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avengerscompound · 3 years

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Moving On - Chapter 4

Moving On: A Falcon & Captain Marvel Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing: Sam Wilson x F!Reader, Carol Danvers x F! Reader

Word Count: 2107

Rating: E

Warnings: Smut (MF, oral sex, vaginal sex, accidental exhibitionism/voyeurism)

Synopsis: You thought Sam Wilson was the love of your life. You had planned to do it all with him - marriage, kids, see the world. Even when you’re life gets turned upside down, and you both end up international fugitives, he’s there by your side.

Then Thanos comes.

When Sam is one of the many turned to dust, leaving you alone and pregnant, you don’t think you’ll ever stop grieving. Yet, everyone tells you that Sam would want you to move on and live your life - that he’d want you to be happy. Gradually you open your heart up to another. Carol Danvers has lost people too. First her daughter, then her wife. As the two of you lean on each other, feelings grow and you move on together.

So what happens when Sam is returned to you?

Chapter 4: On the Run

It is strange how quickly your whole world can change. One minute you’re planning a wedding and living in the Avengers Compound in Upstate New York, an official agent for the Avengers. The next you’re considered a war criminal and you’re on the run with your fiance and three other people, one of them who happened to be Captain America.

It had been like a slow-motion car wreck watching everything go wrong. First, there was a completely unnecessary fight against your friends in the airport because no one wanted to listen to each other. Then you’d been arrested by people who you’d once considered not just friends, but family. Then you’d been shipped off to some secret supermax prison in the ocean for enhanced individuals with no trial, even though you weren’t enhanced. Then Steve Rogers had busted you out and you’d ended up on the run.

You were with Sam though, and you’d rather be with him on the run knowing you were on the right side of the fight than safe in New York alone.

You’d all been trying to make the most of your time working as vigilantes. There had been a lot of alien tech ending up in the hands of criminal organizations and Steve had been leading your little band of merry men to go and get it back.

Things weren’t easy for any of you. There was a lack of money coming in and everyone had had to quickly withdraw their entire savings before the government blocked all of their accounts. Thankfully Steve’s pension from the army had accrued a lot since he’d been lost at sea, but he hadn’t been able to withdraw all of it.

It had meant that a lot of the income came down to you, as out of everyone - you were the least recognizable. Yes, there were alerts out for you, but you were a spy - you knew how to disguise yourself and you knew where to find under-the-counter work when needed.

The trick was never staying in the same place for long and returning to countries that didn’t sign the accords. Even those weren’t safe for long - Ross was not above sending people into countries illegally to detain people who he was hunting - Bruce Banner was a testament to that - but they were safe for a little while and meant that once a month rather than sleep in the stolen Quinn, you could splash out and get a hotel. Although you were pretty sure that Wanda was often sleeping in hotels - with Vision most likely - anytime she said she needed to have some alone time.

You woke up and stretched on the cold metal floor of the Quinn, your spine popping loudly. Sam shifted in close to you, his arm draping over your sternum and his hand resting on your neck so his fingertips lightly caressed your jaw. “Was wondering when you were gonna wake up,” he murmured.

“Is it late?” You asked, blinking your eyes in the dark of the jet. There was light coming in through the cockpit window, but it was low and you couldn’t tell if that was because it was early or just overcast outside.

“Not particularly,” he said, his hand running down your neck and over your collarbone. “You just normally sleep like shit in the Quin.”

“Who says I didn’t,” you grumbled, rolling in toward him, and breathing him in. There was an acrid sting to his scent thanks to the fact that neither of you had showered for a few days. You were all due for a trip to somewhere remote with beds and good water pressure. Steve had said maybe going back to Wakanda for a few weeks was in order. He didn’t like to go too often because T’Challa had already extended himself above and beyond anything that was fair to ask of him just by harboring Bucky. But it had been over six months since any of you had been there, and you had accumulated a lot of alien technology that you knew Shuri would love to get her hands on.

Sam chuckled and his hands ran down to yours, linking your fingers together, and playing with the engagement ring that sat on your finger. “What if we just get married in Wakanda?”

You looked up into his eyes. They looked black in the dim light and when he smiled at you, the corners of them crinkled slightly. “I’m not sure that’s what you really want,” you said. “Don’t you want Sarah to be there? And the kids?”

Sam frowned. Sarah’s kids had been two and four years old when you’d gone on the run and every month that he missed of their lives hurt him. He’d been sending money back to his sister to keep the family business running back when you’d both had actual jobs, but these days he was barely scraping by himself.

He sighed and nuzzled into your neck. “I just want us to start our lives together.”

“I know, but life had other plans,” you said. “I love you and I don’t need to get married to know that. It’s not going to change anything. We will still be on the run and we won’t be able to build a stable life and have kids.”

Sam sighed and leaned his forehead against you. “I know, but I want you to be my wife.”

“I am your wife,” you said.

“Not legally,” he said.

“We don’t do anything legally at the moment,” you said, playfully. When Sam didn’t laugh, you sighed and wrapped your arms around him. “Sam,” you said. “If you really want to get married in Wakanda, I’ll do it. I’m sure I can get something nice to wear together, and Nat and Wanda can be my bridesmaids. I’m sure given how close we’ve all gotten they would be who I’d have picked anyway. Just like I know you’d have Steve be your best man. But I know you. This isn’t really what you want. You want the big wedding down in Louisiana like you always planned. With the catering done using fish that were caught by your family’s trawler and you want AJ and Cass to be our little ring bearers. And I know… I know that if you do this - if we get married in Wakanda without Sarah, she’ll murder you. She will murder you and then disown you post humus.”

Sam started laughing. “Yeah, she will.”

“Sam, I love you. I’m yours, no matter what,” you said.

“I know,” he replied with a sigh. “I know we’re doing the right thing now. I mean - Tony can get all on his high horse about how important the accords were, but he still broke them immediately. That fucking kid he brought to the fight is still breaking the accords and living his best life. I just… I wish we could have both.”

“So do I,” you said. “I hope they come around, but I’m scared that the thing that makes them realize how wrong they are is gonna be real bad. Like; world-ending bad.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sam said. “Which is why I’m doing this.”

“So, what do you want to do? You asked.

“I guess… we can wait,” Sam relented. “But maybe we can see if there’s any way we could do something small that we could sneak Sarah to? Like … she goes to the Maldives and who just happens to be there getting married?”

“They’ll be watching her,” you said.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “But we can look into it.”

“Yeah, okay,” you agreed. “We’ll look into it.”

Sam leaned in and kissed you deeply. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pulled him down on top of you, so the full weight of his body pressed down on the cold metal floor of the jet.

Sam groaned softly and rolled his hips, his cock starting to harden against your thigh. “Where’s Steve?” you mumbled against his lips as he continued to kiss you. He was currently the only unknown factor as Wanda was on another of her ‘retreats’ and Natasha was dealing with some ‘personal things’ that she wouldn’t tell the rest of you about. He pulled back and smirked down at you. “Why? You want him to watch?”

“No,” you giggled, smacking his arm. “I want the opposite of that.”

Sam laughed and nuzzled at your neck, pushing his hands up under your sleep shirt. “On his morning run. Just you and me, baby.”

You kissed him again - more frantic this time, and your hands dug into his shoulders. Sam began to squeeze and massage your breast as he ground down against you, sending a warm buzz through your body. He began to move down your body, taking his time to both undress you and kiss every part of you. By the time he was crouched between your spread legs, your whole body prickled like a live wire.

He gripped your thigh with one hand and reached up and began massaging your breast with the other as he dipped his head down and began lapping at your cunt. You moaned and arched your back, gripping his bicep with one hand as you reached over your head with the other. A hot current ran through you as Sam focused on your clit, sucking and nipping at it as he squeezed your breast. He moaned into your cunt, the sound sending vibrations through you. You slowly fell apart under him, writhing as a coil of hot pleasure wound itself tightly in your core. Sam thrust two of his fingers inside you, and as soon as they hit that sweet spot inside you you cried out loudly and came hard, your whole body shuddering as your orgasm crashed through you.

Sam sat up onto his knees and looked at you. “Gonna have to be a little quieter,” he said tapping your thigh. “Steve’s got pretty good hearing you know.”

You scrunched up your face. “Maybe you need to gag me.”

Sam chuckled and bit his bottom lip as you got on our hands and knees. Even on the bedroll, your knees were going to hate you after this, but right now you didn’t care at all. Sam moved up behind you, held onto your hips, and thrust hard into you. You stumbled forward a little but managed to catch yourself on the cargo trunk in front of you. He began to fuck you hard immediately, not even waiting to steady yourself. You cried out and clenched around him as it felt like a hot shard tore through you.

Sam leaned over you, kissing your neck and shoulder, as he put his hand over your mouth. “Hush now,” he growled in your ear. “You don’t want to wake up the whole forest.”

You moaned into his hand and opened your mouth, letting him push two of his fingers inside for you to suck on. He railed into you, his hips moving quickly and erratically as your bodies slapped together. You tried to bounce back on him, adding to the pleasure coursing through you, but it wasn’t long until your arms gave out and you were helpless under him as your orgasm built.

As his hips began to stutter, Sam wrapped his arm around your waist and began to rub your clit. It was all it took for the dam inside you to burst. You buried your face in your arm and cried out as you came, clenching around Sam’s cock. He began to thrust even more erratically as he chased his own release and with a jerk and a low groan he came, releasing inside you.

You let yourself flop completely on the floor, breathing heavily and feeling a little high on endorphins. “You think Steve is out there and heard us?” You asked as Sam lay back down next to you and kissed your shoulder.

“Caught the tail end of the show!” Steve yelled, his voice muffled through the jet walls.

You and Sam both broke down into peels of laughter and you hid your face in Sam’s chest.

“Get a move on, would you?!” Steve yelled. “We have a lot to do today.”

You laughed even harder and Sam held you close, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Come on, duty calls,” he chuckled.

You let him help you up and the two of you both started cleaning yourselves up the best way you could. You hoped to god that Steve would say it was time for a break soon, but in the meantime, you were glad you were here with Sam.

// NEXT

#sam wilson #carol danvers #sam wilson x reader #carol danvers x reader #falcon #captain marvel #falcon fanfic #captain marvel fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #smut #moving on

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himbo-buckley · 4 years

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Intimacy, Sex and Buddie (better known as I have a lot of feelings about this show, some of which are related to the before mentioned topics) - Part 2

G’day friends, family and lost travelers! Welcome back to another instance of: I read too much into things!

This is where we really dive into the Character analysis and it’s gonna be a fun ride!!! (well, maybe. For me at least because thanks to 3.16 I am living! That episode validated me so much and now I truly believe I am right)

This is part two of a three part Meta / Character Analysis, and while you probably don’t need to read part 1, I would recommend it, so here is the link:

part 1

Also:

I should preface this by saying this meta was supposed to be a lot shorter and only talk about how both Buck and Eddie use sex to distract their respective partners from whatever topic they actually wanted to talk about but since I decided to rewatch the show to make sure I don’t miss any such scenes, it has exploded a bit and taken on more topics.

I should also mention that I am a Buddie shipper and while I tried, you will find several references and arguments for the ship in this Meta, not all of which necessarily call for a romantic pairing but just: These two are deeply connected and you cannot look at one without discussing the other and they are each other’s strongest emotional connection.

I should also preface this by saying that the whole of the 118 has some obvious intimacy / commitment issues except Bobby (which is sort of surprising) but *John Mulaney* voice we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

On another note I cuss a little in this Meta because my parents let me listen to TicTacToe as a small child and after that it never stuck that cussing is wrong so, uhm, parental supervision is advised or something?

This Meta will so far have three parts (this is part two), one for each season and is organised by episode so you could technically follow along

So here goes nothing, Season 2: (Also called „Why is Ryan naked so much?“)

Episode 2.01:

I’m not gonna talk a lot about this episode, because I feel like it’s been analysed to death already. Important to know is that Buck hasn’t yet given up on Abby coming back (see the shower scene), he is very lonely and there is a lot of homo- erotic tension.

Basically this episode goes like this:

Buck *after meeting Eddie*: nooooo, Dad, I don’t want a brother! He’s better than me! Put him back where he came from!

Eddie *takes one look at Buck*: Ui, you guys lied, he’s an ass - I like it! This is way better! We’re gonna be friends!

And then Buddie decides to something stupid to prove themselves (to each other) and they end up saving the day and bonding.

Also Eddie saying: „You guys hungry?“ after the Ambulance blows up? Iconic! He is such a little shit.

Episode 2.02 / 2.03:

(I’m putting them together because two-parter)

This episodes truly proves how hard they’ve already bonded, despite Buck not even knowing Eddie has a kid yet, especially from Eddie’s point of view: I actually think he started seeing Buck as his partner first.

I love how he always takes charge, even in his first episode and expects Buck to go along with it - which Buck does (after some initial reluctance), because Buck is good at following orders and trusts Eddie. It might be an army thing, probably is an Eddie likes control thing. What is truly unique about Buddie, is the fact that Eddie defers to Buck’s judgement as needed, something he doesn’t do with anyone else, I think, unless the chain of command tells him to. Just look at how annoyed he is by Ali and her interfering.

That being said it really isn’t all to relevant for this meta, except to say: Interest- ing how fast they trusted each other and became a unit - I guess it’s true what they say: birds of a feather flock together.

Episode 2.04:

Here we get our first real insights into Eddie’s character (aside from that he is a little shit and likes to take charge) as well as some very nice shots of the man’s body, proving my theory that someone in charge really wants to get busy with Ryan Guzman. Which I am not exactly complaining about.

I do think however it’s a very noticable shift from the way they treat the other young, attractive guy in the cast. I talked about this a little in the first part of this Meta, how they went out of their way to hold Buck accountable and make him relatable, but refused to bank on his sex appeal, aside from a few scenes which mostly were about explaining why Abby reached out to him (and uh, we do not need to talk about how creepy that really was, do we?). Eddie though really gets sexualised from the get go. Or maybe that’s just me and I missed something? (Someone with more insight on such topics take the wheel? Because that really isn’t my area of expertice and I don’t wanna say anything false)

A main difference between Buck and Eddie at this point (or in general) is that Buck is always looking for connection. He craves emotional intimacy but it scares him because he cares too much and people keep leaving so he searches out physical intimacy - or he used to. Actually by Season 2 Buck is actively looking to connect emotionally with another person.

