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bottoms-movie · 3 years

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SAMBUCKY FIC RECS

so a lot of people seemed interested this so here it is! if ya’ll like this, i can make more parts! this is split into three categories: based on tfatws, canon divergence, and au. all fics are on ao3. all of the fics are complete. some fics do include smut, but i included the ratings, so make sure to check for that based on preferences!

also, feel free to send me asks on your thoughts on any fics or if you’re interested in another sambucky fic rec post!

BASED ON TFATWS

Fill the Hole in my Heart | Not Rated | 4,848 words

Bucky dives into the world of online dating. The girls are nice, but there seems to be something missing. When he goes to Louisiana to meet Sam and his family, he realizes what that something was.

Skip, Reverse | Explicit | 7,945 words

Sam stood in the middle of their local Target with a throw pillow in each hand. The one in his left hand was butter-soft and matched the drapes in the living room, but Bucky had walked by five seconds ago and declared the one on the right “absolutely fucking hideous,” and so now Sam kind of wanted it more than he had ever wanted anything.

Sometimes romance is just bickering with your superhero partner/roommate at several different Target locations.

just won’t do right | General | 7,524 words

Sam's eyebrows go up, impressed, and he reaches over to squeeze Torres' shoulder, "This is amazing, kid. Thanks, really."

Bucky sits and watches in utter horror as the pink darkens on Torres' cheeks.

Oh, he realizes. Oh. Fuck.

body language will do the trick | Explicit | 12,598 words

“There’s no way you’re going to win this,” Bucky tells Sam. “I am going to love language the shit out of you.”

Sam gives him a considering look. “You do seem like you’d be really good at that.”

Bucky’s cheeks flush with heat. “Thanks, pal, I—”

Sam smirks, and Bucky’s eyes narrow. He shoves his elbow into Sam’s side and stalks off, leaving Sam cackling behind him.

“Your ass looks great today!” Sam yells.

Bucky reaches up to flip Sam the bird, and he definitely does not feel grateful that he wore his good jeans today. Bucky’s ass looks great every day.

checklist | General | 4,716 words

Bucky Barnes keeps a mental checklist of things he knows to be true at any given moment. Sometimes the checklist changes, because he's learned something else about himself. It changes, for example, when he starts realizing that maybe he would like to kiss Sam Wilson. Maybe.

best laid plans | 3 parts | 26,808 words

part 1: baby you’re the wave and I’m ready for the crash | Explicit | 6,616 words

Nah, my plan’s better,” Sam declares, before clapping Bucky on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry, what plan? Was that a plan? It didn’t sound like a plan to me, it sounded like a vague intention,” says Bucky, still scowling, and Sam grins.

“We’re winging it, the plan is a work in progress! Now c’mon, we gotta make some wardrobe adjustments if we’re gonna get into that club.”

Sam and Bucky have some unorthodox methods of going undercover in a club.

He Doesn’t Deserve You! | Teen | 5,154 words

Sam and Bucky have an argument that results in Bucky being left at the bar. A group of drunk strangers assumes Bucky just got dumped and quickly adopt him for the night to make him feel better.

Reconstitution | Not Rated | 10,228 words

“I didn’t back Steve on the Sokovia Accords,” Sam says unprompted one day. They’re so close to apprehending the Flagsmashers and wrapping up this ridiculous saga.

“I don’t follow,” Bucky says.

“I was the one who refused to sign it first. Not Steve.”

Sam says it so softly that Bucky has to strain to hear him. Sam is loud and chatty and half the time he keeps up a constant stream of chatter just to get on Bucky’s nerves, but Bucky’s coming to realize that when he really wants to make himself heard, he’s soft spoken and mild. Bucky doesn’t entirely follow his train of thought, though.

Or: a breaking down, remaking, and coming back stronger than ever before

Stuck On You (You Suez, You Luez) | Explicit | 10,136 words

Sam and Bucky’s mission was simple: stowaway on a ship suspected of weapons-smuggling in the Suez, gather enough intel to report back, and hop off again in Port Said. Something gets in the way, and a day-long recon session turns into a week of chess, bickering, semi-successful movie references, and trying not to go slowly insane.

His Touch | Mature | 1,006 words

When Baron Zemo touched Bucky’s face, Sam Wilson saw red.

Bucky just wants Sam to comfort him.

rusted | Teen | 2,358 words

Bucky doesn’t grace him with a sound of acknowledgement. He’s been quiet, ever since that night with Zemo. Well. Quieter. It’s almost like. Every time he opens his mouth, he’s half-expecting the Winter Soldier to come out.

He hasn’t, yet. Won’t, ever again. Not unbidden. Sam’s sure of that. Bucky, not so much.

‘You busy?’

‘’m scouring the—’

‘Good,’ Sam cuts the idiot off, ‘I need you to help me shave.’

advanced therapy methods for large adult men | 2 parts | 11,717 words

part 1: The Gottman Method for Dealing with Conflict | Mature | 4,187 words

Bucky and Dr. Raynor have a follow-up session and two entirely different conversations about his relationship status.

Or: Let's do more couples therapy, James.

it’s always Bucky’s Fault | 3 parts | 20,089 words

part 1: Did you see it? | Explicit | 3,905 words

In which there's supposedly a viral video of the Winter Soldier on his knees sucking off Captain America.

Everything is, like always, completely Bucky's fault.

CANON DIVERGENCE

Even in the Present (I Am Living in the Past) | Teen | 16,977 words

Sometimes Sam still questions everything about his ability to shoulder the 80-year legacy he now bears. His history, and the history of his loss, sticks with him and even in healing he doubts whether or not he is able to fulfil his purpose, and whether he may find lasting peace and happiness.

Told in fluid-fragments, the story moves between his therapy sessions after his return from active duty and the post-Endgame present.

You never forget your first | Teen | 3,650 words

The story of Bucky and Sam getting together in a series of firsts.

leftovers | Mature | 19,249 words

With the New Avengers up and running, Sam finally has time to start dating again. Unfortunately, it's not going as well as he'd hoped.

Partners | Explicit | 7,235 words

Sam's not sure if he can be Captain America. He's not a supersoldier. He can't throw the shield. He's just a dude.

And Bucky Barnes is just a nuisance, albeit a pretty good-looking one.

I’ll explain everything to the geese | Explicit | 50,949 words

Bucky is so competent that it hurts my feelings is not a rational complaint to have about a person, and yet, after a year of being Captain America and partnering up with Bucky for the new and improved, post-Blip Avengers, that’s kinda how Sam’s feeling.

It’s not great. It maybe leads to Sam making some rash, ill-advised decisions like claiming he has a previously undisclosed superpower, and then getting caught in a web of lies when he ends up actually developing that surprisingly inconvenient superpower. Talking to birds had seemed like a harmless superpower, but it turns out that birds have a lot of opinions, and they don’t hesitate to tell Sam about them, especially when it comes to his supposedly subpar courting skills. Which is ridiculous, because Sam isn’t courting Bucky. Right?

Night Swimming | Teen | 2,056 words

“Come on. The princess has a new arm for you and I gotta see if there’s a barber around here willing to tackle your…” Sam waved a hand at Bucky’s face.

“I don’t want a new arm,” Bucky immediately bit out.

And then -

“I can cut my own damn hair.”

Sam just raised both eyebrows. Crossed his arms over his chest again.

Dared Bucky to prove him wrong.

Cpvert Coffee & Flirtation Specialist | General | 5,542 words

The reporter says "—for Captain America to—"

And Bucky rolls his eyes. "Oh, here we go."

Sam looks at him then tips his head sideways, got a weird grin on his face. "Not a fan?"

"Not that. Just… the guy seems too good to be true, right? Wings and a shield?? Come on."

"Uh, is that why your eyes are like glued to the screen whenever he's on?" Kate says. "Is that why you call him Captain Tight Ass?"

"He's a goddamn show-off, and you know it. Tight ass or not."

Just then Sam snorts, real loud, grabs his coffee and suffers a horribly controlled laugh on his way out the door.

Stolen Moments | Teen | 98,767 words

“No,” Sam said, chuckling. “I don’t cheat,” he swept his gaze up and down James’ body, “even with guys who look like you. But, I’m bored and a little pissed, so if you wanna sit here and shoot the shit ‘til my man shows back up, I’m game.”

Never one to back to back down from a challenge - especially a challenge who looked like Sam Wilson - Bucky took another swig from his bottle and replied, “Sure, doll. I’ve got nothing but time.”

Steve has Sam. Bucky wants Sam. Sam wasn’t expecting any of this.

Such a Whirlwind Since I Saw You | Teen | 10,871 words

The Men of Letters turned Bucky Barnes into a weapon. Hunters Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov are determined to save him, but they're going to need Sam Wilson's help.

“So you want me to ditch work, drive across America with you until you find your friend, who you thought was dead - all while avoiding some high-tech hunters who are out for blood?” Sam is asking.

Steve shrugs a shoulder, looking a little sheepish. Natasha almost laughs at the dry tone of Sam’s voice, but he's not wrong.

You Got What I Need? | Explicit | 37,588 words

Sam and Bucky are both in a bind, professionally. Nat points out a solution that neither men like. To save their careers they play along or rather, stop playing all together.

#marvel #sam wilson #bucky barnes #tfatws #sambucky #sambucky fanfiction #sambucky fic recs #fic recs #usermarcy #usersof #tusernini #tusersammy #usersmile #usersamanne #usercross #sambucky fanfic #my fic recs

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thoughts-on-bangtan · 3 years

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Five Hall of Shame Asks

Since these few amused me, but also made me go ??? I thought I’d share (a trigger warning though applies for the last ask but I’ll detail it beforehand again). But especially with the first and third one, like, in how many different ways do I have to reiterate that regardless of argument, unless it’s something completely new and an angle that has never been argued/made before, besides vmin I do not see any other maknae ship as romantic, past, present, future. I’ve been ARMY long enough that I know enough to have a solid opinion and these types of asks? They are not helping your case, at all. Which I’ve also already said a bunch of times. And I’m only giving you an “answer” because I thought I was funny (in the first half of the answer to anon number 1), so I’ll post it.

From anon: It always baffles me how so many blogs entirely miss and ignore the possibility of j*k*ok being real despite all the evidence and proof to their relationship but people would hold onto a thin thread called Vmin or t*ek*ok, especially the former being a pair of soulmates that have never try to romanticize their bond.

It baffles me how so many people/shippers entirely miss and ignore the possibility of staying on their side of the shipper universe, celebrate the bond you ship, and leave people who ship something else be. But people would hold on to a thin thread called "I must convince everyone of my thing because otherwise my thing isn't real (enough)" which they do because they crave validation that they don't see “minding their own business” as viable option especially when the former would mean others will continue to not see their thing as romantic.

Oh, and, 95z is Love.

No, but, seriously, anon, what did you think you’ll achieve with an ask like this? I don’t know, and I don’t actually want to know. This is a OT7 as well as vmin and namjin blog, and since that isn’t what you’re after, I would advise you to seek out any of the j*k*ok blogs on this platform who hold the same opinion as you do, and there are plenty to choose from.

Lastly, their bonds are not a competition, not a game of compare and contrast. We (as in people participating in the shipper universe) aren’t a court, judge and jury, we’re just fans with (more or less informed) opinions.

From anon: Vmin are the best brothers. Jimin was born to be worshipped and owned by jungkook.

...I’m sorry, is Jimin some kind of deity to be worshipped or an object you can own? I know this is like the bad boy language that gets people all fuzzy in really bad “romance” movies about your typical alpha male, but in real life? Unless that’s the sort of relation you’re after, you do not own your partner. Or your friends. Or anyone. Owning someone is a sign of possessive behavior and that, in most if not all, cases does not lead to long or healthy, in any kind of way, relationships.

From anon: JMs sabotaged his own relationship with V because of JK. Its so clear. There's only so much a person can give & take & seems like V has slowly been pulling back from JM even tho he still very much loves JM. I feel like crying. I've been watching this unfold for a year now. Where there's Vmin there's JK. Yes they're family/friends, but JK interjected himself in the middle of Vmin. Whether it was on purpose cause he felt left out and wanted attention or if its because JK developed feelings for JM.

If you claim the issue is JK, how is it then that it’s Jimin who supposedly sabotaged his own relationship with Tae? The logic doesn’t quite make sense to me. Also, based on everything we’ve seen during PERMISSION TO DANCE on Stage last weekend, I really don’t know how you can interpret any of it as Tae pulling away from Jimin, or vmin not being close anymore, or their relationship having been sabotaged.

Furthermore, since this is a Hall of Shame post I can admit that these kinds of Teen Drama 101 “plots” are annoying me more and more because they keep on coming and it just feels like people purposefully don’t consider anything but their own need and craving for drama. As I’ve said many times before, despite how much shippers want to portray JK as some kind of possessive, overly jealous, intrusive and obsessive asshole, that isn’t who he is. At all. Which I’ve written about many times before (here and here). And also, despite how much shippers want to present JKs “choice” as being strictly limited to he either has to be with Jimin or he has to be with Tae, because apparently he can’t just be friends with both, but that’s not how life works, how relationships and friendships work, and it’s also completely nonsensical.

JK is their dongsaeng, and he’s Bangtan’s maknae. He is two years younger than Tae and Jimin, and despite Tae offering (years ago) for JK to drop the honorifics and thus becoming his equal, JK rejected the idea both in Tae’s and Jimin’s case for the sake of their dynamic and friendship (here’s a whole post by the marvelous romanticdrift about JK and honorifics).

In Korea, and I say this cautiously since this is based on research so if any Korean ARMY are reading our blog please do send in an ask if this is right, the younger person in a friendship is the one who will always be “unequal” to the older half to a certain degree. Actions that have been interpreted as romantic by shippers, like JK carrying Jimin’s shopping bags in Malta (BV3), they are simply something dictated by culture/age hierarchy (and him wanting to be a good friend). JK, as the younger, is, in a way, obliged to help his hyungs. We’ve even seen that in the most recent ITS episode where, after breakfast, Hobi says he’ll clean up since he was the only one who didn’t cook, but JK says he feels weird with that since he is the youngest, as in, due to his age he should be the one to clean up despite having cooked. Or when Yoongi “asked” him to took dinner with him, JK first apologized that he’s too exhausted to do so, and yet ultimately he still joined him and cooked.

Just like Jimin and Tae are chingu, as well as Namjoon and Hobi, JK also has his chingu in form of his 97z squad. People with whom he has matching tattoos to honor/celebrate their bond, and his friends even sometimes post pictures wearing the same clothes as JK.

Whatever vmin have or don’t have, it has nothing to do with JK. They both love him as their maknae, their youngest friend, and they are close to him in different ways because people have different dynamics with different people. As I said earlier, their bonds are not a competition, not a game of compare and contrast, and JK loves his hyungs, all of them, in different ways and also shows it in different ways, ones which are adjusted to each hyung (a post about his bonds with Hobi, Yoongi, and Seokjin). As much as he can hug Jimin or Tae, because they like hugs, he won’t hug Yoongi or Namjoon in the same way because that isn’t their preferred “love language”. Or as “rough” as he plays with Seokjin, because that’s part of their dynamic, he won’t do the same with Hobi. Or while JK will jokingly pretend he’ll pull down Jimin’s pants (ITS season 1, one of the earlier episodes), Tae will do the same with JK (ITS season 1, one of the later episodes), but Tae won’t do something like that with Jimin, because it isn’t part of their dynamic, and JK wouldn’t do it with Namjoon or Yoongi for the same reason.

You also have to keep in mind that we have a very limited view on their interactions and dynamics, the time we see compared to the length of a year is basically nothing. All we have to go by are their own words and the bits and pieces we see, everything else is a guessing game.

Anon, I have no idea what kind of development you think you’ve been observing for the past year, or what led you to interpret things in such a manner, but as someone who has been here a long time (how many times have I repeated that so far since our first posts?) I truly have no idea where you’re getting any of this from. Yes, JKs bonds with Tae and Jimin have changed and evolved, just like Tae’s and Jimin’s bond has evolved and strengthened, but none of it has anything to do with whatever you think it does. At least that is my opinion. You don’t have to subscribe to it, but since this is our blog, all I can do for you is give you my opinion so there you have it.

From anon: Do you dislike straight people?

I mean this in the most sarcastic way known to human kind: yes.

Trigger warning for the following ask (below the cut) for those who might prefer not to read a statement following the opener “I’m not homophobic but...” since it does sound rather (very) homophobic. Stay safe!

From anon: I’m not homophobic but I always wonder how bts members parents feel watching their sons and pride behave in such way with each other’s. So sexual 24/7.

Especially Tae and Jin and Jimin with Jk or even sometimes Vmin.

Everyone calls them the pride of SK but how will these people feel one day when they find out that they loved and supported such gay guys for years. I feel bts should reduce these behaviors. It’s so embarrassing watching their content with family sometimes, they’re literally rubbing on each other’s thighs and what not. I pray they’re guided.

You claim to not be homophobic just to then basically bash the members for behaving in a way you think is “too gay” and thus would prefer for them to be “less gay” which, surprise, is homophobic because what, exactly, is “too gay” about any of what they do? If, instead, it was a girl and a guy, would you still feel like they’re doing too much? Or, even better, if it were two girls, would that still be too much?

And I get it, especially if views/fans are coming from countries where this kind of skinship which we see in K-Pop between male idols is rare, it can be a bit surprising at first, and yet at the same time we as an audience somehow have no issue whatsoever with seeing female friendships that are touchy on screen, or romances (or movies/shows in genres where the romance is secondary, supposedly) with straight couples that kiss and feel each other up every other scene. Perhaps they (as in Bangtan and their way of interacting) are not the problem, but what you deem as sexual behavior? Is hugging a friend sexual? Is Tae lying down next to Jimin in bed to take a selca sexual? Is Hobi sharing a bed with JK in their RUN Staycation sexual? Is a shirtless JK hugging Seokjin in his selcas sexual? Or is that just friends who are extremely close and have been with each other 10 years type of close, and all of it simply shows that even men can (and should be allowed to) show affection without it being seen as weird?

You don’t have to like everything they do, but putting the blame on them being (potentially) queer and thus their behavior (according to you it seems) automatically being sexual, that is an issue. And it isn’t their issue, but yours.

If the behavior showcased by idols, as well as BTS, is “too gay” for you, too “sexual” for you, than perhaps K-Pop and its idols are just not for you. Besides, compared to some other things I’ve seen, what Bangtan do is nothing that would step outside of the frame, so to speak. You have to keep in mind cultural and contextual differences, and if they are something that’s too much for you, as viewer, then the only option isn’t to pray for them, but to reflect on your own views and values in that regard. And change who you stan. Because Bangtan won’t and doesn’t have to change unless they want to.

And the BTS parents? They must be proud beyond anyones imagination seeing everything their sons have achieved. The pride they bring to their country, as well as the joy they bring to ARMY and anyone willing to give their music a chance. Bangtan have taught us how to love ourselves, how to love others and be more open minded, so perhaps it’s time for you learn that, too. Or leave. Which sounds mean, yes, but it’s the truth.

Also, great choice to come to a blog co-written by a queer person with an ask like this, bravo.

#hall of shame ask #taehyung #jimin #jungkook #vmin

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twstarchives · 4 years

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Hello! There used to be a list about which characters have mentioned to have siblings/be only childs but I can't find it anymore ;; do you still have it or was I imagining it? If so, do you know what is there so far about each student's family life?

Riddle

Parents

Riddle lives with his mom, the status of his father is unknown. He has implied that his parents don’t get along.¹ Both parents are magic doctors, but his mother seems to be more well-known. To Riddle, she is extremely overbearing and planned out nearly every second of his life: controlled his education, his schedule, his diet, his clothing, the supplies he used, and which friends he could have. She put a heavy emphasis on studying and always being the best.²

1. Riddle Ghost Marriage voice lines 2. Main Story 1-19

Ace

Parents

Older brother

Grandmother

His brother is 7 years older than him and a Heartslabyul alumni.¹ He seems to have often messed around with Ace & make him angry on purpose, but it was all in good nature; they are very close. Apparently his brother was even more excited than their parents when they found out Ace got into NRC.² Ace has also mentioned his grandma a few times; she taught him about the Ghost Camera³ and warned him about magic blotting.⁴

1. Ace School Uniform PS 2. Ace Ceremony Robes voice lines 3. Main Story 0-19 4. Main Story 2-4

Deuce

Mother

Grandmother

He is an only child¹ and loves his mom very much. The entire reason he’s trying so hard to be an honors student is so that he can become a son she can be proud of. He once cried when she called him to tell him just that.²

The only time his grandma was mentioned was when he told a story of his mom crying to her on the phone, thinking she’d failed as a parent (during Deuce’s delinquent days).³

1. Jack Dorm Uniform PS 2. Wish Upon A Star 12 3. Main Story 1-13

Trey

Parents

Younger brother

Younger sister

His family runs a bakery. As the oldest child, he often had to take care of his little siblings (ie. ensuring they all brushed their teeth at night)¹. They all would pester him to bake them desserts,² but he cared for them a lot—one time his little brother really wanted to go to a live magift game so Trey spent his whole allowance to get him a ticket.³

1. Trey School Uniform PS 2. Ace School Uniform PS 3. Trey Wish Upon A Star voice lines

Cater

Parents

Two older sisters

Because of his dad’s work as a banker, their family had to move about once every two years, all over the world.¹ Cater hadn’t had any long-lasting friends because of this.

He has described his sisters as “unreasonable,” his dislikes in his profile are listed as “having to suck up to his sisters,” and when everyone was going home for winter holiday, he said he’d rather stay with Trey’s family.² In his voice lines, he mentioned that he can’t relate to Yuu feeling homesick because his sisters would just be waiting for him at home. His sisters rated everything by how cute it was, and if something “wasn’t cute” to them then Cater would have to redo it.³

They would get more excited about his birthday than he would, and buy him all kinds of presents he didn’t particularly like (such as stuffed animals, dolls, perfumes, soaps, etc). But they weren’t trying to be intentionally mean, and recently have started paying attention to what he really wants.⁴

When he was about 10 years old, his mom and sisters were always baking sweets. Cater was excited about this at first because it meant he could get lots of treats, but his sisters would make him eat everything. If he refused, they’d look so disheartened, and Cater couldn’t say no to that, so he kept forcing himself to eat. Because of this, he now hates sweets.⁴

1. Cater Scary Dress PS 2. Main Story 4-3 3. Cater Lab Coat PS 4. Cater Birthday PS

Leona

Falena (older brother)

Cheka (nephew)

Sister-in-law

Leona is a member of Afterglow Savannah’s royal family. His brother and his sister-in-law are the current rulers, and Cheka is next in line to the throne. Leona has constantly felt inferior and bitter that he and Falena are treated so differently based off nothing but birth order.¹ But he greatly respects his sister-in-law; she’s one of the only people he would never talk back to.² Cheka is very affectionate and clingy towards him.

