at Fleamont’s arm around your waist and sneers and, for reasons beyond your grasp, you have to bite your tongue to stop yourself from explaining that Fleamont is just a friend. Fleamont, oblivious as always, grins and asks you to dance and you can’t bring yourself to look at Riddle as he leads you away to the dance floor.

Fleamont is a good dancer. You suppose this is to be expected from the heir to one of the oldest pureblood families in Britain. You imagine that he learnt to waltz before he learnt to walk. You try to focus on the dance, on the way that Fleamont spins you around the room causing your dress robes to fan out around you in an elegant circle but out of the corner of your eye you can see Riddle watching you. He’s subtle about it, you’re fairly sure that no one else would notice, but even as he makes conversation with a wizard you vaguely recognise as Ensio Kiimamaa, widely regarded as the leading Potions Master in contemporary wizarding society, his eyes flicker to where you’re dancing with Fleamont.

You’re really not sure what to make of it.

The dance ends, and Fleamont makes a show of bowing and offering you his arm, which you take with an exasperated laugh. “Let’s go talk to Kiimamaa, I hear he’s thinking about taking on apprentices next year.” As little as you want to go near Riddle for the rest of the night, you can’t think of a good reason to object, so you nod begrudgingly and walk over, trying to convince yourself that the trepidation you feel is a result of being introduced to Kiimamma and not because of the way Riddle’s looking at you.

You make your introductions and Kiimamma begins to explain his latest discovery: a highly acidic venom harvested from the Icelandic water-dwelling vatnaormar. He produces a vial of dark liquid, uncorks it and passes it around the three of you. “It’s highly dangerous to touch, but I’ve found that a sniff of it can induce heightened concentration and focus - I hope to find a way of incorporating it in a potion that’s safe to drink.”

Riddle holds the uncorked venom delicately between his fingers, raising it up to the light to observe the venom and then time seems to speed up and slow down all at once as you watch in horror as two things happen almost simultaneously.

First: A little girl, who you assume to be Kiimamma’s daughter, shakes free of Slughorn’s hold on her arm and bounds over, waving her arms excitedly before losing her balance and crashing into Riddle. Second: the uncorked vial slips from Riddle’s fingers and the venom arches in an elegant curve through the air before it splatters across Riddle’s chest.

The effect is immediate. The venom tears through Riddle’s dress robes in almost no time at all and his skin begins to burn, leaving awful red and pink welts on the pale skin of his chest. The little girl starts wailing and Slughorn and Kiimamma start flapping their hands.

Riddle’s eyes flash in pain and anger and embarrassment and he completely forgets his usual charm and grace as he rounds on the girl. Before he can start yelling at her as he so clearly intends to, you step forward and place your hand on the girl’s shoulder. “It was an accident, Riddle. She didn’t mean to.” You say and then add in a low tone so that only he can hear, “She’s his daughter. Don’t fucking yell at her.” His gaze snaps to yours and there’s a moment when you think he’s going to yell anyway before his jaw clenches and he gives you a single tight nod.

“Riddle, my poor boy, you must go to the hospital wing. Not to worry, I’m sure Madam Montague will be able to sort you out in a flash.” Later, you will be able to appreciate Slughorn’s ability to sound jolly in even the direst of circumstances. Right now, you just find it rather insensitive. Slughorn turns to you and with slightly pleading eyes asks you to escort Riddle. Try as you might, you can’t think of a good reason not to, so with a vaguely helpless glance to Fleamont, you grudgingly nod, scowling at the ground in annoyance.

You loop your arm through Riddle’s and he stiffens under your touch. You repress the urge to roll your eyes and begin to make your way out of the room, ignoring Riddle’s laboured breathing and the slight trembling of his shoulders. It’s only as you get to the door that you notice a tall, dark-haired witch with a jagged scar crossing the length of her face steps out of the floo. Christella Beaufort, the one person who you had wanted to meet tonight has arrived and you’re not going to get to even say hello.

(part 1) (part 2)

#tom riddle #tom marvolo riddle #tom riddle x oc #tom riddle x y/n #tom riddle x you #tom riddle x reader #tom riddle imagine #tom riddle imagines #tom riddle fanfic #tom riddle fanfiction #tom riddle fic #harry potter #minific #prompt #asks #prompt fill #prompt fic #anon #jinxqsu

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stylesnews · 3 years

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“Feeling good in my skin/ I just keep on dancing,” Harry Styles sings in his latest single, “Treat People With Kindness.” And in the song’s exuberant music video -- which has garnered 17 million YouTube views and counting since its debut on New Year’s Day -- he does just that: Wearing a sequined jacket and bow tie, he chassés, spins and flutters jazz hands like an MGM musical star (with a little help from his equally debonair partner, Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

Styles shot the video in early 2019 after several weeks of training with choreographer Paul Roberts, a collaborator since his One Direction days. “I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew this could be something special,” says Roberts, a veteran stage director and choreographer who’s worked on videos and tours for the likes of Sam Smith, Katy Perry, Diana Ross, and the Spice Girls (their Spiceworld stadium tour).

Watching the explosive fan reaction to Styles’s little known dance talents -- including from the Spice Girls, who've “sent lovely messages" about the video -- Roberts says it seems like "Treat People With Kindness" arrived at the precise right moment. “Most people’s comments are, ‘I’ve not felt that happy for three and a half minutes in a long time,’ or ‘I smiled from ear to ear the whole way through.’ It’s a positive light.”

He spoke to Billboard about Styles’ intensive training process -- and why he wouldn’t be surprised to see him dancing onstage again.

There’s been one pretty overwhelming reaction to this video: “This is the guy who was in the group that insisted they couldn’t dance?!” Did you expect this kind of reaction to Harry dancing? I’ve been with Harry for 10 years: I was with the One Direction boys from the beginning the whole way through their career before they took the hiatus, and they always made a very conscious decision that they didn’t want choreography as part of their brand -- but they did want a kind of disheveled organization in order to allow the cameras and the lighting to stand a chance in terms of presenting them in the best manner possible.

What was very evident to me was that all five of them, and then it obviously became four, they’ve all got their own magic. The only time I’ve experienced that was when I worked with the Spice Girls. I always knew that they had special skills aside from what they were in One Direction, whether it was movement, songwriting, being able to handle the business side of things. For such young lads they were very astute and very decisive. So, getting together with Harry -- he’s a bit of an alchemist, is Harry. Everything he turns his hand to turns to gold. Where did the initial dance-centric concept come from? Harry and the directors, Ben and Gabe [Turner], sent me a video link to the Nicholas Brothers scene from Stormy Weather and Harry asked me, "How long do you think it would take to dance like this?" I was like, "OK, are you being serious?" "Yeah, I’m being serious."

That is probably one of the most standout dance sequences ever captured on film -- so I knew we were aiming high. I said, "Why don’t we go into a studio and let’s workshop some choreography, some moves, some short sequences, and see what your ability is, see how we can tailor this to make you look the best you can possibly look." Obviously it would take some investment in terms of rehearsal and commitment, I told him it would be mentally and physically exhausting, but I thought, "My God yeah, let’s do it; this will be an adventure."

How long did the whole process take? We started in mid-January 2019, and we rehearsed and workshopped for about four to five weeks before the shoot, every day. Both Harry and Phoebe had other things going on, so, for instance, Phoebe was working on the new Bond movie in Canada, so I sent my assistant to Canada to work with her. I stayed in the U.K. with Harry, and then we went to L.A. where Harry shot two more videos, for “Watermelon Sugar” and “Falling.”

What was the process in the studio like with Harry? We didn’t even use his [vocal] track to begin with -- we used different big band songs, some contemporary alternative music. It was just about finding his [movement] language first and foremost. Then we developed the choreography and sent it to the directors, who gave us feedback. We enhanced the work a bit more, and then once we had some really solid sequences, Ben and Gabe storyboarded the scenes against the timeline of the music.

At this point Harry and Phoebe were still working separately, and then we joined forces in London, where we really started to refine these sequences of choreography we’d developed, trying to find the finesse and the style, almost making sense of the movement for them so they felt they had a dancer’s way of working the movement through the body. You’ve worked with a wide variety of artists, many of whom aren’t dancers first. How do you find, as you put it, the “language” of movement that makes sense for each of them as individuals?

I think the general answer is really communicating -- listening and understanding what the artist’s desire is. And also collaborating, so you don’t get too lost in yourself as a choreographer. What looks good on you might not transcend to the artist, or even necessarily the dancers.

With Harry, what was important within the language of the choreography was that it felt joyful and had personality. Him and Phoebe, with the work she’s done with Fleabag, you associate them and what they do with a sense of style, a real confidence, but at the heart of it it’s entertainment. And with the amount of time and budget we had, which was such a luxury in this day and age, we wanted to do something that pushed both of them out of their comfort zones. We tried to make it as athletic as possible but without compromising them as artists and becoming too comedic. We wanted it to be a bit quaint and cute in places, but we definitely didn’t want it to be thought of as nonsensical or silly.

Harry’s movement in the video is so crisp and precise, even his hands and arm extension look very dancerly. Did that come through a lot of specific work with you? As a songwriter and artist, for Harry it’s about detail, about pushing yourself to be the best. He’s always got questions: "Why are we doing that? Should we be doing this?" We got to a point during the rehearsal period where I brought in a ballet teacher, really to just get Harry and Phoebe to open themselves up from behind their shoulder blades, have an idea of extension, the lines that extend from your center all the way to the tip of your finger. I’d be saying, “Your arms Harry, your arm line!” Asking him to push his shoulders down, lift his carriage up, extend through his breast. And when he hit those lines, he’d be like, “Oh yeah, that feels different.” It’s funny: We spent a couple days apart -- he had to go off and do a gig somewhere -- and I was like, “I hope you’re rehearsing when you’ve got some downtime, dude!” And he sent me a picture in the gym with his arms in the most beautiful balletic arm line! I was like, "Yes, by George, you’ve got it!" Besides the Nicholas Brothers, did you have any particular dance references in mind for the feel of the choreography? I just delved into the MGM archives. Obviously [Fred] Astaire and [Gene] Kelly, the two greats -- especially with Astaire, we loved how sometimes it seems so effortless yet a bit throwaway, not totally totally perfect always. We enjoyed the moments from him of “I’ll just do a bit of this,” “I’ll just walk off camera left,” the dropping in and out of movement. We loved the duet “Moses Supposes” from Singin’ in the Rain, for Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor -- we loved the camaraderie between them, which felt a bit goofball at times, and just that wry smile, the look to the left, knowing your partner is there and has got your back. It feels fizzy, it feels joyful.

And yes, there was a massive core of MGM-ism, but at the same time an absolute huge dollop of Harry-and-Phoebe-ism. It was important to us to feel a bit more contemporary, so again we stay true to Harry and Phoebe as artists. Has Harry indicated any interest in dancing more going forward?

We had a conversation back at the end of the summer about how much we enjoyed the process, and I know he was doing another project where choreography was involved, so we were just talking about it and how he felt. Coming from where he came from to what he was about to do, he felt he could be pushed even further. I don’t know if he got the bug, or if it’s just the way he is as a person, very inquisitive and wanting to keep elevating himself. There’s now been some talk on social media that it can’t be long before Harry does Broadway. What do you think?

I mean, I think with Harry Styles, anything is possible, is it not? I mean, I’m sure because he’s tasted the dance, he’ll inject that along the line in his career. It won’t necessarily be out-and-out dancing, but I guess it’s a bit like Bowie used to do, isn’t it? It’s the showmanship and presentation of the performance. Who knows? He’s just so open-minded and open-hearted — and because he’s so open it allows the universe to come back at him and he’s able to do anything he sets his mind to.

#harry styles #jan21 #paul roberts #billboard #article #tpwkmv

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tokyokookmin · 3 years

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I really loved your explanation regarding vmin it was retable. kanmom51 anon, Im using a little of your ask for @tokyokookmin to explain and narrate a lil about JIMIN shes a JM biased too so I felt that it would be appropriate to ask her.

"Because it’s no secret that JM doesn’t get any praise from the company, the choreographer, and all."

"When it comes to the members it’s a different topic. They hype Jimin up. We have J-Hope constantly praising JM. Jk completely in awe with JM dance. Jin thanking him for helping him rehearse."

"So for me Bighit for some reason doesn’t do anything for JM, no credit in his work, no acknowledgement, nothing."

I felt that every single word that this anon has said is pure truth and this remark deserves much more attention. We all know what's currently going on with JM, the situation is really bad and its getting worse, toxic solo stans are bashing him and they are comparing him to other members from every perspective + even the hate that he's getting bcuz of him "annoying jk" in that memories 2020.

I need you to explain on how a wonderful person JM is. Your impact makes a huge difference on people mindset. tysm keshhh.

Hey there anon!, I deeply understand your emotions. The hate that JM is going through is really bad and I have personally reported those accounts on twt etc. I even took a few snapshots of a tiktok video comment section... I will surely share them some day or another. Well then lets get started! I can't compare J-HOPE TO JM because they are my biases and both of them captivated my eyes, I just can't resist their flawless moves and they make a great dance unit... it would be incomplete without one of them + JK lol.

Most armies would say that JK is the golden maknae or he's the best overall in the team, well y'all took JM for granted, he's capable of doing so many things as well. But before that we need to talk about his dancing skills, I have made one blog about the 3J. Here's the link if you would like to know about their achievements/viral moments https://tokyokookmin.tumblr.com/post/654670945252933632/a-guide-to-the-dance-line..... this blog was mostly just me collecting info's lmao-.

1. DANCE ☝️

Well I found this incredible video from tiktok and I thought that this video would be perfect to describe his contemporary skills. Utmost respect to the creator for creating such a masterpiece!

Jimin Van Fleet Award!

Do we really need to talk about this? We all knew what impact he had given to audience with his remarkable traditional korean fan dance.He is extremely talented, after all he trained in contemporary.