Eddie on the other hand isn’t even on the same level as Pilot!Buck, because he avoids both physical and emotional intimacy (except with Buck because, you know, steam engine). The episode implies that it might be caused by Shannon leaving, but the rest of Season 2 and specifically Season 3 show us that it’s an Eddie thing (likely caused by his upbringing if you fast forward to 3.15). And it really makes me want to know how Shannon and Eddie met and how long they had been dating before she got pregnant. Probably not that long tbh.

One thing to notice about the episode is that it parallels Eddie both with Buck (neither wants to date one of those girls, both deflect about their reasons) and with Abby - watch 1.03 and 2.04 back to back, both are about a character taking care of a special needs family member, both have another family member consider them stuck when they themselves do not and both feature Buck trying to help (passively by talking to Abby on the phone vs. actively by having Eddie and Carla meet)

Also as I pointed out in another post the conversation about dating is kind of similar to the car conversation, and I really am clowning now - which is why I will not try and parallel the conversation between Maddie and Buck with the one between Bobby and Buck in 1.09!

I still don’t fully understand the need for that scene (you know which one) aside from being another instance where the boys get sexualised and giving us our first insight into Eddie romantically and also the first time he uses Christopher as a shield (also not the last).

The general take away from the episode is that Eddie is bad at asking for help and Buck is bad at asking for permission which means they fit really well - because Eddie doesn’t have to voice his needs and Buck doesn’t have to feel bad about steamrolling him.

In terms of the overall theme of this meta your main takeaway from this episode should be:

Buck - no longer substituting physical intimacy for emotional intimacy but also not seeking out emotional intimacy, both because he has a connection through Maddie and is building one with Eddie but also because he still considers himself spoken for, though the episode ends with him realicing he might not be (and then he keeps realising, because he is one stubborn mf).

Eddie - avoiding both physical and emotional intimacy and using Christopher to deflect, mainly because he doesn’t have the time for either (but still getting a connection through Buck, thanks to someone just punching right through his boundaries)

Episode 2.05:

no relevance, our boys are barely in it

Episode 2.06:

Well, if you want to write about Buddie crumbs than yeah, definitely important. Also, you can draw a definite parallel between Abby and Taylor, because Buck knew both their voices before he saw their faces and built an emotional connection to those voices. This fits because, well, Buck is afraid of emotional intimacy, but when it’s just a voice it’s easier for him to let himself be vulnerable cause it’s not an actual person.

Plus, considering the thing with Taylor is one sided prior to their meeting, he isn’t actually cheating on Abby. Or so Buck thinks. (Also Taylor doesn’t have a chance to hurt Buck and leave him because you know, she is not aware he exists?)

Also Eddie talks about becoming a firefighter because he missed the camaraderie of the army - aka the emotional connection he had with his squadron (is that the right term?). So technically he did actively try and seek it out - to a point at least. Because, as I will discuss in Part 3, Eddie may consider the 118 his family but his relationship with the other three firefighters in not on the same level than the one he has with Buck.

Episode 2.07:

Let’s all give a warm welcome to Shannon Diaz! I like Shannon, I think she is great (I also think she and Eddie are similar because they both run away from problems which is why they would never work out - unlike another possible relationship mentioned sporadically in this Meta, hint hint ;) ... okay, moving on)

We learn that „not in the picture“ means Eddie is still married, which begs the question how much Eddie has told Carla and the 118 about Shannon up to this point (as little as possible), what they assume about her (probably the worst) and if Eddie ever sets the record straight (I’m assuming yes, because while Eddie doesn’t share - Eddie is also protective of his family and Shannon is his family for better or worse - I really wish they didn’t kill her off and instead played out the divorce storyline because there was so much chance for growth! Although that was probably too similar to Athena and Michael, which is why they didn’t do it. So they fridged her. Damn, and I am still salty about it.)

I really love when she comes to the house, because we learn so much about them as a couple. Like how her eyes grow warm when he opens the door but Eddie’s don’t but then he goes in to hug her (and you can really tell that Ryan Guzman is an athlete in the way that he always acts with his whole body and conveys so much through movement). And the fact that Shannon immediately pushes to meet Christopher (probably because with Eddie you need to push, because he is very stubborn and also in need of control), and her saying she never thought Eddie would be into something so fancy? Yet another insight into Eddie’s character and into his upbringing, which while probably not poor seems to have been fairly modest.

Also love how they fight almost right from the get go, implying that it is their normal (as proven in 3.15). They really never stood a chance!

There is a lot of backstory we get through their fighting, both at the house and at the school, most notably that even in marriage Eddie was never able to fully open up to Shannon - aka be emotionally intimate with her. Which made her feel very alone.

And I don’t wanna defend Shannon and her actions because other people have said it before and this is not what this Meta is about but I can see her point of view. With Eddie and the way he just always needs to be in control and make the decisions she probably thought she had to do something drastic to get him to notice her and her struggles.

Interestingly enough Eddie is emotionally vulnerable with Shannon at the end when he tells her that he understands why she left and that he misses her, but then he immediately kisses her and look, we don’t know what happens next but we can guess from the latter episodes.

And look, tbh with Eddie it’s a little bit harder to draw the line between physical and emotional intimacy than with Buck because Eddie’s love language is touch and actions, so technically in a way he is always emotionally intimate when he is physically intimate (probably why he didn’t wanna go out with any of the girls in 2.04 - Eddie, different to Buck, can not just separate feelings from sex, while Buck has a hard time reconciling the two)

On Buck’s side of this Meta he finally comes to terms with Abby leaving, which doesn’t have too much relevance for this meta except there are a lot of parallels between Buddie in terms of: how long is too long to wait - because while Eddie pretends to have given up on Shannon, he actually hasn’t, whereas Buck outwardly is still waiting for Abby but on the inside has given up hope - something they both come to terms with in this episode

Episode 2.08:

Fun fact: The german title of this Episode is Lovestorys. Can you guess if there is anything of relevance in it?

Okay, first off for the millionth time, in case you haven’t read part 1 or you aren’t convinced yet or maybe you just forgot: Evan „Buck“ Buckley was never a sex addict. Kay? Good.

Also, remember when I said the show doesn’t sexualise Oliver the way it does Ryan? Yeah, this episode exactly. Buck has sex twice and we see less of his body than of Eddie just getting out of bed. Is it a contract thing? Was Ryan always running around naked on set? Did Oliver refuse to take his shirt off? Is he always cold because he’s vegan? Should I figure out Twitter just to ask the cast these questions?

(Also, remember when I said with Buck it’s mostly Girl on top, yay, it stays true)

In terms of actual relevant story, there’s that woman on the freeway (highway? Idk guys, I’m not from the US) reinforcing that Buck has finally accepted that Abby and him are over and then there’s the Taylor Kenny - story, which is sort of just beating the bush of sexual vs emotional intimacy with Buck trying for the latter and only finding the former (remember the Brunette from the Pilot? Yeah, that’s why I’m reminding you).

What I like is the fact that, after spending so much time calling out Buck 1.0 (and they should, because stealing a fire truck? Twice? Babe, for realsies?), this episode went: look, maybe girls like meaningless sex, too? Although, technically they have been telling us from the the beginning, that those girl were using Buck in the same way he was using them (again with the Brunette) - Buck just never understood that until Taylor.

We also get the soulmate scene with the very sweet couple, once again, rein- forcing how lonely Buck is and how much he is craving love and a connection and stability. That really is what his character boils down to at the end of the day: a lost kid trying to find his place in the world. And now I’m sad.

As for the Ali storyline, oh man, I’d really rather ignore it? Not because I have anything against the character per sey it’s just - we get to see their first meeting and then 5 episodes later their first date and by the end of the season they are in love love except by Season 3 she is gone? And in between she is hardly ever mentioned? So I really don’t know how to comment on their relationship in terms of this meta and what it means for Buck except: I think it was one of those right times right moment kind of things and Buck is sort of transfering a lot of his wishes and needs and feelings onto her, but their relationship has a weak foundation, which is why it ended so fast (except we don’t know how fast it ended because there is a 5 month gap between Season 2 and 3 and the breakup gets mentioned one (1) time. Soooooo...)

And Eddie, well, he was in the episode.

Episode 2.09:

I like this episode a lot and it tells us so much about Hen’s issues, but in terms of this meta: no relevance!

Sidenote: I do always forget they did Hen before they did Chim. Then again this episode in general feels very disconnected because there was no prompting, no connection to the present.

Episode 2.10:

Ah, yes, that one! The gift that keeps on giving in terms of Eddie and this meta (and also Buddie, but I’m trying not to be ship-y around here)

(One tiny sidenote though, I do think we see Eddie roll of off Shannon, and, while I don’t want to reinforce some stereotype about Top and Bottom, because I am not a gay man and therefore not qualified to comment, with Buck it’s generally girl on top? So Buck usually lets his partner set the pace while Eddie prefers to be the one in control? Okay, you know what, let’s just say it fits with their characters and maybe they match and leave it at that?)

(also, again with the Ryan shirtless, I mean, not that I am complaining, it’s just ... yeah, please, someone who knows this stuff come talk to me about it and explain because I don’t know and maybe I am seeing things?)

(sidenote #3 with actual relevance: They did not mention Buck’s girlfriend even once. They never do until the final.)

First of, this episode proofs what I said before: With Eddie there is no separating Sex and feelings. It is interconnected („We are working things out.“).

Also there is a point to be made about Eddie and control. So far we have always seen Eddie be the one in control and make decisions and this is our first real indicator that it actually bothers him, that maybe he wants someone else to tell him what’s right or wrong, too.

I’m gonna fast forward a bit, because we are nearly at the end of Season 3 irl and so far we have seen Eddie ask for help several times but only with two people - Buck and Lena - he actually takes the advice. I don’t want to say too much because it really fits better in Season 3, but wether you ship them or not, it is noticeable that out of everyone Buck is the one Eddie let’s help the most. The one he trusts the most.

(Man, they are both just two lost boys looking for their home, aren’t they? (and now I am sad again.))

There is also the topic of trust brought up, which you know, we hear about a few times from Eddie, and it really is such a big thing for him, isn’t it?

To fast forward again, that is one big difference between Eddie and Buck. Both struggle with self worth and trust but while Buck’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t trust people to like him, if they actually get to know him (or if they even want to get to know him), Eddie just plain old does not trust people? Because Eddie is a pessimist, so he doesn’t even try to connect, while Buckeroo trusts way too much and too easily and he is such an optimist and gives away everything and then he still isn’t enough - and then and only then does he give up hope (which is something we see happen in canon maybe twice? With Abby, maybe with Ali, and with Christopher, but again, Season 3 you guys!)

These two really are the different sides of the same coin, huh?

In relevance to this Meta, Eddie is trying very much this whole episode to be open and vulnerable and he struggles so much because he is very scared. The main issue with Eddie is always (and specifically with Shannon) by making himself vulnerable, he opens Christopher up to getting hurt as well (and vice versa because he can’t let Shannon into his son’s life without letting her into his own life) and this is what we see him struggle with in this episode and also what intensifies his already existing issues with intimacy throughout the show in general, his need to protect his son.

It should be noted that in the end Eddie puts Christopher’s wishes above his own well-being which is in fact what he will always do because Christopher is the most important person in his life.

As for Buck in this episode, well, after having so much development in his last episode, he really was there more as a sounding board for other characters. However I will mention that, after the show points out the whole thing is none of his business twice, Eddie then turns around and makes the Shannon thing Buck’s business, because well, connected and all that. Trusting and giving up control. Emotional intimacy. Just repeating myself now.

Episode 2.11: No relevance.

Episode 2.12: No relevance.

Episode 2.13: No real relevance.

There is the scene in the hospital between Buck and Eddie that reinforces the peas in a pot thing they got going on and a reverse from the Christmas Episode when Eddie asked Buck about what he should do. Here Eddie acts as the sounding board (even though Buck has already done the thing but then so has Eddie by hiding Shannon).

This is also yet another instance of Buck trying to help another person with no regard for his own safety but I’m with Eddie here: I have sisters as well. I too would do countless stupid things to save them with no regard to my own safety and I’m a girl - I was not raised on the believe that is was my job to protect them from harm like both Buck and Eddie probably were (because gender rolls).

Also Buck thinks it’s his fault that Doug even found Maddie and Eddie explains to him why its bull. To reinforce the whole connection thing, it is very noticeable that these two always give each other exactly what the other needs - with Eddie from the get go always working on building up Buck’s self worth and Buck always lending a hand to Eddie and taking control when needed (remember Carla? That was Buck taking control for Eddie because Eddie didn’t know what to do).

There is also the short scene when Shannon comes to the hospital and it prob- ably did a lot to help rebuild Eddies trust in his wife.

Episode 2.14:

STOP MAKING EVAN BUCKLEY WORRY ABOUT HIS FAMILY 2k21 (because it’s too late for anything before that)

It’s also our first real: Eddie can be a dumbass, too sighting and there is that one scene (you know which one) which in text is not shippy at all, but ended up in every gifset because Oliver is looking at Ryan like he wants to eat him alive.

Aside from that, this episode really isn’t about them and that’s okay.

Episode 2.15: Crime is hard. That is all.

Episode 2.16: No relevance.

Episode 2.17:

First of all, Eddie is not shirtless? At the beach? Damn, what’s wrong, 911? Is it because Gavin was there? Have you used up all your contracted shirtless scenes by now? Did Ryan find out he was the only one running around set half naked?

Also poor Eddie, you know, you’d think getting married your done having those: what are we - conversations and then bam: there it is again. He really can’t catch a break, can he?

Also I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: Eddie Diaz is not in love with Shannon. Maybe he has never been or maybe he just stopped at some point, but right then and there he isn’t in love with her. He does however love her deeply (she is after all the mother of his son) and she is his family which is sort of where the problem in their relationship lies. Because Eddie, who has problems with trust and intimacy, frankly doesn’t care enough about Shannon (and also doesn’t trust her enough) to try and be open and vulnerable with her, which is what he needs to be in order for them to work, a fact that Shannon seems to be aware of and have accepted.

(Because if you have to wait for a sign on what to do in your relationship, yeah, you already know - you’re just not accepting it.)

And this episode is so heartbreaking and I just had to stop myself from ugly crying because Shannon loves Christopher so very much. And I just hate that they killed her off, so in my mind I have already half plotted a fix it fic in which she survives because that was just unnecessary angst.