1. Main Story 2-27 2. Ruggie’s Chat w/ Jack

Jack

Parents

Younger brother

Younger sister

Grandparents

Jack is the oldest in his family with an 11yo brother and a 7yo sister. He and his siblings are all very athletic; they used to play tag with each other for 6 hours on end.¹ Jack has said that wolf beastmen pick one soulmate to spend their whole life with, and his parents + grandparents are always at each others’ side, when they wake up, go on walks, eat, and go to sleep.²

1. Jack Happy Beans Day PS 2. Ace Ghost Marriage PS

Ruggie

Mother (deceased)

Father (unknown)

Grandmother

Ruggie's mother "became a star up in the sky" shortly after giving birth to him. His father went away for work and never came back, and to this day Ruggie doesn't know what happened to him.¹

He lives with his grandma in the slums of Afterglow Savannah. They were poor and struggled to find food to eat, but his grandma could make delicious food out of any ingredients they could find. Ruggie learned to cook from her.² He described her as very kind but also tough.

Ruggie seemed to have taken care of the other kids in the neighborhood too-- when everyone went home over winter break, he brought home leftovers from the cafeteria to feed his grandma and the kids.³

1. Ruggie Birthday PS 2. Ruggie School Uniform PS 3. Main Story 4-3

Azul

Mother

Stepfather

Grandmother

His mom fell in love with her divorce lawyer while separating from Azul’s biological father. She’s also the owner of the Ashengrottoes’ famous ristorante in the Coral Sea.¹ Because of their business, Azul grew up a foodie and was exposed to a lot of different foods from a young age.²

His stepfather is kind and honest, and very clever when it comes to his work. Azul respects him and they seem to have a good relationship. He taught him about law and contracts.¹

Everyone in the Ashengrotto family is a mage, but Azul’s grandmother is said to be especially powerful. She was known for helping those in need, and very “merciful,” just like Azul.¹

1. Azul Birthday PS 2. Azul Dorm Uniform PS

Jade & Floyd

Parents

Their parents started teaching them self-defense since they were little.¹ We don’t know many details of their childhood, but there was an interesting exchange between them—Jade once said “he made the right choice choosing Floyd as his partner,” and Floyd replied that “he’s glad Jade is the one that survived with him, too.”²

In Floyd’s Wish story, he brought up how their father told him to buy a nice pair of shoes when he went on land because “men who don’t pay attention to the small details get patronized” so your appearance is very important. Hearing this gave Idia and Ortho an uneasy feeling about Mr. Leech.

1. Jade PE Uniform voice lines 2. Floyd Dorm Uniform PS

Kalim

Parents

30-40 younger siblings

Kalim’s father comes from a long line of merchants and is supposedly the greatest one in the family. But despite how busy he is, he’s always wearing a smile. Kalim’s mother is the only one in the family who can use magic. She’s described as very kind, is always praising Kalim, and almost never gets angry.¹

Kalim doesn’t know the exact number of siblings he has, but he can put names to faces for all of them, and he often plays hide and seek with them in their house. He doesn’t come from a royal family (they’re just extremely rich), but some of his distant relatives are actual royalty.² One of his distant cousins apparently owns a tiger.³ His family has about 100 servants along with specialists like a personal doctor⁴ and a beast tamer.

1. Kalim Birthday PS 2. Main Story 4-8 3. Silver Lab Coat PS 4. Main Story 4-17

Jamil

Parents

Najma (younger sister)

His family has served the Asims for generations. His parents knew Jamil was a very bright child, but they insisted that he must always let Kalim be better than him, and would reprimand him for talking too casually to his young master.¹ Jamil seems to share a typical sibling relationship with his sister Najma. They often bicker with each other, but they’re on good terms. Najma used to bake him cookies for his birthday² and they would also get into fights because she’d tell him his cooking looked too plain.³ Jamil gave his VDC plus-one ticket to her during Episode 5.

Najma made her first in-game appearance during the Aleab Naria event. Their father had sent her to deliver a message in-person to Jamil, since he isn’t versed in technology likes PCs and phones and didn’t trust that a text would suffice.⁴

Najma claims that she and Jamil look nothing alike, but they tend to make near-identical expressions. She was relieved to see that he has a few friends at NRC because he never talks about them whenever he comes home.⁴ In one scene, Jamil reminds her to wipe her hands before eating and gives her a wet wipe, and she huffs at him to not treat her like a child. Trey notes how well Jamil looks after her, but Cater thinks he is a little bit overprotective.

1. Main Story 4-36 2. Jamil Birthday PS 3. Jamil Dorm Uniform PS 4. Aleab Naria 3-4, 3-5, 3-7

Vil

Eric (father)

Vil’s father is an extremely famous actor and goes by the stage name Eric Venue. Even the Leeches’ father is a fan of some of his movies.¹ Vil has mentioned that his dad would come home dressed in special effects makeup & costumes every Halloween,² and also used to read him stories about the Beautiful Queen.³

1. Vil Scary Dress PS 2. Vil Scary Dress voice lines 3. Scary Monsters 3-2

Epel

Parents

Grandparents

Aunt & Uncle (uncle is biological)

Male Cousin

Epel’s family lives on an apple farm that’s been around for generations. They all live in the same house. His village is also made up of farmers, and they often help each other out during the busy season and have big barbecues together. It feels like they’re one big family.¹

His relatives often send him apples from home since they have such an abundance of them. They seem to have some business struggles; Epel taught himself how to beautifully carve apples when he was young because many were blemished and wouldn’t otherwise sell.² He has also mentioned wanting to make a potion that strengthens weak apple trees to make his grandpa happy.³

Besides Epel, his grandma and great-grandma are the only ones in the family who can use magic.⁴ They ride brooms to pick apples that are too high to reach on foot. Epel wanted to help them when he was little so everyday he would get on a broom and try hopping up and down, and then one day it worked! Ever since then he’s helped with that task as well.

1. Epel Birthday PS 2. Epel School Uniform PS 3. Epel Lab Coat voice lines 4. Epel Ceremony Robes voice lines / Birthday PS

Idia & Ortho

???

The Shrouds are a noble family and famous for some reason, but Idia has said that being from a noble family isn’t all that great.¹ When he was worrying about being seen at the entrance ceremony, he expected people might gossip about how he’s from “the cursed Shroud family,” and that he’ll “spread misfortune to them.”² At another time, he mentioned that the audience would be apprehensive about what kind of “weird research” he did if he had to present his research on stage.³

1. Idia PE Uniform PS 2. Idia Ceremony Robes PS 3. Main Story 5-3

Lilia, Malleus, Silver

Malleus’ grandmother

Lilia was one of the Queen of the Valley of Thorns’ most trusted soldiers when he used to fight for the royal family.¹ In Cater’s Lab Coat story, they created mandrakes that reflected parts of themselves, and Lilia’s was said to “carry the cry of a tragic hero.”

He has watched over Malleus “ever since he had an eggshell over his head.” An infant Malleus once singed Lilia’s bangs by breathing fire and Lilia was so proud that he raised a glass of tomato juice to him.²

Malleus is the heir to the Valley of Thorns, a descendant of the king “who rules over all creatures of the night,” and his only living relative is his grandmother, the current Queen of the Valley. He spent much of his childhood alone in the castle. He used this time to learn how to play all kinds of stringed instruments. His grandmother is so busy that she shouldn’t even have spare time to write him letters, but every year on his birthday, she sends him one without fail, along with rose seeds from the garden by their castle.³

Long after Malleus had grown up, both he and Lilia took in baby Silver for an unknown reason. Silver thought he was his biological dad when he was little, and continues to refer to him as “Father.” They lived deep in the forest in the Valley of Thorns before coming to NRC. Apparently Silver was very easy to take care of; he would fall right to sleep after eating Lilia’s homemade food.⁴

At one point, Sebek also became one of Lilia’s pupils. He and Silver are the only two from their generation living in the Valley.⁵ When they were little, Lilia would have them undergo training like soldiers, but then he realized he should raise them more like kids, and started making their training more fun. He had them play tag in forests crawling with beasts, hide and seek in vast deserts, and “the floor is lava” in the mountains of needles.⁶

1. Silver Ceremony Robes 2. Lilia PE Uniform PS 3. Malleus Birthday PS 4. Lilia Lab Coat voice lines 5. Sebek School Uniform voice lines 6. Lilia Birthday PS

Sebek

Parents

Older brother

Older sister

Grandfather

Sebek’s mother is a nocturnal faerie and his father is a human who works as a dentist. They met when his mother had an appointment at his clinic. She was immediately charmed and courted him despite her surroundings being against her marrying a human. Now, she works at the clinic as his assistant.¹

Sebek greatly respects his mother and raves about how she’s extremely gifted with magic and has a strong sense of justice. His opinion of his dad, on the other hand, is much different—his dad seems very loving and often showers his children in praises, sweets, and gifts, but it drives Sebek crazy. He doesn’t understand how his mother saw any appeal in him.¹

Since his parents were often busy with their clinic, Sebek spent his childhood running off to visit his grandpa, or fishing and playing in the water with his siblings. Based on the fact that Sebek and Silver were said to be the only ones in their generation living in the Valley,² his siblings are most likely considerably older than him.

All we know about his grandpa is that Malleus also knew him, and mentioned that Sebek shares his hot-blooded temper.³

1. Sebek Birthday PS 2. Sebek School Uniform voice lines 3. Scary Monsters event story

No current info: Rook

Last updated: July 27, 2021

#twst notes #misc lists

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youre-fired-s-seaborn · 3 years

Text

So you guys are never going to guess what I just did.

I might possibly be writing a tww fic (FOR REAL THIS TIME I PROMISE) and I just finished the first little snippet so I thought I’d share that with y’all!

It’s going to be several chapters, each one from the POV of a different senior staff member, basically just a random collection of scenes where everyone Works Out their Issues. Official summary= The senior staff + Donna think about the past, how far they’ve come, heartbreak, hard times, sleep deprivation, and what family means to them over a ginormous bowl of popcorn.

(Part backstory headcanons, part character study, part found family, part random other shit?? I have no clue where this came from tbh. Anyway enjoy this rambly dumpster fire) (the popcorn is figurative)

Part one is Sam, and I’m sure none of you are surprised 😋 Enjoy!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Samuel Norman Seaborn was a kid, ‘I want to be a lawyer when I grow up’ was one thought that didn’t cross his mind, not even once. Which is saying something, because little Sam had a lot of thoughts. He had opinions about everything, even things he didn’t understand (especially those) and he had ideas, big ideas that everyone said were going to change the world one day, and he had an imagination the size of the Chrysler building and not enough room in his head for all the stories he wanted to tell. Everyone liked Sam. He was easy to like. At least, until he got a little older and suddenly his imagination was distracting instead of endearing and his ideas were silly instead of helpful and the big books he liked to read were taking time away from more important things. It didn’t make sense to him, because he had always thought they were the most important things in the world, but one day when one too many teachers had commented on it and one too many other children had teased him for it, he sat himself down at his desk and told himself he wouldn’t be like that anymore. Sam decided he wouldn’t be the dreamy one with his head in the clouds anymore. He would be focused, and dedicated, the model student and son.

So somewhere in middle school, Sam Seaborn changed from the cheerful, somewhat dazed and forgetful child he had been into the most intensely focused little academic his teachers had ever seen. Focusing was usually...hard, for Sam. At least, focusing on the right thing. His mind wanted to go in so many different directions and think about so many different things, and none of them were what he should have been focusing on. But he found that if he worked really hard and forced himself to think about one specific thing, then he could usually achieve it. Homework and such wasn’t exactly what he was passionate about, but it was what his parents wanted, and what everyone else around him seemed to want, so he did his best.

He worked hard through high school and when he graduated, he got accepted to Princeton. Sam loved Princeton. He loved everything about it. He started working hard because he liked it, and not because he thought other people wanted him to. He worked towards his law degree, and he got it.

(He never did stop writing, though. It was like a disease. No matter where he was or what he should have been doing, he could never make himself not write.)

There was a bit of a gray area after that, and more than one bad decision, but then he got the job at Gage-Whitney. And Gage-Whitney was...well. He was good at it. It paid well. He kept working his way up the ladder until he made partner, and wasn’t that everyone’s dream? Shouldn’t he love his job? Maybe he should have. He didn’t.

Then there was Lisa, and he couldn’t decide if she had been a mistake or not. He had liked her an awful lot; even loved her. She had been quite fond of him too. It had been real. Once. He remembered nice dinners and radiant smiles and the joy of having a partner who was as smart as you.

God, what happened to us? He’d think sometimes, but it was stupid, because he knew exactly what had happened to them. Sam had quit his job and gone running off to New Hampshire with Joshua Lyman. He’d tried to build a presidential campaign from scratch, then actually managed to accomplish it, which was somehow even worse for their relationship because then he was zipping all over the country without a minute to spare and he told himself he called whenever he could but it wasn’t enough and he knew it. Whenever they did get to see each other, there was a...distance, that there never had been before. Eventually Lisa would say something passive aggressive about how apparently Josh Lyman meant more to him than she did, and Sam would get defensive and mutter something about how he never complained when she always went off to fancy bars with her fancy friends every other night, and she would bark out an incredulous laugh because of course he would find a way to insult her friends when he was the one who had left her in the dust, because wasn’t that just the kind of person he was!

It hurt even more because they cared, they both cared. A lot. But in the end, it didn’t matter, because Sam chose the campaign and she chose to stay and there was nothing they could say to change each other’s minds. Her eyes had gotten big and wet and angry, and he had been numb, staring out at nothing. That was the night she gave him back the ring.

But he tried not to think about it too much now. It was a sure-fire way to ruin his day. Or week, more likely.

“Did you know that supposedly the shortest telegram correspondence in history was between Victor Hugo and his literary agent?” he asked. He was sitting at one of the desks in the bullpen, hunched over some files that he really didn’t want to read. It was one of those days, where there was a lot to do but a lot of time to do it, so you ended up doing anything but what you were supposed to do. One of those days that felt lazy and slow when it shouldn’t have been.

Josh was leaning against an office door frame across from him. “Really.”

“Yeah.” he flipped through some of the papers absently. “To ask how the book sales were doing he just sent a question mark. The guy sent back an exclamation point. And all I’m saying is if Victor Hugo himself could restrain his verbosity like that, then just maybe the guys writing these files could-” he paused as Josh wandered over, resting his forehead against the back of Sam’s head and wrapping an arm around him from behind. “What?” Sam asked.

“Nothing.” Josh chuckled. “You’re just a huge dork.”

“Oh.” He rolled his eyes. “Just part of my charm, I guess.”

“In that case, you are extremely charming.”

“Ha ha.” Sam looked over as Josh slid into the desk chair next to him. “Hey, did CJ say how the briefing went? I was on the Hill all morning.”

Josh shrugged. “It was fine. They were all just asking about whether Jancowitz was going to sink the healthcare bill with his insistence on antagonizing what’s-his-name at the DOD.”

“Ah. Should we send someone to smooth that over?”

“Yeah, you can put Ainsley on it. I’m not too worried.” A problem for another day, then. Josh leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk in front of him. “It’s supposed to keep snowing all night.”

“They said that the last two times it snowed.”

“I think they’re right this time!” Josh protested, tapping the side of his head. “It’s my flawless intuition as an outdoorsman.”

Sam laughed. “At this rate, we could put you on the Weather Channel. You’d be just as accurate as all of those guys.”

“Mmm. With their track record, I could be their boss by next Tuesday.” He squinted at something for a minute before hopping up. “Well, I should probably go work on my thing before Leo has an aneurysm. I’ll come see you later about the environment?”

“Yeah, see you.” He sighed, staring down at the papers while Josh went back to his office. After a minute, he just shook his head and stood up, gathering them in his hands and retreating into his own office. Sam unceremoniously dumped the files onto a shelf, settling into his desk chair. They could be read another day.

Straightening his glasses, he popped open his laptop on the desk in front of him. He tried typing out some remarks for the President’s conference next week, but didn’t get very far. He wandered over to his email, and replied to a few people who had asked him questions.

I should write my dad, he thought absently. It had been a while since his last email. The thing was, thinking about his father in any capacity was Sure-fire Way To Ruin His Week Number Two.

It was...complicated. Sam had never had the best relationship with either of his parents to begin with. They had always been busy, and now he was always busy, and he supposed that it was possible he had lost far too many important things in his life due to people being busy. It didn’t even sound like a good excuse.

His mother was a brilliant, industrious woman who had grown up poor and worked so hard to get their little family off the ground that there was little else left of her now. At least, that was how he’d always felt. She’d always been so caught up in working to secure his future, and seemed to not have time for him in the meantime. Oh, she had tried, but she was always on a phone call or an extra shift and so it had usually just been him and his dad at the house when he was little.

It made his blood boil to think about it too long. Sam had never been close with his mother, but she had worked so hard and given up so much to keep them afloat. And this was how his father had repaid her? By...by...he couldn’t even put it into words. Learning about his father’s mistress had shook him to his core, and hadn’t stopped shaking it since.

Family had never been a very comforting concept to Sam, and after that particular revelation, even the romanticized ideal of it had come crumbling down around him. Family wasn’t supposed to be built on lies and absence and forced smiles. It was supposed to be solid and warm and loving, not shaky and volatile and brimming with hurt.

He could feel his heart clenching with anger and bitterness and grief over what-could-have-beens, and Sam hated being that person. Instead, he stared at the blank white void of the email draft in front of him, forcing himself to breathe deep. What are the others doing right now? he asked himself, his mind latching onto a distraction. Josh was probably working himself up over the environment issue- that, or getting lovingly screamed at by Leo. CJ had just finished a briefing, and was probably high-fiving Carol or bickering with Danny. Toby was most likely scribbling notes for the energy conference, half of which would be crumpled up in the wastebasket by now. Or on fire. Sam smiled to himself, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Hey,” came a cheery voice, and Sam looked up to find Donna in the doorway with a file tucked under her arm. “Any important government business going on in here?”

“Absolutely not,” he assured her, leaning back in his chair. “You need me for something?”

“Nothing pressing,” she replied with a shrug, brushing forward and hopping on top of his desk like she always did. “Toby and Josh are in CJ’s office watching the game if you want to join. ”

“Don’t they have work to do?” he mumbled petulantly.

“I really wouldn’t know,” Donna said with exaggerated innocence. She smirked at him. “But you look so sad and lonely in here, the least I could do was extend the invitation.”

“Hush, you,” Sam lamented, stretching absently. He looked down at his laptop and tapped his fingers on the desk. “I really should be working.”

“So should everyone else,” Donna pointed out. She slid off the desk and crossed her arms, giving him a look. “Sam? Hey, are you feeling okay? You look a little…”

Sam frowned, looking down at himself. “Disheveled?” he suggested, noting his wrinkled shirt and crooked tie.

“Ah,” she said with a nod. “That’s the word I was looking for. But, hey, are you really alright?” She leaned down to rub his shoulder. “You seem gloomy.”

“Yeah,” he replied, sighing. “Just a long day, I guess.”

Donna raised her eyebrows. “And do you know what the perfect antidote for a long day is?”

“Watching the game with Josh and Toby and CJ?” he guessed.

“Exactly!” Donna smiled, bonking him on the head with her file. “See you in five?”

Sam looked back at his email, thinking. If he mustered up the sheer willpower to write to his dad, he would have no idea what to say. And it wasn’t like his relatives in California were truly family, anyway. Not if all he associated with them were pain and disappointment. Maybe he could leave this email for later. Maybe he could watch football with his friends and chuckle at Toby and Josh shouting at the TV and rib CJ when she didn’t understand anything that was happening and forget about all of it, for a little while.

“Yeah,” Sam said, closing the lid to his computer. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

#tww #the west wing #west wing #sam seaborn #josh lyman #donna moss #tww fic #first time writing for tww so be nice pls #featuring: literally no plot #also featuring: me straight up making up things that sound government-y and official #also featuring: lots of platonic friendship moments #when you watched a scene in the show and thought #this would have been a perfect place for them to hug and/or touch foreheads etc etc #BUT THEY DONT!!! it’s maddening #so i write them myself<3 #anyway enjoy ~2k of extremely self indulgent sam character meta

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warwadaw · 3 years

Text

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inevitably-johnlocked · 4 years

Note

Hi steph! Hope you’re having a lovely day :-) I was wondering if you could rec some miscommunication fics — they’re my fave and I’m aaaaaalways looking for more. Thanks in advance, you’re the best!!!!

Hi Lovely!

AHHH I love this kind of fic too!! I haven’t tagged ALL of my fics with misunderstandings in them, but I’ve a sizeable amount that I think you will enjoy!

Not all of them, but a good start! As always, if any of my lovelies have their own to rec, please add them!

MISUNDERSTANDINGS / MISCOMMUNICATION

See also: Alexx’s Miscommunication Fic

Given In Evidence by verityburns (M, 5,034 w., 19 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-TRF, Angst, Drama, Case Fic, Romance, BAMF!John, Submissive Sherlock, First Kiss, Humour) – Coming back from the dead can be a complicated business. With a new case on the horizon, rebuilding a life is one thing... rebuilding a friendship quite another. For Sherlock and John, things may never be just the same...

Sociopathy and Other Fibs by kinklock (M, 5,314 w., 1 Ch. || 5+1, Miscommunication, Humour, Friends to Lovers, Post S3, Love Confessions) – Five times John called Sherlock out, and one time Sherlock returned the favour.

The Only Available Transportation by blueink3 (T, 5,379 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Fluff and Angst, Insecure Sherlock, Caring John, Parentlock, Sherlock’s Birthday, Family, Misunderstandings) – It’s possibly the desperation that’s seeped into his voice despite his best intentions, or perhaps it’s just a mother’s intuition, but she knows that whatever he’s calling about is Serious, hangover be damned. “What’s happened?” she asks, tone soft and as comforting as a hot cup of tea on a cold winter’s night. “Mummy,” he begins, voice catching. “I think John may be moving out.”

the lingering taste of orange juice by darcylindbergh (G, 5,824 w., 1 Ch. || Pining Sherlock, Fluff, Miscommunications, Humour) – Sherlock felt the familiar heat surge in his abdomen again at the touch: hope strung taut between head and heart as in all the quiet moments between them, when Sherlock sometimes got the clues all mixed up and thought maybe John felt something too. For once, Sherlock is the idiot.

My First, My Only, and My Forever by vintagelilacs (E, 6,220 w., 1 Ch. || Post-ASiB, Virgin Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock’s Bum, John’s Scar, Sherlock POV, Body Worship, Fingering, Bottomlock, Promise of Forever / Proposals, Misunderstanding, First Kiss/Time, Loss of Virginity, Virginity Kink, Seduction) – Sherlock narrowed his eyes. He was missing a vital piece of data, he was sure. John had been looking at him oddly ever since they left Buckingham Palace, and the ensuing incident with Irene Adler had only exacerbated his erratic behaviour. What was it? Why would he care that Sherlock was a virgin? There was nothing reminiscent of mockery or pity in his gaze. And then it hit him. John Watson was aroused.

The space between by Salambo06 (E, 6,830 w., 2 Ch. || PWP, Friends to Lovers, Masturbation, Virgin Sherlock, First Time, Miscommunications, Bottom Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Sexual Fantasy) – “It’s for a case,” Sherlock says as soon as John looks down at his computer. John remains silent for a long moment, eyes moving from the screen to Sherlock, before saying, “You don’t have to explain.” His voice is low, too low, and Sherlock looks at the computer, putting the video on pause. “Lestrade asked me-, no, forced me to find out who’s threatening a famous porn star, and the suspect is among his co-stars, so I only need to watch out for any signs from his partners, anything that might show they’re the one sending those threats and I can move to something else.” “Right.”

