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utilitycaster · 4 months

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I'm Reading the Drizzt Novels and You Can't Stop Me: Homeland (and some anticipated questions)

Welcome to yet another ongoing series from me, a person who should be doing other things and may abandon it but also frankly will do this for her own entertainment regardless of whether anyone else cares. Let's back up first; if you're not in this car with me, get out of the rearview mirror.

Until now I have pretty much only read the Drizzt novels in situations where I was unwell, tired, or without another easy means of entertainment. Specifically, I read the first few while quarantining with a mild but still unpleasant case of COVID in late 2022, and then some others while dealing with catching up at work/post-illness fatigue/the general vibes of December in the northeast and Midatlantic states of the US. This caught me up to book 6, which represent the scene-setting; more on this later.

I then read Book 7 on a long train ride with nothing else to do, while very tired and probably a little hungover, in January 2023. I enjoyed it, in part because Wulfgar, who I do not care for, dies. (spoilers I guess? I'm not explicitly avoiding spoilers because these books are 30+ years old, but I'm not seeking them out, and I believe he comes back to life eventually).

I then proceeded to read Real Books (TM) for the remainder of 2023, some of which I can recommend highly and some of which were dumber than Wulfgar. Flash forward to getting my car serviced in the tail end of December 2023. I intended to bring my laptop. I did not. I also intended to bring headphones. I did not. And so, with a phone with so-so battery and little interest in watching HGTV, I read book 8. And I thought "what if I started doing this, because I can knock out one of these motherfuckers in a day if I try hard enough." I then thought "what if I slam books 1-7 again and do a book a week in 2024?"

Clearly I did not do this, because again, I have other books to read and things to do. However, I have finally, after another long-ass train ride, finished a reread of book 1. And so, with an unclear but hopefully from now on twice a month at least (?) update schedule, I bring you: Homeland. The rest of these posts will probably be way shorter.

For anyone who is not familiar with Drizzt or Forgotten Realms or whatever: this is a weird choice you've made. Anyway. Forgotten Realms is THE iconic D&D setting; it's where both the Baldur's Gate series is set as well as the D&D movie plus all kinds of adventures. What's it like? Well, it's basically The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, for all my Diana Wynne Jones fans out there. Do none of these references work for you? You'll just have to pick it up as we go along.

The Legend of the Legend of Drizzt is basically, as far as I know (and I don't know much) R.A. Salvatore was hired to write some cool adventures in a D&D setting in the early 90s. The plan, per the suits, was to follow Wulfgar, who was big and blond and very Conan The Barbarian which is, I should note, way more the vibe of D&D than LOTR much as we (D&D players) are loathe to admit it. However, Wulfgar had brains made out of one of the boring adult cereals: dull, and only slightly more fibrous than the fun cereals like Honey Bunches of Oats. Meanwhile, Drizzt, his drow buddy, fucking ruled. And so, after writing three very sword-and-sorcery (or more accurately, scimitar-and-wizardry) books, Salvatore returned to fill in Drizzt's backstory. And thus we begin in Homeland.

Drizzt Do'Urden is a drow, or dark elf, which in this setting are almost universally evil because they worship Lolth the spider queen. Is this Not Great? Yes. I also am reading The Wheel of Time, which is Even Worse About Biology As Destiny. The main purpose of this book is to cover Drizzt's childhood from when he leaves the underground drow city of Menzoberranzan.

Drizzt's mother is called Malice, unironically. The naming of drow makes no fucking sense, while we're at it; Malice, Zaknafein, SiNaFay, and Alton DeVir are all supposed to be from the same language? I'm not buying it. ANYWAY. Drow society is matriarchal bc spiders and because, as this post says, Salvatore REALLY wanted to be stepped on. Drizzt was born the third son, and was going to be sacrificed to Lolth because third sons are useless. His birth was ALSO being used by Malice to fuel an attack on House DeVir, because if you slaughter a whole-ass house in Menzoberranzan it's admirable of you, bc ontologically evil; and Lolth powers are increased by childbirth or some jazz.

Several important things happen here, pretty much all simultaneously, heralding Our Chosen One (Drizzt):

The attack on House DeVir goes super well for House Do'Urden

The second oldest brother, Dinin, kills his wizard elder brother (known as the elderboy by the creative geniuses of Menzoberranzan) which means Drizzt can survive because they need a replacement wizard boy.

We learn that Drizzt's father (one of Malice's several consorts) is Zaknafein, who fucking hates his life and how shitty drow society is but also is really good at murder and so he kind of hangs out doing that for House Do'Urden

A wizard who melted his face off fails to kill Alton DeVir, the last of the house of DeVir, which means technically House Do'Urden's attack was illegitimate. However, Masoj Hun'ett, of another powerful house, kills the faceless wizard and Alton takes the wizard's place, but desires VENGEANCE.

Drizzt has lavender eyes but is not blind. His eye color will come up approximately a zillion times. I considered counting, but trust me it's SO many.

The rest of the book covers the following, roughly in order:

Drizzt is super good at everything from a young age; he is placed in the care of his only full sibling, Vierna. Zak manages to successfully argue that Drizzt's dexterity is SO good that he HAS to be a fighter and not a wizard, which permits him to train Drizzt, who is, as discussed, good at everything. He almost mercy-kills him before school because he'd rather his son die innocent than become a drow, but also he hates the idea of killing a child, and also Drizzt is a really good fighter, and so it doesn't happen. They depart on bad terms though.

Drizzt then goes to fighter school (instead of wizard school) and is an excellent fighter but not naturally deceptive and backstabbing because he is Pure of Heart; he is constantly skirting trouble by asking such questions as "why do we all want to murder each other all the time though" and "why is our graduation ceremony a drug fueled spider goddess orgy"

Masoj and Alton scheme; Alton eventually learns in a hoisted by his own petard way that the faceless wizard was also of house Hun,ett, and that house is willing to help him strike back at house Do'Urden

Masoj has a magic panther named Guenhwyvar who likes Drizzt more than him.

Drizzt goes on a surface raid and fucking loves the surface, and feels bad about murdering the surface elves, so he fakes the brutal slaughter of an elven girl. Lolth sees this and doesn't like it one bit and blames the whole house.

Drizzt proves himself on other patrols, and realizes Masoj Hun'ett keeps trying to fucking kill him, notably on a patrol where they run into deep gnomes (svirfneblin). Drizzt spares one of them as well. Dinin is growing suspicious.

Malice realizes that Lolth is mad and assumes it's Zaknafein, known problem, but Lolth tells her someone already knows

Drizzt tells her about Masoj, under questioning

Drizzt and Zak reunite and realize they are kindred spirits who are like "wait our society is MAD fucked up and miserable" and excitedly decide to run away and stop being miserable, BUT Malice is Scrying on them the whole time.

Drizzt goes out to clear his mind and gets cornered by Masoj and Alton. They try to kill him. Joke's on them! Drizzt kills Masoj, Alton's own wand blows up and kills him, and Drizzt gets the panther.

HOWEVER joke is also on Drizzt because Malice approaches Zak and tells him she's going to murder Drizzt, to which Zak tells her to kill him instead. She does so.

Drizzt learns of this and runs away.

The entire book is threaded through with Drizzt's first person reflections, which are actually quite touching at times but also definitely kind of overwrought so I do keep reading them as if they are Sex and the City/Scrubs/Winona Ryder in the 80s (Beetlejuice, Heathers) diary entries

And so our stage is set. If I recall correctly book two is "you have your father's morals; and his tendency towards clinical depression" so we're going to have a rollicking good time (genuine).