Though that’s the topic of another post.

In terms of the relationship-story I am similarly floored as I am by the „Help!“ scene because (at least for me) this is the first time I have seen media really address that yes, you can be a good parent and still not be ready for a serious relationship because those two things are very different. Sure, you sometimes see examples of it through subtext but never before has it been so outright stated.

And I like that both Shannon and Eddie ask themselves that question, but come to a different conclusion - or actually they don’t. Like I said above, for Eddie this relationship fits because it’s easy and he doesn’t have to change or better adapt. He can just keep avoiding the hard stuff (being vulnerable) and still have the good stuff (sex). And then Shannon might be pregnant again and look at his speech at the restaurant: He is basically saying our child is awesome, so we should get back together because if we make such awesome children than we can’t be that bad together. And that is so very wrong, which Shannon understands.

The problem is, that Eddie doesn’t fully understand why their marriage hasn’t worked in the first place. If you tie it into 3.15 Eddie Begins, I think for Eddie, the reason why Shannon left him was a little to get back at him for leaving her and a lot about feeling left alone and being unable to cope with raising their child alone, but all of that is gonna be different now because he will be there for her physically and emotionally as he is no longer in the army! So the issue is solved. They should be a family again. Even without a new kid. After all: they love each other.

And look, those are all fair reasons and true but the thing Eddie doesn’t understand about relationships in general and his marriage to Shannon in particular is that she also needs him to be emotionally vulnerable with her. Shannon needs Eddie to let her be there for him, just like he is trying to be there for her. Because relationships are always a two way street.

SO obviously this is where the episode ended. There were no more scenes af- ter that. Nope. Bit weird how it was so short but you do you, 911, you do you!

And well, Buck was there too.

Episode 2.18:

I’m just gonna come out and say it: Ramon and Helena are bad parents. Flying to your daughter-in-law’s funeral only to bad mouth her and then try to take your son’s son away again? Yeah, I do not like your style. I wonder how much of Eddie Begins was already planned at this point or if they built that plot about his family for 3.15 based on this episode. Huh. We might never know. (except Twitter)

Also me thinks Eddie choose LA because of Pepa and Abuela, not because of Shannon. She was probably just a bonus.

As for Buck (and Ali): the actors seem to have had fun doing those scenes? I guess? Other than that it’s a little cringy and very out of nowhere and probably more caused by the show having money left over and deciding to built a new set. ANd damn what a set. I wonder how Buck is supposed to be able to afford that because that apartment has probably about 50-75m2 considering there is a kitchen and a living room as well as a room behind the living room and probably an extra room in the upper floor as well (someone do a floorplan and also tell me why Buck needs so much space and wether they think I could move in with him. My apartment is not this nice and LA isn’t that long a commute).

Point being I don’t know why they brought Ali back in the first place, especially in this episode. She was never mentioned after their first date, so why? Just to give people something to discuss during hiatus?

There was no point to have those two incredibly lovey dovey scenes only to have that scenes about what he wants to do next because all those scenes? Would have worked just fine with, you know, his sister (except a little different because incest). Who actually has the what if you can’t go back to being a firefighter - scene with him. So why have a girlfriend you barely introduced and never used before? I’m not mad, 911, just confused! (Fuck me, I really am getting twitter)

As for the topic of this meta, there really isn’t much too tell. Ali honestly doesn’t figure into things except to create more abandonment issues.

I should point out that this episode reinforced the whole Buddie connection thing - from Eddie holding Buck’s hand the whole while he’s pinned to saying „Almost (back to normal)“ to Buck going to Eddie’s ceremony despite probably still being on somewhat of a bed rest.

Other than that, that’s it for Season 2. Whew!

Before I let ya’ll off the hook, though (look, you’ve read it this far, you can now just bear it a bit longer) I wanna comment real quick:

Compared to Season 1 Buck barely had any character development (mainly because he had so much in Season 1 and sometimes stuff like that needs to settle - real life would be the same way)

Eddie however has nearly no development at all and in fact as of Season 3, not a lot has changed in that regard. His issues just became more obvious. Which is something I actually like a lot, because one: he went through a lot of shit in a fairly short amount of time and two: he is such a stubborn and reserved character, anything else wouldn’t be in character and ultimately feel rushed. Plus, because this is his personality it’s feels like we’re actually getting to know him like you would a person in real life? Piece by piece, no unnecessary exposition. Or maybe that’s just me, I don’t really know anything about storytelling.

I also want to comment on Buddie real quick because it would be dishonest if I didn’t and also it’s just glaring me in the face:

The thing is, while I do not necessarily believe they have any intention of making them romantic (because I have been burned too often and just recently by a show that liked to praise itself for its diversity (so a heartfelt fuck you to Sera Gamble and who ever decided to kill off Quentin Coldwater, because that character mattered so much and you destroyed it)), I do think we are right when we talk about connection and parallels and being each others person and just generally being each others closest relationship. Because they parallel their stories so much and they connect them so often and they did do it from the get go like as early as Episode 4 - which was already written and probably already shot by the time Episode 1 aired. So there. I said it. Buddie is real, wether it’s platonic or romantic, it is real. And that also matters!

(although of course if they went with romantic? That would matter a bit more! Tim Minear, listen to me, you could make TV history! This would be bigger than Supergirl making the sister gay in the second season! Ya’ll would be legends, revered by fans for years to come! Also I’d bake you a cake?)

And there you have it! Season 2! We made it! And only like 2000 words more than Season 1.

Can you believe at this point I have written nearly 10.000 words on these two exceptional characters and their issues? And it’s technically only one issue, like I’m ignoring so much stuff just glaring at me right now!

(also on a side note, this is where I tag @angelcamael , who asked me to do so and @greyhello because she inspired me to write this meta in the first place and while it is now ... no longer about that original topic, I’m still gonna tag her)

#buck meta #eddie met #911 meta #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buck #buddie #911 #911 fox #mine #textpost #season 2 #buddie meta #meta #my meta

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arinmelnikov · 4 years

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❝𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖎𝖋 𝖎𝖙 𝖍𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖘 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖋𝖚𝖈𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘.❞

– – an Arin Melnikov playlist.

1. “Trashed And Scattered” Avenged Sevenfold

Trashed and scattered again, I’m feeling so low You waste your breath while fucking with me, my blood is so cold My destination’s always unknown, I’ll find my way there But you goddamn motherfuckers always wasting my time

I wont be the a victim, but the first to cast a stone Sedated nights to the bar room fights as metropolis takes its toll And don’t you try to stop me, it’s a place you’ll never know Don’t try to judge or take shots at me, I’ll never let you seize control

Play your game and walk away, your integrity don’t mean shit Crawl on me, you fucking parasite, and I’m gonna take you out

2. “Spit It Out” Slipknot

Did you never give a damn in the first place? Maybe it's time you had the tables turned 'Cause in the interest of all involved, I got the problem solved, and the verdict is guilty Man nearly killed me, stepping where you fear to tread Stop, drop, and roll, you were dead from the get-go Big mouth fucker, stupid cocksucker, are you scared of me now? Then you're dumber than I thought Always is and never was, foundation made of piss and vinegar Step to me, I'll smear ya, think I fear your bullshit? Just another dumb punk chomping at this shit Here’s another way to break through the noise Was it something that I said that got you bent? Gotta be that way if you want it Sanity, literal profanity, hit me

Spit it out All you wanna do is drag me down All I wanna do is stamp you out

About time I set this record straight, all the needlenose punching is making me irate Sick of my bitching falling on deaf ears Where you gonna be in the next five years? The crew and all the fools and all the politics Get your lips ready, gonna gag, gonna make you sick You got dick when they passed out the good stuff Bam, are you sick of me? Good enough, had enough?

Fuck me, I’m all out of enemies Fuck me, I’m all out of enemies Fuck me, I’m all out of enemies

3. “Dust To Dust” Misfits

Hate you, father, for you have sinned Why did you let this life begin? I’m not your savior, I’m not your son A forgotten boy, abandoned creation

Oh, mother, father, answer me Your soulless son, your thing that should not be A brilliant demon, a monster god You gave me life, but took the soul away

With these final words, I pull the switch, we turn to dust Dust to dust My name is like the kiss of death And we embrace, we turn to dust With these final words, I pull the switch, we turn to dust Dust to dust My name is like the kiss of death Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

4. “Walk” Pantera

Can’t you see I’m easily bothered by persistence? One step from lashing out at you You want in, to get under my skin and call yourself a friend I’ve got more friends like you. what do I do?

Is there no standard anymore? What it takes, who I am, where I’ve been Belong You can’t be something you’re not Be yourself by yourself Stay away from me A lesson learned in life Known from the dawn of time

Respect, walk, what did you say? Respect, walk, are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?

5. “Lights Out” Mindless Self Indulgence

Who the hell said any of you get a taste? Do you ever wanna get up all in your face? And nothing you can do could ever make me go away Poor baby, I’m gonna make it all okay

Punch your lights out, hit the pavement That’s what I call entertainment Causing problems makes you famous All the violence makes a statement Punch your lights out, hit the pavement That’s what I call entertainment Causing problems makes you famous All this violence makes a statement

6. “Dead Ringer” Des Rocs

Oh, my reflection's from a time when all the worst was a game Nothing like the shake of life Stuck up in a race, race, race, race, race Hell caught a shadow of a guy Can’t find him one little break See, there’s a gap in his smile For fitting all his pain, pain, pain, pain, pain

Oh, lady I’ve got my hand on the trigger And it’s pointed at the dead ringer

Hold my cigarette while it’s lit And let it burn you, baby Oh, dead ringer, you’re so sick But you look amazing

7. “Are You Dead Yet?” Children Of Bodom

I kiss the ground with love beyond forever Flip off the sky with bleeding fingers till I die

Enemy, take one good look at me Eradicate what you will always be Tainted flesh, polluted soul Through a mirror I behold Throw a punch, shards bleed on the floor Tearing me apart, but I don’t care anymore Should I regret? Or ask myself Are you dead yet?

8. “Blood On My Hands” The Used

You felt the coldness in my eyes, and something I’m not revealing Though you got used to my disguise, you can’t shake this awful feeling It’s the me that I let you know ‘Cause I’ll never show, I have my reasons I hate to say that I told you so, but I told you so

There’s blood on my hands like the blood in you Some things can’t be treated, so don’t make me, don’t make me Be myself around you

9. “Absolute Zero” Stone Sour

The bloody angle, the symmetry Your cheap adhesive isn’t holding me My mouth is a gun I can shoot, I can show you the truth And I don’t need a reason to lie to you

No pun intended, no punishment If I offended you, you needed it Ideas are the bombs in your mind A fissure in time If you don’t have a weapon, you can’t have mine

I can bleed if I wanna bleed I can fail if I feel the need This face is my last confession This life, it feels like a prison

I am not afraid I’m giving in to grievances again You’re looking at an absolute zero I’m not the devil But I won’t be your hero

No fucking quarter, no premiums The world is stuck in delirium Man is a four-letter word, it’s really absurd The hate isn’t fake It’s just inferred

10. “Thank You For The Venom” My Chemical Romance

You’ll never make me leave I wear this on my sleeve You wanna follow something? Give me a better cause to lead Just give me what I need Give me a reason to believe

So give me all your poison, and give me all your pills And give me all your hopeless hearts and make me ill You’re running after something that you’ll never kill If this is what you want Then fire at will

11. “Rather Die” Barns Courtney

I can touch the planets through the roof of my car You’re reaching for the heavens, only bark at the stars Now, all your hundred thousands best remember my name I’d sucker punch an army if it got in my way

I came to kill ‘em Now I’m wiping the spit from my eyes I’ll take a beating But I, I’ll never give up I, I, I think I’d rather die I think I’d rather die I think I’d rather I think I’d rather die

12. “Burning Flag” Marilyn Manson

I’ll join the crowd that wants to see me dead Right now I feel I belong for the first time Multiply your death, divide by sex Add up the violence and what do you get?

We are all just stars and we’re waiting We are all just scarred and we’re hating We are all just stars on your burning flag

You can point your gun at me And hope it will go away But if God was alive He would hate you anyway

13. “Bitter” Anarchy Club

I’m sick and tired of the sick and tired Because what it is just ain’t the thing it was before You’ve heard the stories all before But they’re all true What’s in the mirror, clearer Staring back at you

Set it, set it, set it Set it, set it, set it Set it, set it, set it Set it, set it, set it Set it off

14. “Bang” Empires

Well, I’m sick of banging with your skeleton You were gorgeous till you gave out all your skin Now I can never really take it to the heart again I still got yours blowing up inside my head

At least I’m waking up At least I’m waking up with you hiding in my bones At least I’m waking up I’m waking up You’re dying a legend, darling And I’m dying to touch you, baby

Oh wait, oh wait, before I let you go There’s a thread or two still left between our souls But you went messing with the gods and never fell away You’re still burning off the angel on your face

Oh, this is love Bang up my heart to get your love Bang in my heart to feel you, love Bang, bang up my heart to get your love Bang in my heart to feel you Gonna bang, bang up my heart to get your love Bang on my heart

15. “Flames” R3HAB, Zayn, Jungleboi

Well, well, you better run from me You better hit the road You better up and leave Don’t get too close

‘Cause I’m a rolling stone And I keep rolling on You better run from me Before I take your soul

If I go, let me go Don’t you follow me, let me go I will let you down, let me go Even if your heart can’t take it Light me up in flames

16. “Die MF Die” Dope

I don’t need your forgiveness I don’t need your hate I don’t need your acceptance So what should I do?