High and Tight, Soft and Loose by cwb (E, 7,429 w., 1 Ch. || Jealous John, Miscommunications / Misunderstandings, First Kiss / Time, BAMF John, Insecure Sherlock, Clueless Sherlock, POV John, Embarrassed John, Adorable Sherlock, Junk Size, UST / RST) – John pressed the knuckle of his index finger against his mouth and sighed. “So, you're coiled like a spring and ready to be ... sprung?” “If you want to be pedestrian about it, yes.” “Like I said, you should do something about that.” “And like I said, pedestrian. What would you have me do? Take up jogging? Yoga? Oh! Unless you mean –” “I don't mean anything. Let’s drop it.”

I can’t pretend by Salambo06 (E, 7,692 w., 1 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Victor Trevor, Jealous John, Miscommunications, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Anal, BJs) – They had arrived more than a hour ago, and the moment they had walked inside the hotel reception, John had understood why Sherlock hadn’t wanted to come. Two men, posh suits and expensive watches on their wrists, had come to greet them with sharp remarks and badly hidden mockery, and John had seen red. Sherlock hadn’t said anything, mostly ignoring the two men entirely, and without thinking twice about it, John had slid an arm around Sherlock’s waist and introduced himself as his husband.

On the Losing Side by missselene (E, 8,210 w., 1 Ch. || Anal / Oral, First Kiss / Time, Angst, Misunderstandings, Mild Dub Con / Drunk John) – After Mary's death, John moves back into Baker Street, but is still upset at the loss of his wife and child. Eventually, he and Sherlock stumble into a sort of relationship, but it's more physical than anything and they don't talk about it. They especially don't talk during sex. If they are going to have sex, Sherlock notices the signs hours beforehand, and he prepares carefully. The lights are off, they're under the covers, he prepares himself using lots of lube so he can make it feel as much like a woman as he can, and he doesn't let himself make any noise so that, if John wishes, he can pretend that he's still with Mary.

The Red Dianthus by kinklock (T, 11,382 w., 3 Ch. || Supernatural Elements, BAMF!John, Misunderstandings, Fluff, Romance, Halloween, Dev. Rel., Case Fic) – The boys investigate a mysterious disappearance in a supposedly haunted house, and get much more than they bargained for.

I'm content as we are (but) by inqui (The_Circus) (E, 13,086 w., 1 Ch. || Jealous John, UST/RST, Pining, Victor Trevor, Minor Whump, First Kiss / Time, Misunderstandings) – In which John Watson sees something unusual, becomes jealous, and makes too much of a small thing as an old friend of Sherlock's shows up in the middle of a case.

Between Friends by SilentAuror (E, 18,036 w., 1 Ch. || Post S3, Alternating POV, Friends to Lovers, John in Denial, Abduction, Awkward Situations / Miscommunications, Porn With Feels, Blowjobs, Pining, Unrequited, Angst With Happy Ending) – Sherlock gets abducted. As John discovers him tied up naked in an empty storage facility and comes to rescue him, Sherlock's body has an unfortunate reaction which triggers a series of events. John is convinced that everything will be fine as long as they never discuss it. Sherlock isn't as sure...

For you, there's only me by shock_blanket (E, 19,557 w., 7 Ch. || Jealous Idiots, Virgin Sherlock, UST/RST, Pining, Miscommunication, First Kiss / Time, Insecure Sherlock, Masturbation) – Sherlock realizes he has fallen in love with John, but believes he is unlovable. Cue lots of pining and jealousy on Sherlock's part, followed by our favorite cuddly marksman making it all better. Because for Sherlock, there's only John.

Out of the Woods by SilentAuror (E, 20,471 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Romance, Slow Burn, Flirting, Drunk Sex, Practical Jokes, POV Sherlock, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Pining Sherlock, Frustrated Wanking, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, First Kiss/Time, Virgin Sherlock, Love Confessions, Soft Sherlock, Dancing, Bum Appreciation, Hanging out with the Yard) – Sherlock is fairly certain that John has taken to flirting with him of late, but can't be entirely certain of it. At least, not until a case takes them into a forest, along with Lestrade's team and something happens that will change everything about their lives...

Don't Leave Anything Out by lookupkate (E, 27,422 w., 24 Ch. || Letters / Epistolary, Misunderstandings, Angst, Happy Ending, Alternate First Meeting, Sherlock in Love, Pining Sherlock) – The first letter John writes home from Afghanistan is meant to go to a woman he went on only one date with. How it ends up in Sherlock's hands is completely innocent. What happens next is not. What do you do when you find out the person you're in love with has been lying about something as monumental as who they are? What do you do when you're the one who lied?How on earth do you put the pieces back together?

"finally kiss the bloody idiot" by Salambo06 (E, 29,812 w., 13 Ch. || Mutual Pining, Fake Relationship, First Kiss / Time, Angst, Misunderstandings, Fantasies, POV John) – Inspired by a fic idea on tumblr : "John and Sherlock know the Yard has a pool going for when they’re finally going to get together. It’s been running forever, and it’s worth thousands of pounds. It’s all fun and games, hahaha, until they find out Lestrade is in dire financial straits (dog needs emergency surgery, he’s putting his kid through gymnastics training, I don’t know, something), and they decide to fake a relationship to win the pool for him. Sherlock figures out the day and way that Lestrade thinks it’s going to happen, and they act it out. It’s all for a good cause, fake relationship style, until it’s not." Part 1 of The Pool

An Acquired Taste by kinklock (E, 31,059 w., 4 Ch. || Vampires AU || Vampire Sherlock, Misunderstandings, Bat!Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Humour, Magical Realism, Fluff and Angst, Blood Drinking, Holmes Family, Slow Burn) – At Montague Street when Sherlock was forced to sate his body’s needs, he was at least able to wander about the flat as much as he pleased. At Baker Street, it was mini-bags in a mini-fridge and bedroom confinement.

Goodness Gives Extras by mydwynter (E, 39,629 w., 6 Ch. || Fluff & Angst, Case Fic, Oral / Anal, Humour, First Time, Miscommunication, Snark, Christmas) – Christmas time. 'Tis the season to settle down with a drink, some food and a present or two, and to enjoy the quiet relaxation of the holiday. Instead, there's a case that drags them all over, missing presents, disappointed kids, angry parents, and a freak snowfall. On top of that John has to deal with Sherlock, who is being even more of a prat than usual. He really shouldn't have expected anything different.

In the Still of the Night by SilentAuror (E, 42,234 w., 1 Ch. || S4 Fix It / Post-S4, Sherlock POV, Angst, Drama, Romance, Virgin Sherlock, Awkwardness, Misunderstandings / Miscommunications, Case Fic, Travelling, Pining) – As locals on the Northeastern coast begin to report UFO sightings, life at Baker Street becomes significantly awkward as John brings up his desire for more than friendship and Sherlock refuses him. They embark on the investigation from the confines of the tiny cottage Mycroft has rented for them, attempting to navigate both the clues of the case as well as their own inability to communicate...

In the Dark Hours by hubblegleeflower (E, 51,639 w., 12 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Unreliable Narrator, Closeted Bi John, Angst, Miscommunications, Slow Burn, First Time, John’s Blog / Epistolary, Selective Mutism) – John, wounded and silent, drifts back to Baker Street for healing...and then goes home again. He visits, gets more upbeat, chattier, smiles, jokes... and still goes home again. Sherlock wants him to move back in - it just makes sense - but John shows no signs of doing so. This is the story of how John and Sherlock learn to say what needs to be said when they're both so very, very rubbish at talking.

One Little Change by jadztone (E, 58,312 w., 12 Ch. || ASiB Divergence, Fake Relationship, Bed Sharing, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss / Time, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bi John / Gay Demisexual Sherlock, Switchlock, Alternating POV, Jealousy, Misunderstandings, Case Fic, Angst with Happy Ending, Emotional Love Making, Butt Plugs, Cuddles) – Our story begins right after John and Sherlock's first meeting with Irene Adler in September. It splits off into an AU that imagines them taking a case where they act as bait to hook a killer targeting closeted gays in secret relationships. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, many things happen that have our boys wondering if maybe they have a chance with each other. Then Irene fakes her death on Christmas Eve, and things get a lot more complicated - especially since they still have a killer to catch.

White Knight by DiscordantWords (M, 69,840 w., 13 Ch. || S4 Compliant/Post S4, Marriage For a Case, Jealous John, Pining John, Janine / Sherlock Fake Relationship, Serial Killers, Case Fic, Undercover as a Couple, Weddings, John is a Mess, Misunderstandings, Wedding Planning, Jealousy, Drunkenness, Love Confessions, Angst with Happy Ending) – Green. The word green was used to convey a great many things. Illness. Envy. Inexperience. Standing there amidst Janine's chattering bridesmaids, watching Sherlock furrow his brow and study fabric swatches, watching him smile and simper and flirt, John thought it a remarkably apt colour choice. Because he felt quite sick to his stomach, he feared the source of said sickness might very well be jealousy, and he had absolutely no idea at all what to do about it. Or: Sherlock needs to fake a relationship for a case. He doesn't ask John.

The Monument of Memory by J_Baillier (M, 79,663 w., 14 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It Fic / S4 is Canon, Angst, Family Drama, Guilt, Case Fic, John Loves Sherlock, Complicated Feelings, Mentalism / Hypnosis, Murder, Grieving John, Sherlock is a Bit Not Good, Team Work, Trust Issues, BAMF John, Psychological Trauma, Protective John, Autistic-Spectrum Sherlock, Parentlock, John POV) – A genius traumatised by a past he's only beginning to recall. The psychopath sister that time forgot. A missing woman and a mentalist who may or may not be a murderer. And, in the middle of it all, stands John Watson.

Thermocline by J_Baillier (M, 83,557 w., 14 Ch. || Scuba Diving AU || Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Marine Archaeology, Asexual Sherlock, Horny John, Relationship Drama, Technical/Scuba/Wreck Diving, Slow Burn, Underwater / Medical Peril, Doctor John, Hurt Sherlock, Anxious Sherlock, John POV, Protective John, Body Appreciation) – John "Five Oceans" Watson — technical dive instructor, dive accident analyst and weapon of mass seduction — meets recluse professor of maritime archaeology Holmes. As they head out to a remote archipelago off the coast of Guatemala to study and film its shipwrecks for a documentary, will sparks fly or fizzle out?

A Study in Winning by Jupiter_Ash (E, 106,658 w., 11 Ch. || Tennis AU || John POV, Dirty Talk, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Happy Ending, Sherlock Speaks French, Switchlock, Wimbledon) – John and Sherlock are professional tennis players and it’s Wimbledon. One is a broken almost was at the end of his career, the other an arrogant rising star tipped for greatness. It should have been a straightforward tournament. It really should have been. How were they to know that a chance encounter would change everything? Part 1 of Tennis

Gimme Shelter by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (E, 159,368 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || 70′s Surfer AU || Period Typical Homophobia, Hawaii, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Professional Surfers, Gay John / Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John was a Sailor, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining) – All John Watson wants is the feeling of a freshly waxed surfboard under his feet and the hot California sun baking down onto his back. To finally go pro in the newly formed world of professional surfing and leave the dark memories of his past behind him as he rips across the face of a towering blue barrel. To lounge beside the beach bonfire every evening with an ice cold beer tucked into the cool sand beside him and listen to Pink Floyd and the Doors while the saltwater dries in his sun bleached hair. That's all he wants, that is, until the hot young phenom taking Oahu and the Hawaiian shores by storm steps up next to him in the sand in the second round of the 1976 International Surf Competition. (PUBLISHED AS ‘The Sea Ain’t Mine Alone’)

MARKED FOR LATER

Three drinks or was it five by iriswallpaper (M, 1,455 w., 1 Ch. || Mild Dub Con / Drunk Sex, Morning After, First Time, Awkwardness / Awkward Sex, Idiots in Love, Avoiding The Talk™/Miscommunication, Fluff, Happy Ending) – Sherlock wakes up beside John, naked in his bed, after a night of getting hammered together on very good Scotch. Trying to spare John embarrassment, Sherlock makes as much noise as possible to indirectly wake John, all the while dreading the Very Important Talk he knows John will want to have.

The Case of the Frog Murder and the Disembodied Dog's Head by a_different_equation (T, 2,794 w., 1 Ch. || ACD Canon || Victorian, Period-Typical Homophobia, Christmas, Est. Rel., Hound of Baskervilles, Love Confessions, Angst with Happy Ending, Romance, Fluff and Humour, Miscommunication) – The true story behind the Baskerville case, and its strange and rather queer conclusion via Christmas Cards.

Sherlock's Solution by PipMer (T, 4,125 w., 1 Ch, || Fluff, Romance, Friends to Lovers, Isolation/Quarantine, Pining, Miscommunication, First Kiss) – Sherlock and John are stuck in quarantine. Against all expectations, John is the one who goes stir-crazy first. Sherlock has a unique solution to the problem.

The Idiot's Deduction by PaperPrince (T, 4,194 w., 2 Ch. || Fluff, Humour, Drama, Angst, Romance, Mentions of Sex, Miscommunications, Just Talk Already) – It's not often Sherlock gets things wrong but then he was never very good with the softer emotions was he? This fic is based on the idea that no one falls into a relationship without knowing about it right? Apparently Sherlock can though.

It's Cold Outside by Salambo06 (E, 7,357 w., 1 Ch. || Mutual Pining, Cuddling, Snuggling, Frottage, First Kiss / Time, Bed Sharing, Miscommunications, Love Confessions) – John and Sherlock, Christmas night, the heat broke, add some shared body heat and (not so) accidental erections mixed with some miscommunication and awkwardness and, you guessed it, they’re sharing a bed.

A Study in Dichotomy by UrbanHymnal (E, 7,439 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Masturbation, Hand Jobs, Anal Sex, Misunderstandings, Fluff and Humour) – John wants his brilliance and his stupidity; his knowledge of 243 types of ash and his inability to name all the planets in the solar system; his perfectly pressed suits and his wrinkled t-shirts carelessly tossed on inside out. John wants to kiss Sherlock when he is still waking to the world, to press against him when he is still warm from sleep. He wants to grab Sherlock by the scarf and haul him close so he can bury his nose in the sweat that has collected at the base of Sherlock's neck, under his arms, in between his legs.

A Chemical Defect Found (On the Losing Side Remix) by AreteArt (M, 7,978 w., 1 Ch. || First Time / Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Mildly Dubious Consent, Angst, Fluff, Misunderstandings, Pining, Anal / Oral Sex, Frottage) – A remix of missselene's "On the Losing Side." After Mary's death, John moves back into Baker Street. He and Sherlock stumble into a relationship, or something of that sort. Sherlock's rather giving when it comes to sex, but that doesn't mean he and John ever talk about it.

As long as it takes by PlainJane (E, 14,866 w., 7 Ch. || Post-TRF, First Kiss/Time, Anal/Oral, Misunderstandings, Gambling, Indecent Proposal, Friends to Lovers, John POV) – Anything Sherlock wants. All night. No strings attached. Part 1 of the John Watson's way series

A Question of Intent by Mildredandbobbin (E, 22,129 w., 6 Ch. || Omegaverse || Dub Con / Consent Issues, Misunderstandings, Knotting, First Time, Switching, Mating Cycles, Top/Bottom O!Sherlock, Top/Bottom A!John) – Sherlock was on the bed, naked, writhing, tangled in the sheets, on all fours and apparently in the full throes of a Heat. So very not good, the non-lizard part of John's brain was saying -- the enlightened 21st Century, reconstructed Alpha part, the part that supported Omega contra-heat, equality, pro-choice, the Omega rape legislation and general gender liberation. The part that knew Sherlock did not, obviously did not, want to copulate with him and certainly did not want to bond.

Divinest Sense by ChrisCalledMeSweetie (E, 25,001 w., 18 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, Mental Health Issues, First Kiss/Time, Coded Clues, Virgin Sherlock, Bisexual John, Slow Burn) – John has been sectioned — deemed to be a danger to himself and others — and is facing six months in an experimental psychiatric treatment facility. After his recent drug overdose, Sherlock is being shipped off by his brother to live amongst the mad, as though this will somehow improve his mental health. What will happen when these two damaged men meet under the least auspicious of circumstances?Hint: You can expect some humorous misunderstandings, burgeoning attraction, coded clues that the reader is invited to try to decipher, eventual explicit sex, and altogether more fluff than one might imagine, given the rather dark premise of this story. Part 1 of the Divinest Senses

A Firm Hand by Ellipsical (E, 36,776 w.+, 11/? Ch. || WiP || Daddy Kink, Office Sex, Blow/Hand Jobs, Bearded John, Exhibitionism, Vulnerability, Kinks, Spanking, Anal, Prostate Milking, Submission, Mile High Club, Misunderstandings, Rimming, Confessions, Anal Plug) – Dr. John Watson, newly turned 35 and recently minted as CEO of Watson Technology, a med tech corporation based in London, after the death of his father, had recently hired the son of an old family friend to be his new personal assistant. The boy had spiralled out of control, according to his parents, and needed a firm hand to guide him. John, who had heard the name Sherlock Holmes crop up in other circles, had an inkling as to why.

Know When You've Been Beaten by Breath4Soul (M, 44,838 w., 12 Ch. || Caretaker John, Autisim Spectrum / Neurodiversity, Sexual Tension / UST, Dark Past, Implied / Referenced Sexual Assault, Dev. Rel., Love Confessions, Hurt / Comfort, First Kiss, Drugged Sherlock) – What began with a drugged and vulnerable Sherlock confessing some things about his sexual history and feelings towards John (after Irene Adler injected him and escaped), becomes a sweet, humorous and awkward journey of Sherlock overcoming his past to flirt with the idea of something more with his companion. Misinterpretations and misunderstandings plague the two, as the good-natured, compassionate and sometimes BAMF ex-army doctor, is seduced by-proxy by the mad-genius detective trying to work through what he wants and if he is capable of providing it.

Your Many Tendencies Series by apliddell (T, 52,222+ w. across 5 works || WiP || Femlock, POC Characters, Enby Character, Sherlock’s Violin, YouTuber John, UST, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Slow Burn, Domesticity, Fluff, Recreational Drug Use, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock’s Past, First Kiss, Love Confessions, John’s Family, Christmas, Anxious Sherlock, Hurt / Comfort, Institutional Racism) – John Watson returns to London after a long absence, somewhat the worse for wear. She meets Sherlock Holmes, and starts feeling excited about life again.

Proof of Sentiment by LollipopCop (E, 55,082 w., 14 Ch. || Post S3, URT/UST, Pining Sherlock, Angst, First Time, Fluff, Misunderstandings, Mary is Not Nice, Happy Ending) – Sherlock accidentally walks in on John and Mary having sex, and he wonders if his relationship with John could ever be the same.

Isosceles by SilentAuror (E, 56,609 w., 7 Ch. || Post-S4, POV John, Original Male Character / Sherlock Dates Another Man, Love Triangle, Jealous John, Virgin Sherlock, Sexual Coaching, Angst, Romance, Domesticity, Unrequited Feelings, Miscommunication, First Kiss/Time) – After solving a case for a major celebrity, Sherlock gets himself asked out. When John asks, he discovers that Sherlock has no intention of going, at least not until John agrees to coach him through whatever he might need to know for his date...

The Craving in Between by love_in_mind_palace (E, 69,349 w., 16 Ch. || Wedding Planner AU || Infidelity, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, Misunderstandings, Sexting & Texting, Alternating POV, Mary is Not Nice) – Sherlock Holmes, The wedding Consultant. Picky about his projects and a nightmare to work with. Rejects ninety percent of the couples after just having a look at them and can predict how long a marriage will last. But when unassuming, plain, John Watson reluctantly limps his way in his office, with his more than enthusiastic fiancée, Mary Morstan, instead of dismissing the ill-assorted couple on the spot, he promptly decides that the project, and the groom.. are definitely worth working on.

Drawn to Stars by Silvergirl (E, 107,430 w., 57 Ch. || S4 Compliant to TLD / TFP Doesn’t Exist, Sherlock’s Italian Adventure, Jealous John, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, First Kiss/Time, Idiots in Love, Angst with Happy Ending) – After the Culverton Smith case Sherlock is clean, working, and looking for a romantic partner—since John has told him that’s what he needs. Shame John didn’t mention he was interested in that role himself, before Sherlock went off to Rome with a gorgeous Italian copper to try to fall in love and become a complete human being.

The Jewel in the Tower by PoppyAlexander (E, 207,079 w., 39 Ch. || Dystopian AU, Violence, Rape/Non-Con Elements, Mild Dub Con, One World Government, Class Issues, Assassin John / Geisha Sherlock, Self Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Espionage, Miscommunication, Sexual Fantasy, Masturbation, Letters/Texting, Phone Sex, Infidelity, First Time, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talk, Injury Recovery, Panic Attacks, Frottage, Scars, Misgendering, Happy Endings) – In a contemporary dystopia, Unity is peace – despite the fact unsanctioned information, illicit currency, and every sort of danger flows unchecked in the world's pleasure districts. John Watson, a weary hired gun, is assigned by the mysterious Mentor to investigate a subversive element lurking in the Icehouse, the world's most famous House of Repose. As accustomed as he is to dealing with the unexpected, John is nevertheless woefully unprepared to meet the gem of the Ice house, Xie, the world renowned "drashaskaya," the living work of art after which all other drashas are modeled. In sumptuous suites, amid trailing puddles of silk and fervent whispers in the night, John soon learns that nothing is as it seems in the floating world of London's pleasure district. (PUBLISHED AS “At Night in the Floating World”)

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #misunderstandings #miscommunication #my fic recs #Anonymous #to read #e-rated fics

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atopearth · 3 years

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Collar X Malice Part 5 - Yanagi Aiji Route (including Criminal Chapter & Mini Review)

Time for the best looking guy Yanagi!! Okay, usually my favourite looking guy is never the route I like the most but we'll see how it goes! He's even got his own common route! Anyway, lmao at the glossary on Enomoto's relationship history, I find it hilarious how it says he's still haunted by the memory of his kindergarten teacher crush being married😂😂😂 HAHAHA, no wonder why Sasazuka doesn't have a good impression of Enomoto. Even on their first meeting, Enomoto gets his profession wrong and then he calls him tiny LOL. Way to be straightforward, I can imagine Sasazuka killing him in his mind already. On the other hand, Enomoto being a starstruck kid with Shiraishi's profiling job is so cute lol. Lmao at Sasazuka and Enomoto being nicknamed the Miso Soup Duo by Shiraishi because Enomoto calls Sasazuka seaweed, and initially Shiraishi called Enomoto Enoki loll. I'm really liking all the guys' first meeting! Especially how even though Sasazuka thinks Enomoto is an idiot, but could also understand and feel his sincerity towards the X-Day cases when they asked Enomoto what his motivations were. Well, it seems like Yanagi failed to protect someone a long time ago and that haunts him to this day, so I can see why he was so anxious over Ichika, and then so relieved to see she was alive (when they first met)🤔 I always felt like Yanagi knew Ichika, but it kinda got brushed to the side so I forgot, but now that he's actually asking her, I wonder where he met her... Yanagi's goal is as sweet as he is. To a certain extent, I have to agree with him that having a normal everyday life where you can talk with friends, eat what you want, go to work and then sleep soundly at night is something we should all be able to have, so Adonis taking that away from the people in Shinjuku makes him strive to return these "normal lives" back to the people. I guess that's understandable, I can't imagine the amount of stress all these people are under tbh. They're all stuck in Shinjuku, every adult has a gun, terrorists are everywhere with murder cases rampant, and the more cases that are discovered, the more the police's powers are questioned, as well as the discovery of more and more corruption within the police. No one feels safe, everyone wants a bit of their normal lives back so they try to live "normally" but at the same time it's not really their life because they're restricted, they're scared and they don't know if they'll even survive by the time X-Day comes.

