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#I always look around for designs others have made as well as various other designs that already exist within the source material--
hollowsart · 10 months
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is it practical in combat? no.
does it look sick and cool as heck? yes.
can I draw this again with relative ease? yes.
those are my Spider-Man villain design rules.
if all the characters look prepared for militaristic combat then what is the point? there's no pizzazz, no flair, no FLAVOR. :(
gotta make the characters look COOL. make them REALLY fit their overall aesthetic and theming!!
this goes for like.. any other superhero type of media, too.
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hitomisuzuya · 4 months
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Would you be able to write about sugar daddy Scaramouche that just buying us anything we want, no smut just fluff. Thanks :)
Scaramouche x fem!reader. Fluffy fluff fluff❤️
I really enjoyed writing this. *I once bought a cute, stuffed purple Hippo from the Hallmark store.
The way Scaramouche saw it, he could spend his money on whatever he wanted. And what he wanted to spend it on was you. He enjoyed spending it on you.
You clung to him in a way that validated him. You were patient, kind, and loving. All things he not only wasn't used to, but didn't know they existed all that much until he met you.
There was something entirely adorable about the way you waffled about wanting to ask him for something. You would fidget with your fingers, look at him and look away shyly back at whatever it was you wanted.
In this case, it was a cute stuffed animal you saw in a shop that primarily made greeting cards*.
"What? What does my sweet girl want?" Scaramouche couldn't help but ask, stroking a hand down your hair. The shy blush that dusted your cheeks made you look twice as cute. He raised an eyebrow as you looked up at him.
"Well I.." You begin, looking at the stuffed animal the window again for a moment.
Scaramouche sighed, but not in an annoyed way. It felt like you were afraid he was gonna say no if you asked him for it. Didn't you know by now that whatever you wanted, you got? No matter what it is was.
You already had about four other bags with various things in them (which he insisted on carrying even though you told him you could carry them).
"Hm? What is it?" He ran his fingers through your hair. Scaramouche already knew what it was, he just wanted to say it.
"That stuffed dinosaur is just so cute. Especially the purple one," You smiled at the stuffed dinosaur with the long neck. It had quite possibly the derpest, googly-eyed expression he'd ever seen on a stuffed animal.
But it made you smile and you wanted it. So it was yours.
"They have them in two different colors. Do you want both?" Scaramouche asked, putting an arm around your waist as you walked with him in the store.
You shook your head, nuzzling your cheek against his chest. "No, just the purple one. But the blue is also really cute," You reached out a tapped your finger on the nose of the winged, blue stuffed dinosaur.
Needless to say, you walked out of the store with both of them.
"We have one more stop to make before we head home," Scaramouche said, watching you hug the blue stuffed dinosaur to your chest as he reached for your hand. He didn't want to make you let go of the dinosaur, so he opted for his arm around you, his hand tucked into your back pocket of your pants while you walked.
"I had a ring custom made for you. That ring you said you like the last time were there but you thought the diamonds were too big," He said to which you nodded and waited for him to continue, "I had them take the design of the ring and make one with smaller diamonds in it."
"Scara, oh my god, wasn't that expensive?" It was adorable the way you were fretting about the cost. The eyes of the jeweler had nearly popped out of his head when Scaramouche had paid in full instead of installments like most people would.
For you, it was always, without fail worth it.
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oakgreenoak · 2 months
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Something I've always found kinda interesting about Red and Green in gameverse is how they turn some of the Stock Shōnen Protagonist/Rival tropes on their heads.
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This is really long character analysis of these two and various media counterparts of theirs, so I'm gonna stick it under a cut.
In some ways they fit their roles quite well - aside from the obvious colour associations, you have Red as the hero whose sense of justice is stronger than his sense of self-preservation, and you have Green as the privileged rival who cares about beating Red above all else.
But, if you look at it another way - Green's got the light spiky hair, the hot-headed and boisterous personality, the drive to Get Better And Win. He's designed to read as really open and chipper, yet snarky. Sure, he isn't dumb, but he's arrogant, and he's got something of a one-track mind; the guy finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation because he's just that hellbent on fighting his rival, and does not seem to be thinking about anything else. He's also got a motivation - given how the Professor talks to him in the championship room and supplementary material like his Generations appearance, it's not a stretch to think the reason he's so driven to Get Better And Win is to prove himself to his grandfather. It's shown in later games and supplementary works that he's become somewhat of a mentor as he got older and wiser.
Red, on the other hand, is a quiet loner whose only motivation seems to be to get stronger for the sake of getting stronger. He's level-headed and dark haired, his cap rounding off his edges and obscuring his face. He's heroic, but not really sociable, as evidenced by the fact he spends the Johto games alone on a mountain without having told anyone where he went. He seems isolated in a way that later games' protagonists really don't. He may have always been a step behind Green, but he's always better.
Equally fascinating to me is how other adaptations have changed the base designs around and rewritten personalities to suit different purposes, while still being visually recognisable as counterparts to their game-selves.
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For example: Red and Green's counterparts in Special slot WAY more neatly into their stock shōnen roles, with Red as the boisterous hero and Green as the broody rival, and it's reflected in their new designs.
Red's hair becomes spiky to reflect his more excitable nature. His hat, in turn, never obscures his face; it's always either tilted back to accommodate his fringe or turned backwards. Green's hair, on the other hand, is not quite as spiked upwards and instead falls into his face, frequently obscuring his far eye in the same way game!Red's hat does.
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And then, of course, the anime balanced them in a totally different direction.
Instead of scrapping Green's personality wholecloth, it's become exaggerated in Gary. He's not the broody antihero rival, he's the arrogant, privileged, better-than-you rival. He's always ten steps ahead of Ash, always pisses him off, and is ALWAYS better until the end of his run. The anime also emphasises his intelligence far more, with him doing things like rattling off dex info and the speed of light in mph off the top of his head, to further contrast him with Ash.
Ash, who is of course THE shōnen protagonist. He's dumb, but determined, and always ready to help people in need. Unlike game!Red, the power of friendship (with more than just pokémon) is central to him; any given season of the show is defined as much if not moreso by his travelling companions and interpersonal relationships as it is by whatever he's actually doing.
It's funny to me, though, how most adaptations seem to find the fact that gameverse Red and Green have swapped some stock roles as something to fix. Even Origins, which is probably the closest a high-profile adaption has come to game-accurate, made its version of Red louder and more standard-hero-esque.
I'm not knocking any of these things, of course, just observing. I adore both Special and anipoke. I just think that the way the game characters are written could lead to some interesting dynamics were it to be explored more.
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zelphin124 · 6 months
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Killer x Y/N short story
One of the few short stories I will be writing. Requested by the wonderful @itsxroxannex as her honorable mention prize.
I do write commissions and short stories! Do you want a story? I can work with a small price (:
I'm using an image from Bing Image Creator to help the readers visualize where they are at and who they are talking to. It's for visual purposes only, and I do not claim it.
Enjoy the story!
~o0o~
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The light from the sun bouncing off the rock hallways started to fade as the moon rose. The dripping from the ceiling had stopped, and monsters and humans started filling the tavern. It was supposed to be very busy tonight.
The tavern was underground, just below the surface life. Dartboards hung across the walls on various barrels. Small candles were lit beside them, either hanging from the ceiling or resting on uniquely carved tables. Carpets were strung across the floor, filled with old designs and symbols that the humans didn't understand, and the monsters refused to explain.
The bar itself looked like any other bar, but the counters were carved into the rocks and the drinks were stored within the earth. The tables were made from woven branches, and the chairs were also made from scattered parts of trees that were no longer needed elsewhere.
You weren't much for drinking. You had only come to the bar to talk with your friend, Shiro. Shiro ran the place during slow hours. Now that the night rush was coming, his co-workers came in to help him run the shift. He wouldn't have much time to talk anymore.
You started to pack your computer, flinging your bag over your shoulder. Shiro had told you of the many tales and tragedies that happen during the night rush, and you didn't want to stick around to become one of them.
"Leaving so soon?" Shiro asked as he wiped the table where you just sat. His baggy white hair fell over his face, and he smiled softly.
"You know how I am with crowds," you responded, hoping he would get the hint.
He didn't. "Well, surely it shouldn't be that busy tonight-"
He was cut off as three skeletons walked down the entrance stairs. It was apparent that they were some sort of gang, as they all wore the same-colored jacket, pants, and shoes. Each of them stood proudly as everyone went silent.
The tallest one had a large hole in his head, and his left eye was huge. It glowed red and barely made any movement when he looked around. He hunched over and had a large ax on his back. He never stopped smiling, which left an unhinged feeling in everyone who saw it.
The shortest one wore a hood over his head. His eyes glowed red, and one of them had a purple and blue tint to it. Unlike his tall counterpart, he never smiled. He glared at everyone who even dared to look at him. Monster ash covered his clothes, sparking fear in all who noticed.
The third one seemed the most normal of the group. His smile was contagious, and his extroverted personality always drew attention to him. Big black stripes dripped from his void eyes down to his neck. His coat was fluffier than the rest, and his soul wasn't hidden. It hung in front of his chest like a big red target. He twirled a knife in his hand before resting it by his side.
The Murder Time Trio, you recalled. You recognized each of their faces from wanted posters across the town. Working under Nightmare, they worked to harvest negativity.
The Star Sanses - rulers of this AU amongst many others - wanted to bring them to justice, but with all of the Sanses abilities to travel alternate universes, they were hard to track down.
You couldn't buy into the fact there were other worlds than your own. The only reason you believed it was the evidence before you; multiple versions of the same person taking different paths.
Shiro glanced over as the tavern filled with noise and music again. He rolled his eyes, grabbing a notepad and pen before walking over to the table they sat at.
The dart games began. Multiple people threw darts across the room to the targets. According to Shiro, this was how all the drama started. Someone would think a shot was unfair, and a fight would break out.
Deciding it wasn't the best idea to stay any longer, you weave through the crowd of monsters and humans trying to get to the bar to drink. You glanced at the table where the trio sat as they talked with Shiro. You pray they don't do anything to your friend.
As you stood between the dart targets, waiting for the round to be over, you eavesdrop on Shiro's conversation. He seemed bored, surprisingly.
"I'll have a margarita," the striped face one said.
"A big beer, please," Horror lowered his head.
"Think you can handle one of those again, Horror?" The striped face asked.
Horror didn't answer him. He waved his hand in dismissal to Shiro as he looked at the menu.
"I see," Shiro scribbled down the orders on his paper. "And for you, Dust?"
"Nothing," the hooded skeleton replied. "Someone has to be sober when Killer isn't."
"Hey, I would do just fine," Killer smirked. "I don't see you..."
The conversation faded out of hearing as shouts echoed across the tavern. Glancing behind you, you see a human and a monster arguing about who hit the target first as they shot their darts at the same time. The shouts almost frightened you, and you didn't think before stepping forward. Your goal was to get away from the chaos before more violence broke out. Maybe you shouldn't have come here, maybe it was a bad idea after all.
A dart flew towards your face.
You didn't have time to react before you were pulled off your feet, resting in the mercy of someone's arms as he caught the dart. "Woah darling, careful there," he sighed, his head turning toward the people who threw it.
You realize the man, or the skeleton that saved your head was Killer. His grip was firm around your waist from when he had pulled you away from the weapon. He dropped the dart and continued to glare at the monster that had thrown it.
The people playing the particular dart game went dead silent, all pointing to the person who threw the dart. He didn't seem to care. "Oh, come on, she walked in front of it! It's not my fault!"
"Pay attention to your surroundings more, mm?" Killer smirked, tilting his head. He turned towards you before the others could reply. "You too, cutie," he smirked, poking your nose. "Gotta be careful in places like these~"
His grip on your waist loosened as you backed up. A blush painted your face as you stared up at him. As your blush increased, so did his smile, making you blush more. The blood rushed to your face as you tried to cover your cheeks with your favorite-colored scarf.
"Do you seriously have to flirt with everyone you see, Killer?" Dust snapped, opening a deck of cards and flushing them across the table.
"Look at them, they're pretty!" Killer replied. "I didn't want them to get scratched by a silly dart!"
"Then they shouldn't be in a place like this," Horror rolled his eyes, glancing at the deck of cards Dust had started dealing.
Instant guilt washed over you. You didn't mean to cause any trouble, and Shiro was nowhere in sight to defend you. You gesture to Killer, thanking him for saving you before telling him you'll leave to not cause any more trouble.
Killer looked you up and down, smiling as his eyes made their way back to your face. "What's your name, Hun?" He smirks slyly.
You tell him your name, scratching your head in the process. One of the most wanted men in the multiverse was talking to you. In fact, he smiled when he looked at you. How could this be?
"Y/N, what a beautiful name," Killer takes a step closer to you, extending his hand. "You plan to get on out of here? I can make sure you get home safely."
You open your mouth to accept the offer but hesitate. He, along with his friends, were mass killers. It was obvious by the dust and blood across their clothes. Was he going to kill you? You had no idea.
If he was, then why would he go out of his way to pull you away from an incoming dart?
"Killer, you play or not?" Horror asked, interrupting your thoughts.
"Not now," Killer didn't take his eyes off you. "I wish to walk this lovely human home."
"Oh, can I come?" Horror smirked, his hand reaching for his ax.
Dust slapped his hand. "Not that kind of walk home," Dust rolled his eyes. "Look at him! His soul his turning into a heart! Pathetic, really."
Dust wasn't lying. Killer's soul had taken the form of an upside-down heart momentarily. You tilt your head in curiosity, surely that was a good sign.
"Hey!" The monster that had thrown the dart earlier shouted. "You broke my dart with your disgusting fingers!"
Killer raised his eyebrows as he shrugged. "Oops."
"That dart cost me hundreds of G!" He growled. "You're gonna pay for that!"
You felt Killer's hands run along your shoulders. "Time to go~" he whispered behind you.
As the monster tumbled near, he suddenly faded from sight. Everything vaporized into stripes as the underground tavern disappeared and was quickly replaced with the cool breeze of the surface.
The moon glimmered in the sky next to the stars as it shined down on the slightly paved street. There were no streetlights, but you could see the village in the distance. Fireflies glittered the sky along with the stars. There were a few trees and a river to cross, and the bridge over the river linked the road.
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"Whew, that was close," Killer chuckled, letting go of you. He walked over to your side and smirked down at you. "Don't worry, he won't catch us now."
"Thank you," you sighed with a smile before walking toward the village.
Killer started to follow you. "Hey, I know we like, just met, right? This is a little crazy," he glanced down at the ground as he caught up to you. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and he couldn't stop smiling. "But can I get your number?"
You widened your eyes, surprised. He really wanted your number after two minutes. Surely that couldn't be... This couldn't be happening, right? Wasn't that a red flag of some sort, and you, out of all people? You didn't see why someone as famous and as brave as him would pay attention-
You snapped back into reality, realizing that you had given him your phone, and he was already punching in his own number.
"Thanks, doll," Killer smiled to himself. "I didn't expect you to actually say yes. I'll fulfill my promise; let's get you home safely."
How the- you paused, unable to comprehend what just happened.
Despite the darkness and eerie noises surrounding you, you felt at peace. You couldn't help but wonder if that was because a skilled killer was by your side, ready to defend you if anything came your way. He made that clear with his actions at the tavern.
It didn't take long for Killer to start a conversation. He asked many questions and answered any questions you had. He often would laugh, smile, and tease you in such a way that made the butterflies in your stomach squirm. He was very charming, flirtatious, and unique. You couldn't recall if you met anyone like him.
And you liked that.
He was so different from everyone else that you had met, treated you well, and it was so easy to be yourself around him. He brought out a side of you that you thought died a long time ago. That side that made you feel... wild and free.
"Look look look," Killer begged, running off the path toward a lake. He picked up a rock and threw it across the water's surface. It must have skipped a hundred times before it plunged into the depths below. He picked up another one and did the same thing. "It's perfect water to skip the rocks on!"
You join his side and sit on a boulder nearby, watching him skip rocks as he continues to tell you about the first time won a card game, which you learned wasn't very often due to Dust having a special connection with cards.
"The look on his face when I won, hah! Priceless! Should've known better to have challenged me!"
You asked him if he had won the next two games after that.
"Uh, no, but that's not the point silly!" He smiled, heaving a great sigh as he looked up at the stars. He closed his eyes, letting the wind blow across his face as the ripples on the lake settled. The moon complimented his face and made him seem so peaceful and innocent. It highlighted his chest and showed the two small eyes that he had hidden within his skull.
You commented how he looks great in the moonlight. When he asked you how so, you got up and pointed out the various places the moonlight shined on him, and how it made him look so handsome.
"Tch, you're sweet," Killer snickered, brushing the hair out of your face. "But the moonlight on me is better on you."
Before you could recover from the sudden blush, he continued. "Have you ever skipped a stone across the water?"
As you shook your head, Killer frowned. He turned you around to face the lake and picked a stone up from the ground, admiring it in the moonlight. "Here, I'll teach you darling." He placed the stone in your hand and gestured that you try.
You tossed the rock into the water, it sunk in front of you.
"Heh, not like that." Killer came up from behind you and grabbed your wrists gently. "Here, let me guide you."
For the next thirty minutes, Killer moved your wrists in the correct motion. He gave tips on what to do with your fingers when you release the rock. You would have gotten it much sooner if you weren't so distracted by his sweet breath brushing against your cheek.
As you threw your hundredth stone, it skipped across the water more times than you can count. Joy filled your face, and your smile only increased when you heard Killer congratulate you.
"That was awesome!" He gleamed, running his hand along his skull. He quickly picked up a stone and skipped it across the water to catch up with yours. "Fast learner, eh?"