“I received many really big awards today. I sincerely appreciate it, and it was a day when I thought I would like to share it with you with better music and stage in the future. Thank you all for your support. #JIMIN# We have been unclear” #JiminWorldwideLoved 📷📷📷📷

"As emphasized by the ballet dancer, being lifted is not easy, just like in the case of Jimin in the said stage. A strong core, glutes, and chest are vital for the one being lifted." https://youtu.be/3RW91KT3bXw - another review from a japanese dancer.

He is extremely versatile and he can master any sort of genre.He excels in dancing,his moves and fluidity of his body is astonishing they way he moves every tissue in his body to perfectly to complete the cheoreo is just mind blowing, he is truly the embodiment of dancing! Believe me or not, you should pay more attention on his facial expressions... he keeps it graceful. His fingers and angle are on point.

From MAMA 2016 Lie meets Boy meets evil to MMA 2020 black swan 🦢..I wonder what's coming up next.

2. Loving member

Jimin is the member that I connect emotionally to, he's a sentimental person but he just doesn't show it you just have to pay attention on his behaviour and actions. He consoles many of the members and he provides comfort for them. The picture I attached below sets a great example.

1. BTS MAMA 2018... It was a tough year for them. They were close to disbanding, and the members were emotionally drained. My heart sank when I saw hobi breaking down in front of the crowd, you can find tons of fancams but you should take a close look at Jimin. He handled the situation very well and I love the way he gives his subtle touch of love towards the other members.

2. Taehyung grandma death announcement

I don't think that I need to explain the about the situation. Taehyung was really sad and felt guilty as he couldn't mention his grandma name. He broke down and Jimin immediately noticed him and ran towards him and just gave him little pat/huggie.

3. The Final

Even by looking at the picture you can see the comfort. You know that GCF-TOKYO song “there for you’ which implies that Jk means he will be there for jimin but "you gotta be there for me too” which means jimin gotta be there for him too. So yeah, JM just know jungkook well and he comforts Jk pretty well.It was so cute and i wished i was a part of the audience, i would have had a panic attack looking at them being so cute,fluff,intimate ON STAGE . Too bad it’s impossible now .

3.He's a badass [ athletic/ physical ]

Jimin has often talked about his experience in kendo,japanese fencing,Geomdo (검도, 劍道) “Way of the Sword” & hapkido. HAPKIDO: electid korean martial arts .It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks.

https://youtu.be/oUcHghZQxiw - a video you may refer to.

.4.Academic excellence

After Namjoon Jimin has the most remarkable academic achievements in bts. He was one of the top students in junior high and was THE top student in Busan arts high school from ALL the departments. Fun fact Jimin IQ is 128! He was valedictorian too.

"When he was in junior high, he was one of the top students so Jimin's dad thought of enrolling him in a foreign language school. When he decided to go to an arts school, his teachers tried to stop him and were disappointed. He was accepted as the top of his class and attended Busan High School of Arts. He was doing really good. Then he switched to K-pop dancing and decided to be a trainee in Seoul. Teachers also tried to stop him and were disappointed. Park Jimin's life is really something.

36. Our Jimin didn't spend a lot of time preparing for the arts school. He was dancing popping when he decided to go to the arts school. He then learned modern dancing for a little over a year and was accepted at Busan High School of Arts as the top of his class even though he was a dance majorπ TT TT Every member in this group could've been successful at anything. That group is our pride, BTS.

60. Wow! If there's only one dance class, it's really incredible~ It's hard to get a top student from dance department. And it was achieved by a male student and it's Park Jimin TTTT

67. That's what I know too.. I was looking into Busan Arts School before and one class for dance is probably correct. It was mostly music and art classes that I remember. So from Busan Arts School, one out of ten classes and a male student from dance department getting accepted as the top of the class...the percentage is just incredible. I know that the dance class has about 40 students? And male students could be 25:15 or 30:10. Jimin broke through this and became the top.

Namjoon and Jimin really made a huge gamble. They could've went the easier way. Truthfully, if they went their way, they both would have succeeded. But becoming an idol and not knowing what their future will be and BTS not being successful from the beginning must have been really hard for them. But now I'm glad they're successful and they can realize they've made the right choice."

cr @artimitatesjimin

I really respect and idolize him. His personality is unique and its different.He's been through alot. Being kicked from BTS for 8+ times, the members ranking his looks as the last and being called fat and ugly, that's really disturbing. He starved and went on diets just to please the audience and to have a jawline. He works his ass of and he really deserves more. He's obviously cutie,sexy,lovely,sweet guy! He prioritize his career, family and fans before anything. He has absolute heavenly vocals (+crazyyy high notes) and he is the definition of stage presence. PARK JIMIN IS THE STANDARD. Solo toxic fans are definitely going to attack on me but this is the reality.Jimin deserves more and he's such a sweet person. He performs with his whole heart and expresses it wonderfully,he goes all out and each performance comes out from his soul. He loves to perform. I MEAN FOR THE LOOKS, JIMIN IS THE FIRST FOR JUNGKOOK~.

He once even wasn't able to attend THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW due to his sore muscles.

He went through alot and he deserves the #1 in brand reputation, who doesn't admire his determination?

Each member is unique in their own way. I want no hate or malice on my platform ~

Bits and pieces I collected anon! love ya ~ stay safe.

#bts park jimin #park jimin #tojungkookjiministhethebest #jiminbiased #istilllovejikook #bts jikook #kookmin

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kingstylesdaily · 3 years

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How Harry Styles Found His Inner Dancer For 'Treat People With Kindness'

He spoke to Billboard about Styles’ intensive training process -- and why he wouldn’t be surprised to see him dancing onstage again.

At the end of the “Watermelon Sugar” shoot, he wrapped, got in his car, came to the dance studio and we rehearsed into the night. Knowing how short a time you sometimes get with artists even for really big performances, I thought the rehearsals would dilute and we’d lose momentum, but both Phoebe and Harry were so committed. What was the process in the studio like with Harry? We didn’t even use his [vocal] track to begin with -- we used different big band songs, some contemporary alternative music. It was just about finding his [movement] language first and foremost. Then we developed the choreography and sent it to the directors, who gave us feedback. We enhanced the work a bit more, and then once we had some really solid sequences, Ben and Gabe storyboarded the scenes against the timeline of the music.

via billboard.com

#kingstylesdaily #Harry Styles #hs: tpwk #January 2021 #hs: news

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zalrb · 3 years

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tv rewatch: gg edition, ep. 10

“Hey, so has Blair mentioned who’s escorting her?” Nate, you cannot be serious.

“Every time I see her, she’s lighter, she’s happier, she’s less ... ... Blair.” Nate, sit down.

“With my dad in rehab, the pressure is off and I can see Blair clearly” but the pressure wasn’t on for your entire relationship, Nate. Shut up.

“Jenny, what are you even doing here?” Serena, that sounds way more hostile than you intended.

“Oh, hello, mother.” LOL Lily. She is SO unsung.

“Isn’t she’s great?” “She’s ... she’s great, she’s something.” LOL READ BODY LANGUAGE, SERENA.

This Chair makeout is one of my favourites just because in the bloopers, they kept going and going until someone was finally like, “You take your own cue!” and Leighton was like OH!

“And the prince, you know, he’s a great dancer and all.” Lmao, Nate, shut up.

Cece’s manipulation is kind of low stakes tbh, like she uses her illness just to get Serena to do cotillion?

Blair in jeans!

Blair texting Chuck while with Nate is pretty cute. Ah, I always get in my Chair feels in the first two seasons.

“Allison, I didn’t expect to see you ... here.” LILY’S SHADE.

Dan in his striped shirt.

His hair is steadily becoming less offensive.

LOL Sebastian Stan in this is always funny now.

“Where were you?” “Where wasn’t he? Gossip Girl even had a designated Carter map on Spotted.” Shouldn’t you know this, Dan, since, you know, you’re gossip girl?

“I also went pheasant hunting with the sheik while I was there.” I thought you disowned your parents and didn’t have their money?

Jenny’s dress is awful.

“Then you are grounded for a week” “WHAT???” Lol OK, Jenny.

I know I keep saying it but kdramas do class divides so much better. Cece’s speech is too pointed.

“I’ll tell you what’s going on, I just became your escort to the ball.” Lmao I feel like Dan and Lily are the same person.

“I would just like to say how proud I am of Miss Waldorf and her commitment to Mr. Archibald EVEN THOUGH HE RUINED HER 17TH BIRTHDAY...” this is the most teen thing Chuck has ever done.

I LOVE HOW OLD THE PHONES ARE and they were hot shit back then.

Serena does not look incredible, Dan.

“Serena, that’s what I’m trying to tell you, that woman is the most manipulative person I’ve ever met.” Except for me BECAUSE I’M GOSSIP GIRL.

OK but honestly, what Cece is doing is bullying not manipulation, it’s too direct for it to be manipulation. Telling Lily about that she’s sick so Serena can go to cotillion is manipulative, yes, but the rest of it is just straight up intimidation tactics, she’s using her money as a weapon. They could’ve also gone further with the Lily thing by telling Lily that this is what she wants but she doesn’t want Serena to know that she’s sick so Lily puts her foot down about cotillion and says she has to go or else, thereby making Lily the villain while she remains the cool, free-spirited grandmother because when that DOES happen, it’s too late. It should be an ongoing thing.

“She makes your mother look like Gandhi.” “That’s my grandmother you’re talking about.” LMAO LILY GETS NO LOVE.

“Let’s get Carter on the phone.”

This scene could’ve been better. Dan’s delivery of this revelation was pretty bad because his sarcasm took precedence that he didn’t try to speak to Serena delicately and Serena wasn’t asking the right questions. Dan is like “she offered to buy my dad off so I wouldn’t come tonight” and she’s just like “Nope.” Dan could be like, why would I lie? and Serena could talk about how there could be a mistake, she could call out Dan’s tone and then he leaves and when Cece comes instead of her automatically being like, k time for Carter, she could milk the grandmother routine and say how she’d never do such a thing, she doesn’t understand why he’d lie about this etc. Like manipulation takes a lot more subtlety than what’s going on. This is all way too direct.

Lmao Nate is so unbearable this episode.

“Make it stop, you sound like me.” LMAO, BLAIR.

Chuck is more manipulative than Cece.

Cece does look like she’s about to go catatonic after that “beds as many billionaires as she can” line though. Well done.

How did TVD do a better ball scene than GG?

I also prefer The O.C.’s cotillion. Lmao because it actually tried to look like a legit cotillion.

But The Pierces in the background is pretty atmospheric even though it’s also absolutely ridiculous that they’re performing at a debutante ball.

“SHE’S MY GIRLFRIEND.” oh, nate.

“And you said if I did this I could be myself but you don’t really want that do you?” “That’s not entirely true.” I DIED. LILY.

“All you care about when people look at me is what they think of you” but the thing is I need to see this? Like I need to see Lily being directly affected by Serena’s choices, see how society looks at her and their family for this to be more than dialogue.

I totally forgot that Serena had already slept with Carter.

“When I was your age, I would’ve been lucky to find a guy like you. And I kind of did.” That’s his father, Lily.

Also really, what was Rufus like in the past then? Like what kind of rockstar was he?

Oh Chuck, just can’t win.

Serena turning around to see Dan at cotillion is pretty sweet, ngl.

The problem with this cotillion plot line is that it’s too small. Like if this is about legacy and if this is actually about introducing Serena to society then we need to see what cotillion actually means in this world, we need to see how big of a deal it is, one reporter showing up to interview Blair doesn’t mean anything. We need to see Lily’s and Cece’s peers gossip and talk. Also if this is all about how Cece’s values are old-fashioned then either cotillion needs to be the traditional white dress, white gloves ball

or it’s what we see and Cece complains about how modern/contemporary it’s getting.

Chuck is so Chuck. “Hey! Have you seen Blair Waldorf?” reminds me of when I went up to an acquaintance and I didn’t say hi I just asked where my friend was, I was like “Where’s Scott?” and from then on he - the acquaintance - just called me “Where’s Scott?”

Chuck looks genuinely heartbroken at seeing Blair and Nate. *sigh* too bad they get absolutely terrible.

Nate’s grin is so cringe, lol.

Rufly angst! “I never should’ve let you let me go.” DE could never.

APOLOGIZE, YASSSSSSSSSSSSS. SONG IS STILL A BOP DON’T @ ME.

I’m holding on your rope got me ten feet off the grouuuuuuuuuuuuund.

I know this is a Derena moment but what makes it for me is Serena looking at Lily to see if she can go with him and Lily saying yes. It’s a Serena/Lily moment for me.

Oh Blair, Nate doesn’t deserve sex with you.

Chuck, leaving the city, you are so DRAMATIC.

xoxo, zalrb.

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hlupdate · 3 years

Link

He spoke to Billboard about Styles’ intensive training process -- and why he wouldn’t be surprised to see him dancing onstage again.

There’s been one pretty overwhelming reaction to this video: “This is the guy who was in the group that insisted they couldn’t dance?!” Did you expect this kind of reaction to Harry dancing?

I’ve been with Harry for 10 years: I was with the One Direction boys from the beginning the whole way through their career before they took the hiatus, and they always made a very conscious decision that they didn’t want choreography as part of their brand -- but they did want a kind of disheveled organization in order to allow the cameras and the lighting to stand a chance in terms of presenting them in the best manner possible.

Where did the initial dance-centric concept come from?

Harry and the directors, Ben and Gabe [Turner], sent me a video link to the Nicholas Brothers scene from Stormy Weather and Harry asked me, "How long do you think it would take to dance like this?" I was like, "OK, are you being serious?" "Yeah, I’m being serious."

How long did the whole process take?

We started in mid-January 2019, and we rehearsed and workshopped for about four to five weeks before the shoot, every day. Both Harry and Phoebe had other things going on, so, for instance, Phoebe was working on the new Bond movie in Canada, so I sent my assistant to Canada to work with her. I stayed in the U.K. with Harry, and then we went to L.A. where Harry shot two more videos, for “Watermelon Sugar” and “Falling.”

