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#i’m curious how universal this particular description is
doctor-mccoys-sanity · 6 months
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autism and strong emotion just be like… SHAKE! SHAKE SO HARD! BUT FEEL TRAPPED BY THE PRISON OF YOUR BONES *screams*
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laufire · 1 year
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yesterday I finally finished my ARC of ✨ "When The Stars Alight"✨, and I have now posted reviews in goodreads and storygraph ^-^
(c&p under the cut)
I had the honour to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
(this review might contain some very vague spoilers) 
The first thing that merits mentioning in this book is its prose. With an omniscient narrator and lush descriptions of the settings, the characters, and every grand or minute detail, reading it feels like being immersed in a vivid moving painting. I’d recommend the story to those of us who appreciate this kind of writing style; and to those who might be on the fence, I’d ask them to be open-minded, to take their time, and to welcome it in in order to enjoy everything else this story has to offer. I must also commend the artist that illustrated the beautiful cover, as well as the art inside the book, for aiding to the sensory experience. 
As for the book, I’m particularly enamoured with the worldbuilding. WTSA, and the universe it introduces us to as a first installment, can’t be called a typical fantasy story. If, like me, you both love this genre but tragically find yourself disappointed by how repetitive, superficial or conservative some of its examples can be, this book could be just what gets you out of that slump. The world it presents is utterly different from our own, with original fantasy species, each wonderfully distinctive. On the one hand you have Solarites: powerful star maidens fallen from the sky that benevolently rule over humans (some of them with magical abilities of their own) and other races like the sprites (another immortal race of monster slayers with a strong connection to nature); on the other you have the Occassi, a more demonic race in the artic. Here in particular the prose becomes indispensable, presenting two opposing races and their societies, constantly contrasting them with light/dark, life/death symbolism without falling into black and white thinking. From the matriarchal society lead by the Solarites, filled with more subtle (yet still dangerous) political power-plays, to the more patriarchal, militaristic Mortos; the luminosity and abundance of one setting and the more gothic, tenebrous and scarce environment of the other. As the lead travels from one to the other, we discover these differences with her. 
This leads me to the next point: this book puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to a matriarchal society, filling it with outstanding female characters and showing us women in power across all fields: diplomats, scientists, soldiers, etc. 
Laila, the protagonist, is the clear star. She’s delightful, curious, adventurous, with strong morals paired with a deep-seated insecurity. She’s also a political animal; charming, manipulative, with ambition that’s presented as a positive. Her optimism can be a sign of her youth and naivety, but born out of genuine compassion and want for progress. It all comes together into a lovely, complex lead character that I can’t wait to see grow and develop. 
Someone else I found unusual and fascinating was Amira, Laila’s mother. She’s powerful and seemingly untouchable, exacting, and the opposite of nurturing. Her influence over Laila is never-ending, both as her maternal figure and as her monarch, influencing all aspects of her life and looming over all of her relationships. 
Another one with key importance is Lyra, a sprite. She and Laila were past lovers, and in the present have a deep, sometimes difficult friendship that goes beyond most princess/lionheart dynamics. Lyra is irreverent, with a sturdy sense of justice that comes from sympathy for the underdog, and often the blunt warrior to Laila’s diplomat. 
Others that, while less prominent, still tell us a lot about the world are the Odakan scientists (whose part foreshadows what might come in future installments), full of excitement and purpose to change and explore the world; or Dr. Mielette, with a small part, but that offers insight into Solarite culture. We see less of the women in Mortos, so far, but they serve their purpose. In Vasilisa, the Regina, you can see the precarious, risky position of a woman who is ostensibly at the highest one of her kind can come in a misogynistic society. The looming absence of Serafina, the king’s former lover, or of Katerina, another blood sorcerer, both women who sought power outside society’s confines, contrasts with her. 
But Mortos’ most prominent representatives are the men in the Calantis family. Most significantly Darius, the male lead. He’s the king’s bastard and eldest son, resentful of his lesser position in court, and eager to retake the place he thinks he deserves. His more intellectual pursuits (he definitely incarnates the mad scientist archetype, a favourite of mine) haven’t always been of help among Occassi, who value brute force above all. He’s charming and sophisticated, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, which can fool others, audience included, into not fearing his monstrous nature. 
The other members of the family are Lanius, the tyrannical father and king opposing Laila’s diplomatic efforts, a poison in the family and the kingdom; and Dominus, the younger son and reluctant heir. Both brothers do take part in a love triangle with Laila, but it’s not your typical, never-ending F/M/M triangle; as someone who sometimes side-eyes such trope, I must say I appreciated how this one develops, with Laila’s differences in approach, in chemistry, and in the emotional risk she incurs in each relationship. Related to the love story, because I know this will be of interest: the book’s sex scenes are delightfully written, just as beautiful and descriptive as any other, steamy and evocative. 
To finish off, I’ll say that this story was perfectly crafted to appeal to both my baser and higher interests. Its world and its characters have raised quickly in my list of favourites, it makes me think and wonder and speculate about what will come next, and it will stay with me for a long, long time. If you enjoy this book half as much as I did, I recommend checking out the author’s page for any other related stories or materials.
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exitpursuedbyavulcan · 5 months
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I hope this doesn’t come across as judgement of any sort since everyone has their own preferences when it comes to fiction and that’s totally okay but I really enjoy your work and I noticed you also have fics where the OC is Aemond’s sister. I personally don’t get why people are drawn to incest as a kink/theme in fics and why an OC is oftentimes written as his sibling when it doesn’t add much to the story so I wanted to ask what you believe the appeal is when including it in your stories? Genuinely curious :)
Please don’t feel weird about asking! This is a totally valid question, especially in this fandom…
For me, it’s honestly just an easy and canonical way to establish a history and relationship between Aemond and his cousin/sister/etc. And in some cases, like in What is Broken, I feel like it does add a layer of depth! Aemond isn’t just betraying his wife, he’s also betraying the sister that’s admired him all his life. In this way, I think it can add a lot to a story!
I don’t write incest because it’s a kink or anything, just because it’s an interesting way to explore the world and people of Westeros. How does one relationship affect the other? Which relationship is more important? And stuff like that.
I also think it’s more in-character for Aemond to participate in the Targ tradition of weaving the family wreath. We know he idolizes his Valyrian heritage, likely as a result of feel distant from his father, the one who connects him to that heritage. It’s a little harder to make a non-Targ or Targ-adjacent character really mesh with Aemond in a way that feels natural.
Please keep in mind, I only add the incest element to my HOTD fics, because it’s part of the canonical universe. I would not include it in say, and Osferth or Tom Bennett fic.
If it’s something that brothers you, it’s totally fine with me if you skip those particular stories! You are never obligated to read anything you don’t want to. I always try to include that a particular character or relationship is incestual somewhere in the description. If I miss it, just let me know and I’ll add it in!
I don’t actually think I have many Targcest fics, at the moment, I think it’s just Silver Dragon (first cousins) and What is Broken (siblings). It’s not something I’m 100% comfortable with either, so I don’t imagine it will feature in many more fics.
Thank you so much for enjoying my fics! I hope you continue to read, but if you don’t, I promise I love you anyway 💜
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Did you talk about the winter warmth one already? Curious on that one too 👀
I did not yet! Though it’s probably not what you were gonna expect
So, this one is an old one so please excuse any bad writing. I am planning on editing it a lot once I finally continue writing it.
So! For context: this is a Bat! Jotaro au. Why a bat? Because I was talking with a friend and they sent an adorable picture of a bat so I went “what if bat, but Jotaro :0” And then I proceeded to make an entire crytpid creature from it called a ‘Chiroptera’ that I unironically love. HA
For this particular fic he can shapeshift into a little bat like a vampire, but that’s not how the universe/cryptid usually works. Just like my Mer au, I like my realism. So please excuse that, I may just write that out still, it depends. But yes, this has been my baby for a while and though the descriptions are a little wonky, I’m working on it. Bear in mind I wrote this like a year and a half ago probably, oops.
Oh yeah, it’s also yandere, so CW, bear that in mind. Mainly just stalking though
It was deep into the night. Hanging from a tree nearby, two vibrantly coloured eyes - almost glowing in the dark - stared dead at a window.
Inside, sitting slumped over at a desk, were you.
You’d fallen asleep half an hour ago, giving the creature outside a perfect view of you.
For months, Jotaro had hung outside your window like this, toes firmly planted around the branch, black wings wrapped around his body for camouflage and comfort as he simply observed you.
You lived on the edge of town, your house right by the forest. It was what allowed Jotaro to have watched you for so long and go on undetected.
The wind howled by, rustling the fluffy fur on his back and making a shiver briefly pass through him. He wasn’t made for being out in the open in this winter weather.
Almost as if to prove a point, snowflakes started descending from the sky, adding to the already present layer of snow on the ground.
It wasn’t storming by any means, but the curtain of white was somewhat blocking the creature’s vision.
You hadn’t been laying like that for too long but the Chiroptera knew that sleeping like that was not good for you either way.
The snow, the cold, and his underlying thoughts brought Jotaro to move.
Unfurling his wings, he stretched his arms out wide, feeling the leathery material connected to it stretch as he flexed his fingers.
Similar to a bat, his arms were his wings, though Jotaro’s arms appeared more human-like in shape than the actual animal’s did. When having his wings folded up, his arms and hands functioned the same as a human’s, simply having his wings folded by his body as much as he could - a clawed, seemingly four fingered hand at the culmination of it all.
Hanging upside down from his feet - toes curled around the large branch - Jotaro had no choice but to just drop himself.
Stretching his wings out, the leathery appendages extended as his fifth finger shot out sideways, almost doubling the size of his wing span.
Without much fanfare, Jotaro released the branch, dropping himself as he quickly flapped his wings, lifting his body in the air and turning around the tree he had just been hanging from; flying the small distance through the snow to your balcony window.
Landing on the stone almost soundlessly, the Chiroptera sat ducked for a few seconds before slowly standing up, seeing you still motionless at your desk.
It was rare for the bat to see you from this close and he raked his eyes over your form, appreciating you for a bit.
When those seconds were up, he reached his claw up to the handle of your window. Trying to open it proved no problem as he turned it and pulled the mechanism towards himself, the window opening without problem.
Wanting to keep the cold out, the bat-creature immediately climbed from your window into your room, shutting the thing behind himself and banishing the snow and cold.
Instantly, Jotaro felt like melting in relief, feeling the warmth of your house wash away the cold that clung to his fur. The scent of your room clearing his airways from the sting of the cold outside air.
Letting one last shiver rack through his body, Jotaro relaxed, shaking the snow off himself before slowly starting to step his monstrous feet over your carpeted floor; the pads of his feet splayed out, his toes spreading flat and wide. It felt amazing after the more rough bark from the branch he had been hanging on, but there was no time for that now.
Stepping forward, he cautiously approached your form, staying close to the ground for a bit as he moved closer.
Once he was close enough, he stood up fully behind you. Looming over your back and looking down.
Your head was dropped down on your desk, so innocently and calmly sleeping away, as if a monster wasn’t standing directly behind you.
A high pitched chirr left his throat as he crooned at how cute you looked.
So soft, so vulnerable. Any creature could come inside here like he did. You really were too naïve of what lurked out in the forest.
Bringing his left arm up, he gently placed his hand on the back of your chair, the neon colour of it contrasting wildly with the completely black appendage.
Reaching his right up, the Chiroptera gently moved your hair aside and away from the back of your neck, careful to not scratch your delicate skin with his sharp claws. Once it was exposed to him, he leaned down and nipped at the flesh, leaving his mark on you.
You stirred a little at the slight pain his bite brought, but were too deep in sleep to really register it.
Taking note of your reaction - or rather your lack of - Jotaro stepped around your chair so that your face was facing him.
With careful moves, the bat leaned down and slinked his arms under your body, leaning you into his naked chest before lifting you up slowly, making sure to not stir you.
A small noise left your sleeping form, making the Chiroptera freeze, but your hand merely grabbed hold of the fuzz that marred his side before you settled down again.
Calmed by that, he walked you over to your bed and lowered you down, feeling his folded up wings graze past your blankets as he did.
Once he was sure you were secure, Jotaro pulled his arms away from you, careful to not trap his wing under your body.
The hand that had been in the short fur on his side fell limply next to you as you melted into your bed.
Grasping the corner of the blanket, the bat tried to put it over your body as best as possible. After tucking you in to his satisfaction, he let his hand linger, allowing it to roam the material, his four clawed fingers pushing down a bit to take in how it felt.
He had never really felt any of this with his own hands, only ever having watched it from afar.
Debating for a second, the Chiroptera looked back at your window, seeing the snow had picked up so much so that it wouldn’t surprise him if it became a storm later.
Looking down on himself, he sighed softly, the fur he had only ran across his legs, back, sides and the top of his shoulders. His entire chest, face and arms were unprotected from the cold and if he had to fly out into the snow to find a cave or hollow tree to rest in, he would surely have a bad time if not freeze to death before he could.
Sure, he could go into his bat form to combat the cold, but the winds were too strong for him to fly in at that size.
Not taking too long to decide, the man turned back to you, the ears on top of his head twitching back and forth for a second before he carefully climbed onto your bed.
Wary to not touch you, he placed one foot on the edge, reaching over your body and putting his weight on his arm as he put his other foot on the edge of the bed, his toes securely curling around the frame like it did the branch outside as he now carefully stepped over your body.
Completely getting on your bed, smushed between your body and the wall, Jotaro lowered himself down.
He had been waiting so long to be this close to you.
Bringing his knees up to his chest, he curled up into a little ball, spreading his right wing out over himself as a blanket as he placed his chin on your stomach gently, sighing a deep yet content sigh as he allowed his muscles to relax completely.
He hadn’t been this warm and comfortable since he was a pup, sleeping under his mother’s wing.
Twitching his foot a little as he settled completely, he pushed a little more into your side before closing his eyes, your blankets firmly in his left fist as he fell into a rest in the wee hours of the morning.
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autumnslance · 2 years
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Hey, just got a writing question when it comes to fanfic. How do you balance "leave most of the setting out since everyone knows what it is" vs "explain it anyways for reasons like making it known to non-fan readers"?
This got long again, and I’m hoping I answered the question, or at least gave some ideas on where to begin and what to consider when trying to balance narrative and descriptions in fic writing (or any other kind). Coming from someone who used to terribly overwrite my descriptions, no less; I like to think I’ve gotten better that over the years!
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When writing fanfic, I tend to assume my audience will be primarily of that fandom, so if writing a FFXIV fic, I shouldn't have to go into too much detail on what a moogle of that setting looks like...unless it's my point of view character's first time ever seeing one, and their perception of that creature will be revealing of not only the moogle, but also how they see people, how they describe them, what they pay attention to.
So some of it is going to be up to the point of view character; what do they focus on, in terms of sights, sounds, smells, but also random facts, trivia, history, knowledge they have?
Like in original fiction, how much is too much to get the point across to the readers without bogging down the narrative in too many setting details Victor Hugo-style? A lot of times, writing fanfic setting and character info can be done just like in original fiction, with a lean on slightly lesser, as there is canon material the reader can reference if confused, or simply curious.
Can also depend on how close to canon one is hewing, or if one’s doing completely alternate universe set ups, where you’re going to have to delve deeply into those changes to environment and people anyway.
When it comes to fandom, we do have room to play around, particularly in an MMO setting; the game world is a small representation of the places the characters inhabit, a condensed view of important points, it’s all a visual shorthand. There are places beyond the walkable map, certainly, but also in the maps themselves; those villages, farms, fortresses, houses...none of it's actually sustainable by itself, and many places we know have rooms or spaces we never access. It's only showing us what's needed for story (and developer ease, as well as time; you don’t actually want realistic travel of days or weeks, after all).
The rest is headcanon; so in those cases, I may take some time to describe how I see for example the set up of the Rising Stones outside of the public areas we get in game; how are the Scions' personal chambers handled? How would I describe it for each character? Thancred's room isn't going to look like Y'shtola's, after all; they will reflect the characters' personalities (and again filtered through characters’ POVs, even if the POV is that NPC). How much do I need to describe to get across Thancred's current mood, depending on expansion?
I've spent a lot of time going over game maps, screenshots, and descriptions of Eorzea as it was in 1.0 for some of my stories set pre-Calamity; in those cases, things are similar, but just "off" enough to require descriptions (like the shifting of the aetheryte location in Limsa). But I don’t have to get it 100% accurate either; I can headcanon a lot, and really, who’s going to check up on it as “wrong” more than a decade later?
I'm also currently struggling in a story I'm writing for a fanzine with how much of the NPC's backstory do I reiterate in the intro. I have only 2500 words to get my story across, and have already sacrificed quite a bit. But there are elements I'm working on in the main story where reiterating his history, even in short, makes some sense. Again, I know given the nature of this zine, most people picking it up will likely be familiar with the NPC's background, but my spin on that for this particular tale has an impact. A few other writers for the same fanzine are having to make similar choices, for their own takes on the character, their own stories, to meet both deadline and word count.
Some things can be skimmed over, if trying to keep things short, and trusting the audience to either pick up context clues, look it up, or already be familiar. Sometimes one might pepper in things like mentioning Snowlight is a chocobo in the first paragraph, the next time I mention Snowlight a couple paragraphs down I might include short description of bird-like features or sounds, as a way to break up the info but also give context and reminders. I do the same when writing Miqo’te; I may mention their race or clan, but as they talk to other characters, their ears and tails are mentioned as part of their reactions and pointing out their mood and how they say things. My POV characters after all usually know what a Seeker is, so I don’t have to say “X’rhun’s a person with cat ears and a tail” and try to describe his eyes and the marks on his face. The POV will just note his expression (maybe his craggy brow furrowing deeper in thought), how his ears flatten when annoyed, how his tail twitches, woven through the conversation.
This works even in original fiction; a lot of times, a writer might offhand mention specifics of the setting mixed in with the mundane/familiar, expecting the reader to get context clues. I don’t have to describe every detail of Limsa’s docks; a few descriptive words of the city (perhaps the white stones, the boardwalks between islands, the sight/sounds of the crowd, the taste of the salty air, the warmth of the sun, the smell of fish and wet wood and some rot, mixed across a couple paragraphs as my characters act and talk), a few mentions of common things in any port, and the idea gets through even if it’s set in a magical world.
Somewhere there's a Rule of Threes*; you don't want to have much more than 3 descriptors for a specific thing, usually meant to limit over-describing things like a character's appearance (especially trying to avoid long-winded descriptions of eyes, hair, figure, and so on). It can also be applied to other elements where you don't want to bog yourself down, or need to parcel out information over the course of the scene or story, not all in one lump at the start, and encourages finding strong words/phrasing to remain concise instead of rambling.
So it kind of becomes a blend of 1. PoV character; their perceptions and personality, how and what they describe and why. 2. Headcanons for expanding the world we see in game, adding in logical information that should exist but doesn't due to engine limits. 3. How do I describe my own spin on a known element? 4. How much is it bogging down the narrative? Can I space out my descs? Use stronger wording and phrases? Cut some and trust my readers? 5. If this is for a challenge/zine/etc, do I have a word count requirement and deadline?
If you feel you want to include screenshots or art to break up the text and give visuals that can work too (but then you may have to include alt text to describe the pic for those using screenreaders...). But overall, find a balance, parcel it out, and trust the readers to fill in what they don’t know with their own imaginations. Cuz they will anyway.
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*Like every creative writing "rule" (they’re more whatcha’d call guidelines), this can be bent or broken as needed, once one has an understanding of why it's there to begin with.
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mejomonster · 1 year
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short review of Three Body Problem: excellent book, read if you enjoy sci fi. 
The style will likely resonate if you’ve connected to Ray Bradbury’s stuff, Isaac Asimov’s, and theme wise Star Trek, Twilight Zone, etc.
I think it’s science explanations are quite well explained so at most if you get curious you might look up a few points (like I wondered if the particle accelerator experiment the book mentions has happened in real life yet) but overall with no background you’d still grasp the plot. The author mentions in his postscript part of his goal was to show the drama of science and the universe’s formation in a way that people could connect to without needing to understand and interpret formulas, and in this way he succeeds tremendously. He partly reminds me of Asimov because I felt his writing could also help communicate the emotional story of science. The descriptions of Trisolaran reminded me of the way Michener very dramatically describes the locations of places like they are characters so you connect emotionally to the earth, the island, the formation of these ancient things. Three Body Problem has characters (which I think feel personal and grounded and on their own stand as individuals) but it also has the broader character of ‘humanity’ as their collective whole, of Earth the planet (with fortunate circumstances), of a planet not far from us in another solar system, of a civilization of another world both like us and unlike us, of an individual on that planet that shares many of the same things the main character Ye Wenjie felt. The way we can explore the infinite diversity in infinite combinations, the differences and similarities of the vastness of the universe. And a small part about microuniverses within a proton, and how what is vast (our huge universe) may also exist very small, and be destroyed and affected as if by gods uncaring just as easily as the suns to us can decide if our planets exist or not. (I loved that particular part as I’ve often wondered and thought about that).
And how humanity harms each other, but when we look to the outside of our planet we always hope some other life would have moved beyond the murdering and harming of each other unlike us, how that desire for advanced life to be kind could be reflected back onto our own planet one hopes. One hopes. How even if we are bugs in the universe and not the most advanced or well planned (or even within only our own planet often making mistakes), bugs still exist, so maybe we will too. 
I personally really liked it and would recommend it as much as the other science fiction books I particularly love. I’m off to read the next book The Dark Forest!
Spoilers below:
Personally also, I really liked the author’s specific writing style. And the translator did I think a good job preserving the feeling of the story (the translators postscript mentions his goals in translating and I think they were well considered). The next book is translated by someone else, but book 3 is translated by Kevin Liu again who did a very solid job with this book 1. The author Cixin Liu writes in a way which I feel is wonderful. His story has a broader focus than characters/character arcs as the main characters he is putting through ‘arcs’ are Humankind itself and Trisolaran civilization itself. But the individuals feel like real people within this grand development, reacting in the myriad of real ways people do, with Ye Wenjie and Wang Miao perhaps evolving the most. Ye Wenjie is the person we connect to most, losing hope in humanity as we feel her close pov to horrors that break her, feel her hope in safety and security and purpose, understand why she would reach out to the universe for other civilizations in the hope any world has people advanced enough to be kinder than us. We see her start the cycle of likely condemning humankind, and we can’t hate her because there are millions and millions of people who have felt that too and worse, been even more hopeless. We see her lead a new group that as its made of humans ultimately mirrors history (why we study history), we see the opponents of her and how in the end all humans are in the same boat. We see her realize the behavior of the Trisolans, realizing even on another planet these faults have developed in worlds. And so, what is next. Ye Wenjie sees the sunset of humanity, Da Shi sees humans as bugs that will find a way to endure, and we are left like Wang Miao... unsure of what the future will ever truly bring. Deciding whether to hope or not, try or not, continuing. 