Before you could reply, Killer came up to you and embraced you. His hug was so snug, you felt safe in his arms. You wrap your arms around his back as the tension in your body flees. He was so warm, and he held you so tight... you didn't want to leave his arms.
Alas, it didn't last for long. Killer smiled and took your hand, guiding you up back to the path. "Alright, it's best I get you home, cutie," he smiled slyly. "The boys are probably wondering where I am."
You were closer to your home than you thought, to your dismay. Killer stood close to you, putting his hood over his skull to hide his face from the town as they turned down the street to your house. You almost had forgotten that he was a wanted killer with how enjoyable your time was with him. Surely, he wasn't all everyone said he was... he was so nice to you.
"Lovely house you have, I'll have to visit you sometime," Killer commented, smiling his usual charming smile as you approached the door. "Y/N, it was fun getting to know you, I'll call ya, alright? You're too pretty to say goodbye to, anyway."
You invited him to stay and watch a movie, but he declined.
"Nah, I'm sure Dust and Horror would be suspicious... besides, I cannot stay in the town for long unless I want Nightmare mad..." He took a few steps toward you until he was inches away from your face. He continued to smile as he took your hand. "However," he paused. He lifted your hand up to his face and kissed it gently. Once he met your eyes again, he smirked softly again. "I'm sure I could make an exception for you another night."
You didn't know how much more of his teasing you could take as your face turned red. You held your hand as if it was made of diamonds.
"Heh, you're so cute," Killer backed up into the street. "See ya later, Y/N."
You barely waved in time before he vanished from sight.
You couldn't stop thinking about him for the rest of the night. He treated you kindly, and his jokes were so funny... you longed for his company, despite his reputation. How long had it been since the tavern? A couple of hours? Were all monsters like this? Maybe there was a special thing about monsters where you grew attached quicker than another human. As if they understood the value of another living being and had a way to make another feel at ease around them. You tried to figure it out as you winded down for the night.
Maybe they were masters at this feeling that you felt: love.
Or maybe Killer was just special like that.
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reidsgirly · 6 months
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invisible string.
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pairing ! - spencer reid x fem!baker!reader
synopsis ! - spencer likes you, but can’t make the first move to save his life. so it’s up to you now, isn’t it?
word count ! - 1.2k
cw ! - prob inaccurate descriptions of a bakery, no use of y/n, readers bakery is called cake n’ cookies cause why not
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It all started when Garcia came in with a dozen doughnuts from a bakery the team had never heard of. Spencer thought they were the best doughnuts he’d had in his entire life.
“Garcia,” Spencer started, “where’d you get these from? These are amazing.”
“Oh my gosh! I’m so glad you asked!” she gushed. “This bakery that just opened down the street and their doughnuts are obviously amazing! I’m obsessed with their Frappuccinos, you should really try them sometime! Or maybe just get some coffee cause’ you’re boring ol’ Spencer”
He kept the bakery in the back of his mind for a later time.
Two weeks later, he found himself standing inside the very same bakery Garcia spoke so highly of. 
At the sound of the bell chiming, you come running out of the kitchen, with your hair tied up in a high ponytail. You had on a white and blue floral apron, splotches of flour all across it. Spencer thought you were one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, and even that was an understatement.
“Hi.” you greet him. “What can I get you today?”
“Uh, can I get a chocolate frosted doughnut with sprinkles?” God, he was awkward with the simplest of requests.
“Would that be all for you, sir?”
“Yeah, thank you.” he smiled. Spencer Reid smiles. Not the awkward, forced smile he does, but a genuine smile. He smiles at the woman giving him a doughnut.
“Of course! I’ll be right back with that.” you responded, your face painted with glee.
As he waited, Spencer had nothing better to do than look around at the various cupcakes, cakes, and other pastries you had displayed around your store. The plants you had dotted around. The tiny tables with even tinier chairs. 
He found this place to be adorable.
After five minutes, you skipped back into view with his doughnut in a tiny white box, with a pretty pink ribbon tied around it.
“That’ll be $2.32!” you smiled at him, again. That damn smile. 
Spencer gave you the designated amount while still smiling, grabbed his box, and before he could make his way out, you spoke out to him.
“Have a great day, sir!” you smiled at Spencer for the third time that day. 
“You too.” Spencer waved at you before he made his departure.
He walked into work with a bigger smile than usual that day.
“What’s got you all happy?” Garcia questioned him upon seeing the unusually large grin on his face.
Before Spencer could even respond, she cut him off. 
“Oh my god! You went to cake n’ cookies and didn’t get me anything? How could I possibly forgive you? But enough about me, you’ve seen the lovely lady working there, right? She’s so sweet and pretty and she knows my name!” she raved on about the bakery.
“Alright sweetheart, give the boy wonder a break.” Morgan stepped in (admittedly saving Spencer from Garcias’ ranting.)
“He went to cake n’ cookies without me! How can I possibly give him a break?” Garcia whined, dramatic as she always is.
Spencer made his way to his desk, all while thinking about what Garcia said about you. Well, you were a pretty woman, but he certainly didn’t have any time for romantic affairs on the side. 
But he could make time, couldn’t he?
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The second time Spencer found himself in your bakery was to buy his mother a strawberry doughnut.
He assumed she’d like the place as much as he did, and he wanted her to try it at least once.  
“Hello again!” you greet Spencer. “What is it today, sir?” He was slightly surprised that you remembered his face, even though it’s been a couple of months since he last visited your bakery. 
You had your hair tied in the same ponytail as last time, only this time your floral apron was clean. It wasn’t that much of a difference, but Spencer noticed it.
“Can I get a strawberry frost doughnut?”
“Ooh, that’s new. Of course! I’ll be right back with that!”
You disappeared into your kitchen, allowing Spencer to look around your bakery for the second time. 
This time, he noticed how your tables and chairs were now decorated with lace and the candles and teapots and teacups you had lined on the shelf behind the counter were new.
He also noticed the plants you have lined up outside, just on both sides of the entrance. 
Spencer is so entranced in all the latest decorations of your bakery, that he barely notices you return with his treats. 
You skipped out with his doughnut in your iconic white box and pink frilly ribbon.
“That’ll be $2.92!” you smiled at him like you did the last time he was here. You caught him off guard but in the best way possible.
He gave you the designated amount once again, and took his box, all while smiling at you. 
“Have a great day sir! See you soon!” you exclaimed.
“You too.” he said cheerfully and waved as he did the last time. 
Spencer knew he’d be coming back soon, maybe too soon for his liking. 
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The third time Spencer finds himself in your bakery is to buy Garcia a dozen for her birthday. He knew how much she adored your bakery and couldn’t think of a better gift than a dozen sugary sweets for her. 
This time around, you had a few more customers than the previous two times he’d come here. It wasn’t odd, but it didn’t feel normal. 
“Hey handsome,” you greeted him, handsome was new. A good new. “what can I get you today?”
“Can I get a dozen chocolate rainbow doughnuts?”
“Fun. What’s the occasion?” you questioned him again while writing down his order. 
“A friend’s birthday.” Now he was the one smiling at you, once again.
“Fancy, coming right up with that!”
This time after you disappear into your kitchen, Spencer doesn’t take a look around. Instead, he nervously taps his foot while waiting for you to come back. 
You skip out as you always do, and Spencer is already digging through his wallet for his money before you can even tell him his amount. He wanted to get to Garcia as soon as possible to celebrate with her as she did for him.
“It’ll be $6.27 today!”
He hands you the money silently, and quickly gets his dozen to give Garcia.
“Oh, and tell your friend I said happy birthday!” you say to him on his way out, and he can’t help the way his heart swells and the small gesture. You didn’t even know his friend and you were wishing her a happy birthday. Yeah, it was common courtesy but it just felt different coming from you. 
“I will. Have a good one.”
“You too!” is the last thing he hears your overly-enthusiastic voice say to him before he leaves. 
After he makes it to the office, sets down the box, and opens it for inspection, he notices a little note tucked in the corner of the box.
Call me sometime, handsome.
xxx-xxx-xxxx
+ BONUS
“What’s got you all smiley, genius?” Morgan questions. 
“The lady from the bakery gave me her number.” he responds, half shocked and half amused. 
“My man,” Morgan pats him on the shoulder, “finally getting some play.”
“What happened?” JJ asked as she came from the kitchen, Garcia following suit. 
“Boy wonder finally got a girls number.”
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cheonstapes · 8 months
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jjk men star in... 'IF YOU SEEK AMY' ( ˘ ɜ˘) ♬♪♫
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a/n ~ i was listening to if you seek amy on repeat yesterday and was like omg what if i wrote abt that! music is my biggest inspo and i thought jjk guys would go best w this song~
summary; the men of jujutsu kaisen with a pretty, little, popstar.
wc; 1.2k+
pairings; various jjk men x fem!popstar!reader
cw; suggestive, descriptions of sex, oral sex, obsessive behaviour, reader getting harassed, hating, toji beats someone up for you💗, dirty gojo, NANAMIN!!!!, jjk men being supportive, reader is basically beyonce reincarnated, nawt proofread - been writing this all day
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gojo as - the boyfriend
even if gojo was a hotshot sorcerer, constantly on the move, he always found time to admire his pretty little pop star girlfriend. front row tickets to all of your concerts, being the first one to buy your albums despite the fact that you always give him a copy way before it drops - he even had a hand in designing your merch, who knew your boyfriend was such a creative. he even has a fan account for you, with almost half a million followers, posting never before seen pics of you, cute ones of course - ones he’s taken of you. you don’t know about it, you don’t need to.  you especially don’t need to know about his other account, the one where he writes the filthiest stories about you. graphic descriptions about how well he would fuck you, how beautiful your body would look underneath him, the angelic moans you’d let out when he’d touch your gorgeous pussy. they’re all true, though, he is your boyfriend after all. people can write all the stories about you they want, but none of them truly know your body as well as gojo does.
nanami as - the manager
your manager, nanami, was pissed. pacing around his large office, growling down his phone at the poor lawyer on the other end - occasionally glancing at you as you sat quietly on the plush sofa, legs crossed as you scrolled through your phone. you weren’t happy though, scrolling through comments on your most recent posts. hate from insecure people who had nothing better to do with their lives was bearable - but now you had stalkers? these creepy ass guys who were constantly harassing you, threatening you, it was scary to say the least. you heard him slam the phone done onto the table, breathing slightly laboured in the midst of his anger. “i’ve dealt with those fuckers, they won’t bother you again sweetheart.” you smiled, it always calms him down whenever he sees your pretty smile. walking over to him, you hold his face in your hands, slowly leaning in to press a kiss on his soft lips, a hand running sensually down his broad chest over his dress shirt. “you always work so hard for me, babe. i think you deserve some lovin’ right now. just relax, ok?” having your man as your manager definitely comes with some perks, doesn’t it.
toji as - the bodyguard 
you loved attending events, getting to dress up with a team triple the size that you usually have was always such an experience. this time, the met gala was tomorrow and you couldn’t have been more excited. it was your third year in a row and each year your looks get better and better. this year, though? not even mystic meg could’ve predicted how utterly shit getting ready this year could’ve been. your dress, specially made for you by iris van herpen, was in ruins. they clearly didn’t do background checks on the people they had in your crew because he definitely wouldn’t have made it through in that case. a cute little intern, constantly singing praises of you, to your face at least. but he was plotting - coincidentally being placed in charge of taking care of your dress, and coincidentally blaming the heat gun for looking a little too much like a steamer. you were livid, and toji, your bodyguard, hated seeing you upset. he swore a zero tolerance policy for anyone who fucks with his little pop star, and that intern found out the hard way. you knew toji had some…unorthodox ways of dealing with things - not even phased when he comes back to you with dried blood staining his knuckles. only offering you a sexy grin and his arm, walking you back to the car to go pick up your new dress - “can’t wait to see what else they made ya princess, yer gonna be the most stunnin’ girl there.” 
geto as - the husband
geto made it very clear how much he hated going to these shows. he was only there for you, ignoring all the interviewers unless you were right there beside him, rejecting people left and right cause can they not see the goddess clinging onto his arm? but he did have to admit, he was a little excited this time around. a lot, actually, but if you knew that - he’d be at every award show from here on out. you’d been nominated for a grammy, artist of the year, and he was so, so proud of you. he held your hand tightly as they read out the nominees, thumb running along your knuckles. you always bite your lip when you were nervous, leg slightly jittery too, he couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t nervous too. the announcer pulled out the card, pausing for dramatic effect, before reading out - “and the grammy goes to…y/n! congratulations!” geto’s eyes widen as screams erupted from the crowd, standing up as he smiles brightly at you, kissing you deeply. your celebrity friends congratulating you as you walked passed, making sure to drag geto on stage with you as you made your speech. he knew you would win, obviously, that’s why he was so prepared. booking the most extravagant restaurant he could find, choosing a private room for the two of you to dine alone - and so no one disturbed you both when he was showing you just how proud of you he really was.
choso as - the fan
choso loved his job. working at the bar where celebs came to get absolutely wasted, he had so much shit to talk about after work. but what he didn’t expect was to see his favourite singer, you, actually walk in that night. it wasn’t a secret that choso was quite literally obsessed with you, always asking if anyone saw you at the bar when he wasn’t working, and if they did - get him an autograph or even a little shout out video. he would listen to your music on the way to work, scrolling through your instagram and taking screenshots of pics that could be potential new wallpapers. he thought you were the most beautiful thing on earth, even saving himself just in case he ever got a chance to be with you for even one night. wishes surely do come true, he couldn’t even find it in him to respond as he stared at your glossy lips, you were asking to buy a drink but he was only thinking about leaning over to bar and kissing you until you couldn’t breathe. “d-drink? oh, sorry, n-no problem!” he made a mental note of your drink, making sure it was the best you’ve ever had. he paused as you pulled out your card, stammering as he waved his hands frantically. “wait! it’s-it’s on the house. i’m a…i really like your music, it’s the least i can do.” you couldn’t help but giggle, he was cute, very cute. you didn’t point out that you can see your face on his home screen, only leaning across the bar to get closer. “you’re too sweet, but please, let me do something for you in return. it’s the least i can do.” he looks dumbfounded, opening and closing his mouth before saying, “j-just an autograph and a picture would do, if that’s ok.” 
he changed his wallpaper that same night, you on your knees slobbering over his virgin cock. he couldn’t wait to see you again, trailing a finger over the autograph you gave him, your number written right underneath. saving himself for you was so worth it.
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-haha hehe haha ho
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autumnslance · 2 months
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Benchmark Tech Notes
Running the Benchmark
If your Benchmark isn't opening, it's an issue with the executable file, and something not completing properly on either download, or extracting the Zip file. The Benchmark is designed to run and give you scores for your potato computer, I promise.
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I actually saved my Benchmark to my external drive, and it still pulls and saves data and runs as it should. Make sure you allowed the download to complete before extracting the zip.
Resolution
Check your Settings; in Display, it may be defaulting your monitor Resolution to something than you might otherwise use if you aren't on standard 1920x1080.
To check your monitor Resolution, minimize everything on your screen and right click anywhere on your Desktop. Go to Display Settings and scroll down to find Resolution and what it's set at.
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You can set the Graphic Settings 1 tab to Maximum, or to Import your game settings. Display Settings tab is where you set it to be Windowed, Bordered, or Full Screen, as well as select Resolution to match your monitor in the dropdown (or customize it if needed). I speak on Resolution as some folks in my FC noted it changed how their characters looked.
The Other tab in Settings is where you can change the text output, or even check a box to disable the logo and score; I do this on subsequent plays, once I have my scores at various settings, to get the clean screenshots.
@calico-heart has a post about fixing graphics settings, with screenshots of the settings tab. Basically, change graphics upscaling from AMD to NVIDIA, and/or uncheck Enable Dynamic Resolution. Also check the Framerate Threshold dropdown.
Screenshots
The benchmark auto-saves 5 screens each playthrough. In the Benchmark folder there is a Screenshots folder to find the auto-images taken of your characters.
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Character Appearance
If you want to get your current in game appearance, including non-standard hairstyles, make sure to load up the live game, right click and "Save Character Settings."
Then go to Documents/My Games/Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (this is the default in Windows 10 so mileage varies). The file will have the date you last updated their settings and be named FFXIV_CHARA_01.dat (or however many saves you have/made).
Grab those newly updated DAT files for your character(s) and copy them, then in the same base folder, go to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Benchmark).
Paste the copied DAT files in there, and rename to FFXIV_CHARA_BENCH01.dat (the number doesn't matter, and you may have more).
When running Benchmark Character Creation, use the dropdown menu.
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If you do Create a Custom Character and Load Appearance Data, it will give you default hairstyles again. Meteor's Dawntrail hairstyle is a new default.
In Char Gen I am finding that a very pale hrothgal reflects the green scenery around her, giving her white skin/fur a green tinge. The other zones do not have this problem, or at least not to the same degree.
They added a Midday vs Evening setting in outdoor areas as well to test lighting. The lighting in the Gridanian innroom is better; not as bright as outdoors, to be expected, but not completely useless.
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New voice type icons to clarifying the sounds you make.
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Remember we're getting a free fantasia with the expansion, so some tweaking may be needed; Iyna I felt like I needed to adjust her jaw. Other colors--skin, hair, eyes, tattoos, etc--are showing differently in the various kinds of lighting.
Uncertain if the limit on hairstyles for the Hrothgals so far is just a Benchmark thing; they do have set styles for different head options. Everyone gets Meteor's hair though, so it may be a temporary/Benchmark limit. But which clan and face you choose drastically alters what hair and facial feature options you have access to.
Check your settings, tweak them a bit, play around with chargen, and remember this is still a Benchmark; they always strike me as a little less polished than the finished game, but so far I'm actually pretty pleased with having defined fingers and toes, the irises in the eyes, scars looking cut into the skin, and other improvements.