#harry styles #articles #tpwk #120121

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bibbykins · 3 years

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the brunch event is here I’m excited!!! @ all MCs, what’s the sweetest fluffiest thing the guys have done for you / you’ve done with the guys? (craving some fluff today, hope you don’t mind!)

(Holy shit, this was longer than I intended but I hope you like it!) (Also this is long and I'm on mobile so I'm sorry for no read later thing here pls dont be mean to me)

Warnings: crying, PTSD, phantom pains/touches

The girls all smile at the question and decide the order they'll go in before Leopard takes a sip of her mimosa and speaks, "One day, Jin said he was taking me to go look at some clothes for an event we'd have to go to," She relaxes in her seat, fingers curling around the champagne glass gracefully, as if she's proudly told this story a million times, "Then, we pull up to a storage place and I'm like 'okay, so you're murdering me?'" She laughs in spite of knowing he's capable of murder, "He takes my hand and then takes me into a unit and in there are sketchbooks upon props and prototypes that I had ever made." She grinned at the thought, "I had started doing stage design and writing when I was 16 and my family never took home my props or anything, so I thought they were just... gone, and then here they all were." She sighed dreamily, "It just... made me feel like someone was proud of that 16 year old hurting herself on nail guns trying to build, or that 18 year old who took an hour to control a sander, it made me feel so exalted for my hard work."

Princess and Dove are already tearing up despite having heard the story before and Leopard holds their hands until they calm down, knowing they will absolutely cry when everyone is done telling their stories.

"Ah, it's my turn!" Sunshine gleams, "I'm pretty easy to make happy, like ordering my favorite food is groundbreaking to me no matter how often you do it." The girls giggle and nod at this, "But, there was one time we on our way to do our engagement photo shoot at the restaurant we had our first date, but then he pulls over and tell me he wants to show me something." She can't contain her growing smile, "And I'm confused, becuase we stop at this beautiful lake and he hates the outdoors." She chuckles at this, "But then he leads us into a beautiful field with wild flowers and a camera with a tripod." Princess has already let tears fall at this point, "And he tells me this is our engagement photoshoot, something just for us." Sunshine takes a bite of her crepe, "It was just so sweet and grounding since everything something happens with us, it's publicized, which is fine for the most part, but for him to set something up that's just for us to have, especially in nature, so sweet." The girls all giggle and coo at Sunshine.

"Oh, no! I know what story Sweet Pea is gonna say and I'm totally gonna break!" Odette grips Sunshine as the woman in question giggles.

"It's okay, I cried like a baby too." Sweet Pea giggles and she begins cutting Princess's pancakes for her like she always does, "So he was taking me to a gallery, didn't tell me for who for some reason, but you know me, I love a good exhibition." She snickered, "When we get there, I realize it's for my favorite enameler, or art jewler. He uses this beautiful etching technique and makes some stunning intaglio pieces I absolutely adore." The girls all mentally prep their tear ducts for the next part, "And so he has me meet the artist, and I'm freaking out the whole time and trying to hide it, until the artist tells me he has a piece he want to show me." She has excitement on her face just thinking about it, "And he takes me to a piece I haven't seen before and isn't with the new collection. It's an aquamarine pendant with a beautiful silver chain that had parts of a see through material interwoven. The gem was held in place with a beautiful silver trim that looks light and airy, like clouds almost, and in the pendant is this beautiful etching of a familiar skyline." Odette wipes a tear away at the speed of light, "And then Namjoon tells me it's the skyline from where we first met on that forsaken sky bridge and the silver with glass represents the steps that lead me to him." The girls coo at Sweet Pea tearing up for a moment.

"Ah, it's my turn!" Odette wipes away tears frantically, "Mine is quite simple, but it meant a lot to me." She smiles gleefully, "For background, before I majored in journalism, I was a dance major, contemporary, but I had an injury and was out of commission for too long by the time it healed. I didn't even tell Jimin until we had been dating for a couple months, I feel weird talking about it sometimes." She shrugged simply, "So I beacame his practice partner after that, which was fun, and one time we soent ages practicing thus one choreo bc he claimed he didn't want to practice with his actual partner, ever the drama queen." She giggled, "Then, the day of the showcase comes and he reveals that the dance was choreographed for me and him and it's our showcase." She held a toothy grin, "He gave me the feeling of being a dancer again, and it just felt like the closure I needed that I never got from my dancing career."

"It was a beautiful showcase." Angel nodded in agreement and Odette beamed at her praise while the other girls nod.

Dove hums as she chews her food before speaking, "So I do hand stitching, right? I don't think I'm very good..." All the women scowl at her, "But, they and Taehyung think I'm great at it and it calms me down so I make them a lot of hand stitched art or monogrammed clothing or I do commissions for their family." She smiles shyly, "So one day, Tae-Tae says he's taking me to Sweet Pea's gallery, but when we get there, it's all of my pieces up there. And the whole time people are greeting me and telling me how talented I am, asking what pieces they can buy and offering crazy prices, not that these guys would let go of my pieces." She snickered and the girls nodded proudly, "My name was in articles the next day, and he made me feel like I was someone to show off, like I was the impressive one, or impressive at all."

"Because you are impressive, hello?" Sunshine teased.

Princess has mascara streaks on her cheeks and Sweet Pea begins digging through her bag for makeuo wipes, "Uh, I'm not really good at storytelling and I'm a mess, so I'll make it quite short." She sniffled, "inhave this horrible habit of making clothes I hate and then donating them and Kook is always so dramatic when I do, like he has any business with a spring dress that would rip under his bicep." She giggles for a moment as Leopard begins wiping her cheeks, "And then he takes me to fashion week and...and..." She starts crying again and Odette coos at her, "My work, he had me on there as an up and coming designer and people were so nice to me and everytime I got overwhelmed, he took the reigns and it... my childhood dreams came true." She laid her head in Angel's lap, knowing it was her turn. The woman in question strokes the younger's hair soothingly.

Before Angel can even speak, all the girls are holding her hand or holding her and she rolls her eyes playfully, smilimg at the affection, "This why I'm going last." She giggled, "They get like this everytime I tell this story, even Leopard cries."

"Shush." Leopard, who is standing behind Angel's chair and stroking her hair quips, embarrassed, "We just care about you." She huffs.

"Well, it was a year after... the incident." Dove begins braiding Angel's hair to hide her incoming tears, "And I tried to go to work, but my body was not having it, so he stayed home with me and did everything the therapist said to grounding techniques and all, and stuff I could've done on my own, but he insisted." She smiled, "When dinner came around, I began feeling... phantom touches, pains. Like, my cheek ached and my tongue felt like it was burning, everything." Her smile was a bit sad, "It's normal with PTSD, but it doesn't make it any less frightening and none of the other grounding techniques were working, so he sits me on the counter, plays my favorite music, and begins 'treating' my wounds." Princess has her head in Angel's lap, but everyone can tell she's crying, "So for hours, he's there and showing me the clean gauze after treating my phantom wounds so delicately, and it really brought me back into the moment, that this is the man who loves me and this is where I am now." She smiles despite all the other girls being teary-eyed messes.

#seven princes of campus #seven princes brunch event #yandere bts

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ratedbangtann · 4 years

Text

Firecracker | Park Jimin

Now that you had worked your way up to the advanced contemporary class, you had to face your most trying challenge yet; Park Jimin. The man was infuriating, always picking on you, giving you so many reasons to hate him including one very, very humiliating nickname...

Firecracker.

But when you have to dance with him one evening, the tension builds and builds and spills over. Perhaps you need to... reflect... on your behaviour?

Pairing: Jimin x Reader Word Count: 11k

WARNINGS: dom!Jimin, fem reader, angst and frustration, teasing, a lot of smirking, so much staring, oral sex (f receiving), fingering, some spanking, dirty talk, MAJOR mirror/reflection kink, multiple orgasms, cum tasting (f), hair pulling, brief choking, fish-hooking, forced selfcest, unprotected sex (assume birth control), creampie

A/N: Welcome to Jimin being a smug little shit and winding you up until you can’t tell if you wanna punch him or fuck him. We all know the damage that THAT stare can do...

You weren’t familiar with this building, and so – just as cliché as was to be expected in your life – you were late for your first advanced contemporary class. Wonderful.

These halls were so difficult to navigate. Your previous building was so much easier, but now that you’d transferred from the intermediate to the advanced class, you’d had to move on. Why on earth did your academy have to host all the advanced classes in a building across town from your regular studios? The inconvenience of the situation was aggravating, and now that you were late to your first lesson your mood was rather, shall we say, stormy.

You looked down at the schedule and map on you’d been given by your previous instructor that told you the room you were looking for was 4B, and instructor’s name was Park Jimin. You huffed in frustration at realising you had in fact passed the door to your class as soon as you had stepped in. The map was printed upside down on the page before your eyes. That would explain it…

When you finally found the studio you were looking for and barged in, the class of twenty students all stopped their stretches and turned to glare at you. You clutched onto the strap of your gym bag, averting their gaze and shuffling your feet with nerves and anxiety coursing through you.

“Ah, ____?” a young man’s voice called to you. You snapped your head up to see your instructor – Park Jimin, according to your useless schedule and map – turning to look at you too, his phone in hand and plugged into the sound system. His eyes trailed over your body and a smirk formed on his lips. “Late to your first class? Not the best impression…” he scolded.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find the room…”

“I didn’t ask for an excuse. Find a spot and start stretching, we have a lot to cover today. This won’t be anything like your intermediate classes…” His expression read as teasing; the smirk, the eyebrow lifting as he spoke, the bright eyes boring into yours.

Great. Your new instructor was a prick. Just what you needed.

You walked to the back of the room, dumping your gym bag and tugging your shoes, socks and hoodie off to leave you wearing your yoga pants and oversized tee. You joined the back row of dancers to start your stretches, limbering up for the rest of the class.

Looking around, you noticed the class was a pretty balanced mix of male and female students, all wearing similar attire to you, a couple of the other girls wearing leotards instead that hugged their figures and showed off every lean muscle as they stretched.

“Alright so, new student with us today. _____, give us a wave in the mirror,” Jimin was facing the large wall of mirrors at the front of the class, looking at you in the reflection. You raised your hand to wave sheepishly back at him, eyes darting across the class staring at you in the mirror. “I’ve heard some good things about you, little miss prodigy. Worked your way up here pretty fast, huh?” he smirked, eyes staring into yours as a flush rose to your cheeks.

True enough, you’d worked your way through the beginner and intermediate classes within just six months of joining the academy, whereas it took most people a minimum of six months to complete just one class. But you had managed to whiz through your preliminary exams, land the solos in the bi-annual showcases and generally be noticed by the academy’s leader, Mina Myoung. She’d been keeping an eye on your progress and asked to see you personally, wondering if you were ready to face the advanced classes.

And now, here you were, feeling more than a little humiliated at being called a “prodigy” in front of the entire class.

“Prodigy? Jeez, no pressure…” you muttered, annoyance clear on your features.

“Not a fan of that nickname, huh? Seems we’ve got quite the firecracker in our midst, class,” he smirked, still staring at you, challenging you. “That’s fine. Firecracker works too,” he winked.

He winked.

Oh god, as if you weren’t already humiliated enough, now he was giving you nicknames? First impressions are so important to you, and your first impression of Park Jimin was quite clear; asshole. No, not even just asshole. By the vibe he was giving off, he came across as ‘flirty-asshole ladies’ man cliché’.

“Alright class, we’re starting a new number today, I’m gonna need two groups; story we’re telling is of a rivalry. For the showcase we’ll have a number of group dances, a couple of solos and one or two duets. We’ll focus on the group numbers for now. From the first few sessions I’ll pick out those deserving of the solos and duets, then you’ll have focus sessions on top of group classes,” Jimin explained, eyes darting from each dancer in the mirror as he spoke.

You can’t lie, you wanted one of those solos, or at least a duet. You felt a need to be noticed, to prove that you deserved your place in the advanced class. Jimin had already made you feel so small, passing judgement on you and in some twisted way, forcing the others to pass the same judgement on you too. You’d work your ass off for one of those solo spots.

Jimin split the class into two, running through the choreography bit by bit, focussing mostly on the first minute of the track he’d chosen for the rivalry number. You had to admit, watching the way he moved made you realise exactly why he was such a coveted instructor at the academy. Every movement of his was so fluid, looking absolutely effortless. You caught yourself staring slack-jawed a few times, mesmerised by the way his body moved.

You told yourself it was just the dancing that had you mesmerised and slapped yourself mentally to bring yourself back down to earth.

But what you hadn’t noticed, was Jimin had caught on. In the mirror, he’d been able to see the way your eyes followed him, watching far more intently than the other students in the room. He revelled in it, his arrogance and ego visible in his smirk.

He lined everybody up, giving them their starting positions.

“Firecracker, front and centre. You’re gonna show me what you can do, stay where I can see you,” he clicked his fingers and pointed at the spot directly in front of him. You lowered your head and sulked your way to the front, standing not even a foot away from Jimin. He watched, amused at your shyness.

“Just call me by my name…” you muttered to him, eyes darting up to watch his smirk turn into a smile that forced his eyes to close. He chuckled and took a step back.

“No,” he said simply. “Alright, first section, here goes… 5, 6, 7,8…” You followed the moves he had instructed of the group perfectly, watching yourself in the mirror to make sure you didn’t make any mistakes. Jimin watched you too, not giving any of the other dancers a second glance at all. He wanted you to prove yourself just as much as you wanted to. You were a pretty little thing, and with a feisty bit of back talk to you; he could have a lot of fun with you.

By the end of the class you were a sweaty, run down mess. Yet still you made no mistakes, hitting every beat and moving so fluidly that Jimin had to admit to himself he was impressed.

“Alright, good start guys. I’m already getting a good idea of who I want for the solos and duets, but there’s still a couple of sessions to change my mind. Firecracker, not bad for your first class. I’ll expect good things from now on. That is, of course, if today wasn’t just a fluke…” he shrugged, turning to face the class now. “Grab your stuff, get hydrated, and head out. See you Thursday.”