Anyway, Yanagi is really so gentle and caring. Considering how patient Yanagi really is, it's kinda amusing how much he can't stand Okazaki lol. LMAO when Ichika asked Mukai and Sakuragawa if they were questioning her relationship with Shiraishi because they were interested in him😂😂 I can so imagine their absolute disgust lmao. Even though Kazuki doesn't have the best attitude, you really can't fault him for his sentiments. If December really is the last month they'll all get before X-Day then yeah, it would definitely be worse being stuck at home feeling too scared to go out and missing out on actually living your life, and honestly it's true, I mean that guy who was the game developer got killed at home, so really, staying at home doesn't guarantee your safety, the only thing that guarantees your safety is if you're not targeted and no one will really know if they are until they're about to be killed. When Kazuki said no one has never done anything wrong in their lives, so there's no guarantee that any of us could be safe, it really resonated with me because he's right. Everything has done something "wrong" at least once in their lives and Adonis is judging them for it on their own terms, meaning no one knows if they'll get judged or not because it's not like Adonis is very clear about what kind of people they target. I guess despite Kazuki's brashness, he does think quite a bit about Shinjuku's situation. But yeah, I don't blame Ichika, like dude, Kazuki goes out at 2am?! Yep, I'd be super worried. Anyway, one of the things I hate the most about starting a new route again is having to experience Kazuki and Ichika's bad relationship again. I honestly feel so hurt for Ichika every time he shouts at her saying she doesn't care about him, when he just doesn't notice that even though she's been busy and neglected him to an extent, she always makes sure to do stuff like make him breakfast, dinner etc and tries to communicate with him in the time she does have, whereas he has never made the effort to try to reach out to her and understand her life or situation. Honestly, if he ever just worried about her considering how much danger she's in as a police officer right now with Adonis and all the other crap going on, I would probably be less annoyed by how rebellious he is but really, he still aggravates me because of how inconsiderate and harsh she is. Anyway, I'm glad Ichika called Yanagi to go with her to check on Kazuki, and it was so nice of him to immediately come out to help her. Lmao when he asked Okazaki if he was there and he really was following them😂 HAHAHA, when Okazaki asked Ichika for her phone number and she looked at Yanagi to see if it was okay, and when he said yeah, Okazaki was like yay he got her dad's blessing lmaooo. Yanagi really is everyone's dad😂

How interesting though! Mochida and Ichika joining Investigations HQ to help out with the X-Day cases! I can understand why Ichika is so desperate though, honestly I always thought Ichika was never desperate enough in the other routes hahahaha. Ooh wow, so Yanagi couldn't shoot a criminal during his time as a policeman, and I guess that's probably related to this traumatic past and also Ichika's. Anyway, it's good that he puts a lot of weight to every life and doesn't believe in taking that away from a person, but yeah it would have been hard for him to continue as a policeman like that. Awwww, Ichika, Yanagi and the lost little girl holding hands looking for the girl's mother was sooo cuteeee!🥰🥰 I really liked how talking to Yanagi motivated Ichika to be more frank and honest with Kazuki and tell him what she couldn't before, as well as apologise for always just lecturing him and not trying to understand him. The CG with Yanagi touching her forehead checking if she has a fever and stuff after her "nightmare" was so pretty!! Yanagi has such beautiful CGs like dang, I love them all. Anyway, so great that she got to wake up to Yanagi's face hahahha, and food prepared by him too! It must feel pretty bad for Ichika...she so honestly told him she wanted to know more about him and be a proper partner with him for the investigations and he rejected her and pushed her away..

Akito's plight always breaks my heart. But hearing him so honestly telling Ichika that not only has he recently finally realised that what he hated most weren't the people who harassed his sister but instead himself, and then telling Ichika that he really really regrets joining Adonis, I couldn't help but feel so much pain for him. It's also because of Akito that makes me think that no matter how much I think those people who died in a sense "deserved" what happened to them, what Adonis does for people like Akito will never truly help them with what they truly need and want in their lives after what they suffered. Adonis only takes advantage of them and their weaknesses to do their personal bidding for their own personal revenge against society. No matter how pretty they make it sound as a rebirth of society and from corruption etc, all they're doing is using all the people who need the most help to hurt themselves and others in a pursuit of hatred and revenge. It also makes me think of Sanjou, that even though Adonis supposedly "helped" him with stuff like his revenge etc, in the end Sanjou didn't feel anything more from it than wanting to die. However, it's also undeniable that despite the result, I'm sure a part of these people would be relieved to have been "saved" by Adonis, and probably don't regret it like Akito. I mean, Sugawara Rika's torment was one that Adonis really helped to erase. One thing I always appreciate about Akito is that Kazuki's dreams and trust in Akito is always what makes Akito have the determination to go against Adonis, so it really makes me happy how much their friendship means to them and how much they cherish each other.

I was so happy that Ichika was there to help Yanagi continue to believe in his principles that you don't have to sacrifice people to save others, and that there can be ways to resolve situations without killing. I'm just happy that he didn't need to compromise himself in a state of confusion. As for Yanagi's past, it's something difficult for him to take considering even if it was ruled as self-defence back in the day (when he killed the guy who captured Ichika when she was young) it doesn't change the fact that he killed someone, so I'm sure that weighed heavily on him. I don't think many people would be able to stay the same after experiencing something like that. Just as Yanagi was saved by Ichika's words and could finally overcome a bit of the fear he had in shooting someone, him telling her how much he appreciated her encouraging him and helping him also relieved her of her own trembling fear in shooting in a real field and not just for target practice. I thought it was so cute how Yanagi admitted it was "his lost" and that he wants Ichika as his partner and wants to work hard together now. I'm not surprised that what happened at the Tokyo Metropolitan Building with the hostage situation was something Yanagi encountered before and that's why he found it difficult to face again, especially since in that incident, he continued to negotiate with the suspect even though he had orders to shoot him, and in the end the suspect got violent so others shot him anyway. Honestly, I'm sure that Yanagi understands that it must feel like naivety to want no one to die and not just prioritise "innocents" and "victims" knowing the danger that "criminals" can create especially when you're planted in such a situation, but I can understand a bit of Yanagi's sentiments. Tbh, it has always unsettled me whenever I think about criminals dying, and I understand that there are situations where it can't be helped, especially when it puts so many other people in danger and I would never arrogantly think that these people "could have done better" because I'm sure most people would rather not kill someone if they had the choice to not, but yeah digging into the thoughts and emotions of "criminals" have always been something I've been curious about a lot of my life. And of course even if we just capture criminals, we could probably never really "understand" why they did what they did anyway, but I do naively feel that as long as we keep trying, maybe we can find ways to create less of these situations where so many people wouldn't have to be so "hurt" and turn to crime. Of course, this would probably only apply to some "criminals" though since if crimes only stemmed from people who were hurt somehow in their lives, then things would probably be much simpler, but instead people's lives are complicated and what they choose to do would never come about from just one or two things that happened to them.

Anyway, considering Yanagi's thoughts, I agree with his decision to leave the police. With such doubts in his mind, I don't think he would be able to do what is expected of him, so instead of endangering others with his indecision, he might as well leave or take a break. And coupled with his desire to protect everything and new directives to prioritise shooting criminals performing acts related to X-Day, there's no way Yanagi would be able to stay with the police. And with that, I'm glad that Ichika was the one who was able to make Yanagi realise that alongside these ideals of his, he would still need to shoot people, even if it's not to cause death, but to protect others by disabling them from being able to cause danger. I think it's nice that Yanagi finally feels like he's actually moving forward from his fear of hurting people excessively. But yeah, seeing the past incident from Ichika's and Yanagi's perspectives was pretty daunting in the sense that Yanagi must have felt really bad that his actions caused the kidnapper to become violent with Ichika, and he felt responsible for needing to protect her and save her even more. His reckless and thoughtless actions led to that, and because he was "weak", he knew that if he wanted to protect Ichika properly, he needed to do everything he could to save her, and that meant killing the guy to make it impossible for him to do anything to them anymore. Yanagi was only a high school kid too, so that must have broken him so much. Ooh the kidnapper guy isn't dead, he's the guy in a coma that Yanagi has been visiting for 10 years! I'm surprised that no one took Yanagi to a therapist even if it was ruled as self-defence and he was a minor... It's so adorable how Yanagi was so concerned about whether Okazaki hit on Ichika, he had to message her again in the middle of the night after talking about the serious stuff before lol. I'm not sure if I'm being super suspicious but I feel like Mochida is a part of Adonis haha, sorry if I'm wrong since he's so nice😅 Saeki is expected since I kinda got spoiled haha but I've always wondered about him ever since he said in the beginning of the game that he admired Ichika's ideals or something haha. I'm glad that Yanagi told Ichika that just because Saeki is most likely the one who collared her, she doesn't need to think or deny everything she knows about him, and that if she wants to believe he has his own reasons, she should hear those first before thinking that everything was a lie.

I'm kinda shocked at how ruthlessly Saeki poisoned Ichika with the collar...but I guess I shouldn't be surprised since there were other times he killed her in those bad endings... Anyway, Mikuni's mother being a part of the religious cult that was kinda where Adonis originated is interesting...I wonder what exactly is the difference between Mikuni and Saeki now that Mikuni is willing to discard Saeki to save himself and his other followers? It's so nice of Kazuki care so much about Ichika btw~ Those moments are always so nice and worth it. On the other hand, as usual, Yanagi's CGs are so so beautiful! I love how upfront they are with each other with wanting to hold hands and get some physical support from the other. They're so cute~ It's interesting how Saeki has the same goal as Yanagi, which is to restore normal everyday life to everyone, but I guess mostly for the "weaker" people who have been oppressed and he'll just destroy the other "evil" people who interrupt that peace. Well, aside from it being problematic that he'll probably kill a lot of the population depending on what he regards as evil, but I can understand his sentiments to an extent. If most of the people he wants to get rid of are like people who "destroyed" Sanjou and his other colleagues' lives, or all those stalkers that basically made Sugawara paranoid and crazy, then yeah definitely understandable, but I still think people like Fujii are worth turning things around for. Yeah, Fujii made a lot of mistakes, abused his power and connections, oppressed others to elevate himself, and it's understandable if the ones involved like Isshiki and Ogata never forgave him, but seeing him sincerely regret his actions and want to repent, and continuously go to apologise to Isshiki and do what he can to make amends makes me believe that Saeki obviously thinks everyone is irredeemable. Fujii was terrible, and he can never give back what he took, but he had the potential again to give to others what he gave Enomoto, and I think that's something only someone who has learnt from their mistakes will much more appreciate in doing imo anyway.

Mikuni and Saeki seem much closer than it felt from the other routes, I guess that makes it all the more saddening that he died in Shiraishi's route. Sometimes I wonder if it's more saddening to be Mikuni, the person who has been so close to Saeki all this time and still not feel like he had truly understood him, or would it be more saddening to be Saeki and feel that Mikuni has been by his side all this time but still not really understand what he really wanted? I guess it's sad for both sides... It was really sad to see Mukai cry over Shiraishi, I honestly still feel like she's a better match for Shiraishi than Ichika but that's not important right now haha, but I do enjoy seeing how much it affected Mukai and how much she respects him even if she hates him at the same time lol. I'm so happy that Yanagi finally properly responded to Ichika's feelings!! I'm happy that he's finally come to terms with the idea that he can be selfish and happy as well, like it took a while, but it was honestly worth it with how the confession and everything went, it was so adorable and it really felt like Yanagi could fully desire a future with Ichika. Aww, I love how even Sasazuka made time to come to Enomoto's Christmas party (well Yanagi made the food though but yeah lolol). HAHAHA, I love how Yoshinari noticed something was going on with Yanagi and Ichika (when she told him to stop smoking so much since he's been smoking even more these days), and so Yanagi admitted to it by kissing her on the cheek in front of everyone hahahahaha! It was so funny how Yanagi was blushing after doing that lmaoo. And I died when Enomoto screamed that Yanagi was so cool😂😂 I love how supportive Enomoto is all the time, and I guess Sasazuka as well with his tsundere-ness lol~ Yanagi calling her Ichika instead of Hoshino was so cuteee~ Anyway, I'm kinda disappointed with how Saeki was...handled? Like, considering how much it was the core of the story for Ichika to be the one who was supposed to in a sense "truly understand" and succeed Saeki's ideals, I honestly wanted to hear more of what Saeki desired. Like yeah, he wanted to erase all sorrow and honestly it's understandable, especially when he said to Yanagi and them that there are people who are too weak to be like those who are "strong" and can continue to face forward and power through their "sorrow", because really, if everyone really could soldier on through their sorrow, then no one would be truly "unhappy". Anyway, I just felt it was pretty underwhelming to have Saeki to be the "mastermind" but he probably has less screentime than the other villains in the other routes lol. Otherwise, Yanagi giving a ring to Ichika was so adorable, I love how literally everyone is so curious about their love that they would all go to peek on them lmao. The other endings are pretty interesting, but honestly wayy too short to really feel anything about them. I think the crazed Ichika that wanted to lock up Kazuki and Yanagi so that they would never get hurt from Adonis was amusing.

The Criminal Chapter is kinda interesting, but I think they might have been more useful in the chapters themselves than separately, since I feel like, if you felt something for them, then this only solidifies it, but if you didn't, then nothing can really change your opinion of them now. Personally, I've always liked quite a few of them though, so I did appreciate Ogata being fleshed out with the departure of his wife, I think it's more saddening that what caused her to leave wasn't really because she lost faith in Ogata himself but because she couldn't handle the pressure from everything that came from it. But yeah I think that would have made him a more empathised character in Enomoto's route, since I feel like in the route, they focused more on him hating the police and justice itself rather than exploring directly his pain itself, which I think would have made him a more interesting villain for that route. Hana didn't change for me, because it was pretty expected, considering how "normal" her reason was, her obsession and craziness was probably the worst, and probably the most uncomfortable to watch because out of all the victims, Enomoto's relation to Fujii and hearing about his story really made Fujii's death that much more personal. Akito's was definitely really tragic, because seeing Akito's attitude towards his sister before her death, and even calling her creepy like all the other bullies did made me further understand how much Akito hated himself the most. I always feel so bad for Sugawara though, I can't imagine these stalkers scrutinising every moment of her life, hindering her work, all her friends and everything, I honestly think I would want to just die to get away from all that. As for Souda... Honestly, the way Sasazuka captured Souda in his route still kinda haunts me, and reading a bit more about his past solidifies how uncomfortable I felt having to see Souda experience all he did in Sasazuka's route. I know it's not a healthy way to handle things and his problems, but I think by being able to personally understand how much a game could "save" you, and then having that betray you because of something that isn't your fault and then being hated for it really hurt. Shion and Suzune got a lot of screentime in Shiraishi's route, so yeah nothing much to say that I haven't said tbh.

Something I think I would have really appreciated in Okazaki's route would be seeing more about how Sanjou and the other officers despaired over the physical and mental abuse they suffered at work from their superiors. Sanjou's feelings still got across to me though so I guess it was good enough, but I think it would have nice to delve deeper into how terrible the environment was, and how much hope Sanjou lost because this was the police itself that was destroying them, so where could they even turn? Considering how important Saeki and Mikuni's meeting 10 years ago should have been, and their ideals and everything, it's a bit frustrating to have to see it in this chapter that's not a part of the actual main story. Also, considering how much Mikuni being the prime minister's son was a big deal, and the assassination attempt years ago, you would assume the story would at least talk about the prime minister himself to get a gauge of his image and stuff, but this is also only loosely explored in this criminal chapter lol. But through this, I think I can better understand why Mikuni and Saeki can never really "understand" each other. Which can already be kinda described through their respective lives with Mikuni being strong in the sense that even though he grew up with most things people would wish to have, he chooses to discard all that to fight for a more equal world, whereas Saeki's determination was never something that stemmed from "choice", Saeki's desires seemed to be more fuelled by the pressure of survival in itself, and that's why Mikuni will never be able to understand his desperation, and also how truly personal it is to be fighting for the "weak" who just aren't strong enough to properly fight or do something about their situation, such as his mother. I really liked the CG of all the executors at the end though~

MINI REVIEW Overall, I really did like Collar X Malice. There's a lot of things I felt a bit weird about such as Shiraishi's ending, how boring Ichika became in the second half of Sasazuka's route, lack of exploration into Saeki's character etc, but I still really enjoyed it! I think what I loved most was definitely the individual cases themselves, because exploring police corruption and the unfairness in society by "victims" who felt like they were forced to rely on Adonis to solve their problems and injustice was interesting and emotionally engaging. I empathised with a lot of them and especially liked Akito and Sanjou since something about them really resonated with me, it was probably their sadness tbh. A lot of them lash out in anger towards the "perpetrators" so I think seeing Sanjou and Akito just so "done" with this world and so sad about how they were forced to view themselves, their place in this world and how the world has treated them kinda broke my heart. Honestly, I liked all of them except Hana lol. As for Saeki, I didn't really feel much for him even after getting to know more about his story and relationship with Mikuni. Maybe my opinion might change after I play Collar X Malice: Unlimited since there's apparently an Adonis route lol, but yeah, honestly after all the fleshed out (most of them) "villains" in each route, it's kinda "funny" how shallow Saeki was portrayed imo even though I thought his ideals for helping the "weak" was an interesting idea. Anyway, as for the LIs, this is surprising (and kinda funny) but my favourite was definitely Enomoto. Whenever people mention CxM, it's always about Shiraishi and Sasazuka, so I had no expectations at all for Enomoto but I loved him SO MUCH. Not kidding at all, because every time I read his route, I couldn't stop smiling or laughing because he was so cute, earnest, sincere and funny. He's honestly not even the type I like because Yanagi is my favourite type lmao, but I loved Enomoto to the max. He and Ichika play off each other really well and in a cute way. The funny thing is that usually my favourite type usually has a boring route, but surprisingly I really liked Yanagi's route too! I think exploring Yanagi's weakness, guilt and inability to move forward properly was more interesting than I thought it would be and I really enjoyed how he and Ichika interacted. Honestly, I reallyyyy like Okazaki as an LI but I found his route rather boring until the end lol, and even though Sasazuka was kinda cute and less mean than I thought, I found that the "fire" Ichika had towards others in other routes wasn't present with Sasazuka and it kinda felt like she just followed him around in the second half lol. As for Shiraishi, it's funny how he's so mysterious but has such a "wholesome" route for the most part until the end lol, but yeah anyway, he wasn't my type in terms of looks, personality, story or anything so yeah... Lol. Overall, I would rate the game an 8/10! Enjoyable and probably one of the "better” otome out there with a good story~

#collar x malice

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bibliothesoph · 4 years

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How about a first prince flower shop AU? Alex and Henry own flower shops on the same street and have a competition on whose shop is the best.

the war of the roses

Alex knows that he’s hot––he uses it to his advantage. If there’s a hot guy or girl that walks in, all he has to do is bat his eyes and, like magic, they buy something. Sometimes, if they’re especially beautiful, he gives them a free flower––usually a white camellia if he’s got them in stock. It does wonders for the business, really, so June never says anything about the free flowers. They’ve got a good system going, the two of them. He’s the face of the shop. He greets customers, answers any questions they might have, and checks them out (both literally and metaphorically). June’s the one who usually does the arrangements because she’s better with the whole color thing, but Alex is the one who knows the meaning of each flower like the back of his hand. When they do specials for what they like to call “The Power of the Flower,” he picks out the flowers with the important meanings and June decides which ones actually look good together.

Since it’s the first few weeks of summer, one of their “The Power of the Flower” specials is happening right now as a way to welcome in the new season and the warmth and happiness that comes with it. Usually, in the summertime, most of the arrangements they get are for happier feelings like love or excitement or, on occasion, a proposal. They get a few requests for some really great “fuck you” arrangements that Alex always enjoys because of the irony––why send flowers, even mean ones, to someone you supposedly hate? The idea is ridiculous and he loves it.

Historically, they’ve been the only flower shop in this area. It’s a hipster sort of place and, since all of their flowers are pretty local and sustainably farmed or whatever, people flock here to get succulents and arrangements. They’ve made bank here for the past three years until The Incident, that is.

Alex refuses to actually say the name of it out loud because it makes his blood boil. That fucking blond-haired dude and his friend (well, the friend seems okay) and their fucking flower shop. Like, when someone opens up a business, Alex thinks they should probably scope out the area first to make sure there aren’t any competitors in the area or something. That seems like the smart thing to do. But this bastard with blue eyes and a perfect fucking smile came in and set up shop directly across the street from his own flower shop. And he knows that the Green House has loyal customers like Ted and Ginger and Simon. And he knows that they’ve been here longer and therefore are generally the first place to pop into people’s minds when they want flowers, but since the other store is directly across the street, it steals customers away sometimes.

Like today, for example.

And the worst part is that Alex can see that smug bastard’s pretty face while he’s stabbing Alex in the fucking back. Whenever Alex looks out the window to see how things are going across the street, the blond guy is always there with an evil, smug smile and a sarcastic wave. Like this is all some fucking joke to him.

Well, Alex isn’t having it anymore. Not during The Power of the Flower time.

“June,” he groans from the front desk. The place is empty, save for the two of them.

She pops her head out from the back area where she makes the arrangements. “Please don’t tell me you’re staring at Henry again.”

His face contorts. “Who the fuck is Henry?”

She rolls her eyes and comes over to him, wrapping her arms around him to calm him. “The guy from the V&A. The one you keep staring at.”

Alex huffs. “He started it. Anyway, we need a plan of attack. He’s stealing our customers!”

“He’s not––”

“He’s stealing them, June. Along with my fucking sanity.”

June sighs and looks out the window, waving at Henry. “He seems perfectly nice. I know his partner, Pez, is a nice guy. I walked in a––”

Alex gasps in horror. “You went in? Judas!”

“I just went in to see how they were running things,” June explains. “And they serve tea, you know. They make it themselves.”

Alex growls and slams his fist against the counter. “Unbelievable. Well, that fucking settles it.”

He stomps off and into the backroom to collect his thoughts with June close at his heels.

“What are you doing?”

“Figuring out a plan of attack,” he explains, pulling out a pen and paper. “We need to up our game, Bug. We can’t let them win.”

“It’s not a competition!”

“It is now.”

He decides to bravely and calmly storm across the street to check out the competition, just to see what they have going on. As soon as he opens the door, a bell rings to announce his entrance. When he steps into the place with steam practically coming out of his ears, a guy that is not the blond one––so Pez, probably––greets him with a smile. He’s wearing flowy pants and, more importantly, a fucking V&A shirt that looks hand-stitched. He’s even got little flowers painted on his cheeks and a flower crown on his head.

“Hi,” he beams at Alex. He’s British, it seems. “Welcome to the V&A! My name’s Pez, so just give me a shout if you need anything, okay, darling?”

Alex fights the urge to roll his eyes. “I’m not a customer, actually,” he huffs, folding his arms across his chest.

“Oh? Are you here for me then?” Pez asks, batting his eyes and smiling.

“I’m here to speak to the owner. Blond? Bland?”