I’ll be sorry, so you’ve said I’m not sorry Bang, you’re dead

Die, motherfucker Die, motherfucker, die Die, motherfucker Die, motherfucker, die

17. “Bodies” Drowning Pool

Push me again This is the end

One, nothing wrong with me Two, nothing wrong with me Three, nothing wrong with me Four, nothing wrong with me One, something’s got to give Two, something’s got to give Three, something’s got to give Now

Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor

Skin against skin, blood and bone You’re all by yourself but you’re not alone You wanted in, and now you’re here Driven by hate, consumed by fear

18. “No Money” Kings Of Leon

Won’t you give me something I need? Won’t you peel me off of the street? Go and wet my tongue Or spit me up and break me a fever

Give me something I can believe in Give me something to walk me away I’m a waste of time And all in all a waste of a living

Can't you see me walking alone I've been down to the haunts and back And I'm way too tired Of blowing out the burning candle

And all this pissing around Cut loose in this fucking town I ain't coming back I got my ticket on to the next one

19. “Parasite Eve” Bring Me The Horizon

I heard they need better signal Put chip and pins in the needles Quarantine all of those secrets in that black hole you call a brain Before it’s too late

Really we just wanna scream something Only pretend to believe something I know you’re baying for blood I wanna turn you around

You can board up your windows You can lock all your doors But you can’t keep washing your hands of this shit anymore When all the king’s horses and all the king’s men Don’t know their asses from their pathogens When life is a prison and death is the door This ain’t a warning This is a war

It’s a parasite eve Got a feeling in your stomach ‘cause you know that it’s coming So you leave your flowers and grieve Don’t forget what they told you When we forget the infection Will we remember the lesson? If the suspense doesn’t kill you Something else will

20. “Dig” Mudvayne

I would love to beat the face of any motherfucker that’s thinking they can change me White-knuckle grip pushing through for the gold If you want a piece of me, I broke the motherfucking mold

Dig Bury me underneath everything that I am rearranging Dig Bury me underneath everything that I was slowly changing

Let me help you tie the rope around your neck Let me help to talk you the wrong way off the ledge Let me help you hold the glock against your head Let me help you tie the rope around your neck Let me help to talk you the wrong way off the ledge Let me help you hold the glock against your head Let me help to chain the weights onto your legs

21. “In Waves” Trivium

Do I end this all for the world to see? Do I take everybody else down Everybody else down with me?

I know that death approaches fast What’s the purpose if this life won’t last? Pulling everyone down with me

Perpetually Perpetually, we’re igniting it in waves Incessantly Incessantly, we’re sinking in flames

#soundtrack #( happy birthday arin :///// ily )#( no particular order to these songs so feel free to shuffle if u listen )#( fair warning it's full of metal )#( read more for lyrics™ )

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osamuniichann · 4 years

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Map of the Soul: 7

After a ~315 day drought without new music and a comeback from the legends, we are finally back with MOTS: 7! It been a hot minute since ive done a album review (solely for myself LMAO) so lets get back into it bc this album is a home run

Interlude: Shadow. Here we have the extended version of the interlude. can i just say that the lyrics to this masterpiece are so real and true. its not suga speaking nor is it agust d, this is min yoongi speaking of his internal conflict with the celebrity life, which is heartbreaking. on another note, the visuals of the mv are stunning and the ending--dont u just wanna go apeshit??? truly a great addition to the album!

Black Swan. sister black swan has been with us for a month-ish now? it still bumps. HARD. i blasted this to and from my drive to work to the point where i was scared if id get sick of the song but that didnt happen. the way how its hard to pinpoint when and where a member would sing/rap because they INTENTIONALLY wanted the voices to blend as if they were one body. this is the group’s narrative on how no matter how passionate one is on a certain craft, when they lose that drive, its like a death. and it is up to themselves to spark that love and interest once again. a very relatable story across various media, talents, skills, etc.

Filter. When I first heard that this was a jimin solo showcasing the many sides of Jimin, i thought that it was going to be a sad ballad to kind of follow the theme mots: 7 seemed to give off; thought that it would talk about how he has to force personas onto himself to appeal to the masses, but it is the complete opposite. Jimin is all the faces he puts on, he can be cute, sweet, and caring Jimin but he is also a sexy, flirty young man that can attract any living being. how he switches from falsettos to a lower register voice is beyond me, what a versatile one he is! <3

My Time. Moving onto jungkook’s solo, I knew the lyrics were going to be sad especially when it seems to compare himself to others his age. How he speaks about how fast time runs for him, how his childhood and current life is not of the average 22 year old (LIKE UM HERE I AM, SAME AGE AS JUNGKOOK AND IM NORMAL AF while he’s out here breaking records?? WOW). but the life of jungoo can be a bit overwhelming, completely understandable. I just want our boi JK to know that he can be himself and live freely despite such different circumstances. On another note, the groove of this track is so GOOD. it reminds me of Ari and ugh i LIVE for this jam

Louder Than Bombs. When the track started, I could totally tell Troye Sivan helped produce it, it has such a unique sound that only Troye would use. It sounds like this song would totally be on a movie soundtrack IDK WHY. like, i can picture it during an apocalypse movie sldkjg im not completely sure what the meaning is to the song (bc im big stupid) but i feel like its a track saying that no matter the struggles, they will continue to sing confidently, strongly, and wholly to us endlessly. beautiful, just beautiful.

ON. Moving on to the title track of MOTS: 7! I’m very picky about strong anthem-type songs but ON is actually p addicting HAHA There’s a background sound that repeats in the back that sounds like Sans from Undertale, aint that wild LMAO but anyways, the Manifesto Film was crazy good. The drums, the band, the breakdown of it all? UNBELIEVABLE. Also, JK’s vocals during the bridge? H O W. That breakdown tho...oof, that was amazing. They still dance with the thirst that rookie bts would and i think thats why ppl are so drawn to them no matter how many years pass. Fun fact: the choreographer of ON as well as Dionysus actually is from my city in Hawaii and we went to the same high school THATS WILD. the talent she holds!

UGH! Rap line ATE this shit, are we KIDDING. An ode to all the hate comments that we receive, u can see how fed up they are. They made POINTS and we all agree, its the damn law. The way how they opened up with a gunshot, we knew it was coming. Everyone joked about how we bout to hear some gunshots on this album, well they threw ALL of it on this track. Can i just say that Hobi’s verse tho? it hits different, it really do. When they went “ahem, ahem. ahem, ahem-ahem, YOUR AHEM. AHEM-AHEM--” OOOOOUGH i felt that shit!! god, imagine this in concert...the building aint ready!

0:00 (Zero O’ clock). Now we have the vocal line track, we knew they were bout to present some vocals. Great sound, slow and reflecting. Not the first track I’d listen to but it is a great listen. The lyrics tho get to me. The way how they comfort us and say that life can be rough but you can be happy. no matter what happens, with the turning of the clock to 0:00, its a brand new day and we can make the day better. what a powerful message that all of us need to hear once in a while. we will be happy guys, we deserve to be.

Inner Child. Tae’s solo which is a message to his young self. I expected a slow ballad filled with his warm vocals reminiscent of Winter Bear, 4 o’ clock, and Scenery but boi was I wrong. He has this sunset glow voice that wraps u so warmly and the sound is just so happy, pure, and innocent. Its a hopeful message to his younger self on how we will change and be the amazing person we want to or will be. I was sobbing at this song, I tell u. It was 2:00 am in the morning and I was sobbing into my pillow. Imagine comforting your past self that everything will be okay and to take ur hand, it will be all worth it in the end. When he sang “ur my boy, my boy, my boy, my boy!” Ugh...the tears!

Friends. When I heard this was a vmin duet expressing their friendship with each other, I knew it was going to be so emotional! I didn’t expect such a fun, poppy sound tho. They truly are soulmates, the love they have for each other is so wholesome and real, it truly exhibits the love I have for my friends--they’ve been with me through thick and thin, during happy and sad times; the amounts of serotonin they give me is just HHHH. The way how Tae and Jimin have been friends since high school until now is just ugh...we love it. Towards the end when they started singing “you are my soulmate!” towards each other, i started sobbing so hard because WOW. the shivers i felt, this song made me so happy and full!

Moon. Next we have Jin’s solo which is an ode to us army’s. And on another perspective, this is a song from the moon (jin) to the Earth (army)--i have tears in my eyes. The lyrics especially got me in a chokehold and made me sob, the way how he says that he will always be by our side no matter what, the same way how we are there for him...god. The chorus really gets to me, it feels so happy and thankful and I just want to tell Jin that I will forever follow him and the boys. They’ve been with me for years now and I will continue to support, love, and listen to them. Ily to the moon and back, our moon.

Respect. I didn’t expect a Namgi duet but HERE WE ARE. Goddd when i heard that i was SO EXCITE. They’ve known each other for +10 years now and they never miss the chance to tell everyone that they’ve been friends for that long. Not @ how they disliked each other at first but grew to be so mf close, to the point where their family. Ughhh, im so uwu rn. Im so happy, so so happy that Nams started it with AYO SUGA; i SCREAMED. Also, i heard that they recorded it in one take and i could see how much fun they had--especially considering that their rap styles are completely different. Even tho in the song they joke about not knowing what the word Respect means, we know...we just KNOW the high amounts of respect they have for each other. As they mentioned before, Yoon’s respects towards Nams’ leadership and care towards everyone and Nams’ respect towards Yoon’s love and passion for music and producing. Peak comedy is Yoongs overloading on autotune during his parts to the point where its intentional. Bless Namgi.

We are Bulletproof: The Eternal. I felt like a CLOWN when this track started. Like everyone, i thought we were going to have a third installment similar to that of the strong, hip-hop, gunshot-filled part 1 and 2 of we are bulletproof, but we were met with soft vocals and rap. The lyrics tho get to me. This truly was a song about their entire journey and i felt like I experienced all years with them. They’ve been through so much and the way how they sang “we are we are together/forever bulletproof!” They are proud of where they came from and it has stuck with them till now. They are such real people...i cry. ALSO the “We were only seven, but we have you all now.” Whenever i see pictures of their debut fanmeets/concerts vs now its just crazy. imagine singing as an entire being during concerts when they start “OOOOH OH OHH” im so immensely proud of the feats they’ve reached and im excited on what they do next! <3

Outro: Ego. The way how he started it with the fitness gram pacer test just like in previous albums, ugh what a throwback! this song is such a Hobi track, its fun, dance-inducing and its just so FEEL GOOD. the way how he switches flows and is capable of doing so is *chef’s kiss* the way how he speaks about the path he takes is difficult but he doesnt regret it...SOBS also the mv??? UGH SO CUTE. the flashbacks too;; i cry

ON (feat. Sia). With this track, there’s not much extra I can say, all my opinions still stand with the original track wit ot7. I jokingly told my friend that if Sia is gonna be on the track “hey nanana’ing” the same why Halsey was only “oh my my my’ing” i will ctfu. and...welp, that was what happened. I do love Sia tho so props to her!

Overall: I initially thought that MOTS: 7 was going to be a dark, ballad-filled album but it was anything but. It had so much fun songs, the lyrics are again, so deep and meaningful--it pulls at your heartstrings. It felt so raw, personal, emotional, and i love it in all its being. The boys will continue to amaze me no matter what they put out and i forever and endlessly will support and love them the same way they do for us. MOTS: 7 is a masterpiece and im in love

#trish speaks #map of the soul #7 #seven #mots #mots 7 #map of the soul 7 #bts #i do this as a tradition at this point from...maybe WINGS album #so idc if its just me rambling and being mf cringey i just needed a place to rant about good music and cool ppl lol #yall can ignore this dis just a thing for me to let out my emotions lmao #anyway imma go back to drawing haikyuu pretty setters

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harringrovehouse · 5 years

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the thing i’m most mad about with season 3 is there should and could have been a scene with will & billy before billy completely went under the mind flayer’s spell. will could have comforted him, telling him that it’ll be okay, that he understands how terrifying it is. there was so much potential 😭😭

I’m bitter about this whole season at this point lol. When they said they were gonna give Will a break they weren’t fucking kidding. They had his friends ignore him, had one of his friends (implied crush) says some pretty hurtful things to him, and then gave him the ability to sense the MF but again had his friends IGNORE HIM! I get they wanted to make the Max/Billy siblingship strong af but why didn’t Will also step up to the glass, why didn’t he go ‘I know you’re scared Billy, but fight it! We’re going to help you! It had me too! But my mom got it out of me. We’re going to get it out of you!’

They had Billy free and clear for a moment, he’s in the sauna, spell broken and they wasted time with Max asking for Billy to tell her about what he did?? Girl not important rn!! Ask later! This right here is why an adult would have been helpful! You mean to tell me El can close an inter dimensional gate but she can’t hold a sauna door closed and Billy back while someone (Hopper or Steve) covered the window back up so the heat could drive the MF out completely.

Imagine how epic of a scene that would have been. El holding Billy down as the MF fights her, Steve and Hopper holding something over the window to keep the heat in and the door closed, probably while Lucas and Mike try to help by leaning against it too, while Dustin (who’s fucking there because his friends didn’t abandon and bully him) is like ‘shit shit shit shit’. Max screaming for Billy to fight it, FIGHT HIM BILLY! FIGHT HIM! Will screaming that the MF is still there, encouraging Billy to fight it off! GO AWAY!!! GO AWAY!! I WON’T LET YOU HURT ANYONE ELSE! And El in Billy’s mind now, trying her best to see and to help and to aid him and this is when she sees his mom and she reminds him of her and bam! it’s over.

And when Hopper and Steve go into the burning hot room, tiles literally sizzling it’s so hot, to pull Billy off the floor and take him somewhere they can check him over, the MF is out of him, probably moved on to Heather as she was not only the second drone but also the most in control other than Billy, and they can plan now. They still wouldn’t know about the Russian lab or about Mrs. Driscoll so those surprises could have still been a thing, they don’t know about the MFs army yet but then Billy wakes up and he’s wrecked, like body and mind wrecked, worst than Will cause he had to fucking kidnap and enslaved people, and breaks down, cries to Max about Heather asks for forgiveness again and Max sits there in horror because ‘there are more hosts!’ and that’s when Nancy comes in, she’s there and yelling about some old woman with black viens in her face.

So again they split, half the kids with Nancy and Jonathan to investgate Heather’s house. Half the kids stay with Billy to make sure he doesn’t get flayed again. Hopper returns to Joyce’s side, because she’s sent the SOS out and they can now go fuck up the Mayor. Steve returns to work, with Dustin in tow cause hello Russian spy drama, and to get that bread. Literally all the other subplots get done and wraped up. They can even have the Suzie/Dustin duet cause again everything STILL happens the way it did in the mall only with lets say Heather or another drone, MAYBE ALL THE DRONES CAUSE DAMN HALF THE TOWN OUT TO KILL YOU! WHAT A HORROR MOVIE TROPE! HOT DAMN! AND THEN THEY MELT INTO A MONSTER JESUS. They still wouldn’t have saved all the Flayed but god the imagery.