The class turned to the back wall where bags and bottles of water littered the floor. You wondered over to yours, taking a seat and unscrewing the cap to your water bottle, guzzling the remainder of it down in a few short gulps.

“I don’t think she’s that good…” you heard someone mutter from the corner. “You saw the way she was looking at Jimin, right? Pathetic…” a girl giggled to her friend.

“She looks like she knows what she’s doing, Daeun. She only just started, be nice…” another girl whispered. Both of them were terrible at keeping their voices down, clearly.

“As if… She got so embarrassed too when he called her out. Hilarious,” Daeun scoffed, taking a sip of water. You turned your head away from the conversation, focusing instead on putting your socks and shoes back on, getting ready to leave. You expected to face people like this in the advanced class; entitled, bitchy girls and asshole jocks who thought they were the shit.

You could hear them behind you; Daeun making snide remarks and nasty comments and her friend, trying to shush her.

“Daeun, something you want to share with the class?” Jimin called to her, an eyebrow raised and a sassy hand on his hip.

“Huh?” she turned to him, caught off guard. The room fell silent.

“I said, something you wish to share?” he pressed.

“N-no, Jimin…” she shook her head, eyes wide. Her friend beside her cowered too, occupying herself with her gym bag.

“No? Well you were talking loud enough for me to hear you, I assumed you wanted the world to know. May I suggest keeping your mouth shut if you have nothing nice to say?” he tilted his head, staring at her, gaze never faltering.

“S-Sorry…” she lowered her head in a respectful bow, eyes flicking down to you sat on the floor. She turned and grabbed her stuff, leaving the room quickly with her friend and a few other students in tow. You sat there, tying your shoes with a blush on your face. You hated this, all the attention on you. As a dancer, of course, you wanted it on stage, when you’re dancing. But this was nothing but negative attention and it was flustering you.

The room cleared out as you stood up, draping your bag over your shoulder.

“Hey, firecracker!” Jimin called after you when you turned to leave. You span on your heels, chewing the inside of your cheek at the nickname. “You did good, today. I meant that. Ignore Daeun, she’s known for being a little…”

“Bitchy?” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“I’m sure you have,” he smirked, staring at you again. He seemed to stare a lot. It was like he was challenging you, waiting for you to become uncomfortable and turn away. You fought it for as long as you could, returning the stare but eventually, you looked away, readjusting the strap on your shoulder awkwardly. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. If you do, I’m sure I can find a place for you in one of the solos.” You nodded and turned, heading back to the door, but not before catching a glimpse of Jimin in the mirror, watching you walk away and biting his lip with another signature smirk.

*****

After two weeks of classes, and another two group numbers started, you were beginning to get frustrated. After your first session, Jimin had become unbearably harsh on you. He picked up on every tiny little flaw, called you out for the smallest things in front of the class. And the worst part was he seemed to be enjoying it.

He would smile, or chuckle at your reactions every time he did so, referring to you only as your nickname that you had grown to absolutely loathe. You were working your ass off to be here, to get those parts you so desperately wanted in the showcase, to prove yourself to him and everyone else around you but he was doing his very best to aggravate you.

As he wrapped up another class, he turned from his reflection in the mirror to look at the group of students all taking a rest on the floor of the studio.

“Alright, solos and duets have been decided. Schedules have been printed for those lucky enough to get one. The rest of you, it’s business as usual, but don’t be discouraged.” He turned to the folder he’d rested up against the mirror wall and pulled out a small stack of papers to reel off to their prospective owners.

“Okay, Junghyun… Yejoon… Yoojin… Eunsuh…” he wondered through people on the floor, handing them their schedules as they each muttered excitedly about what they had been given. “Firecracker…” he called your nickname, and you groaned audibly. Immediately you saw him smirk and shake his head in amusement. “What’s wrong, Firecracker? Don’t want this?” he held the paper away from you, teasing the part you’d worked for.

“Of course I do…” you grumbled, snatching the paper as he handed it over and wondered to the front again.

“We’re done for today, get your stuff and head out.” The class stood and headed to the back wall as had become routine, but you sat in place, looking over your new schedule and the description of the part you had been handed.

‘_____, Duet with Junghyun.

Song: ‘Woman’ by Harry Styles.

Theme: Lust & attraction

Schedule: Duet classes Tuesday and Friday evening slots. 7:30pm – 9:30pm’

But… you’d worked so hard for a solo? And he’d said that… You hadn’t been slacking, so why had he decided against a solo for you?

As the room cleared out you stood to challenge him, walking over to the corner with the stereo in where Jimin now stood.

“Jimin…” you called to him assertively.

“What’s up, firecracker?” he gleamed, smiling brightly at you.

“You said if I kept it up, you’d give me a solo… What did I do wrong?” you slapped your hands against your sides in exasperation, clearly pissed at the final call.

“____, if you had done something wrong, you’d have got nothing at all. I just thought you and Junghyun had great chemistry, you look good together in the group numbers. And I know you could nail the choreography for this,” he shrugged. “Take this as a life lesson. Sometimes no matter how hard you work, you don’t quite get everything you want.” He winked at you and turned back to the stereo to unplug his phone from the cables.

“I’ve barely danced with Junghyun, how could we have good chemistry?” you argued.

“I just see it. If you don’t want the duet, I’ll give it to someone who does,” he threatened, not turning to look at you now.

“Ugh… fine,” you span on your heels and stomped toward your bag at the back of the room, realising now that you were the last to leave. You grabbed the strap and threw it over your shoulder, barely slipping your shoes on to storm out.

“Oh, and firecracker!” Jimin called after you. You stopped dead, looking over your shoulder at him. “Watch that attitude, sweetie. You could get yourself in a lot of trouble,” he smiled coyly, chuckling to himself as you slammed the studio door behind you.

*****

A few weeks into your duet sessions, you started to relax into the routine a little more. It was quite sultry, but given the song you were dancing to, it made sense. Junghyun remained professional about it, able to slip into actor-mode much like you for the dance.

The storyline of your piece was simple; the two of you clearly attracted to each other but teasing each other. The choreography showed this perfectly. Hands would roam your body, hips would roll to the music, your faces would come close together as if you were about to kiss. It was incredibly sexy, but of course, you remained professional also.

It wasn’t that Junghyun was unattractive; far from it. He was tall, around 6’2, a good jawline, pretty almond eyes, well defined muscles like almost all the dancers in the class and bless him, he had a heart of gold. But the chemistry Jimin had told you he saw between you was merely in dance.

“Alright, that looks nice guys. Firecracker, try and work on your eyes a little more, make yourself look him up and down when he pulls you close on the eighth beat,” Jimin instructed. You nodded, no longer reacting to each and every time he used that damn nickname. You figured if you didn’t, he’d get bored of it. “Great, run it again.”

He dragged the playback on his phone to the start of the verse and let it play. You re-enacted the steps as advised, letting your eyes wonder over Junghyun’s body as he pulled you close to him. As the harsh off-beats of the chorus came through the speakers, you pushed him off, as the choreography dictated, only for him to grab your wrist and spin you until the next off-beat, stopping dead with your leg hitched up to his hip. It really was an incredibly sexy choreo, and perhaps you could see a glimmer of something in Junghyun’s eyes that wasn’t necessarily anything to do with the ‘acting’ side of the dance.

“Much better,” Jimin clapped, pausing the track. “This is going to look great, guys. I can really feel a sexual tension between the two of you.” You wrinkled your nose at the idea, Junghyun rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly at the comment. “I think that’s it for this session. Feel free to head out.”

The two of you went to grab your bags, dabbing your forehead with a paper towel and slipping into your shoes. Junghyun came to stand over you as you did, bag slung over his shoulder.

“Hey so, um… I know we’re just dance partners and all, but I was thinking… If you’d like to get a drink sometime, outside of class… well, I’d like that,” he smiled at the floor, shuffling his feet with nerves. Oh, god. This is what you had been worried about. This is what you had been noticing. There was an attraction there that you didn’t reciprocate… But would turning him down make the dance stiffen? The chemistry dissipate?

“Oh, uh… M-maybe after the showcase? I’m kind of busy with um… stuff.” Smooth, _____.

“It’s cool, you can just say no if you’re not interested. Like I said, we’re just dance partners…” he smiled sweetly, but you could see the disappointment in his face.

“Sorry… I’m not saying no, I’m just… saying maybe not now.” What a cop out. Junghyun nodded.

“Well, if you change your mind... Great work today,” he smiled, before heading out the door as quickly as the poor boy could, his deflated ego dragging along the floor behind him.

A silence settled on the room as you shuffled into your shoes, collecting your stuff to pack into your bag.

“Why’d you turn him down?” Jimin asked from the other side of the studio. Damn, you’d forgotten he was still in the room. And listening in, apparently…

“Is it any of your business?” you snapped, looking up at him with crossed brows and angry eyes. He held his hands up in defence, a chuckle raising his chest.

“Sorry, firecracker. Just doesn’t make sense. He’s an attractive guy, smart, good dude. What’s not to like? Other girls are falling over their feet to get him to notice them.”

“And I’m not one of them. Yes, he’s nice. I’m just not interested. I’m allowed to not be interested,” you remained guarded, annoyed that he felt the need to comment at all.

“Alright, alright… just don’t make the dance awkward…” he turned back to whatever he was doing, letting you escape the room unscathed, hopefully with a modicum of dignity still intact.

*****

The session after the awkward encounter with Junghyun, he didn’t show. You and Jimin waited for a further ten minutes after you were due to begin, and nothing. Only when Jimin rang him to find out if he was going to come in at all, did he find out that he had – apparently – come down with some kind of stomach bug. But you had your suspicions that of course, he was distancing himself from you, feeling too awkward to face you after you denied him.

“Damnit, I suppose I’ll just grab my stuff and-“

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jimin stopped you from hoisting your stuff onto your shoulder and heading home with a strong look and a very affirmative tone.

“Well, if he’s not gonna show, we can’t exactly practise…” you started.

“Of course, you can. I know the choreography. You’ll dance with me. Put your stuff down, take your shoes off. You’re not getting off that lightly, firecracker.”

Oh, wonderful. You were going to dance with your instructor; the same instructor you loathed because he just couldn’t seem to leave you the fuck alone. The same instructor who winks at you whenever he says something to deliberately infuriate you. The same instructor who challenges you constantly with staring contests to intimidate you that you just can’t seem to win, no matter how hard you try.

Why not just take off your clothes and have a juvenile humiliation nightmare? That would just top it all off, wouldn’t it?

You sulked your way to the back corner of the studio, dumping your bag and taking your shoes and socks off, readying yourself to dance. You stripped yourself of your sweater, smoothing out your yoga pants and sports bra and took a long drink of water, before stepping back to the middle of the dancefloor.

When you looked up, Jimin was stood with his arms folded over his chest, that same infuriating smirk on his face as per usual, but his eyes were dragging themselves over your body in your dancewear. You coughed obnoxiously.

“Do you have the whole routine down yet?” he asked when his eyes finally fell on yours.

“Yes,” you deadpanned, starting your stretches in the mirror.

“Good, we’ll give it a run through and see what you need to work on,” he nodded to himself, watching you stretch from the corner of his eye as he fiddled with the stereo. A few beats of silence passed as you took some deep breaths and bent to touch your toes, wrapping your wrists around your ankles. “I think you must have frightened him off,” Jimin chuckled.

“What?” you bit back.

“Junghyun. Stomach bug is a very… vague ailment, don’t you think?” Jimin laughed, scrolling through his phone to get to the song in question.

“I don’t really think it’s any of your business,” you grumbled. “Besides, if I can remain professional then I don’t see why he can’t. I’m sure he’ll be back for the next practise.” You straightened up, stretching your elbows behind your back. Jimin sets the song on repeat and begins the track, stepping into the centre of the room.

“If not, you’re stuck with me,” he wiggled his eyebrows at you as he took up position behind you. “We’ll start at the chorus. Hard to press play when you’re all the way over here.” You took up your position for the start of the chorus, and Jimin took Junghyun’s; stood on your left-hand side, with his one hand on your waist, one on your chin making you look into his eyes.

You told yourself to remain professional, to just get through the practise and Junghyun would be back soon, because if you let yourself realise the gravity of the situation you had found yourself in, you may have thought that maybe – just maybe – you liked being in Jimin’s arms this way.

The first beat of the chorus came, and you pushed Jimin away from you as the choreography suggested, only for him to grab your wrist and spin you, pulling you to him and lifting your thigh to sit on his hip. The two of you swayed for another beat, foreheads pressed together as if you were completely besotted before he spun you again, so he was leaning over you.

The entire choreography was a back and forth display like this, a battle of sexual dominance to music. He’d pull you close, you’d push him away. You’d look like you were about to kiss, you’d turn your head with a smirk. Your hips would roll together, and then you’d leave him standing alone and reaching out for you.

By the end of the song the pair of you were out of breath, ending in each other’s arms. You were leaning back, neck exposed, and he was hovering just above your throat. His hot breath skimmed the surface of your skin and his arm wrapped around your waist; the other arm outstretched behind him. You had both danced beautifully, neither of you missing a single beat, or mis-stepping at all.

The pair of you lingered there just a beat too long to be deemed comfortable, out of breath and far too close for your liking. You lingered there just long enough for the track to start playing again, repeating itself like Jimin had programmed it to. You could feel the way he panted on your skin, and although you wanted to straighten up and push him away from you, you couldn’t move. In fact, it was him who moved first.

He straightened up with you still in his arms, pulling you with him to stand in front of you so close you could still feel his breath, now on your face.

“Good, very good. Even your facial expressions were decent. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you actually wanted me,” he jeered smugly. That was the wake-up call you needed, pushing him away from you.