Pez raises an eyebrow at him. “Henry?”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. Can I talk to him please?”

“If the issue is that he never called you back, I––”

“He’s not a suitor, Pez,” another voice says from behind Alex. Alex turns and sees, in all his fucking glory, Henry. He’s wearing the same shirt Pez is wearing but neatly tucked into a pair of snug jeans. His hair looks fucking perfect somehow, and he’s carrying a tray of what looks like baked goods. “In fact, I think he might think us enemies.”

“No shit,” Alex huffs. “You’re stealing my customers!”

Henry rolls his eyes but he’s smiling like this is all hilarious. “Oh, am I?”

Alex is fucking fuming. “Yeah! You knew we were right across the street. Literally. I can actually fucking see your smug face when I’m working and I hate it.”

Henry sighs and moves past him.

Their shoulders knock together.

Alex follows Henry and watches as he sets the tray down on the old, wooden counter. He starts taking the treats off the tray and carefully moves them to some sort of ornate platter.

“You serve food now, too?” Alex asks.

“Not always,” Henry explains, “only when I bake. I feel that it adds a special something to the experience, you know?”

Alex is practically seething. “Okay, well, I just wanted to come over here to say fuck you, fuck your stupid store, and fuck your fucking pastries.”

Henry raises his fucking perfectly manicured eyebrows in surprise. “I hardly think that seems appropriate. We’re not enemies, Alex. We just both happen to own stores on the same street.”

Alex shakes his head so violently that it hurts a little bit. “No, no, no. You opened this store up directly across the street from mine. And you made it the exact same kind of store. What the fuck is wrong with you? Seriously, man? It’s not cool. Okay, also, how the fuck did you know my name?”

Henry has the fucking audacity to touch Alex’s chest. Alex opens his mouth to say something but Henry beats him to it.

“Nametag,” he says with a smug smile. Alex looks down and sees that, sure enough, Henry is poking the name tag on his apron.

Alex slaps Henry’s hand away. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Coming here, doing your fucking––whatever the fuck you’re doing––and messing with my business? I’ll make you regret you ever touched a flower, okay?”

Before Henry has the chance to respond, Alex stomps out of the shop. In his rage, he fumbles to get the door open. Pez helps him out and opens it for him so he can continue to rage-stomp out of the stupid fucking shop and away from Henry’s stupid fucking face.

So Alex does what he does best: he makes a list.

Things the V&A does that we don’t do:

1. Tea (fucking homemade tea. Those fuckers)

2. Flowers based on your personality

3. Free baked goods for some fucking reason

4. Terrariums

He wonders, vacantly, if they’re even a real fucking flower shop. With the amount of random drinks and foods that seem to float through their shop, Alex thinks they might be more of a fucking general store or café. But, since he’s determined to beat them, he’ll play along. He can’t bake for shit, but he gets the fixings for coffee––including fucking organic flavor syrup. June helps him set up some little spiritual packages––little kits including crystals and special plants for different purposes. He’ll be damned if he lets the people from across the street steal their customers.

A day after they implement the little spiritual kits, he finds a package outside the door as he’s coming in for the day. Curious, he picks it up and takes it inside. They never get packages here––only deliveries from farmers who come in and make the drop off in person. He takes it inside and places it on the desk, staring at it for a moment before he decides that, even though the only thing written on it is his name, he’s going to open it.

Inside is a collection of assorted items. There are some pink scones, some packages of loose leaf tea, and a bundle of chamomiles. The chamomiles are really what set Alex off and make him know exactly who fucking gave this to him.

Chamomiles. Patience in adversity.

Alex is going to kill him.

He stomps into the V&A for the second time and marches right up to Henry who’s behind the desk, seemingly setting the register up for the day.

Henry looks surprised to see him which only makes Alex even more pissed off. “We’re not open yet,” Henry tells him, sounding bored. “But we’ll be open in thirty minutes if you’d like to come back then.”

Alex slams his fist onto the counter. In his hand is a bouquet of assorted flowers––crab blossoms, petunias, red dahlias, and rhododendrons. The bouquet is, most simply, an “I hate you” and “go fuck yourself” arrangement. The colors might not work well together, but Alex is so beyond caring at this point.

Henry eyes the flowers for a moment, probably trying to recognize and place them each in his mind. For some reason, the angry flowers make him smile. “Are these for me?”

“Obviously,” Alex huffs, releasing his hold of them and taking a step back.

Henry picks them up and looks at them for a moment. “And you made this?”

Alex nods, not really sure what’s going on here.

Henry sighs. “Well, if you’d ever like lessons on how to make a proper arrangement, please let me know.”

Alex glares at him. His heart feels like it’s thumping in his fucking ears. “What.”

“We offer workshops, you know. We get some nice wine and teach people how to put flowers together properly. Given what I see here, you lack the proper eye for this sort of thing. While I understand the intent, I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed with the execution of it. Since you own your own shop, I would have expected something…better, I suppose. It’s no wonder you think we’re stealing your customers––they must just be appalled by your work.”

Alex grits his teeth and gets close to Henry, staring him down. “Go fuck yourself,” he seethes.

He rushes out again, furious. He needs a better plan––something that will make this all go away. He needs a plan that will make Henry run for the fucking hills.

June helps him make it, though she seems hesitant. It takes about a day of looking through flower meanings and consulting with June to get it done, but when it’s done, it’s fucking perfect. It’s a large, obnoxious arrangement filled with hate flowers and plants that he hopes will make Henry really get the message. It’s beautiful but vile and Alex has never been more satisfied with his work. He leaves the arrangement outside the doors of the V&A before he goes home for the day, excited to see what Henry’s reaction will be the next morning.

When he’s on his way to work the next morning––running a bit late––he gets a call from June. He picks up, hoping it’s not something bad. He might slap himself if he forgot to lock up again.

“You took it too far,” she tells him.

He stops walking. “What?”

It sounds almost like she’s crying. Or, at least, someone’s crying. “The thing with Henry,” she explains. “I get the arrangement, okay? It’s all in good fun. But doing that to his store…”

“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about,” Alex says truthfully.

He rounds the corner onto the street where his shop is and sees it almost immediately. Out front is his arrangement, right where he left it, but it’s surrounded by broken glass. The sign for Henry’s shop has been painted over in slurs. What looks like a rock or a brick has been thrown through the window. He can’t stop staring at it––staring at the terrible words that someone’s written about Henry on the sign. He hangs up on June and rushes inside the Green House, finding Henry and Pez there, too. It looks like June has given them both blankets and some of that tea they sent over a few days ago. And they do not look happy to see Alex.

“Alex,” June says, pulling him aside as soon as he enters, “why would you do that?”

“Bug, I swear,” he says, “it wasn’t me, okay? I––I would never write that kind of stuff, you know that. I didn’t even know he was gay.”

She sighs and rubs her eyes. “Look, they think you’re the one that did it. You shouldn’t be here, okay? Even if it’s not your fault, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Just…go home, okay?”

The look she shoots him seems final so Alex leaves. He doesn’t want to make this any worse for Henry but…he feels terrible. Even though he’s not the one that did it, he still feels like shit about it. So he doesn’t sleep that night, instead, he's trying to figure out what he can do to help.

He doesn’t know why he’s so worried about Henry. It makes no sense for him to be this upset about Henry because, as he’s told Henry to his face, he hates him. He hates Henry’s stupid face and his hair and his fucking cute shop. Maybe what he hates most, though, is that he can’t stop fucking thinking about him. It’s ridiculous how much Henry has filled his mind lately. Henry, even as an enemy, is all he’s been able to think about since this whole thing started. And it’s driving him insane and he feels like he’s drowning because Henry’s upset and there’s not a single fucking thing he can do about it.

But he can try.

When he comes in the next morning, Henry is still there. He’s sitting in the backroom and looking blankly at the wall like there’s something really interesting there. Alex sighs and sits down next to him. Henry visibly stiffens.

“Hey,” Alex says.

Henry scoffs. “‘Hey?’ Is that all you have to say to me?”

Nervous, Alex fiddles with his fingers. “No. I mean…I don’t even know what to say."

“I think you’ve said enough,” Henry says. “I wasn’t trying to steal your customers and, even if I was and even if you hated me for it, that’s no reason for you to…you wrote awful things. Vile things, Alex. Things that no one should ever have to hear.”

“I didn’t do that to your shop,” Alex explains. “I swear. But I’m still sorry. And I…for what it’s worth, I don’t hate you at all.”

This makes Henry look over at him, obviously confused. “I thought––”

“Yeah,” Alex chuckles. “Me too, honestly. But I––you can hate me forever if you want. And I’m really fucking sorry that happened to your store because you don’t deserve it, but I want to help.”

He pulls an envelope out of his pocket. Henry takes it with shaking hands and opens it to reveal, first, a white tulip, then a wad of cash. “Alex…”

“The white tulip means new beginnings,” Alex explains, just in case Henry doesn’t already know. “And the money is for whatever you want. Awning, a window, whatever.”

“Love,” Henry whispers.

Alex raises an eyebrow. “What?”

Henry looks over at him with big red eyes. “The white tulip,” he says, swallowing a lump in his throat, “also means love. It’s…it’s romantic.”

Alex feels his face turn bright red. He rubs the back of his neck. “Like I said,” he whispers, staring into Henry’s eyes. “I don’t hate you.”

Henry’s lips tug up in the corners for a moment before he moves forward, closing the distance between them. Henry’s lips are soft on his own and Alex can’t help but melt into it. His hands instantly find their way to Henry’s hair which is softer than he imagined it to be. Henry’s free hand wraps around Alex’s waist, pulling him closer as he deepens the kiss. The whole thing is making Alex feel like he’s being set on fire in the best way possible.

They pull back for a moment, staring at each other. Alex takes Henry’s face in his hands, rubbing his jaw with the pad of his thumb. “I’m sorry about your store.”

“It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know but…we’ll fix it, okay? Together.”

Henry stares at him for a moment, those blue eyes making Alex’s body tingle. “You mean that?”

Alex nods and kisses him quickly again. “‘Course I do. I know we made good enemies but I’ve got a feeling that we’ll make even better partners.”

A week later, Henry’s store is fixed and in full swing again. On his way to work, Alex stops by just to see how Henry’s doing. When he walks in, Henry puts down the arrangement he’s working on and rushes over, wrapping his arms around Alex and kissing him.

“Good morning, love,” Henry beams in the small space between their lips.

Alex smiles and kisses him again. “Morning, handsome. How goes the store?”

“Fantastic, actually. We’re getting more customers than ever, thanks to you.”

Alex rolls his eyes and shoves him playfully. “It’s not all because of me,” he argues. “I think you underestimate the power of your pretty face.”

Henry smiles again and kisses him once more.

The two stores may still be across the street from each other, but you’d have no idea they were once owned by two sets of different people. Marking the space between them is a road of chalk-drawn flowers, inviting you to step inside either one. If you go into the Green House, you’ll find flowers for every occasion and a variety of healing crystals and succulents. If you go into the V&A, you’ll find sweet treats, delicious beverages, and, their newest edition, little dogs made of wire and covered in flowers available for purchase.

Even though two of the owners, the blond one and the short one with a mess of curls, work in different shops, you can see the way they look at each other through the glass––lovesick smiles on both of their faces.

Yeah, Alex thinks he might ask June if he can switch with Pez soon.

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #firstprince #alex claremont diaz #prince henry of wales #henry fox mountchristen windsor #flower shop au #au #fan fic #cute

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pastellhunny · 4 years

Text

•Under The Red Sky•

Chapter 2. Arrangements

About and hour and a half had past since Alastor handed out the phone books. Charlie called many somewhat suitable places to host a dance but everyone she called declined and mocked her over the phone. At some point Alastors nerves were tested by this disrespect. He found it annoying that no one gave her a chance but then again he didn't really believe her either. All he was there for was a good time, something to soothe his boredom and maybe something extra only if it turns out demons can be rehabilitated. Alastor was snapped out of his thoughts when Husk piped up over at the bar.

"Ugh why are we even doing this no one cares about a stupid dance unless theirs drugs, alcohol or money involved." Husk grumbled.

Just then Nifty jumped up from where she was sitting and smacked Husk lightly. "STOP It! that's not the spirit besides i know someone we can call."

Charlie's attention was definitely grabbed by this, "Who is it?"

"Well she's a friend of Alastors they're quite close so i think she'll be able to hook us up huh Ally!" Nifty rejoiced as she jumped up and down and zoomed around Alastor.

Als smile stretch as he tried to hold back laughter. "Pffft... HAHAHAhah that's a good one you little devil you, there's no way in hell-

"Uhhuh, uhuh, uhhh oh okay so in three days you'll have a place for us? Great! Alastor sends his regards. Thank you!" Charlie ended the call as quickly as Nifty cut Alastor off. "So in three days she'll have a room open for us to host the dance."

"Wha-but wait how- did you- well that's perplexing." Alastor thought to himself, Rosie would never let the princess anywhere near her business. Why in the world would she ever say yes?

"I can't believe you knew someone and you didn't tell me?" Charlie asked as she crossed her arms and he expression turned sad for a moment.

A radio crack came through not before Al shook his head, "No no my dear Rosie can be tough to negotiate with she's not one to accept an offer from such a.. um well undesirable place such as this hotel."

Charlie openeded her mouth to say something but Angel got to it first, "So this means we're gonna need beverages right? WELL i'm off to get alcohol byeee!!!" Angel blurted out as he got up and sped out the door.

"HEY ANGEL NO ALCOHOL YOu idiot!!" Vaggie sighed as she muttered that she'll get him and with that she ran out the door after Angel.

"Ugh" Charlie grumbled as she pinched the space between her eyes just above her nose. "Okay well i guess i'll find a way to get the snacks an-"

"Oh no no no dear that won't be necessary, i'm sure i can find a way to get us something up to Rosies taste." Al said as he pondered how he could get something for the party without needlessly paying for it.

"Wait are you sure i can help you out i am the one hosting the party." Charlie offered with a smug smile.

"Ah i think you mean co hosting i am your business partner after all. No but it won't be needed my darling you can go off and tend to other needs while i take care of it." Al noticed her face soften it made a little radio static crackle through as his smile widened. "Anyways i'll see what i can do my dear." He said as he spun to the door.

Charlie smiled fondly as she watched him exit the hotel. It was confusing why he wanted to help but she deeply appreciated the little things he did just for the hotel and supposedly for his entertainment. She shook her head, "I might as well pick something out to wear."

Vaggie went running down the sidewalk after Angel, "Hey shitlord stop for a goddamn second!"

"Oh so you did follow me then huh?" Angel said as he turned around and stopped with a big smile on his face.

"Yeah ofcourse i- wait did you run out just to get me to follow you?" Vaggie asked out of breath as she caught up to him.

"Well yes and no i did wanna go and gets some booze ya know for ma own purposes but i wanted to talk to you about something." Angel continued as they walked down the street towards the liquor store.

"And what's that." Vaggie said while crossing her arms thinking he was about to make a sex joke or something.

"What do you think similes' game is at the hotel?" He asked with a genuine face of somewhat concern.

Vaggie was surprised by this her eyes widened, she didn't think anyone was suspicious of him other than her. "Honestly i don't know, it could be anything. To tarnash the hotel, to make fun of us, or maybe something even worse."

"What could he do if this whole uh rehabilitation thing were true- well um i mean since it is true." Angel stuttered watching what he said to not upset Vaggie.

Vaggie furrowed her brow in annoyance, "An overlord is hard to read especially the radio demon himself is a whole other story. I know for one thing there's no way he could just be here because he's bored." She said as she bent her fingers into air quotes.

"Idk this place gives me a laugh sometimes! HA" Angel laughed as Vaggie punched him hard in the arm.

Back at the hotel Charlie was deciding what she was gonna wear and what the theme should be. Obviously she decided for it to be Classy since Rosie is an overlord and they tend to have pretty high standards. A tux might be too casual for her since she wears one everyday pretty much, a dress would probably empress and give her a little bit more respect if she can turn heads for a good reason.

Charlie reached into the back of her closet for the dress she wore for her family portrait about a 100 or so years ago. Upon pulling it out a little bit of dust smoked off of it so she patted it down all while coughing. "This should do!" Charlie said with a smile as she went to go change into it.

Once Alastor was out the door he used his shadow ability to pretty much teleport himself directly to Rosies emporium recently was Franklin and Rosie but shamefully the cleansing took Franklin with many other sinful demons. Rosies business is more of like a fashion business her entire building is like one big store with the exception of a ware house with a run way to promote her new designs and outfits she has to sell. Rosie was a type of demon that loves luxury. Her soothing voice with a devilish white sharp smile and sense of fashion says it all.

Alastor teleported to Rosies room within the building. Rosie seemed to have expected him as she was sitting in a velvet chair in the corner of the room with a large smile present on her face. The lights were off which made the void that was her eyes seem even more absent.

"So my dear Rosie why did you accept the damsels cry?" Alastor asked as he spun his radio staff and tapped it on the ground. "Not up to anything devious now are we?" He said truly curious as to why she'd let anyone she didn't know near her business.

"What me oh no no that couldn't ever be me, i just want the publicity. Business honey that's all i need from this." Rosie laughed as she stood and gazed out her window towards the hotel across town. "I mean i have a front row seat, isn't that what you're doing there sugar." Rosie questioned with a smug face.

A crackle sifted through the air as Alastor spoke, "Perhaps my dear but this endeavor has turned out to be quite fun on the contrary, why i've never had this many laughs just watching the sad sap of a hotel crumble." An audio track laugh played behind his voice as he spoke but speaking badly upon charlie's hotel for someone reason made him feel uncomfortable.

Rosie chuckled, "No no i mean what do you really want, i know you Alastor and you never do anything without a reason or" she paused, "for mere boredom Ha." She turned from the window to face him, her shadow casting on his face as she stepped closer to him. "I know you already have a devilish plan brewing inside that head of yours."

Alastor stared at her with his wide smile, "Well if you so much desire to know i suppose i'll tell you."

Rosie leaned forward eager to hear what he was going to dish out.

"Only after the party just to make sure you'll stick to your word Rosie dear." Alastor mused as his crooked smile grew. Rosie laughed in response to this.

"You always were one to see a deal through. Oh and did that princess make a deal with you yet?" Rosie asked as Alastor went to turn around.

"No i'm afraid she's a lot smarter than i thought she's impressed me what can i say Rosie." Al smiled at the thought of how happy Charlie will be to host the party. A charming demon belle she is. "Anyways i best be on my way now i promised Charlie that i'd find a way to get her food for the party and-"

"Oh don't worry sugar i'll have it catered just for you and it'll be up to my taste." Rosie said with a little smirk upon her face as she laughed at the idea of non expensive foods being at the dance. "Consider this as you owe me one, fair enough Ally?"

Alastor furrowed his brow in annoyance he hated her little nickname she gave him Al was far better in his opinion. "Hmm lets make it a deal then." Al said as he leaned forward and extended his arm out to Rosie the green glow illuminating the room and wind seemingly gushing from its illumination. "And don't call me Ally, please." he said with a wide grin.

Rosie smiled softly as she took his hand and gently shook it. The green glow disappeared upon the shake a spark of green electricity swirled and then dissipated into thin air. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"The pleasures mine now if you'll excuse me the misses are expecting me." Al joked but Rosie didn't laugh she just smiled a knowing smile as he teleported back to the hotels front door.

"Hmm he seems a bit off" Rosie thought as she watched him disappear.

Alastor returned back to the hotel in what seemed like minutes though he didn't turn up with anything which may be a surprise to Charlie. But thanks to his shadow he can pretty much cross all the corners of hell in a mere minute at his fastest. This is probably what made him such a good hunter, stealthy and fast just like when he was still among the living he was very cunning. Al rembered his living life for a moment before the thought of the princess creeped into his head. He shook his old memories away and went on his way looking for Charlie.

"Charlie? Oh charlie?!" Al shouted as he crossed the main area of the hotel. "Hmm where has she gone to?" He thought to himself as he made his way up the stairs.

At the hotel everyone has their own room even Alastor has a room. Charlie set it up since she considered him a patron since he did approach her first after all and she found him quite enjoyable to have around. However Al hasn't slept over night in that room once, he has his own place across town so he doesn't see the need. But still the thought is what mattered the most to him, a symbol of their friendship so far and her trust to let an overlord like him sleep over in the same building as her. It made him laugh how naive she was but how nice she was.. she gives anyone a chance. Al smiled fondly at this thought and stopped in his tracks, a little crackle bliped through him. A sigh escaped him as he used his shadow to teleport to the top floor, better to not exhaust any energy.

Charlie's room which was at the top of the hotel, had a balcony and the best view of hell from what he's seen from the outside of the hotel. Al creeped up to the door, it was slightly open, he was about ready to knock but something caught his eye. He peered through the small crack to see golden locks held together by barb wire and a flowy skirt flowed beneath the hair. Al was dead silent as he watched her turn to face the mirror in front of her, giving him a better view of what she looked like from the front. Her skirt had overall straps over her shoulders and begin just below her chest. She wore a white and decorative long sleeve blouse underneath the black skirt. Her legs being the most noticeable, peered out from under the skirt at about knee length. Al was mesmerized by this show of beauty, he had no idea the princess could look so elegant.

Alastors arm was suspended in time hovering just beside the door ready to knock but something kept him from doing so. As he watched the princess more he grew more and more entranced by her flowy movements as she spun and danced in front of the mirror. She looked so happy. Just then radio blips and cracks disrupted the silence the static was somewhat musical and loud. The interferance he can't really control he never understood them but simply they're just attached to his feelings. Something Al could never come to realize or understand on his own.

Charlie(POV) stood in front of her mirror happy with how her old outfit looked. She gave herself a little spin just to see her skirt frilly up and then fall back down. She was even impressed with herself and how she did on her hair, she perfectly recreated the look she made for her old family portrait. Suddenly chills ran up Charlie's spine as loud radio cracks and static came from the door to her room.

"Shit, shit, shit turn off dammit!" Al whispered to himself and fumbled with his staff trying to make the noise shut off. The static lessened and quieted down a little bit the princess already heard him for sure. Al sighed away all his embarrassment still bearing a smile as he knocked on the door. "Charlie, it's me you're business partner! I'm back from my trip my dear!"

There was a pause before the door opened slowly and out peered Charlie's head around the corner. He face covered in a blush and it wasn't just her naturally pink cheeks giving off that affect. "Um how long were you standing there?" She asked as she averted her eyes from him.

"I-" Al stood with his eyes wide open, normally invading privacy was one of his strong suits but for some reason he felt bad for watching her without Charlie knowing. So he did the only thing he could think of. He lied pretty much. "Oh no don't worry darling i just got here." He reassured her.

Her face cleared as she let out a relaxed sigh and opened the door fully to reveal her whole outfit up close. Alastor stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before she got nervous again and looked away.

Charlie brushed a little strand of blond hair out of her face as she spoke. "So um, Al you know Rosie the best is this something that might impress."

Al stood still, still in a daze before slowly opening his mouth to deliver what he had to say. "Oh no it won't impress Rosie hardly any, she's one of the top fashion demons out there, I mean the stuff she wears is top notch!"

To this the lights in charlie's eyes dimmed as her smile turned into a frown. A crackle of static was heard, with something different happening this time it.. hurt? It pained him to see her frown.