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YEAHHH OC DESIGNS BABEY!!!!! OK SO LIKE THESE PPL ARE LIKE THE MAGIC COUNCIL AND ITS THEIR JOB TO GUIDE AND PROTECT THEIR PEOPLE YAYAY!!!!
(NOTE: I DID NOT MAKE KAZEMIS PATTERN I FOUND IT HERE)
Character lore and ramblings below!!
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ARKENAS MY BELOVED!!! Hes Filipino because i said so JKSDHDS
Hes wearing a zoot suit which is a suit originated from african americans and would become popular with italians, filipinos, mexicans etc AND LIKE ITS PERFFECT FOR ARKENAS Because this type of suits were typically worn by performers due to how its easy to move around in AND HE himself is a performer as hes a very well known magician and illusionist!
Hes more of a sillay guy always looking to entertain people, but his magical performances got so good that people were struggling discerning what was real or not, enough that he was was given the title of master!
He always tries to befriend Magnus but always kinda fails at it JKHDHSD
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Magnus!!! He wasnt always so serious and brooding, in fact, he was a slick playboy back in the days. But because of uhhh many plotlines and backstory that will take too long to explain hes always feels sad and empty despite not knowing why...😲
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IMOGEN MY BELOVED!!! She comes from Ireland!!
Shes known for her experimental ways of doing Alchemy, for not sticking to rules and regulations and doing whatever she wants, and in that way she had become the embodiment of alchemy in a way it is all about risky experimentation and she goes through with it because she likes the thrill!!
Because of this she had done many contributions to the field of Alchemy, despite being deemed "unproffesional" by others
She also likes to do flirty teasing with Valentina because she thinks its cute how she reacts and crumbles HEHE
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VALENTINA!!!!! ONE OF MY FAV DESIGNS IVE EVER MADE🥺 Im so happy with the way she looks!! She was initially gonna be the master of ALL the elements, but because her design turned out too look more Earthy and Firey, i only made her master of that!
She has like rich posh aristocracy vibes and owns various fashion businesses while also doing her duties as a magicia master! 🙏 SLAY
As for her design i really wanted to give of posh businesswoman whos also fashionable!
Lowkey has a crush on Imogen but is in denial <3 Valentina is also besties with Kazemi and they like to gossip all the drama over tea <3
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KAZEMI MY WIFE MY EVERYTHING I LOVE YOUUUUU AUGH Shes also one of my fav designs along with Valentina!! Shes also from Japan >:]
Ive actually done quite abit of research on her name AND KAZEMI IS LITERALLLY THE MOST PERFECT NAME BECAUSE IT MEANS WATER OR WIND WHICH IS WHERE SHES MASTER AT...,, AND TOMIKAWA MEANS RICHES AND ALSO RIVER OR STREAM AND LIKE IT RELATES TO HER BECAUSE SHES WORKED SO HARD TO GET TO HER POSITION AS SHE ALWAYS KNEW SHE WAS DESTINED FOR PROSPERITY AND WEALTH RAAAA but if anyone like actually knows more abt japanese names and thinks that the name could be improved PLEASE DONT HESITATE TO DM 🙏
But yes due to how she more on the polite and demure side and her magic being water and wind, shes more underestimated and seen as more 'weak' than the others. But just how the seas can be gentle and also be a terrifying, great force, she can be too 🥺
Shes trying to court Samara btw 🥺 she relates to Samara in a way where their magic is underestimated due to how it looks "harmless", but both actually having the ability to do great harm if you know how to do it. Shes seen that Samara can do harm and damage if she wanted to, and she was like 'i want her" JKSDHJSHD
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SAMARA!!! 🥺 Shes more of the precise, rational, proffesional type! Always wanting everything to be clean and pristine, thats why she mainly wears white. Shes also Arabic :D
Shes known as one of the greatest healers in the world, known for her quickness and precision, basically knows every body part and muscle and veins and how to heal it as well as how to damage it!! ^-^
As for her veil type i used a niqab! Well a half niqab specifically, as it doesnt cover the entire half of the body. Their design is influenced by Arabic fashion as well as like nurse doctor outfits in the 1900s :D
Figuring out her name was a bit tricky because im not familiar with Arabic names and i also didnt want to go to babynames.com for it because i know its a bit more complicated but i managed to get help from friends who are more qualified n knowledgable about arabic names😭 THANK YOU @lastcookieontheplate MY DEAR FRIEND
AND AND she doesnt want to admit it but she gets flustered and blushy whenever Kazemi does her courting attempts <3 HEEHEE
ANYWAYS THATS ALL OF EM!!!!! Say "BERRI IS SO PRETTY AND COOL" If youve reached this far!
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redrose10 · 5 months
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Here is Chapter 6! Things are getting heated between the two. I appreciate the feedback and I hope you’re enjoying the story!
Yoongi X Female Reader. CEO/Arranged Marriage AU
Summary: You were selected to marry the wayward CEO/Billionaire/Heir, Min Yoongi. You went into it with an open mind and heart determined to try and make it work. Yoongi on the other hand had no intention of ever letting you in let alone allowing himself to fall in love with you. Slowly you start to associate the smell of cinnamon and vanilla with the feelings of hurt and sorrow.
Word count: 4,322
Warnings: (May get updated as chapters progress): Arranged marriage, cheating/infidelity, hints of smut (Probably won’t get very explicit but we’ll see how it goes), Sexual Assault, Brief mentions of death, Reader grew up an orphan, General Angst, Swearing
After what seemed like forever you and Jimin were having a day together at his place. He put out a spread of various foods and drinks while the two of you talked and caught up with each other.
“How have things been between you and Yoongi?”
“Slightly better I guess. We have meals together sometimes and we talk a little more.”
“He doesn’t shut up about you at work.”
“What do you mean?”, you asked taking a bite of your dumpling.
Jimin giggled, “I don’t know, he’s just always asking about you. Like how you’re doing or if you mentioned anything about him. It’s kind of cute. Like a teenager with a crush.”
“I mean we live together and we’re already married. Why doesn’t he just ask me himself?”
“I don’t know. Yoongi’s always been kind of weird that way.”
“Oh yeah I completely forgot to tell you that he was livid last night about you introducing me to Taehyung. Said he was going to kill you and then fire you. I still don’t know why he got so upset about the whole thing.”
“Well because Taehyung is extremely handsome and also very straight forwardly friendly and kind. He’s a lot of what Yoongi isn’t and Yoongi knows that. I think he was a little worried you’d run off because he knows he wouldn’t stand a chance if Taehyung made a move on you.”
His words caused you to stop and think for a moment. Yoongi jealous? “I mean why would he care so much? I feel like he’s been trying to get rid of me since day one so Taehyung would just be doing him a favor.”
“I don’t know. I think he’s starting to come around a little. Maybe you’re slowly melting away at his ice cold heart.”
You remembered what Seokjin had told you about Yoongi coming around eventually.
“Yeah well tell that to all the women he already cheated on me with. I’m sure that’s still going on somehow.”
“Trust me I know. I’ve had many words with him about that. Now as far as I know he hasn’t been with any women in a couple months. He even transferred out one of his favorite interns because she wasn’t taking no for an answer and kept coming on to him.”
The laugh that you let out bellowed through the room, “Yeah okay. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
After finishing up all the food that was left and helping him clean up you said goodbye to Jimin and headed home. You felt better, lighter even, after spending the day with him. It was definitely something you needed. Getting home you were surprised to find Yoongi sitting on the couch watching a basketball game. He was dressed comfortably in sweats and a tshirt. It was off as you’ve alway seen him in expensive suits. Even his casual wear was usually still designer and well styled. You’ve never seen him look so plain before but he looked happier somehow.
When he noticed you he smiled and told you there was some takeout in the fridge that he had ordered for you just in case you were hungry.
You thanked him and headed off to your room wanting to take a hot shower and get ready for bed as you weren’t really hungry after eating at Jimins all day.
Just as you were about to get under the covers a soft knock appeared at your door. Yoongi was standing there holding a mug which he quickly handed over to you and you smiled at the warm milk staring back at you. You had a feeling that he wanted something more than to just bring you a glass of milk at 11pm.
Your instincts were right because he began to nervously scratched at the side of his neck, “So Y/N our first anniversary is coming up and I was wondering if maybe you would like to go on a trip with me. To celebrate. It’s okay if you don’t want to. I’d fully understand. I just thought maybe we could go somewhere or I don’t know. Again it’s okay if you don’t want to go. I haven’t planned anything yet. I just thought I’d ask to see what you’d say. It’s probably a dumb idea.”
At this point he was rambling so fast you could barely make out what he was saying. Maybe it was the fact that you were so tired or that you were still on a high from the great day you had with Jimin but you agreed. “Sure Yoongi. I’ll go with you. Sounds nice.”
You could see the tension leave his body as well as the surprised look on his face showing that he fully expected you to decline his offer. “Okay, I’ll let you know the details once I have them figured out.”
Nodding you shut the door and climbed in bed with your mind racing. Another week stuck on vacation with Yoongi. Something you had hoped you’d never have to go through again.
A few days went by and one day during dinner Yoongi had told you that the anniversary trip was going to be a surprise. All you needed to know was to pack comfy clothes and that he’d handle the rest.
Two weeks later you were in the passenger seat as Yoongi drove the two of you to your destination. While surprised that this trip didn’t involve a plane you were also excited as this meant you werent going to have to suffer in tropical hell again.
After a four hour car ride you pulled up in front of a large cabin.
“I know it’s not the Alps but I thought it would be nice to go somewhere more low key and quiet. I wanted a redo of our honeymoon since I had purposely picked somewhere I knew you’d hate.”
“I knew you did that on purpose.”, you smirked.
Yoongi opened the front door for you with the code he was given while he went back to the car to grab the bags. The cabin was what you’d always dreamed about. There was a large fireplace with a stack of wood ready to be burned sitting next to it. A big comfy couch adorned with fluffy blankets and pillows sat in front. The kitchen was massive and to your surprise already fully stocked with food. Making your way upstairs to the master bedroom you were excited to see a balcony.
Stepping out you were greeted with the most breath taking view you’d ever seen. Snow covered mountains were framed by tall and full pine trees. Off in the distance a family of deer ran through the snow. You felt like you were looking at a Christmas card. It was quiet and peaceful and everything you could hope for.
While taking in the beauty you didn’t notice Yoongi step out onto the balcony behind you. He startled you as he spoke, “Do you like it?” “Yeah it’s incredible.”, you smiled. It didn’t take long for him to violently start shivering which got a big laugh out of you even though he tried his best to hide it.
“Come on you big baby. Let’s go back inside.”
Once back in the warmth of the cabin Yoongi told you to take a shower or a nap or whatever you wanted and he’d start on dinner.
You opted for a nice hot bath letting the water soothe you. The lavender oil provided by the host adding a nice comforting touch. When you were cleaned and changed into some comfy clothes you went down to the bottom level finding that Yoongi had built a fire and was just putting the finishing touches on the meal.
You both ate quietly before you grabbed a blanket and went to the couch to watch a movie while he cleaned up before joining you. There was an awkward feeling in you. Even though the two of you were married you’d never really spent quality time like this together. You weren’t sure if you should sit right next to him or maybe on the other side of the couch but is that too awkward? Should you share a blanket or get him his own? Let him pick the movie or should you? You felt kind of ridiculous because it shouldn’t be so hard to watch a movie with your husband but at the same time it’s Yoongi.
You wrapped yourself up in the fluffy green blanket and decided to just take a seat on the right side of the couch and let him make the next move. Yoongi walked in a few minutes later handing you a mug of warm milk before taking a seat on the other end of the couch.
“I already chose a movie. I hope that’s okay. It’s one I’ve been wanting to see for a while.”, he said.
“Yeah sure that’s fine.”, you shrugged secretly happy that you wouldn’t have to awkwardly try to pick something together.
After he clicked play you chuckled when you heard the familiar music.
“Seriously Harry Potter?”, you asked.
“Yeah I’ve never seen it before and I’ve been told I resemble one of the characters so I thought we’d check it out.”
Snuggling in deeper to your blanket you smiled and began to watch as the movie unfolded.
The two of you made it through the first movie and decided to also get through the second when about half way through you felt a sudden chill. Since you’d planned to go to bed after this movie you stopped adding wood to the fire and it was noticeably colder in the room. Looking over you noticed the goosebumps climbing up Yoongi’s arm and you realized he was without a blanket.
Knowing that you were probably going to regret it later you scooted over so you were sitting closer to him. Not touching but close enough that you could share your blanket so you reached over and placed half on his lap.
“Here you look cold.”
“Thank you.”, he said with a smile and pulled the blanket up to cover himself.
Once the movie was over and after a passionate review on his part you made your way upstairs when the realization hit you. This cabin only had one bed. Yoongi who was not far behind you stopped when he noticed you standing there.
“Oh um how are we going to sleep tonight? I mean with only one bed?”, you asked.
“Well I thought we could share the bed together. Sorry I guess I should’ve asked you first. I can sleep down on the couch if you’re uncomfortable.”
For a second you really did consider making him sleep on the couch but ultimately decided that the bed was big enough for the two of you to comfortably share.
After completing your nightly routines you got in bed leaving a healthy space between the two of you. Both on your backs staring up at ceiling in silence until Yoongi spoke.
“Red”
You looked over at him with furrowed brows, “I’m sorry, what?”
Not removing his eyes from the spot on the ceiling he continued, “My favorite color is red. When we first went on a date you asked me and I made a sarcastic remark instead of telling you so I’m telling you now.”
You hummed.
“I also do really like to drink whiskey but if I had to choose I would never pass up a glass of ice cold chocolate milk.”
You snorted and he laughed, “You have no room to make fun of me Miss Mug of Warm Milk Before Bed.”
“I love basketball and music. Those are my interests. Growing up I wanted to be a music producer maybe even a rapper but my parents put a stop to that and made sure I would be set up to take over the company instead. Sometimes I regret that I let them stop me. Maybe I’d be a happier person if I went against their wishes.”
“I think you’re pretty good at what you do though. I mean you seem successful. But you should definitely rap for me one day. I’d pay to hear that.”
“I don’t think you could handle my lyrics.”, he said causing you both to erupt into laughter.
After a while of silence he continued, “Y/N I want to apologize for the way I treated you this first year. I know these are just words and you’re going to need a lot more than that from me but I’m going to do my best.”
“I heard from Jimin that you haven’t been hooking up with other women any more. Is that true?”
“Mmhm yeah it is. I haven’t been with anyone in a couple months.”
“Can I ask you another question?”, you asked.
“Go for it.”
“Why were you so determined to make this marriage miserable?”
He let go of a long sigh, “Well it’s kind of a long story. But uh when I was sixteen I met this girl, Mia. After a few months I finally worked up the courage to ask her out and she said yes. We dated for a while and when we were nineteen I wanted to propose. We were young but I knew I loved her more than anything in this world and I wanted to spend my life with her because there’d never be anyone else that I could possibly love that much. She was my everything. So I had this big elaborate proposal planned. She thought I was out of town on a business trip but I had lied about that and I left her a note in our apartment telling her to meet me on the rooftop of our building and I had the whole area decorated with roses and there was a dinner planned and I had a piano set up to play her a song that I wrote and then I’d get down on one knee. But after she was like 45 minutes late I went down to the apartment to see what was going on and she didn’t even read the note because she was too busy fucking some guy in our bed. Then she confessed that she’d been cheating on me the entire relationship and was only with me for the money and perks of my family. So after that I swore I’d never love anyone ever again. If I don’t love anyone then they can’t possibly hurt me like that. So after I met you I wanted you to hate me and treat me like you hated me because then I’d never fall for you but no matter what I did you’d still always be kind and be there waiting for me and putting in effort to make this work. I found myself starting to realize that maybe not everyone is out to just use me and that someone could actually love me.”
You sat in silence trying to find the right words. “I’m sorry Yoongi. That did sound like a really nice proposal though. A lot better than here’s this contract, sign on the dotted line like mine.”
He chucked, “Nah looking back it was pretty cheesy anyways. Maybe one day I’ll give you the proposal you deserve.”
“Okay but I want a song. And there better be a rap verse.”
“Deal. Any thing for you.”
The room fell into a silence after that.
“Anything you’d like to ask me?”, you questioned with a smile wanting to change the subject.
“Nope” he said but thankfully you could hear the playful smile in his voice.
“What is your family like?
You knew he was trying to ask about the orphanage thing without directly bringing it up so you decided to just spill it.
“Umm well my parents were great from what I remember. They were killed in a car accident when I was around five. Then I lived with my Aunt Erica until I was eight when she passed away from cancer. No one else in my family was willing or able to take me in so I was sent to live in an orphanage which is where I stayed until I turned eighteen. Then I met Jimin in college and we became really good friends. When he moved away I was pretty much on my own until I came here. So I guess we’re both just a couple broken hearted people, just in different ways.”
He didn’t respond right away and you weren’t sure if maybe you said too much until he spoke again.
“I’m really sorry Y/N. No one should have to go through something like that. I wish I could take away that pain.”
“It’s alright. Nothing can change it now.”
The two of you talked for a little while longer until finally falling asleep feeling a little closer.
The following day Yoongi took you sightseeing through the little mountain town. You ate lunch at a very cute cafe owned by the sweetest elderly woman who recognized Yoongi and kept gushing about how out of all the places to eat he chose her cafe. She even made him take a photo with her to hang on the wall. The woman wrapped her arms around his mid section clinging to him for dear life while completing how toned he felt which caused Yoongi to turn a shade of red you didn’t think was possible for a person. You got a good kick out of it at least.