The author brings up some science points that are enjoyable to think about and consider: what are planets like with more suns than us, what does more than 3 dimensions look like, what does it mean if the laws of physics break down to be untrue, what if there is intelligence (even a universe of it) in every single proton (and I hope future books dig into it more), what if a computer can be put into a single proton, what can nanotechnology lead to. I somewhat wonder if the initial inspiration for the book, in part, had been the author hearing when particle accelerators tested particles colliding they got strange results. I remember hearing about something like that, and this article may be related (or another particle experiment with similarly ‘unexpected’ results). 
I remember back in college, I know we learned at the very small level things got weird in that particles can suddenly be in 2 places at once or none, and be different based on if observed or not. I find it interesting Three Body Problem digs into this topic as if saying ‘the experiment was incorrect, sophons (alien proton supercomputers) caused the unexpected results.’ Because reality of course, assuming this is just how the universe Does Work, is much weirder and hard to explain. This book explains it as if physics really IS the same no matter the size. The reality is that we don’t have a unified theory of physics yet (still many people’s goal is to find that) because super small stuff still gives Some Really Weird results. I somewhat hope as the book series goes on, Cixin Liu actually updates the ‘science’ used in the book so the weird results ARE real physics (in the book) like they are in real life, because i think exploring possible explanations for Why its so weird in reality (instead of just the book’s currently simple explanation ‘aliens causing the weird results’) would be fascinating. I’d love a science exploration thought trail of why maybe real physics is so bizarre. 
Also, again, I’d love more delving into micro-universe inside protons, and also perhaps the reverse (that our universe might be within one very huge proton - in which we are so small in comparison). And the related proton-science like 11 dimensions, i want to hear more about the dimensions over 4! Those parts were fascinating! And the idea the proton’s inner universe formed an eye to try and burn the Trisolaran capital to ashes... maybe that inner proton intelligent universe will get control of the sophon computers... Truly, one of my FAVORITE physics ideas to contemplate is how on the mirco and macro level we use the same physics formulas. For some reason when you get as big as the universe or as small as particles, you can use the same math. But when you handle stuff the size a human can interact with, we use different math.* (Don’t quote me on that though I’m rusty and should not be trusted on science fact statements unless i brush up lol, i just vaguely recall hearing like that’s partly why there’s no universal physics theory yet, because we use separate equations for micro/macro versus normal size stuff, also potentially because quantum physics we use different equations? but i don’t remember much on quantum physics so again do not blindly believe me ToT). 
back to writing-only review: again, really loved the style. Cixin Liu uses paragraph lengths to control pacing and emotional impact (which is something i also like to do in my writing) and it makes the book super easy to chug through without getting bored or feeling the pace slow. The pov character changes help us see multiple perspectives of humans involved, aliens involved, and sort of an outsider pov of ‘us’ the reader as if we were in 2500 reading a history book on the fucked up stuff that happened. It is very enjoyable to follow these intimate povs and jump between them, its a nice way of telling a very Large Scale story in a personal way, so that even the Trisolarans feel intimate to us (the Three Body game sequences help connect to them, the listener section, and their planning sections) which that perspective reminded me a lot of Star Trek and it showing the perspectives of people on planets in stories.
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ladymacbethsspot · 2 years
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Hi hi hi omg I just wanted to say I’m halfway through spellbound and it is literally my EVERYTHING right now. I’ve been hooked since the very beginning!!! I’m so enraptured with your writing, and the way you portray these characters is just beautiful. The plot, the pacing, the smut, it’s just SO good! And your descriptions are out of this world omg!!! I’m a writer too so this is such a wonderful like piece to look up to as well as just enjoying it as a reader!!
I was curious because it’s eating me up inside - did you have a particular city in mind when you wrote this? I live in downtown chicago and like so many little details make me think of it. I’m sure there are tons of other cities with large lakes and parks and rivers and chinatowns but the story just feels so alive to me being so like the city I’m living in! (Obviously I won’t be disappointed if you were thinking of a different city or weren’t thinking of a specific city at all because it won’t change how much I love this fic but I thought how cool would that be if you were!)
I seriously adore your writing, I can’t wait to read more! I hope you’re having a great day, and don’t feel pressured to answer this! I’m sure you get a lot of fans but this work really does mean a lot to me!!! Sending you all the best!
Hello!
First, I'm sorry I left this unanswered so long in my inbox. I very rarely use Tumblr anymore.
Second, thank you! I'm really happy you are enjoying (or enjoyed) this fic. It was a huge part of my life for a long time, and it's really gratifying to know that people are still reading it. Since I wrote it for so long, I also feel like my writing style changes from beginning to end and it makes it really interesting to look back on. I love describing thing, picturing them in my mind, and hearing that it's something you particularly liked about my writing makes me very happy.
And third- like the majority of my fics, almost all of the locations in Spellbound are real. It sounds like you live in the perfect place to visit them. In fact, I'd expect you've probably seen many already. The museum campus, the seasonal ice rink, the elevated trains, Chinatown... I've been evasive about where it's set in the past, but now that I no longer live there I feel less weird about it. I don't know how far you've gotten in the fic, but there's a bit of Chicago in all of it. Mike gets married at The Rookery, The Pit is where the Chicago Spire was never built, The Center is in an alley by the Zero-Zero corner of State and Madison St, and even the university and the cemetery Erwin visits later on are places you could easily get to on the trains (Northwestern and Graceland Cemetery). I'm glad you recognized the setting- it makes me feel like I've done it justice in my depictions.
Thank you for sending me this lovely message, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic (and maybe even enjoy some of the settings as easter eggs in your daily life).
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afieldinengland · 2 years
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Sorry to hear you've been sick, dearest one! Let me kiss you better, my boy, my sweetest boy! Autumn is wonderful in many aspects but the common cold is, well, common in those months. I've yet to suffer through one this year, but i'm quite sure it will come sooner or later. I always have The Cold once a year, after all.
I see you've had an intense day, politically wise! I can only laugh, filled with confusion, as british politics is quite crazy to me. I also think the cat should become the next PM.
I'm glad I didn't get misunderstood with the flatmate thing! Serious discussions after a couple of drinks can be very helpful and I'm sure your friend appreciates your help and willingness to listen!
I had a dream about you the other night! I completely forgot to tell you, but I woke up all confused, so sure it all happened and yet wondering how it was possible. We were by the river somewhere, on a sandy patch under the tree. It looked similar to the place my father used to fish in, but much more english - I guess my imagination cannot picture you in scenarios that aren't the English countryside. You wanted to get to the other side of the river and I suggested we go to the bridge nearby, but you simply walked into the river. I chased after you and I think we must have reached the other side safely because the next moment we were in the middle of a small town, looking for a shop where we could buy some very particular spices - you insisted whatever we were going to make would never taste good without that spice. As it is usual in dreams, we could not find any shops at all, they were either closed or just gone - empty places between buildings. It also didn't help that it was the middle of the night.
It was a confusing dream, I admit, though not more confusing than the usual ones I have - but I woke up thinking "wow, it doesn't make any sense, I can't remember finding that spice with Lamb, why would I go home and go to sleep before that? I'd never give up like that"
Yet again I am rambling about unimportant things; you must forgive me, but I am in a rambling mood now. Perhaps it is because I am quite tired today, my mind forcing me to get some odd scenarios out of my head. Hope the story made you smile at least, my most treasured wild river-crosser of my dreams! - HWA (sorry if this letter seems all over the place - it's been a weird day, I can't focus on things, but I didn't want to leave you without a letter either)
dear one, you must forgive me for yet another late reply!! thank you, sweetest forest-spirit. you’ll be glad to hear that i’m coming out of it again now, at least as far as i can tell— a small mercy, really, as some of my flatmates have had it much worse. yes, you’re right, it’s one of the strange things she brings on her fingers, one of the icier gifts intermingled with frost and fruit. i hope it isn’t too severe when you do get it, lover 💓 please know that i’ll be right here to nurse you as best i can, as you have done for me!! and it certainly is a curious time for politics…. things have gotten even more bizarre in the last day or so, i’ve gone back to making myself a hermit from the news, haha. a dream, you say, most sacred one? what an honour, to show up in the dreamscape of my companion!! and how odd, that you saw a patch beneath a tree and by a river. you see, there’s a place i know well that matches that description entirely, in the town near my village— where i spent many happy, sometimes drunken afternoons with my friends when i was about sixteen or seventeen. perhaps it’s a sign from the gods, that we both hold a place like that dear enough to meet there!! and it does sound right, that i’d simply walk into the river…. we spent many odd hours in the water there in exam season after we were done for the day, still in our uniforms. i think my friends might have even conducted a mock-pagan, half-serious baptism on me with that water once, sometime in the last summer before i came away to university. oh, sorry for rambling, lover, i simply can’t believe a dream came with so many sacred signs!! i can see how the other aspects must have been confusing, that’s often the way. i hope you’re able to find some rest soon, beautiful one 💓 wise dreamer, the sunlit spirit who travels to me across fields and furrow guided by the gods— it made me more than smile, i promise, it’s a blessing i’ll treasure
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andreafmn · 3 years
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Bound
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Word Count: 12.6K
Requested: by @byelannie "if you have spare time and if you’re interested, please write a rosalie x fem!reader who’s either a lawyer or a witch (or both)"
Story Description: Rosalie always carried the resentment of not being able to fulfill the image of the perfect family she had in her head. But what if she found everything that she wanted in the most unconventional way? The universe truly knows how to play tricks.
Pairings: Rosalie Hale x Fem!Reader
Warnings: mentions of suicide, implied smut, mentions of death
A/N: I did my best and I hope you like it. I also added a bit of a soulmate au and got carried away.
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(Y/N) remembered the day it all had changed for her.
April of 1933, she had felt a shift in herself. At first, she believed it to be a magical resurgence. But after some years had passed, and her features had become stagnant, she understood that something else had changed within her.
(Y/N) was a young witch, learning the Wiccan ways with a coven in Vermont, using the earth’s resources to power their magic. She had grown up listening to stories of her powerful ancestors and all the supernatural beings that lived in the world. Yet no one had taught her why she was experiencing this halt in her aging.
All until one day, Margaret, one of the coven’s elders, pulled her aside noticing the changes – or lack thereof – the young girl was going through.
“Is something the matter, Margaret?”
“I was wondering the same thing, (Y/N),” the woman smiled brightly. “I couldn’t help but notice in the last five years your face has remained as young as it was five years ago.”
“Oh, that.” (Y/N) looked down. She had been working tirelessly to find answers by herself, but no one seemed to be able to give her what she needed. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about that just yet.”
“Why don’t you have a seat, little one?” Margaret invited her to sit on the rocking chairs that lived on her wooden porch, grabbing a worn-out book from a shelf. “I assume your search for answers has rendered fruitless. There’s no surprise there, not much has been recorded about your particular situation.”
“My situation? I can’t say I’m following what you’re saying, ma’am.”
“Do you remember the teachings about soul pairing and binding?” (Y/N) nodded, unsure of where the conversation was leading. “I am sure you also remember the teachings of other supernatural beings that share our spaces. This journal right here belonged to my great-great-grandmother.”
“Lady Esther? Those are the personal writings of our first High Priestess?”
“Grandmother Esther made sure to record each and every situational encounter she had, preserving a possible solution to the most curious cases. The books have been passed down from generation to generation to aid in scenarios such as yours, where not even supernatural logic makes too much sense,” she laughed. “As soon as I saw the signs, I remembered a story she had written in her personal journal – this book has been open only to our family’s eyes. When she was younger, she went through the same thing you are right now.”
“So it has happened before?”
“That is correct, my dear. And she was just as confused as you are,” she rocked. Margaret flipped through the pages until she landed on the specific date she was looking for, handing the open book to the expectant girl. “It was a hard time to be a witch back then – not that it’s any easier now – but somehow she had managed to skate by unnoticed. One day, she noticed her face had stopped aging. Remaining as she had been years ago, but she didn’t know why. That was until she met Samuel.”
“A vampire?” Margaret confirmed. “But I’m not sure I understand. How did meeting Samuel affect her physical status?”
“You’re rushing the story, my child,” Margaret chuckled. The girl was itching for answers, but patience was something the elder always taught. “There’s a reason I mentioned soul pairings earlier. We believe that when we are born and reborn fragments of our soul enter the lives of others, tethering them to our lives. Throughout your life, you might meet some of your soulmates, yet no connection will be as strong as the bonded soul. Not many find them in their lifetime. The lucky few that do experience a love like no other. That’s what Samuel was to Esther – the love of a lifetime. Are you following?”
“I believe so. They had a supernatural connection that tied their lives together.”
“You’ve always been a smart one, (Y/N). As the years went on, Esther started to tie loose ends together. The reason she was never changing was because he was never changing. Bonded souls are connected, body and heart. When Samuel had been turned into a vampire and became immortal, so did she. Esther wrote about how after the first encounter, her magic was stronger and her connection to the elements felt surreal. But the love she felt when she was with him was something unparalleled to anything she had experienced in this lifetime.”
“If she’s immortal, how come we’ve never met her? How are you here? Vampires can’t procreate.”
“In those times vampires were still heavily hunted. Samuel had gone into town one day and unfortunately never made it back home. They shared thirty years building a life together, isolated from society. Living in the shadows, doing their best to survive. Unfortunately, once Samuel’s life ended, so did Esther’s immortality. Her life cycle had regained its normalcy. She had been devastated for a long time, she describes how she felt her body was hollowed out and her magic began to falter.
Fortunately, she found love again in the man who was my great-great-grandfather, Abraham. They made a family together, creating our coven. Esther never forgot Samuel, carrying his memory close to her heart every day that passed until her death after approximately 140 years of life. Her story now is not unlike yours. Granted, now supernatural beings have learned and adapted to the ever-changing society.”
“But this means that as time goes by, everyone I love will pass and I will continue on being as I am today. How do I cope with losing all the people closest to me whilst I have no foreseeable ending to this life?”
“Death is something we all must endure, one day or another. Even immortal beings face mortality in many ways. How to handle the inevitability of death is a very personal thing. In time you’ll learn the best way to accept it.”
And so, she had. (Y/N) learned how to accept the passing of many people – her family, coven members, and even a few loves came and went.
She found comfort in the fact that her bonded soul was a vampire and she had until the end of forever to find them. As long as her face didn’t change, and the strong magic coursed through her veins, she knew she still had time to find them.
For now, her company was the most important thing on her mind. Entering the 21stcentury her interest had been set onto law practices. She had gone to college several times, but nothing drove her more than when she was accepted to Harvard Law School. The hardest part of her journey was to not be captured by cameras – cementing her image a publicly accessible record of who she was. Granted, she had also become well versed in manipulation magic just in case a click slipped by. Albeit avoiding the flash was difficult when she was at the top of her class and a well-known student through campus. But she managed, and as soon as she graduated, she opened her firm.
New Forest Law grew rapidly, opening offices across the US as years went by. Due to her nature (Y/N) knew she couldn’t be the face of the operation, so she enlisted the help of coven members to lead the different seeds of her company. The reason she only trusted members of her family was because of a side of the business only a select few knew of. (Y/N) knew that many supernatural beings were in need of reliable forgers and knowledgeable lawyers. Her offices cornered the market on perfecting the forgery of any and all legal documents needed to skate by legally in the states.
That’s how she found herself in Washington state, this time as the manager of their new office in Forks. She was happy to be back in a state where the weather was cold, and nature took up more space than people did.
One fateful day, a peculiar man entered her office. The moment she saw his features, it clicked – vampire. But that wasn’t what stood out, she had seen hundreds of vampires before. This one had golden eyes. He had to be one of the famous Cullens.
“Mr. Cullen, I presume?” He nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Miss (Y/L/N).” He shook her hand, flashing a bright smile. “And, please, call me Carlisle.”
“Only if you call me (Y/N),” she smiled back. “Safe to assume you’re here for documentation, correct?”
“Yes. My family and I want to come back to Forks.”
“How long has it been since you’ve last lived here?”
“It’s been almost seventy years now,” he chuckled. “I’m so glad we finally have an office in this town. I have been using this company since the 50s. It’s been such an amazing service for all supernatural beings, and I’ll say for humans as well.”
“Well, it’s so good to hear such words from a valued customer. I’m glad New Forest has been doing what I created it for.”
“You’re the creator of New Forest Law?” Carlisle was perplexed. The woman sitting in front of him could not be any older than he was at the time he had been turned — to that day a hybrid vampire-witch was unheard of. “Excuse my crudeness, but how long have you been the age that you are, (Y/N)? I had the understanding that the creator of New Forest was a witch.”
“I comprehend the confusion, Carlisle. I am a witch, and the universe has worked to bind my soul to that of a vampire,” she smiled. “I have been twenty years old for seventy years — since the spring of 1933.”
Carlisle’s ears perked at the sound of the date. Of course, hundreds of vampires had been formed during that time. But there was a person in his family that had yet to find a mate that had been changed in April of 1933. “The world truly is a mystery that gets unraveled as years go by. If it’s not too much imposition, I’d like to invite you over to my house to meet my family — I want to show my gratitude for all that your company has done for us.”
“I wouldn’t oppose to that. I’m free this weekend and having friends in a new town is always a welcome bonus.”
“Well then, that’s settled. Now onto business,” he grinned.
Excitement had built up inside (Y/N) during the coming days. The Cullens were an infamous family in supernatural circles — their vegetarian lifestyle was celebrated by many as a safer lifestyle for the blood-dependent clan. She had heard stories of them, the golden-eyed family. How Carlisle had l turned only those in desperate need of salvation and created the second most powerful vampire coven in the world. It was no secret that the supernatural world intrigued (Y/N), vampires the most. Underlying personal interests in the latter.
The directions to the Cullen house were easy enough to follow. A couple of turns and she was met with a beautiful modern mansion engulfed by the vast greenery that was scattered through the town. Nerves ran through her as she put her car in park, the events that would soon commence finally being digested by her brain. Her hands trembled as she held the orchids she had bought as a welcome back gift for the family. The blue flowers stood proudly in the stone pot they had come in — if she was being honest, she wanted to keep them for her own house.
(Y/N) walked slowly toward the front door, carefully watching her step as to not trip. The giant glass door was intimidating, her hand scared to knock on it. She was sure they had heard her by now, allowing the courtesy of first-time guest etiquette. After making contact with the door, she smoothed her clothing down ensuring the garments looked perfect.
In a matter of seconds, Carlisle’s bright smile was in view. At his side, the woman she quickly recognized as Esme. (Y/N) found comfort in the fact that she knew the faces and the names of the family — dealing with their personal documents gave her the advantage.
“(Y/N), we’re so glad you could be here tonight. This is my wife Esme,” he beamed.
“Thank you for inviting me into your beautiful home. I brought these for you.” (Y/N) handed the pot to Esme’s welcoming arms. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“These are gorgeous,” Esme smiled. “I’m positive Rosalie will love the color of them. Thank you, (Y/N). We’ve all heard wonderful things about you.”
“Well, come on in. Everyone is waiting on the back porch.” Carlisle directed the women to the back of the house.
The girl stared in awe at the beautiful décor. It was clean, modern, spacious. The house looked lived-in, homey. And the energy was welcoming — a warm aura that engulfed all of your senses. No one would have known that they had just moved into the property. Outside, the rest of the clan was chattering away. They did look like a family, a strong bond that started and ended with a bite.
“Everyone, this is (Y/N),” Esme announced. “(Y/N), this is Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice. We seem to be missing Rosalie, though.”
“She’s still inside,” Edward explained. “Should be coming down any second now.”
“She insisted her outfit wasn’t good enough,” Alice laughed. “It passed my check of approval but for the first time that wasn’t enough. Guess she wants to leave a good impression on our new friend (Y/N). You look beautiful!”
“Oh, thank you, Alice. You look beautiful as well.” She was taken aback when Alice circled her with a sudden tight hug.
“Alice, darling, unhand the poor woman,” Jasper chuckled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Jasper, right?” She shook his hand. “You’re the newest addition to the family.”
“You’ve done your research.”
“It makes it easier when I’m handed all of your information. Pardon my intrusion, but how are you handling the smell of my blood? Carlisle commented that you’re still rather disconcerted by blood.”
“Witch blood is not as appealing as human blood.” (Y/N) didn’t know whether to be relieved or offended. At least she knew the taste of her blood was at the bottom of the chain for vampires. “Don’t get me wrong, blood is blood. Witch blood is more of an acquired taste.”
“Thankfully he lives the vegetarian life now,” Emmett boasted, slapping Jasper on the back. His voice was loud and joyous — certainly knew how to command a room. “There’s nothing to worry about here, (Y/N). We always keep him in check.”
“Thank you, Emmett. There was no doubt in my mind that I was safe with all of you.”
“It’s the truth,” Edward interjected. His smile was playful, playing on the tone Emmett had set for them.
“Ah, how could I forget the mind reader?” (Y/N) shook his hand, reciprocating the grin he provided. “I will need to refresh my memory on mental barriers then. Some thoughts are best kept hidden.”
“You are welcomed to try,” he laughed.
“It seems there’s still one more person for you to be introduced to,” Esme announced. “I wonder what is taking her so long.”
“She was fixing her makeup,” Edward called out. “She should be heading for the stairs now.”
As if on cue, heeled footsteps were heard oncoming down the staircase. She had seen Rosalie’s picture already, her beauty an entrancing view. And she wondered what she would look like in person. Carlisle had mentioned that after her shift she had gotten the gift of supernatural beauty, going beyond that which was attributed to the immortal beings. (Y/N) had stared at her picture longer than she had the others. There just was something about her that seemed to draw the witch in.
But nothing prepared her for the breathtaking moment she would experience.
Rosalie walked out onto the porch and (Y/N)’s lungs tightened. Her beauty was like no other. Locks of golden hair fell onto her pale shoulders, exposed from the off-shoulder black dress she wore.
It was her eyes.