“Don’t be a creep, Jimin. It’s a damn dance.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t get to see that first verse. Grab a drink, when it loops back, we’ll start it again,” he gestured to your bag in the corner, and wondered off to his own by the stereo. You did as he suggested, keeping your back to him to hide your reddening face. You were embarrassed. Of what, you weren’t too sure, but the still-cold bottle of water you’d bought from the vending machine on the way in did nothing to cool the heat in your face.

From the opposite corner, Jimin watched you with wary eyes. He had to tread very carefully here. He knew the way he was flirting was morally ambiguous… He knew the way he teased you was totally juvenile… He knew he was going too far, and yet he just couldn’t stop himself.

The way you scolded him, rolled your eyes at him, scoffed at him with everything he did just set his blood alight. He could feel an instant attraction to you the second you rocked up to your first class late, but when you answered him back in a way none of his other students ever had, god, did it turn him on.

You dropped the water bottle to the bag at your feet and made your way back to the centre, ready to start the dance over again when the start repeated itself once more. Jimin joined you, both taking up your starting positions.

You ran through the dance in full, again, never missing a step. However, this time you just couldn’t look him in the eye. You weren’t entirely sure why, but a fresh flush of heat would rise over your cheeks every time your eyes did actually meet, to the point where it was unbearable to look at him or bother acting at all. Jimin picked up on this, and being the infuriating little shit, he was, called you out on it when you finished the run through.

“What was that?” he asked panting, running his hands through his hair that was beginning to dampen with sweat.

“What was what?” you asked, averting his gaze again in favour of pushing your own hair out of your face and stretching your toes as if it made the blind bit of difference.

“In order for the chemistry to actually work, _____, you have to look at me,” he scorned.

“I was focussing on the moves, this time. It’s no big deal!” you defended, more for your sake than his. There was no way you were ready to admit to yourself that you couldn’t look him in the eye because you were shy.

“It is a big deal! You need to immerse yourself in the story, firecracker, otherwise the moves don’t flow the way they’re supposed to!” he dropped his hands to his sides with a huff, his patience seeming to wear thin.

“Alright fine, I just wanted to perfect my posture and stuff. Lay off!” you bit back at him, perhaps a little too harsh.

“I’m your instructor, it’s not in my job description to ‘lay off’,” he soured, rolling his eyes.

“Well, maybe it should be. You’ve been on my ass ever since I stepped foot in this studio.” What on earth was possessing you to talk to another human with such venom in your tone was beyond you, but Jimin was so infuriating. And what was even more infuriating than Jimin? The fact that you were so attracted to him.

“Well when you walk into my studio with an attitude, I will be. Get in position, we’ll do it again,” he ordered, snapping his fingers at the floor in front of you. You groaned but did as you were told, the tension in the room now far too heightened to push any further.

You waited for the song to loop back, very aware of the way he was stood off to the side behind you, his lips so close to your ear and hooded, angry eyes watching you in your reflection in the mirror.

“At least if you’re gonna be pissy with me, channel it into the dance and really fight against me,” he whispered.

The song started up again, and just like Jimin had suggested, you channelled all your frustration, all your anger, all your negative energy into the storyline of the dance. Every time you pushed him away, you really pushed. But with the same ferocity, every time he grabbed you, it was with tighter, firmer grasps, which in turn only made you fight against him more.

The heat between you both was becoming an inferno, something neither of you would be able to ignore for much longer. The way his eyes bore into yours, staring deeper than just the surface layer every time you looked at him in the choreo, and every time you caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. It almost felt like there wasn’t a single moment you weren’t both looking into each other’s souls, waiting for the other to break.

You were not backing down this time. The outcome of this dance was supposed to be on your terms. You were the one who kept pushing him away, until you decided to take him. That was the whole damn story. So, if he wanted you to act it up, then by god, you would act it the fuck up.

By the end of another run through, the pair of you were out of breath and sweaty, gripping onto each other.

“Again,” Jimin stood up quickly, giving both of you no time to recover before the song started up again, and you got into the starting positions almost immediately. Somehow, it became even more intense. Having had no time to recover, you were both putting your bodies through some rigorous training, testing your stamina. But neither of you backed down.

This particular run through somehow felt more intimate than before. The strain on both of your bodies had Jimin making… noises. Some of his more difficult moves forced a grunt out of his throat, each one seeming to smack you in the face harder. But as you were struggling with your own difficult moves, you were making much similar noises, and they were affecting Jimin just as much.

His grip on you was impossibly tight, his strength when he pushed and pulled you around enough to throw you across the room, had it not been for your counter-strength. And that stare… you noticed it even more so now, and it was sparking a feeling in you that frightened you.

Jimin span you into the second chorus the way he was supposed to, but as you caught his gaze in front of you and heard him grunt as he spun you once again, you lost all concentration. Your feet didn’t do as they were instructed, and you slipped, falling to the floor.

“Ah!” you cried out as you hit the ground with an indignant grunt. “Fuck!” you yelled at yourself, laying on your front and trying to get your breath back.

Jimin made no attempt to help you up, instead storming over to the stereo to switch the playback off.

“What the hell was that?” he scolded, eyes darkened and sweat dripping from the strands of hair that had clumped together in front of his eyes. He came to stand over you again, looking down at you as you rolled onto your back, raising an arm to rest on your forehead as you breathed rapidly.

“L-lost my… footing,” you panted.

“Seriously? How could you fuck that up, it was a simple spin, firecracker!”

You sat bolt upright then, staring up at him with pure rage in your face.

“You practically fucking threw me, Jimin! God damn, it’s supposed to be somewhat tender, isn’t it?”

“Tender?! So, what’s this?” he yelled, lifting his shirt to show the red splotches on his skin you had created with your own grip. Frankly, you were horrified. Had you really made those marks? Perhaps you had just got a little too lost in… whatever you were feeling.

Jimin saw the look of shock on your face and his features instantly softened, just a touch, just enough to make him look slightly less terrifying.

“Look, I gave as good as I got,” he sighed.

“Huh?” you asked, and he raised his eyebrows, nodding at your waist and arms. You looked down to see very similar angry marks on your skin.

“Jesus…” You stood up and stepped up to the mirror wall to inspect the marks closer. You could literally see where he had held onto you, pushed you, pulled you. Vibrant shades of red scattered your waist and arms, one even around your neck… Jimin stepped up behind you, looking into the reflection to see his handiwork.

“Got a bit heated back there, huh?” he chuckled, the smugness returning to his face.

“You piss me off,” you deadpanned, “and you kept pushing.”

“I’m your dance teacher, it’s my job to push you.”

“Yeah well you need to learn when to back off, Jimin,” you scoffed, noticing the mark around your neck and stepping further towards the mirror to get a closer look. “Damn…”

The mark on your neck sent a little thrill running through you. It had been so long since anyone had-

Stop that, right now. You do not have a crush on your dance teacher. You do not have a crush on Park fucking Jimin. You do not want his hands wrapped around your throat. You do not want any part of him wrapped anywhere on you.

“Perhaps I was a bit harsh. Your form is actually, uh… quite impressive,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “And from what I could see in the mirror, you move beautifully. You have no problem with this choreo. Except when you dance it with me…”

You looked back up at him in the mirror, seeing him smiling down at the floor.

“Tell me, _____; why do I distract you so much?” his gaze lifted to your eyes in the mirror, another frustrating smirk on his demonically handsome face. “And don’t tell me it’s because you hate me, because the way you dance with me tells me otherwise.”

“And what does my dancing say about my hatred towards you, exactly?”

“You don’t hate me at all. And if you do, it’s not for the reason you seem to think…” He took a step closer to you, his eyes flicking between your reflection and the back of your head.

“I hate you because you’re a mouthy little gob-shite with an ego to rival Kanye West’s,” you spat, watching him carefully. He threw his head back in laughter, a hand flying to his stomach to contain himself.

“Please, firecracker… I’ve seen the way you look at me. Isn’t there just a hint of… arousal? Don’t you hate me because for some reason – and you don’t know why – you find yourself, just a little attracted to me?” he took another step closer, using his famous stare against you as a weapon. He chewed on his bottom lip, daring you to look away, but you wouldn’t. You were stubborn, and he was pissing you off.

“You wish, Park Jimin,” you laughed spitefully.

“Hmm, I think I do actually, yeah…” his stare momentarily flickered down your body before landing back onto your face. “I certainly wish a girl like you were attracted to me. Talented, sexy, feisty…”

Your heartbeat quickened in your chest as he stepped close enough to you that you could feel his breath on the back of your neck as he spoke. He placed both his hands on your waist and his chin on your shoulder, still staring into your eyes with amusement as he watched your expression turn into one of panic.

But you couldn’t look away.

“I know you think I’m a flirt and an asshole, but believe me… I wasn’t that bad, until you started talking back to me. You seem to get me all riled up, Firecracker.”

“D-don’t call me that…” you stuttered, frozen in place.

“Fine,” he chuckled. “I’ll have to find another nickname for you instead…”

“J-just ____, no nickname.”

“You sure about that… princess?” he watched your reaction carefully in the reflection in front of you both.

Your cheeks are what gave you away first; the redness that started to glow on the apples of your cheeks. He noticed the way you twiddled with your fingers, the way your thighs clenched together just a little tighter, the way your body tensed up.

“Oh? Princess; do you like that?” he smiled brightly, showing off his beautifully white teeth to you. You stayed quiet, refusing to admit to your mistake of showing him the kind of affect he had on you.

The hands on your waist tugged at you, spinning you until your back was facing the mirror and suddenly, he was pushing you against the cool surface, hovering dangerously close to your lips and watching your expression change to an innocent form of anxiety.

“J-Jimin…”

“Yes, princess?” his gaze dropped to your lips as his tongue swiped over his own. You had noticed those lips before, but seeing them up close was completely different… They looked so soft, so thick like plump little pillows and if you were honest, you were dying to know how they felt against your own.

“A-are you gonna kiss me?” you asked, your voice tiny and soft.

“Well, this is a very different _____ than I’m used to, hmm? So shy all of a sudden… Do you want me to kiss you, princess?” he teased. You nodded just a little, but it was the confirmation he needed.

He raised one of the hands from your waist to your chin, tilting your head up to angle you perfectly, and he leaned in to press his pillow-soft lips to yours.

Instinctively, your eyes fluttered shut, lips parting to allow him a much better angle to consume you completely. Your hands fisted the material of the t-shirt he was wearing, damp with sweat, in order to pull him closer. There was no hiding your attraction anymore; from him but most importantly, from yourself. You were completely bewitched.

He gently ran his tongue against your bottom lip, slipping past to sweetly dance with your own whilst the hand on your chin moved to stroke through your hair. The pair of you ended up impossibly close, bodies pushed together as he pressed you into the mirrors behind you.

“Princess, you’re killing me… We shouldn’t… I’ll lose control…” he panted as he pulled away from you, pressing his forehead to yours. But you didn’t want him to stop. You didn’t want him to control himself. You were aching for him already, just from the way he kissed you, the way he completely enveloped you.

“Then lose it…” you whispered. A moment passed between you, where Jimin looked into your eyes once again to try to find any hint of hesitation, any hint that you didn’t mean what you said. But of course, he found none.

Jimin smashed his lips back onto yours, enveloping you completely and earning a whine that was lost to the pressure of your kiss. The hand in your hair now steadied him against the mirror behind you, the one on your waist slipping down to your thigh to lift it against his hip. He pushed his pelvis against you, pressing his semi-hard length into your stomach. You whimpered as his tongue fluidly invaded your mouth, hands dropping to the hem of his shirt to touch the skin beneath it, to keep his hips pressed against you.

You bunched the material up, desperately pushing it further up his chest until he got the message and took over, lifting it over his head to expose his chest to you. You wished you had time to take in the heavenly sight before you, but frankly, you were too busy trying to reconnect your lips to offer even a second glance. But you could feel the abs under your fingertips, tensing at your featherlight touch.

Jimin wanted more of you, wanted to see as much of you as he could. He pulled the sports bra you were wearing up violently, exposing your breasts to him. Like a man possessed he ducked his head between them, placing sloppy, open mouthed kisses all over your chest, settling on your nipple. You gasped aloud, smacking your head against the glass behind you, hand weaving into his hair just because you needed something to hold onto.

He made out with your breast the way he would your lips, so much care and attention, occasional kitten licks and little nips with his teeth to get a reaction from you; of course, it worked a treat. You could hardly stay quiet at all, writhing as much as you could under his weight. While he worked on you, you pulled the top over your head and threw it away from you, giving him one less thing to worry about.

“Mm, Jimin…” you groaned, holding his head to your chest with both hands, your hips hovering inches from the mirror you leaned against as you writhed. He held you by your waist, his grip on you enough to leave bruises in the shape of little fingerprints.

Jimin suddenly dropped to his knees in front of you, hooking his hands in the waistband of your yoga pants and yanking them down your thighs with a force that sent shivers through your body. He exposed you completely to him, your underwear lost in his grip too as he pulled it all off quickly, barely giving you the chance to step out of them before he was throwing them away.

He lifted your thigh over his shoulder and didn’t bother with pleasantries, opting to instead bury his face in your heat with immediate effect. You would have thought Jimin had been starved, the way he ate you; his tongue worked incredible magic on your clit, as if he were reciting pure poetry, writing scriptures with the muscle against you. You could do nothing but watch in amazement at the man between your legs, high pitched whines and moans filtering through your lips.

“J-Jimin… fuck,” you wailed pathetically, hands gripping his hair and body rolling as if you were dancing right now, but you were just completely out of control of your movements.

Jimin growled against your cunt at the sound of his name leaving your lips so prettily, his hunger for you growing beyond animalistic. He shoved two fingers inside you with no preparation, knowing that you were already wet enough to take them. Of course, you were ready; you were sure you’d been aroused from the first time you danced with him this evening.

“Taste… so sweet,” he mumbled against your folds, thrusting his fingers inside you and curling them perfectly. He didn’t have particularly long digits, but boy, did he know what he was doing with them. He knew exactly where to reach for, exactly where you would be the most sensitive. “Cum,” he demanded. “Want you to cum on my fingers, princess.”