#m reads lod #this time with plot summaries #i'm reading the drizzt novels and you can't stop me

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iridescentgleam · 1 year

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I did it! I finished the Four Swords Manga! It's really late in the day for me, but I didn't finish it until now because I ran out of the sticky tabs I was using to write down any notes about Vio and I couldn't get more until a few hours ago, actually lmao. So here are my final updates! I'll probably do another post tomorrow talking about some of the notes I wrote, but I'd just like to thank you all for joining me on this journey! I've had lots of fun!

We get to see more of Vio's sick archery skills and, honestly, I'm here for it! Love this pose!

No, because this is actually really important. Especially Shadow hearing these words from Zelda, who outright slapped him in the face early in the manga. The open look of realization and vulnerability is so powerful,,,

I'm sorry, I know this is a really big moment in the manga, especially because it preludes to Shadow's death, but, like, this lowkey jump-scared me. Like, I had to do a double-take. They were eluding to something being up with Vio, but I was not expecting them to just come out and say that Shadow was pretending to be Vio. It gives much-needed context to the reader, but damn did that take me off-guard lmao

Vio looks so stern here! He's realized that Shadow's up to something, but he's scared of what it is because whatever way the implications lead, it's not looking good either way. Not to mention, Shadow ran off before anyone could confront him about it but AFTER helping them, so like, Vio's mind is probably going a million miles an hour.

AWWWWWWW!!!! Vio being the one to tell him this is really sweet, despite the fact that they haven't talked to one another after Vio's betrayal,,, His whole death scene is really bittersweet, actually, but I like the ending they gave him! Especially because... well, you'll see!

Had to include some Red before I finish off the post because I love him dearly! ❤️ Genuinely was not going into this expecting Red to be my favorite of the Main Four, but he is and I cherish him quite a lot. He may be kind of tied with Blue for "comic relief character" but they both have really serious moments, too, and, overall, I don't have a lot of complaints with Red's characterization tbh, and I liked the way they made Blue mature by the end without ruining his character either!

Hmmmmmmmmm... HMMMMMMMMMMMM... (This. This is what I mean when I liked the ending he got. I know people like to bring him back in fanworks and such, and that's okay too! I like both equally, but I also don't have complaints about his ending!)

I think I'll leave it here for tonight! Overall, I'm so glad I gave this book a chance! It was such a blast reading it for the first time!

#loz four swords #four swords #four swords adventures #four swords manga #four swords vio #vio link #four swords shadow #shadow link #four swords red #red link #reading the four swords manga #the end!

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foreverfallingforthestars · 2 years

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Going to You

I wanted to make this a longer project, but I don't have the time nor the energy to add to my WIP lmao. But either way, I really hope that people enjoy this cute little (not so little?) story about long distance friends meeting!! Also the banners I'm making for these are so trash but I'm rolling with it lol. As usual, let me know if you'd like to be added to my tag list for TOG!