"Uh no my dear i.. No i-i didn't mean it like that i-" Al stuttered, he didn't know what to say he humbled his words trying to say something to make her frown go away.

Charlie looked up and met his gaze not before turning away and putting her hand on the door. "No it's okay Al i don't expect to impress such a high and mighty demon anyway. It was worth a shot i guess."

The door slowly moved to shut but Al stuck his foot in between the door and the wall stopping it from closing. "Wait Charlie."

Charlie's head lifted quickly to see Al with what looked like a look of concern told only by his eye brows since all he ever did was smile but even that too looked stressed.

"If i must add.. I think you look wonderful and absolutely stinky. For what it's worth you've impressed me my dear and besides you're never fully dressed without a smile." Al spoke softly as the words left his mouth. Charlie was shocked by the sound of his voice, no radio filtered over it, it was clear and smoothe. She looked up at him and slowly her smile grew before she decided to make a daring move. She held out her hand like she was pressing it up against a flat wall.

Al looked at her perplexed before she took his hand and placed it flat against hers and then wrapped her thumb around his hand and his around her hand. "I know you don't liked to be touched so i'll give you a hug this way."

Alastor was at a complete loss for words, his hand touching hers gave him a sick feeling to his stomach like his guts were about to crawl out of his skin. Her hand was so soft and smooth he almost didn't wanna let go, it was warm to the touch and comforting to say the least. His normal radio static was gone and instead a song from the thirty's filtered in and began to play. Al noticed right away and reluctantly swooped his hand away from hers consequently stopping the music with a what sounded like a record scratch.

Charlie noticed his sudden movement and gave him a free exit ticket fearing she over stepped. "Oh i'm so sorry, i um guess you should probably inform the others to dress classy for this event." She said with a soft yet nervous smile.

Al gratefully took this offer and waved her goodbye before exiting her room and pretty much instantly teleporting to his room at the hotel. The moment he got inside he sat on the velvet red bed, the room came with, with a flop. "What in the world just happened?" Al asked to himself outloud.

His little radio staff responded back to him only with the same song that Al cut off earlier. The thirties love song type of music.

"Oh please i don't need a dance party at the moment. I don't understand did she use some sort of demonic power on me back there or what?!" Al debated deeply, no way as far as he can tell he's much stronger than that charming demoness he'd be able to sense it.

His staff rolloed its single eye, "You know for and overlord you're quite oblivious! Hah" A laugh track crackled through, it's gonna take a lot for Al to figure it out.

⎯

part 1 part 3

#chalastor #charlastor #hazbin alastor #hazbin charlie #hazbinhotel #hazbin hotel

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taeken-my-heart · 5 years

Text

Moirai Chapter 6

Summary: On your 18th birthday a name appears on your wrist. The name of your soulmate. It’s a momentous day that everyone looks forward to, but you’ve always brushed aside; refusing to believe in a fickle mistress called destiny. But what happens when on the morning of your 18th birthday you wake to find the name of your mortal enemy? Jeon Jungkook.

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Soulmates au/ Enemies to lovers au. Angst, fluff, bickering, romance, eventual smut.

Word Count: 4557

Notes: There is a read more placed after the first paragraph, but we all know tumblr is weird so if it doesn’t show up I’m sorry :(

-- This is the chapter that really gets things rolling, so be prepared for some angst over the next few chapters. You have been warned!

****

It had been two weeks straight now since Ella had spent her evenings at Jungkook’s house. To say it’s been weird, would be an understatement. He wasn’t even tutoring her or anything, they were just…hanging out.

Most nights your mom made you go too. She insisted since Ella was already going, it would be convenient if you both went, that way you could do your tutoring there and just get it out of the way. You suspected it was just so your parents could have what they liked to call “special bonding time.”

Gross.

You sighed, staring down at your phone as it went straight to voicemail again. Thumb hovering over the red end call button, you listened for the beep of the answering machine before ending the call and throwing your head back against the couch.

“Still didn’t answer?” Ella asked from her place across the room, hand locked with Jungkook’s in a thumb wrestling championship. Winner got to eat the last breadstick from the pizza you’d ordered. Whatever.

“He’s just busy is all,” you sniffed, picking at your fingernails.

“Totally,” Jungkook nodded, “beginning of the semester can be pretty busy, I’ve heard.”

You appreciated the effort, but everyone knew that was a bald-faced lie. The beginning of the year was always the least busy while things were settling in. No homework or tests because you hadn’t learned anything yet. You chewed on the inside of your lip, pulling your homework back into your lap, choosing to ignore their peering eyes and they eventually went back to their battle.

Your thoughts were racing, though. It had only been two weeks since Lucas had gone back to school and for the last three days, you’d barely heard anything from him. An odd text here or there is all you’d gotten and you couldn’t help but worry. Maybe he’d found a girl at his school that was way more interesting than you. Someone that he could talk to about more mature things, like economics.

You were still in high school, after all, and frankly you didn’t even know what economics meant. Your aunt studied it in college, though, so you could probably ask her to get you up to speed if needed.

All the words in your text book were running together, but this assignment was due tomorrow and you only had a little bit left. It was frustrating that you couldn’t keep focused, especially now that Ella was cheering loudly in the background and grabbing the last bread stick.

You watched as she broke it in half and offered a piece to Jungkook who accepted with a thank you and a goofy smile. You missed Lucas.

“Don’t stress so much.” Ella said, coming to sit beside you, taking a bite of her bread. “I’m sure he’s just busy with assignments. He’ll probably call you tomorrow and tell you you’re being silly for worrying so much.”

“I’m not stressed,” you insisted, though the strain in your voice was anything but convincing. “I just hope he’s not overworking himself is all.”

“You wanna watch a movie or something?” Jungkook asked and you sighed, shaking your head.

“No, I should probably go home and finish my homework.” You stood, stuffing your books in your bag and tugging it over your shoulder. “You coming Ella?”

“I’ll be home a little later, Jungkook said he was gonna show me how to level up my character on Fortnite.”

“Have fun, nerd.” You nodded, making your way to the front door and out into the evening. It was colder now, the seasons slowly turning and creating a need for a jacket that you’d foolishly left at home. Thankfully, you only lived five houses down the road.

When you reached home your phone vibrated with a call and you quickly answered as soon as you saw Lucas’ name on the screen. “Hey!” You gasped, flinging your bag onto your bed and sitting down with a bounce. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s been a little hectic recently. My roommate was right, my professor did assign a project with partners on the very first day. We actually just met up to start talking about what we want to do for our project; that’s why I didn’t answer your call.”

“Totally understand,” you nodded, as though he could see you. “How have you been? Aside from busy.”

“I’m OK, classes this semester seem like they’re going to be interesting. There are more people on campus this semester; I think they accepted more than they usually do. I guess it makes sense, they built a few new apartment complexes that they needed to fill.”

“It sounds exciting,” you murmured, laying back against your pillows, “I can’t wait for college. It’ll be nice to be a little more independent.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “that’s definitely nice. Will you have a car when you get to college, though? That makes the experience even better.”

You hum in thought, staring up at your ceiling. “I don’t know, actually. It’s not like I’ve got a job right now so I can’t really afford one. I’ll probably just end up walking or taking the bus or something.”

“My roommate has a car; it’s awesome. He can go anywhere, there’s no limits. Honestly, that’s one of the best things about being an adult.”

“It sounds really nice; like freedom.”

“In some ways,” he chuckled, “in some ways adulthood is freedom and in others it’s more like prison.”

You spent the rest of the night talking until eventually you fell asleep, phone still cradled on your shoulder. Your neck was sore with a crick the next morning and you felt gross and uncomfortable. You’d fallen asleep without changing or brushing your teeth so you quickly took a shower and brushed your teeth, finally feeling more human.

Your family was already downstairs in the kitchen when you made your way into the room, slinging your backpack over the edge of your chair and sitting down. “Morning!” Your mother smiled, handing you a plate and you started piling breakfast on top. “Can you believe Jungkook is 18 tomorrow? That means he will get his mark! I wonder who she is. Not much longer now and it’ll be your turn.”

“Yeah,” you grumbled, slouching in your chair.

“What if no mark appeared at all?” Ella giggled and your mom smacked her arm lightly.

“Impossible, that’s never happened before in the history of the world.”

You shrugged, taking a bite of your food, “I don’t really mind not having my life dictated.”

Your mother sighed, giving your father a look and he straightened his tie with fidgety fingers. “Look, Y/N, it’s not dictation. The universe puts you with someone that would make you the happiest but it’s always up to you if you want to follow that path, you know that.”

“Yeah, well, what if the universe puts me with someone I end up hating?”

“Not possible,” he shook his head, “it works with compatibility and personality. You’d never be put with someone who doesn’t compliment you.”

“Look, you know this topic bothers me, I’d really rather not talk about it. Having some person’s name appear on my wrist isn’t going to change anything so can we not discuss this anymore?”

Your father sighed, shifting his eyes to your mother and nodding his head sullenly. “Well we’re getting some really great pictures for yearbook!” Ella smiled. “Jacob took some awesome pictures at the pep rally last week and I’ve been assigned to take some pictures of this weekend’s football game.”

“That’s great!” Your mother smiled, “Should we be going to the game?”

“You can if you want to, I don’t know if anyone you know will be playing, though.”

“That’s OK, we could just go for fun.”

Conversation diverged into other topics that were much less uncomfortable and the rest of breakfast was spent in lively conversation about which marvel character was the best.

****

On the drive to school, you shuffled through your list of to do’s and noted another English assignment you’d need help on. Sighing, you resigned yourself to asking for Jungkook’s help again. The morning was significantly colder than before and you huffed, wrapping yourself warm in a jacket and pulling your bag over your shoulder with a thanks to your mother before heading to the school doors. In the warmer months most of the students were out in the courtyard talking until the 10-minute bell rang, but now most people were congregated in the hallways and that made it difficult to navigate through the crowds to Jungkook’s locker.

You could see his scruff of hair over the tops of nearby heads and you pushed your way through gingerly before you were standing beside him and tapping his shoulder. “Hey.”

He turned to look at you, pulling an earbud from his ear and greeting you with a smile. “What’s up?”

“We’ve got that assignment coming up in English and I was hoping you could help me.”

“Oh yeah, totally. Let’s plan for tomorrow after school. If you could remind me in the morning, that would be great, just in case I forget.”

“Sure,” you shrugged, turning your body to walk away. “Thanks, Jungkook.”

****

“I’m positive they’re trying to poison us.” Noelle pouted, slamming her lunch tray on the table and you cast your gaze up towards her, watching as she sat down. “What even is this? Mystery meat?”

“I thought it was meatloaf.” Lillian said, peering over her own lunch bag and into the tray of her friend.

“Supposedly.”

“Well, this is why I bring my own lunch.” Lillian smiled and Noelle scoffed.

“You bring your own lunch because you’re vegan and the last time this school sold anything that resembled a vegetable was when the first lady was doing her healthy school lunch initiative.”

“True.” Lillian nodded, taking another bite of her pasta. “I do get lunch here sometimes, when they’ve got spaghetti or something.”

“I’d give anything for spaghetti right now.” Noelle complained, stabbing the foreign substance on her tray with distain.

“So, are you guys going to Jungkook’s birthday party?” You asked, taking a bite of your salad. Noelle’s mystery meat was exactly why you too brought your own lunch.

“That’s tonight, right?” Lillian asked, opening a small Tupperware full of strawberries. You nodded and she bit off the tip of one bright red berry. Your mouth salivated at the image. “Yeah, I was planning on it. You?”

“Yeah,” you moped, “I think my mom would kill me if I didn’t. Plus, he and my sister have been getting really close recently, which is super weird, by the way, and apparently, I have to be her chaperone for her first “real” party. Whatever that means. It’s not like there will even be alcohol. His parents are gonna be there!”

“Don’t be a party pooper.” Noelle scolded. “We’re gonna go and we’re gonna have fun.”

“I’m not opposed to fun, I’m just unsure if Jungkook and fun exist in the same sentence.” You replied, incensed.

“Ha.Ha.” Noelle deadpanned and you huffed at your friend. “Stop complaining, it’s gonna be a good time. It’s not like it’s gonna only be the 5 of us, there will be tons of other people there, too. He’s popular, remember?”

“Yeah, if only I could forget. They might just give him his very own float in the spring parade, that’s how obsessed people are with him. Get a life, am I right?”

Lillian shrugged, “I don’t know, he’d look pretty great on a float.”

“Ew, self-respect, Lil. Where is it?”

“Anyway,” Lillian shrugged, turning away from your judgmental glare, “I think it will be a cool party and I’m ready to dance!”

You watched as Ella walked into the room with Jungkook and Rachel, going to sit with them at their table, Rachel holding possessively onto Jungkook’s arm and you scoffed. You’d never understand why your sister wanted to be part of that crowd.

****

Jungkook’s house was lively with people, all faces you recognized from school but never bothered to socialize with. You ran in different circles and you often felt like you had nothing in common. They only talked about surface level things, not that there was anything wrong with that, you just preferred a little deeper connection.

Neither Lillian or Noelle had arrived yet, so you stayed with Ella as she walked around the room, talking with and greeting people you never realized she knew. Your sister was more of a social butterfly than you’d ever thought. You weren’t sure why it was so surprising, her personality in general was outgoing and friendly; prime candidate for popularity.

You both accepted drinks from Jungkook’s mom, thanking her softly as she pointed you in the direction of her son who was sitting in the living room, surrounded by a group of his friends. Ella took the lead, guiding the two of you bravely into the center of the fray and you cringed internally as she pulled you with her right up to where Jungkook was sitting.

“Jungkook!” She called, smile bright, and he looked up at her, a grin peeling brightly across his face as he stood.

“Ella, I’m glad you could come!” He said, hugging her quickly and you watched as Rachel frowned from her seat on the couch. “Hey, Y/N. Glad you could come too.”

“Sure.” You nodded, sipping at your drink. There were too many people in the room and someone bumped into you from behind with a laugh and a quick apology.

“You guys have already met Rachel and Dean. This is Allison, Elisha, and Michael.” He said, pointing out the friends in his little circle and you nodded at each in turn. Rachel, Allison, and Elisha were all on the cheerleading team together while both Dean and Michael played football. It was surprising that Jungkook and the rest of the group had even become friends since he played soccer, but you supposed good looking people just flocked together.

“I love your dress,” Allison smiled, directing her gaze to Ella who grinned, smoothing down the edges, head bowed. “It’s so summery.”

“Thanks!” Ella chirped. “It’s my way of protesting the change of seasons. Kind of too cold to be wearing a dress now, but whatever.”

“I’m a big fan of baggy sweaters and leggings myself.” Elisha said and Allison nodded back at her wildly.

“Yes! And pumpkin spice lattes!”

“Girl, stop, you’re totally right!”

You watched them continue their conversation, sipping quietly at your drink as Ella talked animatedly with them about fall colors and aesthetic pictures and you sighed. It wasn’t that those were things you weren’t interested in, you just thought maybe you’d talk about something more interesting. Then again, deep conversations never happened with strangers.

“You ok?” Jungkook asked softly, coming up beside you and you looked over at him. He was taller than you, but not overwhelmingly so and you looked up into the fluttering lashes that framed his dark eyes. He was being nicer than normal, which was strange, but then you supposed he really was taking the truce seriously. Either that or Ella had somehow softened him up.

“Yeah,” you responded, looking back down at your drink, “just not really the “partying” type.”

“Then just think of it as a hang out.” He smiled. “I know you don’t really know anyone here that well, but I could introduce you to some people, if you want.”

“I’m not really sure I’d have much in common with people here.” You said and he shook his head at you.

“Why? Because they’re popular? Jocks, cheerleaders? Are you being judgmental, Y/N?” He teased and you pouted up at him.

“No!” You insisted, “I just mean that we don’t really have the same interests so conversation would be kind of difficult.”

“Well how do you know if you have things in common or not if you don’t ask?” He replied, eyebrow raised and you huffed.

“Keep your logic to yourself, Jeon.”

Jungkook chuckled, nudging your shoulder with his own. “Come on, let me introduce you. I’m sure Noelle and Lillian with be here soon, but in the meantime, there’s got to be some people here you can have a conversation with.”

“I don’t really want to abandon Ella.” You said and Jungkook gave you a look, switching his gaze to her and back to you.

“You can’t be serious.”

Ella was talking animatedly with both Allison and Elisha and you sighed, shrugging. “Well fine, she doesn’t really need any looking after. I really don’t mind being that person who stands next to the snack table and drowns their sorrows in junk food, Jungkook. Besides, like you said, Lil and Noelle should be here soon and then I’ll have someone to talk to.”

“Well, let me come with you at least.” He said and you shrugged again.

“It’s a free country.”

He followed you to the table where you grabbed a small plate, searching through the different snack options that you could munch on.

“So, tomorrow’s a big day.” You said absentmindedly, grabbing a carrot and dipping it before popping it in your mouth; crunching loudly.

Jungkook nodded, rubbing at his wrist. “Yeah, kind of crazy. Tomorrow I’ll wake up and everything will be different.”

“And completely the same.” You said, looking over at him and he huffed a laugh.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What if you know the person whose name appears?” You ask, grabbing a twinkie and putting it on your plate. Jungkook wrinkled his nose at you.

“I don’t know, I guess I’ll talk to them are something. Are you really going to eat that?”

“Hey, don’t judge me, it was on your table.” You replied tartly.

“Yeah, but my mom bought it, not me. I actually have taste.”

“Oh-ho.” You chuckled, “I should tell her you said that.”

“Don’t!” He chuckled, grabbing your forearm, “she’ll probably actually kill me.” He released his grip on you and you grabbed a snap pea from the serving dish, chewing on it absentmindedly.

“Are you still excited to find out the name?”

Jungkook’s lips pursed in thought, hands stuffed in his jeans. “Yeah, nervous too, though. When will I meet her?”

“Well, maybe you already have.” You said, finishing off your bite.

“Nah,” he waved his hand in the air, glancing away, “I’ve never had the pull so I doubt I’ve met her.”

You shrugged before noticing Noelle walking through the front door, dark curls tumbling over her shoulders. “Oh!” You smiled, walking towards her, “you made it. Thank goodness, I thought I was gonna have to talk to Jungkook the whole night.”

“Not really a punishment,” she smiled, watching as Jungkook made his way back to the couch to sit with his friends. “He’s looking particularly gorgeous today. Hot damn. So, did he already get his soulmate tattoo?”

“No, he’ll get that at midnight. His birthday is tomorrow.”

She nodded idly, snagging a piece of cucumber from your plate and crunching loudly. “How’s the party?”

“It’s fine. Don’t really know anyone here, to be honest.”

“I see a few people from my drama class; let’s go say hi!”

You followed after, allowing Noelle to introduce you to some of her other friends. It was weird because, aside from Lillian and Noelle, you couldn’t really say you had other friends. You could have totally met other people if you’d wanted to, you’d just never tried. You wondered idly if that was good or bad.

“So, what do you do for fun?” A girl named Rha asked and you quickly chewed your abnormally large bite of twinky to answer.

“Uh, I normally hang out with friends. Sometimes I’ll draw a little. I’m not very good at it, but it’s fun to do. I also really like to watch dumb Youtube videos.”

“Me too!” Rha grinned, “anytime I can just kind of turn my brain off and veg out is nice. What’s your favorite channel to watch?”

“I really like watching food videos,” you chuckled. “Especially when I’m hungry. Apparently, I’m a bit of a masochist.” The group laughed and you continued, “my favorites are probably BuzzFeed. I like watching videos of people cooking cool foods.”

“Like the test kitchen?”

“Yeah!” You grinned, “did you see the starburst episode?”

Rha laughed loudly, grabbing at her knee as she leaned forward, “Yes! I always feel so bad for Claire! She has to do the most difficult things. I’m also super envious, though. I want to work in a test kitchen myself. My mom works in one and I’ve always thought it was so cool, so watching Claire is like a reminder of what I want to do myself.”

“That’s so cool! I’ve never met anyone who wants to work in a test kitchen before!”

“Neither have I.” Rha giggled. “Who knows, maybe someday I’ll work with Claire.”

“Well if you do, don’t forget the little people.” Noelle teased.

An hour later the house was nearly bursting at the seams with people. You glanced around the room trying to spot your sister only to see her sat with Jungkook and his friends in the corner, leaned into him, hand on his knee as he whispered something in her ear.

If Rachel could see the two of them, she’d probably throw a massive fit, but as it was, you couldn’t see her anywhere. Most of Jungkook’s close friends had dispersed around the room, in fact, so it was just him and Ella sitting together talking. You could only imagine she would die of happiness from this.

You chuckled, turning back to the conversation your friends were still having as Rha announced loudly that she was thirsty and asking if she could grab anyone anything to drink. The number of drinks was more than she could carry, so you offered to help her, leading her to the kitchen where the Jeon’s were both talking at the table, filling cups with punch for the people milling around them.

“Y/N! You having fun?” Jieun called as you made your way towards her and you smiled, nodding.

“Yeah, I’ve actually met some cool new people. This is Rha, Rha, these are Jungkook’s parents.”

“So nice to meet you!” Rha smiled, extending her hand to both of them, “thank you so much for having us all over.”

“We’re so glad you could come over to celebrate our boy with us.” Jieun smiled, “tomorrow is a huge day so we’re glad he could have all his friends around him for support.”

“It’s pretty life changing!” Rha enthused, accepting the cup Jungkook’s dad handed her with a thank you. “I actually had my 18th birthday last month.” She said, extending her arm and you noticed, for the first time, the freshly emblazoned name in her skin.

“Oh wow,” you said, turning towards her. The room filled with more people and conversation so you spoke louder to be heard, “I’ve never actually met anyone in our grade who had gotten their name. Did it hurt?”

“Well, I got it in the middle of the night when I was asleep, so I didn’t notice it at first, but it was a little sore for about a week after I got it. Nothing really bad, just a little tender.” She said, pushing her long dark hair behind her ear.

“Do you know the person?” You asked, curiosity peaked. You weren’t particularly interested in the whole soulmate thing in general, but you couldn’t deny that it was a little interesting hearing it from someone your age who’d just gotten their own soulmate mark.

Rha shook her head, “nope. I guess I’m in for an adventure!”

“That you are!” Mr. Jeon chuckled. “Anyway, you guys should get back to the party, go enjoy yourselves!”

“We actually need 4 more drinks for our friends.” You smiled and the two of them quickly filled 4 more cups, handing them off to you and waving you away.

You spent the rest of the evening chatting with Lillian, Noelle, and Rha, meeting a few other members of the drama club, before your mom texted you, requesting that you and your sister return home, it was a school night, after all.

****

The next morning you walked to school. Your mother wasn’t feeling well so you and Ella dressed warm and made your way out into the cool autumn morning.

“Last night was so cool,” Ella sighed dreamily, “Jungkook and I just hung out for hours and talked and it was so awesome. I think he might like me.”

You raised an eyebrow at her, lips tightening to stop your giggle, “OK, don’t be silly, he has a girlfriend and you know that.”

Ella shrugged, biting her bottom lip, “I don’t know, they got in a big fight and went outside to talk and when he came back in, he said she went home.”

“That’s doesn’t mean anything, Ella. Sometimes people fight and just need to cool off.”

Ella huffed, tightening the belt around her jacket. “Stop being such a wet blanket, can’t you just be happy for me?”