It was her eyes that pulled (Y/N) in. For a second, she felt the world stop; she felt the magic coursing through her veins start pulsating. She wanted to get closer… no, she needed to get closer, to be closer. The witch felt an energy pulling her toward the vampire, making her body ache from the distance between them. Reading about bonded souls was nothing compared to feeling it.
Rosalie could feel it too. For years she had felt a void in her heart as she tried to form a connection with Edward or Emmett. She had felt nothing for Edward, but she had hoped she could come to feel for Emmett what Esme felt for Carlisle. Yet, it didn’t. She always believed there was someone out there for her, she could feel it in her being. There was another heart tied to her always pulling at it. Albeit she always thought of this, she never pondered on what would happen once she did encounter this person. And she certainly never imagined them to be a witch or a woman.
The vampire had also stopped in her walk. Falling intoxicated by the state of the person in front of her. The only way she could describe the moment was like how she had heard the mutts would imprint. Nothing mattered more than her — she was her reason for living.
“Did something just happen?” Emmett interrupted unaware of the connection that had occurred. “It’s been years since I’ve seen Rosalie tongue-tied.”
“Why don’t we leave you two to talk?” Carlisle announced. He formatted the sentence as a question, but the stare on his face indicated that it was a command.
Slowly, the rest of the Cullens made their way inside, pulling a questioning Emmett with a laugh. They closed the glass doors to provide the illusion of privacy. The supernatural hearing did not allow for it to be done completely.
“Hi, I’m…”
“Hi, I’m…”
Both women spoke at the same time, laughing at the eagerness they showed.
“Hi, I’m (Y/N),” she stuck her hand out. “You must be Rosalie.”
“I am.” The blonde disregarded the extended hand and pulled (Y/N) into a hug. Their bodies colliding naturally together, a feeling of familiarity rushing between them.
“It’s you, isn’t it? The person I’ve been searching for all these years — the reason I’m still alive,” the witch blurted. “Please tell me you feel it too.”
“I do,” Rosalie answered bashfully. She was sure that had she had blood running through her veins her cheeks would have turned a deep shade of red. “I’ve only heard stories of this feeling. I thought I would never get to experience it in my lifetime. But what do you mean I’m the reason you’re still alive?”
“I stopped aging in 1933, years later I discovered my soul was bonded to a vampire. Since then, I’ve been searching for who that person could be, lucky enough I had all the time in the world. I just knew there was a reason Forks was calling my name… it was you.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that could ever be real. Soul bonds were only whispers where I grew up. Yet here you are. Standing before me in all your beauty and glory. I haven’t slept in I haven’t slept in seventy years, but I feel like I’m dreaming. Please tell me that I’m not dreaming.”
“I can assure you that you are wide awake. Although beauty such as yours was only real to me in dreams.” (Y/N) extended her hand and placed it on top of Rosalie’s. The sudden coldness conducting sparks up her arm. “In the spirit of forwardness and complete transparency, I’d love to take you out on a more private outing. I fear lingering ears and wandering eyes would not leave us in this household.”
Rosalie turned her head to look through the big glass doors, noting the rapid turn of the heads of her family members and laughing softly at their lack of discretion. “I must apologize for them. They mean well, but at times can be overly engaged in people’s private lives. And of course, I’d love to see you every day from now on. Now that I’ve met you, how will I be able to be apart from you?”
“You will not have to know of that day for as long as we are both alive,” (Y/N) reassured. Her hands traveled up the blonde’s arm, resting on her cheeks for a comforting caress. Rosalie leaned into the touch, feeling the slight warmth from the blood that pumped through her body — a feeling she could still remember as if her change had been just yesterday.
Their faces inches closer and closer, lips lingering close enough to feel a phantom touch. (Y/N)’s thumbs drew circles on Rosalie’s cheeks, her eyes asking for permission to finally make contact. As golden and (Y/E/C) embers fluttered closed, both crashed in to finally mend the gap between them. It was all they could imagine and more.
Unconsciously, (Y/N)’s magic decided to make an appearance — the leaves that had gathered on the porch had started circling them, the fire in the lit pit had grown stronger, the wind blowing harder. Blue lights started surrounding the women, lifting them softly off the ground. In their passion, these changes went unnoticed by the pair until the glass doors slid open, revealing the shocked faces of the Cullen clan. They both landed with a soft thud and finally saw what was happening around them.
“I must apologize for this,” (Y/N) chuckled. “My magic can get away from me at times.”
“That… was… AWESOME!” Emmett jumped excitedly. “She’s definitely my new favorite person. Sorry, guys.”
“She’s my new favorite person, too,” Rosalie flirted. “Now, why don’t we go inside and enjoy some family time.”
From that night on, (Y/N) had kept her promise. Not a single day had gone where they didn’t see each other. The only time they were apart was when Rosalie played the part of a high school student and (Y/N) was busy at work with official and unofficial business. Unfortunately, their romantic expressions were reserved for the Cullen house and (Y/N)’s house. Frowned upon would be their relationship since to everyone in town (Y/N) was a 23-year-old lawyer and Rosalie was a 16-year-old sophomore in high school.
At first, Rosalie didn’t mind having to hide away her relationship from the public eye. She wanted (Y/N) all to herself for as long as she could. But old habits die hard, and she was finding it difficult to repress as their year and a half anniversary rolled around. The blonde was getting tired of keeping her hands on her person when they would enjoy a trip to the shops in Port Angeles, having to go out with some of her siblings or a parent as to not arise suspicion as to why (Y/N) was with her, reserving kisses for their private homes. Rosalie wanted to show her new relationship to everyone, to bring jealousy to all the people that wanted her and all the people that wanted her girlfriend. The younger girl was growing tired of her classmates trying to ask her out on dates, and she was infuriated at the people that tried to ask (Y/N) out or even flirted with her in her presence.
The night of their anniversary, her annoyance was evident on the scowl she wore as an accessory to her silk blue dress.
(Y/N) had addressed these feelings some time ago, telling her that what mattered is that both of them knew how much they loved each other regardless of all the obstacles they had to face. At the time, Rosalie seemed pleased with her words, but that night it was like they were never spoken.
The witch had arranged for a romantic date on the porch of her enclosed backyard. She had enchanted candles floating, a white blanket laid on the floor, and rose petals resting on top. The walls were decorated in an assortment of flower arrangements, making the area look like an enchanted forest. Music was playing through the speakers, and champagne was cooling in a bucket for (Y/N). She had also bought a beautiful arrangement of orchids to hint back at the night they had finally met and a piece of jewelry that had been screaming at her since the day she brought it home from the shop. (Y/N) wanted… no, (Y/N) needed this night to be perfect. But Rosalie’s mood seemed to put a damper on her plans.
“Angel, is something the matter? Did you not like the surprise?”
“It’s not that,” Rosalie groaned. “I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I can not stand any longer having to hide our life from everyone. It’s not fair, and sometimes it seems like you prefer it that way.”
“Darling, it hurts me just as much that I can’t even hold your hand in public without someone raising an eyebrow. It’s horribly agonizing that I can’t even have you live with me because my neighbors might start rumors. And given how small this town is, it wouldn’t take long for everyone to know.” (Y/N)’s eyes started to sting from the pool of tears that were accumulating. Here she was on a night that was supposed to be the happiest she would remember, but it had taken a painful turn. “ Don’t you think that I’d much rather kiss you when I felt like kissing you, embrace you when I felt like wrapping my arms around you, be able to just tell people that I am in a relationship with the most amazing woman I have ever met? Don’t you think my heart shatters every time you have to go back home, or when I have to say I’m tutoring you to people that have seen you come to my home or my office?”
Rosalie stayed quiet, and (Y/N) continued her tearful plea. “There is not a morning that goes by when you are not the first thought in my head and not a single night that goes by where I lay restless in bed if you’re not there. Although my heart was beating, I had not been alive until I met you — I had not known love until I met you,” she bellowed. “Should you decide to leave me for another that you can be public with, I shall understand. But know you will be taking my heart with you, and my soul will always be yours.”
“No,” Rosalie choked out. At that moment, she missed the burning of tears, the knot in her throat, the physical component of sorrow that humans could portray. She was never good with words and would often rely on physical reactions to display what she was feeling. “I don’t want anyone else, the only person I’ve ever wanted is you. I’m sorry for doubting your feelings and not taking into consideration the pain you must feel as well. In my human life, appearance and status were everything to my family and me. It’s hard to let that part of me go. I do not want to know loneliness as I did before I met you. You’ve taught me unconditional love and acceptance, and all I want is to give you that in return. And I could never forgive myself if I ever make you feel like I just did. I don’t want to see those beautiful eyes to shed another tear because of me. I’m sorry for being so superficial.”
“You need not apologize for natural emotions, my angel. But I need you to trust that my heart burns only for you and it will for as long as we both shall live. You are my beginning and my end; you are the love I never knew I needed in my life. And if words are not enough…” (Y/N) dug her hand under the blanket they sat on, pulling out a velvet black box. She popped the lid open and revealed a ring adorned with diamonds and blue shining sapphire. “My mother once hoped that I would marry in her lifetime but, as years went by, she knew I wouldn’t. This ring belonged to her, and she gave it to me, drowned in her blessing, for me or my wife to wear. Since the day I met you, it finally had its reason for being. I cannot promise you a public relationship until in the eyes of the town you surpass your eighteenth birthday, and I cannot marry you in front of unknowledgeable eyes. But I will promise to you, in front of your family and our sacred earth, that my love for you will never cease even in distance. So with this ring, I am asking you to grant me my heart’s deepest desire of having you as my wife.”
“Yes, a million times yes!” Rosalie exclaimed, crashing her lips onto (Y/N)’s and wrapping her arms around her neck. “I can’t promise that sometimes during these next two years I won’t get annoyed at the situations, I will always remember that our love has no bounds and it’s the most sacred thing I have. I love you, (Y/N). I love you with my mind, body, and soul, for as long as we both shall live.”
(Y/N) slipped the ring onto Rosalie’s finger and brought her hand to her lips, placing a soft kiss on the knuckles. “This ring has never looked this beautiful before. I love you, future Mrs. (Y/L/N).”
“And I, you, future Mrs. Hale.” Rosalie laughed as she kissed her fiancé once more.
In a few weeks’ time, they had a small ceremony with the Cullen family and close friends of (Y/N)’s coven in attendance. Alice had organized the wedding alongside Rosalie every step of the way, taking her role as maid of honor very seriously. On (Y/N)’s side stood her current best friend Sybil Morgan, a witch that was born to the daughter of who had been her best friend in the 30s. She always kept a close watch on her past coven, and always kept ties to the Morgan family as years went on.
On that day (Y/N) promised her wife that once they were able to be public, she would give her the wedding she had always dreamed of. Although Rosalie told her she was content with the ceremony they had, (Y/N) knew that having that day was an important symbol of their love.
Everything was perfect and a living fairy tale for two years. (Y/N)’s office in Forks had already started expansion, and Rosalie was nearing her last year of high school in this town. All signs pointed to their dream life.
That was until Isabella Swan crash-landed into their lives.
Rosalie made no effort to hide her disgust of Bella’s relationship with Edward. Complaining time and time again how could a human be so stupid to renounce their life to be with a vampire. (Y/N) had let her vent out her feelings, running her hand through her hair to calm down the blonde as she laid on her chest rambling on how reckless her brother was being. It stung how Rosalie could do mindlessly refer to herself and her own kind as monsters, claiming that no living being should sacrifice their chance at a normal life to be with a lifeless creature.
But one night, in particular, had shattered (Y/N).
It had been a year since Bella’s introduction to the supernatural world, and it had resulted in a tragic accident. Thankfully the girl had survived the attack James had orchestrated, but it created ripples in their time. Her eighteenth birthday had been statement enough when Jasper launched at her after she cut her hand on wrapping paper. The Cullens had decided it was not safe for them to stay in Forks.
In the days after the birthday party fiasco, Rosalie had started to grow distant. For the first time in three years, she had not gone to (Y/N)’s house, claiming she had a group project due soon for school or that it had simply slipped her mind. Reasons (Y/N) knew were just excuses from her wife.
That night she couldn’t take it anymore and had decided to pick Rosalie up from school to drive her directly to her home. With some protest, the blonde got in the car and went to the house. No more words were spoken between them until they arrived at the house.
“Angel, what has been going on with you these past few days? You’ve been distant, it’s like you’re avoiding me,” she bewailed. “Did I do something wrong?”
Rosalie’s stare was cold, angry some would say. (Y/N) had never seen that emotion directed towards her. “It’s not really that you did anything wrong. We’re leaving.”
“Leaving? Rose, what do you mean?”
“People have started noticing Carlisle isn’t aging, so we have to go. Everyone else has already gone, I had to tell you before I went as well.”
“You’re leaving? W-what?” (Y/N)’s voice faltered as emotions surged through her, needing all her strength as to not let her powers flow rampart. “Were you planning to leave without me? Is that why you’ve waited until the last possible second to tell me?”
“Yes,” she responded, emotionless. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s it? You’re sorry?! Baby, I-I love you and until a few seconds ago I was under the impression that you loved me too,” (Y/N) was now wailing. The tears that had poured, warming her skin and streamed down her cheeks. “Everything we’ve promised to each other, every kiss, every embrace; how can you just walk away from it?”
“I’ve never wanted this life, (Y/N). I never wanted to be an everlasting shell of a person pretending to be alive,” she scoffed. “There were things I wanted to do as a human, a picture of how my life should look. To be married with a nice house and a husband who kissed me when he came home. A family of my own. I can’t have that anymore, I never will.”
“But we could still have a beautiful life you and me, together. How can you give up so easily?”
“I’m not giving up; I’m simply accelerating the inevitable. You have your life ahead of you, the chance to have a family, a warm body that rests with you at night and wakes up next to you in the morning. I will never be able to give you that… and you will never be able to give it to me.”
“What does it matter, darling? You and me, that’s what’s most important. It has been since we were born, our souls forever bounded. How can our love not be enough?”
“One cannot survive on love alone. You may not see it now, but I am saving you years of resentment,” Rosalie stated. Not once had she looked at (Y/N) directly into her eyes — she had broken her promise. “I know there is an unbinding spell. I suggest you use it and move on with your life. At least you have that choice. I have made mine. Goodbye, (Y/N).”
Those last words had not registered in (Y/N)’s brain until Rosalie placed her ring on the witch’s hand and disappeared into the dark of the night. The woman was kneeling on the floor, her closed eyes fixated on the jewelry on her hand. It had been a symbol of their love, the constant reminder that their love could survive anything. Anything but this. She ran outside for a second, hoping that this had just been a malevolent joke that’s they would laugh at in time and that her love would be waiting for her outside. But she was gone. Rosalie was truly gone.
She fell to the ground as violent sobs shook (Y/N)’s body, then she let out a wrecking shriek. Blue energy sprouted from her body and the house around her exploded in flames, everything inside disappearing in the fire.
(Y/N) was glad the house was gone, that way the memory of her short life with Rosalie could burn along with it. But she felt empty like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. The pain was too excruciating for her to bear, so she had Sybil concoct a numbing potion. In her state, any magic she did was too unpredictable, and the results could be fatal.
And she threw herself into her work. The witch shredded all evidence of the Cullens and worked around the clock for the office, spending every waking moment in ongoing and new cases. For months, her life became an auto-pilot routine of sleep, eat, work, repeat — the bare minimum to ensure her survival. Not that Sybil would allow anything less, making sure she at least ate two meals a day. (Y/N) had started to regret having hired her to work as her assistant.
She wanted answers, and she feared she would never get them. Half a year had already gone by, and no signs pointed to the Cullens coming back. Half a year of (Y/N) mulling over whether to go through with the unbinding spell or not — how much longer could she survive with the wrenching hole in her chest before it actively killed her? She hadn’t grown used to Rosalie’s absence, and she didn’t think she ever would. She had lived 90 years without knowing her, yet after only three years her life had completely crumbled when she had walked away.
(Y/N) had contemplated ending her misery. She was tethered to an immortal being but that didn’t make her indestructible. Albeit the thoughts always flashed through her head, especially at night, too many people counted on her. And if she didn’t continue her life for herself, she would do it for the people around her.
On the seventh month, a soft knock rang through her new house. It was a house deeper in the woods, resembling the modern structure the Cullen’s house had, as well as the proximity to nature. Not having neighbors proving to be far more comfortable for her. (Y/N) thought it was Sybil who had left her purse in her home last night, although (Y/N) had told her she’d bring it into the office today.
“Sybil, I said you don’t have to come all this way.” Her laugh died down when she opened the door. She wasn’t met with the onyx-colored hair girl, but instead by the golden locks of her anguish. “Rose.”
“Hi, (Y/N),” she answered sheepishly.
“What’re you doing here, Rosalie?” (Y/N) spoke through gritted teeth, biting down hard to control her feelings.
“Well, um, we’re coming b-back. Uh, my family and I are moving back to Forks.” Her lips turned upward into a smile, and that angered (Y/N). How could she show up out of nowhere and uproot her life once more?
“Am I supposed to celebrate? Welcome you all back with open arms?”
“I-I, um, I just thought you should know.” Rosalie looked down, the pain in the eyes of the woman she loved was too much to bear. “I went by your old house and saw it was being reconstructed. Mrs. Willow told me you moved here after the place burned down. It’s a beautiful home.”
“I’m glad it has your approval,” she seethed. “Anything else?”
“You’re still wearing your ring,” Rosalie pointed. A sign of hope in their relationship.
“Last time I checked I was still married.”
“Look, (Y/N). I know what I did was unforgivable, and I have no right to ask for a second chance, but if you could ever find it in your heart to speak to me, please come find me.”
“You’re correct, you don’t have the right.” (Y/N) slammed the door on her face and fell back against the door. Waiting until she was sure Rosalie was gone before letting her agonizing sobs ring out. The only thing she could think to do was call Sybil and ask her to come by the house.
The poor girl rushed to her friend’s houses, being able to decipher only one word through her cries — Rosalie. She sped to (Y/N)’s home, letting herself in with the key she owned. The scene before her gave her a sense of déjà vu, it was the same scene she had lived for the first three months of the separation.
(Y/N) was sprawled on her couch, a blanket wrapped around her, and tears falling infinitely from her eye. All the curtains were drawn, and around her body floated scrunched-up pieces of tissues. When an audible sob rang out, items in the house floated and fell back down as she breathed. Her friend’s emotions were spiraling, and she couldn’t allow another tragedy to ensue in this house.
“Okay, come on, darling. Use your big girl words. What happened?” After a few hours of comfort, (Y/N) seemed to calm down enough to be able to conduct an understandable conversation. “All I know is that the Cullens are back.”
“They are,” (Y/N) sobbed. “And now Rosalie is asking for a chance to explain what she did, asking for a second chance. How could she after everything I went through?”
“Darling, I’m team (Y/N) all the way, but allow me to play devil’s advocate,” Sybil tested the waters. She didn’t want to anger her friend, but she had been involved in too many heartaches to not have a bit of experience in the matter. “Don’t you think she was in just as much pain ad you were when she left? On your wedding day, I could feel the amount of love that radiated from you both, it was overwhelming. With that amount of love, the girl had to have a very good reason to break both of your hearts. Don’t you want to know the reason why?”
“I don’t like that you’re this smart for someone that is technically so many years younger than me.” (Y/N) wiped her tears away and sat up on the couch. “It’s worse that you’re an empath. You literally feel the proof.”
“I know, it’s a curse honestly,” she chuckled. “But seriously, allow yourself to find closure on this chapter. Whether it be for good, or to finally be able to unbind yourself and move on.”
“I will. Thank you, Syb. For all that you’ve done, I’m forever indebted to you.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.”
It was a Friday, and since she had spent the day wallowing in pity, she decided it would be a good time to sleep in. The next day she would confront Rosalie and put everything on the table.
12 hours came and went quickly.
(Y/N) couldn’t believe that the clock read ten am when she opened her eyes. She had truly been drained. But she couldn’t wait any longer. She took a quick shower, got ready, drank a steaming cup of coffee, and drove down the very familiar road to the Cullen house.
Nothing had changed in the building. It was as if the family had never left.
Her car rolled up the pathway, and before it had stopped, Rosalie was on her side. It took everything in (Y/N) to not start yelling curses and profanities at the woman who was still her wife, but she controlled herself.
“I’m so glad you came, (Y/N),” Rosalie greeted excitedly.
“I’ve agreed to hear you out, Rosalie. Nothing more.” The blonde nodded, hiding the hurt she felt from hearing her name out of (Y/N)’s mouth. For three years she grew accustomed to the beautiful pet names, so hearing her name spoken with such spite hurt.
“I understand,” she sighed. “The boys have gone hunting, and Esme and Alice have gone shopping, so we have the house to ourselves for privacy.”
“Great.”
“Come in,” Rosalie directed. She walked a few paces behind (Y/N), watching her every move. “We can sit in the living room if you want.”
“Alright.” (Y/N) sat on the couch, memories of movie nights and family game nights flooding her mind. “Well, you wanted to explain. So explain.”
“Okay,” Rosalie sat. She was hurt by the coldness with which (Y/N) had met her with, but she couldn’t complain — she would have done the same. “Firstly, I just want to apologize for all the pain and heartache I’ve caused you. At the time I believed I was doing the best thing for both of us. It doesn’t excuse what I did, but I really thought this was the best way to keep you safe. Maybe I just let myself be influenced by Edward too much. After everything that happened with Bella on her birthday, we thought that her association with us could get her killed and us. Just as much as your association with us could get you killed, and I could never forgive myself if something happened to you because you were with me. So, the best choice was to make you believe that our love had reached its end and let you move on. Granted, at the time we believed we’d never come back.”
“Then something must have changed because here you are.”
“Something did change, (Y/N).” Rosalie ramble son everything that had happened in Italy with Edward and the Volturi, and the solution they had provided for the Cullens. “She seems quite absolute in her decision, but what a waste that would be.”
“Rosalie, pardon me, but I don’t care about Edward and Bella. They could turn into garden fairies for all I care,” (Y/N) gritted. “What happened with you? Why did you leave me?”
“I thought it’s what was best,” Rosalie spoke in a volume no louder than a whisper. “I believed that if I was away from you no one would target you as they had targeted Bella. Our plan was to go public with our relationship after I turned eighteen in the public’s eye but look at how many events have transpired in the year Edward and Bella have been together. I don’t want any of that to happen to you, all because of what I am.”