Word Count: 2729 CW: cursing Read on AO3 Rowaelin Month 2022 Masterlist

Day 3 of Rowaelin Month Prompt: Travel/Vacation

~~~~~~~~~~

>> Look, it’s you! I appreciate you. *Attachment: a picture of a hawk trying to pick up a tortoise with the caption: ‘HAWKS. Born to make you feel smarter’*

<< Aelin.

>> Yes?

<< Shut up.

Aelin laughed out loud as she locked her phone and tucked it away into her pocket before walking into the conference room for her meeting. It was always nice to get a laugh in by teasing her best friend when her day was dragging , especially when she knew that he wasn’t going to get his feathers ruffled just from a simple joke.

Even as the thought crossed her mind, Aelin had to suppress another laugh. She wished that she could’ve seen his reaction in real time but alas, that was the way things worked with them — texts, phone calls, the occasional video calls.

She had met Rowan Whitethorn accidentally a year ago, and if she were being honest, she felt as though the fact that the two of them had met was simply a stroke of fate, not an accident.

It was one of many late nights that Aelin had been spending at work, waiting for a client to respond to her email, when she decided to waste time on Instagram, and as she got further and further down her scrolling spree, she came across book editor Rowan Whitethorn’s page about current popular books on social media and how social media was causing waves of trends amongst the book community. She messaged him about the video, something that she normally didn’t do. The most Aelin would do to interact with others online was like the reels and posts she would see.

She still didn’t understand why she had decided to click on his profile and message him, but that was what kickstarted their friendship. The four hour time difference between Terrasen and Doranelle made it so Aelin’s late night was merely Rowan’s early evening, and somehow they made it work. The single message had spiraled into a conversation that lasted for hours, and Aelin had left at nearly eleven that night, despite finishing the last bit of work an hour earlier. The next morning, she had awoken to a few more messages from Rowan, seeming incredibly hesitant as he wondered if they could continue the conversation.

Aelin wholeheartedly agreed.

Soon enough, the conversation had moved off of Instagram to texting as they shared phone numbers, and then whenever Aelin was driving home from work, she’d call Rowan and they’d talk on the phone, and on weekends, they would video call too. Within a year, everyone around Aelin had spoken to Rowan at least once and they all knew that he was her best friend. They were essentially penpals, but it was also so much more. Rowan was her rock, her home away from home, and every day she would look forward to the moments when they could get a few messages in.

To be fair, half the time the messages would involve Aelin teasing Rowan for being such a fussy, old man — she didn’t even care that he was thirty years old, four years older than her twenty six. There was one time where Aelin was sick enough to sleep through the day, and Rowan swore he thought she had gone up and died without telling him. Needless to say, he now had her cousin, Aedieon’s, phone number, and she had gotten herself a worrywart across the ocean.

It wasn’t as though she would trade that for the world, though, because even though she had never met Rowan in person, she was fairly sure that he was her favorite person in the world, and the feeling probably extended past friendship, but Aelin would be absolutely batshit insane to ever tell him that, especially over text .

But despite everything, she wanted to do something special for the two of them, so ever since Rowan had mentioned that he needed a weekend off away from his normal life, she decided that she would take it upon herself to plan the perfect little weekend vacation that they could use to meet up as well.

Aelin had booked the tickets to a small group of tourist friendly islands called Mistward last night and was waiting for the perfect time to forward the ticket information over to his email, and what better time would it be than to do it when he knew he couldn’t call her and chew her out because she was going to be in a meeting? Deciding to bite the bullet, she opened up her email, entered Rowan's email address, and hit forward before setting her phone on vibrate and pulling up a notes app on her tablet as the meeting began.

Sure enough, within minutes, her phone started vibrating. Discreetly looking down at her watch where the notifications were also coming through, all she saw was her name coming from Rowan, and she suppressed a smile at the thought of how angry he would pretend to be.

It took longer than expected to get back to Rowan thanks to the meeting running longer than the allotted forty five minutes, but Rowan had responded as soon as she did.

<< Aelin.

>> I thought you told me to shut up, so I did!

<< You did not just pay for two tickets to an island destination for this weekend.

>> I most definitely did, buzzard.

<< I can’t expect you to pay for me like that

>> Get used to it because if it were up to you, you’d never take a break

>> Says the woman working sixty hours a week?

<< Shush this is my moment to make sense

<< Just accept it! This is our moment to meet, Rowan

Aelin had to wait a couple of minutes before Rowan responded, and the entire time she was waiting, she tried not to chew her thumbnail down to the very nub, and thankfully she succeeded, but just barely.

>> Fine, but I’m paying for dinner.

<< It’s a date.

~*~*~*~*~

In mere minutes, she would be seeing Rowan Whitethorn for the first time.

In mere minutes, she would be touching Rowan Whitethorn for the first time.

In mere minutes, she would be with her best friend for the first time, and Aelin absolutely could not deal.

She never realized that it could be strange, the feeling of meeting someone for the first time despite having known such deep and sincere things about them.

She had known the pain of loss that he had felt when Lyria had died, just weeks after getting engaged to her, and he had understood the guilt she felt when Sam had died due to a drunk driver because he was trying to pick her up from a party one night.

Aelin knew Rowan, but it was incredibly weird to think about how she didn’t really know him at the same time? She didn’t know if he cracked his knuckles frequently like she did or if he liked to twitch his leg; however, she desperately hoped all of that would change over the course of the next two days.

The two were expected to land within thirty minutes of each other (which was a miracle in of itself considering the time difference of leaving on a Friday afternoon) and had decided to meet up at the baggage claim area, and so there Aelin was, sitting on her suitcase with her phone in hand as she scrolled through Rowan’s Instagram pictures, trying to visualize his small photos as a real, live human before deciding that the entire idea was stupid and she needed to get her shit together.

He was going to be here in…three minutes, and she felt the pterodactyls rushing her stomach. Oh god, she could not throw up here. That would be such a bad way to meet someone for the first time. Instead of thinking about all of the nerves, she focused on looking at her notes app and checking through the itinerary of what they were planning on doing. As soon as they got out of the airport, the plan was to get to the hotel that Aelin had booked where they had connecting rooms and immediately go out walking without a plan to find the little nooks and crannies of the area with the restaurants without lines going out the door. Those places tended to be more authentic and not geared towards tourists. Obviously, they were going to do all the touristy things later on during the rest of the weekend before they had to leave Sunday night for the flight. It was in the plan that they would be going to the Oakwald Wilderness Park and swimming in the local waterfalls. After that, they would also be going to the beach and just spending a while tanning in the sunlight, but for the most part, Aelin wanted the chance to relearn her best friend in person .

She was so lost in looking at her phone that she jumped when she felt someone touch her shoulder. Whipping her head around, she startled as she took in the man standing in front of her with a slight nervous smile. His tan skin was a contrast against the silver hair that Aelin had only seen through screens. The tattoo running down his left arm was exposed as well, another thing that Aelin had only seen in detail through her screen as he showed it to her through the camera. Finally, she looked into his pine-green eyes, and it finally hit her that the man in front of her was Rowan.

Her Rowan.

“Oh my god,” she breathed, standing and turning around at the same time, nearly tumbling off the suitcase. Rowan grabbed her gently by her forearms to steady her, and they stood there for a moment. Aelin was aware that they probably looked like a pair of idiots pretending to be in a movie, but it felt as though time had stopped for her as she took in Rowan until she had the presence of mind to speak.

“Hi, Buzzard,” she greeted with a smile, her heart filling up with emotions she was starting to parse through and understand was excitement and happiness and the nerves of seeing a man she liked. Rowan let go of her with a laugh, but he didn’t go far.

“Hey, Fireheart,” he greeted back, and she let out a laugh of relief. He was in front of her, and they were going to do this.

At first it was a bit strange to be talking to each other in person, but eventually they fell into a familiar rhythm of teasing each other and talking about literally anything. Even as they got settled into their respective hotel rooms, they left the connecting door open to scream across as they unpacked. Eventually they made their way out of the hotel and started walking around. There were moments that she wished Rowan would just take a hold of her hand, but the more rational part of her brain knew that it would be weird.

“So, this is weird, right?” she finally gave in and asked as they continued to dodge other tourists walking around the pathway as the sun was slowly setting, casting an orange glow over the buildings.

Rowan looked down at her with a smile. “Yeah, but it’s a good weird.”

“How is weird ever good?”

“I mean, you’re weird.”

“Excuse you,” she retorted in an offended tone and a hand on her heart. Rowan just laughed again, and Aelin couldn’t get over how rich it sounded in real life.

“I can’t get over how I can just reach over and touch you,” he explained, a genuine wonder in his expression as he poked her cheek gently with his index finger.