His tone was so controlling, growling against you as he pumped his hand, forcing you closer and closer to an undoing. The foot holding you up started to slip against the laminate, your back sliding down the mirror. Without a second thought, he lifted your other thigh over his shoulder, sitting you comfortably against the mirror and continuing to assault your poor throbbing pussy.

“Jimin I’m g-gonna... oh, fuck…” you screamed, slamming your head against the mirror behind you. The grip you had on his hair loosened, arms flopping to your sides as your body went limp, wave after wave of pleasure throbbing from your core like ripples in a duckpond.

Jimin let out another growl against you, lapping up the extra juices you spilled just for him, holding your hips steady with one hand and himself steady with his other against the mirror. He lifted his head to look up at you, to watch as you came down from your high. He smiled to himself, proud of reducing you to a writhing mess. He didn’t think he had ever seen something so pretty, so stunningly beautiful.

“God, you’re fucking unbelievable…” he chuckled, watching you regain composure. You looked down to see his cheeky grin, the one you would have done whatever you could to slap off his beautiful face not fifteen minutes ago. But there’s a very fine line between love and hate, isn’t there?

You ran your hands down your face, wiping the sheen of sweat that had gathered in the heat of the studio. Giggles erupted from your chest, and you could barely look him in the eye for the smug smile you hated so much.

“Shy now, huh? Trying to hide from me?” he slapped the outside of your thigh, hard enough to jolt you with a shriek and leave a red print on the flesh. “I’m not done with you yet, princess. Stand up,” he commanded, shuffling to put your feet back on the floor. You did as you were told, leaning your weak body against the coolness of the mirror, probably leaving a smear of sweat across it but that wasn’t your concern. It was Jimin’s studio, after all…

Jimin stood too, towering over you and getting closer, his hips pushing against you again. The semi you felt before? Rock solid now, protruding through his sweatpants and pressing into your bare stomach. Theory meant nothing; quite clearly, hand size did not correlate to penis size, because you could feel just how big he was. And your mouth watered at the thought of him inside you.

His fingers tilted your chin up to force your gaze on his again. You noticed the gleam on his lips, the slick from between your thighs shining like a lip gloss on pudgy lips. The thought of kissing him right now didn’t faze you at all, in fact it only excited you, igniting a spark in your abdomen so soon after such an intense orgasm. He was about to speak – probably something disgustingly smug – but you didn’t want to hear it, instead grabbing him by the back of his head and forcing your lips on his.

He was right; you did taste sweet. It didn’t bother you at all to know that that sweetness was your own arousal, but Jimin knew you could taste it. And good lord, it flipped a switch in him. If he thought he’d lost control before, he was wrong. He was about to really lose it.

“Do you have a safe word, princess?” he asked suddenly, rushing the conversation because he needed to know – he needed you to know – that there was a way to stop this if either of you needed it.

“N-no…” you admitted against his lips. You’d never needed one before, your previous lovers having been somewhat… tame?

“Tell me ‘yellow’ to slow me down, ‘red’ to stop me. Understand?” he said as clearly as possible between sloppy kisses to your jaw and neck, leaving wet trails against your skin. You nodded frantically, brain a little frazzled and clouded with lust. “Need to hear you say it, princess. Do you understand?”

“I understand, yellow to slow down, red to stop.”

“Good, and hit your hand three times if you can’t talk,” he explained. ‘Wait, why won’t I be able to talk?’ you thought to yourself, but Jimin gave you no time to think on it any further, instead gripping your hips and flipping you to lean against the mirror on your front, breasts pressed against the glass. You barely had time to gasp, your cheek hitting the cold surface.

Jimin pulled your hips out a little, keeping you leaning against the mirror but bending you a little for better access to your dripping core. He ran his fingers through your folds, grinning at the soft moan that slipped from your mouth, fogging up the glass beneath your face.

“Pretty girl… You want me inside you, princess?” he asked sweetly, hovering close to your ear. Goosebumps flooded your skin, chills running down your spine at the intimacy of his words.

“Yes, please…” you whined. Jimin grinned, pushing his sweats down along with the briefs underneath, letting his length spring free. You could see from the corner of your eye, and oh boy, you were in for a damn treat. He kicked the garments away from him, stepping close to you with a hand on your hip, holding you steady as he rubbed the tip of his cock through your slick.

“Step back a little, princess,” he guided you backwards, taking a step himself; you were no longer pressed up against the glass. “Look up.”

You did as he instructed, looking up into the reflection in the mirror to see his hungry, hooded eyes looking directly into yours. As you made eye contact, he pushed his hips forward, slowly but surely sheathing his length into your tightness. He never looked away, biting down on his lips and growling when he felt your wet heat envelope him.

“Sh-shit…” you moaned, too scared to look away from him. You loved the look on his face too much to miss it even for a second, the absolutely feral expression etched into his usually soft features.

“You’re gonna watch me, Princess. You’re gonna watch me fuck you in the mirror, gonna see yourself when you cum on my cock.” His voice had deepened considerably, leaning over to speak directly into your ear with his dick fully inside you. But he never stopped staring into your eyes. He had wanted you like this for so long, waited for you to admit how attracted you were to him. He knew; of course, he knew. He knew before you did, and just continued to taunt you, to rile you up until you snapped.

And now that you had, he wanted to make sure you could see yourself. He wanted you to see just how desperate you were for him, just how good he could make you feel, how hard he could make you fall apart.

Jimin stood up straighter, his hands gripping onto your hips and his length pulling out agonisingly slowly only for him to rut his hips against your backside again, the tip of his cock hitting your g-spot with so much force you jolted forward, hands flying up to steady yourself on the mirror in front of you. Neither of you looked away from each other though, not even when you cried out at the overwhelming pleasure of the first hit.

With almost no warning at all, Jimin started to thrust into you rhythmically, his pelvis slapping lewdly into your ass cheeks each time. He needed to bury himself as deep into you as he possibly could, needed to feel you completely envelope him.

His hands slid up your bare back, stopping at your shoulders to hold you still as he fucked into you. But it wasn’t enough, he wanted more control of you. He gathered your hair into a ponytail, wrapping it around his fist and pulling your head back, exposing your throat to him in the reflection. God, it looked so pretty… so bare and ready to be marked up. Jimin looked forward to that; getting to leave angry purple blotches wherever he pleased. But not right now.

Right now he needed to fuck you, needed to be balls deep inside you and for you to watch every single thrust.

Jimin’s hand pulling on your hair had you groaning wantonly, feeling like the dirtiest slut on the planet but you loved every second of it. No one before him had treated you like this, no one had ever roughed you up and frankly you needed it. You wanted more from him, but you were in no position to ask for it right now.

“Shit, look at you. Taking me so well, huh? How bad did you want this, _____? Tell me…” he asked, all pleasantries long since forgotten.

“S-so bad…” you managed to stutter out. You weren’t used to talking at all during sex, but you wanted to please him so desperately.

“But I thought you hated me, firecracker?” he jeered, thrusting extra hard for added effect. You cried out, watching the smugness return to his face. It fuelled a surge of resistance in you, wanting nothing more than to answer back as anger dwelled in you again. Of course, you weren’t really angry. You couldn’t be. You wanted him, you knew that.

“Just shut up and fuck me, Jimin!” you snapped. That was probably a bad move, but Jimin just laughed in the reflection, the hand that wasn’t wrapped in your hair coming down hard on your ass with another extra hard thrust into your sodden cunt.

“You wanna talk back now, huh? With my dick buried this far in your pussy and your hair wrapped in my fist?” he warned. “That mouth of yours always runs on and on, huh?”

His free hand slid up your back again, his thrusts turning into rolls of his hips and slowing down considerably. He wasn’t just mindlessly fucking you anymore, there was strategy to each roll, a reason for him to move this way; he was making sure every pressure point inside you was hit.

He wrapped his hand around your throat, squeezing a little before sliding it up to your jaw and forcing it open. He was going to make a damn spectacle of you and force you to watch it. The thought excited you far more than you were ever willing to admit.

He slipped two fingers past your lips and instinctively you began to suck on them, showing him that your mouth was in fact good for more than spewing words of venom at him.

“See, princess? You just wanna please me, huh?” he commented smugly, an eyebrow arching as he watched. But he wasn’t satisfied with having you just suck on his fingers. Instead, he prized your jaw open, fish-hooking his fingers in your cheek and holding you like that, mouth agape and unable to move at all. You couldn’t even moan properly, all of them coming out as breathy groans while his hips rolled into yours.

You wanted to tell him you were close, but no way were you able to with your mouth occupied like this. It was utterly degrading and totally dehumanizing, but you’d be a fool to protest against it when it stirred such incredible pleasure in your abdomen.

“Mm, fuck… you look so pretty like this, baby. So pliant, taking my cock like this. Are you watching yourself? Do you like seeing your own face when you’re being railed?” he laughed. You tried to hum in affirmation, a muffled “mmhmm” coming out as more of a howl of appreciation seeing as you couldn’t press your lips together to make a humming sound right now.

“Look at you, huh? Such a perfect little slut for me. You gonna cum, princess?”

Your eyes were watering, tears starting to force their way down your cheeks. You knew that if you wanted him to stop, you could hit the mirror three times and he would; you trusted him enough to do that. But you didn’t want him to. You’d never felt like this, never felt so damn good. Come to think of it, no one had ever made you cum from penetration alone; you were sure you always needed some kind of clitoral stimulation. But Jimin was going to be that guy.

You nodded as much as you could with how he was holding onto you, the hairs on the back of your head pulling with a sting, reminding you he still had a firm grip on it. That’s when Jimin really lost it.

You could see him in the mirror lose his eye contact with you, instead looking down to where his cock was rolling with his hips in a fluid motion, disappearing inside of you over and over. The sight drove him wild, the whimpers coming from deep in your throat hitting him like a charge of electricity. The roll of his hips turned to fast, lewd slaps of his pelvis to yours once again. You could hear the way his cock slipped through the wetness, the slaps ringing and ricocheting off the mirror in front of you.

You cried out, your head drooping just a little as the pleasure started to become too much, completely overwhelming you. Your body was so tired, so overworked from the dancing and holding yourself up this way but Jimin wasn’t done, and how dare you disobey a direct command he had given you from the start. He yanked your hair, tightening his grip on your jaw and pressing his fingers into the inside of your cheek harder. The whimper that came from you was pitiful, but you knew you’d reach that all important climax soon and that was all that you wanted, desperately.

“No, no princess… I told you to watch yourself, and you’re going to. You’re going to watch the way you cum on my cock, gonna watch me when I fill you up. Just a little more, baby. Almost there, hmm?” he reassured, his dominating tone never seeming to slip but somehow you felt comforted.

With another few thrusts, you were coming undone. His words were enough to bring you to the precipice of your pleasure, your abused little pussy throbbing and clenching around Jimin’s length. He stopped his animalistic thrusts and opted again for rolling his hips into you slower, helping you through your final orgasm. He dropped his hand from your jaw but kept a firm grip on your hair so you could watch the way you drooled; the way your eyes could barely stay open. The glass in front of you fogged up with the outward breath you let go, a long drawn out moan tumbling out.

“Fuck, that’s it princess. Good girl… You look so pretty, huh? Don’t you look pretty?” he asked you, losing himself. You hummed, strangely delighted by how you looked in your reflection right now.

Ripples of pleasure pulsed through you, your pussy producing more slick than you think you ever had before as you just let go. Jimin watched in fascination, eyes glued to your pussy as he now could slip in through your tightness even easier than before. Your own cum was already dripping down the inside of your thigh, warm and sticky and looking like a beautiful glaze that Jimin wanted to taste again so badly.

As you were coming back down from such an intense high, he used his free hand to do just that, scooping the excess up onto two fingers and raising them to his lips, sucking on them to clean them off.

“So sweet,” he chimed, his hips rolling a little faster, desperate for his own undoing. He didn’t start to pound into you again, knowing your battered cunt couldn’t take much more of that. He was so close he’d cum no matter what.

“Oh, shit… I’m gonna cum, princess. Can I-?”

“I-Inside me, please…” you interrupted him, totally breathless but already knowing what he wanted to ask. That was enough to tip him over the edge.

You felt the warmth spreading through you as hot spurts of cum filled you from the inside. His hips stopped rolling, stilling completely with his pelvis pressed against your ass. He threw his head back, his Adam’s apple becoming so prominent when the animalistic groan rumbled from deep in his throat. The grip on your hair loosened, his hands clutched your waist.

You watched his reflection in fascination, and you couldn’t help but think just how incredibly gorgeous he looked right now; his chiselled body was dripping in sweat, chest heaving with deep and heavy breaths.

A moment of silence passed between the both of you, and it wasn’t until Jimin felt himself softening that he pulled out and straightened up, chuckling to himself. You’d just about gathered enough strength in your legs to stand upright and turn around, leaning your back against the smeared mirror. He stepped towards you, one hand on the mirror and the other on your waist, looking down at you with a smile.

This smile was different; it wasn’t the smug kind you were used to from him. It wasn’t the smirk he seemed to have permanently etched onto his infuriatingly stunning face. It was sweet, genuine as he looked over you with a kind of adoration in his eyes.

You hid your face from him, suddenly shy as you giggled like an infatuated teenager. Jimin found it so cute, glad to finally see the sweeter side of you. He’d wanted to since the start, but he’d had far too much fun with the feisty side up until now.

“Don’t hide from me, princess…” he pulled your hands away from your face, seeing the red in your cheeks and finding it oh, so endearing. “You don’t have much to hide from me, anymore.”

“Shut up,” you objected with a smile, slapping your hand to his shoulder while he laughed. A beat of silence passed between the two of you again, a comfortable one, in which both of you shared a look of contentment and satisfaction. But Jimin wasn’t sure what to say now, no clever remarks to use as comebacks to your frustrations.

So instead, he planted a kiss to your lips. A sweet kiss; the kind that should be the first kiss of a couple saying goodnight after the first date. You wrapped your arms around his neck to keep him in place, just loving the way his lips moulded to yours.