(Y/N)’s heart was beginning to soften. She had yet to see Rosalie in such a vulnerable state. Shame and heartache were evident in her golden eyes, and the love she still felt for her wife was thawing her heart. “Need I remind you, Rosalie, that I am a witch. The power of the Volturi and of any vampire is no match for the power of a witch. Bella is all but a human right now, I am a witch that has lived for ninety years. I’ve met thousands of vampires, shapeshifters, children of the moon, other witches, and I am still here,” she explained. “I have never been just a human, Rosalie. I’ve been in dangerous situations and have come back from them unscathed. I do not need to be protected; I’ve been doing that by myself quite well.”
“But you’re still vulnerable. You may have your magic, but blood still runs inside you. A heart still beats in your chest. You are still made of skin and bones. All it takes is one moment, one moment, and your life could end. Having me in your life only increases those chances of that moment happening. Monsters like me only exist to destroy and I can’t do that to you.”
“Stop calling yourself that,” (Y/N) reprimanded. She wouldn’t allow anyone to speak ill of Rosalie, not even herself. “You are not a monster, Rose. It is not your job to take on my mortality, as well as it is not your job to decide what is best for me. Being a vampire doesn’t make you an empty killing machine. Inside you, there is an immense array of emotions, and you care so deeply for everyone. No monster I’ve known has that level of concern for anyone.”
“I’m just selfish. I care for people so they don’t leave me. I did it with Emmett, and I was prepared to do the same to you.” Rosalie cried dry tears, the only way she could show her sadness. “I should just have gone through with it.”
“Gone through with what, Rose?” The blonde could only stare at her hands, playing with her fingers and avoiding her gaze. “Darling, go through with what?”
“Killing myself,” she breathed out. (Y/N) put her hand over Rosalie’s and squeezed softly. “It was near Christmas, the first one without you, and going back to Forks was not something on my mind. I was vulnerable and weak. I couldn’t handle the pain I was feeling; everything reminded me of you. We had moved to New York, settling down in Ithaca. One day, Emmett convinced me to go back to Rochester to visit my parents’ graves – thinking the familiarity could help appease the ache I was feeling. His heart was in the right place, but all it did was sink me deeper into the hole I dug myself. There was nothing more that I wanted than to have you there with me to replace the horrible memories that placed had stored for myself.
I was already in a bad place mentally, and Rochester put the final nail in the coffin. Emmett and I were staying at a remote cabin, and he had gone for a quick run. I had found a picture of us from Christmas of 2003, our first together, and I broke down. I wanted nothing more than to feel the warmth of tears rushing down my face, the tightness in my chest from the heartache, but nothing was going to happen. I-I wanted to feel something,” she sobbed. “I had found a gallon of gasoline in a shed and I doused myself in the liquid. My hands were shaking holding a lighter that had been a gift from my mother so many years ago. I could still feel the link between us, and I wanted to make it easier for you to have a life. If I was gone, both of our pains would stop. But Emmett came back before I could do anything. He pushed the lighter from my hands and threw me under a running shower to wash off the gasoline. I fought with him – I wanted everything to end for the both of us.”
“Angel…” (Y/N) whispered, placing a hand on Rosalie’s cheek.
“I’m sorry, (Y/N). I-I just wanted…” Without a second thought, (Y/N) threw her hands around Rosalie’s neck and wrapped her in a tight hug. No matter the anger she was feeling towards the woman, she was still the most important person in her life. “I never wanted to hurt you like this. Seriously, I thought I was doing what was best for everyone.”
“I know you did, Rose. But the things you said to me – the way you left me – I was in pain for months. The only way I could repress everything was through work and magic. I spent seven months of agony, taking potions to be able to make it through day by day,” (Y/N) cried. “I can’t just let you back into my life and risk this heartache again, no matter how much I love you.”
“As much as it hurts, I understand. And I’ll be here however long you need to forgive me.”
(Y/N)’s head was spinning. On one hand, she wanted to forgive Rosalie for everything and resume their life in the way they had planned. On the other, she couldn’t excuse her actions without any consequence. She left the Cullen house clouded in ever more confusion with which she had arrived.
For the coming week, (Y/N) stayed holed up in her own home. Blocking out any contact from people around her. Sybil had come by, so had Jasper and Alice. Even Bella and Edward had tried to talk to the witch. (Y/N) understood why Rosalie had left, but something in her could not let go of the words she has spouted in a moment of heat.
It wasn’t until one day a loud knock rang through her door, and something inside her propelled her to open it.
“Emmett.” (Y/N) was surprised to see the tall man in her house – the last person she would have expected. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m sure you already know, (Y/N).” The woman moved aside and let the vampire come in, pointing to the couch so they could talk.
“What can I help you with?”
“Please forgive Rosie already,” he pleaded. “I love her, but she has been a lot more insufferable than she has ever been. She’s suffering a lot.”
“And I’m not?”
“That’s not…”
“I know. That’s not what you meant. And I would love to take her back. But what do I do with the things she said to me?” (Y/N) was getting tired of crying. How much longer could her eyes keep expelling tears? “I don’t fit into the image she dreams of her future. And I can’t have her pushing me away because I could have the life that she wanted. I don’t know how else to show her that I am not sacrificing anything for her. She is everything I have ever wanted in my life, and I don’t know if I am what she wants in for herself.”
“Rose had a perception of what her future had to be from her days as a human. The way she became a vampire was traumatizing enough, and she hasn’t been able to let go of that,” Emmett explained. “I have been Rosie’s best friend for seventy years and she hasn’t known real happiness until she met you. What she did came from a place of insecurity masked in what she thought was protection. Everything that has happened with Bella has struck a nerve in her because she still grieves that future she could’ve had as a human. But I know the love she feels for you goes beyond anything she feels. You guys are destined for each other.”
Emmett’s words tumbled in her head. Enough time had transpired in their absence, and it had brought the necessary clarity. Rosalie was her present, she was her future.
The man suggested she accompany him back to the Cullen house and finally put everything to rest. (Y/N) had accepted and drove back with him. He led her to Rosalie’s room, where the girl had not slept in but had not left either.
“Go ahead,” he whispered. “She’s waiting.”
(Y/N) smiled at him and opened the door slowly.
In the beautifully decorated room, Rosalie sat facing the window. The lights were off, the bed they had purchased for (Y/N) to rest when she visited was unmade, and dust had accumulated on the pieces of furniture that lived in the room. She looked like a statue, another piece of décor in the room.
“Angel,” (Y/N) whispered. She didn’t want to startle Rosalie, but it seemed that she hadn’t moved. “Angel, can you hear me?”
“(Y/N)?” Rosalie croaked out. “Are you really here?”
“Baby, your eyes. You haven’t fed?” Her hands reached out to Rosalie’s face, forcing the vampire to stare at her. Black orbs stared into hers. They looked lifeless and the soul of her lover had hidden.
“Are you really here?” She repeated.
“She’s been having hallucinations since she stopped feeding almost a month ago,” Emmett explained. “We’ve tried to feed her, but she just fights us off. The visions started a week ago.”
“Rose, darling, I’m really here.” (Y/N)’s thumbs caressed her cheeks, finding ways to show Rose she was real. “Baby, I need you to eat something. It’s not healthy.”
“You’re here!” Rosalie finally snapped out of it. She wrapped her arms around her wife and breathed her in. She had come back.
“I am, angel. But right now, you need to go feed before we can talk. Okay?”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“I’ll go with you, Rosie. Come on.”
(Y/N) sat on the bed after the pair zoomed out of the room. They both had suffered immensely, and that had been punishment enough. Seeing Rosalie like that, disoriented and miserable, shattered her. (Y/N) had promised her eternal happiness, and they had hurt each other. Enough time had elapsed in absence of the other.
“I’m glad to see you back here, (Y/N).” Her head shot up.
“Carlisle, hi.”
“These seven months have been a chaotic whirlwind, huh?”
“They really have. I’ve had enough chaos to last a lifetime. And it’s only just begun.”
“The unluckiness of being supernatural. Unfortunate cons of the trade,” he chuckled. “But I’m glad you’re finally ready to give her another chance. You two share a love unlike anything I have ever seen, and this separation has been torture for you both. No one deserves that heartache.”
“And I don’t wish this on anyone, not even my worst enemy. I’m just ready to leave this all behind and recover the life we were on track to have together.”
“You deserve it. I can’t tell you it will all be smooth sailing from now, but the love will be worth it.”
“Thank you, Carlisle. I just hope our love will be enough for Rosalie.”
“It is,” Rosalie spoke.
“I’ll leave you to talk,” Carlisle excused himself, gifting them both with a comforting smile.
“I am so sorry, (Y/N). For everything I have put you through these past months. You don’t deserve any of that. I’ve been reckless, I’ve selfish, I…”
(Y/N) crashed her lips onto Rosalie’s, quieting her dry sobs. Enough words had been said between them, actions were what they needed. The blonde deepened the kiss, circling (Y/N)’s body with her arms. Their hands roamed each other’s bodies, exploring the forms that had been unavailable for seven months. The pair needed to feel connected in all ways – emotionally, spiritually, physically.
“I have missed you so much, angel.” (Y/N) kissed the top of Rosalie’s head, rubbing circles on her naked back. “I might not be the person you saw a future with, but I am the person you deserve. I hope you know that I am not sacrificing anything by being with you. I have promised you once before – and I’ll continue to do it for as long as you need – my heart burns and will continue to burn only for you. You are my one and only future, baby. There’s no other life for me.”
“There’s nothing and no one that I want more than you. You are the silver lining to my life as a vampire – my reason for being,” Rosalie smiled. “I don’t want to ever make you feel the way I did. You deserve so much better than what I have been, but I will work every day to make it up to you and show you the love you have shown me. I have not known true love until I met you, and I never want to lose it again.”
“And you never will, angel. Not if I have a say in it.” (Y/N) reached for the bag she had brought with her, pulling out the familiar velvet box that had made the first appearance two years ago. “Now, please, don’t ever take this ring off again.”
“I never will.”
In the coming months, their relationship only grew stronger. As soon as she graduated high school, Rosalie spent all her time at (Y/N)’s house planning on the time she would move into the home. Even as they faced death fighting the Newborn army, their bond only deepened. No one had seen the blonde as happy as she had been since her return to Forks. Emmett used that happiness to tease the normally cold woman that made a 180 in her attitude every time (Y/N) was with them.
Bella and Edward’s wedding came next, a beautiful ceremony that Rosalie couldn’t help but be jealous of. A fit of jealousy that was only quieted when (Y/N) promised her that this wedding would pale in comparison to the wedding she would give her soon.
Everything seemed to be falling into place. Everyone seemed to be getting their happy ending. But what was life without a little bit of chaos?
The newlyweds came back from their honeymoon with the shock of the century. Bella had come back from Isle Esme pregnant with a hybrid baby that seemed to be sucking the life out of her. The whole family was divided on whether the girl should keep the baby that was ultimately going to be the end of Bella.
(Y/N) was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She did think the best chance for Bella’s survival would have been to get rid of the baby, but she was hellbent to keep it and she stood behind her choice – and Rosalie’s choice too. The blonde for the first time had taken a liking to the brown-haired girl after she chose her child against her own life. Rosalie had started living vicariously through Bella’s pregnancy and started caring for Bella because she cared for her child.
Then the baby came in the most gruesome way. Edward and Carlisle had done everything they could to help Bella – in a few days’ time they would know if their efforts had worked.
It was hard for (Y/N) to see the hopeful stare in Rosalie’s eyes as she held the baby in her arms. Her motherly instincts had kicked in and she felt very connected to the fast-growing baby. It hurt the witch knowing she would never get to give her wife the opportunity to be the “natural” mother that she had always dreamed of being. But all those feelings had to be pushed aside when Bella had finally woken up and they received notice that the Volturi were coming after Renesmee.
At the same time, (Y/N) was dealing with the fact that Sybil had fallen pregnant with twins four months back.
“Why didn’t you tell me anything, Syb? You’ve been going through this all alone for this long when you didn’t have to.”
“I just didn’t want to put pressure on you while you were going through everything with Rosalie. You had so much on your plate already.”
“Syb. You’re my family,” (Y/N) smiled. “I will always have space for you in my life. Now, you’re going to take your stuff out of that small apartment, and you’re going to move into my house where you’ll be very comfortable. Don’t ever doubt that you can come to me at any time.”
“Thank you, (Y/N). I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Do you know who the dad is?”
“No, he was just a guy I hooked up with in Port Angeles. I don’t even remember his name,” Sybil cried.
“It’s going to be okay, Syb. You’re not alone, alright?”
During the months while they prepared for the Volturi’s arrival, Rosalie and (Y/N) cared for Sybil in every way they could. The girl wanted for nothing and had made a home in the new house. Rosalie grew attached to the young witch and the babies she was growing in her womb. Even if she couldn’t be pregnant herself, she was glad that people near her were able to fulfill that dream.
There was a night where Rosalie and (Y/N) were watching a movie – the Volturi had come and gone, and their family had come out unscathed – when Sybil let out a deafening screech. In seconds, the pair was next to the girl who was clutching her stomach, standing over a pool of water. Rosalie quickly called Carlisle to meet them at the hospital. (Y/N) packed a quick hospital bag as Rose helped Sybil to the car.
Everything had been planned out.
The nursery was already done in the house, the car was equipped with the car seats, (Y/N) would accompany Sybil during the birth. And everything had been going to plan. Carlisle had advised them that twin pregnancies often times could result in premature labor, and they should have everything taken cared of before the seven-month mark.
What they had not prepared for what could happen after birth.
The first baby – a boy – came out naturally, being pushed out by a very tired Sybil. The second baby wasn’t as easy. Somewhere along the line, the baby had gotten wrapped in the umbilical cord, and they had to perform an emergency c-section on the girl. Thankfully, the baby girl was born perfectly healthy.
But something was happening with Sybil. The machine that was monitoring her heart started beeping frantically.
“What is going on, Carlisle?” (Y/N) asked scared.
“She’s losing too much blood right now. You might have to leave the room.”
“NO!” Sybil gripped (Y/N)’s hand. “She stays.”
“Alright, stand back then. Let’s save Ms. Morgan.”
As Carlisle and his team worked, Sybil pulled on (Y/N)’s hand to lower her. “I’m not making it out of this one, (Y/N).”
“Don’t say that, Syb. You’re gonna get through this and you’re gonna be the best mom to those beautiful babies. Okay?”
“I can feel it, darling. I need you to promise me that you’ll take care of them, please. You and Rosalie. And tell them about me. That’s all I ask, please? This I the way the universe wanted to grant your wishes. You get to have a family.”
“Don’t make me promise that, Syb. You have to survive this. You’re my family, hun.” (Y/N) wiped away the tears that had been forming on her friend’s eyes as well as hers.
“And I always will be with you. But I need you to promise me that, okay?” Sybil whimpered.
“I promise, darling,” (Y/N) pressed her forehead against Sybil’s, squeezing the hand she was holding. “I love you, Syb.”
“Love you mor…” Sybil’s words trickled down as the consistent beeping sounded. (Y/N) squeezed her eyes shut, allowing the tears to fall freely, and pressed a kiss to the now-departed witch’s forehead.
“I’ll see you in another life, my friend.”
“I’m so sorry, (Y/N)” Carlisle placed his hand on (Y/N)’s back. “You need to…”
“I know. Thank you for everything, Carlisle,” she smiled.
Outside the doors was Rosalie, ready with open arms to comfort her crying wife. (Y/N) crashed into Rosalie’s body and leaned into the hug. The crash was hard enough to have them both fall to the ground as (Y/N) wailed. The vampire drew circles on the witch’s back as she tried to console the woman in such a hard situation.
It was only after the cries had died down that Rosalie finally spoke up. “You should go see the babies. They’re beautiful! Would you like to?”
“Yes, please.” Rosalie helped her up and directed her wife to the hospital’s maternity ward. Wrapped in a blue blanket was the firstborn and wrapped in a pink one was the second born. There was no denying that the children had been born from Sybil. They looked identically to how she had when she was born. “They look just like her.”
“Would you like to come in?” A nurse that had assisted in the birth asked. The pair followed her inside and each grabbed a baby in their arms. (Y/N) held the boy and Rose held the girl. “Do you know what you’ll call them?”
“Morgan,” (Y/N) said looking at the baby in her arms.
“And Sybil,” Rosalie said. (Y/N) looked up and smiled at her wife. “(Y/L/N)-Hale.”
“Alright, I’ll draw the paperwork up.” The nurse left them alone as she went to get all the papers they would need to fill out.
“I know this was never the way you would ever intend to become a mother, but it seems like the universe wanted to grant us this wish,” (Y/N) smiled. Rosalie pressed her lips to (Y/N)’s forehead and smiled at the view in front of her – this is all she could have ever dreamed of. “So, what do you say, want to get married?”
“I’d love nothing more than to marry you once more in front of everyone. And now our kids can be a part of the most important day of all of our lives.”
Five months later the Cullen house was turned into a wedding venue once more.
Alice was more than excited to deck out the house even more than she had for Bella and Edward, at Rosalie’s request. As Rose had said, if Bella’s wedding had been a big and beautiful wedding, she wanted hers to be comparable to a royal wedding.
Bella was in charge of getting Morgan and Sybil ready, Rosalie was with Esme getting ready, and (Y/N) was with Alice preparing as well. (Y/N) was a ball of nerves knowing Rosalie was only a few doors down and she hadn’t seen her in two days.
“You already know the answer, (Y/N),” Alice laughed. “Remember that you’re already married.”
“I know, I just can’t believe everything is coming together. All that I have ever wished for has come true.” Tears started forming in the corner of (Y/N)’s eyes and Alice was quick to dry them out.
“Everything is working out as it was always supposed to,” Alice smiled at her sister-in-law. “But save your tears for later. I need to finish your makeup and get you down the aisle in thirty minutes.”
“Alright, alright,” (Y/N) chuckled allowing Alice to continue her masterpiece.
In twenty-five minutes, (Y/N) was done and dressed, with Alice pushing her to head downstairs. There was no doubt that Alice was the only one that could outdo herself with their wedding, but this was more than (Y/N) could have ever imagined. The backyard was truly unrecognizable. All the guests – mostly supernatural beings, and some humans that knew of the supernatural world – were already seated, waiting expectantly for the couple. At the start of the aisle waiting for Emmett to walk (Y/N) down since Carlisle was walking Rosalie.
“You look beautiful, (Y/N)!” Emmett beamed.
“Thank you, Emmett. You look very handsome yourself,” she smiled as Emmett showed his suit off.
“I’m so glad you’re both getting your perfectly happy ever after, you know?” He took (Y/N)’s hands in his, looking proudly into her eyes. “You both deserve all the happiness in the world and I’m glad you found it in each other. I knew this was end game.”
“You have been our biggest fan ever since we met,” she chuckled. “And I know one day you’ll find your perfect pair as well.”
“I’m not too worried. Kind of have forever, you know?”
“I do.”
Emmett took (Y/N)’s arm in his and walked her slowly at Alice’s cue. He left her with a kiss on the cheek and stood by her side on the left side of the wedding arch, holding her bouquet. After walked Alice accompanied by Jasper, Alice taking a side at the right and Jasper at the left; then came Esme and Edward, to the left and right respectively; finally, Bella walked in with Sybil in her arms, as the baby held the pillow with the new rings, and Renesmee holding Morgan and a basket of white rose petals to throw on the ground. Bella walked to the left and Renesme walked to the right. The wedding party was almost complete, they were all waiting on the last components to the perfect picture.
It didn’t take long until the purest vision of beauty was standing at the start of the trail, accompanied by the man that had been like her father for more than seventy years. (Y/N) couldn’t help the beads of water that formed on her eyes as soon as she saw Rosalie. Today was completely different than the day she had originally married Rosalie. That day something had been missing, and now they were all complete.
Rosalie started the walk down the aisle, and the smile she wore never faltered. She wished she had picked a faster song to be by her lover’s side quicker. Carlisle and Rosalie finally got to the altar and gave Rosalie and (Y/N) a kiss on the cheek, joining Esme’s side and handing Alice Rosalie’s bouquet.
Both women stared into each other’s eyes and completely forgot about Mr. Webber’s words as he officiated the wedding. It wasn’t until they had gotten to the reception, and it was time to say their toasts, that they were brought back to reality.
Rosalie went first.
“For most of my life, I had a vision in my head of what my life should be that seemed unachievable until I met (Y/N). How lucky am I to be able to spend the rest of my life with someone that knows even the darkest parts of me and loves me as unconditionally as she does? The moment I met her I knew that she was more than I ever deserved, and she has only propelled a change in me for the better. I used to have an idea of what love looked like, and for the longest time, I had fallen in love with the idea of it. It wasn’t until (Y/N) came into my life that I understood that the kind of love I had always dreamed of was real. She knew who I was before I ever had an inkling of what that was, and I’ll be forever grateful that she never gave up on me. So, I’d like to raise a toast to the woman who was, is, and forever will be the love of my life.”
Claps and cheers exploded in the room as the couple shared a kiss before it was (Y/N)’s turn.
“It’s gonna be hard to top that but I’ll try my best,” she chuckled. “I had been a traveler for many years; coming and going from people’s lives, making my memories there, and leaving. Never had I stayed long enough in a place to plant my roots, and I’m so thankful I never did. If I did, I would have never gotten the chance to meet the most amazing, smart, funny, beautiful woman I have ever had the chance to know. Somehow, today I’m lucky enough to call her my wife and the mother of our children. My mind, body, and soul burn only for her. And I promise, in front of everyone we know, that for as long as we both shall live, in this life and the next, you will be the only person my heart will sing for. Eternity will never be enough for the love I have for you.”
Rosalie only wished she could cry as she crashed her lips onto her wife once more. They had already declared their love for one another time and time again. But today their whole world got to witness the power of two bonded souls.
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love letter, m | jjk
pairing(s): jungkook x reader
summary: Jeon Jungkook gets love letters shoved in his mailbox and under his apartment door all the damn time. You, too, get love letters shoved in your mailbox and under your door. All the time. It could be a sweet gesture, but this is the twenty-first century. Love letters aren't all they're cracked up to be. 
warnings: rated M (18+) for language; short graphic descriptions of sex acts; smut (fem reader, a very intense make-out session including some wild tongue and too much saliva, nipple play, a bit of m-receiving oral, cowgirl, handjob); non-idol!BTS – technically university, blond, softsub!Jungkook x working, softdom!reader; slightly desperate and needy JK
yes, yes, it’s MTV Unplugged ‘Telepathy’JK
--
"I'm so tired of people thinking they have a chance with me."