Swatting his hand away, Aelin hummed in agreement. “I’m mad that you’re so much taller than me.”

“It’s amazing how you’re so small, honestly.”

“I’m tall for a woman my age!”

“Is five feet tall?”

“You’re an asshole. I’m five seven!”

“Yeah, tiny,” he retorted as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side to avoid a bike rider that she hadn’t seen until he was basically past them. “And blind, apparently.”

A meek, “Shut up,” was all that Aelin could manage after being pressed up against the hard muscles and ridges of his body. She didn’t immediately move away, but he also didn’t let go of her as they finally found a small cafe type restaurant without too many customers inside.

Dinner was full of brushes of their hands as they passed dishes amongst each other, partially because it was accidentally, but also partially because Aelin still couldn’t believe he was in front of her. She had a sneaking suspicion that Rowen felt the same way because as soon as they stood up after he paid, he had laid a palm on the small of her back, and slowly, very slowly, the hand had moved to rest around her waist. There was a hesitation in his motion, as though he were waiting for her to move or to say something against it, but there was no part of Aelin that was against it. The lights of the night sky on the island, the fresh breeze, and the scent of the snow emanating from Rowan had her feeling the most calm and comfortable that she had in weeks.

They didn’t feel the need to spend the walk back to the hotel by talking, and instead just basked in the others’ presence. The rest of the trip followed a pattern where they would talk when they had things to talk about but it wasn’t as though they were under an obligation to fill the silence. The new thing about the two of them, however, was the touching. It was normal for Aelin and Rowan to leave calls or video calls on when they ran out of things to talk about, just to have companionship, and obviously they couldn’t touch through a screen, but Aelin wasn’t expecting that she would constantly be looking for an excuse to touch him. Rowan never said, either. They walked arm in arm through the Oakwald Park, and the thought of the lingering touches to her bare waist as they went swimming through the waterfall still brought heat to her cheeks.

When it came time for their Sunday night flights, Aelin didn’t want to go, but more importantly, she didn’t want to let Rowan go, either.

“I had a great time,” she said as they stood in front of a Starbucks in the airport. “I wish this weekend weren’t ending.”

Rowan raised his hands to cup her cheeks before softly rubbing circles with his thumbs. “Me neither,” he quietly said.

“Is it bad to say that I’ve had more fun with you over the last two days than I have in a really, really long time?”

“No,” he answered with a smile. “I did too. I also…don’t want to let you go. I want to keep you by my side.”

“Then don’t,” she responded with, as a last ditch effort. “I like you, Rowan. I really like you,” Aelin confessed.

Her heart filled with hope as she took in his responding bright smile. He didn’t respond, though, with words. The pterodactyls were back as his lips brushed hers gently once, twice, before pulling back when they called boarding for his flight.”

“I’ll see you soon, Aelin. I promise.”

He smiled at her before kissing her forehead and squeezed her hand once before he walked away, taking a part of her heart with her.

Until a minute later her phone pinged with a notification. Pulling it out, she let out a loud laugh as she looked at the email notification.

Congratulations, Mr. Whitethorn! We are happy to officially extend an offer for you to work in the Terrasen branch of our publishing house, starting in two weeks.

She didn't even finish reading the rest of the email before texting the man.

>> Rowan.

>> Rowan!

<< What?

She could practically hear the laughter in his voice.

>> You couldn't have told me this sooner?!

<< It was too much fun seeing you upset over me.

>> Rude.

<< I'll see you soon, Fireheart. Have a safe flight.

Aelin snorted even as she tried to stop herself from bawling like a dumbass in the middle of a very public airport.

>> You too, Buzzard.

Taglist: @thegreyj

#rowaelin month 2022 #rowaelin month #aelin galythinius #rowan whitethorn #romance #best friends to lovers

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bubblelesscoke · 2 years

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Omen likes art.

More specifically, Omen likes to be the one making the art.

That's no news for anyone. He likes drawing, he likes writing stories, he likes creating... He is constantly coming up with new ideas and concepts. His mind is basically a dream machine and his hands are his tools to bring those dreams to life.

He also likes Never. He actually loves Never. Sure, they've had their rough patches here and there, and sometimes Never can be a bit too much, but Omen loves them regardless.

He loves Never so much he's almost always thinking about them. During art history class, he doodles their face in his notebook while taking notes. When he's away from Never, he can't stop thinking about them, their laugh, their face... When he's sad or tired or overwhelmed, he knows Never will help him through and be there for him, in their own way.

The point is, Never is an amazing partner and Omen wants to show his appreciation for them. Like, really show it. Not just the little compliments he whispers to them during long nights, nor the little kisses he places along their neck early in the sleepy morning.

(Never always calls him a sap and insists that he does more than enough for them. Omen just ignores them and keeps showing his love in his small, sweet ways.)

And then an assignment for one of his art college classes comes in, and he's figured it out.

The assignment is nothing too special. Make a portrait of someone, anyone.

Of course, there's more to it, the assignment has requirements. The size of the portrait, the method, the materials used, but none of that matters to Omen, because this is another chance to show Never how much he loves them.

And so, it begins.

Of course, Omen is not just going to ask Never to pose for him for the portrait. They definitely would if he asked them to, but this was a surprise, so that option was off the table. Omen would have to do with the next best thing, which were pictures.

And Omen happens to have a lot of pictures of Never.

Like, a lot.

He can't help it, they're just so pretty.

Back to the point, Omen is scrolling through his gallery, looking at all of their pictures, and thinking. He doesn't want to recreate a picture that already exists. He wants to make something up, to imagine something beautiful all on his own.

Then, after some days of deep thinking and different sketches, he gets the perfect idea.

He works on it day and night, in their office, and whenever Never asks him what he's doing, he refuses to show them, saying that it isn't finished or that he's shy about it.

( "C'mon, I bet it looks awesome!" "No it doesn't! Just, stop prying!")

He hands it in when it's time, and a few days later the teacher gives the paintings back to everyone.

(Omen had not only gotten an A+, but he also got a little post-it note attached saying 'Good job! This painting is gorgeous!!' and a little smiley face.)

And so, it was time for the surprise.

Omen gets home and makes sure Never isn't around, then quickly gets to work. He prepared the pizza dough while the oven was preheating, then added everything else. Knowing all the toppings Never likes by heart, he adds them to one of the pizzas, while he puts the stuff he likes to the other. He stuffs them in the oven and sets the table. He cleans their living room and he makes sure everything looks OK.

When Never gets home, tired and hungry, the smell of pizza almost makes them want to cry. They quickly take off their shoes and go drop their messenger bag inside their office, taking off their coat on the way to their bedroom where they see Omen sitting on the bed, reading some advanced sigils book, glasses on. He quickly looks up at them as sets the book down.

"Hey, how was your day?" He asks in a soft, warm voice, and dear God Never couldn't be more in love with this man.

"It was fine, tiring. Did you get the pizza for tonight already?" They say, hanging the coat behind their bedroom door.

"Actually, I'm making it from scratch. Kinda wanted to treat you and I know you like how I do it, so I thought 'Why not?'. Anyway, it's still going to take a while until I have to take it out of the oven, so you can just shower and put on something more comfortable."

With the way Never was looking at him, one would think that Omen had just gifted them the universe. They look so so tired, yet so so grateful.

"Oh, uhm... OK, thanks. Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Hundred percent. Go shower and relax, and then later we can talk about our days."

Never nods slowly, grabbing one of Omen's old T-shirts and some sweatpants, along with some underwear, and walking to the bathroom.

Never gets out of the shower and instead of going to their bedroom, they go to the kitchen, just in time to see Omen pulling the pizzas out of the oven. They wait until he sets the food down to wrap their arms around his waist and nuzzle the back of his neck, feeling all fuzzy inside.

"That smells really good." They mumble against his neck, wanting attention. Omen turns around and wraps his own arms around them, their head now against his chest.

"Thanks, darling. Go sit down, I'll bring the pizzas over."

They eat their dinner while talking, telling each other about their day. Turns out, the Sanctuary needed Never to take a bunch of stuff to a lot of different places, so they had to teleport a lot and ended up exhausted.

They finish dinner, and before Never can get up, Omen speaks up.

"By the way, I kind of have a surprise for you..."

Never looks at him for a couple of seconds, then watches as he grabs something from behind his chair.

(How the hell had they not noticed there was something back there?)

Omen hands it over, and Never holds it carefully. It's a big, rectangular thing wrapped in wrapping paper. It's a bit light so Never starts to think what could it be.

"Is this the thing you absolutely forbid me from seeing?"

Omen smiles knowingly as he rests his head on top of his hands, "Maybe."

Never looks at him for a second before they start tearing off the paper, careful not to break the thing inside. Once it is completely uncovered, Never stares at it, astonished.

It is, indeed, a painting, as Never thought it was. But that isn't the surprise, no.