He pressed his forehead to yours when he broke away, sighing happily.

“Well, this was uh…. Fun,” he chuckled. “Perhaps next time, I’ll be a little more romantic.”

“Who said there was going to be a next time, Park Jimin?” you teased, acting genuinely appalled at the idea.

His eyes widened and he tried to step away from you, feeling awkward and a little horrified that he’d just assumed like that, but you held him in place, letting the façade down with a hearty laugh.

“Relax, I’m kidding. But maybe we could go on some kind of date first, hmm?”

“You brat, I really thought…” he shook his head, amused.

“Buy me dinner, then maybe we’ll see if you get that second time,” you arched your eyebrow, smug smile on your face now.

“So demanding, firecracker…” he chuckled, pressing another sort kiss to your lips. “But that’s reasonable.”

“Oh, and drop the nickname, otherwise this most definitely won’t be happening again!” you warned, only half serious of course.

“No chance, firecracker,” he insisted, slapping his hand to your ass cheek lightly and turning to find your clothes that were long since discarded. You stepped off from the mirror and helped, dressing yourself and making yourself look a little more presentable. Lucky for you both, the sweat and ruffled hair could be explained away with the excuse ‘we were practicing’, but the smear on the mirror needed taking care of, pronto.

Jimin saw it too, of course, heading over to the utilities cupboard in the back corner of the studio and pulling out two cloths and a bottle of glass cleaner, tossing the bottle at you.

“You’re helping with that!” he declared, walking past you and handing you a cloth. You rolled your eyes and giggled. Suppose that was the least you could do, after the beautiful man in front of you had given you two rather powerful orgasms…

#park jimin #jimin #jiminie #chimmy #bts #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan au #ratedbangtann #Smut #SMUT AU #jimin smut

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latremoille · 3 years

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THE BASICS !

&&. announcing her grace, ( iéna sélène la trémoille ), the ( 31 ) year old ( duchess ) of ( alsace ). she is often confused with ( zoë kravitz ). some say that she is ( idealistic & stubborn ), but she is actually ( casual & curious ). ( ooc: anne )

THE STORY !

iéna la trémoille. she’s been many things throughout her life. the math nerd, the half-american, the little duchess, the artist, the eastern bitch, the lazy classmate... iéna has gone as many phases as the moon has. she has always had a great need to be everything and everyone at the same time. her curious nature made her rather unstoppable. it’s why iéna knows a little bit about everything but never enough to be well-versed in anything.

the first years of iéna’s life are as idyllic as they just can be. her parents spend all their time on her and dote on her. she learns to read around the age of four. all because her mother likes to teach her. a tragedy strikes just a month after iéna has turned six. her mother dies in a car crash, leaving the family of four nearly paralyzed. her younger brother is too young to really understand what’s going on.

a few year pass and her father remarries. the woman is nice. likable. but she isn’t a worthy replacement. iéna spends most of her time doing hobbies. and she has a plethora of them. on mondays she paints. on tuesdays she’s riding horses. on wednesdays she’s learning german. on thursdays she’s trying to become a contemporary dancer. on fridays she’s playing tennis. she was an active child, there’s no denying it.

only after her step-sister is born, she starts spending more time at home. the mansion begins to feel warm again. she’s gotten used to the new woman. iéna ditches every other hobby except for dance and art. she’s finally getting good !

then it’s time for her to go to uni. it’s difficult to choose what to do. iéna has never had difficulties finding a thing she is interested in. she has always had trouble choosing. so she listens to her father’s advice and picks political science. so she moves to the states for that. she’s got money so why not ? she gets to spend more time with her mother’s side of the family too. it’s a win-win. she gets her bachelour’s and decides it’s for the best if she takes a break. life’s too short for her to spend her best years on political theory.

so she moves to paris. spends her days doing absolutely nothing. it’s fun. she gets into dancing and art again. the next year she starts studying art in a parisian university. it’s just a fun degree to have !

she doesn’t finish the degree on time though. she starts her master’s studies during the third year of her art degree and just can’t find the time to actually do anything. she finishes both of the degrees at the same time. it’s 2016. she returns home to strasbourg, her father is not feeling very well and needs her to take over.

she spends 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 trying to figure out what she’s supposed to do. then her father passes away and she has no time to figure out anything. she just has to do. time is money, time is important. no one will wait around for her to figure things out.

iéna’s politics have been based on tight cooperation with germany. the majority of alsace speak german, german culture is very prevalent in alsace. hell, iéna herself finds german customs more familiar than french. she’s sick and tired of the king’s ambitious plans. she’s sick and tired of having to navigate through difficult questions. she’s sick and tired of having to defend his majesty while simultaneously condemning his actions. it’s been hell trying to keep alsace from going under since most of their business is with germany.

it’s why iéna takes germany’s actions very personally. she’s done nothing but tried to keep things civil only for germany to grab strasbourg for themselves. it’s something she can’t forgive them for.

THE QUESTIONS !

1. what has been your greatest achievement ?

“ my first year as a duchess. i didn’t screw up. i managed to see through a project my father hadn’t managed to finished before passing away. people like me based on 2017. it’s quite something. it wasn’t an easy year. fucking terrible if we’re being honest. but i managed. ”

2. what kind of a role does religion play in your life ? how do you feel about faith ?

“ i’m jewish so it definitely plays a role in my life. sometimes it matters more, sometimes less. my mother was pretty religious and she liked the community. she’s the reason i haven’t steered away from faith. judaism keeps me connected to my mother, i suppose. my mother cared a lot about our religion. she made sure i know all there was to know about judaism. but not even she could follow every rule. she was a bit too selfish for that, but hey, most 24-year-olds are, can’t blame her. she married my father. a very catholic man, publicly catholic anyways. my father was an important figure in alsace so the church had made him into their superstar. my dad couldn’t have cared less about god and the church. i think he would have converted for my mother if it had been an option for him. but to answer the actual question, because of my mother, i have appreciation for religion. i like the idea of a higher power. it makes the world more likable, i think. the community’s great, they keep me rooted. it’s so easy to connect with other people through religion. it’s what i’m thankful for. but i don’t think there’s any point in following the rules blindly. it’s more important to do what’s right by you. ”

THE EXTERIOR !

#hshqintro

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 3 years

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The Last Word: Shirley Manson on Fighting the Patriarchy and How Patti Smith Inspires Her

The Garbage singer also talks racial justice, living for now, and why legacy is an inherently masculine concern

Almost as soon as Garbage’s self-titled debut blew up overnight in 1995, their singer, Shirley Manson, became aware of the patriarchy running the music industry. Even though she was the group’s focal point — belting dusky electro-rock songs about making sense of depression (“Only Happy When It Rains”) and taking pride in nonconformity (“Queer”) — she was still a woman fronting a band of men, one of whom, Butch Vig, had produced Nirvana’s Nevermind. Almost immediately, she felt as though her role in the group was being devalued — not by the guys she worked with, but externally.

“There was a lot of stuff written about me in the music press, and that’s when I started to realize how I’m being diminished, how, in some cases, I’m being completely eradicated from the narrative because I’m female and not a man,” she says now. “I was talked over by lawyers; I was ignored by managers. The list goes on. It’s boring and tedious; there’s no point in me moaning about it now, but certainly, that was my awakening.”

That revelation emboldened her to speak out about equality and she quickly became a feminist icon, using her platform to bring attention to human rights, mental health, and the AIDS crisis. All the while, she wrote inclusive hit songs with Garbage about androgyny and reproductive rights (“Sex Is Not the Enemy”). On Garbage’s great new album, No Gods No Masters, she grapples with racial injustice, climate change, the patriarchy, and her own self-worth. But as weighty as the subject matter is, she approaches each song in her own uniquely uplifting way.

“I don’t think really the record is serious, per se,” the singer, 54, says, on an early May phone call. “I think it’s an indignant record. I think in indignance you can still carry humor with you, as well as softness, kindness, and love in your heart. I just felt it would be inauthentic to say anything other than what I was saying in my daily life across the dinner table from my friends and my family. I think as you get older as an artist, the challenge is, ‘How I can be my most authentic self?’ because that’s the most unique story I can tell. In an industry that’s just absolutely jam-packed to the rafters with ideas, opinions, melodies, and so on, you can’t afford to be anything other than your most authentic self. It won’t last.”

Authenticity and being true to herself are the qualities that have made Manson who she is. And those traits seem to guide her answers to Rolling Stone’s questions about philosophy, life lessons, and creature comforts for our Last Word interview.

What are the most important rules that you live by? I’m 54, which is ancient for the contemporary music industry. At this point, I feel like if it’s not fun, then I’m uninterested entirely. If somebody’s treating me poorly, I have to walk away. Life is so fricking short, and I’m three quarters of the way through mine already; I just want to have a good life, full of joy.

Who are your heroes and why? Patti Smith is a huge hero for me for a lot of different reasons. Most importantly, it’s because she’s a woman who has navigated her creative life so beautifully and so artfully, with such integrity and authenticity, and she has proven to me that a woman, an artist, does not have to subscribe to the rules of the contemporary music industry.

It’s very rare for other women to see examples of women actually working still in their seventies. That, to me, is really thrilling and really inspiring, and it fills me with hope. At times when you come up against the ageism, sexism, and misogyny that exists in our culture, I always try and picture Patti in my mind’s eye, and it always brings me back to center, like, “OK, adhere to your own rules. Design your own life. Be your own architect. You can continue to be an artist the rest of your life.” And to me, that’s life. That is a fully lived life.

You’re also a role model yourself. How do you handle that responsibility? I’m a bit speechless if the truth be told. I realize that I’ve now enjoyed a long career in music, and by default, I think people are inspired by that. I think whenever you see an artist, no matter who they are, when someone can endure, I think that’s exciting to everybody else, because it’s a message that says, “You too can get up when you think you’re done. You too can brush yourself off and try again.” By just continuing, you can help other people continue and fulfill themselves in ways that they thought they wouldn’t be able to.

I try to be a decent person. I make mistakes. I fuck people off. I say stupid shit. I’m not all-knowing; I am ignorant in so many ways. But I do try my best. I think that’s really all I can ask of myself.

How others perceive me is absolutely out of my control. There’s always going to be people who think I’m an arsehole, and that’s just part and parcel of being in the public eye. People are just going to hate on you, so I try not to take too much of it in; I don’t let it absorb me too much. I have gotten to that point in my life when I’m able to just go, “You know what? Fuck it. You can’t win them all.”

You once said that the idea of legacy was a masculine construct that you don’t believe in. Do you still feel that way? Yeah. I still very much believe in that. I know a lot of male artists who bang on about their legacy and their importance. Not to knock that if that’s what’s important to you but for me personally, what do I care? I’m going to be dead and gone and totally unconscious of any so-called legacy that I might leave behind. I want fun now. I want to have a good life now. I want to eat good food now and have great sex. It’s absolutely meaningless to me what happens after I’m gone. I want to use my time wisely, and that’s all that I really am concerned with, to be honest.

What is it about legacy that’s inherently masculine? This is armchair psychology, so please forgive me, but I’m sure it has something to do with how women have this uterus that can bear children. I think that’s profound. One of the few gifts that men have not been given is that ability to create with your body, and your blood, and your heat and all these nutrients from your body. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why you don’t hear as many women banging on about the great legacy they’re going to leave behind. I think for women it’s their kids.

You’re Scottish. What is the most Scottish thing about you these days? I’ve got a lot of grit, and it’s served me really well in my career. I think that is a really Scottish trait. The Scottish people are tough, and they also have a good sense of humor. So, grit with humor. I should say “gritted with humor,” in the same way we grit roads.

As you were saying “grit,” it occurred to me that a lot of your songs are about survival and moving forward, going back to “Stupid Girl” or “Only Happy When It Rains.” They’re about perseverance. [Pauses] I think it’s funny you should say that because I’m just sort of like, “Wow, he might be right.” I do think that a huge theme for me is, “How do you overcome? How do we all overcome?” Things can be great for a while; things will not be great forever. And to every single life, these challenges appear. We all have to reconfigure ourselves in order to try to hurl ourselves over obstacles in order to have the kind of life we hope for. So I do think you’ve shocked me a little by discovering a theme for me. Yay, I feel thrilled. I have a theme. It’s exciting.

“Waiting for God” is one of my favorite songs on the album because of the way you address racial justice. How can we, as a society, fight white indifference? You know, that’s a question right there. It’s interesting that you use the words “white indifference,” because one of the things that shocked me so greatly is the ambivalence and the apathy of white people all over the world who are seeing what we’re seeing on our TVs and on the internet, and yet not having the moral courage to speak up. I think the most important thing we can do is pull back the carpet to see the mess on the floor in order for us to actually start cleaning it up.

If we could curtail some of the brutality of police against black people, that would be a good start. I think it’s going to be decades and decades and decades before we can start to really equalize our societies so that everyone is enjoying the spoils of Western wealth over in the developing world. It’s necessary that we try and help these countries that aren’t as powerful or as wealthy. It’s good for the whole world if we start to improve situations for everyone. Nobody will lose anything, and everyone has everything to gain.

But if I had the answers to how we go about fixing it, I would be in politics and not in music. I just know what I believe to be right, and I’m doing my best to use my voice to try and encourage my friends, my little ecosystem, to start with paying attention and supporting black businesses and elevating black voices and black talent.

What’s your favorite book? I have so many. The one that springs to mind would be American Pastoral by Philip Roth. I loved All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. I loved The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje. I loved Winnie the Pooh and Wuthering Heights. I’ve got so many that have really stuck with me that are classics.

My most favorite recent book that I’ve just finished reading is Dancer by Colum McCann about [Russian ballet dancer Rudolf] Nureyev. I was just absolutely mesmerized by it. It was just such a fantastic read, and he’s such a miraculous writer. He brought out Apeirogon last year about the struggle in between Palestine and Israel. He talks about this complicated mess with such clarity, kindness, and generosity. I couldn’t believe Apeirogon didn’t get more fuss made of it last year. Somehow it just seemed to get buried in the morass of other books, and of course the suffering that Covid had brought upon the earth.