After getting back to the cabin you changed out of your snow soaked clothes and agreed to continue watching the next Harry Potter film as a continuation of the night before. This time though without thinking you sat down next to Yoongi and immediately covered both of you with the blanket before grabbing the tray of cookies and various pastries he had bought at the cafe earlier. He gave you a smile before taking one of the cookies in his mouth.
You guys got through two more movies before deciding to call it a night and getting into bed.
When you fell asleep you were on opposite sides of the bed. So you were extremely confused when you woke up a couple hours later and Yoongi was now spooning you while holding you as close against him as you could get. His arms tightly wrapped around your waist as his breath tickled the back of your neck.
Part of you wanted to scramble out of the bed and get as far away from him as you could but another part of you was really enjoying the warmth and comfort of being in his arms.
You tried to distance yourself and push away from him a little but his arms only snaked around you tighter pulling you back.
In your attempt to push away you may have accidentally stirred something in him. Slowly he began placing kisses along the back of your neck and down your shoulder. His hand running down the side of your hip before his fingers began dancing on your thighs. Your body seemed to melt into him.
“Yoongi”, you whispered trying to get a better grasp of what his intentions were. Maybe he was just dreaming you thought. He placed another two kisses to the back of your neck, “Is this okay? I’ll stop if you want.” You really thought about it. Your heart was telling you no but your brain and the rest of your body was saying yes. “You really haven’t slept with anyone else in the last couple months?”, you questioned. “I swear on everything.”, he answered.
Turning over to face him you suddenly felt an extreme wave of nervousness come over you.
“We don’t have to do anything if you’re not comfortable Y/N.”
You nodded, “I want to.”
He kissed your lips before adjusting himself to be on top of you. He began placing kisses along your neck past your collarbone. His hands reaching for the hem of your night shirt lightly gripping the edge. “Can I?”, he asked. You nodded slightly sitting up so he could pull the shirt off you.
“You really are beautiful Y/N.”, he said as his hands traced over your body.
As the kisses between you became more and more intense and his hands seemed to have more courage you felt him begin push himself against you and any apprehension you had went away. It had been so long since you’d been touched like this and you wanted him bad.
The rest of your clothes were removed as were his and your bodies reconnected like a magnet had pulled you two together. Whether it was the fact that it had been so long for you or the way that he took his time making sure to pleasure every inch of your body, it was the best and also most intense experience you had ever had.
Afterwards he pulled you close against him while you both tried to slow down your rapid breathing. He placed another kiss to your shoulder before nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck. Just before he fell asleep you heard the faintest whisper, “I love you Y/N.”
After that you had a hard time falling asleep. Things in your relationship were moving a little too fast for your liking. This is what you had always hoped for and what you had always wanted but after everything that had happened with him you knew you would have to move forward carefully.
Having fallen asleep at some point you were woken up when Yoongi began moving and got out of the bed making his way to bathroom. A few minutes later the shower kicked on so you sat up stretching in the bed to wait your turn.
The nightstand next to you kept vibrating and you saw Yoongi’s phone laying face down.
Every few seconds
*Buzz*
*Buzz*
*Buzz*
You started to get annoyed but then you worried that something may be wrong. You grabbed his phone preparing to knock on the bathroom door when you happened to glance at the phone screen. There were several texts and missed calls nothing that concerned you as he was a busy guy after all. Until something red caught your eye. A text from someone name Suri. In the text a photo of a woman dressed in a barely there red lace lingerie set. You thought back to Yoongi telling you his favorite color was red. The text included with the photo is what caused the room to spin around you.
“Last week was amazing. Can’t wait to see you again. I went out and got a new outfit for you and in red just like you like it. Maybe don’t rip this one. ♥️😘”
After tossing the phone onto the bed you grabbed your suitcase and started throwing all of your belongings into it. You felt sick. You felt like crying. You felt like throwing something. He lied to you. He lied to you before, during, and after.
Yoongi unknowing of the events that just transpired came walking out of the bathroom towel drying his hair. “Y/N I think we should go back to that cafe for breakfast, they had a croissant sandwich I think you’ll really like, and then maybe walk down to that lake it looked really nic-.” He stopped when he saw you stuffing your bag.
“What are you doing?”
You looked up at him with a tear stained face.
“Y/N what happened? Did someone do something to you?”
“Yeah Yoongi, You!! I can’t believe you. What kind of sick game are you playing? Just when I thought you were changing for the better. That maybe deep down you were a good person and not a self centered jerk.”
“Y/N what’s going on? I don’t understand what happened?”
“Oh cut the bullshit Yoongi. You know if you wanted to just use me for sex we could’ve stayed at home and hate fucked each other or something. You didn’t have to bring me out here and make me think you were actually falling in love with me.”
“Y/N I do love you and I have been trying to change. I’m trying to show you that.”
“Fuck you Yoongi. I’m not doing this any more. Next time you need someone to stick your dick into go ahead and call Suri. It looks like she’s replaced the lingerie set that you ripped LAST WEEK! It’s a cute one too. I was even thinking about getting something similar last night but now at least I don’t have to waste money on it.”
Yoongi took a step forward to try and reach out to you but you put your hands up to separate yourself.
“Y/N nothing happened with her. I swear. I know it looks back but let me explain.”
“Save it.”
Before you grabbed the door handle you stopped and turned to face him, “You know I actually felt really bad for you after you told me about Mia and what she did to you. I understood how you could be the way that you are and I was 100% committed to trying to forgive you and move on with a loving happy marriage. But now, I don’t know if I can ever truly love you Yoongi.”
You slammed the door behind you and stormed out of the house. Thankfully the bus station wasn’t too far of a walk and the cold air gave you a chance to calm down anyways and also have an excuse as to why your face was so red. After buying a ticket you took a seat on a bench near the window to wait for your bus. You really wished you would’ve taken a shower before storming out of the cabin. The smell of cinnamon and vanilla heavily staining your skin, a painful reminder of your mistake from the night before.
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bertinworms · 2 months
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I Wish You Would
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Pairings: Tangerine x gn!civilian!drunk!reader
Tags/Warnings: cursing/language, alcohol alcohol consumption, drunk character, mention of gambling/betting, bar atmosphere, kissing/make out, mentions of fire arms/weapons
Word Count: 5.3K
Summary: You are drunk. Not “black out and forget the entire night “ drunk, but white girl at the club with her friends drunk. One of your bestest friends is getting married soon and tonight you and the rest of your eccentric friend group are club/bar hopping to celebrate the engagement! Your friend group told you to think about it like the bachelorette party before the bachelorette party. Whatever that means… The group isn’t a big group, only about seven people, but the seven people all come from various backgrounds. Three of your friends come from pretty well off families and happened to be in university for law school. One of your friends works for some huge tech company with something to do with security. One of them comes from a line of surgeons and happens to be in residency for surgery. Your best friend and bride-to-be comes from an extremely wealthy and famous family, you aren’t really sure what for, but you know it has to do with tycoons and business and yada yada. And then there was you. You were in university too, at the same establishment as the rest of the group, but you didn’t come from lines of money. You were in school for education. 
Various backgrounds or not, your bestie for the restie wants to go absolutely ballistic and celebrate her girlfriend finally popping the question, so of course your study buddy group just has to go out! With the intentions of bar and club hopping, you all end up at an arcade? Or a bowling alley? You aren’t really sure, but the place has heaps of alcohol, arcade games, a place to bowl, mini golf, and also some cute patrons….
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You honestly could not believe that you had agreed to this. You had been friends with your group for almost five years and you had always said you would do anything for them, but you never thought it meant being out since about 7:00 PM celebrating Ava May’s proposal. When you had gotten the notification that afternoon with an image attached, you were hoping that her partner, Jordan, had finally popped the question and you were right. And of course the groupchat had blown up.
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“Girls, Gays, & Daddies $$$”
Leoni: SHUT THE FUCK UP DID THEY REALLY PROPISE THIS TIME!!>>??!>!? Mateo: here comes leon with the typos 🙄 BUT OMG CONGRATS AVA!!!!!!! Camilia: HOOOOOOLYYYYY SHIT!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!! THEY HAD THE FUCKING BALLSSSSS You: OMG YESS!!!!! WHEN’S THE WEDDING!!?? Elijah boo: FORGET the wedding!!!!! bitch, when are we CELEBRATING!!!!!! Naomi: omg can we PLEASE go out tonight!!!!???  Wrenster: omg ava congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it took them long enough!!!!!! Ava Bear: omg y’all already KNOW we’re going out tonight!!!!!! b @ my house 5pm SHARP troops 🫡
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Of course five o’clock came, and everyone in the group chat was at Ava’s house. You all got to congratulate Jordan and Ava on the engagement, and say hello to both their family’s, but quickly carried Ava away to party the night away. That was of course after all seven of you pregamed getting ready.
The group was a close knit one. You all were giggling and laughing and dancing around each other while getting ready, raiding Ava’s closet and her accessories and checking yourselves in the mirrors. Everyone had gone for outfits that made them stand out, but complemented their features. You had ended up in some brightly colored crop top that Ava had shoved into your hands, your sneakers, and some designer jeans that Mateo had said would have your ass looking like you did 500 squats a day. You had laughed and rolled your eyes at that. You were pretty sure Mateo just wanted you to feel sexy. 
The rest of the group had picked similar outfits. Some exposing skin, other’s exposing less skin but featuring skin-tight clothing pieces. Some had added accessories to their hair, their neck, their wrists and more. With six other bodies dancing around, you honestly hadn’t gotten a great look at everyone’s outfits – but you figured it didn’t matter anyway because by the end of the night most of those outfits would probably look a lot different from how they looked currently. And once everyone was ready, you all headed towards Ava’s car where a driver was waiting. And you all climbed in and pregamed some more.
Half of the group tended to be “partiers”not crazy party goers, but they liked to spend time when they could out having a good time. That didn’t really happen to be up your alley. You were a little more introverted than your friend group, especially since you didn’t necessarily have the same funds your friends did. The group loved paying your way through parties though and always made sure you were included, but the combination of feeling bad and not loving the party scene meant you didn’t go out with them as much as they probably would’ve liked you to. But this night was different. Everyone in the group had already sternly told you that tonight you and Ava were not spending a dime on anything. Mateo telling you that tonight that they were celebrating Ava’s engagement and also the rare occasion of you going all out tonight with them. 
You didn’t disagree.
And that’s how you and your friend group ended up at some club? Arcade? Bowling alley? Bar? You weren’t sure what to call it, but the place seemed to have it all.. There was a bar with many-a-drinks, bowling alley lanes, an arcade, neon minigolf, laser tag, and televisions everywhere, each featuring a different sporting event which you assumed was for people betting on games. 
It was loud, and dark, but also brightly lit all at the same time. You were cold, but kept comfortable with the warmth of your friend group buzzing around you. You were very out of your element. You would’ve been slightly uncomfortable if you hadn’t already had about seven? No, you think eight? You weren’t sure, but you and the rest of the group had a fair amount of alcohol in you. 
Right then, everything seemed a little fuzzy. You had glanced at your phone and thought you had read some time around 11:00 PM, but with Rihanna blasting over the speakers in the building, it was a little hard to concentrate. 
The group was currently at a bar-like table. Mateo, Elijah, Ava, and Naomi were currently on their fourth round of bowling with Ava still somehow in the lead. Leon, Wren and Camilia had snuck away from the group either to get more drinks or maybe to play mini golf, you really couldn’t remember. 
Your glossed over gaze was disturbed by Mateo standing up and stretching as long as he could, his arms reaching up a little revealing a bit of his stomach. 
“Okay, I am going back to the bar to get another drink, anyone else coming?” He said, eyes bouncing around the faces at the table. Nobody responded as they all seemed to be involved with something else at the time, so you stood up quickly.
“Mmmmmmm, I’ll come with Matty!” You smiled and trailed after him as he led the way to the bar.
“You know there’s some cuties here, you should try and chat one up.” He says, side eyeing you as you both arrive at the bar to look over what you want.
You roll your eyes and playfully push his shoulder. “That would be a grand idea except I’m drunker than a skunk currently and we’re here to celebrate Ava, not find me a date.” 
Mateo rolls his eyes as he orders both of your drinks and collects them. 
“Okay, yeah we are celebrating Ava, but you know good and damn well if I told that girl you saw a hot guy looking your way that she would jump on the idea of you making a move tonight.” Mateo chuckles as he finishes his sentence and starts walking you both back to the table, curving through the different people.
“I know, but tonight I’m just hanging out with you guys. I’m honestly shocked that nobody has attracted any spare wild men to the table with how loud and obnoxious we’re being tonight.” You laugh, a tiny hiccup slipping out of your mouth.
As you and Mateo round the corner to your table, Mateo sees the group before you and busts out into laughter. “Oh my dear, have you truly jinxed yourself tonight.” He walks the few steps to the table, puts the two drinks down. “Hellooooo boys!”
When Mateo steps aside, you're greeted by the eyes of two men who look like they don't belong here. They both are extremely attractive, but both appear to be in suits. Like suit suits. Like they could be working at the bank. You recognize the two as workers for Ava’s father. Bodyguards. Or honestly the word babysitters fit the situation too. ‘Babysitters with bullets,’ you think to yourself as you look down at one of the men’s waists, catching a glimpse of a not-so-hidden weapon.
Your thought is cut off by that said man speaking and your eyes trail from his waist to his face. He holds eye contact with you before speaking. “Sorry to crash this here lil shindig, but you lot should be wrapping all this,” he twirls a finger around in the air, referencing the group, “up pretty soon. It’s getting late.” 
Once he finishes his sentence, it’s now his turn to look at you. You watch his eyes look up and down, scanning what felt like every inch of your body, before he looks back to Ava as she begins to speak.
“Oh my god! Look, I know Daddy sent you two to “look after me”’ Ava uses huge air quotes, “but I’m old enough to make sure I don’t get fucking dragged off drunk off my fucking ass. We’re just celebrating, just chillax, yeah?” Ava lets out a giggle as she clearly slurs her words and then playfully slaps the shoulder of the man that hadn’t spoken yet. 
“Come on Tangerine, just let them be, yeah? They’re not doing any harm and they're all in one spot.” The man says, putting a hand on Tangerine’s shoulder, giving it a little squeeze and shake. If you remember right, you’re pretty sure he goes by Lemon. Or that’s what you’ve heard Ava’s father call him.
“Yeah Tangerine! Just let us chilllllll” Naomi drags out the last word as she tries to put a hand on his chest. He takes a step back away from her, his face slightly puckering up as it seems like he stifles a face of annoyance.
 You sit down next to Ava, across from where the open seat in front of Tangerine is.
“Look. Ava’s father gave clear instructions to make sure she doesn’t make any fucked decisions tonight. And seeing as sh–” Tangerine’s speech is cut off once more, this time surprisingly by Elijah.
“Look man, if your concern is making sure Ava isn’t dead in a ditch, why don’t you two just pull a seat up at the table. It isn’t like we’re going anywhere else tonight, just fucking sit and relax. Have a drink!” Elijah almost barks this out before returning to the game of bowling. He’s currently in second place, behind Ava and you know he’s dying to beat her. 
Lemon gives a nod before sitting down at the bar, grabbing Ava’s half finished beer and taking a swig. Tangerine on the other hand reluctantly takes a seat in front of you. You watch his demeanor once he’s sat. It seems like he’s avoiding your gaze, and you’re not sure why. You watch his face as he observes the people around you. You can’t tell if he’s just surveying the place or if he’s just uncomfortable. His body language looks stiff and his hands are clasped on the table in front of him.
“You have pretty eyes…” The sentence slips out of your mouth as you stare at him, rubbing your own eye as you feel yourself getting a little tired. You were hoping to break the silence. “Also pretty arms.” You let out a little giggle as you prop your head on your hand, continuing to stare at the pretty man sitting across from you.
You talking seems to bring him back to the group at hand. Or at least brings his attention to you. He gives you a weird look, seeming to calculate what to say. “And you seem pretty drunk, love.” He reaches across the table, grabbing your drink and taking a sip from it before returning it to you. “And that’s a pretty strong drink you got.”
You give yet another giggle, reaching for your drink and taking a sip. You were drunk all right, but you needed more liquid courage if you were going to be in the presence of this man. Your brain had fallen quiet and your friends seemed to not be coming to your rescue in this one. 
You recall a comment from Mateo earlier in the night about ‘letting you do your thing if you ever came across a hot ass man tonight.’ 
You had been around Tangerine and Lemon before. From what you could recall, they weren’t truly employed by Ava’s father. You’re pretty sure it was more like a freelance thing? They weren’t always around Ava and her family, but they were hired common enough for you to know exactly who they are and remember Tangerine. 
The first time you had ever met the two, the group was at a soccer game in the city. You were in Ava’s family’s suite at the game having a blast. You remember spotting Tangerine and asking Ava just who the tall man was exactly. After that, any time Tangerine and Lemon were hired to babysit Ava, you always basically gawked at the man. After Tangerine and Lemon left for the room, your friend group, especially Ava liked to tease you. Ava and Mateo knew you had a thing for Tangerine. Ava liked to get her father to hire the two as much as possible, especially if you were present. It meant you saw him often. It meant you thought about him often. You thought his curls were pretty and you could imagine what it would feel like to run your fingers through his beautiful hair. You could recall the accent he had. You thought the tattoos he had were attractive, or maybe it was just because they were on his arms. And god did he have pretty arms. 
You’re once again brought out of daydreaming, this time by Naomi sitting down by Tangerine and placing a hand on the back of his shoulder, and one hand on his chest. You don’t listen to what she’s saying, but by the look on their face, you know she’s flirting. And hard. You hear her let out a giggle as she makes some sort of comment about the man before you swap from sipping your drink to straight up downing it. 