The surprise is the fact that the person in the painting is none other than Never themself.

A beautiful painting of Never, laying in bed, hair messy, a cocky smile on their face and hooded eyes, light blush covering their cheeks.

Not only is the painting gorgeous, with the pallette being different hues of pinks and purples and greys, with some green and yellow here or there, and some brown for hair, but it is also extremely detailed. The light freckles they have on the bridge of their nose are there, and Never is sure Omen must have had to look at a bunch of pictures of them to make sure he got them all in the right place.

For a few moments, Never doesn't speak. They're too busy staring at themself. Omen looks at them expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

That reaction is Never jumping from their seat and hurrying to hug Omen tightly, eyes wet from emotion. Omen just hugs them back, chuckling lightly.

"I'm guessing you liked it?" he asks teasingly. Never nods quickly against his shoulder and starts to press kisses there, mumbling 'IloveyouIloveyouIliveyou' under their breath.

Then they look up and kiss Omen like he's going to die tomorrow, and Omen kisses back just as enthusiasticly. All the love and adoration they feel for each other is transmitted with a simple kiss.

(The painting hangs in their living room, near the TV. It is beautiful and Never wants everyone who comes over to see it.

Omen is just happy they liked it so much, and insists that Never doesn't need to do anything back, that they already do enough.

Never promptly ignores that.)

#omen darkly #never #skulduggery #skulduggery pleasant #Yes im still doing this #No i don't know why #Fluff #Cute #Soft #Whatever

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channeleven · 2 years

Text

Campfire Stories Review

What makes It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia so good is the chemistry between the actors. This is owed to them having worked on different projects together beforehand. For instance, Rob McElhenney and the lawyer both appeared in a YooHoo commercial, that also featuring the original actress for Dee Reynolds in the pilot, Rob and Charlie Day would appear at separate times in Law and Order, and they would gradually come together in ER, then in 2003, they would get to work on the pilot, as it gradually became what it is now.

However, Rob and Charlie had worked together on something relatively earlier, and this film is credited to how they originally met. So, if there wasn't a Campfire Stories, would there ever have been an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? Read on below.

Background

Campfire Stories is an anthology film released direct-to-video in 2001. It was based on an independent comic book series put out by Don Oriolo, and if that name is familiar, I literally talked about him in my last review, the guy behind Coconut Fred. The film was put out by Velocity Home Entertainment, who had also put out an early Uwe Boll movie by the name of Blackwoods. The film was divided to three directors, and while this wasn't their only rodeo, there isn't anything notable I can list off of them here.

Aside from Charlie and Rob, apparently Perez Hilton was in this, though this was within his first year of acting. The film was shot in New Jersey and apparently was the start of two actors' careers, that's about it. For a while this movie was tricky to find... for free, but in recent months, I got lucky and someone posted it on YouTube, and after I had finished grad school I figured I'd unwind and check out this movie, as well as another called Out of Bounds, but for another time.

What can you expect? Well sit around the fire and let's find out.

The Movie

One thing that bugged me about the start is that we're treated to a two minute intro involving a talking skull done in ultra cheap CGI, trying to overhype the rest of the movie, but then we finally get to the wraparound sections. Charlie and another guy with a speech impediment I guess, he's weird, get a flat and stranded with a girl. As they attempt to find help, they happen upon a desolate campsite and encounter Ranger Bill.

This would be a time to hedge some bets on what the big ol' conclusion is. Is Ranger Bill a psycho killer? Did the three somehow die on the way? Did they prevent a realtor from meeting a dealine? But let's not jump to assumed conclusions, this is a cheap rental, I'm giving it a shot.

A tow truck is called and Bill decides to tell the three stories while they wait, I mean this is Campfire Stories so at least we didn't lose that out of the gate. Because we didn't have any summaries of the stories available elsewhere, I didn't know what to expect out of what the tales would consist of, so I had low expectations.

The first story details an escaped mental patient who is tortured at his ward. I'd question if this is true, but have you've even been to Turn-About Ranch or Provo Canyon Boarding School? The director is onto something it seems. The guy would take on a job as a school janitor years later, and some jocks, led by someone who would be better suited as a water or towel boy, harass the janitor to justify the scary element of the story to come soon. After the janitor steals the kid's backpack, he decides the best course of action is to murder him.

He and a few others head out to find him, and yeah they're gonna get picked off one by one. Not even a castration can be considered subversive here, lest the janitor hates when people piss on trees. So of course, the kid gets left alone and after trying to make peace, he backs down and now he's going to go through similar torture, and his girlfriend is dead apparently.

Pretty standard revenge tale, I feel some of it is a bit forced such as the conflict, but I guess the other kills make sense as they joined the dogpile. I'll give Bill the benefit of the doubt of this being a warm-up, though I gotta say it would've been more interesting to have the three share their own stories, stuff that would give viewers a firmer idea on their mentalities or whatever, but that's just me.

The next story details some teens, and it's quite obvious they're crooks I mean look at their outfits, we can't be subtle here. The teens see a Native American enter a restaurant, and they feel like killing somebody today, must've objected to him not wanting the change for a fifty. It is here that the bad CG effects return with a vengeance, not for a lack of quality but because there's so much happening without rhyme or reason. It seems like he summons a snake via a ceremony, but he gets strangled and it turns out the teens did that. Was this meant to be a warning? If so why didn't he do something sooner? This would've made more sense as a prediction rather than a representation of what happened.

And look, it's teens in a horror scenario, you know what that means? Getting high. They do some puffs on a staff the guy had and begin to see more of the so-so CG in this, and they trip harder than anyone I've ever seen, so do they die? Actually no, I had expected them to go that route, but there is one tell that I only then realized was there. It began at a diner with multiple old people, one was apparently dead or non-existent because he was completely still. If you haven't guessed, the teens are made old, and their youth goes into the Native American. I dunno, is this a more acceptable fate? I mean they didn't die at the end, but this reminds me of that one episode of Tales from the Darkside that I don't seem to like.

This consists of three stories, and we're already on the third, and this one is where Rob comes in. In this, two couples stay at a house haunted by the ghost of a relative to one of the girls. This one is fairly slow and kinda hard to really keep up with. The girlfriends reveal to have been caught on tape by the guys in their pranks and they want to get payback... eventually. The girls get them to play hide and seek and blindfold the boys, but then a killer enters the fray. Is it the guys? Is it one of the girls? Is it that deputy that randomly showed up?

Well... not necessarily? Everyone gets killed except for the girls, but then the last girl gets killed and... apparently... the one girl was possessed and killed everyone. I liked the transition at the end, but, I dunno. At least the other ones benefited from being more straightforward. This needed a little extra elbow grease, so to speak

And at the end, with the expectancy of Bill turning out to be a psycho killer still out their, the tow truck arrives, and they all leave. Forgot to mention that at the start Charlie and the other guy were on the way to a party, and the one place that has a working phone is where they were trying to go in the first place. But then oh lawd, Bill is the bartender, and everyone in the stories turns out to be real, and we assume Charlie and the other guy get murdered. I didn't know what to expect, but the girl turning out to be evil was admittedly a twist I didn't see coming. The writers actually made this twist seem surprising, at least in my opinion.

The credits role and we get to see pages from Don's comic, and that's about it.

Final Thoughts

Okay, so for a shorter amount of tales, a lack of predictability or heavy-handed socio-political allegories and not being treated like an idiot the entire time, this is automatically better than American Nightmares.

This is a cheap movie through and through, respectable for its ambition but otherwise having little to show for it. I can respect it for being a little passion project, and of course I've seen much worse. But at the end, perhaps had it not been for this movie, Rob wouldn't have met Charlie and we might not've got It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

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youtube

#movies #movie #movie review #Youtube

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heynowisavedyouright · 2 years

Note

3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25 and 31 for the writing ask game? :] Apologies if thats a lot you can leave some out if you want, i'm just quite curious and the questions are interesting

ask thingy

oh no no it's fine this ask game's questions Are fun

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

hmm. i need to open the docs, write two paragraphs, then open another doc and start filling in what tags this fic i think would have on ao3. that helps understand what it's gonna be to be honest. also i Really don't want to come up with it on the spot later. also stalling. then i may come back to the fic. if i can remember also turn on literally any music, preferably extremely distressing and upbeat if it's fluff i'm writing. so in my opinion. meh. not really cursed. maybe slightly