Was the exasperated declaration as you backed up into your apartment, only to turn around and witness Jeon Jungkook dumping a waterfall of colorful envelopes from his giant black backpack onto your hardwood floor. 
"At least remove your shoes before you start flaunting how hot you are," you replied dryly.
Jungkook rolled his eyes as he kicked off his large white sneakers. "Look at this shit! It's relentless! It's annoying! I just want to live my life!"
You vaguely recalled Jungkook being excited about his first love letter upon reaching university, and then the second, the third... and now you were staring at pile number five hundred on your doormat. "I don't know, put a sign on your door? 'Please stop, the answer is no?'"
Jungkook winced. "I can't do that. How many hearts am I going to break?"
"Uh, I dunno, you already broke half the campus by existing in general."
He bonked you on the head lightly with his denim jacket sleeve. "I have not. I've only slept with a couple people and that was supposed to be no strings attached."
You shrugged. "People can't understand that. Especially women."
He puffed his cheeks and stepped over the pile. You noticed the small stickers and nice handwriting on the colorful pastel paper. You almost felt bad, seeing all the effort put into them.
"At least they're cute. I only get torn notebook pages with scribbles."
"Stop lying. You get girls' letters too," Jungkook grumbled. "Can I borrow your computer? One of my professors assigned an online quiz and the internet at my place is down, again."
"You gotta move," you commented, kneeling down to collect the mess Jungkook made. You noticed Jungkook flit his eyes about before throwing up his hands and bending down to help you. 
"I'm trying to get out of the lease, but I have a couple more months left," he complained childishly.
"What about your other friends? Can't you go bother them?"
Jungkook frowned, sticking out his lower lip. The tiny mole underneath winked at you. "You hate me now or something?"
You laughed, standing up with a stacked pile of confessions to Jeon Jungkook. "No, I'm just curious as to why you always come here."
He shoved the rest in your arms, his pile slightly messier than yours. "You live the closest and you're usually home. Plus, you have two computers."
"A laptop and a desktop," you corrected. "Don't you have a laptop?"
"It's easier to borrow yours."
"Lazy."
Jungkook ignored your remark and ticked his silvery-blond head further into the apartment. "Can I borrow it or not?"
You laughed. "Of course. Laptop's on the bed."
He turned and followed the hallway to your bedroom. "Same password?" he yelled, not looking back.
"Obviously."
"Why is it my birth date?" he shouted.
"Because, one, no one will guess it, and, two, you're a dumbass and always forget it."
"I do not!"
"How many times did you ask when the password was Klingon?"
"I don't know your nerdy shit!"
"Do your fucking assignment," you belted down the hall. 
Jungkook stuck his head out of your bedroom door and scrunched his nose to make a hideous face at you, holding your gunmetal-colored laptop. You rolled your eyes as he disappeared again. This crackhead. You let out a sigh, walking past the acrylic painting of a blue sky with pink-purple clouds hanging in your living room, flicking through at all the letters addressed to Jungkook.
Surprisingly, you knew what he felt like. With you, it started with inviting one guy over to your place, sucking his dick, and then suddenly a letter appeared. Well, letter was putting it nicely. Dirty napkin with words scrawled with smeared ballpoint pen shoved under your door, explicitly asking for more. Then another, wanting it. Then another, begging for it. You ignored them. At some point, you invited a girl over, ate her out, and then the colorful envelopes started appearing, with cute stickers and neat handwriting.
Mmmhmm.
Why did Jungkook bring them here anyway? To brag? For you to peruse? You spread them out them on your coffee table and tore one open. Read it. Simple confession of love, no name. You were kind of jealous. Jungkook always got nicer ones than you did. Something about being a sexually uninhibited woman seemed to translate to others that you were down to fuck anyone, anytime, anything. You tossed the letter aside, ripped open a folded card closed with lilac tape. Another, 'I love you, please go out with me', no name. Toss. And you opened another one, reading out loud. 
"I want to cram all one hundred and seventy-nine centimeters of you into me?”
Uh.
Huh.
Still no name.
Cute peach stationery though. 
Was it a euphemism? Symbolic? Thinly veiled code? Hm. In any case, this was more along the lines of shamelessness you encountered yourself. 
By all conventions, Jeon Jungkook was attractive as fuck. Pretty pink lips, big brown eyes, manly sharp jawline. He kept his hair on the longer side, around ear length, now silvery-blond compared to the usual black. You heard he dyed it a couple times, but now it had since faded to the original blond.
Oh, yeah, also he had nice hands and a body to die for. 
You could see why Jungkook got all these love letters. You? Well, similar reasons, except less muscles. Also, yours weren't really love letters. More like vulgar remarks on the backs of grubby receipts. 
Probably just as heartfelt.
The only reason you knew of Jungkook was because you were friends with one of his close friends. Alright, maybe you sucked his friend's dick. More than once. But anyway, not the point. The point was that the topic of love letters came up one night when everyone was hanging out and you voiced your predicament. It was the summer before Jungkook entered university. He had burst out laughing, thinking it was a hilarious situation.
"Haha, that would never happen to me!"
Jokes on you, Jungkook, karma's a bitch. 
You thought about moving, but the location was close to your work and the internet service was great here. At least you always recycled the paper. What were you supposed to do? Keep an album of Starbucks napkins of people asking if your tongue was good or not?
You opened another envelope addressed to 'sweet, adorable Jungkookie'.
Their words, not yours. 
"Shove your dick down my throat and make me gag? Smiley face?"
Well, that's a contrast. 
Jungkook didn't start contacting you on his own until the letters started coming and then they didn’t stop coming, flooding his mailbox and underneath his door, overwhelming and confusing him. He didn't think he would get much attention, although perhaps it might be your fault, since you seemed to have set the precedence for this type of thing at this particular university. There was at least one person in every year that got this treatment, and it all started with one dirty napkin with smeared ink. Rumor caught on and then bam! It became a thing. 
So, yeah. 
Maybe kind of your fault.
You shouldn't have told so many people about that napkin. 
You fished out a pizza receipt from the pile, inspecting it. You couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Then you noticed it had Jungkook's phone number and an order of three pizzas. Not a confession, just trash from Jungkook's backpack. Did he really eat three pizzas? Hopefully not by himself and in one sitting. You noticed the timestamp. Mmm, three in the morning. Okay. Maybe he did eat three pizzas by himself in one sitting. 
You filed through the rest, removing trash from the recyclable paper. Paused when you found a scrap of paper that said, "Put your dick in my ass." You recognized this curvy, narrow handwriting, slightly heavy-handed. Same person wrote you the same note this week. 
This was why you didn't take the messages too seriously.
You saw a particularly thick purple envelope and picked it up, tearing it open. It was several pages, with tiny, crammed handwriting on paper with cute bunnies on it. Several pages detailing straight up porn with Jungkook as the leading role. 
You almost burst out laughing. 
Who the fuck would write this?
And send it to him?
Not you, that's for fucking sure. 
Still, it wasn't the worst thing you've ever read. Had some spelling mistakes and poor grammar. Instant turn-off. Needed a good proofread. You settled onto your brown leather couch, highly entertained as you read it. Then you actually burst out laughing, because said person wanted Jungkook to lift them and fuck them at the same time and that kinda shit just wasn't possible. You would know, because you’ve tried. It sounded good, but in practice, the dick ended up falling out pretty quickly if the pussy was any sort of wet.
If you weren’t wet, then, eh, not sure why you're fucking. 
"What is so fucking funny?" Jungkook grumbled, poking his head around the corner, still holding your laptop. 
You held up the sheets of bunny-printed paper, still laughing. "Someone sent you their written erotica and you're the star!"
Jungkook grimaced. "Oh yeah, that person. They write something new every week. It's weird." He frowned. "I try to take it out so you don't have to read that shit. I must have missed it."
"It's hilarious," you chuckled. "You should publish them into a book."
"You know I can't do that," Jungkook sighed, putting your laptop on the coffee table and snatching the pages from you. "I throw them away like everything else."
"Did you finish your assignment?" you chortled, leaning over to look at the laptop screen. Submission successful. "80%?! When you could easily cheat?"
"I read a question wrong," Jungkook whined, balling up the paper and throwing it down. "Ack."
You looked up at him and he was looking upset at the pile on the table. 
"What's wrong?"
"What if one of them is real?" 
"Huh?"
"I mean... I just throw them away now. But what if one of them is real?" Jungkook wondered out loud. 
You shrugged. "Does it matter? They'll tell you in person if it's that important."
Jungkook tilted his head at you doubtfully. "Will they?"
You sat back into your couch, with your legs wide open. You were wearing sleek black leggings and a cropped pink sweatshirt. Not the most ladylike pose, but you didn't really care. You gestured to the stack of letters on your wooden coffee table. 
"They should. If they actually like you and it's not a joke, then they should tell you in person and accept that they might be rejected."
Jungkook frowned and slumped down next to you. His light-wash denim jacket made a loud floof as his ass hit the brown leather cushions. The wash of his jeans matched his jacket. He wore a white graphic t-shirt under. It looked vintage, but it probably wasn’t. 
"What if they're nervous?" he questioned, twisting his pink lips around.
"So what? Everyone's nervous. We all live in a perpetual state of terror."
Jungkook rolled his eyes. 
You leaned forward and plucked a sky-blue memo note from the table, reading it out loud. "I love you. Marry me." You held it out to him. "See? You get nice ones. I get, ‘choke me like you hate me’ and 'shove your tongue into my asshole, please'. Rarely do I get is that please at the end," you finished with a dry laugh. You looked up to see Jungkook staring back at you. Your laugh died a little seeing his serious expression. 
"Yes."
You blinked at him. "What?"
Jungkook ticked his chin to the note, then shifted his eyes to you.
You pointed to the memo sheet and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't write this."
"I did."
He was so serious that you couldn't laugh. You just blinked at him rapidly and turned your head to look at the sky-blue memo sheet, finally recognizing the clean, block-like handwriting and spotting the bottom right corner. English letters. A J and a K fused together, the way Jungkook usually signed his paintings.
You dropped the note like it was on fire.
Jerked your head up, not to him, but to the painting across from you in the living room, the one with the blue sky and pink-purple clouds, with a tiny JK signature in black at the bottom right corner. The painting you asked Jungkook to make you a while back. 
"You paint, right? I want something calm for my living room. I bought a canvas, so about this size. It's that cool?"
Jungkook had squinted his eyes, nodding. "Yeah, I could draw a pretty big dick on it."
"This is for my living room, dumbass. And I said I wanted something calm."
"A flaccid dick then."
You turned your head back to Jungkook of now, who was wringing his hands on his thighs, wiping off his palms. He noticed you watching him and puffed one cheek before letting out a big sigh. 
"I was... gonna leave it on your laptop," Jungkook mumbled, flapping a hand to the sky-blue note. "But I couldn't find it in my backpack, and then I realized one of the pockets was open, the one where I keep receipts... anyway I had put the note there, so I came out to see if it was in the pile... yup, there it is."
He sucked in his cheek and fell back against the leather sofa.
"Was a joke."
Jungkook's voice sounded hollow. Empty. 
"... Ah." You tucked the tip of your tongue in your cheek.
"Not the greatest joke," he added flatly.
“No, it’s not,” you agreed. "Jokes that are insincere are bad jokes."
The black words glared back up at you, contrasting the pale azure paper. You picked up the memo sheet again. Turned to face him, holding it up next to Jungkook's head of silvery-blond hair. He pursed his lips and looked away from you, jaw clenched in nervousness. 
"Just say it."
He puffed one cheek again. "It was a joke."
"Then why are you saying it in past tense?"
His brown orbs shifted from side to side before Jungkook tried to bolt out of his seat, only for you to slam a hand down on his shoulder and throw a leg over him, straddling his lap before pinning the note to his chest. He yelped sharply and looked up at you with huge, shaking irises. 
In all your time knowing him, you never tried to sleep with Jungkook.
Never. 
You jabbed the note into his white shirt and he gave you a terrified squeak in response. 
You scrutinized his face, jaw slack, eyes wide, blond curls framing his chiseled cheekbones. One of your eyebrows raised, your voice calm and unfazed.
"Say it."
"You say it," Jungkook finally shot back, furrowing his brows, biting on his lip and mustering up the most indignant look he could produce at this very second. You didn’t react. He seemed to have forgotten you did, in fact, say it, although perhaps that wasn’t exactly what he meant.
You never tried to fuck Jungkook because he didn’t treat you as anything more than his primary source of internet when his own was down. Ah, and also his outlet for complaining about his love letter problem. And then there was that other little wrinkle, the unwritten societal rule one of sucking a guy's dick you're still friends with - don't suck his friends' dicks. Surefire way to fuck up a friendship, especially if the dude’s ego was fragile.
Jungkook’s friend was dating someone else now though. His ego couldn’t be that fragile.
You leaned forward and Jungkook's annoyed gaze faltered. He gulped and tried to shrink into your brown leather couch, as if he could somehow disappear under you.
"I love you," you stated clearly and firmly. You glanced at the slightly crumpled piece of blue paper before your eyes flickered back to his face. "Marry me."
Hah, the thing about rules with you was...
Fuck 'em.
Not actually. 
Eh, not the point.
"Really?" Jungkook squeaked, voice cracking slightly.
Ah, right, the other reason you never tried to sex up Jungkook because he was a little bit of an idiot around you. But maybe this sky-blue note detailed the reason for it. 
"Say it," you repeated crossly, poking him in the pecs. "Stop avoiding it."
You observed Jungkook swallow hard again, Adam’s apple bobbing. You furrowed your brows, tipping your head down so that your forehead was hovering over his, eyebrow cocked, gazing into trembling brown orbs. Why was he taking so long? He wrote the damn words. Were they really just a joke? Hmph, why were you even trying then?
That’s how everyone was.
Not putting any stock or thought into their fucking words.
You lifted your finger but Jungkook’s right hand, the one with tiny tattoos, suddenly darted in your view, grabbing your hand back and jamming your finger onto his chest again. His heartbeat raced under your fingertip, thud-thud-thud, rapid bass accenting the moment. Electrifying it.
“Don’t.”
Whisper so faint you frowned and closed even more distance between you two, picking up the scent of vanilla fabric softener and lush cotton. A little different than you, who used a blackberry and spiced vanilla perfume.
“I like this,” Jungkook breathed under you, chewing his lip anxiously. You could feel his warm breath tickling your lips and chin with how close you were. You could count his individual eyebrow hairs, even though the eyebrow product he used.
“I… really like this.”
He let go of your hand.
Now you raised both eyebrows.
You slowly uncurled your middle finger, landing it on his chest next to the index. You felt him shiver a little, lips parting. Straightened your ring finger, planting it down. His lashes lowered a little, brown orbs on your face, watching your reaction to him. You could count the moles on his face. The one on his nose. The one on his cheek. The one under his lower lip. The one on his neck. Your pinky slid onto his chest. A wispy moan left his lips, eyelids fluttering, blond strands floating around his head with the little rise and fall of his heavy, tense exhale.
Why is it your birth date?
Take a wild guess, dumbass.
Your fingers abruptly dug into his white t-shirt, crumpling the note and scrunching the graphic up in your fist. He inhaled sharply, head tipping back and lips nearing yours, a whine escaping his throat. You quirked an eyebrow, drawing back slightly, taking in the rich depth of his tan skin, the sensual line of his neck, up to his angular chin and his dangling silver earrings. All of it. His hands immediately came up to grab your wrist and forearm, ensuring you and himself that you wouldn’t let go, the tendons in your flexed wrist right against his large palm.
“Say it, Jungkook,” you demanded. “Say those words with your pretty pink tongue hanging out your mouth for me.”
You watched him obey immediately, tongue sliding out and touching his lower lip, brown eyes framed by his long lashes and hazy with lust.
“I love you,” Jungkook breathed, a little gargled with his tongue out. “Fucking marry me, please.”
Ah, you couldn't help it. 
You smirked.
"What about all your admirers?" you murmured, twisting your fingers in his shirt, digging your nails into his chest. "You'll break all those poor hearts you’re worried about."
Those dark brown eyes told you they didn't give a single fuck. 
"What about you?" he countered, closing his mouth a little to speak more clearly.
"Me?"
The definition of trouble?
Well, if you looked that up in a dictionary, there would definitely be a picture of you. 
Jungkook’s lips parted once more, keen to submit to your wickedness, pink tongue slipping out again, shiny and glistening with saliva. Breathing shallowly, rubbing your wrist with his thumb, encouraging you to keep going. 
Your lips curved into a treacherous smile.
"I'll break all the hearts to get to yours, Jungkook."
And then you licked his tongue. 
A low moan bubbled from Jungkook's chest, his eyes rolling back and his hips bucking up, desperate for friction as the tip of your wet muscle glided over his warm softness, your spit dripping down his throat, listening to his moans turn into messy garbles of your name, begging you, pleading you, more, more, kiss me, please, and you hooked your tongue around his, gently nudging his jaw with your other hand. Knuckle to chin, tilting your head as your lips closed onto Jungkook's. 
It was not a neat kiss.
There was spit running down his chin, dripping onto his neck and your skin, your lips roughly working his, tongues intertwined and making even more of a mess, you sucking forcefully to earn pained, delicious whines. Jungkook was far too turned on to attempt to glamorize it, cries a jumbled mess under your greedy mouth, but none of that mattered. The moment was sensual and dark, bodies speaking to each other through dopamine and adrenaline. Your hand released his shirt, breaking his grip, switching to burrowing your fingers into his soft blond hair and running your nails over his scalp, leaving lines of prickling pain to enhance your kiss. 
"F-Fuck, oh fuck, yes..."
Your teeth caught his tongue, pulling back and forcing his head to follow. Jungkook made a pained noise, trapped in your embrace, whining as you took him to the brink. You released him swiftly and he snapped backward, blinking hard, trying to reorient himself, but it was impossible, your lips crashing down again, thrusting your tongue into his mouth aggressively, one eye open to witness his fucked-out state, pupils unfocused, long lashes quivering, moaning into your mouth and you inhaling it all, literally taking his breath away. 
It started out with a kiss. 
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss. 
It was only a kiss. 
You dropped your lower half onto his crotch and Jungkook gasped, breaking the kiss, strings of spit breaking between you two. You smirked wickedly as you felt his hardness trying to escape its clothing jail, his large hands already on your thighs and hips, sinking his fingers into the soft fabric of your leggings, rocking you into him, desperately trying to get some stimulation.
"Please," he croaked, panting for breath, pulling himself up to sitting position, so easy and smooth, fuck, so sexy, and now Jungkook was in your face, pleas on the tip of his tongue pouring out, tempting you, wanting it. 
"Please, wanna be yours so fucking bad, seeing all those fucking letters and notes you get, and it pisses me off, it's me, I want it to be me, I want to be yours and I'm telling you to your face." 
Whisper achingly hot, deep voice soaked with longing, staring into your eyes with those shaking brown orbs, spinning with emotion like an unstable top, barely enough torque holding it in place and all it took was another spin to encourage it or a gust of rejection to topple it over. 
"And you don't even care about mine, you think they're fucking funny, fuck, I can't stand it, let it be me, please..."
His hands running up your sides, grazing against your breasts, and now his hands were in your hair and yours were in his, bringing your face close, the crumpled sky-blue note right between your joined crotches, forgotten, witnessing the agonizing lust wound tightly in this embrace. 
"Let it be me," Jungkook begged.
You licked your lips slowly, scarcely swiping against his. He shuddered, leaning into it, taking whatever crumbs you gave. His long fingers tensed in your hair, yours buried in the dark roots of his. 
"You'll have to skip the marriage bit for now," you teased lightly. "I don't think my parents will appreciate you slapping down papers before you finish school."
Jungkook snickered, tucking his tongue in his cheek roguishly. "Can't they understand I have to snatch this ass as soon as possible to make people back off?"
Your hands slipped down to his jaw, fitting it in your palms, his silvery-blond stands wrapped around your fingertips. "They'll back off my door once they hear you screaming my name." 
You leaned in, but Jungkook stopped you, brown orbs glittering with mischief to get in one more quip. 
"I doubt it," he purred. 
Yeah. 
Jungkook was right. 
Ah, well. 
You seized his face and kissed him again, fuck, such malleable lips just pleading to be bitten by you, gazing up his nose and to his beautiful eyes, his soft skin in your hands, clenching his jaw under your power, letting you have it, letting you control it and him. You felt him scramble and throw his denim jacket off, dumping it onto your couch to cup your cheeks with his hands, sighing in satisfaction as you inhaled him. Your tongue lazily traced the outskirts of his lips, hearing the rattle of his beaded bracelets by your ears, amused, knowing they were his good luck charms. 
"They bring good luck," he had answered when you saw them for the first time.
You remembered tilting your head at the wooden beads on his slim wrists. "You trying to get your dick sucked or something?"
He had broken out in a loud guffaw. Nudged you with his elbow, cheeky smile on his lips. 
"Never gonna say no to getting my dick sucked."
"Mhm, cool, where's my painting of the flaccid dick?"
From then on, you noticed he wore the same wooden, beaded bracelets every time he came to your apartment.
Hmm. 
Now, your hands falling from his face, yanking his shirt from his pants, annoyed it was getting caught, and then Jungkook fitted his hands around your ass and lifted you easily, breaking the kiss, a moment for you to bear witness to his arms flexing – holy fuck, that’s sexy – right one covered in tattoos. Images and script, with one catching your eye, a string of words running up the inside of his upper arm. One you recognized because you had those words written on your bedroom wall, on a canvas hanging above your bed. A canvas you made, background a chaotic mess of varying dark red brushstrokes, the black script in the center, written by your hand. 
The exact black script with your flourishes and ticks, now tattooed on the inside of his right arm. 
Your eyes drifted to Jungkook's face and his naughty smirk, pleased to be found out. Your lips formed the sentence slowly, in awe of his audacity.
"The devil knows my name."
the devil knows my name. 
Hung above your bed, where all manner of marvelous sinful acts were performed. 
Jungkook grinned deviously. "I saw it. I wanted it on me."
Wanted it on him. 
Oh, fuck. 
Did he know? Could he guess?
"Who's the devil?" you whispered, smile widening, matching his. 
Jungkook reached down, yanking his t-shirt out of his jeans and pulling it up and over his head, revealing the body he sculpted himself, tan skin taut over hard muscle, toned and...