You slam the cup down on the table and shoot up. “I’m off to get another drink..” You twirl around, maybe a little too fast, and begin heading for the bar.
You know the announcement of your departure was a little stern. You don’t know why, but it almost got on your nerves that Naomi was making a pass at the man. You let the jealousy stay for a second before rationalizing the thought. 
‘I’m not actually jealous. It’s late and I’m drunk, it isn’t that big of a deal, I’m just being silly.’ You think to yourself as you arrive at the bar, propping both elbows up onto the ledge and waiting for a bartender to notice you. You wipe your face hoping to clear your mind. 
While waiting your eyes slowly are drawn to one of the television hung above the bar – some wrestling match was going on. You notice the other people at the bar, their eyes glued to the screen. ‘I don’t understand why they are so invested.’ You think to yourself as you turn your attention back to in front of you, looking at the drink choices before noticing a man standing to your right. You turn your head and are happily met by the pretty blue eyes of a curly headed man.
You grin.
“Tangeriiinnnneeeeee” You draw out his name. You aren’t quite sure if it is on purpose or if you’re just drunk, but it didn’t matter as you watched the man’s lips twist into a smirk itself.
“Interested in the match, are we?” He asks, nodding back to the television.
“Mmmmmm, not quite. I’m not much of a sports fan.” You give a glance at the match before turning your attention back to him, noticing his shirt. He usually had it buttoned up all the way, as professional as you can get. But tonight, you notice at least two, maybe three buttons that seem to be open. You can see a tattoo peeking out from under his shirt. You take a deep breath before your eyes return to his. He had watched you check him out yet again.
You clear your throat before asking, “Are you a fan?”
He doesn’t break eye contact. “I am tonight.” 
A noise escapes your throat, almost a hum. He still hadn’t broken eye contact. Maybe it was just you, but it seemed like it had gotten hard to breathe. You felt like you hadn’t taken a breath in ages. “And why’s that?” You ask, still looking at him and still maintaining eye contact. 
In the moment you felt like the only thing in the room was him. 
“Got money on the small guy. Everyone likes an underdog story, yeah?” The smirk returns to his face.
You nod your head in agreement. Once again, your brain has gone blank. The sudden movement of his lips catches your attention as your eyes quickly dart down to his lips, and quickly dart back up to his eyes. He had watched that happen too.
As your eyes meet, your body forces you to take a deep breath. You notice he does the same. Maybe his breath had also been caught in his throat. You realize the sound of the world around you also comes back to you. 
You’re brought back to the real world completely as a bartender greets you and Tangerine, asking what you two will have. But before you can answer for yourself, Tangerine speaks for you.
“Water for this one, and whisky for me.” He says before telling the bartender exactly what he wants. As soon as the bartender turns to go grab the materials, you turn back to Tangerine.
“I can’t order for myself now?” You jokingly ask, your voice getting a little higher in disbelief as you raise both your eyebrows in fake disbelief.
He looks at you and gives a scoff. “You can, but I don’t know if you should be at this particular time darling.” He gives you a sly smile, one probably meant to comfort you. 
And you lose your breath again and you avert your eyes. You thought you had gotten confident, but you weren’t expecting him to call you that. You clear your throat. And start to mess with a laminated menu on the bar.
“So why exactly are you here tonight? You know this isn’t the first stop we’ve made, right?” You ask, trying to change the subject. Or at least to get him talking.
“We’ve been hanging back most of the night. Nothin’ suspicious has happened, but a few o’ you idiots are getting a little too far gone. Ava’s father sent us specifically to watch her. The rest of the group is just an added bonus. Don’t wanna make any rich parents mad, do we?” He asks the last part rhetorically. 
This time he’s the one looking away. He takes a drink while looking off. You can’t read the expression on his face, but it isn’t quite neutral. He looks like something is on his mind. 
“You don’t seem all that excited to be babysitting a bunch of adults. Why do you even take the jobs offered by Ava’s family? I assume there’s other things you could be doing.” After speaking you realize your tone seemed a little snippy. You hadn’t meant for it to come out rudely, but it did just a tad. You really were on a roll tonight. 
You didn’t want to necessarily influence the man to stop taking the jobs, but you were curious. You could tell by what he was wearing that he had money. In previous interactions, you had drawn the same conclusion. You weren’t extremely up to date with the latest fashion trends when it came to wealth, but you did know that the watch on his wrist looked very similar to one that Elijah had. And you knew it wasn’t cheap. Plus the extensive wardrobe the man seemed to have also led you to believe he was pretty well off for himself.
He half turns his head back to you, side eyeing you with a scrunched eyebrow.
 “A little touchy on the subject are we?” He asks you before setting his drink down. He rubs his chin before turning his face to yours.
 “Ava’s father pays well. The jobs easy, quick and usually clean. Easy money.” He pauses and you watch his eyes move down to your lips and back up to your eyes and then down to the drink back in his hand. “It's an added bonus that sometimes you idiots can be entertaining.” 
“Well. I’ll agree that they – we – can be quite entertaining. I can imagine it can be a little obnoxious at times.” A few times come to mind.
Like this year's New Years Eve party held at Ava’s. Camilia had drunk way too much champagne and had eaten quite a few shrimps. She was in the midst of a nasty break up with a pretty popular actor and had seen the reports of him attending a party that night with his co-star. A smile comes to your face as you remember the look of absolute horror on Tangerine’s face when Camilia had thrown up on him. You remember Lemon’s gasp.
Or the one time you, Ava, and Leon had somehow ran into one of Leon’s father’s old clients who had recently gotten out of prison. You three had been out shopping at the beach when the man confronted the group. Calmly at first, but very quickly drew a gun and began yelling at you three. Tangerine and Lemon had resolved the situation as quickly as the man had appeared.
Or one of the most recent events. For Ava’s birthday, she had thrown a huge, fancy party out of the country. Some place in Ireland, with almost a Bridgerton theme. Somehow you and Tangerine ended up in a room on the outskirts of a castle while the party was booming in the distance. You remember how close he had gotten to you. How close his face had gotten to yours. How he had stared at your lips for what felt like ages as you spoke. You remember the silence that happened after you had finished speaking, and the way his eyes darted quickly back to your eyes to just as quickly return to your lips. You also remember the way he had drawn away from you as Jordan had busted into the room looking for Ava. You weren’t one hundred percent sure, but you were pretty confident that if she hadn’t done so, Tangerine would have kissed you.
“I wouldn’t say ‘obnoxious’. Not all of you at least.” Tangerine says. He seems to have a distant look in his eyes. You wonder if the memory of you two alone in Ireland had come to mind. You hope it had. 
Eventually you and Tangerine began reminiscing on some of the funnier moments that had happened while him and Lemon had been present. 
You two had moved from the bar to a small table in a corner. Tangerine was still able to see the rest of your group, most importantly Ava. Even then, it wouldn’t have mattered anyways as Ava had convinced Lemon to join the current round of bowling. The group didn’t seem like they were going anywhere and neither did Lemon. 
The place was still as loud as ever, but in the corner it was a little easier to hear each other. The neon lights that were reflecting off of most everything in the building was giving Tangerine a glow. The lights were giving his hair a darker complexion than normal, while highlighting his blue eyes. If you weren’t sitting so close to him, you wouldn’t have noticed the details. But fortunately for you, you were. 
You were close enough to him to smell his cologne. He smelled almost like citrus. Or maybe like sandalwood? Or maybe like the inside of a linen closet? You weren’t exactly sure of the scent profile, but he smelled good. He smelled familiar. 
“Do you remember Ireland? That birthday party was insane! I don’t know how you two kept up with Ava that week, it felt like every ten seconds we were going somewhere new!” You let out a small laugh remembering just how crazy it had been. 
Tangerine rolls his eyes with a smile on his face. “You honestly think I would forget? I felt like I needed a leash on that girl. I wish she would have stayed around me or Lemon like you had during the trip.” His eyes light up a little as he scans your face. 
You hadn’t realized you had been so obvious on that trip. Most of the friend group had paired off in Ireland and you remember hoping to talk more to Tangerine on the trip. You hadn’t made it your priority of course, but during down times or sightseeing activities you had hoped to hear his thoughts.
The air got thin once more. You realized that you both were leaning in towards each other. You were sitting in your chair sideways. Your right elbow propped on the table, with your hand propping your head up turned towards Tangerine, your back turned to the group’s table. Tangerine was turned towards you, almost leaning into your space with his right arm draped over the back of your chair, his hand hung in the open air between the back of your chair and your side. His left arm draped into his lap. Your legs sandwiched in between his. 
You hadn’t realized just how physically close you too were. Talking with him and drinking water seemed to have sober you up some. Realizing how close you were to him also helped to sober you up in the moment. Your eyes trailed to his lip as you went to speak.
“Well, I’d never pass up the chance to be around you all day.” You say, a little softly as you had grown even more distracted by each and every centimeter of his face. You think about how soft his skin would feel in your hands. 
You readjust yourself, trying to redirect your thoughts. You sit up a little straighter and let your hand that had been previously holding up your head fall into your lap. It unintentionally brushes Tangerine’s knee and you watch it slightly move, almost shocked by the touch. Sitting up like you were now meant that your face was even closer to his. You really hadn’t realized how much you two were leaning into each other. 
You're staring at Tangerine’s lips when your eyes rush back to his as he places a hand right above your knee. You watch as he begins to lean in, his eyes on your lips. Before you can even process that his hand is practically on your thigh. He stops an inch away from you, his eyes moving up to meet your glance. His eyes meet yours for only a second before they move back down to your lips, and once again back to your eyes. You could feel him let a breath out, nearly a scoff.
“You’re extremely drunk.” He says dryly. and goes to pull away from you.
“I was dead sober in Ireland.” You quickly remark before retaking the distance he had put between the two of you. You plant a quick kiss on his lips. 
“I haven’t forgotten about Ireland either.” You say softly as you move one of his curls behind his ear that had fallen when you kissed him a little too forcefully, the fear of missing another chance had brought some adrenaline into your system. Your hand makes its way to the back of his head as you begin to play with his hair. “I’ve been hoping you would be around more after that trip. Especially after the party.”
The hand Tangerine had set previously on your knee quickly moves to your face as he gently goes to hold your chin before lifting it up. This time h initiates the kiss. He’s more gentle than you were. 
You grin into the kiss, only slightly thinking about how contrasting the situation was. The harsh man kisses gently, yet you, a more soft person kissed him like you were a thirteen year old kissing their crush at the school dance, afraid to be seen.
His hand moves from your chin to hold your head as he pulls you in more. Once he’s pulled you in as close as he can, his hand trails to your waist where it rests. Both of your hands quickly move back to his head where you pull him in closer.
His mustache tickles you, but you don’t care. All you could think about was how his head felt in your hands. How you wanted to be closer to him. How his hand was pulling your waist in. How his lips felt against yours. How you felt like you were breathing for the first time this entire night. 
Your breath hitches as you feel his fingers dig into your waist. You feel yourself becoming warm as your attention is drawn to the fact that his skin is touching yours. Both of Tangerine’s hands are now holding on to your waist, pulling you in even more if it’s possible. One of his hands begins to trail up your back. It feels like he’s trying to find a better way to pull you closer to him, but at this point if you two got any closer you would be in his lap. 
You accidentally let out what you think is supposed to be a gasp as one of his hands runs back down your spine, returning to your waist once more. This doesn’t faze Tangerine as he takes the short break from your lips to move both his hands now to either side of your head as he pulls you back into the kiss, not without a short and breathy ‘shit’ that escapes his mouth. 
You aren’t sure who initiates the harsher kiss, but you didn’t care. As Tangerine bites your lower lip, you let out a breath and you grab onto the neckline of his unbuttoned shirt. Tangerine plants one last hard kiss onto your lips he pulls away, and leans into your ear before.
“I’d slow your breathing down, we’re about to have a visitor, yeah?” He plants a kiss on your cheek and pulls his head back to look at you before wiping your lips to get rid of some spit that had been left from when you two had separated. “Gotta make sure you look good too, dear.” 
He takes a deep breath in, clears his throat and seats back against his chair, while running both of his hands over his head in an attempt to put his hair back in place after you had tussled it. He then leans back in his chair, giving a smile at the unwelcome visitor.
You wipe your hands over your face, and then over your own hair in an attempt to self soothe. You take a deep breath yourself as you try to slow your breathing and your heart rate. You wipe your hands down the thighs of your jeans before turning to meet whoever was coming towards you.
“Hey, you guys ready to go? Lemon is rounding up the rest of the group now. Ava and Elijah finally got bored with bowling.” Naomi says before finishing the drink she had in hand.
“Right. We’ll be over shortly.” Tangerine says, raising his eyebrows at Naomi and turning his attention back to you. You give her a smile and a nod to acknowledge her. As she goes to walk back to the table, you turn yourself back towards Tangerine.
“Glad we weren’t interrupted before this happened. Hope it was worth the wait.” Tangerine says giving you a sly smile.
You let out a half hearted laugh. If you thought nothing was in your brain beforehand, it was even more empty now. All you could think of now was when you would be alone with him again. 
“How long did you say you and Lemon were staying this time around?” You manage to get out, looking up at him. You didn’t want to get your hopes up, but you also wanted to do this again. 
Tangerine chuckles as he fixes his shirt from where you had grabbed it as he goes to answer, “I’m in the city for a couple of days. Off work too.” He tucks a curl behind his ear. “You have something in mind that could keep me busy?”
You nod your head as you give out a short laugh. “Ask me out to a proper dinner and I think we could figure something out."
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A/N: hey home slices, so here's this. i recently rewatched the movie, and am about to read the book and thought i would write something. who knows if i'll write more, but it was fun lol if you liked this, check out my master list! --> HERE
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the-main-idiot · 2 months
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my chnt swap AU will now be called
camp this and that
idea originally provided by @fall3nash2339
all info about characters+ art links under cut😋😋!!
(NEWWER DESIGNS WILL COME SOON, ALL OF THESE ARE FROM A SLIGHTLY OUTDATED STYLE)
all the characters have the same physical appearance (except for sydney), personalities and roles are changed
the nurses~
head nurse: Elijah Volkov, he makes all the announcements, and is mentally decaying. Boy oh boy, is he quite the man. Silly little bpd man, collected mental illness like Pokémon. But he's caring, and will do just about anything in his power to help the campers out when needed. He has a knack for elephants, likes sharing fun facts, not only about elephants but anything and everything. No filter😋 if he's thinking it, he'll say it, obviously nothing bad will come of that. Trust issues, yummy.
assistant nurse: Adam Uptin, always carrying snacks with him, he can get you to share how your parents wronged you then shove a bag of skittles in your hand and walk away. Adam isn't a fan of leaving the nurses cabin, let alone his side office, something about being a vampire and ""ahhhh the suns"",,etc etc. Although, you can lore him outside with some sunscreen, an umbrella, and an apple.
camp counselors (all camps stay the same)
Cabin Dung Beetle: Juniper Sloan. long neck, dirty blonde. British man, he's scared of the water (blah blah blah "i'm experiencing the past, present, and future all at once and i can't breathe." yadda yadda yadda) besides the meltdowns and break downs, he's pretty silly
Cabin Grasshopper : Marisol Yuchengco, 👁️dresses in gothic attire, but she's one of the most understating counselors you'll ever meet. Salem de La Marnierre, 👁️scene kid vibes, lowkey really chill though. The two are dating<3 (basically just the same as chnt, just,,, ya'know,, swapped.)
Cabin Magpie Moth: Rowan Chow, the goofiest mother fucker in the entire camp. He can actually produce sound effects, he doesnt choose them or when they happen, that's up to the universe, they just come from his general area. This man runs off of actual cartoon logic, dont question it.<3
Cabin Silkworm: Yvonne Marley, femcel. That is truly all i have to say about her. She pull's misinformation straight from the internet and spreads it like mold on moist bread. Joshua MacHeath, tictok eboy, he can make a killer flower necklace though. Joshua will sit with the kids who can't/won't participate in certain camp activities and teach them how to make bracelets out of, well, anything and everything!
Cabin Tarantula Hawk: Lucille Bertuccelli,👁️ she's an older counselor, a sweetheart though. Not only does she keep cabin tarantula hawk up am running, but she also is in charge of the arts and crafts cabin! Gracie Liu (👁️lowkey, i forgot gracie liu existed, so all of her color are just inverted. no matter how you picture her in ur brain, just invert the colors)
Cabin Ladybug : Soren Baltimore, 👁️a bit of a quiet lad, it wears a cape given to it by fennel. soren wears pants that are cover completely in pockets, those pockets are practically infinite, anything you can imagine, soren has it in its pockets. Fennel Marlborough, 👁️our favorite camp taxidermist (don't tell anyone) they have the art of life preservation down to a tea, now if they can only get em to start moving again. soren and fennel are tightly nit, they made up two languages, one between only them and the other for the entire cabin.
Cabin Widow-spider: Matthew Napoleon, 👁️he is the void, don't be scared of him just based on looks though. Matthew will teach you about things you thought you knew (you didn't). Because matthew cant actually talk, due to all that void, he communicates in a fun mixture of sign language, charades, and various static esc noises. Matthew is also involved, if not running, most water based activities (and sometimes juno+mila helps out around the cabin)
the cafeteria: Mila Alcorn 👁️and Juno Matsouka, 👁️i say "and" instead of giving the two separate descriptions because they are inseparable, trust me, i've tried. these two fish folk work together in the kitchen to provide food for all the campers at camp this and that. Practically gourmet chefs, these two are quite creative. Even though there's two of them, you'll never have to worry about chaos in the kitchen, mila and juno always compromise with each other, causing for some never before tasted flavors
special doodads
head of camp: Warren Earthman,👁️ he's a, stern, tired, grumpy, old man. also the walls in are covered with different brands and types of chainsaws. beside the threatening aspects of him, he also openly picks favorites and doesn't listen to anything that doesn't openly concern him or the government.
the rot: Sydney October Sargent, a weird rotting man who lives in the woods surrounding the camp. Don't get to close to him without a gas mask, please, the spores that emanate off of him are damn near hallucinogenic. Besides the skin falling off his bones, the various species of bugs living within him, and all the mushrooms/fungus living from his decomposing self, he's almost harmless. I mean, he's in shambles, a corpse who just won't let go, just try not to breathe near him.