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

off the top of my head, "feverish"

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

i... honestly i don't remember having any?

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

dialogue. i've done that multiple times, a oneshot, a character reflecting on themselves over the years. it's a very fun way to write, i should try that again sometime

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

hmm. i have made an excruciating amount of dark jokes on chapter 26 of HaK, and had writer's block on anything angsty for a few days after finishing it. so. "hearse" would be the closest. i guess for me that means leaving a long impact on the writer themselves, especially since it's most times very muffled for me compared to the way i'd experience it written by someone else

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

what do you mean i can't wish for more wishes. what if i word it specifically so okay okay fine i don't need 30k of lorem ipsum okay

a cheaty one (Not about the rules get the lorem ipsum dolor sit amet away from me) for the way i write dialogue to be a morallyTM accepted one because i do not have it in me to switch to these wretched commas on the split

"You know," Felt gestured. "These ones."

"I prefer to write like this." They added. "I know this might be that one thing looking cursed in my writing and it probably is, but with the differences in dialogue styles between languages I can't bring myself to care about this thing in this particular one. Honestly, the rule looks a bit cursed to me." They took a deep breath. "Wow. That was one hell of a sentence there."

edit: also of course i completely forgot about the other two. welp. you can count the last of the wishes as the traditional genie repellent of freeing them :P and uh. being able to write fluff more. yea

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

i don't read physical books too often ngl, and i don't remember it well back in the day.. i think the worst would be a minions-themed collectable card i got at a mall. 3.9/10 weirdness

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

oof. which is it even. well the lore is just a bunch of spoilers so nah. come back when i finish posting "early departed", then you'll get the juice. but for now i'll be harboring it. it's just kind of hard to talk about it when it's all only in your head and notes

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

i write most things on the fly so that's also a hard one... alright, i guess on a multichap it's easier, still not gonna provide a specific quote though. if you're interested about that (the answer is probably gonna be i made it up on the spot), you can always send it with the number and ask. so in early departed, that moment (in ch1 so i can talk about it >:P) of fwhip waking up and walking down the corridor to find gem and lady beans, it was going to originally include joel sitting there with them, (that's why fwhip thinks he doesn't trust these two, that was originally a typo that i later rephrased as he doesn't trust lady beans and her husband. a note not a quote, mind you). the whole idea for the twins' "holidays" in the smallishbeans manor was to push fwhip further down the road of revenge and to get him to know people who will later be on the other side of the war and his vendetta. that scene was the start of it, and especially it pointed out the difference between his and gem's reactions to the people

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

there's nothing, really, if i need to I google a bunch of things as i go. typically i do Not enjoy that very much because it's hard to find what i need

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

well! efwhip has a sweet tooth. i mention it in a fair few of my fics for no reason

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

oh shit

oh fuck

okay

to end off on a note that's very dramatic and slightly pathetic on my writerly side, i really appreciate the support, guys. honestly even talking the time to read my stuff. it's a little insane. especially you people in lifesteal who are scrambled together with absolutely no fics and shower me with comments on every one of them. yes we do need more chlownzy fics. we do. yeah.

#feltixanswers #color handle

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kevinkoosk · 4 months

Text

Random thoughts 2024-01-17

On Revising My Opinion

A client asked for my opinion, and to draft an agreement based on that. I did so.

The client's client had a different opinion, and opined a different position at law was the proper position.

Based on the client's client's feedback, I'm now being asked to revise my opinion.

If anything goes wrong, I'm responsible because it will be my opinion.

So I think I won't change my opinion.

The client is free to engage another lawyer to give a new opinion that support's the client's client's opinion.

I've already made up my mind and there is no need to change my opinion.

On promising tokens

I have been interested in some very new L1 tokens.

Some of these include Fuse and Root.

(I can't afford the tokens which cost an arm and a leg. Best to get them when they're still early.)

Unfortunately I'm kinda broke and I can't afford to get in on them, but I'm very sure that they will moon in the next few months.

Maybe I'll find a way.

On exhibiting my art

On a whim, I decided to submit my art to a call for art.

The organizers promptly accepted my submission and asked for payment of 120 GBP.

I did the calculations, and found that I would be badly broke if I went for it.

It's more than MYR 700... half of the minimum wage in my country.

Still thinking about it, how to get the cash.

D.I.U.I.D.

Looking back at my posts over the past year, I feel like my main self-motivation has been to "get things done".

So yesterday I came up with an acronym called "D-I-U-I-D".

It means "Do It Until It's Done".

I guess you could shorten it to "Do Until Done", but then it'd be a "DUD".

Maybe DUID - Do Until It's Done - could be an alternative.

For almost 8 years I was enrolled in a doctorate program.

I didn't make it very far because people around me kept asking what was taking me so long.

So eventually I gave up.

That was when I was already halfway through the thesis writing, so, it was at an advanced stage.

I should have just hacked my way through it and gotten it done.

Good or bad, "Done" is more satisfying than "It's great but it's incomplete".

Sloppy but done. Still done.

Ugly but done. Still done.

Half finished but goddamn beautiful. Not done.

Some film producers die and others finish the movie for them.

Some authors die and people finish the book for them.

That's possible only because they died.

Ever seen a half-abandoned book finished by another author?

Or a half-abandoned movie finished by another director?

Maybe it's workable, and they'd call it an anthology.

"I did the first part and he did the second part. Collaboration is awesome!"

In actual fact, people get tired of what they are doing.

The best thing when doing something that makes you tired is to rush through it quickly and get it done.

Doesn't have to be perfect, as long as it is acceptable and workable.

Then come back and clean it up and upgrade everything!

The UK film producer Gareth Evans made Raid 1 and Raid 2 in Indonesia on a shoestring budget.

His method was to rehearse and film everything in the gym.

Camera angles, fight choreography, poses, dialogue - everything was rehearsed and shot in the gym.

Then they did the shooting for real.

By the time they were actually shooting, the film producer could take the actual movie footage and compare it with their gym-rehearsed footage.

"Oh, we missed a shot there. Let's redo it."

You know what, that saved them a lot of time.

Done is done. A message I give myself today.

Don't waste time with time wasters. Another message I give myself.

Because time wasters love nothing better than to waste their time - and wasting yours is a bonus.

Somebody said once that misery loves company, but in some circumstances, it's better to be alone.

Especially when you're sorting things out.

Have a nice day!

#life #reflection

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smart-bogus · 1 year

Text

The point of self-esteem and inferiority. And the solution_4

5. Solution - You have to move.

When a problem comes up, a solution comes out automatically. The problem is that the inferiority complex has not been resolved. Then, solving the inferiority complex solves the problem. Inferiority is actually relieved when I become a satisfactory person. I can actually level up.

<Step 1> Face me as I am. That's how you live in reality, and you can only make efforts in reality.

<Step 2> You can set and practice realistic and specific goals.

<Step 1> Once you see it as it is, say it as much as you feel, and say as much as you know. It's hard at first. When I endure this exaggerated desire to express myself, emptiness and boredom pours in. You have to put up with it. Only then can the empty space be filled with practical effort.

You just have to accept me as I am. Then I don't hide my impure intention to ask someone to recognize me who is greater, and I don't have expectations. If you feel inferior, you can just make practical and realistic efforts to be better. If I'm 50, I just have to focus on trying to be 80 while being a 50 guy. Don't try to look like a fake 80, don't expect to see it as 80. I'm 50 years old.

This is the real Carpe diem. The original meaning of Carpe diem is not to indulge in this moment, but to immerse yourself in this moment. I mean, I should not do delusions floating around to become a better me, but immerse myself in the action that actually changes me at this moment.

On the contrary, in order for this to be possible, you must first kill expectations. Don't look forward to it. The more you have expectations from others, the more artificial actions and thoughts you take to meet those expectations. I want to be a person who meets expectations, not a real "me." Because I have a lot of expectations, I am conscious of other people's eyes, and I cannot express my true feelings honestly. Because I'm full of expectations to look like a cool ideal person. If I reveal myself honestly, I won't look like 80. I'll look like I'm 50 people.

<Step 2> Specifically, you can do this. It's the best way I've ever done it, the fastest way to raise self-esteem and make inferiority disappear.