What advice do you wish you could give your younger self? “Take up your space.” When I was growing up, to be a girl was to be told to minimize the space you took up: “Close your legs. Don’t be loud. Smile. Be cute. Be attractive. Be pleasing.” I inherently balked against that as a kid. I was a rebellious kid, and I wasn’t going to sit in the corner and be quiet. I’ve never been like that. However, looking back, I still notice some of the patterns of my own compliance. It’s not that I hate myself for it, but I just wish I could turn around and say to my young self, “Take your seat. If there’s not a seat there, drag a seat up to the table and sit down.”

I’m still really aware of the sexism and misogyny that I have had to battle throughout my career. I’m not crying, “Woe is me,” because I’ve obviously flourished in my career, and it obviously didn’t hold me back enough to hamper me in any way. But I feel for all the women who were unlike me, who didn’t have my forcefulness of personality, or my education, or my ability to articulate myself. I want that for all people, though; I want all people to stop trying to please, and accept that some people will like that, and some people won’t, and that’s OK. It’s OK that some people just don’t dig you.

On the topic of gender, I got a kick out of your song “Godhead,” where you ask if people would treat you differently “if I had a dick.” I’m really proud of that song, because I think it’s talking about something really serious, and it’s really fun. It’s about addressing the patriarchy, and how omnipresent it is. When I was young, I was so busy trying to make it, I didn’t see that there was a patriarchy in place. And it’s only as an adult, I start looking back going, “Oh, wow — when that A&R man told me to my face that he wanked over pictures of me, that was really uncool.” But at the time, you kind of laugh it off and just press on.

I was oblivious to it. In this song, I’m talking about how patriarchy bleeds into absolutely everything, specifically under organized religion. The “Godhead” is the male, and we are all under the godhead forever, and that’s unquestioned, and how crazy is that? Because a dude holds a higher position in society, because he’s got a dick and a pair of balls. Often, these balls are smaller than my own [laughs].

It just gets silly after a while, when you watch other men protect other men just for the sake of protecting the patriarchy. So few men are willing to speak up about bro culture and call into question the behavior of the men they are associated with. There’s just a reluctance by men to address this absolutely shocking, terrifying, depressing, pathetic assault by men of other people’s bodies.

In 1996, your bandmate Butch Vig said about you, “So many singers screamed to convey intensity, and she does the opposite. It just blew us away.” How did you come up with that approach? I don’t know. I’ve found that when people speak to me quietly, I feel the most threatened because I’m really comfortable with conflict. I thrive on conflict. It excites me in a funny way. When people are shouting, I don’t feel scared. I like to shout back; that’s just how my family were. We’d just start to shout at each other all the time. I’m not scared of elevated temper. For me, when people get really quiet, that’s when I know they’re really serious, because they’re in control of their rage, and that’s when they’re most deadly.

The last question I have is a shallow one. I love being cheap and superficial.

What’s the most indulgent purchase you’ve ever made? At the height of my success, I hired a person who would shop for me and then send everything in a big box to my hotel room. I would choose what I wanted and return anything else. One day, this beautiful pair of Italian leather boots arrived. I wore a pair very similar in the “Stupid Girl” video, and I thought, “Oh, yeah, these are really me. I’m going to keep these. These are amazing.” It was only when I got back from tour, I found out they cost $5,000. I can’t even laugh about it. It makes me so crazy. I still have these boots. I’d like to get rid of them just so that I never have to look at them again, but there they are every day, warning me of my own greed.

#shirley manson #garbage #2021 interviews

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dearjacobsamuel · 4 years

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Most Memorable Year || Jella

WHO: Jake Puckerman & Stella Fabray WHERE: Dance Studio WHEN: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 NOTES: Stella informs Jake of the theme for their next dance and Jake tells her the full story of his accident. TRIGGERS: Car accident, death WORD COUNT: 2390

Stella arrived at the dance studio for her daily rehearsal with Jake. The night before, she and Jake had an absolute blast getting to be superheroes for their dance, but this coming week it was time to get serious. This week's theme was Most Memorable Year. Stella already had an idea of what Jake's would be with them bonding over the last few weeks during rehearsals, but she still felt the need to actually ask him what he considered to be his memorable year and why he considered it as memorable. Walking into their practice room, she flung her bag aside before grabbing her water bottle from the zipper compartment. She took a giant swig from it and waited on Jake to arrive. "Hey! You did fantastic last night! Now, it's time to get serious," she greeted as he entered.

Jake was still riding his high from the previous night. What could have been better than superheroes? Nothing. Sure, Stella had teased him all week but everything had been worth it in the end.

He tossed his bag near where he could already see Stell's and made his way over to her promptly so she could tell him about the new theme for the week, not that it could ever top last week, and the dance. "You weren't so bad yourself," he smiled, "shaped up to be a pretty good sidekick. I could have almost called you Jimmy Olsen." Stella was far from a sidekick and she knew it, but if he was keeping up all this Superman stuff, she was stuck with Jimmy.

Stella couldn't help rolling her eyes at Jake's comment about her being his sidekick, but she would at least humor him and let him call her what he wanted to given the nature of their upcoming dance. She had already heard bits and pieces about the events that led to his accident and the aftermath, but she still hadn't heard the whole thing yet.

This dance would definitely be an emotional one for her partner and she wanted to make sure this would be their best one yet, and that it would leave a lasting impression on both the judges and viewing audience. "Ha, ha, Jake," she grinned. "Though we both know I'm more Supergirl in this operation than Jimmy Olsen." Pausing for a beat, she bit her bottom lip slightly. "So, this week is Most Memorable Year," she began, not even wanting to beat around the bush. "We have contemporary and we'll be dancing to 'Take Me Home' by Us the Duo."

Jake playfully rolled his eyes, despite how truthful the statement was. Stella could be Supergirl if she tried, without a doubt, but he wasn't going to give her that, not right now.

His grin faded, though not into a frown when she explained. Contemporary was good though, he had a little experience there, but not since high school and maybe some in PT. Less technical, but a hell of a lot more emotional. He knew the song and without a second thought he nodded and replied. "2012," Jake told Stella, not missing a beat. "I'm sure you can do the math and figure it out, it's the year ... everything changed."

Jake ran a hand over his head, a bit of a nervous habit when he was uncomfortable or embarrassed, not that he felt the need to be. Stella knew he'd been in an accident and he'd been with friends and he was the sole survivor. Most people knew that. His leg and the accident weren't something Jake felt ashamed about, not anymore. But he lost more than his leg and a couple friends that day, and this dance would really make him feel that and for a moment, Jake wasn't sure he was ready for that.

The energy in the room immediately shifted as soon as Stella brought up the week's theme and the dance they would be doing. That much was obvious. She knew this week was almost always an emotional one for the celebrities and that this season it would be no different. Jake's story deserved to be told though. The audience deserved to know what Jake had endured as a result of his accident. He had come so far since that day and he deserved to be proud about that.

At his response, Stella could only nod in understanding. She already knew that would be his answer. "Come on. Let's sit and you can tell me all about it," she instructed, patting the space on the floor next to her as she sat. "I know you lost a lot that day, but you also gained a lot as well. I really want to help convey that in the choreography and do you proud, as well as your friends," she told him with a smile.

In the back of his head Jake knew this was coming. He wasn’t super familiar with the show but he’d done a little research beforehand, both on the professional dancers and past winners, this was a theme that was always implemented. He knew this week would carry a lot of ups and downs but he trusted Stella to help him create something from it.

He nodded again and sat with his partner, his friend, and took a short moment before delving into his story.

“It was graduation night, you know? Supposed to be this great night. My mom took us out for this quiet dinner so it was me and my dance partner since forever, she was my best friend, she’d love you and all this that I’m doing. Also give me a ton of critiques, but I could take it. Also with my boyfriend, Owen. We’d been going out for ... I don’t know, three years but friends since like, middle school.” Jake took a breath to compose himself, he knew Stella would be listening, it was just hard saying everything out loud, at once.

“So we’re just driving along and Owen was changing the song or something like that and all of a sudden everything just ... stopped. Thankfully I don’t actually remember much but I’m told a drunk driver t-boned us from the passenger side. The next thing I remember was waking up and seeing my grandma. She looked awful and I knew something wasn’t right but I wasn’t expecting her to tell me they’d all died and that I almost did too.” Jake paused again, his memory of the night might not be there, but the look on his grandma’s face would be seared into his brain for all eternity. He admired her so much to have been able to tell him as compassionately as she did and if it had been anyone else, he knew it would have been even worse. “The only thing that would have made it worse at that point were if my siblings had decided to come with us that night.” “So... I’m eighteen. I have one leg. I just lost my mom, the love of my life and my best friend. Pretty sure my dreams are as shattered as my leg was. I had to give up going to Julliard. I stopped eating and refused to move and ... yeah, I wasn’t me. It wasn’t really until Owen’s younger sister gave me the lecture of a lifetime about how pissed he’d be if he could see what I was doing and ... it got through. So I started doing what I had to do to get here.”

Stella sat and listened intently as Jake dove into telling his story. She had heard bits and pieces of it before now, but this was the first time she was actually getting to hear the whole story detail for detail. Yet, she still wasn't sure what exactly she'd hear.

She couldn't help letting a small smile form on her face as he spoke about his former dance partner and best friend. "She sounds like a smart girl. Well, at least she'd have to be anyways to put up with you," she half joked. Noting Jake's pause, she took the moment to place a hand lightly on his leg. A sign to let him know that she was there for him and that she was listening.

"W-wow..." was all she could muster to say as he spoke about the accident. "I know it might not have seemed that way then, but you know, angels were watching out for you that day, Jake. Your friends knew what you could do and what you could accomplish one day, and I'm glad they were," she continued, pulling him close for a hug. "What you've been able to accomplish since that day has been pure magic and I'm sure it's been so inspiring to other people with disabilities similar to yours. I'm sure it gives them all hope that one day they too could make it on Broadway and even be able to compete on a show like this."

"You know, I'm sure your friend had a hand in making sure you got to be here with me today," she said softly, but confidently. "We're definitely going to make her, Owen, and your mom proud, okay? I promise you that I'm gonna create something magical that will definitely honor all of them and your journey. Okay?"

She was right. As usual, Stella was right. Despite everything bad that had happened that night, it could only have been so much worse if he hadn't survived. One more teenager lost did no one any good, and sure, it wasn't like he was wise in his ripe age of twenty-four, but he'd spent a lot time reflecting on how he was fortunate. Jake leaned into Stella's hug and squeezed her back. Pulling back, wiping his face a little, he nodded.

"The first time another amputee came up to me in public, this little girl, she must have been like ... nine or something, and she just ran right up and hugged me on the subway, and man, was her dad embarrassed, I felt for the guy but it wasn’t like I was mad, it was really cool. She was just happy to see someone like her getting publicity for Broadway," Jake couldn't help from smiling as he remembered that day. "So you better help me make magic on Monday, I think I owe it to everyone who helped me get here."

Stella beamed as Jake told her about the little girl like him on the subway. "See? Exactly. You're supposed to be doing this, kicking major butt, and inspiring people like that little girl. I promise you though, this routine will be amazing. Your family will be incredibly proud of you, and I will be too," she told him confidently.

"Come on," she declared as she rose from her spot, extending her hand out to him. "I already have ideas forming in my brain. Get ready for some magic, Puckerman," she told him cheekily. "So I'm thinking when we start you can start sitting in the floor, and then I can come up behind you to symbolize you after the accident, not knowing if you were going to live or not and your friends being your guardian angels in the aftermath and helping you get up."

Grabbing hold of Stella’s hand to help himself up after that talk felt all too cliche but it amused him too so he did it without comment. Jake nodded as she already started talking about her ideas, he could already tell that the dance was going to be amazing.

“You’re really going to run with this whole guardian angel thing, aren’t you?” He asked with a small smile. It meant a lot to him that Stella was taking this as seriously as he needed her too but she kept it light. Jake wasn’t one for living in those feelings for too long. Sure, he missed them a lot, it would always hurt, but if roles were reversed, he’d want Owen to be out living his best life because ... you never knew when it was going to be taken from you.

Stella let out a laugh as Jake questioned the direction she was taking the dance. "Of course I am! Have you not already learned that when I get an idea, I run with it one-thousand percent?" she asked. Going through all the possibilities in her head for this dance, she instinctively began biting at her nails, a sort-of habit she had picked up when she was young and was concentrating on something so intensely.

She wanted to do a good job choreographing this piece and making sure that it was special and meaningful to Jake, that it was no surprise to her now that she was even biting her nails. "Okay, so in my mind, I'm picturing it's like you're finding your strength as we go through the dance. And once it hits the chorus of the song, it's like all of your confidence pouring out and it representing where you're at now with having done Broadway, your movies and now the show. What do you think?"

The nail biting was back, Stella was obviously calculating something hard in her brain, Jake could practically see the wheels turning. He closed his eyes and started picturing what she was describing and he couldn't help the smile. He loved the idea.

"What if there's a moment, just before the chorus and I stop, one small moment, a moment of doubt, we all have them... Am I thinking too much?" Jake didn't want this to show an easy journey, because that would be romanticising some of the hardest times in his life and he wasn't about that. People deserved transparency and honesty and before he got Hamilton he'd had plenty of those, and there were even still days where the pain was too much, phantom pain was a right bitch, and those moments could creep up.

Pausing mid-thought as Jake started to speak, Stella's smile widened. "No, no, no. That's... that's actually... perfect", she exclaimed in excitement. "It's like... you have that moment of doubt and are ready to give up, but then it's like you get that burst of energy to get you going again and it's just pure magic", she continued excitedly.

Excited with the new contribution from Jake, she immediately began getting to work on steps that would help emphasize the points they were wanting to get across in their story and dance. Jake's story was truly a story of strength and this dance would showcase that perfectly if she played her cards right.

#para #jakexstella

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