Martime: Jedidiah A.M. Martime, a man who keep appearing in my dreams, I don't have dreams often, why is here, in color no less. this annoying, clock obsessed, not even real, man keeps trying to tell me that he's "here for you," and "it's ok, you can take a brake, you have enough time." what that man needs to do is pipe down and accept the fact he doesn't even exist in the physical plane.
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croimilis · 2 years
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sunshine
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title: sunshine
rating: 18+ [no actual smut but it gets close]
character: leo valdez x apollo!reader (leo calls them sunshine)
words: 1,433
themes: established relationship, fluff,
warnings: allusions to smut, making out, public making out, cursing, some minor heavy petting
summary: leo can’t help but stare as you lounge in the sun
a/n: this is an anti-calypso account, so there is no mention of calypso or her relationship with leo in this.  all characters are aged up to 18+, this ended up smuttier than i intended and i am [not] sorry
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Leo watches as you sit beside him, arms thrown out behind you to support you as your legs sprawled out in front of you with your head thrown back in peaceful bliss just enjoying the rare peacefulness and calm at Camp Half Blood. With the mid-July heat reaching soaring temperature, activities had been cancelled for the safety of the campers, it had only been a week earlier most of them ended up with heat stroke after a fully day of activities and Will had insisted it not happen again the infirmary was overrun with ill campers and he may have lost his mind in the chaos as there wasn’t enough well trained healer lefts in the Apollo cabin, yourself included as your gifts lay more on the side of archery and the arts. 
Which left the campers free to do what they wanted, most had opted to stay in the shade of their cabins or had enlisted the help of the Hecate cabin who were providing enchanted fans that would help campers stay cool. There were only really three cabins who were found out in heat, the Hephaestus cabin who was used to the heat from the armoury, the Poseidon cabin (which was only Percy at the minute as Tyson got called back down to their father armoury) who opted for staying in the water all day to avoid the scorching heat, and the Apollo cabin who were lounging about various parts of the camp enjoying the sunshine while they could. 
So while Leo was supposed to be working away in the armoury, or in bunker 9, you found a spot on the beach to relax the day away. Leo had seen you on his way to bunker 9 and just couldn’t help himself but join you for a little while, after all it had been a long time since the two of you were able to be alone with Chiron and Mr D really cracking down on two campers of the opposite sex being alone together after one of the Aphrodite kids and Ares kids were caught in a compromising position a few weeks before. 
While you could go to bunker 9 for a little privacy, you had been so busy this summer with teaching archery and taking care of the newest additions to the Apollo cabin, a sweet little 6 year old girl called Abigail, who had attached herself to your hip the moment she arrived at the start of summer, and Leo was busy working away in bunker 9 on his newest contraption or else he was deep in the armoury helping his siblings come up with new weapon ideas.
So you only really saw each other during lunch and dinner and the end of night sing-a-longs where you wrap yourself up in Leo’s arms and you tell each other about your day but it wasn’t enough. You missed him, missed his touch, his sweet words, and the way he lit your body up like a circuit board with just a single touch, and he missed you as well. Missed your sweet smile and angelic words, missed how your touch made him feel alive, as if every nerve in his body was designed to respond to your touch. So, of course he was going to relish in any moment alone with you that he could get, including right now. 
“You’re staring.” 
Your voice breaks Leo out of his trance, the teasing lilt and small smirk spreading on your lips causing him to roll his eyes affectionately while a smile spreads across his lips, he thought he was being sneaky as he came up beside you but of course you knew he was there you always seemed to know when he was around. “It’s hard not to mi corazon.” 
You look simply ethereal with your hair drawn back out of your face and the sun glistening off the light sheen of sweat that had gathered on your skin. How could you not? You were the child of the sun god himself and you were most certainly in your element with the summer rays shimmering against your exposed skin. 
You dip your head forward and turn to the side to look at Leo, eyes full of love and affection as they trail over your figure clad in a pair of shorts and your orange Camp Half Blood shirt which you had tied up with at the front with a hair tie to try and alleviate some of the discomfort caused by the heat while also exposing as much skin as you could to the sun. You let out a scoff at his words and roll your eyes at him, “I am sweating like a pig Leo, my hair is a frizzy mess because of the mixture of heat and humidity. I am a certified mess right now.”
“You are still the most beautiful person on this planet”
This time you snort at him, “Careful don’t let the Drew hear you, she’d have heart failure,” He just laughs as he reaches out to you and gently pushes you down onto the sand by your shoulder, following suit so he was hovering over you and placing his hands by your head to support himself as he leans down and places a gentle kiss to your lips. 
You melt into the kiss, your hands reaching up to wrap around Leo’s neck and tangle themselves through the little baby curls at the base of his neck. The kiss is soft and sweet at first, you’re just relishing the feeling of being in each others arms of being able to kiss each other without an audience around but it quickly turns a little more heated as you get greedy and tug on Leo’s curls. 
He groans at the motion, allowing you to slip your tongue into his mouth and deepen the kiss, absolutely desperate to have every little bit of himself he was willing to give in that moment. Leo indulges you, allowing you to swirl your tongue around his before he takes control and forces your tongue back into your mouth, opting to bite down on your lip which draws a soft whimper from your lips and electricity to course through your entire body to where you wanted Leo the most. 
Knowing what you want, Leo is quick to adjust himself so that now his knee was in between your legs pressing against you in the most delicious way. You whine at the contact, a small breathy moan leaving your lips that is doing nothing to calm the raging boner that Leo is now sporting, and Leo pulls back to chuckle against your lips, “My sweet little sunshine girl, already so desperate for me.” 
Leo words cause even more heat to spread through your body and you have to do everything in your power to stop yourself grinding against his knee, so instead to distract yourself you pull Leo back down to your lips and tangle your hands in his hair, giving a light tug every now and then that causes beautiful moans to slip through Leo’s lips. 
You were so greedy for Leo that you would have kept going and let him take you right there on the beach but the sound of voices causes the two of you to break apart before you can get too heated, some of which you recognise as being your siblings from the Apollo cabin (Will included) who seemed to have decided now was the perfect time for a quick swim. You let out a gentle ’fuck’, annoyed that they had interrupted your time with Leo, and Leo just chuckles as he takes a hand to gently run down your jawline so he could cup your check and press a quick peck against your lips before he stands up and offers you a hand, an enticing smirk on his face.
“What do you say we sneak off to bunker 9 sunshine? Hmm?” 
You’re quick to take his hand and he pulls you up into his chest, where you pull him down by his shirt for another quick kiss just before your siblings arrive at the beach, “That sounds absolutely perfect.” 
Leo is quick to start pulling you in the direction of bunker 9, offering a quick nod of his head to your siblings (apart from darling little Abigail who was spending the day with Lacy at the Aphrodite cabin) who are all giving you knowing looks and smirks with Will shouting after you to “make safe choices”, causing you to flip him off with a smile as Leo laughs. 
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clarionglass · 25 days
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so i have been bitten by the sam reich!master bug courtesy of some phenomenal art by @northernfireart and uh. as is too often the case i had to write something otherwise if i didn't get it out of my brain i would go absolutely insane
(there may be more vignettes coming if i have ideas..... there are definitely other episodes i'd like to give the Treatment to, plus with the new dw series coming out on the weekend i may have ideas for how to incorporate the dw gang! however, i promise neither more writing or no more writing. that said, this was a lot of fun so there'll probably be more at some stage :D )
this has full spoilers for the game changer ep "escape the greenroom", but hey that's been out for a while now so,,,, if you haven't seen it i'd highly recommend it as an episode!
so, without further ado:
--
Samuel Dalton was a complete fiction, of course, but that didn't mean that when Sam Reich snuck back upstairs to get tied up in the “out of order” bathroom, the Sam that remained on the monitor, laughing at the contestants, was a pre-recording. And if Brennan, Siobhan and Lou had snorted at the idea of a time-travelling evil magician great-grandfather (for good reason), going in with the actual truth of the matter would have sounded like jumping the shark.
It sounded bizarre, but the time travel bit was the only part about his new partner in crime that was confirmably real. Admittedly, the jury was still out on “evil”—he gave off a weird vibe at times, but so far, no lines had been crossed, and it had all been funny as hell—so for now, Sam was willing to roll with it. But perhaps most surprisingly, there wasn’t even the possibility of blood relation between Samuel Dalton Reich and the guy who had shown up out of the blue one day with his exact face and a plan to really fuck around with things on Game Changer.
Yeah, the whole alien thing had really ruled out that particular prospect.
There had been various bits and pieces of confirmation that this guy wasn’t human through the time Sam had known him, but the final nail in the coffin for that one was when his doppelganger had looked him dead in the eye and tried on one of the heart rate monitors—sorry, “range extenders”—for As a Cucumber. The damn thing had literally sparked up, then died completely. Trying to process input from two separate heartbeats at once would do that, apparently. 
His doppelganger was a Time Lord, or so he had nonchalantly said one afternoon in casual conversation, though Sam still wasn’t sure if that one was a joke or not. It was hard to tell, sometimes, because he said the wildest things with the straightest face, and so far, most of them had turned out to be one hundred percent certifiably true. The time travel, the space travel, even the changing faces thing—it sounded objectively insane, but the proof was undeniable. 
There were some notable exceptions, though. Saying he’d been trapped for aeons inside Neil Patrick Harris’s gold tooth went just that bit too far to be believable, though Sam did appreciate his double’s slightly warped sense of humour.
It was that offbeat line of thinking that lent itself well to game design, as it turned out. He had a knack for coming up with ideas for Game Changer episodes, albeit with the occasional suggestion that went way beyond the bounds of good taste, and, as in the case of Escape the Greenroom, had devised some blinding twists on concepts Sam had already half-formed. The letter puzzle unlocking the secret door? It was perfect.
Understandably, Sam’s doppelganger had wanted to observe the fruits of their labours in real time, rather than watching the recording later. It happened, sometimes, particularly when it was one of his ideas that had made it through to the episode list—they’d swap places for a session, with nobody being any the wiser. Watching those edits back always felt a bit weird—it was uncanny how flawless the mimicry was—but hey, the guy was right. It was always fun.
Escape the Greenroom, specifically, with its “Samuel Dalton” conceit, provided them with a unique opportunity. Instead of swapping out the camera feed for a recording when the cast piled into the tiny secret room behind the wall, as per the original plan to get Sam in position to be discovered in the bathroom, they could just swap out the people. Sam would go upstairs, and his double would take his place at the podium, ducking out of sight when everyone came back to the main stage to “defuse the bomb”.
Sam was keen—hell, if their situations had been reversed, he’d want to be there to watch, too—but caution raised a flag. “You don’t think it’s too risky?” he’d asked when the subject was first raised. “Both of us being in the same place?”
His doppelganger had shrugged one shoulder with supreme unconcern. “The crew won't notice.”
At the time, Sam had shot him a sceptical look, but right now, Sam-Reich-in-a-purple-tie and Sam-Reich-in-an-orange-tie were standing backstage post-record, clearly visible and and calmly chatting, and not a single member of the crew had given them so much as a second glance. 
…Hardly even a first glance, come to think about it. If anyone looked over their way, their eyes seemed to… not exactly go through them, but slide over the two of them like water. He was tempted to wave to Nico or Ash or someone, just out of pure curiosity, but something in the back of his mind told him that wouldn’t be the world’s greatest idea. He had a funny feeling he wouldn’t like to see what would happen next.
(He’d given the prop bomb back to the crew once the cameras stopped rolling, and though it looked the same as the one he remembered from before he’d headed upstairs, it felt different in his hands. Heavier, more… serious, somehow. He was sure nothing would have happened—but at the same time, he was suddenly very glad that the cast had cut the correct wire with no less than a minute fifteen to go.)
(The jury was still out on evil, after all.)
“Worth coming in for?” he asked instead.
“Absolutely,” his double replied with relish. “Locking those three in a small room for an hour? Brilliant, fantastic. Inspired. It was absolute chaos.”
“Have you seen up there?” Sam asked, a smile starting to spread across his face. “They messed up the set real bad.”
His doppelganger smirked at him. “You know it took literally two seconds from you telling them to escape the greenroom for Lou to smash that guitar?”
Sam shook his head. “Oh my god. Yeah, they were stressed.” 
“Mmm. Some real panic in that room,” his doppelganger agreed, and Sam chose to ignore the faint note of satisfaction in his voice.
He shifted his weight, settling back to lean against the table behind the set, in the exact instant his double decided to do the same thing. It really was freaky how similar they were, down to the smallest mannerism—like looking in a mirror, only weirder, because the face that looked back at him was truly his own face, not mirror-reversed. Even now, it still caught Sam off guard from time to time, but at least it had faded into a more comfortable kind of strange. He had an exact lookalike who was an actual time-travelling alien. Cool. Doesn’t everyone?
The pair shared a companionable silence for a few moments, before a thought Sam had been turning over for a while rose to the top of his mind. He shifted again, this time on his own, and he felt his double’s regard swing up to fix on him like a magnet. 
“Okay, real talk,” he started, and his doppelganger frowned back in an approximation of confused innocence. “What’s all this for?”
“Who says it has to be for anything? Aren't we just having fun?”
Sam hummed, considering. “Yeah. No, I'd believe that, if I didn't sometimes walk into production meetings and find out I'd apparently been very specific about the people I wanted for certain episodes.”
“Point for Sam,” his doppelganger acknowledged with a grin. “You got me. Wasn’t hard to make a few phone calls on our joint behalf.”
“Yeah, but why?” Sam pressed. “I mean, Siobhan, Brennan and Lou are always great comedy value when you put them together, and it was awesome to have them for this, but I get the feeling you’re thinking of something other than making good content.”
“Who, me?”
With that, his double gave him a look of such overdone pantomime innocence that Sam suddenly and thoroughly understood why, not half an hour earlier, Brennan had very seriously threatened to push him down the stairs. 
He rolled his eyes, which earned him a smirk for his troubles.
Dropping the act, his doppelganger continued. “I’m expecting an… old friend, I guess, to show up at some point, and—well, I’d like to put on a really special show for them. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a few things out, you know?”
Ominous pause aside, that was actually kind of sweet. Sweeter than he’d been expecting, that’s for sure—he was half anticipating the revelation that he and his cast were subjects in some weird experiment. Hey, that still couldn’t fully be ruled out, but still.
“Okay,” he acquiesced. “Well… just let me know, next time? Before you start ordering in my cast like takeout?”
“Who says they’re your cast?” his double shot back with a twinkle in his eye, and Sam snorted.
“Fine. Our cast, then. But seriously, let me know?”
His doppelganger nodded, which, if not quite fully convincing, was good enough. 
“Oh, and do you know when your friend might be arriving?” Sam asked. “Because if you wanted to plan something, we can—”
“I don’t know,” his doppelganger interrupted. “So yeah, we’ll have to move fast when they do get here. But I’ve got it under control.”
He broke off, then shot Sam a mischievous grin. “In the meantime, though, I’ve had this fun thought about time loops…”
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im-sew-curious · 4 months
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Isn't it glorious?
It’s here! I finally tackled my analysis of Key’s gold Gasoline era costume, worn in his music video for the song, photoshoots, a stage performance at the Inkigayo show, and a live performance at SM Town 2022. I’ll discuss everything from the fabrics used, the gloves, the shoes, complain about the zipper, talk about whatever the heck jumps are, break down all of the tiny little types of ornamentation (including the things I don’t actually know the name for) and more.
It’s scary in the best way. Buckle up. Grab some coffee or tea or vodka and a blanket.
I want to preface this by saying that this is going to be VERY long. I’ve polled my followers and nearly everyone said they want me to get as granular as I want. So I’m doing that. If that’s not your thing, here’s your exit ramp now. I get it. This is absurd.
You can also read it on my Twitter here. It actually has a LOT of bonus photos because they only allow me to have 30 on here, if you’re interested in seeing more. It may help clarify some things, as well.
Now then. Welcome to those who are left. Let’s begin!
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Costumes by Dénicheur by Seo Seung Yeon
For his Gasoline era, Key has had four costumes designed and made by Dénicheur by Seo Seung Yeon, a Haute Couture Designer House that, among other things, makes elaborate costumes for Kpop performers. They’ve got an amazing Instagram portfolio to check out. They made him a gold and black costume for his G.O.A.T in the Keyland concert, the blue and white one for the Gasoline MV, this gold one, and a cream and gold beaded jacket for the 2023 SM Town Concert.
This fashion house’s trademark is intricately beaded, appliquéd…encrusted…costumes. I was able to get some high quality photos from some of you (thanks so much!) And the more I looked, the more I discovered.
If this were a piece of art (well, it is, but not in the same way) “Mixed Media” is what I’d call it. There are literally over twenty different types of beading techniques, appliqués, various types of sequins, trims, braids, rhinestones, chains, and more.
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First, I’ll do an overview of the garments themselves, and then I’ll move on to the ornamentation.