"You're the devil, of course," he snickered. 
Yours. 
"Ding dong daeng," you sing-songed.
How many people have been on your bed, head pulled back by your hand, blinking hard, trying to read the words on your wall through waves of forced ecstasy? Gasping them out, ending with a question, inquiring for an answer.
The devil knows my name?
And you, leaning forward, haunting whisper in their ears, yes, she does, before pushing their face down into the sheets.
"All those love letters not good enough for you, Jungkook?" you breathed, running your hands over his bare chest, spreading your fingers, letting your exhale out through your teeth. His eyes on you, torso trembling, hairs raising, feeling your nails dance up, up, raking over his collarbones and neck, leaving little pink lines of intensity.
"They're not you," he whispered. His hands brushing over yours, outlining your fingers, eyes darkening as you pushed him back into your sofa, lowering your head. "You, the one they talk about..." Your lips on his hot skin, kissing softly, tongue so slight that it made him whimper. "You, the one they look for..." His voice, deep and rumbling, vibrating your lips, pitching as you bit and sucked, leaving small hickeys. "You, the one whose bed I sit on, wondering who else has been there, wondering why it's not me, when I make myself available to you, so easy to prey on, but you let me be..." Your lips closing around his dark brown nipple, scraping your teeth against it, making him squirm and look down at you, you and your self-satisfied, ravenous smirk. 
"I let you read them," Jungkook whimpered, blond strands curled around his cheeks, chest shuddering at your nail flicking his other nipple while your mouth worked the other. "Let you see everything they want to do to me and you still didn't know."
You chuckled darkly. "What's there to know?" you mused, sticking your tongue out and pressing it against the now hard pink-tinged nub, receiving small whines of pleasure as your reward. "It's obvious what you wanted. I was right in front of you. All you had to do was say something."
Jungkook frowned as you sat up, tongue in cheek, half-grinning.
"Look at you."
You crossed your arms and pulled your pink cropped sweatshirt up and over your head, dropping it to the floor. Casually running a hand through the top of your hair to pull it away from your face, gazing down at shirtless Jungkook covered in your red bites, cocking your head with a smirk. He raised an eyebrow, eyes roaming over your figure and the curve of your breasts molded to smooth black satin. 
"You look like you eat hearts for breakfast," he murmured, admiration in his tone.
The side of your lips quirked further upwards.
"And yet you wanna love me."
Jungkook grinned. "I don't want to. I already do."
And then he was the one to pull you to him, kissing you hungrily, you immediately turning it into your favor, your pace, his tongue commanded by yours as he unhooked your bra, moaning into your mouth, rubbing your exposed nipples with his palms, unable to do much as you pushed him into the couch again, guiding his tongue down with your teeth and running the tip of yours over his wet muscle once more, trickling saliva into his throat and onto his chin and neck, messy and lewd. 
"The devil knows your name," you sighed into his mouth, feeling him knead your breasts, thumbs brushing over your hard nipples, tendrils of pleasure making your skin tingle. "And now the devil takes what she wants."
You saw the sides of his lips curve upwards as you backed up to strip the rest of your clothes, amused at Jungkook eagerly following suit and unbuttoning his jeans.
"Can't wait to flaunt how hot you are?" you laughed, reaching down to the shelf under the side table where a ceramic R2-D2 cookie jar sat.
"Do you think I'm hot?" Jungkook haughtily accused before gawking at your waist to ass ratio, his hands slowing, pants stopped to his knees in his distraction.
You gently took off the head of R2-D2 and plucked a condom from it. Some guy told you once that you couldn't like Star Trek and Star Wars at the same time and you told him to shut the fuck up as you slapped his nuts. He begged you to do it again. You fondly patted R2-D2's head after you fitted it back.
You straightened to see Jungkook on your couch with his hard dick on display.
You looked him dead in the eye. "You think I'd let you borrow my laptop if I thought you were ugly?"
Jungkook broke out of his trance and shrugged, finally yanking his calves – holy shit, his calves and thighs were muscular as fuck – out of his jeans, underwear and socks gone with them.
"Maybe you pitied my grades."
"I'd just pay for you to go to the library and fuck off, dumbass," you muttered, pushing his hands aside and ripping the condom open, drinking in the delicious sight of his throbbing red cock dripping pre-cum, his balls just waiting for – fuck it, you got down on your knees and wrapped your tongue around his length, Jungkook sputtering and gasping at your suddenness. Fuck, he smelled and tasted fucking good, clean and velvety to your lips enclosing around the head and sliding down, using one hand to scoop up his balls. Made eye contact with him again.
Jungkook breathed your name hesitantly.
Your tongue slid out of your lips and you jammed his cock all the way down your throat, slathering his balls wetly with your whisking tongue, circling around one and then the other, long expansive strokes that went past the girth of his cock, your pink tongue visible to him. Jungkook's pupils blew wide with shock, moans catching in his throat, whole body shivering, trying desperately not to look away even through you could tell he wanted to throw himself into your sofa and fucking lose it.
"Oooooooh, fuck, that's amazing.... Holy shit, your tongue is everything...."
You chuckled and pulled your head back, satisfied with his reaction. He seemed slightly disappointed until you rolled down the condom, cracking your neck.
"I think I've given enough." You stood up, getting back on top of him and his glorious thighs. "Time for you to be taken."
Jungkook smirked.
You smirked wider and more wickedly.
The sky-blue memo was crumpled into a ball, fallen to your hardwood floor.
Held him with two fingers, ugh, the weight of his cock, fuck yes, and those beautiful dark chocolate eyes, Jungkook, you dumbass, cursing that he didn't tell you sooner so that you could watch him groan and throw his head back like he was right now, gasping at your tightness, your name torn from his throat as you took in every centimeter of him, every pulsing vein and contour of his wonderful cock, stupid Jungkook and his attractive self not using his damn words so you could ride him like you were right now, setting up a fast, bruising pace. Your fingers dug into the back of the couch as you bucked your hips into his violently, keeping yourself tight because you were so fucking wet, fuck, so wet for Jeon Jungkook and his idiotic self, asking for internet to do his school assignments and not asking for his dick to be used as your fucking joystick. 
Dumbass.
"Oh fuck," Jungkook gasped. "Oh, fuck, you're so wet and tight, shit, shit, shit..."
"Tell me something I haven't heard before," you chuckled, only half-meaning it, waving your entire body to deliver a particularly hard smack to his crotch, Jungkook whimpering under you, his hands flying to your upper arms and clutching them, trying to hold on to your wildness.
"Holy fuck, you have some hard biceps," he blurted out, startled at the prominent muscle.
Well, you haven't heard that one before.
"Guess that's what happens when you jack off a lot of dick," you mused nonchalantly.
You ticked your head to Jungkook's arms – delicious – and he frowned at you, opening his mouth to protest and you cut him off by shoving two fingers into his lips, pressing them down into the wet warmth, grinning maniacally as you watched him struggle with your fingers rubbing his tongue and his cock getting assaulted by you aggressively slamming your hips down and clamping around his stiffness, tighter, faster, whines of your name in his throat, head falling back onto the couch with a flump. You were careful not to push your fingers too far. 
Getting vomited on wasn't really on your sexual activities bingo card.
Jungkook was, however, drooling down his chin and neck, and you pulled back to grab his shoulder with your wet hand – oh, fuck, his shoulder, what a lovely shape – and Jungkook wheezed for breath, you ignoring it as you focused all your energy on fucking the life out of him, dirty squelches and smacks of hips on hips, staring down at his abs and v-line, all his hard work at the gym on display, his hands still on your upper arms as he raised his hips to meet yours, needily moaning for you to destroy him with your pace.
Damn, maybe you would have sent him a love letter if you had seen him naked at least once.
"A-Ask me to cum for you," Jungkook finally got out, voice hoarse from breathing so hard for so long.
"You're going to anyway," you taunted.
"Want you to ask," he whined, almost pouting. "Tell me to do it."
You gazed into his eyes, into those brown irises overtaken by black pupils, him a top spinning by your hand, your plaything commanded by your body, pussy clenching around his twitching cock, spurred on from his pleading tone, giving him a devious and wicked grin, speaking to his swollen lips, the devil knows your name, Jungkook, and him moaning back, fuck yes she does, so close, so fucking close, unashamedly barreling towards your release, power in your veins and under you, his muscles rippling as he fucked you back, amplifying every thrust.
"Jungkook."
"Y-Yes?"
"Say it."
Brown eyes locked with yours.
"I love you. Marry me."
You smirked.
"Cum for me."
A half-second and then you let go, letting the feeling rush in and envelop you, the moment held back to torture him, and now you felt it all, already at the tipping point, strained moan as your orgasm crashed into you, shudders all over and falling, sitting all the way down in his lap to experience the throbbing ache of your core giving out and spilling onto his cock and balls in rapid bursts, viscous and sweet. The scent of sex mixing with blackberry and spiced vanilla, his length jerking inside you, and only then did you hear Jungkook crying out your name over and over, the roar in your ears fading out to his shivering moans, hands sliding up and down your arms, eyes closing and lost in the pleasure of your pussy squeezing out his cum. His touch travelling down to your waist, pulling you to him.
Messy, soft kisses, your name and curses mixed together.
"It's me, right?"
You smiled into his mouth that was still asking questions.
"Please let it be me. You'll let me love you for real, right?"
Pushing your hair back, his sweaty blond locks sticking to your face.
"Because I already do, can't stop, won't stop–"
"Yeah, Jungkook, funnily enough I figured that from the first kiss already," you chuckled, running your fingers through his ash blond hair and pulling his head back lightly, seeing him pout, the mole underneath his lower lip peeking out.
"But..."
"Hm?"
His voice suddenly small, vulnerable, his semi-hard dick still inside you.
"Do you love me?"
You lifted a brow. "What kind of dumbass question is that?" You grabbed his arm and pressed your nail into his tattoo of your words, drawing a pink scratch under them, making him gasp. "How can I not love you? Fuck, that's the sexiest thing I've ever seen, my handwriting tattooed onto you. Yes, I love you, Jungkook."
Jungkook's jaw dropped.
This fool is still shocked after all this?
You reached down and held the condom down as you lifted yourself off, yanking him to his feet, pushing Jungkook to your coffee table, right in front of the pile of letters with his name all over them. You picked up your laptop and pushed it onto his chest, forcing him to hold it, him still confused, mildly stunned, not knowing what the fuck was happening.
Then you made him half-straddle your coffee table and yanked off the condom.
"Um–"
Grabbed his cock and started furiously jacking him off.
"Oh, f-fuck!"'
And then he realized what you were doing, the sheer wrongness of it, getting harder and harder with every second, throbbing in your hand.
"You're just like them," you chuckled through exerted breath.
Faster, rougher, tighter, Jungkook clutching your laptop, his larger frame leaning against yours, head thrown back so far that his blond hair was brushing your shoulder, moaning lustfully as he thrusted his hips into your grip. White pooled onto the purple-red tip of his abused cock, far too sensitive to be jacked off this hard right after orgasm, but Jungkook begged you not to stop, streams of residual cum running down your slicked fingers.
"Always looking for your fix from the addiction that's me," you whispered into his ear, laced with an authoritative growl. 
You saw Jungkook's head lower out of your periphery, eyes opening, staring at the colorful envelopes with his name printed on them, the cute stickers and neat handwriting, panting your name, tendons and veins standing out on his neck, sweat beading on his tan skin. 
A low, dangerous chuckle rising in his throat. 
"There's a difference between them and me."
You felt his cock twitch in your hand, ridiculously hard at what you two were about to do. 
"They're not going to get their fix."
Jungkook shuddered against you, jerking his hips forward, thick white strings splattering all over the pastel paper as you watched, fascinated, the scent of his cum saturating the air and the envelopes, drops soaking and smearing the carefully written ink, time wasted and defiled. 
"I am," he moaned, twisting his body on your arms, leaning down to kiss you hungrily as you squeezed his cock, draining it all out, all over your coffee table and coating your hand, stained with Jeon Jungkook's love letter to you. 
--
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norarigby · 3 years
Text
フェア関西のルームメイト二名 (The Two Roommates from Fair Kansai)
Chapter 4: The Messages
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Description: In which while typing a roommate ad online, the famed Miya Atsumu, (23) MSBY Jackals Setter, makes a detrimental typo that leads to an influx of women applicants. Confused, but not completely opposed (the idiot), Miya Atsumu lands on a formidable candidate. Y/n L/n. A Biotechnology major at Kansai University, looking for a change after her last disastrous roommates and some space from a particular complication. It’s odd, but it’ll work. Maybe a little too well.
Pairings: Miya Atsumu x Female Reader
Warnings: A single expletive at the very very end.
Word Count: ~1k
A/n: This is kind of a filler chapter, sorry. We're getting to the good stuff soon, I promise. (also I was thinking only of kake udon while writing this and I will be having a bowl of it after I post this)
“I’m home!” Y/n announced as she took off her shoes at the entrance. She was excited to tell her mom about the news, but she was going back and forth about if she should tell her about the elephant in the room. Her mother would have one of two reactions: a little too excited that she was moving in with a male roommate or wouldn’t allow her to move in period. Either way, the more she thought about it, keeping her roommate’s gender a secret seemed like the best course of action. Besides, her mom would never be the wiser. She just hoped he wouldn’t be there when her mom would help her move in.
“Kitchen!” Her mom’s voice rang throughout the small home.
Y/n’s mom didn’t need to announce her presence in the kitchen, she could smell it from the front door. The homemade kakejiru smelled so divine that Y/n almost forgot that it was the middle of August. A bowl of kake udon could just never be beat, no matter the weather.
Rounding the corner, Y/n joined her mom at the stove to get a better smell of the broth, “Mama, your broth smells amazing as always!”
“Ah, I just didn’t have the energy to make anything else,” She moved over to the sink to wash her hands. “How did the meeting with your possible future roommate go, hm? Any luck?” “Yeah! I just got a text a couple minutes ago saying I have the room.” Y/n leaned against the counter and picked at the nori, “It’ll be interesting to say the least, but I think it’ll be alright.”
Y/n’s mom began chopping up the green onions, “Well, it doesn’t need to be perfect and you certainly don’t have to be best friends. You just need something normal. Especially after…” She trailed off.
“Mom, it’s okay-”
She paused her chopping for a moment and turned to Y/n, “I just want the best for you and you deserve good people in your life is all I was trying to say.”
Her mom returned to chopping the green onions and Y/n decided to not comment on the tear that fell as she did. Y/n could tell she wasn’t the only one still recollecting. In the midst of all of her troubles, her mom had her fair share of her own. At the end of the day, it was just the two of them both trying to pick up the pieces together. It’s among a few reasons why Y/n had moved back with her mom for so long. But they could both feel it as she was approaching her senior year of college. Even with everything, they both needed to learn how to let go. And it was anything but easy.
Finishing up with the green onions, her mom transferred them to a serving bowl, “Well, I think that should be it. Let me boil the noodles and you can get me caught up with school and things over dinner. Okay, love?”
“Sounds good.”
~~
The alarm clock next to her bed was shining a bright red 12:34 AM in her face. Usually she was out by now, but a late night texting session with her new roommate inspired this spontaneous late night. She thought about just ignoring his text in the morning, but had grown curious as to why he not only would reach out to her only a couple hours after he last texted but also why he was so up late. Y/n wasn’t one to stereotype people, but Atsumu definitely seemed like the 'be in bed by 8, get up at 5' gym bro type. Then again, in the few hours she'd known Atsumu, she guessed he was more of a 'fly by the seat of his pants', 'do whatever, whenever' type.
From: Atsumu So this totally might seem desperate, but what are you thinking for a move in date? I just want to make sure to be there to help and whatever.
Y/n leaned her head back, she hadn’t really thought about it yet. Her mom had asked the same question at dinner, but she mostly just brushed it aside--too anxious that her mom would start asking too many questions. Regardless, it couldn’t be sooner than a couple days at least. She needed to pack and she still had school and work to worry about. Doing some quick math in her head she determined she could probably get everything packed and ready to move in by the weekend.
As she typed out the message, she hesitated. This weekend. That was so soon. It had been 8 months since she moved back and where that wasn’t a very long time, it was enough to make her heart hurt to leave. But she couldn’t put off this date for forever--she had agreed to move in with Atsumu and she was sure he was anxious to get her to pay her part of the rent. So she pushed those feelings aside for the time being and hit send on the text.
From: Y/n I think I should be able to get everything packed and ready by this weekend. Fingers crossed.
From: Atsumu Sounds good. I’ll see you then!
~~
Atsumu set his phone down on his side table and ran his hands over his face. It was well past his bedtime and he could fault nothing except for these dumb feelings. He had met this girl for maybe 20 minutes earlier today and had one texting conversation with her, he should not have been this giddy. Osamu’s rom coms were rubbing off on him.
Sitting up in his bed, he slapped both of his cheeks with his hands, “Miya Atsumu, we will not be catching feelings for our roommate. It’s weird and will one hundred percent make her uncomfortable so cut it out.”
He tried to emulate his old upperclassmen to make it stick. It most definitely didn’t work, but maybe if he just said it enough times it would get through his thick skull.
Ping!
From: Y/n See you then. Good night :)
….Fuck.
58 notes · View notes
moonlit-reveriee · 3 years
Note
Hey there Moon, if your requests are still open, could you do a C!Techno x Female! Reader who’s a total badass with weapons? Like she’s quick and agile with a bow and sword?
Hope you have a wonderful day/night! ^^
A Lover, and a Fighter
technoblade x fem!reader
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this story was really fun to write, and i think it came out pretty cute. thank you for your request, and your patience. i hope you enjoy!
content warning // SFW, mention of drinking alcohol, description of fighting (no mention of blood or injury)
listen to this while you read: Notos by The Oh Hellos
───※ ·❆· ※───
***this story takes place during & after the revolution against Dante, with the headcanon that Hypixel takes the form of a medieval kingdom within the same universe as the dsmp***
It had been a long time since Techno had visited Hypixel, and even longer since he had taken the time to observe any of the fighters being trained there. He wasn’t surprised to see many unfamiliar faces amongst the crowds battling against Dante. But one figure in particular grabbed his attention.
As he soared through the air, launched upwards by the shockwaves of Dante’s movements, he noticed someone standing on top of a nearby building. A warrior with bow and arrow held upwards to the sky, their aim remaining steady despite the tremors that shook the earth. They leapt to the ground, swiftly pulling out a sword and began chopping down several of Dante’s goons with a single swipe.
Even in the heat of battle, he couldn’t help but be impressed. There was a deadly accuracy to all of their movements. It showed tremendous skill, and dedication to honing their abilities.
Once Dante had been defeated, Techno stayed behind to aid in Hypixel’s recovery. He walked around the battlefield strewn with debris. He shook the hand of every revolutionary he could find, secretly searching for the warrior he had seen upon the rooftops.
After a while, he was able to spot them in the crowds. A woman helping clear rubble from the destroyed community center, familiar bow and sword strapped across her back.
“Thank you for your aid in the revolution”, he said as he approached, offering a hand for her to take. She accepted it with a grip strong enough to rival his own.
“I would do anything to rid Hypixel of Dante’s corruption”, she spoke with confidence. She released his hand and turned her attention back to the rubble, lifting a wooden beam over her shoulder with ease.
“I noticed the way you fought”, he continued, bending over to pick up a piece of broken cobblestone, “you seem very skilled.”
She glanced at him from the side, mouth curving upwards into a very slight smirk.
“That’s quite the compliment coming from the blood god himself.”
“I understand good fighting when I see it”, he said with a shrug. She squinted her eyes at him, almost suspicious.
“It would be foolish of me to turn down such a compliment”, she said as she walked off towards the pile of discarded wood. He chased after her, watching her drop the beam off her shoulders with a heavy thud.
“What is your name?”, he asked when she turned to face him. She paused, quickly looking I’m up and down. She seemed skeptical of his interest in her, and maybe that was fair.
“y/n”, she said, crossing her arms.
“Would you like to duel, y/n?”, he blurted out impulsively. Her eyes widened, noticing the way he was blushing out of embarrassment.
“Are you flirting with me, Sir Blade?”, mischievous grin spreading across her face.
He sputtered, blush deepening on his cheeks while she laughed boisterously.
“Let’s clean up first”, she clapped an armored hand over his shoulder with a loud metal clank, “meet me at the duels arena in a few days.” She walked past him, leaving him to twist around and watch her back as she left.
Techno ended up seeing her again before their duel. Members of the revolution were meeting in a local tavern to celebrate, and he found her lounging in a quiet corner of the bar. Tankard in her hand, she happily watched the other members of the guild drunkenly trip over themselves. He didn’t approach her, at least not at first.
Later in the evening, a man sidled up to her table. Techno couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it seemed like she was trying to politely shoo him away. Clearly drunk out of his mind, he reached out a hand and forcibly cupped her cheek. Techno stood up from his seat, ready to yank the man back by his collar. Before he could, she grabbed his hand and bent his arm backwards behind his head. The man was sent to his knees, wincing in pain.
“I said don’t touch me”, she sneered, “learn to follow my words when I say them nicely.”
She released the man’s hand, allowing him to stumble away with a steely glare. Once he was throughly out of her sight, she turned her attention to where Techno had begun to approach her.
“I appreciate your help, even though it was unneeded”, she sighed heavily.
“Does this happen often?”, he asked.
“Not really”, she said, “I guess the guys here think plate armor is attractive.”
“It’s probably the only clothes they’ve seen a woman in”, he joked. She chuckled lightly, the sound surprisingly sweet compared to her demeanor.
“Would you like a drink?”, she offered once her laughter had subsided.
“Ah, I would”, he sighed, “but let me cover it, I insist.”
“No”, she said firmly, “I’m sure everyone here wants to buy you a drink. Allow it to be me for tonight.”
He raised an eyebrow, noticing the flash of determination in her eye. He gave her a nod, surrendering to her wishes. She bought two pints of honeyed ale, sweet and subtly floral. They drank in comfortable silence, watching the absolutely wasted tavern goers make fools of themselves.
Time passed, and day of their duel arrived. The damage from Dante’s attack had finally been cleared and construction of the destroyed buildings began. Techno felt calm as he strode through the familiar courtyards of Hypixel’s training grounds, which surprised him. For some reason, he expected to be nervous. But at the same time, there was nothing to be nervous about, right? This was just a friendly duel between friends. Just friends who have only known each other for a few days.