“What’s there to be happy about?” You asked, eyebrows rising, “happy that Jungkook’s been friendlier to you recently? Happy that you guys are better friends? It’s not like anything happened, and if something did happen, I’ll kill him because he has a girlfriend and you’re not gonna be the other girl!”

Ella sighed, rolling her eyes at you. “Calm down, nothing happened, you know he’s not like that. He’d never do something so gross. I’m just saying, he’s been friendlier than normal and kind of flirty. I think he might be starting to like me.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, that’s all I’m saying.” You muttered, staring at the school as it grew larger the closer the two of you walked towards it.

“What if he did pursue me? Would you be OK with that or would you be a mega bitch to him again?” She asked, slowing her step and you frowned at her.

“I’m not a mega bitch!” You complained and she looked over at you, lips forming a tight line. “OK, fine, fine, whatever. If you guys actually liked each other than fine, whatever, I’d be supportive of that, but I’m just saying, don’t get your hopes up. Even if they did break up, you don’t want to be just a rebound.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, “I’ll keep my expectations low. Anyway, I’m gonna go find my friends.” She flounced off in front of you, throwing her hair over her shoulder as she went and you grumbled in aggravation.

That girl was only going to get her heart broken.

Now that you were here, though, you needed to find Jungkook and remind him about your homework appointment tonight. You had an assignment to do and it wasn’t going to write itself…and you definitely weren’t going to write it unless you had help so you hiked your bag higher on your shoulder and walked into the school, shivering at the temperature change.

Walking further down the hall towards where you knew Jungkook’s locker to be, you couldn’t see him at first, but the hallway was busy with people so you pushed further into the crowd before spotting his bouncing head of dark hair.

You walked up behind him, tapping his shoulder. “Hey Jungkook, you still good to help me with my English homework after school?”

He jumped, spinning to face you, eyes wide and fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of his long shirt. “Uh, Y/N, hi. Actually, I-I am not feeling very well today so I was gonna try and take a nap after school or something.”

You watched him, eyebrow raised as he pressed his back further into the locker, eyes drifting over your shoulder to dance across the faces of the people passing through the hallway to their first classes.

“Ok…” You said slowly, glancing over your shoulder and then back to him. “Well, what about tomorrow? You free then?”

“How about I text you and let you know?” He asked, spinning quickly towards his locker and grabbing his books, slamming the door shut. “I’ve got class, but I’ll message you later or something. Bye.”

You watched as he darted down the hallway, turning the corner and disappearing out of sight. “Weirdo.” You sighed.

****

Thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback! I’ll be finishing and posting the last chapter of Independent next month and then Moirai will become my main focus. <3

Chapter 5

Chapter 7

#jungkook scenario #BTS jungkook #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff

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flightfoot · 4 years

Note

The Angry Steven essay you posted; do you think part of that applies to Adrien?

You mean reblogged?

But yeah; I think part of it can apply to Adrien. Especially the bit about Steven being upset and supposedly throwing tantrums. And how those “tantrums” aren’t actually silly; maybe the kid is upset over something that will be fixed soon, or something that’s important to them but isn’t vital in the grand scheme of things, but that his emotions are valid and deserve attention and respect.

That does apply to Adrien. Consider how his father treats him; stomping over his emotions, not giving them any heed. Like in Simon Says, when he completely dismisses Adrien’s protests about the danger and sends him to his room because he’s had too much excitement for the day. Or the Collector, when he completely dismisses Adrien wanting to know more about Gabriel’s past, and just not feeling like Gabriel values him at all.

I think that most people can agree that Gabriel sucks and is awful and completely dismissed Adrien’s feelings and concerns and tramples over him at almost every available opportunity though, just treating him as an annoying child whose feelings and opinions and wants and needs are of no concern.

Actually what concerns me more are the examples held up by the fandom of Adrien - or rather Chat Noir - throwing tantrums. Because yes, he does get upset on occasion, and sometimes he lashes out when he shouldn’t - but that doesn’t mean that his feelings are of no consequence.

Syren’s probably the biggest example of this - I honestly think his feelings there are very much justified. He and Ladybug are supposed to be equal partners, and yet suddenly she has access to information about the Miraculous AND new Miraculous to give out for no apparent reason, and she’s not telling him where and why, and he’s not allowed to know the identities of the new wielders she’s finding either. It would be all too familiar to him, having information withheld from him for reasons that he isn’t being told - his father’s done it to him before. Combine it with her bringing on new wielders, and no wonder he feels like he’s not needed and no one would even REALIZE if he quit, much less care. He’s used to being dismissed and ignored and treated like he doesn’t need or deserve to know or have a say in anything by his father - by Ladybug, not so much.

This isn’t Ladybug’s fault, of course - it’s not her secret to tell. Blame that one on Master Fu. And she clearly doesn’t like it, since she prodded Fu into talking to Chat after that. But that doesn’t change the fact that Chat was hurt by it.

Glaciator - Ladybug made clear that she probably wasn’t going to show up, yet Chat was still upset when she didn’t show up. Again, NOT her fault - not at all. But hat doesn’t mean Adrien had no reason to be upset. His father had just stood him up when they had an appointment to eat together, he was missing out on an ice cream get-together with his friends, so for Ladybug to also not make it to a dinner he set up for them? That would hurt too. He even acknowledged that she said she might not be able to make it, but - well with how he was JUST stood up by his father, who apparently had “kept him there” for the dinner they didn’t end up having, it would kind of FEEL like the same thing, with Adrien being ready and specially having made time (or in his father’s case, having time made FOR him) for eating and hanging out together, only for her not to show up. It’s not totally fair, but emotions AREN’T fair, and don’t always care about all the nuances. He at least just makes some hurt comments and lays out his feelings, then gets back to business as usual. Takes about sixty seconds in all.

Again, not Ladybug’s fault, but that doesn’t mean that Chat doesn’t have any reason to be upset - just that she didn’t actually do anything wrong.

Or Frozer, when after Chat presents her with a rose and she gently reminds him that she loves someone else. He’s ever hopeful and - well, I’m not sure he realize that presenting the rose counts as more “serious flirting” than what he normally does (seriously Ladybug somehow didn’t realize he was in love with her until Glaciator somehow, what counts as “serious” is kinda up in the air), and rejection still hurts, even if he really shouldn’t have tried to give her a rose in the first place. And yeah he pouts for a minute and is upset with her for rejecting him, going a different direction from her and getting a little distance - but the second she’s in danger he gets her out of the way and they fight the akuma as usual. Again, this takes about sixty seconds. It’s his own fault he was hurt here - but that doesn’t mean his hurt feelings aren’t REAL. And to his credit, while he lets her know how he’s feeling, he gets it out of his system in about a minute. It’s not really fair to Ladybug, but emotions aren’t really FAIR. He’s at least not bottling it up here.

To be clear, it is NOT Ladybug’s responsibility to take care of Chat’s emotions here, especially when he’s hurt because of situations he himself sets up - but that doesn’t mean his hurt feelings aren’t valid, or that they are totally without reason.

Best comparison I can make here is how Marinette felt in Puppeteer 2 when Adrien started talking about the “girl he loved” in front of Marinette. Marinette became withdrawn and downcast. Marinette doesn’t really tend to lash out when hurt - well when outright angry, sure, but not a more sad kind of hurt. She more curls into herself. And her feeling hurt was valid and made sense! Because hearing him talk about a girl he loves who she doesn’t believe is herself DOES hurt, can even hurt really badly, even though Adrien hasn’t done anything wrong by mentioning such a thing in front of her - she’s just reasserted that she’s not in love with him after all. But that doesn’t change the fact that she IS hurt, even though the situation, with him not knowing that mentioning the “girl he loves” in front of her, will pour salt in her wound, is one partly of her own making, since she hasn’t been able to tell him how she really feels and has even said the opposite on occasion.

Emotions don’t CARE about whether it’s fair. You still feel how you feel, and that can still affect how you act in negative ways, even fully knowing and admitting that it’s not fair. You just have to try to minimize the collateral damage and work through it as best you can. To both Adrien’s and Marinette’s credit, they both try to work through it as best they can - Adrien tends to work through his hurt very quickly, but with some collateral damage since he tends to get snappy with the people around him in that short span of time, and Marinette tends to be upset for longer, but since she withdraws instead of lashing out, she’s the main casualty.

Look both the protagonists need hugs and to be told their emotions are valid even if it’s not really the FAULT of the person they’re upset with, they still have reason to feel upset, and Adrien needs to be taken away from Gabriel and go to a home with people who actually care about him as a person (preferably Marinette’s, though if Nino’s parents are good they would be a good options) and Marinette needs a hug and a break and to not have the weight of the world on her shoulders with a single slip-up spelling doom.

#ask #adrien agreste #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #They are both people who feel emotions and have their behavior affected by those emotions even if they aren't completely fair #That's just being human

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soaringsoon · 5 years

Text

Kaisoo Tarot

I will preface this by saying that tarot is an inexact art, and is very open to interpretation. In fact, that’s the whole point – to take the lessons and apply them to your own life. I learned to read the cards quite a few years ago from a dear friend of my mother’s. The original cards and book she got me were lost in a fire, but I have several other books and sets of cards now.

As we went into 2019, we EXO L’s and especially Kaisooists were surprised with a bit of news. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. I’m not going to make any assumptions about the truth of that story – I’ll leave that to all the excellent examinations I’ve seen so far of the Dispatch articles, Instagrams, etc.

What I decided to do was pull cards for Jongin, for Kyungsoo, and for the two of them as a unit. Whether this unit is a business relationship as members of the same group, as friends, or as romantic partners, I did not ask the cards. I simply wanted to see what the cards said when I gave them the most basic of information.

I decided to do the simplest spread – three cards. It’s still plenty of information without being totally overwhelming or making this post a mile long. I do apologize for the length of this post, however. I tried to keep it brief, I swear! I also decided to use the cards that Yixing included with his Namanana album, since he’s connected to Kyungsoo and Jongin. Interestingly to me, on stage when he’s with EXO, he stands between Kyungsoo and Jongin. I’m not sure if that means anything but I decided it might.

I pulled cards for Kaisoo first, again with the caveat that I didn’t specify what the relationship was, just Kyungsoo and Jongin together in some form.

I got card XV – the devil. Actually this card “jumped out” while I was shuffling the cards, and my mentor says that this means the card wants to be read, so I placed it first. The devil card talks about being under the spell of a lie, and that the consequences of that lie are real. It talks about a belief system that needs an overhaul, and that there are feelings of denial, justification, and fear involved. If you apply this to one or both of them being not straight I certainly can see where the lie is (if they’re pretending to be straight, either like Kyungsoo, not acknowledging any relationship at all, or like Jongin, with his publicized relationships with women, which seem as though they might be false). The belief system that needs an overhaul – Korea isn’t very accepting of LGBT people so maybe that’s it? I can see where the denial and fear and justification come in as well – if they were revealed to be not straight it would certainly have an impact on their careers. The last thing that the devil card talks about is the idea that liberation from the lie is possible. Obviously, if they are not straight, they could choose to announce that, but at what cost?

The next card is X – Wheel of Fortune. This card talks about whatever troubles you being on its way out, that the coming changes are happy ones. It keeps repeating that change is a good thing, that you may be currently experiencing a low point but that all the good things are coming, are possible. I don’t see anything really troubling either of them in their public life – Kyungsoo’s career is at an all time high, EXO as a whole is doing well, and Jongin doesn’t seem to have really gotten any backlash from this relationship reveal. So perhaps this is referring to something much more personal, that I as a fan am not privy to.

The third card is I – the Magician. It talks about being in the right place at the right time, that your dreams are manifesting themselves. That you should pursue further dreams, that you can triumph against your haters and that anything is possible. This card says to get ready to dream big and also to act on those big dreams. I immediately thought of Kyungsoo and how his acting career has been something he’s wanted for a long time, being taken seriously as an actor, not just an idol actor. The fact that he’s getting so many great, diverse roles came to my mind.

Maybe I should have asked for a specifically “romantic couple” set of cards, because I keep feeling things about each of them individually but not so much as a romantic couple. I may pull another set with this in mind and see what I get.

Next, Jongin.

His first card is XX – Judgment. This card talks about karma, and says a lot of things about taking inventory, calling ourselves on our bullshit, and finding out how we will live up to our best self. I thought it was interesting that the book I used talked specifically about New Year’s often being a time we think about this kind of thing, and it also mentioned how magazines often focus on new things at this time of year. It talks about a major revelation that’s coming, and about changing the way you live even if the ramifications are scary. Again, there’s a lot of focus on what we’re hiding, and the need to be authentic.

The second card I pulled for Jongin was 0 – The Fool. This card doesn’t mean he’s stupid, quite the opposite in fact. It talks about having (justified) joy or optimism about your circumstances, about the desire to jump into new things but needing to remain grounded in reality. It talks about a relationship that may start or end, a new job (Kaisoo subunit? Jongin solo?) and that there will be problems down the road after some initial success.

Jongin’s third card was XVIII – The Moon. This is the card of fear, of the unknown, of confusion. It talks about needing to use our intuition, to study ourselves intently. It also talks about not making any sudden moves and to make sure to pay attention to the fact that more information is coming. This card mentions that the thing you fear is likely inside of you, not an external force, and that you need to face that before moving on.

Now, on to Kyungsoo. He’s my ultimate bias and I feel like I know him pretty well, but obviously I don’t know him personally. Still, I focused a lot on what I do know about him as I was shuffling his cards. A card also “jumped out” while I was shuffling, and it’s interesting what it was.

XV – The Devil. I pulled this card already, in the Kaisoo spread, but I got a bit different feeling as I read about it again. Whereas with the Kaisoo Devil card I got the feeling that whatever was bothering Kaisoo with regards to this card (things about living a lie with real consequences, and a belief system that needs an overhaul) were internal forces, related to themselves, with Kyungsoo my attention was drawn to the thought that he was chained to a negative force bigger than himself, and that to remain there is to settle for no freedom. I wondered if this had to do with EXO or SM, that maybe they were keeping him from things he wanted. Perhaps if Kaisoo is real, his contract specifies that it can’t be revealed? I did get a strong sense that liberation from this trap is possible, however.

XXI – The World. With this card, I could definitely see things about Kyungsoo’s life, at least professionally. It talks about how things you’ve accomplished have come about through your passion and hard work, that this is literally a dream come true for you. With all his amazing acting roles lately, he’s been getting a lot of awards and recognition, and this card says that. It also says he’s allowed to enjoy the attention, but to accept it humbly which I think he’s done. It talks about a very prestigious award coming his way, and that he’s earned some much desired rest time. So I hope he had a good vacation, wherever he went.

Kyungsoo’s last card was IV – The Emperor. This one I thought was interesting because it talks a lot about being logical, unemotional, and even hiding emotions, and Kyungsoo supposedly has a reputation for being stoic, although he’s very much not in real life, I think. I remember him earlier when he was much cuter publicly and much more demonstrative with his affections, and the Kyungsoo of the last few months reminds me more of that than he has in years. This card talked specifically of being a victim of management, which was interesting considering all the themes of hiding yourself I got in this spread. It talks about sticking up for yourself and staking a claim on something. He’s certainly been extra cute and affectionate lately, and I suppose you could interpret that as staking a claim on Jongin.

In conclusion, this was interesting, and I’ll probably do a few more readings on these guys to see if I keep getting the same themes or if something new comes up.

Also, if you would like a reading for yourself, send me a message and we can talk about it. There’d be no cost.

#kaisoo #kyungsoo #jongin #tarot #kadi

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hiyo-silver · 6 years

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Dear Blue Birb, - Waffle House Confessions

Summary: Martin joins Bill and Beverly at the waffle house to "practice lines". Martin seems to somehow get Bev to genuinely tolerate him, even getting her to open up about something she hasn't. It leaves Bill wanting to tell her something too.

Chapters 1 2 3 4 + AO3

Taglist: @fuckboykaspbrak @thesquidliesthuman @rachi0964 @beepbeep-losers @bigbilliamdenbro @jalenrose1122 @sleepygaybrough @itandstrangerthingsfanfic @boopboopbichie @peachywyatt @aizeninlefox @sockwantstodie @ahoybyeler @abbeyglover @s-tanleyuris

Bill comes to the conclusion that he should go along on whatever outing he asks Bev to go on with Martin. Just to supervise, make sure he doesn’t pull anything. He knows Martin meant it when he said he wanted a date, but Bill still can’t stand the idea of him being alone with Bev. She’s new this year, she doesn’t need to be immediately put off the school by the minority that Martin Addison is.

He already has Martin’s Snapchat in “has mutual friends” so it’s not very difficult to contact him. He sure as hell doesn’t want Martin to have his phone number. He’s not attached enough to his snap score to be above deleting his snapchat if he needed to. “You wanna meet me and Bev at the waffle house tonight? Going over lines.” he ends it with a period, showing he means business in his own passive aggressive way. He’s in no way here to make friends with him. He’s got enough friends.

The response comes quickly, it’s obvious the other teen has nothing better to do; though, Bill wouldn’t have thought he would. He agrees, there was almost no margin of a chance Bill would have gotten to get out of it. This is really his feeling of safety he’s talking about.

The evening comes too soon, and though Bill would usually be hungry for dinner by now, he’s so nervous that his stomach is turning over and over in knots. He hopes he’ll be able to eat though, he won’t be able to eat at home afterwards, he and Bev always go to the waffle house on Thursday because his parents are usually home and he doesn’t want so much to cook for himself when they’re around, the kitchen is an unwelcome place when it’s not just him. Though when he is alone it is like his own personal sanctuary.

Bill picks Beverly up from her house, he notices that there’s always a car in the driveway but he’s never met her parents, nor does she talk about them much. He elects to not ask though, seeing as he doesn’t talk about his family either. She slides into the passenger seat, she doesn’t get to sit there often, it’s essentially Eddie’s designated spot in their morning carpool.

“Hey,” she breathes out, her bag slung over her shoulder and her hair messy, flyaways on every angle of her head, just genuinely herself. Bill hasn’t told her Martin is joining them for their normal Thursday evening hang out, but hopefully she won’t be too upset when he slips into the booth with them, he can only hope.

“Hey, Martin is joining us,” he says quietly, pushing his left foot on the gas pedal again, trying to get the car moving before she could just get out at the idea of spending the evening with Martin Addison. If Bill has to do it, she should too. As well as the fact that Martin is fully ready to out him, Bill can’t let that happen.

“What?” Bev asks, looking uncomfortable already, her eyebrows going up in surprise, looking not angry, more so offended. She doesn’t like Martin Addison, not one bit. She’s already specifically uncomfortable with most boys, she has a hard time explaining why. Being the only girl in her group of friends is difficult, they don’t understand the danger of simply being a woman in America.

Bill sees her face and his heart sinks. All the losers trust him, but in that moment the trust and security in her face seems to drain away, and he’s never been more ashamed in the presence of one of his close friends. He may not have known Beverly for very long, but she’s just as much a part of their friend group as the ones who have always been around. Ben only moved here around five years ago, and Mike didn’t start going to Derry high with them until around three years before. The point is, Bev has found a place in all of their hearts, and thus a permanent place in their group.

“I’m sorry, I promised I’d help him go over the scenes we’re in, he isn’t that great at remembering lines and needed some help so I offered. If one of us in the cast fails, we all have failed,” he lies, though at least his reasoning seems valid enough, especially to Bev, who supposedly did theatre before she moved here. He feels awful lying, he avoids it as much as he can. But the prospect of his emails to Blue being leaked is even scarier than the idea of spending a few evenings with Martin Addison.

“Alright,” Bev sighs softly, “He’s sitting on the opposite side of the table to us, I’m sitting next to you, not him, and it’s not getting personal,” she says, her voice steady and serious, setting the ground rules for them. Nobody likes Martin, and she wouldn’t be an exception.

They get to the waffle house, Martin already had been dropped off by his mom and is standing in the area by the front door, looking out through the glass and visibly brightening when he sees them, he doesn’t seem to know how much he’s disliked, maybe it’s better that way. He steps out of the way to let them push the door open, immediately engulfed by a warmth only familiar to restaurants. “I picked us a booth, it’s by the window though and I don’t know how you guys would feel about it but the window seat just looked nice,” he rambles out. It almost makes Bill feel bad for him, he obviously craves friendship. Though he can’t excuse that he blackmailed him to get here.

“Window seat is fine,” Bill says quickly, snapping out the words, he’d just reminded himself the context of the situation. He has to get Bev to be nice, doesn’t mean he has to be. He’s often a nice person more in his head than in practice, but he doesn’t see it necessary to be kind to a blackmailer, which may be a bad decision in itself. This is about Martin knowing things he could tell others, after all.

“Yeah, I like that booth,” Beverly says absently. She’s trying to distract herself from the situation about as much as Bill is. If only she knew the half of it, she’d probably be a lot more sympathetic.

But Bill isn’t ready to come out. He doesn’t know why, his parents would probably not care, his friends would be cool with it, heck, they all know Eddie’s gay, he came out to them only in late middle school. He doesn’t seemingly have anything to lose, he just doesn’t have the balls to tell anyone upfront yet.

He thinks maybe he’ll come out once he hits college, it seems like the perfect life transition. Faking it through high school, then going to college and be able to “gay it up” all he wants. He could listen to musicals and wear all sorts of rainbow paraphernalia, but he’s just not ready for that yet.

They go over to the booth, the ketchup and mustard bottles decorated with googly eyes and a black construction paper jack o lantern grin, the cafe doing its little bit to prepare for the Halloween season, Bill already knows what his costume is going to be. He and Eddie are going to be Buzz and Woody from Toy Story, they often do partnered costumes, have since they were young.

Bill pulls the script out of his bag, the others following suit. Martin drops his on the table dramatically as he plops on the worn faux leather seat. The red shade of the booth is fading, which probably would look okay if it weren’t for the long stripes of duct tape covering the holes formed from years of use. “What scene do you want to start at?” he asks, looking over at Bev for the answer, not really in the mood to hear Martin talk again.

“From the top. It’s easiest that way,” she announces, looking over at Martin with a less than pleased expression. He’s sitting there and looking over the menu, licking his lips at the images, it only sends a shiver down her spine.

“Martin, you listening?” Bill looks over and asks, shoving his shoulder gently enough, just to get his attention on the task at hand. Maybe Bev would be able to tolerate him more than Bill can.

They do sit and go over lines in hushed monotone voices for a while, Martin’s slowly getting more dramatic, making obvious efforts to impress Bev. It’s not exactly working but she can admire his bravery, using his outdoor-loud-projected voice inside a diner with only one other table seated.

They hit the break between the two acts, leaving them a break to order waffles, Bill hoping and praying to himself that Martin won’t pull anything. Bev probably wouldn’t take any flirting. A few bites in, Martin makes a joke and Beverly actually laughs, and it seems genuine. And for now, Bill feels safe.

He pulls out his phone and refreshes his email, seeing the bold text of an unopened message from Blue, which tugs temptingly at Bill’s heart strings, he wants to open it now but he knows he can’t in here, not with Bev’s prying eyes right next to him. “Gotta take a leak,” he excuses himself, sliding out of the booth.

Bev and Martin are too deep in conversation to notice Bill not going in the direction of the bathroom, the bathroom here isn’t too clean, but instead he goes right out the front door and opens the email.

Dear Big B,

Halloween is coming up, I think you mentioned you had plans? I don’t know what I’m gonna do on the 31st quite yet. Probably just stay home and eat the orange Halloween Oreos. They’re the best kind, and you can fight me on that.