The top (it’s not a jacket, it’s not really a shirt, it’s not a tunic. So I’m going with “top”) has a very boxy torso with exaggerated wide, padded shoulders. They’re completely squared. There are straight sleeves—not too slim, not too bulky. There’s a heavily ornamented oversleeve that reaches down to about his elbows and a “nude” colored full length under sleeve. It also has heavily ornamented cuffs at the bottom the sleeve. It has an exposed zipper up the center back that goes up into a short turtleneck collar. The collar and a portion of the lower neck back region are sheer with some beading and appliqués. There are sheer spirals around his arms and in chevrons on his front and scooping around to his back.
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Just LOOK AT that masterpiece
The trousers are closely cut through the waist, hips, and thighs but become a bit wider at the knee. It looks like they were made full length but are always worn bunched up over knee high boots. They close at the center front with a very beautifully set fly zipper and flat trouser hook and bar. It’s so low profile that it wasn’t until I got some 4K images that I was even sure of where they closed. It was like he had been sewn in. I wrote a whole thread about it on Twitter that reads like a mystery novel, though I already spoiled the ending for you. Sorry.
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The top is made of what is probably a “nude” (aka specially dyed to his skin tone) base fabric to hold the structure, with the ornamentation stitched over top. The external stabilizing fabric is what appears to be some sort of jacquard, possibly silk.
Jacquard is a type of weave, where the fabric is made of long and short “up and down” stitches of sorts, to make a pattern. Because some of the time it uses longer “stitches” on top, it becomes more vulnerable to the fiber breaking and makes it become kind of “fuzzy” looking. This can be especially true if it’s a natural fiber that usually has less structural integrity than a synthetic one. I initially thought this had started to happen on Key’s rear, but after a very close zoom in, I think that’s just a bit of appliqué edge pulling up. I think maybe one of his mic packs is down there too, but I’m really not an expert in that. I did the research so you don’t have to, folks.
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Left: A type of jacquard fabric. The shine comes from the longer top threads, contrasting with details of shorter threads. Right: Is it an applique or is it some snagged fibers? Ultimately, I think it's an applique edge.
Perhaps the most interestingly nerdy thing about jacquard is that it was originally made on a loom that led to the creation of computer programming by utilizing a sort of “binary code.” There were punchcards that showed the strands of fibers when to go up and down. Like “holes and not holes” in which to weave.
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A Jacquard Machine Loom with punchcards that create the desired design on the fabric
It’s important to note that this fabric needs to have some stretch because it is also used to make his very tight fitting trousers. If it were not a stretch fabric, he wouldn’t be able to do this like THIS or…most things, really.
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Even though the jacquard is stretchy, it has some structure to it. It’s used as a stabilizer in between the “flesh mesh” on the outer layer. (aka power net, stretch mesh... There are many names!) It forms the base on which the majority of the ornamentation is stitched.
Flesh mesh is a stretchy mesh fabric dyed to the performer’s skin color and is used to give the illusion that you’re seeing their skin, but it gives much more strength than just a cutout. I wrote a thread about flesh mesh and the importance of taking into consideration the performer’s actual skin tone when building them a costume here
In this case, flesh mesh allows for adornment of these areas, as well. It’s important to note that, even though it’s a separate layer over the base, it is “tacked” through all layers in a regular fashion so it doesn’t droop with the weight of all of the ornamentation.
There are also some parts that have metallic gold applied pieces. This was probably made of a beefy metallic spandex applied on top of the base rather than some solid pleather, due to way it behaves on the body. The latter would have been way too rigid in comparison to the rest of the fabrics.
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Heavy gold stretch spandex, forming a chevron on which to affix beads and other trims
Okay. Range of movement time. You know how I love discussing this. That’s because it’s the single most important aspect of costumes for dancers.
Let’s talk armpit gussets. They’re an American football shaped piece of fabric that is stitched in the armpit partially to the sleeve underarm, and partially to the torso underarm. It’s often made of a stretch fabric, but sometimes it’s out of the original “fashion fabric,” which is what we call the main garment fabric.
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Gussets out of different fabrics under each underarm. You can see the gold bunch under his arm when it's at his side
It allows the performer to more easily move their arms above their chest and head to help keep the top from riding up. You can see in this photo, though, that it does bunch up a little when his arm is down, because of the extra fabric. It has to go somewhere when it’s not taut.
With this particular top, it’s interesting to note that, due to the asymmetrical decoration of his arms, one gusset is the gold stretch fabric and the other is the jacquard. That means that, either both fabrics have the exact same stretch, or his arms may be SLIGHTLY more limited on one side than the other. That’s fun! I really geeked out about this observation.
Often with jackets for dancers, they’ll have what are called “commodity pleats” around the center back shoulder area. They’re a sort of sneaky hidden accordion-like bit of fabric that stretches out during movement that may otherwise split the back open. Taemin uses them a LOT. But, since this top is so boxy, Key doesn’t need them in this instance. He already had the room he needed without any other accommodations.
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They put commodity pleats in the back of most of Taemin's closer fitting jackets. I wish they'd make them the same color as his jackets, though!
With Key’s trousers, we’ve already established that they’re made of a fabric with a decent amount of stretch. But since I can’t find many good photos of his bottom half, I’m unsure about if he also has “crotch gussets.”
By this point, I’m kind of notorious as being the “crotch gusset person.”
The following posts explain them in much more detail, but basically, they’re long triangular wedges that start in the trouser crotch and taper down to nothing in the inseam. These are often put in trousers of dancers when people need a better range of movement.
I wrote about this in detail regarding Taemin’s pleather pants he wore in his Metamorph concert, as well as all of SHINee in the Your Number dance video. You can find my posts on the subject here:(Metamorph) (Your Number)
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Jinki rocking a black crotch gusset in SHINee's "Your Number" Performance Video (Black Version)
Gussets allow for extra room and movement when one is trying to do extreme leg movements like squatting. Unfortunately, I don’t have many good photos of his inseam. There’s so much going on with appliqués and piecing of mesh vs jacquard, it’s hard to tell. Part of the front half of his trousers is flesh mesh, swirling around them. The other parts are the jacquard, whereas the back is all jacquard.
I saw one photo which made me begin to wonder if the inseam is a little further forward than it could be, though. That could mean there IS a gusset. I’m really not sure...I don't have official visual confirmation, but now you know more about crotch gussets either way. You’re welcome.
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That seam line is up a bit more forward than usual. It really has me wondering, because that would happen if there was a gusset installed. Hmmmm.
Okay. Zipper education time. I apologize in advance. Things get spicy but I tried to tamp it down. The center back (abbreviated as “CB” in the industry) of the top has an exposed zipper. This means exactly what it sounds like: it’s exposed. You look at it, and it looks like there’s a zipper right there. It’s not hidden. Sometimes it’s a perfect match, and sometimes it’s “featured.” Exposed zippers actually become a trend every once in a while in everyday fashion.
I thought it was extremely interesting that, on this elaborate costume, they chose to use a zipper with metallic teeth on white “tape.” (The fabric on the sides of the teeth.) It was a huge disappointment for me, actually. I would have loved to have seen the zipper more carefully hidden like his fly was.
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Hello, zipper. I see you loud and clear!
I have to comment a bit on what I view as the one flaw in this otherwise perfect costume. I will preface this by saying that I was not in the fitting room where this was conceived, and I don’t know about any extenuating circumstances and the reasoning behind this decision. But there a few things that I would have done differently regarding the zipper and back collar of this top if were to have made it.
But first: some zipper education. Besides exposed, there are center lapped, as well as regular lapped zippers. With the center lap, it’s like the fabric covers your zipper but you can pull the zipper down through it. Your hoodie probably has one. The regular lap zipper is more like your trouser fly in that there is one flap of fabric that covers the whole zipper, hiding it.
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Top: Exposed. (Though it has a matching zipper and zipper tape.) Bottom Left: Center Lapped. Right: Regular Lapped.
Either of those types could have been used to make the zipper more discreet. I personally would have chosen to use a regular lapped zipper, which is less likely to get snagged than a center lapped zipper.
People have defended the exposed zipper by asking if it’s because it’s less likely to get caught. I very much get this argument, and, technically it’s right.
But, in my extensive experience, I don’t think I can recall a case of an exposed zipper in the back of a costume, quick change or no. It’s unattractive. (Not to mention a dead giveaway in a period garment!)
If it’s sewn well and tested, with the correct size lap and no loose fabric, it will work just fine. There should be a hook and eye at the top to make sure that it stays secure while dancing.
Part of being a good dresser is being methodical and purposeful, not frantically zipping something up in a way that is more prone to snagging. They keep their cool, perhaps taking a couple more seconds but ensuring that they pull it up smoothly. They use their fingers to block the overlap as they guide the zipper up.
(Random side note: I met a dresser once who preferred zippers be installed upside down for their quick changes. Hey, whatever works best for them! I wonder how they discovered that…)
I will also note that, as far as I’m aware, the only times he’s worn this costume, he didn’t need to get in or out of it quickly. I know that he wore it in the MV, the Inkigayo performance, and the photoshoot. He also performed at SM Town Tokyo 2022, though he had 11 songs during which to change between Bad Love and this. He never wore this look at his G.O.A.T. in the Keyland concert. Oh, and the collab with the Jinro frog. I’ll talk about that later.
So ultimately, all of the zipper quick change talk is for nothing. There COULD have been a chance that this was going to be worn during his concert, I suppose. But if not, in the end, I can find no reason that there needed to be an exposed zipper other than: they wanted it that way.
Sorry for that rant. I know that it was intense. I just…wish it were pretty. That’s all. I know it wouldn’t have bothered most people, but I personally think that the costume deserved better!
Well then. They arranged the symmetrical beaded appliqué motifs so they didn’t interfere with the center back line, so it wasn’t an issue being all chonky around the zipper.
Unfortunately, since the zipper was built into the neck with just the “stretch mesh,” it moves very differently than the rest of the top. It has a substantially weaker structural makeup and it can’t support itself the same, so it stretched at a different rate than the zipper on the solid fabric on the bottom. It kind of “bubbled” when he moved and it rode up.
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Showing the neck bubbling, and, on the bottom left photo, you can see that there is some sheer stabilizer to ensure that the zipper doesn't just tear out of the sheer net.
It couldn’t have been helped unless that whole back neck area had been backed with the solid nude base fabric. That’s what I would have done, personally. But using the stabilizer helped a bit. Without it, it may have not lasted a performance.
I don’t know why they did it that way, but the result was rather disappointing to me, especially considering the care that was taken with the rest of the garment.
Okay. End rant. The rest of the costume is EXQUISITE.
One more thing to note is that the zipper terminates about 4” above the top’s bottom hem. It is right around where his waist is. It was built that way to ensure that he was able to move his legs and hips comfortably without getting hung up anywhere.
His knee high boots were covered with the same peach jacquard as his top, as well as utilizing the gold fabric to serve as ornamental buckled straps.
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The stretch element of the jacquard is further showcased by the fact that it pulls over the boot toe smoothly, with little issue. A completely stable fabric wouldn’t be able to do that.
Now for the ornamentation. Oooooh boy. There are around twenty types of various adornments on this costume, and I thought I’d highlight some of them.
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I can spy about 15 different types of ornamentation here alone.
Beaded appliques at the neckline
Heavy chains
Rhinestone appliques and/or individual rhinestone pieces
Bugle bead chevrons
Gold round beads
Yellow individual small rhinestones
Grey beads in between bugle beads
Gold and silver flat braid trim
Gold stretch fabric
Round flat decorative chain
Hanging paillettes
Dark seed beads with some of the paillettes
Gold dangling lil dudes
A sequined applique peeking out from behind a chain
Utilizing the main fabric as a chevon stabilizer as a design detail
About paillettes: these might actually be my favorites. They’re like “floppy sequins” that only have one hole at an edge. They’re made of a very lightweight plastic, so they’re virtually silent. If you wear a dress completely covered in paillettes, you’ll just hear a little rustle. In this case, his were mainly attached via dangly wires as fringe around the upper sleeves. There are a few other random instances throughout the garment where they’re stitched on individually. You can read more about paillettes in my post here.
Appliqués: There are at least three different types of appliqués in this costume:
Beaded
Lace
Sequined
Rhinestone
Appliqués are premade decorative pieces. It looks like someone hand beaded everything on the costume, but they were able to take a shortcut by using these. So no, contrary to what you might believe, there wasn't someone laboriously hand beading every single thing on to this costume.
It still takes FOREVER to invisibly stitch each motif on to the costume as well as, in this case, sometimes layer upon layer. A lot of them are attached to a net base, and in closeups, I saw how they trimmed the net away closely around the motifs.
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On the top, we have the gold paisley sequined appliques. On his trousers, you can see the low profile lurex embroidered lace appliques. Bottom left, you can see the beaded and rhinestone applique. And on the right, beaded appliques. You can see that they're over flesh mesh so, when it's on Key, it just looks like he has a beaded collar.
The sequined, beaded paisley motifs are the most prominent and plentiful form of appliqués, focusing around the top’s cuffs and lower edge. They’re also heavily featured spiraling around the trousers. There are even some appliqués stitched across the seams of the trousers and top.
There are some huge, gorgeous bead and rhinestone appliqués, like this one on his right bicep that you can see in the photo above.
There’s also the Lurex lace (metallic threaded) embroidered appliqués that concentrate mostly on his trousers' waist and hips. It’s low profile without any bits that might snag the top while moving. They added a few jewels to it further down once it was no longer posing any danger to snags. There are also a few flat appliqués on his rear, so as to not make sitting uncomfortable but still be adorned.
Beads and gemstones: There are also individual beads and jewels both sewn and what appears to be discreetly glued on as accents. A popular adhesive we use for that sort of application is called E6000. It bonds pretty much everything from plastic, leather, metal, rubber, and wood. It’s like a slower acting super glue, but is more flexible.
You definitely need to use this in a ventilated area or, ideally, with a respirator. The fumes are no joke! There are little chevrons made out of long tubular metallic bugle beads that were probably glued instead of stitched on. There are also round bronze beads and gold rhinestones glued to the edges of the metallic fabric.
There are little dangling gold dudes, though I don’t know what they’re officially called. There are individual sew on rhinestones. There are circular decorative flat chains. There is gold beaded fringe at the wrists of the sleeves.
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Top left: gold braid, beads and chains are heavily featured. Top right: the dangling gold dudes. I don't know what to call them. Bottom left: Paillettes, hanging on gold wires on the upper sleeve hem. Bottom right: Gemstones highlighting the center of the chest, with a whole organized, beautiful mess of braid, beads, etc.
There’s gold flat “braid” trim that also looks like it has a bit of silver in it to add dimension. It’s basically like a braided ribbon, often in metallic colors. It’s used a lot in military uniforms.
And there are a few other various random beads and trims that show up amongst the circus of adornment.
The layout of the overall design is asymmetrical, with left and right arms and legs that don’t match. However, the front of the top is completely symmetrical (which is extremely impressive) except for a few rampant rhinestones that intentionally deviate a bit. Here’s an abomination I made of the sleeves next to each other to see the asymmetry more clearly.
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I THINK (not based on this photo but others that aren't Frankensteined together with different perspectives) that the sleeves are actually different lengths as well.
Something that I should cover is that with garments made out of a stretch fabric, like Key’s trousers in this case, stitching on something non-stretchy (like some appliqués) can be fraught. The appliqué can keep the fabric from stretching as much as it needs to accommodate a body in it, and it might tear off.
Sometimes, we need to stretch the fabric a bit as we sew on the motif so it will look normal when a leg is in it. It may look a bit puckered when it’s not being worn. The good news is that it appears that most of the motifs in this costume are on what is most likely a mesh backing, so they probably didn’t have to deal with that headache here!
Since the motif on the Jacquard fabric is pretty small, as well as the fact that some of the appliqués wrapped across the side seams, “pattern matching” wasn’t a big priority on this. However, it’s always preferable to keep the motifs at the same horizontal height. This is a REALLY small pattern, so it wouldn't matter terribly, plus the fact that it was so covered it can hardly be seen. There WAS a point on the right side seam where the pattern did match, but the fabric slightly torqued on the left so it didn’t. All in all, it wasn’t a big deal whatsoever. If it were a bigger print though, it could have been. I made a thread about pattern matching here. It's a subject I'm pretty passionate about!
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This side seam was cut so that, at a fixed point, the motif was all at the same level horizonatally at there was a part where the motif perfectly matched up to create one complete one. Because there are curves in the seam, it can't do that everywhere.
Now for a bit of a departure: SHINee and its members have done a few collabs over the years, dancing with the frog mascot from Jinro soju. SHINee did one for Don’t Call Me, Taemin did one for Move, and Key did one for Gasoline.
They dressed the frog up like Key, complete with jewels and chains! It was precious. SO GOOD. Watch it now. I also bring this up because that video was the resource I used to figure out where the gold chains on Key’s top were “tacked” (AKA stitched to keep it held down strategically.) It was a nice close-up view. Thanks, Jinro frog!
(Side note: I have made mascots before and it's ironic because they freak me out. I also refurbished a hot dog mascot that had gotten too gross after public appearances over a decade. My life is weird.)
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I love how scaled-back but accurate the frog's costume was.
Through the magic of the Jinro frog, I found the answer to the question “where were the chains tacked?” Here. Enough that they still have independent swing and look natural, but frequent enough to keep them from smacking him in the face. Based on the way they move, I think that is metallic coated plastic and not actual metal. Also, for safety's/comfortability's sake! You don't want to be thumped in the chest with every move.
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Here's where the chains were tacked
Someone asked me how much they thought this costume weighed. My answer?