Sitting at my desk, I think of myself as wonderful as I wish. And I write down what I need to have to be like (academic background, job, money, ability, status, personality, whatever). And write down the specific goals you need to do to have it. Divide the goal into a daily unit and write down the to do list for tomorrow in detail from 1 to a few times. Go to bed early and wake up early the next day to break down the to do list one by one. If you finish your to do list that night, your self-esteem will go up. I feel like I'm living in reality. I repeat this. The end.

This is the real way to raise self-esteem that vague, vague self-improvement books like "love yourself" don't tell you. It is not important to analyze childhood trauma to raise self-esteem, fall deeper into self-consciousness, write emotional writings, lose psychological books, and love me as I am, going to restaurants and thinking about luxury goods. I don't want to make realistic efforts even if I die, so I'm running away while rationalizing it with that. Or just accept me as I am and live.

I want to be amazing, but I don't want to try. That state is another word for low self-esteem. Drinking dew at home, swearing at my boss, calling a friend to complain, going to a good hotel and posting pretty pictures on Instagram, posting Mercedes photos, and putting on #healing tags does not increase my self-esteem.

What I want to be, that is, a realistic and specific goal to be '80', and a practical action to break down the goal step by step by day. This is the essence. Just one day makes me feel different. It's even addictive.

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loversindevildom · 3 years

Note

hello! I'm not that anon but thank you for the other period-related hcs, if it's okay, may I ask for the brothers' reactions to an MC who doesn't have painful ones, but bleeds A Lot and is terrified of getting communal/the brothers' stuff dirty? people with monster uteruses unite

((Definitely!! Currently on my period while writing this and felt it-

((Also would you look at that, the me is posting again-

Masterlist

The boys x MC with heavy flow

Lucifer

It all began when one of your worst nightmares came true.

You woke up early in the morning having bled all over his sheets.

You were panicking. Badly.

Lucifer was still sound asleep on his side of the bed, having noticed nothing.

Without thinking, you immediately get out of bed and go fast towards the wardrobe to grab some sheets.

You had no idea how you were going to change them without waking Lucifer up but one step at a time.

But he was already awake as soon as he felt you get off the bed. "MC?" He mumbled your name quietly before opening his eyes.

You wished a hole could open underneath your feet and the earth would swallow you. You also happened to be wearing white pijamas and so the blood was obvious all over you.

Lucifer had just woken up and was not thinking straight so his first thought was that someone attacked you or that another demon attempted to eat you and immediately rushed to you and pulled you in his arms. "Who?"

"what?"

"Who hurt you?"

"no one... I'm so sorry!!" You cried in dispair and that's when Lucifer started understanding what was going on.

"It's your menstruation? I thought someone attacked you... It's alright. I'll go fill in the bath for you."

Thankfully you changed the sheets before he realized you got them dirty.

Or so you thought. In reality he had noticed but didn't want to embarass you.

Mammon

He knew you were on your period.

You had told him the moment it came.

But it didn't matter to him much. He didn't know many things about it, only that you're in pain.

"Hey, come on, sit with me." He patted the couch beside him in his room.

He knew you were hurting and he wanted to cuddle you and watch some movies with you and spoil you with chocolate he stole from Beel.

When you shook your head in return, his heart shattered. "I'm not really in that mood."

"B-But! It's your favourite!"

"I'll just go to sleep."

"We can sleep together here."

You sighed and he felt the world twist. You didn't want him anymore? That's it? It was over?

"What did I do?"

"nothing! I just don't want to get blood all over your couch!"

"Ohh..." He felt relieved. That was all. Truth be told, this couch was pretty expensive but you were worth ten times that couch...

"Don't you wear that pad thing you talked about?" After you nodded he added. "Then it's fine. Get your stupid pretty human ass here now. You don't wanna miss the beginning."

Leviathan

He wanted you two to cosplay today.

You had been planning to go to that convention for months.

The day had arrived and he had excitedly changed into his costume only for you to come out and say you're not going.

And he's ???? So confused ????

He thought you wanted this as much as he did.

Did you fake your interest?

"look, Levi, I'm sorry. I was really looking forward to the con but I got my period today."

Ohhhhhhh it was because of that thing. That was a relief.

"it's fine! The con is a week long, we'll go by the end of it. And we can wear the costumes inside and cuddle!"

The idea horrified you.

"NO!" The costumes were amazing and Levi had paid of them. You couldn't ruin it.

"why?" He was confused again.

"I'll get blood all over it. I always get things dirty. You should keep me away from your stuff." After all you knew how much he valued his merch.

Leviathan rolled his eyes and walked over to you. He grabbed your wrist and pulled you down with him. He wrapped a TSL blanket over you and proceeded to play games with you all night.

After all, you were more valuable than all these together.

Satan

You two had visited Devildom's public library to get a book he had ordered for you.

He had seen how fascinated you were as soon as you heard it came out and immediately ordered it for you.

You were looking around the shelves with him while the staff was going to bring you your book when you felt an intense pain on your lower parts.

Looking down you realized blood was leaking everywhere.

Panicking, not sure what to do you hid behind a bookshelf.

Satan panicked as soon as he realized you were gone.

What if another demon had fetched you and eaten you?

"MC?" He called out your name. Once, twice, thrice...

"Here..." You said in embarrassement. You had the idea of using a jacket to cover the mess in your pants. But you had accidentally grabbed his...

When he finds you he was relieved. "There you are, I was worried..." Then he scanned you. "My jacket looks good on you."

You weren't sure how to tell him, so you continued and went all the day back to the house of Lamentation when you immediately put it in the washing machine.

Of course, he had noticed. You had been dripping on the floor.

But being aware this was a normal thing, he decided not to embarass you and make a big deal out of it.

Asmodeus

You were screwed.

You were seriously screwed and not in the good way.

This had been a lesson to you to always keep in mind when your period was coming.

Because the one time you had forgotten, you had wore Asmo's clothes to sleep.

He told you you could use them whenever you wanted.

It made him very happy to see you wearing his clothes and it made you feel very comfortable so why not?

This was the reason not to.

Because waking up that morning, you had gotten blood all over his clothes.

"Shit."

Your exclaim and panic woke him up, but he was too focused on your face to notice the blood at first.

"What happened, my love? Are you okay?"

"I'm so sorry, Asmo!!"

It took him a few seconds but then he realized exactly what you were talking about. He took a deep breath. This was a disaster, but you didn't do it on purpose.

"It's fine. It's your time of the month? Come on we should get you changed. Wanna run a bath together? I can give you a massage too." He winked as he got up to get the water running. He prefered to focus on you than his ruined clothing.

And this, my friends, is called love.

Beelzebub

You were always careful when it was your time of the month not to get anything dirty. Always.

However, the unfortunate day had arrived.

You were in his bed, playing on your DDD while Beel was picking up some food from the kitchen.

And then it happened. The major pain. And you realized you had been bleeding all over his sheets. You should change them before Beel-

Speak of the devil....

Beel walked in happily and let the food down on the tray next to the bed. As he leaned down to put them there he noticed the blood and frowned.

You were scared you had disgusted him.

"are you hurting too badly? I'll bring you some medicine."

Cause he's that sweet.

Diavolo

Yes I will say this every single time I write about this one;

He's busy.

So even if you do get blood in his stuff you'll certainly have time to clean it.

However, fate isn't very nice...

When Diavolo is in his study, he likes to work with you sitting on his lap.

When you felt the sharp pain in your stomach you immediately jumped off his lap and fell on the floor.

"MC? What happened!? Are you okay?" He asked worrily.

You didn't answer him, instead you run towards the bathroom.

Yes, you didn't get anything on him but it was big a jumpscare itself.

Diavolo knocked on your door once. "Dear? What happened?"

"nothing! It's fine, my period just came!"

He was silent for a bit. You thought he left but as soon as you opened the door he was standing right there and he hugged you. "I see... Come on, let's go back. I promise we'll cuddle when Im done."

"I'll get blood all over you!" You argued back.

In response he picked you up and walked back to his chair where he made you sit on him again.

Simeon

Simeon is such a sweetheart.

He probably has already noted your circle on his calendar.

He remembers when it's that time of the month always.

Usually, so do you.

Usually.

You had miscalculated this time. You thought it was due for next week and so you had wore a nice white dress for your date with Simeon.

He wasn't sure what to say. He thought you looked gorgeous in that one but...

"Sweetheart, are you sure? I love the way the dress looks at you but I don't want you to feel bad if it gets dirty."

You were so confused. "What?"

"You said you avoid wearing white when it's that time of the month... Unless you're late? Oh my lord, are you late?" His eyes were shining and that's when you realized what he meant.

"shit! No I am not! Wait here!" You rushed back into your room to get changed and indeed found blood between your legs.

You couldn't find yourself feeling bad tho.

All you could thinking about was the way Simeon's eyes had shined at the thought of being a father.

Solomon

As a human like yourself, he treats it much more normal than the others do.

He doesn't treat you any different then really, unless you're in pain.

Then you're getting backrubs.