Do you have plans with friends? Or something with your family. You haven’t brought up a younger sibling but I assume you have one based on your email address, are you taking them trick or treating?

Sorry for such a short email, night with my mom, hope to catch up more soon.

Sincerely yours,

Blue Birb.

Bill smiles at the playfulness of the first paragraph, though the question of the second one hurts a bit. He’s been on his toes waiting for that question. There’s a reason he hasn’t asked about Blue’s choice in email address. He doesn’t want to explain his, it would give him away. He’ll always be known to Derry as the kid whose brother died in the fifth grade, at least to those who have lived here since then.

He tries to brush it off, hearing the jingle of the opened door behind him, expecting to see Bev or Martin finally coming to seek him out now that they surely must have realized he’s not in the bathroom. Instead, a blonde boy comes out, his eyes a shining blue that reigns similar to Bill’s own eyes. “Hey,” the other teen breathes out, a puff of warm air hitting the cool air becoming visible for a few moments, a true sign of the incoming fall and winter weather.

“Hey,” Bill smiles back smoothly, shutting his phone off and shoving it into his pocket swiftly, somehow paranoid that this total stranger would read his private emails with his anonymous lover. It’s silly, really, but he almost likes the feeling of having a nice secret to himself, even through the moments of wanting to shout about Blue from the rooftops. He has this just to himself, and it makes him feel special for about the first time since he was young.

“Food okay?” the boy asks, brushing his hands on his apron absently, the same busboy who had served the table Bill was sitting at before. Bill offers the nervous teen a smile, trying to pass him some sort of comfort, Bill would like to consider himself less than threatening.

“Yeah, really good, as always,” Bill says with a coy smile. He’s only ever so charming when he’s making no effort to do so. It’s ended in numerous school dances with girls he doesn’t like, he never had any intention to attract them, obviously. He doesn’t even like girls. Or does he? He’s not even sure about that yet. All he knows is that he had dream after dream about Daniel Radcliffe after reading the Harry Potter series when he was thirteen.

“Good,” the boy says with his own smile, obviously mostly done with the conversation. Bill could almost take him for smitten with him. His mind begins to wander, if only he knew who Blue is. He likes it being anonymous, mostly because then Blue doesn’t know who he is, it feels safe. But other times he yearns with all of himself to hold the other boy’s hand.

Bill steps back inside, the warm air soothing his cooled skin. He shoves his hands into his pockets and sliding back into the booth next to Beverly, who’s still deeply engrossed in a conversation with Martin. Maybe getting Martin a full fledged date with her wouldn’t be so hard. Bill thinks that, at least until Martin asks why Bev moved to Derry, which she always avoids talking about, even with the losers.

“Well, uh, some stuff happened with my dad, my mom left him and kinda just ran and left me living with him. He wasn’t... great and now I moved here with my aunt,” she says, visibly uncomfortable reliving the subject of the story, “But that’s behind me.” she ends with a certain finality, to most people it would very obviously mean she’s not going to talk about it anymore.

“Well, your dad can suck my dick. You deserve better than that. You’re a princess and you deserve a goddamn prince. Don’t get me wrong, you aren’t a damsel in distress, no knight needed. But you deserve a prince who will take care of you,” Martin says, slamming a fist on the table, Bev obviously becoming rigid with the words. She’d rather not think of her father in relation to other guys under any circumstances. He’s behind her, those experiences are behind her, and if she tries hard enough, they don’t even feel like her own.

“Yeah…” she mumbles in a soft voice, rubbing her neck awkwardly and looking down at a spot on syrup on the table, shaking her head ever so slightly to watch the square of fluorescent light dance over the sticky droplet.

“No, seriously, say it, Beverly Marsh deserves a fucking prince,” Martin says, his voice demanding and only gaining volume in the small, nearly empty diner. It makes Bev squirm a little in her seat, mortified now that it’s being shouted alongside her name. “Bev, I said say it! I’m gonna keep saying it until you admit it,” Martin eggs her on, getting up on his knees on the bench to seem bigger than he is. He cups his hands around his mouth, “Beverly Marsh deserves a prince,” he chants, probably getting it out two and a half times before Bev shoots up from her seat.

“Fine, Martin! I deserve a fucking prince,” she says, matching his volume with her pent up frustration, panting for air once the words come out. “Fuck you,” she sighs out as she sits again, red in the face. She doesn’t mean it in full malice, moreso relief. She doesn’t yell often, and though the situation wasn’t ideal, it felt good to raise her voice once in a while.

The rest of the evening goes on pretty normally. Martin’s mom comes to pick him up. Finally. Bill couldn’t take another minute of him. The goal may have been to get Bev to like him to protect Bill’s closeted status, but it still made his blood boil to see Bev laugh and smile along with Martin’s words.

He pulls his autumn jacket back over his shoulder with a huff as the door closes behind Martin. Finally alone with his friend again. The saddest part is that Martin knows his biggest secret but one of his best friends doesn’t. He slides out of the booth and puts his hand out to Beverly, quite gentlemanly so if he would say so himself. “Back to the car m’lady?” he purrs in a voice that aligns with his character in the show.

“Oh so now you decide to be dramatic and go along with it.” She rolls her eyes at him, taking his hand and sliding her way out of the booth, the slight heel of her shoes clicking quietly on the linoleum.

“But of course, Martin is gone,” he jokes, already pulling her to the car, watching the busboy from earlier wipe down tables and now feeling out of place now that it’s closing time. He finds that he feels out of place a lot, like as if he’s a unicorn in a sea of zebras. It’s not always bad though, just a bit isolating.

She follows him, moving a bit faster than he is, her legs are shorter and she falls about a head shorter than him overall, getting the slightest bit winded trying to keep up with his long gait. “Hey, maybe he isn’t so awful, just misunderstood, that’s all,” she says. Miss Beverly “try and find the good in people” Marsh back at it again. But this is the first time it’s really made Bill hurt and he can’t even tell her why.

He slows down after he notices her struggle. He doesn’t mean to go so fast. He assumes it’s his subconscious trying to run off some steam. He doesn’t mean to take it out on her, or anyone really. He’s just not used to being this stressed. He’d kept this to himself for so long, so many held breaths and quiet moments that could have been moments mapping out his coming out story. Instead he’s stayed in the closet, and all he has to show for it is some romantic emails with a boy he isn’t even sure he’s met. He hopes, maybe even begs the universe, that this could be a part of an amazing love story too.

He gets into the driver’s seat wordlessly, letting his eyes wander to peek over at Bev getting in on the passenger side. He waits for her buckle to click before he turns to her, “What was that about? In the waffle house, about your dad I mean,” he asks in a soft voice. He wouldn’t make her talk if she didn’t want to. He knows how that can be. St-st-stuttering Bill would know best.

“My dad just wasn’t that great sometimes. He’d take me to the movies and buy me ice cream but that doesn’t make up for.. Y’know,” she says softly, and of course Bill knows. It’s just the kind of thing that doesn’t need to be said out loud. The kind of thing that makes even grown men cry when they talk about their own experiences if they’ve been unlucky enough to have them. And in that moment, Bill knows Bev hasn’t talked aloud about this, maybe to anyone.

He feels almost as if he owes her something of equal weight. Beverly Marsh just grew ten times stronger in his perception with just those few words. He can only hope to be that brave. “Bev, I’m gay.”

“Yeah?” she replies, a bit taken aback with the suddenness after the solemn quiet only moments before. “You know that’s okay, right?” she follows up after seeing his face fall at her reaction.

“Yeah- yeah, you’re not- surprised?” he asks, looking down at the glovebox, finding it hard to meet her eyes.

“Not particularly. It’s not a big deal, right?” she says, bringing herself down a little in hopes of pulling his gaze back up to meeting her own.

“I’ve just- I’ve never told anyone before,” he says sheepishly, his blue eyes flickering to the backseat for just a second. Coming out somehow felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders again, though it feels a bit wrong not to bring up Blue or the emails or the blackmailing. But she may just be mad he used her, even though it’s not like that. With Martin knowing but nobody else he’s almost felt like he was being watched at all times, eyes glued to his back.

“I’m proud of you,” Beverly says back to that, he eyes shining in a way Bill hasn't seen them shine before, and for once since all this. He feels at ease. He finally drives Bev home and goes up to his room, sighing before his laptop screen.

Dear Blue Birb,

Yeah I have halloween plans, this guy who sits with my friends, Stan is having a Halloween party and we’re going to that as a group. I don’t know if I’m dressing up this year. My brother goes to a school where he’s not home much.

Bill swallows a little at the lie, he’ll have to correct that later if they ever do reveal their identities and Blue finds out the true state of his brother, but for now the only thing he really feels bad about is lying about Georgie. He doesn’t like hiding things about his brother, he feels like it’s disrespectful to him to seem so secretive about his existence, but he has to convince himself that just for now it’s okay. Only to protect his identity.

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eilonwiiy · 6 years

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ALSO FOR RAYLAIR (baldrynn??)

omg i’d apologize for how long this is, but i kNOW we both love it

who hogs the duvet Baldair FOR SURE. But Raylynn has no qualms about roughly tugging them back and, in doing so, waking him up.

who texts/rings to check how their day is going Neither. They’re both pretty independent people and focus on what they’re doing during the day. Every now and then Raylynn will send Baldair an unexpected ‘hi’ in the middle of the day - nothing else - and it always makes him grin like a fool. Often he’ll send a simple ‘hi’ back and that will be the end of it. It’s all they need to say to know they’re both thinking of each other.

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts They’re actually pretty shit when coming up with ideas for gifts. Every holiday, both of them, in a moment of desperation, suck up their pride and ask their friends for advice. Aldrik always chastises Baldair for waiting until the last second to get a gift for “the woman of which your heart supposedly belongs to” and goes on and on about what he’s gotten Vhalla and how he made it months in advance and if this display of procrastination is any indication of their relationship, then perhaps he does not deserve Raylynn. Only when Baldair threatens to tell Vhalla what he’s made her does Aldrik grudgingly agree to help. Raylynn turns to the Guard and inevitably rolls her eyes at Jax’s usual suggestion to offer Baldair a “sexual favor”. In the end, Baldair always manages to catch Raylynn off guard with something sickly sweet and sentimental, and Raylynn reconsiders Jax’s advice.

who gets up first in the morning Raylynn. It takes an army to drag Baldair from bed in the morning. Or the promise of shower sex.

who suggests new things in bed PFFT PLS. BOTH.

who cries at movies They’re too busy making out to pay attention.

who gives unprompted massages Baldair, and they always lead to sexy fun times.

who fusses over the other when they’re sick Both of them put on a pretty good show of fussing over the other, but mostly bc they both know how much the other hates being treated like an invalid.

who gets jealous easiest Neither. They’ve been each other’s ‘person’ for years. They know who they are to each other and nothing could change that.

who has the most embarrassing taste in music Baldair has caught Raylynn singing some pretty questionable tunes in the shower. He provides back-up vocals.

who collects something unusual Raylynn doesn’t like to accumulate too much stuff and weighing herself down, both physically and mentally. Childhood Baldair went thru phases of hoarding stuff bc Aldrik was always collecting unusual trinkets.

who takes the longest to get ready Baldair, though even then, not very long. His natural charm is his greatest accessory and it’s never a big affair to get ready in the morning.

who is the most tidy and organized Both are pretty tidy creatures, mostly bc Baldair has a staff of servants and Raylynn owns very few possessions.

who gets most excited about the holidays Baldair makes a HUGE fuss over holidays. His parties are legendary. Once he threw a month long party for the Festival of the Sun at the Imperial Manor in Oparium, and to this day, he doesn’t know how he ended up at the beach buried neck deep as a sand mermaid. It was quite a shock when he woke up surrounded by a crowd of curious locals.

who is the big spoon/little spoon They like to wrestle in bed for the title of big spoon, but Raylynn always lets Baldair win and he does so without comment. He knows what it means for her to willingly lose. It took her a long time to enjoy the protective feel of his arms around her, but now it’s the last thing she wants to remember before falling asleep.

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports Both! They’re vicious back-and-forth smack talk across the carcivi board is heard throughout the halls by the staff so often that they secretly keep a tally of who has the best insults. And whenever they spar with each other, they’re sure to draw a crowd and Jax is quick to get bets on the winner going.

who starts the most arguments Fights are almost nonexistent for these two. They love a good vocal sparring match, love to get under each other’s skin, but they never have angry confrontations. It’s simply never been the nature of their relationship. Their disagreements are more like level-headed debates that they never get the fire burning underneath them to fuel them into something less contained.

who suggests that they buy a pet Baldair. HE WANTS A DOG SO BAD PLS RAY LET ME HAVE A DOG I PROMISE I’LL TAKE CARE OF IT

what couple traditions they have Once they FINALLY become an official couple, they have a sparing match on the anniversary of when they first met (which both were extremely shy to admit that they remembered). It’s always somewhere privately and neither one keeps track of how many times each wins or loses.

what tv shows they watch together They’re both very active and prefer to be outdoors, rather than sit on the couch and watch TV. But Raylynn will admit that she has a morbid fascination with Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Baldair has been sworn to secrecy about this guilty pleasure, especially amongst the Golden Guard. He is more than happy to indulge her if it means he can watch with her and do obnoxious Kim K impersonations. Raylynn has never laughed so hard than when one time in the middle of a heated argument with Aldrik, Baldair told him that he had the emotional range of Kourtney Kardashian.

what other couple they hang out with It takes some time for Baldair & Raylynn and Vhalla & Aldrik to find a comfortable rhythm together, but they eventually they get there. With the high demands of the Empire, they like to have quiet nights in together, usually teaming up in pairs and playing a game of carcivi. Charades is now banned from date night bc no one, including Vhalla, wants to be partners with Aldrik (sorry bb you’re just BAD at it)

how they spend time together as a couple They like to travel, and since Baldair is “the spare”, he has more freedom to do so than Aldrik. They’re also on a mission to have sex in every secret passageway and hidden chamber in the palace. Since Baldair knows where most of them are, he lets Raylynn see if she discover them. Yes, Aldrik has walked in on them before.

who made the first move It was a mutual moment. They were each others ‘person’ for years and neither one wanted to best the other. Truthfully, it didn’t feel like an world-shattering confession for either of them. It felt like coming home after a very long trip. It was always there, just out of reach.

who brings flowers home While Baldair would be more than happy to oblige any demands for flowers (he’s done so MANY times with MANY young maidens), Raylynn has no interest in them.

who is the best cook Raylynn. Baldair grew up with a royal kitchen staff, whereas Raylynn has always had to fend for herself.

#ask meme #air awakens #air awakens series #raylair #air awakens headcanons

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atopearth · 5 years

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Liar! Uncover the Truth Part 3 - Office Deception Spin-Off

New series (?)!! Let’s hope it’s interesting~ Prologue plays out pretty similarly to the first one where the heroine discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her and so she kicks him to the curb. Crappy thing is that he cheated on her with her best friend at work, who is actually a bitch that likes to steal people’s boyfriends, so yeah that sucks. And even though she successfully catches them with the evidence, she still gets the losing end of the stick since the girl is the daughter of some chief executive or whatever he was, so the heroine ends up being shoved off into a crappy team as their team leader so that they can get her to mess up and then force her to quit. Cool thing is the janitor giving her a mop divination saying that 9 of them will be crappy co-workers but one of them will be a lifelong work partner I guess hahaha. Now it’s gender neutral! We’ll see who is the best co-worker!

1st Liar Personally, I like Keisuke’s and Mayu’s looks the most but I think Kohei might be a cool guy hahaha. I feel like this Twinkle Twinkle that leaks confidential info (their rejected Olympic emblem design), complains about the heroine and other stuff is probably Shiori, she seems pretty stupid and irrational tbh. She’s also quite rude, every time the heroine tells her to do something, she always tries to delay it somehow with a joke or whatever and it’s so obvious that she’s being disrespectful with her. Otherwise, Yusei is nice to give her a book on leadership and Guy seems quite dedicated to drawing designs.

Honestly, I think I’d die if I had to deal with someone like Shiori that leaks company info, gets caught for it, says it’s because FindFriend (Facebook I guess?) is her life and she needs all these likes etc to survive, and then even after the heroine lets her off so easily by just telling her to get rid of all the problematic posts, she’s still not repenting and is complaining about her page being blank now? Omggg, I’d kill her lol. Just wondering, but do the accusation portions not have voice acting anymore? That’s kinda saddening, I liked that :(

2nd Liar You’d think that since we’re dealing with adults, bullying and harassment shouldn’t occur but it does :( But omg though, I feel so sorry for the heroine, when she tried to present their project, her slides were replaced with porn, absolutely great… If it’s someone jealous of her this time around, then maybe it’s Chisa? Don’t feel like she really respects the heroine so… Sakurako (traitor friend) and her dad that’s the chief are so eugh, especially since the latter touched her without consent! Disgusting!

As for the person sabotaging the heroine. I find it hard to believe that even if Keisuke was a guy who felt like men are superior in life, he wouldn’t do something like this, and Chise just seems to go with her own flow or something lol. Minoru seems the most suspicious just because he tries to take over her leadership role, thinks he’s the best, tries to make it as if she’s so useless and is obviously cocky.

Wow, can’t believe Minoru was such a guy, steals people’s work, ruined someone’s career and thinks that others are so stupid compared to him, the heroine was right to demote him!

3rd Liar So.. Someone is having an office love? But eww leaving torn pantyhose on someone’s desk is pretty disgusting. Gotta admit that Daikichi seems the most sketchy, he’s way too forward and flirty. On the other hand, Yusei is so cute! I’m surprised he actually isn’t the black coffee type and actually drinks chocolate milk instead haha! I also think he’s great leader material considering how capable he is, but if he thinks supporting others is where he shines, then fair enough. He was so adorable when he admitted that he took the heroine to a fancy restaurant before because it was her, when he usually goes to dingy dirty places hahaha. I think I’m warming up to him the most right now, so I think I’d be so sad if he’s a liar later😣

Not surprised that it’s Daikichi since the others seemed to be just there to make you doubt your choice, especially Chisa lol, just because she likes to do Tai Chi with older men doesn’t mean she’s sleeping around with them lolll. Anyway, Daikichi is pretty eugh, sure, the girls are the ones who are all over him, but he accepts them, even in the most inappropriate places like the office. It’s disgusting. Lmao at the true end though, the heroine was the one who spilt coffee on his old suit and helped him pick out a new one, so really the one who pushed him into having a style change was her, and so really, she started his playboy days lollll.

4th Liar So, this time around, it’s side jobs! They’re not allowed especially after some employee created his own business and it failed and he stole money from the company to pay off his loans, so yep. So cool that Keisuke just outed Sakurako on her BS, she’s so fake🙄 In terms of employment though, I feel like Guy has the best prospects just because he’s always drawing designs, so it’s not like another skill, he can keep doing his thing at work and be honing his skills at earning money for both this and his side job imo. But then omg at Chisa lol, bringing so many products to the office and then even bringing the heroine to a party that’s introducing these products?? Sounds like a pyramid scheme lol.

Which it pretty much is.. Scary thing is that it’s brainwashed Chisa so much since all she really wanted was friends but they made her buy all these products and join in selling them etc and threaten to kick her out and not be friends with her anymore if she stopped. It’s honestly pretty depressing… The older you get, the more difficult it is to make time for friends and to make new friends, sigh… I kinda feel sorry for her.

5th Liar HAHAHA omg, when the title of the episode was the Shuto Matsuki affair, I was wondering whether it was really THAT Shuto Matsuki from the previous season and it is! Guess his soccer career is still kicking haha. Just an FYI, but the early clear bonuses have become ridiculous, I need to finish 35 episodes/tickets in 2 days, and you only get 5 free tickets a day, which means I’d need to use an extra 20 tickets to make it to the threshold. Yeah… I’d rather not read the true ends then.

Omgg, she accidentally pushed Kohei down and then called him beautiful without his glasses and her heart even thumped when he smiled hahaha. He is pretty cute though, I like him. Not surprised that someone has stolen Shuto’s watch that the heroine took off him in order to not interfere with the photos but hmmm, who could it be, who’s the crazed fan?! Reina is my guess for now haha. I didn’t think it would be Guy tbh, he doesn’t even seem to have a proper reason, he’s just into the thrill of it all which is so…boring? Pretty disappointing reveal.

6th Liar Leaking the project information to an opposing company? That’s the worst thing for an employee to do, especially when they all worked so hard on this together. Sigh, the heroine can’t catch a break. Yusei seems to know his way around ladies~ He’s a dangerous guy imo hahaha. Surprised the heroine was okay with going to Keisuke’s house to watch Office Battle and in the dark too! Lol. Anyway, super disappointed that Yusei was the spy by Daito (rival company) and he was doing it all along because he wants money and has always been a guy like that ever since he got dumped by his girlfriend that went with a rich guy. Like okaaay, just dump any morals you have for money you have no use in having now since the girl dumped you anyway so… Yeah, whatever, sigh.

I’m starting to think that May is probably the workmate that will be like her best partner at work. The president called to get rid of Kaneyama from the team and May was meeting with some guy I assumed to be her dad in the beginning, so maybe the president is her dad?

7th Liar Well…. Sending a company wide email of a photo of the heroine and her father claiming that she’s in an affair? Yeah, these guys are sure unprofessional. But wow, kidnapping the heroine, taking photos etc??? That’s so crazy weird…. Thought it was Reina, but dang didn’t think it was because she in love with the heroine and crazy obsessed with her lol, so random… Yeah didn’t like this one, didn’t think the evidence part was interestingly solved either…

8th Liar It’s cool that both Keisuke and Kohei are into the heroine, and omg when they offered their hands so that she could walk down the stairs in her heels with their support~ so cute~ But May is definitely the best to save her from that awkward situation of choosing one haha.

LOL at Kohei being a pervert that likes to listen to voices hahaha. Why are all the recent liars obsessed with the heroine in some way or another lol, so random and weird. Although I do have to admit that some voices do sound amazing hahaha.

9th Liar Aww, if it’s supposedly the President of Daito’s child doing the spy thing, I feel like it’s probably May then… But I like her so much more than Keisuke. She’s considerate, nice and fun! So sad that I was right though, all the evidence did point to her and the rest against Keisuke were so flimsy, but sigh, I don’t like Keisuke lolll. I don’t want him to be the one aiyaaa. Oh well…. I am SO SHOOK. So shocked that May is actually a guy! The scarves she wears all the time are to cover her Adams Apple!! What!!! Shocking!! I guess that’s why there’s rumours the president has a daughter or son… Wow… Still shocked. Especially when the heroine accidentally grabbed her crotch when May tried to run away lolll. Omgggg.

Omggggg that the janitor was Keisuke’s grandpa which is the CEO of the company, and so Keisuke’s dad is the president, and Keisuke has been looking for the spies all this time too, and now he’s finally got the Kaneyama father and daughter. So glad Sakurako is done. Well, now she can fully trust Keisuke now and the team has been reformed so everyone is happy lol. What a long ride.

Overall, didn’t like Office Deception as much, felt like it was a bit bland and the characters were rather boring, but I think the main problem was that their reasons for lying were so fickle and uninteresting, maybe it’s because it’s limited by an office setting. But yeah, first one was definitely much better.

#liar! uncover the truth #liar uncover the truth #liar! office deception

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