And maybe the whole time they’re carrying around El AND Billy and Max has to be like ‘Billy we get you’re traumatized rn but if you don’t get tf up you’re going to die!’ And El can still get that bugrat thing in her leg and they can all get knocked around by the Flayed and Billy can still sacrifice himself but maybe this time it’s a fake out (hello another 80s horror movie trope! The fake out betrayal, not betrayal double cross triple cross!!!!) he ‘goes back’ to the MF and he lets it take him. He lets it in again so he can feel it’s pain, so he knows that they’re killing it, but he’s steonger now and he fights it, so it still stabs him to get to El but everyone is in the know so they’re prepared and WILLING to help when it happens. Nancy and Jonathan and Steve and Robin are all there to help Billy, to lift him off the floor and carry him outside so the soldiers can save his life.

And sadly Hopper dies because his death will have meant so much, and effected El so much. So we can still have that sad ass montage at the end but instead maybe also have Billy leaving too, maybe he’s going somewhere with Owens to get his mind right and in S4 he’ll come back to Hawkins, but the Byers still leave cause yeah they gotta get out (and now cause I’m a dirty shipper, Steve is watching Billy go, Max at his side and he says ‘don’t forget to plant your feet Hargrove’ and Billy looks back at him, ‘anything for you King Steve’ and it’s stupid and petty and Max has no idea W H Y but she’s like ‘we’ll be here Billy. We’ll be waiting for you. All of us’ and Billy looks at her, and then at Steve, and nods before getting in the inconspicuous vehicle with blacked out windows and that’s the last thing we see is a reflection of Hawkins as they drive off and then CUT!)

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #spoilers #I’m always so fucking sorry about how long these are #I just have a lot of issues with this season

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ecotone99 · 5 years

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[MF] Chapter 1 - Protect Those You Love

What the hell was I doing? I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I just ran. My survival was the most important thing on my mind. Explosions rang out around me. Blasts of some unknown energy flew above my ahead. The screams around me were almost unbearable, but I pressed on.

I ran past a group of people burning alive. They held onto one another as they burned. That image will always be seared into my mind. I close my eyes and kept running. I heard a man screaming about his missing legs. A girl was crying for her parents, but her cries were cut short. This was too much for me to handle, and I hated myself for it. I was afraid for my own life, and disregarded the lives of others. I was nothing.

Something grabbed my arm and my eyes shot open as I pulled away. It was my sister. That's right, she would have been at her field trip to downtown today. Why today of all days? I could barely hear her over the cacophony of destruction around us. I wanted to run. My body and mind screamed at me to push her down to give me the time needed to run away. My heart raced.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I shouted so she could hear me, "Follow me! I will get us somewhere safe!"

She nodded and I grabbed her arm before taking off down the carnage ridden downtown street. Cars were burning, as well as people. Many still ran. Many more appeared to have given up and laid in the middle of street in fetal positions. There was a loud booming sound which caused me to glance behind to the source of it and I could see a building falling over several blocks away.

My grip tightened on my sister's arm as I picked up speed and urged her to keep pace with myself. She struggled, but she did as she was told.

What felt like hours passed, but it had only been about a minute before I ground to a halt. My sister nearly tripped over herself, but she stopped as well. Her eyes were wide with fear at what stood before us only a block away. Humanoid things in armour. There were four of them all in a circle facing outward and shooting at anything that moved. They looked this way and pointed their energy weapons at us.

I gripped my sister's arm as tight as I could and threw her through an open door to our left. Some abandoned shop I don't know the name of. The sign was too badly burned to be read. Immediately after I jumped after her, grabbed her arm, and started running once more. We could both hear those things running after us outside.

I haven't felt anxiety like this. My mind was screaming at me to leave my sister. To abandon my family and find some way to survive on my own. I pushed those thoughts down and continued running.

We were far enough into the store to find an escalator leading to the second floor of the shop. We ran up it as fast as we could. My lungs burned and my legs ached. I assumed my sister felt the same way from the way she was breathing. I took this opportunity to stop and take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Freak out later. Survive now.

"Sasha." I said quietly. Her frightened green eyes looked up to mind. My sister was rather small standing at only 5 feet. Her hair was black, like midnight, and she had a few freckles that was difficult to see against her chestnut brown skin unless you caught them in the right light.

As soon as I made sure I had her attention, I spoke. "Sasha, we can't outrun them." Her panicked breathing returned. "But, we can trick them. If this building is like any other downtown, there's an entrance and an exit on the second floor that leads to the skywalks." Sasha's eyes cast doubt upon me, but she seemed to be more at ease after I spoke.

I had an intuition for stuff like this. I've always been a little different from the rest of my siblings. We are true siblings, blood and all, but I've always been able to do things others can't. I knew that if we went through with my plan, we'd be safe. She knew it too, but was too afraid to think rationally.

The sound of glass shattering abruptly ended our rest, but I knew we had time. My gaze turned toward the non-functioning escalator. They'd be searching the first floor for us first. I could tell Sasha was scared. She was 13, but I knew she was braver than most.

Looking away from the escalator my eyes scanned the second floor of the shop we were on. It didn't take me long to find the sets of doors for both the entrance and the exit. They were on opposite ends of the store. I already had a plan in mind. It was incredibly high risk, but it was the best I could do.

I turned back to Sasha. "We're going to make it seem like we went through one door, but we'll actually be taking the other door, okay?" Sasha eyed me worriedly. I could tell she was unsure. From her body language, she didn't want to move anymore.

Sighing, I took out the Swiss Army Knife I carried around with me. "This is the best plan I can come up with." I said as the voices of those armoured humanoids emanated much more closely to the escalator than was comfortable. We were running out of time.

My hand gripped my sister's arm once more and my gaze bore into her eyes. We were like that for a moment, but that was all it took to ease some of the tension out of her eyes and body. She nodded.

As silently as we could, we ran for the entrance. Those doors went out to the skywalk that lead downtown. We wouldn't be taking those, but my plan needed those doors.

It didn't take us long to approach the double set of heavy steel doors. They were painted green and had a small window in the middle near the top. I let go of Sasha's arm and turned towards her.

"If this doesn't work, I want you to run for those exit doors on the other side as fast as you can, alright?" I instructed.

"What?" was all she could say to that.

"I have a good feeling about this plan, but if things don't work out I want you to run for the exit. I'll distract them long enough for you to get away." I gripped my Swiss Army Knife tighter as I said that. It was difficult. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to survive on my own, but I was more than just my thoughts. I had a duty to protect my family and those I love.

This, of course, wasn't lost on my sister. She knew me. Despite this, she said nothing and only nodded begrudgingly.

"Okay. Let's hope this works." I say as I turn back towards the door.

I raise the heavy part of my utility knife and bring it down upon the window. It didn't break. I tried again, and it wouldn't even crack. I was about to panic, but Sasha put her hand on my shoulder and immediately I calmed down. One more try. I took a deep breath, and brought the handle down hard on the glass and it shattered. If the previous attempts didn't alert those things then this will.

I immediately set to work. I opened the namesake of the Swiss Army Knife and ran it along my palm. I would have screamed, if not for the adrenaline coursing through my system. Once the cut was big enough, I made a fist and squeezed. I then grabbed the handle of the door and opened it, ensuring to smear as much blood as I could onto the handle. I opened it as wide as I was able to, knowing the door would still automatically close. It was time.

I looked to Sasha and she looked up at me. She knew what came next. I nodded. "Let's go", I said before letting go of the door, grabbing my sister's arm with my intact hand and ran for the exit. We could hear those things running towards the escalators. They were close.

We only had about 15 more feet to go. They were running up the escalator.

10 feet. They arrived at the top of the escalator and paused for a moment to take stock of their surroundings before spreading out.

5 feet. We were in a clothing store, so we immediately ducked as we ran the last few feet to the doors.

2 feet. We heard one of them speak in their odd language. We don't know what they said, but I figured they saw the entrance closing shortly after beginning their search, because we heard them running to the opposite end of the store.

I let go of Sasha's arm, grabbed the door handle, quietly opened it, and we both went through.

We made it.

Sasha screamed.

What waited for us on the other side of the door was nothing.

Most the skywalk had been blasted away, and all that remained were a few feet of concrete on either side. Though, that's not what made my sister scream. What stood before us was a giant... something. It looked to be nearly ten feet in height. It was another humanoid in armour, but it's helmet was misshapen, had what appeared to be two extra arms, and it's armour was much larger in general. It floated in the air in the center of the destroyed skywalk. It was already turned towards us when we went through the door. We had no chance to go back.

It spoke to us, but we didn't understand it.

It showed us things, but we couldn't comprehend them.

I shook myself awake and found I had been walking with my head pointed downwards. I looked up and realized I was no longer in the skywalk. I was among a line of other people being corralled towards an open area in the distance. My eyes darted back and forth as I took in our surroundings. We were still downtown, but most of what I saw were ruined buildings and the burned husks of cars. I actively ignored the crunching beneath my feet, remembering what I saw when my eyes opened.

My eyes continued to scan the area around me as we walked. It was clear I was the only one who had woken up. Taking stock of my surroundings was only partially the reason why I was doing so. I noticed my sister was not among those in the line. Luckily, there were other lines. My gaze swept through them as we came across the others.

My mind and body felt a sort of relief that I was unable to find my sister, but I knew what I wanted. I had to find my sister and get out of here.

_____________________

It wasn't long before we arrived at an area below one of their ships, if I could call it that. It was unlike anything I've ever seen, and I've played a lot of sci-fi games as well as seen many sci-fi movies. It's difficult to explain, but it was shaped. That's the best I could do. My eyes watered and burned when I stared too long, so I opted to look away and continue to take in my surroundings in hopes of finding my sister. I could see we were still downtown, but there were no buildings for at least a mile in each direction. I chanced a glance downward and immediately saw why. Everything below us was nothing but dust and ash.

Thunk.

Too deep in thought, I walked into the person infront of me. We had stopped moving. That was odd. Without seeming too conspicuous to the guard detail around us, I leaned to the right to see why...

...and there it was, standing in the middle of this circle of dust. That thing that had knocked Sasha and I out, and had placed me into this line.

It started to speak to us all. It was loud. It's voice shook the ash beneath us, but I still couldn't understand it. As it spoke, the others in line, and all the other lines, started to shake. They seemed afraid, and they started to scream.

Whatever that armoured thing was, it stopped speaking. Immediately those images filled my mind once again, but I pushed them down and away. It was difficult, and I was still out for a few moments. A few moments as nothing more than some blacked out zombie. I shook my head again and regained consciousness. I felt like throwing up, but I held it down. Shaking the dizziness away, I then noticed everyone else had gone quiet once more.

I leaned to the right once more and watched as that thing continued to speak in that loud booming voice.

I need to get out of here and find Sasha. If we were captured together, then she's definitely got to be here with us.

A few minutes later I silently groaned. There were hundreds of people here. It would take at least an hour or more to find a little girl among a large group like this.

Something bumping into me broke me out of my thoughts. I turned to investigate and found there were at least a few hundred more people in this line. Great. It was then I noticed my part of the line had stopped and it had begun to attract the attention of the armoured guards. I immediately set my head down and continued to walk, following the footsteps in the snow like ash beneath me.

I walked for at least a few dozen feet before chancing a glance around me. No guards were visible, so that was good. I leaned to the right to get a better view of where we were going, and I could see those guards floating above us. Beyond them, those ships hovered and I had to look away.

We were stopped again. I took this opportunity to once again take stock of my surroundings, guard positions, and to find my sister.

A few moments passed, and although I had a better understanding of everything around me, I was unable I find my sister. Now that I think about it, there are no children among all the lines I've sifted through.

She must be somewhere else.

____________________________

I was exhausted. We had been walking for what felt like hours without stopping. Our last stop was probably close to 2 hours ago. We'd been stopping less and less with more time walking in between. My feet were at their breaking point, but I couldn't stop. If I were to find my sister, then I had to continue. She was the only family I had left.

Our parents passed when I was 17, and I've been taking care of her ever since. It's just been us for the past several years. I took up some odd jobs to pay for an apartment for the two of us. The landlord was kind enough to allow us to stay, despite me not yet being a legal adult. I did my best with what I was given. To get her to school, I took out loans. To maintain good credit, I always ensured I paid back those loans on time, even if it meant taking out more loans. Life was a constant balance of paying off loans, taking out loans, work, buying us food, and making sure I still had enough for her to have fun with.

Friday night was always pizza night, and she looked forward to it every week. She's a real sweet kid. I'd say she takes after our mom or dad, but they were barely around for us to really get to know them. We loved them, and they loved us, but we would never say it. Christmas was always awkward, but happy when they were around. When they were gone, Christmas was definitely different, but I made sure Sasha got what she wanted every year.

It's been a real struggle for me as well. Ever since I was 13 I had this sense about me. I always knew how not to get hurt. How to avoid the danger. Sasha always said I was like Spider-Man. She loved superhero movies, but I digress. I've always struggled with this sense of mine. It's always screamed at me to throw people under the bus, figuratively anyway. When I was taking care of Sasha, that little voice at the back of my head told me to leave her. To take a bus with her into a bad part of the city and to leave her there. I always fought against it. My dad always told me to protect the ones you love. When he was around to say that, anyways.

Thud.

The small impact of walking into the person infront of me broke my reverie. Looking around, I knew I had clearly lost track of time. Surveying my surroundings, I saw we were no longer anywhere near the city.

We had stopped again. Finally, I could rest. Well, rest as best I could while standing.

I leaned once more to the right to get a good view at what was going on. The guards were still there above us, but now there was another armoured unit. They were different from the rest in the sense that they were sleeker and a tad smaller in height. They carried devices in their hands and appeared to be scanning people. Were they looking for something?

My answer came quick as the guards immediately shot and killed those who had been scanned. Panic rose in my chest, and that little voice once again took over. I was suddenly hyper aware of my surroundings, and I paid close attention to the entire scanning process while also maintaining visual of the guards in my peripheral vision. Scan. Dead. Scan. Dead. Scan. The sleeker one stopped and motioned towards one of the guards. It flew near it and they spoke to one another before the guard took the guy and carried him off to the ship that was still hovering above us. I knew it was there, but I didn't want to think about it. That ship was something else entirely.