His felt his stomach twist. Maybe he was nervous.
When he entering the arena, he found her already waiting for him, clad in a simpler set of armor than the one she wore to fight Dante. She waved her arm upon noticing his entrance, bright and crooked smile on her face.
“Are you ready to duel, Sir Blade?”, she called across the field. Something about that nickname made his heart glow.
“Only if you are, y/n.”
“Oh, I’m ready to get my ass kicked.”
“Hey now”, he retorted playfully, “I think you will put up a good fight.”
“We’ll see”, she shrugged, stretching her arms to warm up the muscles.
“Standard kit?”, he questioned, “diamond armor, sword and bow?”
“As long as it’s not a crossbow. I haven’t figured those fuckers out yet”, she muttered.
He nodded, donning a set of armor to match hers. They took stances at opposite sides of the arena. She already had a bow in hand, arrow cocked and ready. Techno had dueled one on one many times. Some more stress-inducing than other. The anticipation of this fight made his fingers tingle with excitement. A bell began to toll. Standard practice for training duels: on the fourth chime, the fight began.
An arrow whizzed from its string, narrowly missing him as he strafed right and began moving in a wide curve towards her. She switched to her sword, ready to meet his in a clang of metal against metal.
They traded blows almost evenly. While Techno’s sword swung with immense strength behind it, hers was agile and precise. When she landed a hit, it was because she could aim her sword exactly where the armor was weakest. When their swords became interlocked, she made eye contact and grinned wildly. His concentration fell, and she seized the opportunity to disengage and put some distance between them.
From her newfound position, she returned to her bow and began firing shots with a deadly accuracy. When fighting with others around his skill level, Techno liked to wear them down. Hiding and running away, giving him a chance to recover while they chased. Now, however, his strategy was being challenged. Her skill with a bow was outstanding, even at very long distances. There were very few places he could hide that she couldn’t hit.
Their reached a point where the battle was at a stalemate. They had returned to sword combat, a heavy sheen on sweat on their brows. She parried a blow from him, but he pushed back with any remaining strength he had left, sending her staggering back wards. She gritted her teeth, running forwards suddenly with a ferocious scream. It surprised him so much he barely reacted as she slammed into him right at the waist and tackled him to the ground.
He twisted to land on his side, causing her to fall on the ground next to him. They both panted, making no move to stand up.
“I-“, she gasped, “I’ve never done that before.” He huffed out a laugh, propping himself up on his elbows and offering a hand to help her sit up as well.
“That was a good fight”, he said after they’d both caught their breath.
“Thank you”, she said, removing her helmet and wiping away the strands of hair that stuck to her face, “I didn’t expect to win, but a draw is good enough for me… Thank you for giving me the chance.”
“You fight very different from me”, he said while shaking the hair out of his face, “I was curious to see how it would go. You’ll have to show me some of those sword techniques, they’re great.”
She smiled, puffing up a little bit at the praise. Her hand came up to brush away some of the dust that stuck to the side of his face. She seemed to do it subconsciously, because her eyes widened at the realization and she moved her hand away quickly. In a heat of the moment decision he grabbed her hand in midair, holding it in his own. Her eyes met his and the seconds seemed to stretch.
Something drew him, like a magnetic force, to lean in and press a kiss to her lips. It was relatively quick, but it felt so much longer to him. When he pulled away, she blinked at him. Her cheeks were pink, but he was unsure whether it was from the kiss or the fighting.
“I should have asked first, shouldn’t I?”, he said after clearing his throat.
“No, no”, she replied, still slightly dazed, “you’re fine.”
“I don’t know why-“, he stuttered, “I doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it to, we can just forget it happened.”
“I-“, she paused, “… I think I’d like to remember it actually.”
The grip on his hand tightened, and Techno felt butterflies in his chest.
“I think my mind’s going a little foggy”, she continued, “could you remind me?”
It took far longer than it should have for his brain to process her words. When the gears finally clicked, a dry laugh escaped his lips.
“Are you flirting with me, dear?”, he retorted.
She laughed, a joyous and melodic sound. He cut her off before she could finish, causing her to giggle against his lips. Sitting in the middle of an empty battle arena, various weapons strewn around them, they allowed themselves to share in each other’s presence and be happy.
───※ ·❆· ※───
AHAHHAHAHA i just wanna say thank you again for this request because it ended up being such a joy to write. it was so fun to write the reader with this kind of personality
plus, it gave me an excuse to give this story a medieval fantasy aesthetic, which, in my humble opinion, is the superior aesthetic for techno
i can’t stress this enough, thank you to every anon who’s submitted a request for being patient with me! i’m trying to get through them chronologically while still giving myself enough of a break that i won’t get overwhelmed or burnt out. regardless of any wait, i hope you enjoyed!
thank you for reading <3
-moonlight
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stellaestra · 3 years
Text
how would stray kids interact with mc in high school if they ever met? // high school au headcanons [stray kids/reader]
pairing: skz hyung line + mc [reader]
description: who would mc interact with in high school if they ever met? what kind of interactions would they have? // bulletpoints headcanons + small snippets
genre: platonic, high school au, friendship, humour, hurt/comfort
author’s note: this could be a stand alone or not, the mc is the same bodyguard/intern au!mc...it's just a "what ifs" kinda thing, fellas
p.s. some of the scenarios are based off real life events that happened to me in high school but i overly exaggerated some of them for the shit and giggles,, tell me which event actually happened to me in the askbox lmao I'm curious
pls I'm funny i swear
cw: minor swearing, just teenagers being teenagers, idiots, mention of blood (?) uhh mentions of violence (??)
unedited
// no beta read, we’ll die like men
---
bang chan
mc is a '00 liner,
she doesn't interact with her seniors pt.1
to interact with them; it would have to be a school event or a collab project between the seniors and the juniors
possibly would be approached first by chan during sports day or a school festival for something
he thought that she's a pretty decent track runner when he saw sprint during the sports day track event
after that incident, chan would greet her in the hallways or wherever if he ever comes across her
mc would always awkwardly greet him back
“hey! you’re that really fast track runner, you did great that day!” chan complimented her in the hallways. out loud.
mc prays to whoever above there that chan would stop talking so loud as she could feel her face burn when she felt eyes on her.
cue to her awkwardly smiling at him and nodding, “yep, that’s me, yes, alright, senior chan.”
chan finds her adorable ever since that first few encounters
he also found out that she hangs out with felix just as much as he does
(love rivals (for felix) arc when)
he doesn’t know who to be envious of
that mc gets to spend so much time with lix or
felix being able to spend so much time with her
the never-ending saga
(love rivals (for felix) arc turned into possible rivals to friends arc)
(okay, im joking)
their respective friends group made a running joke
about how chan and mc are love rivals for felix
(it eventually became theirs as well)
(it's funny)
once he made her go off-tangent about felix
she was really passionate about his freckles and smile
for a moment
he really did think that she has a crush on him
no surprises there tho
felix IS absolutely cute
(friends arc?? omg, all for felix, HA)
he really really finds her adorable
he could go on for days
esp her little habit of covering her mouth when she speaks
sweater paws bc he almost always sees her with a jacket on even if it was a hot day
it's like a second skin on her
he once asked her if she ever removes her jacket
“only when im on school ground or during school events like assembly, i’ll take it off, senior chan.”
“eh? don’t you feel warm underneath that during a hot day?”
“...i do remove it sometimes, i guess...but i like wearing it bc it’s comforting.”
one time chan saw her without her jacket and wears short-sleeves uniform, he really wanted to shower her in his affections n also it’s such a rare sight that he almost couldnt recognized her
“haha hey, you didn’t wore your jacket today!”
“they’re in the laundry and...today’s a hot day...unfortunately, haah.”
he once tried to ruffle her hair but found her dodging his hand so fast at breakneck speed
that he was kinda concerned
she told him that her hair hasn't been washed yet so it's dirty
but the thing is: she told him every time he tried to ruffle her hair
“you’re not letting me pat your head on purpose.”
“senior chan, i wouldn’t do such a thing.” he noticed the little teasing smile before it disappeared.
he wondered briefly if she has always been this playful and cheeky with others her age
chan is aware that she speaks formally towards him out of habit though so he lets it slide and let her take her time growing comfortable with him.
he knew she was lying but let's her be anyway
bc she's his cute little junior
---
lee minho
another case of mc's "no seniors juniors interaction"
minho’s very attractive so mc will definitely avoid him at all cost
plus, he looks intimidating to her so bye bye
to not step on any of her classmates' landmines that has the hots for him
drama isn't her thing, she already witness a handful and even got thrown into the fire as fuel before
no thank you she liked having her life in high school as peaceful as possible
mc would make her conversations with him very short n blunt
she's not gonna catch anyone's hands today, my dudes
really, she doesn’t
minho thinks of her like a small kitten that needs to be taken care of
bc of how she always scutters away from chan whenever he’s with him
if they ever interact
it would be when the juniors have the collab with their seniors
like a science fair, where the students have to come up with things to showcase
his class coincidentally collabs with her class for that particular event
he told chan about it and he have never seen chan pout and deflate like that
the only person he does that to is felix...if not, it’s jeongin.
chan sure adores this little junior other than felix huh…
then again, felix and mc does hangout a lot and so does jisung and her
so he took this chance as to know more abt her
coughs because jisung seems to be talking a lot about her coughs
(minho + mc love rivals (for jisung) arc pt. 2 when)
(mc really about to fight 2 seniors because she's stealing their respective juniors huh)
(the never-ending saga of love rivals)
he approached her inside that shared classroom for the collab event
she looked constipated when he approached her group of friends
even more so when he directly asked for name and whatnot
it kinda made him want to tease her even more now
he found out her name and what they were planning to do
heard her cursing under her breath
he decided to join their group on the whim
found out that mc is just a little shy whenever he approached her
her friends are somewhat protective of her
he got glared at by one of them once when he wanted to greet mc in the hallways
and mc kind of hid half of herself behind them
so whenever she’s on her own, he would try to approach her as slowly as possible
like. dealing with a cat and you’re a stranger trying to gain their trust
what he never will forget nor stop teasing her was about
her spinning on her heels to walk into the direction she was previously coming from
just to avoid him
he couldn't help but find it hilarious
he won her over when he brings the topic of cats wandering around their school campus
saw how her eyes lit up brightly
“the stray cats here are fun to play with, right?”
“yeah, me and friends decided to name a few of them too!”
he mentioned it to her because he saw her playing with the cats when she was waiting for someone or when she has time to play with them during recess
and the ramblings of a high schooler about cats commences
he wasn’t bothered about how much she talked
would nod along with what she says
because wow, shes really passionate about cats
that's a huge bonus for minho
and that was how minho adopted another kitten
whenever they weren’t busy with their own things, they would play with the cats together
playdate with cats <3
she would tell him that one particular grey cat was called
“this cat’s name is miss universe! they’re so cute, right?” she picked the cat up and cuddle with it, eyes sparkling with joy
“why did you guys name them that?”
“because why not?”
“fair enough point.”
and she laughs
he was glad that she stopped being so cautious around him if he was being honest
since the way chan was talking about her so affectionately made him really curious about her
casually mentions that jisung talks about her a lot
expected her to be bashful about it
but all she does was
“oh, cool, what did he say? I’m a weeb? Hah, he’s the same as I am” + "he should've said to it my face, senior minho, hmph"
so making her flustered backfired on him
poor minho
here’s your “you tried” star
mwah
so yeah, minho adopted a new cat (his little junior)
---
seo changbin
same case as the two above, unfortunately
if they do ever interact, it's short and pleasantries
mc does kinda find him intimidating to certain extent
she's not good with dealing with intimidating looking people
but when he smiles, her shoulders feel less tense when she interacts with him
thinks of him as a pretty cool senior
he made her listen to his rap once n she told him that he's so cool n that stuck with him for days
imagine a junior telling you that you're so cool with that starry-eyed expression
your ego would go off the rooftop
after that, changbin would make it out of his way to greet her in the hallways
RAP MUSIC BUDDIES???? POTENTIAL
pat her on the head occasionally
if she doesn't dodge like hell away from his hands
“why do you keep avoiding them”
“no, don’t pat me, you’re treating me like a cat”
“I’m not?” lies, ever since minho told him that she reminds him of a cat, he really thought about it more
“you have that same look minho gives me when he tries to pat me…hyung…”
“we’re really going to make you call us oppa one day, watch us”
“um, yeah, no.”
“let your cute senior pat your head!!”
“im gonna run away!”
he knows that the younger ones in their friend group do interact with her
esp felix and jisung
for innie’s circumstances, that’s different
she does comes to him every once in awhile to abuse her title of his cute little junior to get a chance to listen to a teaser of his raps or songs he composes
found out that she does like rap songs! a lot more than he thought
they became those friends who shares new songs they found out and share it with each other
even at ungodly hours like 2am in the morning
that would not stop them
“this song reminds me of you”
“hey hey hey listen to this, psst”
“This shit SLAPS, go listen or else im gonna fight you in the school hallway, coward”
he became smug about it and boast about his knowledge to 3racha
jisung complained that he thought she only listened to anime songs or soft indie songs because he saw her playlists before
changbin told them that she has other playlists that’s for more “intense and aggressive” songs
they were floored and the conversation starts like this,
“what do you mean she likes listening to yours and ours music and raps?”
“im not kidding, she does! she even showed me her playlists that were filled with rap, rock and metal songs!!”
“my little mc? likes those songs? are you sure you’re not dreaming?”
“it’s a public playlist, i even followed her playlists”
“If you’re wrong, hyung, im really gonna fight you on this! bc I KNOW her first”
“doesn’t mean that you know her BETTER”
lots of petty bickerings
chan and jisung has a big revelation about mc that day at school
(there goes mc’s little rep within their group of friends)
he did warned them to not tell her that he told them about it and
that they actually are aware of her music taste
or else
she tried to rap really fast one time, trying to rap like how he does
he had to witness her biting her tongue live
changbin would never think someone like her would have
such a vulgar language
every profanity he knows came out of her mouth
he quickly got her something to soothe her wounded tongue
after fretting over her though, he started teasing her
relentlessly
she threatened to sue him
"I'll sue you"
"with what money?"
"my 2 fucking dollars lunch money!"
"that's not enough to pay anything, not even your attorney!"
"fight me!"
he’s that older brother figure that mc would come to whenever she has no one to tell her woes to
their relationship turned out to have lots of playful banters and teasings
he gives very comforting hugs and pats
mc doesn’t want to admit it tho
well, until, changbin caught her snuggling into his hugs one fine day
“admit it, you like them, you like my hugs”
“okay, fine, i DO like them, they’re great hugs, don’t let it go to your head.”
“I KNEW IT”
“You’re so loud, shut up, hyung!”
“OH MY GOD, YOU FINALLY ADMIT TO IT, IM GONNA TELL THE WORLD-KSDFNKSDNF-”
"FUCK- I SAID, SHUSH"
rip in peace, changbin
he didn’t expect someone like her would have so much strength to smother his mouth with her hand and shut it
the more you know
curiousity killed the cat????
---
hwang hyunjin
avoidance at all cost (pt.2) despite being in the same year
why? exhibit a: he's considered very attractive in her year and that her classmates n batch mates have crushes on him
coughs one of the school princes coughs
their batch year prince
she's really gonna swerve away from him
interactions will be kept at a bare minimum
one time hyunjin n some others wanted to borrow a textbook from their class because they have forgotten theirs n he chose hers
she could feel cold sweat forming as she feels the death stare of some of her classmates
that gta [wasted] sfx whenever ur character dies
yeah that's mc
that was probably the last time she would even think about it
when he returned it back to her, he smiled at her, the really cute eye smile and she felt like she made the target on her back bigger lol
goodbye mc you've lived a good life
your friends will definitely will play never gonna give you up during your funeral (it's a promise)
jokes aside
hyunjin would probably noticed the panicked look in her eyes and wondered why
since his friends like felix and...jisung...and seungmin are like on good terms with her
he probably wondered about it a lot
borderlines on overthinking since both felix and jisung are particularly close to her
so she should know that he’s friends with them
ever since that encounter, it would come across his head whenever he saw her hanging out freely with felix or jisung or both of them
or when he come across her in the hallways
sometimes he wants to greet her but it feels like it would scare her away
esp when she looks ready to run into the opposite direction
if he ever made eye contact with her
so his plan to befriend mc has started
tried to join into the trio hangout; jisung, felix and mc
mc never did protest his presence like at all
but does occasionally look stiff when he's near her
eventually shes comfortable enough with him
but not enough to actually hang out with him alone though
that thought kind of made him feel envious towards the other boys
and a little left out
as a teenager, he has too many emotions to handle so
jisung and felilx caught the idea and told him to let her
take her time because she kinda. shy. (???)
that didn't stop him from mulling over it tho sometimes
one day he found her waiting at the bus stop
it was in the evening, she was still in her school uniform
he was kinda on an errand run too
kinda didn’t want to sit on the same bench as her
afraid that she might run away
she noticed him standing there eventually albeit very anxiously and kinda awkward
a casual greeting slipped past her lips which shocked hyunjin to his very core
he splutters back a reply
“on an errand run, errand boy?"
"huh?"
“uh, um, pretend that i didn’t say anything.”
“right, sure, but may i sit next to you, the bus seemed to be late and my legs are kinda tired.”
“oh, uh, yeah, sure, but you didn’t have to ask, y’know?”
“well, didn’t wanna scare you off…"
“it’s nothing personal, if that’s what you’re worried about,” + “it’s just. didn’t wanna step on a landmine and the girls in our batch seemed to adore you a lot and me being close to you might set off the wrong signal…?”
“that’s absurd, you’re...being unreasonable..i mean, its none of their business-!”
“i know, im sorry, my bad, it’s not your fault either, it’s not anyone’s fault, to be honest.”
for a moment, he found her reasoning to be petty and unreasonable until it finally clicks inside her head, from her point of view when he really thought it through.
“...no wait, im sorry, i think, i kinda get why when i really thought about it.”
“yeah, it’s no biggie, don’t worry, im sorry too, we’ll both get over it”
“...um, we’re friends, right?”
“...i suppose so, if you dont mind, dummy.”
a giddy smile crossed his face while mc struggles to not stare at him looking so cute like that as she coughs into her hand, avoiding eye-contact
pretty boys have too much power in their hands
and she’s one of their fallen victims towards their charms
this isn’t fair for her heart
so when the bus arrived
they sat beside each other on the bus
hyunjin did most of the chattering while mc listens
he was so glad he cleared smth up with her
if she allows it, he would definitely tried to hug her
until he remembers that one time changbin told him he almost got punch in the face by her
when he tried doing it the first time and startled her
yeah no not now
maybe sometime in the near future, a long-awaited hug would be great
(if he was honest tho, he really wanted to cry when she told him the truth)
(it felt like a heartache)
but it’s okay now though
they’re friends now (somewhat) and that’s all that matters
---
[masterlist]
95 notes · View notes
vox-blr · 3 years
Note
Tell me your headcanon 👀👀👀
👀👀 alright
I guess it's more of a theory than a headcanon but kinda both
I know I'm not the first person to have this take but like
I don't think Ink Bendy is intrinsically malicious and he's definitely not as mindless as I've seen him read as by some players
He's definitely a hostile presence at times but I don't think he's some kind of pure evil killing machine for a couple of reasons
To set this all up, some fundamental things we know for sure about Ink Bendy:
• He was created by running film reels of cartoon Bendy through the ink machine (Thomas Connor, "Office Report")
• He has no human soul or prior human life (Joey Drew, "Thousands of Souls")
• Ink Bendy is intelligent enough to be aware that The End tape is a threat to him and to steal it as a precaution (Chapter 5). He's also likely able to write, as there is writing on the walls of his lair that was unlikely to be done by anyone else.
• Ink Bendy plays the Bendy cartoons in his lair, seemingly constantly, and turns to watch when Henry puts in a new reel (Chapter 5). He's also upset by the destruction of Bendy cutouts (Chapter 3), making it clear that he's aware he's a likeness of cartoon Bendy.
• Ink Bendy was ordered to be locked up shortly after his creation, and prior to the creation of soul-holding ink characters, for fear of scaring away investors (Joey Drew, "Thousands of Souls"). He is not stated to have shown any signs of hostility prior to this.
And here are some relevant things we don't know about Ink Bendy but have some evidence for:
• He seems to be aware of who Henry is. During the end scene of Chapter 1, one of the scenes between the flashing images is Ink Bendy staring at the camera/Henry from Henry's desk, which has some of his Bendy designs on it. It's also been stated that he was there for his beginning (Joey Drew, "Bendy's End"), but that could refer to his formation from ink as much as Henry's original design
• Ink Bendy seems to be selective with who he harms. It's uncertain how much of this is game mechanics and how much is storytelling.
Examples:
1. The first scene in which Ink Bendy appears, he tries to grab Henry, but does not chase him (Chapter 1)
2. The second scene in which Ink Bendy appears, he does chase Henry, and, if caught, Henry dies instantly. (Chapter 2)
3. In procedurally generated encounters, Ink Bendy has specific behavior. He will destroy other enemies (such as the Butcher gang) via his ink surrounding, but will not harm Buddy Boris even if they are in the same location. If Henry is not spotted, Ink Bendy will wander slowly about until leaving the area or disappearing into an ink portal. If Henry is spotted, he will chase him, resulting in instant death if Henry is caught. He stops chasing Henry if he enters a Miracle Station. (Chapters 3-4)
4. On at least two occasions in Chapter 4, Ink Bendy appears to be aware of Henry's presence, but does not harm him. These events are when Henry is in the vents and when the Protectionist attempts to harm Henry when he's in the Miracle Station, prompting Ink Bendy to kill him. It is possible that Ink Bendy killed the Protectionist to save Henry, but it is also possible that he killed the Protectionist for another reason and simply also chose to spare Henry. (Chapter 4)
5. While Ink Bendy seems to be able to instantly kill Henry in earlier chapters, Beast Bendy does not kill Henry in one hit. (Chapter 5)
6. It's implied by Allison Angel that Ink Bendy is specifically hunting down Tom Boris. (Chapter 5)
So, putting all of this together, a few ideas I have about Ink Bendy:
• I don't think Ink Bendy has a human concept of death. Everyone he's ever killed has respawned or crawled back out of the ink in some form, before or after the reset of the time loop. I also think that his ink may kill some ink creatures without any deliberate action on his part, which doesn't seem to bother him. That being said, I don't think he'll go out of his way to kill anyone he doesn't recognize as a threat. This bit is based partially on things I've heard about a Bendy book, so I might have more opinions when I actually buy and read it.