I really have no idea…but probably not NEARLY as much as it looks? I'm like 99.9% sure the chains aren't actual metal. I’m not sure if the “jewels” are glass or plastic. The tiiiiiny “seed beads” and "bugle beads" are glass, but there aren’t enough that they would weigh a significant amount. There's a lot of gold braid on there that's very lightweight. A lot of what you see are layered appliqués with sequins and seed beads, which weigh nearly nothing. The dangling paillettes are just a light plastic.
For the garments themselves, as we’ve established, the are a few layers of fabric and mesh, which aren’t very heavy. Because of the “encrusted” nature of the ornamentation, of course, it still weighs a bit more than just a regular top, and is probably kind of rigid on the front. However, it’s not like he’s dancing around in chainmail.
Lastly, there are his gloves. His left one is made out of that heavy gold stretch fabric that was incorporated into the rest of his costume, and his right was also made out of a flesh mesh. From the way it behaves in this photo, it appears to be a much heavier mesh than the top and trousers.
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The right glove has thicker mesh that almost appears to have a natural fiber content that is getting snagged. It doesn't completely conform to the skin like a tight flesh mesh would.
The gloves are heavily ornamented with appliqués and beads. I’m going to guess that these were actually custom made for him, which is a big deal. I know very little about glove making, except it involves a TON of pieces to be done right. Gussets in between the fingers to make them slim and elegant and such. No Mickey Mouse hands here.
Stitching the ornamentation on to gloves is pretty difficult work. You either need a hand form and a curved needle or a very brave stitcher who uses their own hand as a form (palm up.) I haven’t done that for gloves, specifically, but I have been a “sacrificial hand” for other situations. I’m so calloused in most places, I don’t really feel much anymore!
There’s one more aspect to this costume that was seen in the intro for his Gasoline Inkigayo performance: the cloak. He didn’t wear it for very long, but it appears to button across his chest to the other shoulder with snaps underneath. The snaps keep the underlap from peeking out from…under the lap.
It looks like they might have had a wardrobe emergency here, because you can see that two of the three snaps were hastily stitched on with red thread. The ornamentation is asymmetrical, mostly focused on his right side. On his left shoulder, there is a decorative beaded “epaulette.” Those are the ornamental shoulder pieces you often see on military dress uniforms.
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Left: The full cloak. You can see the facing on the inside edges, made of the same fabric as the outside. I'll write about that in a bit, and I'll show you a closer view later. Top right: The red thread holding on the upper snaps. Bottom right: Metallic epaulette.
It’s hooded and made out of the same jacquard fabric as the rest of his costume, and it has a satin lining the same color as the “fashion fabric.” It appears to be about calf length. One of the photos I found actually has a shot that shows the facing, the lining, and how the hem is done. Of course, I nerded out. It’s “self faced,” which means that there’s the same fabric that’s on the outside making up the “facing.” The facing is the first ten inches or so of the inside edge of the cloak. It makes a pretty transition from the outside to the inside, without a harsh switch to lining.
Then, there’s the hem.
While attached at the top, the hem of the lining and the outer fashion fabrics are allowed to “hang out” separately while on a dress form. Because fabrics stretch out at different rates (and it also changes by the direction they’re cut from the fabric, but that’s a whole different lesson…) it’s ideal for something like this to hang on a dress form and do its thing for a day or so.
In an ideal world, you’d have a fitting with your performer and you would mark a “level line” on them while they’re wearing the cloak (and also the shoes they will be wearing. Different shoes can change a lot!)
There are several different ways you can mark a hem. You can safety pin it up the way you want it, using a ruler measuring up from the floor to keep it even. But this can be awkward and clunky.
Or you can safety pin a “level line” and say that it’s, for instance, 18” off the ground, and you’d like the hem to be 16” off the ground. You’d draw a new hemline 2” down from the pins. It's the easiest way to know what's level and then decide exactly what you want to do later.
OR you can use what I call “the poofer” which is a little measuring stick on a tripod with chalk and a rubber squeezy ball that poofs chalk into a line at a set height, instead of dealing with pins. But sometimes the chalk doesn’t like to brush away, so that’s a bit of a risk in exchange for convenience.
First, let’s talk about hemming the outside cloak fabric. Because it may have stretched out unevenly, you may have wildly different hems lengths now that they’ve been “leveled.” Let’s say we’ll leave 6” of “hem allowance” to fold up into the garment so it can be lengthened later if we need to. You’ll trim the rest of it away. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve altered hem lengths on cloaks over the years! I'm always grateful to have extra.
You may want to finish the hem with a “serger” or “overlock” machine, which is the sewing machine that uses 3-4 threads to sew things, often stretch, together and kind of seals off the edges. It’s probably what stitches together the side seams of your t-shirt or hoodie or lounge pants or basically anything stretchy. It’s used to keep hems and the edges of fabrics inside garments from fraying. Sometimes people don’t do it, especially since it's inside, but it’s nice if you’re planning on altering it or if the fabric is really prone to fraying.
The cloak fabric is then thoroughly pinned and hand stitched up. There are many different sneaky stitches which grab a few threads at a time from the front of the fabric and are virtually invisible. Everyone has their favorites. My personal favorite is the “vertical hemming stitch” or “vertical blind hem.” I like it because it holds the inner hem and the outside of the cloak more tightly together than a lot of other styles. The “cross stitch” which is called the “blind catch stitch” here in this diagram is one of the most popular methods. However, I feel it can be a bit too loose some times and is more likely to be caught on something. The one downside of the vertical blind hem is that, if you pull it too tight, it’s more likely to show from the outside. It takes a very sensitive hand to get it right. The lining is usually slip-stitched to the cloak hem.
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Once you’ve got your level line of your fashion fabric, it goes back on the dress form. I’m…not entirely sure I’ll do a good job explaining this because I work best with showing things with points and grunts. My apologies.
You mark the lining to match the level where the hem of the fashion fabric ends. You decide how far up from the bottom of the hem you want the lining to end (in this case, 4”.) So normally, you think you'd fold it up 4", right? Ha! You subtract two inches from that number. This means you’ll be folding up only two inches of lining. But, since we will be stitching it 4” up from the hem, that means there’s a floppy extra two inches. (Cue Advice.) What’s that for? Now I have to tell you about “jumps.”
Jumps are a sneaky trick. This method is used in suit coat hems and sleeve linings as well. Basically, they’re a way to give a little bit of wiggle room with the length of the lining to hem interaction.
After the fashion fabric is hemmed, you hand stitch the lining 4” up from the hem. You have two extra inches of lining. One extra inch of lining is pressed down so there’s an extra inch of “underlap". This photo (top right) showed me that they had done this to Key’s cloak. You can see it stretched out with the pressed line on the left, and it is folded over on the right.
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Left: The "self fabric facing" at the center front inside of the cloak. Top right: The cloak hem showing the underside of the "jump" (left) and it down in its "resting" position (right). Bottom right: the "poofer." They're marking a level line.
If you want to get even MORE granular, that is considered a “soft press”, which means that the iron steams and very lightly rests on the fabric. A “hard press” is what it sounds like. Squish that lil dude and steam the heck out of it. That line is never gonna come out.
Okay. Enough of that. I can’t believe myself.
I could literally discuss this costume inch by inch, but I think I’ve covered it enough that you can peruse it yourself if you’d like and kind of know what you’re looking at.
I deeply admire and respect the, perhaps, 100+ hours of craftspersonship that it took to make this stunning costume. Don’t even ask me what it cost to make!
Do check out the Instagram of @denicheur.official where you can see other costumes they’ve worked on for groups like IVE, Enhypen, Stray Kids and more. They’ve got an amazing portfolio to drool over.
I hope you’ve gained an even greater appreciation for this gorgeous look, and the knowledge you’ve gained here can go forward with you as you enjoy future costumes! And thanks so much for sticking with me. I hope it was worth it!
55 notes · View notes
genericpuff · 8 months
Note
Hope you don't mind my asking but do you mind elaborating on why you don't like Mongie too much? I know all about why everyone dislikes Let's Play itself. There are various videos and post upon post online tearing it to shreds with criticism but I've not heard much about the creator herself like I do Rachel Smythe. Does she also run into the same issues that Rachel does or is her behavior different but equally questionable/annoying?
It's kinda equally questionable, kinda different. They both have the same issues of like, fetishizing youthfulness and creating unhealthy power dynamics. They also haven't done a great job at depicting POC in their comics, you can tell they're written by white women who don't understand other cultures but are trying to make their series more "progressive" by including stand-ins for representation.
That said, considering Let's Play is set in a real world setting, the POC characters (and the casually racist issues in their writing) are a lot more obvious than in LO (where you have to know the context that the neon-colored nymphs are based on POC to really realize that they're lower class POC people who are getting the shit end of the stick from the rich upper class main protagonists).
And I don't even mean in the usual "there aren't any POC in this comic" or "the POC in this comic are stereotypical/poorly written", I mean in the sort of white-victim-complex "I added in other ethnicities and people got mad at me anyways so what more do you want!" kind of way (paired with the "they're poorly written and stereotypical" aspect).
Dean is a good example of the stereotypical designing and writing, IIRC he's a Hispanic man but he's written like some Spanish soap opera character who flirts with every woman he sees and always has rose petals falling around him.
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Even in that sentence he says "part Asian" which is weird because he's looking for Marshall who's supposed to be his best friend and it's been established in the comic that Marshall is half-Japanese, but that brings us to the other instance of mongie being casually (if not directly) racist and even more so than with Dean...
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Apparently mongie thought it was a good move to say that it was "more inclusive" to make Vikki only vaguely Asian. Which is just... so not true LOL Asia is an entire continent made up of MANY different cultures and ethnicities and so generalizing all of them to just "Asian" is not a great take from someone who's trying to seem "more inclusive".
But of course, when her community called her out on this and asked her to elaborate, she and her mod team basically dug their heels in and made up excuses that made mongie out to be a victim instead of just acknowledging she made an error that didn't connect well with members of her audience.
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And theeen in comes mongie ready to torch the place. Note that up until this point, it's basically been her mod team speaking up on her behalf and giving her benefit of the doubt, so when mongie DID get her chance to speak, she jumped right to:
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"FINE, SHE'S HALF CHINESE HALF KOREAN THEN, STFU AND STOP ANALYZING ME WHEN I INCLUDE CHARACTERS FROM RACES THAT DON'T ALIGN WITH MY OWN !!!" (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ is very much the vibe people got from this, understandably so. It's also odd (and extremely privileged) for her to say that she'd "rather focus on a character's personality and not their race" because it's very "I don't see color" which has been proven to be counterintuitive to understanding and celebrating different races.
And then we get a lot of self-victimizing "well I can't win no matter what so you people are ungrateful and actually it's MY feelings that are hurt" excuses:
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Again it's weird because she had NO problem specifying that Marshall was half-Japanese and she didn't make him into any sort of weird stereotype like she did with Vikki. So I don't know why she's having such a hard time grasping that being vaguely Asian for Vikki isn't inclusive.
Although, let's be real here, the only reason Marshall is half-Japanese at all is because he's a self-insert of Markiplier, a half-Korean Youtuber who mongie apparently worked for on payroll as a graphic designer prior to Let's Play. Which is just a whole layer of ick that I think surpasses even Rachel Smythe and Mads Mikkelson. Like the Rachel and Mads thing is definitely creepy and weird because she's literally drawn herself - an adult woman nearing her 40's - being swept off her feet by a smoochy-faced Mads. But at least she didn't work for the guy or ever interact with him directly like mongie did with Markiplier. That's a whole separate level of "ew".
That said, mongie continues:
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Which is just such a half-assed non-apology. Not "I'm sorry for misrepresenting a culture" or "I'm sorry I didn't do proper research", but "I'm sorry people think I'm being insensitive or that they need specific representation in my work that I'm claiming to be representation to be good". Completely shifting the blame from herself onto her audience for not being happy with the bare minimum that she gave them.
There's more though. Probably one of the worst parts and it's not even her, but one of her mods:
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The fact that this is one of mongie's mods telling mongie's audience that her feelings - as a white woman who's just legitimately patronized her audience - are more valid than the people whose feelings were hurt by mongie being so insensitive... it's a real gross move and I can't believe they even pulled that.
Oh, and of course, as people like this tend to do, she goes on about "cancel culture" and how "terrifying" it is to her and then comes up with some imaginary scenario where a kid pays a hitman to kill her ?? as a defense for herself that really just further victimizes herself over her own misled actions ??
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And this is something mongie does a lot, at least in this instance - she comes up with justifications for her decisions based on completely imaginary scenarios that she came up with and assumed, rather than just, idk, doing her research and being open to learning new things about cultures she's clearly not educated on. Shit like "well if I do xyz you'll be mad at me anyways so fuck you!"
When in reality? No one would have been mad at her if she didn't have any non-white characters in her comic. Would readers be disappointed? Probably. But - and I can't speak for everybody out there obviously so this is just my opinion - I know I'd much rather representation from someone who wanted to represent my respective groups and identities and put love and effort into it, than get it from someone who was just doing it because they made up a scenario in their head that they would be cancelled for not doing it. No one really has any tangible ground to stand on if they get mad at you for writing a cast of all-white characters you wanted to write, there are plenty of webtoons like that on the platform. We do need more stories that uplift and represent POC voices, but it shouldn't be from white victim complex people who only do it to virtue signal and ensure they don't get "cancelled". You know what WILL get you cancelled? Attempting to write other ethnicities and racial groups purely based on stereotypes for the sake of "representation" and then getting mad when people ask you to be a little more specific than "Asian".
Oh yeah, and then have your mods censor/delete any mentioning of educational resources regarding Asian cultures, and then essentially dox one of your community members by revealing their Twitter to the entire Discord group to boot!
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oh boy mongie, if you think THAT'S drama, wait until you see the shit I do here LMAO
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ramblingoak · 17 days
Text
The Perfect Moment
Mushy May in Lucifer's Hollow: Day 14 - Doing Each Others' Makeup
Mist x Aurora (using a bonus prompt today and kind of playing with it a bit)
This fic is set in an alternate universe in a town called Lucifer's Hollow. It's sort of like a Satanic version of a Hallmark town. For Mushy May I'll be using the prompts to post little snippets of life for the humans and ghouls that live there 💙 Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together!
~ In Lucifer's Hollow Mist owns an antique store called The Reliquary and Aurora owns Little Sunshine Tattoos ~
Warnings: mentions of a tattoo needle otherwise just very sappy, sfw, 670 words (thank you to @ghuleh-recs for the dividers!)
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“You need to hold still unless you want me to mess up.”
“I am holding still.”  Mist ignored Aurora’s look, taking a deep breath and trying to relax again.  It wasn’t that the needle hurt, it just felt…weird.  The buzzing sound was almost worse but Aurora had put some music on that was helping her tune it out.  “How does it look?”
“Hideous.”
Alright she deserved that.  She resolved to stay quiet and let Aurora work.  The ghoulette had been fretting over the design of the tattoo for weeks now.  Sometimes even going over to Mountain’s to get Rain’s opinion.  Mist had seen dozens of different variations of it, each one more beautiful than the next.  She had started to feel bad about asking Aurora since it was obvious her girlfriend was stressing over the whole thing but to Mist there was no one else she’d rather have design it.
And obviously no one else she’d rather have tattoo it.
“Thank you.”  Mist glanced over when the buzzing stopped, her eyes immediately meeting those of Aurora’s.  “I’m glad you’re doing it.”
“Baby, I’m honored you asked me.”  Aurora grabbed a rag and wiped away some excess ink.  “And the design you wanted it’s…well…”
“It’s what?  I thought you liked the idea.”
“I do!  Mist, I love it.  It's…well it’s us.”  The ghoulette sniffled a bit and Mist felt her own eyes watering slightly.  “I love you so much.”
She knew she wasn’t supposed to move but nothing was going to stop her from kissing Aurora at that moment.  The ghoulette’s lips were soft like always, a hint of coffee still clinging to them from earlier.  It was chaste at first but like usual it didn’t take long for the kiss to deepen, for their mouths to open and their tongues to tangle together.  Mist pulled away after a moment and cupped Aurora’s cheek, swiping at the few tears that had escaped with her fingers.
“You’re such a sap.”  She yelped when Aurora playfully nipped at her thumb.  “But I love you too.”
“I’m never going to get tired of you saying that.”
“Me calling you a sap or saying I love you?”
“Hmm, probably both.”  Mist grinned as she settled back in the chair, placing her arm back where it had been resting before.  “I’m almost done.  Just going to add some color to the water.”
“Take your time.”  
When Aurora started the tattoo gun up again Mist looked down at her lap, focusing on the silver ring the ghoulette had given her not too long ago.  There was a single pink stone on the band, the same shade of pink as Aurora’s eyes.  She still couldn’t believe it, her and Aurora were now engaged.  They had gone and picked out a matching ring for Aurora too, but her stone was the same shade of blue as Mist’s eyes.
It was a moment she was never going to forget.  They had trekked out into the woods a bit, heading towards the pond that was close to Mountain’s farmhouse.  The whole town was awake and watching the skies, waiting for the aurora borealis to appear.  It was an occurrence so rare that a big event had been made of it.  People were camped out in their yards or in the various parks around town.
But Aurora had wanted to be away from everyone, claiming that she just wanted to have a nice private picnic together.  It didn’t really matter to Mist, there wasn’t much Aurora could ask her to do that she’d say no to.  Besides, a picnic next to the water with the aurora borealis above their heads?  It was the perfect moment, a moment Mist would never forget for as long as she lived.
And it was a moment she had decided to memorialize with a tattoo.  One that combined her favorite spot in town with her favorite moment of her life.  One created by her favorite person too.  Satanas, they were both sappy and gross.     
Mist wouldn’t have it any other way.
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More snippets from this verse are on my masterlist under "Ongoing Series"!
Other Mushy May days: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15
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