It continued like this for awhile until they arrived to me, my gaze moving back to the dirty road as they did. The voice screamed at me to take one of their weapons and fight my way out. I knew I probably had a better chance at survival by doing that than if I got scanned and didn't meet their prerequisites, but something else told me to wait.

That sleek armoured thing stopped above me to my right and began it's scan. I knew, because my body felt absolutely strange. The best I could describe it is my very molecules being picked apart and being closely examined. I wanted to throw up again, but I once again held back. I was becoming nauseous and dizzy, but I remained still. It was then I heard a beep that signaled the end of the scan. This was the moment of truth.

I clenched my eyes shut, expecting to feel my body burst into flames. A moment passed, and nothing happened. I opened my eyes and noticed I was in the air. I was chosen. I could only hope my sister was chosen as well. We were blood siblings, so I could only hope I would see her again.

As we approached the ship, the nausea and dizziness returned. My mind screamed at me to kill this thing that was carrying me. I was inclined to agree. As we got closer, my thoughts became more disoriented. My eyes would not focus on whatever the ship was, and would only water and burn.

Ever closer we approached and those images once again filled my mind. Terrible things I couldn't comprehend. Whispers I could not understand.

We reached the doors, and I blacked out.

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ovojebalkan-story-collectio-blog · 6 years

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Bjorkman’s Empire 7 - The Melodifestivalen Revolution