• I think that Ink Bendy is some equivalent of unsocialized as a result of being locked up at the behest of Joey Drew.
• I think that Ink Bendy is aware of who Henry is and is seeking him out because of it. I also think that he may be aware of who some of the ink characters were as humans. If Tom Boris does turn out to be Thomas Connor (not quite confirmed I don't think), it would make sense for Ink Bendy to hunt down someone who had something to do with his ink creation and quite possibly with locking him up.
• On the note of Ink Bendy knowing who Henry is, I think he's seeking him out for information rather than to kill him in Chapters 1-4, and Henry's death at capture may either be a game mechanic or an accidental result. In Chapter 5, I think he's either trying to scare Henry off or actually kill him because he feels threatened by Henry's presence in his home.
• I think Ink Bendy is angry at his circumstances just like. In general. Which, like, fair. I think two things that anger him in particular are being locked up (seems obvious) and the fact that he's not the cartoon Bendy Joey Drew Studios was trying to make (less certain, but seems to be evidenced by his fixation with depictions of cartoon Bendy and all the cartoons playing right as his throne, but it's also possible that he just has an ego)
• I wouldn't exactly call Ink Bendy good, either. I don't think there's a good single description for the morality of him, but I do think he's either going to become distinctly more violent in a rage sort of way or notably less malicious to at least main characters later in the storyline, be it with the next game or something else. Regardless, I don't think he'll be the overarching Big Bad of the Bendy universe. Hell, even in the first game, the biggest overaching evil is Joey Drew, he just doesn't get a boss fight.
Tl;dr: Ink Bendy's intent seems more ambiguous than evil in BATIM, and I'm very curious to see what role he plays later on, because I do think it's going to change.
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queen0fm0nsterz · 3 years
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If we can infer the masks that Six acquires once belonged to previous Ladies in their youth then we can figure out their personalities based on the masks meaning/descriptions altogether: The teacup mask girl probably was too curious for her own good, Scarecrow mask girl was terrified and tried to close her eyes from horrors, Fox Mask girl was rather cunning and brave with skill in exploring, Tengu Mask girl may has accepted her fate in the end to fit in with the horrors
(Give this post a look for context!)
OMG YES! I'm so glad we're on the same train of thought, anon! Let's break these girls down and take a look at the rooms where their boxes are found as well and see if we can get a general idea of what the previous Ladies must have been like.
Teapot
Here's the official description of the teapot mask:
"Six is a natural born explorer, but bad things can happen if she peeks a little too far in. By the looks of things, she might be wearing this Upside-down Teapot a little while longer! "
Just like you said, anon, this girl must have been too curious for her own good, venturing into places she wasn't supposed to be in. I like how they drew a parallel between Six and Teapot, mentioning that they're both explorers.
The room where we can find Teapot's box, and in particular the outfit she's wearing, is quite interesting.
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The implication here is that she probably used to be a prisoner of some sort. Plus, to reach her box we actually have to mess with the stairs quite a bit and she's literally stuck in a tiny hole between boxes. This is probably symbolic: the other rooms containing the boxes all use some sort of symbolism, so this could rappresent Teapot feeling trapped.
So to sum this one up: Teapot used to be a curious child, exploring around in places where she shouldn't have. Because of the prison motif we can theorize that she might have felt trapped once she took on the role of the Lady, a role she couldn't find her way out from.
Tengu
Tengu is an interesting one, and I can easily tell you she's my favorite out of the four. Let's take a look at the official description for her mask:
"Fear can take many forms and can live in many worlds. Wearing this Japanese Tengu mask won’t keep Six safe from harm, but it will certainly make her fit in! "
The "live in many worlds" line... possible reference to the fact that the children might come from a different dimention rather than the one LN takes place in? I'm probably overthinking this. Still, I definetely think Tengu not only accepted but also embraced her role as the Lady, unlike Teapot. The implication from this is that she did it out of fear and self preservation. You know what they say - if you can't beat 'em, join them. Still, it doesn't seem like it kept her out of harms way.
I think it's also worth mentioning that Tengu masks are used as decorations because they're believed to frighten bad spirits and bring good luck. Mh.
Moving on to Tengu's room, this one is a BRAIN SCRATCHER.
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This isn't actually in Tengu's room but the one right before, I just want you guys to keep in mind that the doodles on the wall were indeed done by nomes. Moving on to her actual room, we start off pretty strong.
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GIRL IF THAT ISN'T THE THIN MAN COMING OUT FROM THE TV I LITERALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. Look at him, he's even got his hands in display like he does when he's about to break free in LN 2 and when he kidnaps the toddler in the comics!
He seems to be going after a group of children, the nome and his friends? The implication here is that he kidnapped them.
EDIT: OK HAHAHA SOMEONE IN THE COMMENTS MADE ME NOTICE THAT IT MOST LIKELY IS JUST AN AIR BALOON. So I probably just overanalized this (thank you for commenting btw!! I appreciated that a lot!). Still, I think the hand in the room before belongs to the Thin Man, or possibly even the Ferryman. Or even some other monster entirely. So the kids ran away from somewhere using it. I wonder if they where trying to avoid going on the Maw... mhhh. Anyway, their escape failed.
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And here we see the ever present, all seeing Eye, and boom! Suddenly the children have been turned into nomes. That particular eye shape reminded me of the security eye we can find on the Maw. But what caught my attention the most is this:
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Lo and behold, a tall, feminine figure, who has also been doodled on, implying that she died, right behind Tengu's box. I'd also like to point out that all the candles in the room have either melted or are about to.
This nome seems to have told us his own little adventure he had with his friends before he was captured by one of the previous Thin Men and brought on the Maw? Only to be turned into a nome by Tengu, a.k.a. one of the Ladies.
To wrap our girl up: Tengu, unlike Teapot, had accepted her fate and embraced her new role as the Lady of the Maw to the fullest in order to survive. It's also possible that she used to be familiar with one of the previous Thin Men, seeing how he's most likely taking the children to the Maw. Unfortunately, the Tengu mask did not protect her from the horrors of the world and she met her end.
Fox
Out of all the presumed Ladies, Fox seems to be the one most similar to Six, at least according to her mask's description:
" With so many nooks & crannies to explore in this unpredictable place, it takes someone special to survive. Six is as brave and cunning a character as you will find, so this Fox mask couldn’t have found a better home! "
It's pointed out how it takes someone special to survive in an enviroment like the one the LN Universe has to offer, which is an obvious nodd to Six, but I think it might also be referring to Fox herself. Now, let's take a look at the room before the one Fox's box is found. Look at the drawing on the wall.
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A tall woman surrounded by seven children, who match the seven nomes you have to find in order to get access to this room. Following the reasoning we used before, we'll presume the tall woman is Fox, a.k.a one of the Ladies. Note how a part of her head is missing, almost as if it got ripped away.
We get in her actual room and would you look at that.
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The seven nomes, chilling quietly in Fox's room. It's very clear that they're all prefectly comfortable with bring here, see as there's one of the nomes just swinging silently on their little swing. The pillow next to Fox's box has been ripped. The implication I get here is that our girl might have gotten a little too brave and... lost her head.
I don't know about you but this feels like a memorial to me, similar to the one other nomes made for their friends a few rooms ahead.
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(This one. Also, the box there contains a Shadow Child figure. Definetely talking about this in a separate post.)
To sum Fox up: she was a cunning, brave, special girl, very similar to Six. Even though she most likely took on the role of the Lady, children seemed to trust her enough to be comfortable in her presence. However, something happened to her that led her to meet a very gruesome end. Possibly her successor killing her? Or maybe she was punished for being too kind to the children? Perhaps, a bit of both.
Scarecrow
There's not a lot to say about Scarecrow, if I have to be honest. Here's the official description of her mask:
" The Maw is filled with awful things hiding in the shadows and around every corner. Wear this twisted old Scarecrow Sack - it might not frighten away the monsters, but at least you won’t see them! "
Ok but let me tell you, the Scarecrow mask reminds me a lot of the sack the Hunter wears. You could say the two are similar in a way: the Hunter wears his sack to prevent himself from seeing the TVs, while Scarecrow wears hers to avoid looking at the monsters she had surrounded herself with. She most likely kept to herself most of the time, just like him.
Her room seems to suggest the same thing.
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It's small, only illuminated by a small light and hidden away from the rest of the world; away from the horrors. Now, the ripped portrait of the Pretender behind her? No clue what that could mean, but see as the previous room contained a lot of portraits about the Pretender and her life? The two might be connected, or similar in some way.
Perhaps the Pretender is, deep down, just like Scarecrow was? Scared, terrified even, of the monsters around her and that's why she created her own fake little world where she can play with her ""friends"" without a care in the world? Her name IS the Pretender, after all.
Finally, the last summary: Scarecrow is a scared one, even after taking the role of the Lady she prefers to hide away into her own quarters, turning a blind eye to the horrors she (indirectly?) causes so she won't have to face them.
Ahh, this was a lot, but we got all the girls here! I really wanna hear you guys' thoughts on this one.
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dork-empress · 3 years
Text
Singing in the Dead of Night
Damian Wayne meets a new masked persona in Gotham, and everyone has to adjust to her.
AKA I have a lot of headcanons about Lucy Quinzel and I'm making it other people's problem.
I want it up front that I haven't read these comics, just a lot of wiki pages and tiktoks. If there's a fun thing in the comics you can tell me, but this is my own version of this universe and these characters.
This is going to be the main story, but I may do some offshoots. If you want to subscribe, chapters are also posted on my Ao3 (link in my description).
“You need to take things less seriously.”
Damian looked up, looked down, and then looked back just to be sure it was really his father who asked. It was hard to tell sometimes if your superhero father had been replaced or possessed or something. “Are you serious? YOU’RE telling me that?”
“That should enforce to you how dire the situation is.” Bruce said, leaning back in his chair. “You’re still a kid,”
“I’m 15,” Damian said, then thought about his varied adventures, “Technically…”
“My point exactly,” Bruce said, turning a page on his crime reports, “You should enjoy being a kid, for a while.”
“Oh, did you enjoy being 15?” Damian said, and maybe that was a low blow, but if Bruce wasn’t ready for him to call him out he...shouldn’t have made him upset. Hmm.
Bruce looked up and stared into his soul, and Damian worried he might have stepped in it a bit. He backed up a step in case. Bruce took a deep breath, looking at him. “My childhood was stolen from me, but I at least had one. As did all the other Robins. You’re not responsible for what happened to you,but I think you could use some time. I couldn’t offer you a childhood then, and I can hardly do that now, I know, but I can do what I can.”
“And what are you doing?” Damian asked, narrowing his eyes.
“You’re suspended from Robin duties.”
“WHAT?!” Damian exploded, getting in his face. “What are you talking about?!”
Bruce didn’t flinch, “Until the Wayne Manor Christmas Party,” Bruce said, “I’ve called Tim and he’s willing to cover for you until then.”
“He doesn’t NEED to cover me,” Damian snarled, “I’m right here! I’m not injured, or dead, or ANYTHING I just--WHY?”
“I told you,” Bruce said, “You need to find other...hobbies, or form connections or SOMEthing. Anything other than the lifestyle. You have two months, you’ll live.”
Damian curled his fists, shaking, but had no more arguments. “You’re the WORST!” He said, and went off to his rooms.
The room was left in stony silence for a moment. Alfred came in, changing out Bruce’s cup of tea. “You don’t actually expect that to work, do you?”
“Not really, no,” Bruce said, “But he’ll be out of my hair for a little bit.”
Alfred was very dignified and so did not snort. But it was close.
Damian went out at night, saying he was off with a friend. Best to keep things vague, but if Bruce pressed, he’d say he was with Jon, and could probably bully Jon into vouching for him.
He dressed all in black, jumping from the rooftops, looking for trouble. There was usually plenty of it in Gotham. He just had to avoid the Bat Signal hanging in the sky and he’d be fine.
He heard a crash and looked down. Jewelry store robbery. Perfect.
He jumped down to ground level and approached the broken in window, taking out his sword. “Anyone in here, it’s better to surrender now,”
Of course, because it was Gotham, he wasn’t met by a normal jewel thief. No, instead, what approached him was a small walking orange balloon animal dog.
Because of course it was.
With an act first, think later attitude, he stabbed at it. He regretted it instantly as it let out some sort of opaque gas, the effects of which he didn’t want to find out. He pulled his shirt up over his mouth in hopes of preventing himself breathing too much in.
“Oh wow,” a voice said behind him, “Are you Robin?”
Damian whipped around and scowled. The gas was obscuring whoever was there, but the silhouette seemed like something of a ballerina. Why couldn’t one criminal just be normal?
He jumped back, ready to attack, but she didn’t fight him. “I’m not Robin,” he said, “I’m…” he didn’t think of another name. Ugh, this was more complicated than it needed to be.
“Huh,” she said, heading over to the display case, “This city sure has a lot of teenage ninja fighters, doesn’t it? Is ninja appropriative? Hmm, will have to think on that.”
She picked up a diamond ring from the display case and headed for the door. “Put that down!” Damian yelled at her, lifting his sword up.
“What, are you going to kill me for one ring?” She said, holding it, “Kinda overkill, don’t you think, Blackbird?”
Damian put his sword up to her, blocking the exit. “I’m not going to kill you, I’m just going to stop you,” he said, determined, but then her words sank in. “Blackbird?”
“Well, I’ve got to call you something, isn’t that how these superhero fights all go?” She stepped forward out of the fog, a girl about his age with a white painted face, lips painted into a heart, and bright orange and pink eyeshadow. “I’m Commedia, the hero of funny, the dancing clown, the laughing knight, etc etc.” she said, “im still working on my name too.”
She did a fancy twirl, getting out of range of Damian’s sword, which he countered to block her from the entrance again. “Oh, you like to dance?” she said.
“Clown, huh?” he said, staring her down, “You work for the joker?”
She laughed, high pitched and sweet, “Very much no,” she said, twirling again through the store, “Though I understand the confusion. No, Joker is...well, a joke. He’s not even registered in the clown registry.”
“There’s a clown registry?” He swung his sword.
This time, it came to a stop, with a matching jingle. He frowned, and saw it was a tambourine that the woman had lifted and stopped the sword like a shield.
He stared at the girl, Commedia, in stunned silence. She smiled brightly at him. “Well, this has been fun. But I really ought to head out. Raincheck on that dance, Blackbird.”
With a spin and a jump, she made it past him and rushed out the door, throwing a pink flower behind. A gas filled up the room in her wake, obscuring the view. Damian unfortunately got a whiff before he could block his nose, but he knew a simple fog cloud scent when he smelled it.
Damian went back into the shadows before the police inevitably arrived. It did seem below his paygrade, fighting someone who only stole a single diamond ring. But it was even stranger for that fact. A strangely dressed clown woman engaging in very strange and specific crimes in Gotham screamed “beginning of a dangerous plot.”
He wanted to go in swinging as usual, then remembered that if his father heard anything about a young person with a sword threatening police, he might catch onto the fact Damian went out that night. So, he went with the subtle approach. Breaking into the jewelry store’s records.
He was glad he did. It turned out that ring in particular had a history. It had been bought, returned, bought again, and returned once more, all by the same man, a Matthew Crenshaw. A quick records search brought up that he was a simple caller at a center. Nothing special about him. But, he was tied to the ring, and that tied him to the girl, so that was his first stop.
He tracked down the apartment to find Matthew Crenshaw in the middle of a very strange day. Damien watched through the window as Matthew lay on the floor of his meager living room, looking up at Commedia herself. She held the ring out to him, offering. “Well come on, man! Take it!”
“I don’t…” he mumbled, “Who...who are you?!”
“Just call me your fairy godmother,” she said. “Come on, you said you wanted it! So take it!”
“That’s…” Matthew said, “That’s the ring that Jenny liked...that she…”
“That you said would make the perfect proposal!” She said, dancing around, “So? Here it is! Now you can propose for real!” she said, giving it to him.
He juggled it, nearly falling over. Commedia came rushing over, jumping through the window and onto the fire escape. “Alright, hands up,” Damian urged her.
She turned, smiling. “Why, Blackbird? We going on roller coaster?” She put her hands high in the air and swung around the fire escape ladder, “Weeeeee!”
Damian followed her, pointing his sword tip at her chest. “Stop,” he said, “What are you planning?”
“Well, I’m planning to go sneak up to that window up there so I can look in and see what Matty and Jenny have going on,” She said, “Wanna join--OH!”
Damian pressed his sword up to her neck. “Cut the games,” He said, “You’re up to something, I know it. So tell me.”
Commedia sighed, giving in. “Matthew doesn’t want to get married.”
“I...what?” Damian said, confused.
“Matthew Crenshaw, the guy up there,” Commedia said, “He’s a nice guy, and he cares for his girlfriend Jenny, sure. But she’s been pressuring him about getting married, even though he doesn’t really like the idea of getting married. He’s talked himself into saying that he needs the perfect ring, but when he bought it, he decided he couldn’t afford it, and gave it back. So, I got it for him.”
Damian’s scowl only deepened as she kept talking. “Who’s he to you?”
She tilted her head, confused. “He cold called me to try and offer me a deal on car insurance.”
Damian put down the sword. He just. She said it so sincerely. “Who ARE you?” He demanded, now out of confusion more than anger.
She smiled brightly once more. “Why, I’m Commedia! The hero clown, the dancing--”
“Yeah, you said all that before, but like,” He sighed, “Why?”
Commedia’s smile fell down to something simple and kind. She offered a hand to him.
Hesitant, curious, and just...confused, he took it.
She led him to the other window, where they saw Jenny walking through the door. She gasped and ran to Matthew. “Oh, Matt! Matt, yes! Yes, I do, I do, I never thought this day would come! Oh gosh, I gotta call my mom, I’ve got a few dresses all picked out. You’ll see, it’ll be a huge party with everyone we know and-”
“Jenny,” he said, “Jenny wait, I...you know I don’t...I’m not comfortable with crowds and...and I don’t--
“But it’s MY DAY!” Jenny wailed, “You wouldn’t take MY day from me, would you?”
“C’mon,” Commedia muttered.
“Please, Jen,” Matt continued, “Look it’s just...if, if we did get married, shouldn’t--wouldn’t it be my day too?”
“Oh come ON, Matt,” Jenny said, walking to the counter, “We both know I’m the one who knows what’s best for you. It’ll be good! You’ll finally get to shine, and if you don’t like it, you’ll have ME there to take the rest of the spotlight!”
Matt’s hands balled into fists, and his face set, “No.”
“What?” Jenny said, incredulous.
“I’ve had it! I’m tired of-of you telling me what I like and what I don’t!” his lip trembled as he stood up. “I knew I was hesitant, but I didn’t know why! Now I see it’s becasue I didn’t want you in the rest of my life!”
“Hey now,” Jenny said, “Matt, calm down--”
“Get out of my house!” Matt went to the open window Commedia left behind and tossed out the ring.
“Whoopsies,” Commedia said and dropped away. Damian, confused, dropped down after her.
She picked the ring up from the ground and held it out to Damian. “I trust you can get this back to the jewelry store.”
“So, all of that…” he said, “was to help a guy get out of a bad relationship? That you barely knew?”
“He sounded sad on the phone,” Commedia said, “Made me curious.”
Damian scoffed, staring at her. “Who ARE you?”
She chuckled. “My guess is you’ll find out sooner or later,” she said, “So I’ll pick later, for now. But I’m sure I’ll see you again soon, Blackbird.”
She took out another flower. This one shot off into the distance like a grappling hook, and pulled her twirling into the night.
Damian could have followed her, maybe. But, holding the ring in his hands, he didn’t see much need to.
Across town, Batman was called to a bank robbery in the middle of the night. Inside, however, he didn’t find the vault broken in, and nothing stolen, other than a number of complimentary lollipops. “You know there are easier ways to get my attention.”
“Aw, Come on Bats!” Harley said, swinging from the ceiling with one of the lollipops in her mouth, “Ain’t this a classic? Brings me back to the old days.”
“Oh, you’ve stopped doing crime then?” He said, leaning back and looking up at her, “News to me.”
Harley flipped down in front of him. “Batsy, you know I’m tryin’! I do good, is it a crime to have a little fun while I do it?”
“If you hurt people, yes.” Batman said.
Harley deflated. “I haven’t done that in a while now. I’m goin through some life changes.”
Batman hummed, staring down at her. “I’m guessing this is about the small clown that has been reported around town recently doing strange acts of minor crimes to help people?”
Harley brightened again, balancing on the teller counter. “She’s my new apprentice! A bit of a goody-two-shoes, but I’m doing my best to train her.” She did a handstand, “I came to ask for some advice at raising child soldiers, considering you have so much experience.”
Batman always scowled, but it seemed his scowl deepened on that. “I help some people come to terms with terrible things that have happened to them, and teach them to be a force of good in the world instead of falling to the world’s darkness.” He thought back on his children, “It doesn’t always work.”
Harley laughed, “No kidding,” she said. She sighed, thinking. “To be honest, Commedia is already pretty good. I can’t claim credit for that.” She rocked back and forth, feeling uneasy.
Batman approached, slow so as not to scare her. “Well, we both know she didn’t get it from her father.”
Her face was already white, but she blanched further. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, “She’s my niece, she ran from home so I’m taking care of her and-”
“Harley,” Batman stopped her rambling, “I’m a detective, remember?”
She frowned, shaking at him. “He doesn’t know,” she said, “No one knows, she...she’s never met him and I don’t want her to I--”
Batman held up his hands, stopping her again. “I know,” he said, “I understand, really. And I’ll help.”
She blinked up at him, smiling. “Really?”
Batman nodded. “I’ll help you protect her. As for advice....if you ever figure out a perfect way to raise masked vigilantes, let me know. I mostly just do the best I can, and make sure they can do a proper spin-kick if they need to.”
Harley snorted. “I’ll make a note of that.” She grabbed the box of free lollies on the counter, “I am going to be robbing these though, and you can’t stop me.”
She headed for the back entrance and away. “Harley,” Batman called her again, and she froze, “The year you were gone, when you disappeared and suddenly your sister had a child she wasn’t pregnant with. I want you to know, I noticed.”
Harley smiled, turning, “Thanks Bats-” When she turned, he was gone. “And people call me a drama queen.”
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