The floor of Stockholm was filled with pro-Björkman slogans, etched onto the pavement, written both by the very few loyal supporters of the regime, and those who wanted to be seen as loyal supporters. Posters of Björkman, standing side by side with his robots, adorned the walls of every building. Everyone wanted to be seen as supporting his rule, as there were consequences for those who did not. Although Sweden and the Swedish people were often vilified in the foreign media for supporting Björkman's despotic regime, the truth was that very few Swedes supported the tyrants' rule, but feared speaking out publicly. Björkman could only control his subjects through fear, it was only really his robots who loved him. And there were exceptions even there, some robots were disgusted by Björkman's actions and they fled to Iceland, where they were welcomed with open arms. Sweden launched an attack on Iceland, destroying the island nation and cementing Sweden's new image as a violent dictatorship. It was a dangerous time to be Swedish, violent attacks on Swedish citizens in other countries increased dramatically as Björkman's regime grew worse and worse. The city was quiet, not a sound was heard. No one was out on the streets of Sweden tonight. The roads were empty and desolate. Björkman had imposed a 'Melodifestivalen curfew'. No one in Sweden was allowed outside for any reason, and the robots would patrol Sweden, making sure everyone stayed inside to watch the show. All television channels were showing one thing, Melodifestivalen. Björkman's dictatorship had turned the contest from something the Swedish people enjoyed to a hated event. Swedes had been shot by his robots for daring to venture outside during Melodifestivalen, the irony being that while they were forced to stay inside, Emperor Björkman gallavanted around the country, sampling only the finest fruits and visiting the finest beaches, all the while all the other Swedes were shut inside their houses, terrified that they could be found guilty of some trumped up crime and brought before Björkman's very own Kangaroo Court. Hypocrisy stained the Björkman regime. In the Friends Arena, Stockholm, the participants of the national final waited in the green room. Even those who hadn't qualified from the semi finals were waiting there, after all, they didn't exactly have anything else to do. Yohio sat there, staring a blank page on his phone. He really wanted to go on the internet but he couldn't, there was no internet connection. There was no connection for anyone. One of the first things that Björkman stamped out was the internet, which was now completely banned in Sweden, except for the Emperor himself, of course, and a few people whose job it was to join various message boards and post about how wonderful Björkman is and how much better things were in Sweden because of him. As well as the net, Björkman also blocked news from outside sources, as he feared the people hearing the truth about his regime. But they already knew, every Swede knew, they just didn't dare breathe a word. Loreen was sitting there, staring absent-mindedly out of the window. She too missed the internet. She hadn't realised how boring life could be without it. She imagined a free Sweden, free from the 'emperor', a true liberal democracy like it had been not so long ago. Maybe Björkman could control what she said but he couldn't control her mind, her dreams. She was safe from him here. She dreamed of a free Sweden once again. She then noticed a shape in the distance. She couldn't make it out at first because of the rain splattering against the window, but then, she saw it. An old woman holding a bag was walking along the road. "What no-" Loreen whispered, "That woman is out after curfew! She's done for!" The other entrants of Melodifestivalen heard her and rushed to the window, to see what was happening outside. Just then, they heard a buzzing noise in the distance. A sound the whole world had learned to fear. The distinctive sound of Björkman's robots. "Oh no," Robin whispered, "The robot's going to get her, she's a goner!" Loreen grabbed her coat from her chair. "And just where do you think you're going?" Sean said, unusually serious for once, "You know we're not allowed out of the stadium while Melodifestivalen is on!" "I'm going to help that woman, before the robots get her, it's the right thing to do." Loreen then put on her coat and made for the door. Yohio jumped up in shock. How could anyone be so openly defiant to the emperor? Everyone in Sweden had seen the consequences; what happened to those who Björkman called 'political dissidents'. "No! Don't do it Loreen," Yohio said, grabbing her arm, "You'll only get yourself hurt." Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Stay here, there's nothing you can do for her," Robin said. "So you all think that we should just sit here and do nothing?!" Loreen asked and to her surprise, they all nodded again. "We just think you should stay here where it's safe..." Yohio said. Loreen laughed. "Safe? Safe?! Nowhere is safe in Sweden. Not anymore." "Don't go," Ralf said, "Listen to Yohio, you've got to stay here, there's nothing you can do, not now that the robot is here." Loreen then saw a blue shape flying past the window. The robot was there. And the old woman stood still. There she was, standing there, clutching her small bag against her. The robot landed in front of her. "It is curfew," the robotic voice stated, "You should be watching Melodifestivalen. Return indoors immediately." "I want to do what I want! I won't let myself be bullied by a dictator like Björkman, this country has stood up to dictators before, and we'll do it again!" "You are showing signs of civil disobedience. I am under orders to execute you immediately." Loreen half-expected the woman to break down trembling and begging for mercy, but she didn't. She simply stood there, bravely. "I'd rather be dead than part of this tyranny." "So be it," the robot said and shot a lazer beam at the woman who screamed and fell to the ground. Scenes like this were becoming more and more common in Sweden, as Björkman introduced more and more ridiculous laws. "No," Yohio sobbed, "She was just a little old woman, she meant no harm to anyone!" "Brave woman..." Ralf muttered. "It's not right," Loreen stuttered, "Less than a year ago this country was a true democracy, now look at us!" "Be quiet, or someone outside may hear," Tommy Körberg snapped, "Stop this revolutionary talk at once!" "I want people to hear," Loreen said, but she wasn't so sure she believed it herself, "We Swedes are not sheep!" "Do you want us all to end up like that lady, Loreen?" Tommy yelled, "If not I suggest we all go back to talking about all the great things that Björkman has done for this country." "Hmmm, I for one can't think of any," Yohio said wryly. The brave woman's sacrifice had given him the courage to speak out, at least to his fellow contestants, anyway. "Tommy, you can't really support this dictatorship surely?" Robin asked. "I value my life," Tommy replied, "And if you do the same then you''ll cut out this nonsense and won't say another single bad word about our dear leader Björkman." He was right to be scared of speaking out. People who speak out against Björkman usually disappear very quickly. Sarah Dawn Finer, annual comedian at the Melodifestivalen contest, was absent this year. And everyone knew the reason why. In one of her comedy sketches in the first semi final of MF she had included a parody sketch of Björkman, ridiculing his regime and calling his robots 'tin cans'. The next day her house was raided by Björkman's robot army, and she was taken away. The official line from the regime is that she had been taken away to a so-called 're-education camp', but no one had seen her in weeks. People who supported the Swedish resistance against Björkman walked around Sweden and glued photographs of Finer over the many pictures of Emperor Björkman that covered the buildings, and publicly played recordings of her comedy sketch against the self-proclaimed emperor. Björkman was furious, even more so when Finer's supporters decided to hold a mass rally in her support. A mass gathering of any kind had not even been attempted since Björkman took power. But the Swedish public were growing restless, secret arrests and disappearances increasing, fuelling anger towards the new leader. The people at the rally angrily tore down posters of Björkman, shouted anti-emperor slogans and even pulled down a statue of Björkman that had been placed in the center of Stockholm. The emperor saw he needed to act before his power base crumbled. He ordered his robots to surround the protesters. The international world watched and waited as they saw the robots surround the protestors. Björkman gave the order to fire into the crowd and to spare no one. It was a massacre. The outside world was shocked, firing on unarmed protestors? Even for Björkman this was too much. A mass event of it's kind was never organised again, as the Swedes became too scared to speak out. This was just before Björkman introduced the curfew, the night before the second semi final of Melodifestivalen. "Only a fool would denounce Björkman," Tommy said, remembering what had happened at the rally, "How can anyone be so stupid?" "How dare you," Robin said, "She was a brave patriot who stood alone against tyranny, she was not 'stupid' as you put it." "She was indeed stupid," Tommy said, "How could anyone risk their life like that for their ideals!?" "Much better to be a subservient lap dog, right Tommy?" Robin said. "Tommy," Loreen said, "She had conviction, something a coward such as yourself wouldn't understand." "But we can't do anything against him," Claes said, "It's better to just do what he says. If everyone just did what he told them to then no one would get hurt." "Yes," Mats said, "He's right, there's nothing we can do, we might as well submit to him and keep ourselves safe at least." "A very naive idea," Ralf said, "And if everyone stood up to him then Björkman would be overthrown in days. Alas, guys like Ravaillacz exist who would rather bow down to tyranny." "Oh please!" Tommy said, rolling his eyes, "You're not exactly involved in the resistance yourself! You talk a big game back here, but when we all get on that stage you'll be saying the same as the rest of us, so don't give me that crap!" "We will," Ralf said, "We will, from now on we'll resist Björkman. Today has shown me a lot about myself, I'm ashamed about the cowardly way I acted before. And so should you! From on, things will be different." "No they won't, it's all talk with you," Tommy said, "It's all talk and no action." "We are all guilty of not acting in the past," said David Lindgren, "Of seeing things and doing nothing. But I promise that in the future I will try my hardest to resist the regime, even in the smallest ways possible." "We could all be doing a little more against the empire," Louise smiled. Her song 'Only the dead fish follow the stream', was actually a thinly veiled protest song against the Björkman regime, but Björkman himself hadn't realised it. "Oh," Ulrik said, "Time for me to go! I'll be doing my song soon!" And with that he left the green room. So now the songs were finally being performed, and the participants noticed a peculiar thing after each one. The audience wouldn't stop clapping for a very long time. Not wanting to be seen as 'unpatriotic' to the new Empire by being the first to stop clapping, the audience clapped for a whole 10 minutes after Ulrik's song, the first song of the night. A sign had to be flashed on the TV screens around the arena which read 'Stop clapping now', to stop the neverending applause. This procedure was repeated after every song of the night. After all the songs had been performed, they got straight to the televoting. It would take a very long time for all of the votes to be counted, as Emperor Björkman had introduced a new law which states that all landline telephones had to cast at least one vote for one act in each of the semi finals and the final, to prove they were watching the show and not breaking the curfew. There was also a law stating that if Björkman didn't like the outcome of a public vote that he could change it. It was rumoured that he had changed all the semi-final results in this way. Loreen walked out onto the stage and sang a special version of Euphoria as the interval act to celebrate Sweden's win. But everyone knew it was a hollow victory, Sweden hadn't really won the contest, Björkman had just forced the result. Many countries expected him to do the same again at Eurovision this year. And so Loreen remembered, and everyone remembered, how Björkman forced Sweden's 2012 victory at gunpoint. --- The finalists sat in the green room as the announcers read out both the results of the foreign juries and the televoting. People across Sweden hoped that when Anke read out the votes for the German jury she would make a comment on Björkman's regime, after all, she had commented on Azerbaijan when she read out the votes at Baku 2012. But she was silent on the issue. Probably under strict orders from the German government. After all, Germany was in no position to intervene in Swedish affairs, especially after they had nearly been bankrupted by their involvement in the Belgian Civil War. And so the votes were countered and verified. No one could be sure whether or not Björkman had interfered with the voting. Overall, Robin won, but only with the help of the juries, Yohio won the most televotes. "Surely it would be more democratic to let the winner of the televotes go to the Eurovision," Louise said, "I never saw the point of juries anyway, to be honest." "Democratic?" Ulrik said, "You do realise that you're in 'Björkman's Empire', don't you? People aren't even calling us Sweden anymore!" "Rigged, clearly rigged and rigged again," Yohio muttered. "Well," Robin said, "If it makes you feel any better. But you still lost to me." "No, it's been rigged by Björkman, he's rigged the jury, don't you see!?" "Björkman doesn't have time to rig the contest against you Yohio," Loreen said, "He's far too busy out murdering people." "Didn't I tell you guys before about badmouthing Björkman?" Tommy yelled, "Cut it out!" "Why?" Ralf taunted, "What you gonna do, tell on us?" "No..." Tommy said, "But if you're not more careful, we'll all be in the deep end." "We don't care anymore Tommy," Loreen said, "That's why you guys came last, by the way, Ravaillacz," Robin said, "People finally saw you for the cowards that you really are." "Yes " Loreen said, "Too cowardly to stand up for this country. There are more important things than your own lives, things that are worth standing up for." "Like what?" Claes said. "Like nothing Claes," Tommy said, "What a stupid thing to say Loreen, you really are a stupid girl. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" "Sometimes being brave is a lot like being stupid," Yohio said, "Except that bravery is for a noble cause, and If standing up to Björkman makes us all 'stupid' then so be it. "Well said Yohio," Loreen clapped. "The Swedish dream of democracy is over now," Tommy said, "We will never again achieve what we once had. You might as well all accept that now." "Now now children," Louise said, "All this arguing is getting us nowhere." "Yeah, come on you guys," Robin said, "We've got to go on stage to celebrate my victory, let's not make them think anything suspicious is going on." And so all the finalists walked out and stood on the stage. Loreen went to collect her trophy from last year and gave it to Robin. She looked across from the stage and saw no robots looking back at her. There were just people who had come from all over Sweden to see the contest live. Or had they been forced to come by Björkman? "Thank you everyone," Robin said tearfully, "Thank you, to the juries, to everyone who voted, to all my fans, thank you!" People were waving Swedish flags. Suddenly, people started to chant 'Björkman out! Björkman out!' Loreen smiled, she was, after all, the only Eurovision contestant who had stood up for rights in Azerbaijan back in 2012. But Sweden was different, after all, Azerbaijan was utopia compared to Sweden nowadays. It was much harder stand up to Björkman. But seeing the old woman's bravery had given the Melodifestivalen entrants newfound courage. Well, mostly, anyway. "Stop it! Stop it!" Tommy yelled, "What if Björkman shows up!?" "We don't care anymore, it's us against him," Yohio said, before jumping around and shouting, "We support you guys! Björkman out! Björkman out!" The Swedish national anthem rang out from the crowd. It was a song that had been banned by Björkman, who had then made his own Eurovision song the official national anthem of Sweden. A good feeling filled the air, almost as good as when Sweden had been a free nation. This was it. They were standing up to the dictator. Suddenly, the door by the stage dramatically opened, coldness coming in from outside. It was Björkman, standing there with some of his robots. He had been alerted by the live broadcast of the show that revolutionary actions were unfolding during the contest. Everyone fell silent as Björkman entered the room. The robots quickly followed. Leaves blew around in a whirlwind as the audience cowered in their seats. Everyone could tell that Björkman was most displeased. And they all knew the penalty for so-called 'revolutionary actions'. Ravaillacz ran over to Björkman and knelt down before him, flinging themselves at his feet. Loreen looked on in disgust, so this is what Sweden has been reduced to. "Björkman," Tommy said, "We're so glad to see you!" "Master!" Johan said, "You have returned!" "Yes my loyal subjects, this is where you belong, at my feet," but then Björkman screamed, "And someone tell me what is going on here immediately! It looks like traitorous activity to me!" "We're standing up to you," Yohio said, "We have seen your true colours and are going to tear down your regime!" "Yohio no, what are you saying!" Tommy yelled. Björkman was livid. "How dare you Yohio," Björkman seethed, "And to think I gave you a place in my prestigious contest, ungrateful little rat! Robots, shoot him!" "No!" Robin yelled as he ran in between the robots and Björkman, "Don't do it!" "Robin?" Björkman said, "You dare to defy me?" "Oh yes, I dare," Robin said, "You've caused nothing but misery for this country." "And to think I chose you to win the Eurovision!" Björkman sighed, "It's all this lot, the other entrants putting poisonous ideas into your head. Oh yes, Loreen, I had the green room rigged with microphones. I've been hearing just exactly what you've all been saying about me. It made for very interesting listening." Loreen gasped. "Everything..." she said, "Everything I said was the truth. It's what everyone here in Sweden thinks about you but are too scared to say. You, Björkman, are a monster." "You know what's funny," Björkman laughed, "I know that's what everyone thinks, and I don't care! Robin, as the winner you will come with me immediately." "No..." Robin whispered. Björkman sighed. "Well, suit yourself, I'll just force you to come with me. I've become aware of revolutionary ideas becoming entangled in the Melodifestivalen, and so as a precaution," Björkman turned to his robots, "I order you to shoot all the finalists, except for Robin of course. You're coming with me." "What, no!" Robin yelled. "What's your problem, Robin, I said except for you," Björkman laughed, "Oh, don't tell me you care about these people!" "We've been your loyal servants!" Claes said. "I don't care Ravaillacz," Björkman said, "You're becoming a nuisance. I know you don't really support my Empire." "We do!" Tommy yelled, "We do! Please Emperor, reconsider!" It was at that moment that Robin ran up to Björkman and pulled the car keys from his pocket. "Follow me guys!" Robin said, running back into the green room and through the fire door that lead outside. "Robin you get back here right now!" Björkman yelled, "I said I'd forgive you! Sweden needs you!" Björkman looked around at his robots, just standing there doing nothing. "Well?!" Björkman yelled, "Don't just stand there! Go after them!" And so the finalists ran into the car park at the back of the the Friends Arena. A giant black lorry was there, taking up five car park spaces. "How inconsiderate," Yohio muttered. "Well guys, hop in," Robin said as he jumped into the drivers seat. Loreen got into the passenger seat and everyone else went into the back of the lorry. It was a huge, empty space. This lorry was the one that Björkman used to ferry his robots around the country, and was the biggest of its kind in Sweden. "I hate to say I told you so, but, I told you so," Tommy said. "Ravaillacz," Robin said, "Get out. Now." "Wha?" Tommy yelled, "Why?! That's not fair!" "Please please please," Claes said, "Björkman's nuts he's gonna shoot everyone!" Robin sighed. "Apart from me, it seems," Robin said, "Fine, stay, but no more complaining, you guys got that?" "We most certainly have," Tommy said, "Thanks Robin." And so Robin started the truck and drove off. "The only positive thing about the Melodifestivalen curfew is that the whole of Sweden was watching when we stood up to that tyrant," Loreen said, looking out of the windows of the truck. "Yes," said Anton, "Now everyone knows how we truly feel." "And how exactly is that, Anton?!" Tommy said, "If we'd just obeyed Björkman in the first place, then none of this would of happened, we'd be safe and-" "Tommy, remember what I said now," Robin said, interrupting him. "Yes yes, of course. Sorry." "So, where are we going to go exactly?" Ulrik asked. "We're going to try and get into neutral Norway," Robin said, "Probably the safest option for us at the moment." "Wait a second," Ulrik said, suddenly worried, "Where's State of Drama?!" Everyone fell silent. Had they been left behind? --- State of Drama were still standing in the car park. They had watched helplessly as the truck drove off without them. In all the panic, they had been left behind, forgotten about. "I can't believe this!" Stefan yelled, "How dare they!" "We've gotta get out of here quick," Emil said, "Come on guys, we don't need them, let's go. And be quiet, you don't want Björkman to hear us." At that moment, a lone robot flew out of the building and saw them walking away from the car park and into the nearby field. "Oh dear, what do we have here," the robot said, as it flew out in front of them. "N-nothing," said Emil, "Let us go, we weren't part of this." "You're trying to escape, but too late." ""But we haven't done anything wrong!" Sebastian yelled. "You were part of the revolution tonight, that's what you did wrong. Björkman's to bring all your little friends back too and bring them to justice," the robot laughed, "Pity you all won't be around to see it." And with that the robot shot five lazer beams in quick succession, hitting all five of them. "Long live the Björkman Empire!" the robot shouted into the night, as State of Drama fell to the ground. It was just another in a long line of killings as a result of the regime. Björkman's dark legacy hung over the city. --- "I mean, they probably got away," Robin said, "We all did! Chances are they're a long way away from the stadium by now." Yohio sat in the back of the large truck, looking at the empty seats around him. He had a chance to reflect on the days events. "What do you guys think Björkman is doing now," he said, and then added sadly, "I hope he didn't attack the crowd." "With the whole of Sweden watching?" Tommy asked, "He wouldn't dare! Would he?" "He wanted to shoot all of us," Anton said. "He's fired on civilians before," Louise said, "He'd do it again... there's no level he wouldn't stoop to. He really is low." "And what about the semi-finalists?" Ulrik said, "They'll still be there..." The people which handn't qualified for the final of MF had been waiting in a separate green room to them. There was going to be a reprise at the end of the show of all the songs that didn't quite make it. "We're just going to have to hope," Louise said, "That they made it out of there." --- But they hadn't. They were still all sitting in the opposite green room, Björkman's robots stopping them from leaving. Björkman had realised the semi-finalists would make an excellent bargaining chip to force Robin to come back and perform in the Eurovision final. --- The lorry still trundled down the road. They were surprised and relieved that they hadn't come across any robots yet. It was at that moment they saw a strange building in the distance, standing on the hillside. Known colloquially in Sweden as 'Björkman's Gulag', and officially known as 'the re-education camp', it was the prison were Björkman supposedly kept his political prisoners. It was a strong symbol of Björkman's terror. "Hey," Loreen said, "Isn't that..." "Yup," Robin answered, "It's Björkman's Gulag." "Doesn't look like there's any robots guarding the building at the moment," Yohio said, "We should go inside as see if we can free the political prisoners..." "What are you crazy?" Tommy yelled, "We'll be all over the news by now! We need to get out of here right now!" "I'm the one driving Tommy," Robin said, "So you'll follow my god damn rules! We're going to get those prisoners out of there!" The truck pulled up in front of the building. "Be quick guys, and be careful," Robin said, "If there's anyone inside the prison that we can let go then we'll get them out of there! Obviously everyone can't go, so, who wants to go?" "Ok," Loreen said, "I'll do it!" "I'll do it too, I guess," Yohio said, as everyone else was silent. "Excellent, me, Loreen and Yohio are going to go into the prison, if any of Björkman's robots show up and enter the building, sound the horn on the truck, ok?" "Sure thing! We'll look out for you," Ulrik said as the three of them got out of the truck and looked up at the giant building in front of them. Barbed wire covered the roof. --- And so the three of them walked into the cold, dark building. Cobwebs hung on the walls as flies flew around them. But they couldn't find anyone. The entire building was empty. Cell after cell was empty. No one was there. There had never been anyone there. Björkman's gulag system was a sham. "No one's here! Are we... too late?" Yohio asked. "No," Loreen answered, "There were never any political prisoners here in the first place..." Robin looked at the empty jail cells. He realised then that Björkman's jail was a set up. "There weren't, this jail is a fake, Björkman most likely just shoots political prisoners first," he said, "This prison is probably a trap to lure in other political dissidents..." The three of them fell silent, they realised they had walked into a trap. Suddenly, the horn on the lorry started beeping. Robots had been spotted nearby. "For goodness sake!" Ulrik yelled, sounding the horn again and again, "Get back here now!" "This is a terrible idea!" Tommy yelled, trying to pull Ulrik away from the horn, "You're just drawing attention to us!" "That's the whole point silly," Louise said, "We're drawing attention away from them so that they can escape." The robot turned and looked at the truck for a few seconds, before entering the building. "It's inside!" Anton yelled, but, strangely, the robot glided back out of the building shortly after entering. Inside Björkman's Gulag, the three contestants could hear the horn on the truck sounding. "There must be robots somewhere nearby," Yohio said, shocked. "We've get to get out of here quick!" Robin yelled, "Where's the exit?! Does anyone remember where the exit is?" The three of them scrambled around for a little while before spotting the exit. "There's the doorway!" Loreen said, pointing to the light at the end of the corridor, as the three of them raced towards it. --- From the truck, the contestants could see one of Björkman's robots, slowly gliding around the building. It was going towards the windows, peering in. "They're not going to make it out..." Anton said, "It'll find them." "Hey," Tommy said, "Don't look at me, I told them not to do it." "Coward," said David Lindgren, "You really are a total coward, you know that?" "Of course," Tommy replied, "That's why you're cowardly waiting back here with me while those three take all the risks, am I right?" Ulrik was watching the window. "Phew," he said, relieved, "The robot's gone round to the back of the building. They'll be fine if they make it back here quickly, I'm sure of it." --- "Well, we're outside!" Robin said as the three of them walked out of the building. But they could hear a strange buzzing sound behind them. "No, we're too late..." Yohio whispered, as he turned around and came face to face with one of Björkman's robots. "You should not be here," the robot stated coldly, "This is a forbidden zone." "We... we know..." Robin said, "We're sorry. We won't do it again, we promise!" The robot ignored him. "The penalty for trespassing is death!" the robot boomed, so loud that they could hear it all the way from the lorry. "No," Ralf whispered, "This can't be happening..." It was at this point that David Lindgren stood up, opened the back door of the lorry and walked out. "The hell are you doing?!" Claes yelled. "They're more important to the revolution than I am," David said, "I'm going to go rescue them..." And with that he ran off, into the path of the robot. "No!" Tommy yelled, "You idiot! Get back here!" The robot turned from Robin and looked at the lone Swede running towards him. "Run! Run you three, run!" David yelled as he ran up to the robot and started punching it. "No!" Loreen yelled, as Robin and Yohio dragged her away with them. "We're going to make it!" Yohio screamed as the three of them jumped back into the truck. David was still standing by the robot. "Well?" he said, "What are you going to do?!" "Ignorant fool," the robot said, as it pulled out its gun and shot him. They heard the bang all the way from the truck. The sacrifice had stunned the remaining contestants. He had given his life for a truly noble cause. "No!" Loreen yelled, as Robin fired the ignition and drove off. "We can't just leave him!" Yohio shouted. "His sacrifice meant we could get back here," Robin said, "There's nothing we can do for him, they've already shot him and we have no chance against Björkman's robots." Sad, but true, there was nothing they could do. Björkman's robots were seemingly unstoppable. "When the revolution comes," Loreen said, "I'll make sure people remember him. We all will. They'll remember all the people who have gave their lives fighting for freedom." "We've lost too much today already," Robin said, "We need to make sure this never happens again." "Don't make promises you can't keep," Tommy muttered. "We won't," Loreen said, "We're going get rid of that dictator, I promise you that." The lorry continued down the road, no one else was in sight, The curfew was still in effect. "Björkman must have extended the curfew on account of our leaving," Louise said. "We've got to be close to the border by now," Ulrik said, "Just where are we?" "I think we are," Robin replied, "I think that's the border to Norway in the distance." As they got closer, they could also see the beginnings of a wall emerging at the border. It seemed that Björkman wanted his very own version of the Berlin Wall around Sweden, keeping everyone inside. They also saw some robots flying in the distance. "Don't let them see us," Yohio whispered, but the robots seemed oblivious to their presence. They could see a sign in the distance, the best thing that any of them had seen in a long while. "Look, look at the sign!" Robin screamed as he pointed to the sign which read 'Welcome to Norway.' And it truly was a wonderful welcome. They had successfully crossed the border into neutral Norway. "We made it!" Loreen smiled. However, the warm welcome didn't last long. Suddenly, Norwegian citizens ran out at them, carrying shovels and pitchforks, and began bashing the truck and yelling at them. "What the hell is going on?!" Tommy yelled, "Why are we being attacked?!" "Uh oh," Yohio said, "Looks like they think we're Björkman..." "We're not with Björkman!" Robin yelled out, "We're on your side!" Of course, the lorry, a special type only made for Björkman, had been mistaken for one of Björkman's vehicles. On the front was the triangle inside a circle that was the Björkman emblem. The Norwegians had assumed the worst; they thought they were being invaded by Sweden and had set a mob onto the lorry in response. The lorry door was being forced open by the mob. "Guys stop!" Tommy yelled, "We're with you! We're the good guys!" "Well, maybe not you, Tommy," Yohio said, "But we're the good guys, come on Norway, stop it! We're your friends!" It was as if the Norwegians couldn't quite hear them over the loud frenzy of the mob. The back door of the lorry was being prised open even more, until it finally came open. "Hey what the hell?!" Sean yelled as he was dragged out by the crowd. Someone pulled out a revolver and fired a shot. It was too late by the time the Norwegians had realised their mistake. The mob stopped immediately and looked down in shame, but it was too late for Sean who was just another in a long line of those who had lost their lives in the fight against the Björkman Empire. "You idiots!" Robin yelled, "Look what you've gone and done!" The lorry was completely trashed. The other contestants were lucky that they had survived the mob. The mob themselves quickly dispersed as soon as they realised their error, not wanting to be prosecuted for their crime. --- The Norwegian government had given them all asylum, on the condition that none of them speak about it or make any derogatory comments publicly about the Björkman regime. Norway, while wanting to help the Swedes, didn't want to anger Björkman. As temporary accomodation, the Norwegian government had put them in an unused hotel. The Norwegians were giving them the best of everything, probably as an apology for the violent mob attack they were subjected to. They were all sitting in the lobby, discussing how the revolution would work. Ravaillacz were the only ones who recognised that it was all purely fantasy, there was nothing that they or anyone could do against the Björkman regime, but they participated nonetheless. There was nothing else to do all day. The return of the internet was, however, welcomed. They could at last see what the world was saying about Sweden. None of them had checked the internet today, however, if they had they would have found out that their adventure was not over. Not quite yet, anyay. They then heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Robin said, who opened the door to find a girl waiting outside. She came into the room, sadly, as if she had a bad message to tell them. It was Margaret Berger, already chosen as the Norwegan Eurovision entrant. Now having seen what Björkman was really like, she was seriously reconsidering her position as an entrant in the contest. "Hello guys," she said, "The name's Margaret, and I've got a special message for you from the Norwegian government." "Oh, Margaret!" Yohio said, "Why hello there!" "Yes, hello. I've been told to tell you to switch on your TV. There's something we think you need to see." "Uh... ok," Tommy said. "I'm so sorry," she said, as if she knew something terrible, and then walked off. "What was that about?!" Robin asked. "Well, let's find out," Yohio said as he grabbed the TV remote and switched it on. The Norwegian news was on the TV, and what was happening shocked them. It showed Björkman sitting in the green room with the semi-finalists of Melodifestivalen, robots all around them. The robots were pointing their guns at the entrants. Björkman had been making demands to the Norwegian government. They either send Robin back, or the semi-finalists would all be killed. The threat was very real, they all knew how unstable Björkman was, and how he'd resort to anything, even a massacre, if it meant him getting his own way. "I'm going to have to go back..." Robin said, nearly crying as the film was shown again and again on the TV. "What? Are you crazy?" Tommy said, "Go back there?!" "It's my decision, not yours," Robin said, "And I have to... I've got to go." "What about the resistance?" Yohio asked. "I'll be in a better position to take down Björkman's regime once inside Sweden,' Robin smiled, "Don't worry, I haven't given up on the resistance." "You listen to me right now," Tommy said, "He'll kill you, you'd be crazy to go back there." "Tommy's right, Robin," Claes said, "Stay here." "Don't listen to them, Robin," Loreen said, "You do what you want to do." "It's not what I want to do," Robin said, "It's what I have to do! How could I ever live with myself if Björkman shot them all, because of me?! I can stop this, even if it means I have to pay the price." And with that Robin walked out of the hotel, and made his way to the Swedish embassy. However much he didn't want to return to the dictatorship state, people's lives hung in the balance. He had to go back. "I'm here," Robin said, "I assume you're looking for me." "Ah yes," the receptionist smiled, "I'll call Björkman, he was waiting for you to show up." She pressed a button on the desk. "Ah yes, Emperor Björkman? He's here." And with that, a robot appeared in the corner of the room. "Well," Robin said, "I'm ready. Come and take me." The robot slowly glided towards Robin, and grabbed him, teleporting them both back to Sweden, the very place he had fought so hard to escape. They materialised in a room that Robin recognised well. The King's palace. When Björkman had taken over Sweden, he overthrew and murdered the Swedish royal family, as well as anyone else who stood in his way. Now Björkman lived in the royal palace, surrounding himself with the jewels the royals used to own. Björkman was looking a TV screen on his desk. "Well Björkman," Robin said, "I'm here. Let the semi-finalists go. I've done what you asked." "Come here Robin," Björkman ignored him and pointed to a TV sitting on his desk, "Come here, take a look at the semi-finalists, or, as I like to call them,'losers'." Robin looked at the screen and saw the semi-finalists sitting in the green room, and each and every one of them had one of Björkman's robots pointing their built in guns to their heads. Some of them were crying, others begging to be let go. It made Robin sick, Björkman pretends that he loves Melodifestivalen, and yet this is what he does to it's entrants? "Ok," Robin said, trying to stay calm as he looked at the TV screen where the robots were still holding the semi finalists hostage, "Well, I'm back now so let them go." "Ah but you see, you've been very naughty Robin, very naughty indeed. You have to be taught a lesson." Robin realised what he meant; no... surely he wouldn't shoot them anyway... would he? "Then you will give that lesson to me, I'm the one who should be punished. Please, leave them alone, let them go!" "And what if I say no?" "Please, shoot me if you have to, but leave them alone! They haven't done anything!" "Funny," Björkman laughed, "You can't stop me no matter how much you try, you see Robin, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I've had them all shot already, this is just a video recording." "No..." Robin yelled, "No, you're lying!" "You see Robin, I got very tired of waiting for you after the final of Melodifestivalen, so very, very tired. Me and my robots, well, we just got a little trigger happy... sure was fun shooting them though. It was a real massacre." "Please Björkman, you've made your point... you really scared me, I've learned my lesson, now let them go!" "I already told you, or are you as deaf as you are stupid," Björkman hissed, "There's nothing to let go, they're already dead." Björkman then turned to the TV screen. "Ah," he laughed, "I do believe we're coming up to my favourite part! The shooting scene!" On the TV, Björkman stepped into the room. "We've waited long enough," Björkman said, "Time to teach the revolutionaries a lesson they'll never forget! Robots, shoot them!" The robots fired their laser beams at the contestants. Robin watched in horror as the Swedes fell down like dominos, then Björkman switched the video off, laughing. "How... why..." Robin began. "Can't believe you fell for that old load of rubbish back at MF, Robin," Björkman laughed again, "Oh Robin, Sweden needs you! I'll forgive you, Robin! Yeah, right." "How could you do that to them!?" Robin screamed. "Oh please Robin, they were expendable! How much do you think the world really needs 'Cookies 'N Beanz'? Army of Lovers? Sweden doesn't need them! Sweden needs more people like me! I've done Sweden a huge favour tonight! I've done the whole world a huge favour!" "You're pure evil!" Robin screamed, "How could you?!" Suddenly, two robots walked through the open door and grabbed Robin. "Wha-?" "Robin Stjernberg, I am arresting you on suspicion of treason," Björkman smirked, "Your revolutionary acts have come to an end once and for all." "There's other people who will take my place," Robin snarled, "Other people to fulfil the revolution and take you down!" "So misguided!" Björkman laughed, "They really did a number on you, didn't they?" "Don't think we'll ever forget what you did here tonight. You, Christer Björkman, are a tyrant and a war criminal. Sweden will never forgive you for this." "Now now now," Björkman was clearly enjoying himself, "That's not the kind of talk our future Eurovision entrant should be giving, is it? Certainly not, but don't worry, I'll fix that. You'll be a good little pet for me." "I'll never do anything for you!" "Oh, yes you will, Robin. You'll be mine soon enough," Björkman said, "We'll fix your poisoned mind. I'll re-educate you, you'll be a good little servant by the time I'm through with you." "I will never be subservient to you! You're a monster!" "That's what they all say at first," Björkman smiled, "That's what they all say, but you just wait until May..." "I'll never do anything for you after what I've just seen. You're irredeemable." "Suit yourself," Björkman said, "You'll see, in time. Now then, I just need to go and fetch Loreen and then my little party is complete..." "No!" Robin yelled, "You leave her alone!" "I can't leave her alone, as last year's winner she has to be at this year's Eurovision." "She didn't really win, even she knows that-" "Silence! Fool! I will get her. Now, robots, take Robin away to jail, where he belongs!" And so Robin was dragged off, to be the only prisoner at Björkman's Gulag. --- Robin was dragged to his cell by one of Björkman's robots. The cell door slammed shut behind him. "Prisoner #1," the robot said, "You are in jail, for crimes against Björkman and the Empire." Prisoner #1. Robin shuddered, he really was the first prisoner that Björkman had ever taken. It was then that he realised Björkman takes no prisoners. He was the rare exception to the rule. --- The next day the video of Björkman's robots shooting the semi-finalists was leaked to the media. It was Björkman himself who did the leaking, wanting to show the rest of the world what would happen to them if they messed with him or his empire. In Norway, the finalists in the hotel watched on in shock. Everyone was horrified. Björkman had really outdone himself this time. The world was sickened yet again by the actions of the despotic dictator. "He shot them?!" Loreen screamed, "He shot them!?!?!" "Oh my god," Yohio yelled, "Why?!?! Why do this?!?" Some of them started screaming, crying. It was truly awful. They knew Björkman was bad, but none of them had expected this. "I... I need to go outside for a moment," Loreen sobbed. "I'll come with you," Louise said, "I think I need to get out of here for a bit too." "Thanks," Loreen whispered as the two of them went outside. And so the two of them stood outside the hotel. Birds were singing in the trees, flowers sprouting from the ground, but it was not a happy day. They hadn't truly been happy since the day Björkman took over Sweden and transformed it from a peace loving liberal society into a violent military dictatorship, virtually overnight. "I can't believe he shot the semi finalists!" Loreen screamed, "How could he?!" "He's pure evil," Louise said sadly, "Only a monster would do something like this." "And now we don't know where Robin is," Loreen yelled, "Björkman's probably had him shot too!" "Ah," came a robotic voice from behind them, taking them both by surprise, "Loreen, just the one I've been waiting for. Björkman wants to have a word with you..." Somehow, a robot had teleported behind them with neither of them realising it. The robot flew out and grabbed Loreen. "No!" Louise yelled, as the robot teleported away, "Let her go!" --- Louise ran back into the hotel. "A robot has kidnapped Loreen!!!" she yelled. "What?!" Yohio shouted, "How?!" "A robot came and teleported her away, oh god, she's probably back in Björkman's Empire now..." "This is horrible news," Ulrik said, "Just when I thought he couldn't sink any lower." "Well, this just shows that we all need to be more careful," Tommy said. "You only think about yourself, don't you?" Yohio said, annoyed, "What about Loreen? How are we going to get her back?" "We can't," Anton said. "It's hopeless," Ralf said, looking down at the floor, "We'll probably never get Loreen back now..." --- Loreen appeared with the robot, in the very same room of the royal palace that Robin had done. Björkman laughed. "Let go of me right now!" Loreen yelled, "Get off me!" "Oh Loreen, little Loreen," Björkman grinned, "You know it's hopeless, why do you still fight?" "It's not hopeless! You've shown your true colours to the whole world. And the world will never forgive you for what you've done! You truly are evil! Pure evil!" Loreen kicked at the robot that was holding her. "Tut tut Loreen," Björkman said, "You always were such a stickler for outdated concepts... 'democracy', 'liberty', 'rights'. What have the people of Sweden done to deserve such kindness? Nothing, that's what. Humanity was made to be ruled! Too bad you don't understand. And such a pretty voice you have too, what a waste it is going to someone like you. Such a shame." "Sweden will be free one day," Loreen yelled, "Sweden will be free when we get rid of you!" "Boring," Björkman laughed, "Now then, we're going to teach you to be a good little singer and only answer when spoken too. No opinions, none of that revolution rubbish, you're going to sing in the Eurovision final, and I'm going to make you do it." "I'll never-" Loreen began, before the robot started to pull her away. "Yes yes, that's it, goodbye my little songbird," Björkman grinned, "You'll be a good little canary soon, and sing only for me. I'll make sure of that." --- "Prisoner #2," the robot said, tossing Loreen into Robin's jail cell, "You are in jail, for crimes against Björkman and the Empire." "Loreen?!" Robin yelled in shock as the door slammed. "Robin!" Loreen yelled, "You're alive!" "Y-yeah," Robin said, "Some others haven't been so lucky..." "We know about that, he shot the semi-finalists! We couldn't believe it! Oh god, and we thought Björkman had shot you too," Loreen went over and hugged Robin. "I thought he would for a moment too. Loreen we've got to do something. Sweden can't go on like this." "The world won't be at peace until Björkman is removed," Loreen said, "We will all play our part, come May, in taking down this brutal and ridiculous regime." "We have to," Robin said, "We have to make him pay for what he's done to this country." --- The Melodifestivalen Revolution, as it came to be known, while great news for the rest of the world, made Björkman furious. It was the second time his rule had been seriously threatened in the last few months, and opponents of his regime began to become more vocal. Martin had escaped from the semi-final massacre and told the world about what he had seen. Norway was disgusted, a country that was once their greatest ally was now a shell of its former self. Other countries began to voice their concerns about Björkman's nuclear programme, aimed at making the already existing nuclear bombs have a larger blast radius. The United Kingdom was looking at introducing a 'strike-first' policy, where they would launch a pre-emptitive strike at the Swedish Empire, but they had worked out that there was no way to destroy all of Sweden's nukes before they themselves were nuked. The policy was abandoned. Björkman's Empire could be wiped out but the country doing the wiping would too be wiped out. Of course, no country was willing to make the sacrifice. And so Björkman's Empire stayed, growing more and more powerful everyday, and there seemed to be nothing anyone could do to stop it. From their jail cell in Stockholm there wasn't a lot Loreen and Robin could do. They could talk about revolution, but it remained a pure fantasy. And yet, it was this hope that the whole world, even in it's darkest hour, clung to. No matter how ridiculous, no matter how silly it seemed, people could still hope for a better future. In a world with the constant looming threat of nuclear war, that hope never faded. The End.

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