You were sitting on the couch with him and he was telling you a story about how he first formed a pact.

When he was finished you felt the need to go to the bathroom.

Then you noticed the red stain in your pants.

Shit that was a lot of blood. Had you gotten it on the chair too?

Thankfully, when you returned it was gone.

And thankfully, Solomon knew magic to clean it quicker.

577 notes · View notes

sunnysunoo · 3 years

Text

Love Letters ; Sim Jake

Pairing: Jake X Reader

warnings: explicit language and cursing

word count: 3k words

genre: friends to lovers au! fluff with tiny pieces of crack lmao

Jake was always known for being this perfect guy in school. I mean, they're not wrong. They always described him as if he's this walking piece of art in the hallways. People would stop to just stare at him. You'd stare at him all day too, but you set priorities first: writing him love letters.

You're no Lara Jean, but I guess you can say that she's what inspired you to write Jake letters. Who needs Peter Kavinsky when Jake Shim exists anyways?

note: Not me completely disappearing off of tumblr for like months and then showing up again suddenly lol. I got really busy the past few months since I was completing requirements for school, and I really didn't have the motivation to do anything at the time so I took so time off to take care of myself first so I hope you understand :) But now since it's summer break, I am given at least 2 more months until I go back to school in August :)) Here's the long-awaited Jake imagine that I completely forgot about lmao hope you enjoy <3

P.S I finished writing this at 1:26 am so please excuse the really shitty plot and grammar ill rewrite it once i wake up

tag list: @cha-raena ( sorry for the rlly late post bestie )

Dear Jake, First of all, I will never call you Jaeyun because calling you by your English name makes me feel like I'm your friend. Calling you by your Korean name makes us feel like we're cold strangers to one another and I don't want that. I want us to be something more than that, but it's hard when you don't even know who I am. I'm surprised how you don't grow tired of me just dropping letters right into your locker every time you open it, and that's one of the things I love about you. You don't just throw away people's efforts and you treasure them with care. It makes my heart beat so fast as if I ran miles away from here.

We're already one year left until we graduate high school, and I don't want to end my high school years without you realizing my feelings for you. I know for sure that you would never reciprocate the feelings that I have towards you, so I want to treat this as closure in case we do forget about each other in the future. Yours truly,

Moon

"How is this person not over you? That's like the tenth one this month," Jay said, looking over Jake as he reads the letter from his secret admirer. Jake has always been receiving these letters from the same person everyday for the past four months. He's thankful for the letters because they definitely make his day better, knowing that there's someone out there who loves him as who he is regardless of looks. He's not gonna lie that these little notes and letters make his heart race too. "Do you have any plans with finding the person behind the letters?" Jay asked as he watches his best friend trying to hide the small smile that's been growing. No one really knows who this mysterious person is and why they decided to name themselves the moon, but we don't judge anyone in here. If they want to be the moon in their next life, then so be it. "I really want to find the person who's making these letters," Jake shoved the letter in his backpack, trying to not wrinkle it. "But I don't know where to start." "Who's finding who?" A voice popped suddenly beside the presence of the two boys. You leaned beside the locker beside Jake's, watching him as he grabs his books from his locker. "Did Moon drop your daily letter today again?" "They did as usual," Jake wasn't even surprised. He would expect the letters every time he enters the school in the morning. He would open his locker to see the usual small letter placed inside his locker. He usually arrives at seven or earlier, but he's surprised that he could never even catch a glance of this anonymous sender around the campus. "Should I go to school at five in the morning?" "Five in the morning? Isn't that a bit too early?" You questioned, followed by a shaky breath. "The school doesn't even open until six." "I could just walk to that nearby convenience store I always pass by to grab a coffee." He argues, closing his locker shut before walking towards his classroom.

You and Jay followed beside him, and you sneered under your breath, "You don't even wake up to your alarm clock."

"Why don't you even want me to go early anyway?" He glances as you try to give him an answer. But before you could say something, Jay replies first.

"You’re probably hiding something." He said. You rolled your eyes and narrowed your eyes at him. "You are so weird." You grunted, before walking ahead of them. You feel panicked because you were scared that you made yourself obvious to them.

You were inside your classroom sitting on your desk. There were only fifteen minutes left before lunch, but you had eaten your packed meal before instead of going to your school cafeteria. You were fidgeting in your place, conflicted about Jake finding his secret admirer, not knowing that it was you who's been sending him letters the past few months. You're not scared of him finding out that the letters were from you; that was the entire reason why you wrote him letters in the first place. You're scared of how he was gonna confront you about it. Would he like you back? Would he hate you? Would he avoid you?

Your mind was full of scenarios but you were suddenly brought back to reality when a hand planted itself on your desk. You look up and saw Jay standing in front of you, eating sushi with his other hand. His face kinda looks like he knows something, and it's freaking you out a bit.

"What?" You asked, suddenly flustered over how his eyes stared right into you. He took the seat in front of your desk and flipped it so it was facing you. He sat down and blurted the phrase that you were dreading to hear from anyone.

"So, you like Jake?"

You suddenly feel like punching him in the face with his sushi.

"What??" Your body felt like, and you were left a nervous mess. Your heart like it was going to pump right out of your chest any minute, and your hands started to sweat.

Jay's mouth formed into a smirk. He caught you. "Jake may be a bit oblivious, but I can totally see right through you."

“Haha...no you don’t,” You tried to deny, but it was all useless when his expression looked unconvinced.

“Oh yeah? Then why are you all red? You look like a bursting tomato.”

“You don’t know that," You leaned further into your seat, playing with the strings of your hoodie.

“C’mon Y/N, you’re not even trying. Just give up and admit it,” Jay was trying to help you confess your feelings for Jake. Frankly, he knew it was you sending him letters this whole time—how can Jake not see it?

With a heavy sigh, you slumped and laid your head on your desk, embarrassed. “Fine. I like him, okay? Are you happy now?”

The smirk on his face grew wider, feeling proud of himself. You are not dealing with his annoying crap this early in the morning. He grinned and munched on his half-eaten sushi. “I knew it.”

“Congratulations,” It was muffled because you hid your red face away from him. All that was on your mind now was how you could book yourself a flight all the way across the world.

“But seriously, since when did you have a crush on him?” You raised your head to face him, giving him a look that could kill, except Jay finds it entertaining rather than intimidating.

“I started having a crush on him when we were in fifth grade. It was at a friend's birthday party, and he saw me being all quiet and lonely. Honestly, I forgot who’s birthday that was.” You told him the very first time you had discovered feelings.

“He saw how sad I looked so he accompanied me the whole time. He was even trying to feel more included in the games and stuff.” You felt a smile ghosting on your lips as you can still vividly remember how you felt your heart tug the first time. “It was kinda like I fell in love at first sight.”

Jay faked a gag, so you lightly punched him in the shoulder. He may be a bit of an asshole, but he’s one the most caring and kind people you’ve ever met. It honestly felt good spilling out your feelings about Jake to him.

Speaking of, Jake was watching you two play around and laugh at Jay's little jokes from outside, and he felt something burning from inside him. Was it that he felt jealous of you and Jay?

No, he can’t be...right?

Maybe it was because of how he felt separated from you and Jay because of him being a separate class.

Yeah, maybe it's because of that.

Dear Jake,

I just had the most bizarre day today, and I felt like telling you about it.

It was chemistry period, and we had to be partnered with someone for a lab project. I ended up getting paired with Yeojin. We kinda created this unexpected friendship, which I love. We would crack jokes at each other, tell funny stories, it was so fun to be with her that we had completely forgotten about our project. So now, we both got a detention slip for making an accidental explosion.

How about you? How was your day? I hope it was just as fun as mine. If you feel like the day just wasn't as happy or you're feeling down, just now that it's okay to feel that way because days like these just lasts for 24 hours. It will be all over before you know it and you'll be greeted by another day. Maybe it will be different, and you would be all happy again just like how my day went. Maybe being with you would be my happiest day yet, and I couldn't wait for that day to come. See you soon :)

Love,

Moon

"Yeojin!" Jake called, seeing her walk down the opposite way. "Hey, mind if I ask you something?"

"Hey Jake," She greeted him with a smile. "Sure, go ahead."

"Could you perhaps give me any information about your partner in Chemistry?" He had hopes of getting any kind of description about his mysterious sender, but he was instead given a sad frown on Yeojin's face.

"Sorry Jake, but that person told me not to tell you about their information." She gave an apologetic smile. "I wish you all the best in finding them!"

Jake muttered a small "okay," and sighed before walking away, feeling defeated.

Yeojin knew that he was gonna ask about Moon the moment he called her from across the hall. She couldn't wait to tell you about this.

"Hey Y/N," A voice said from behind. You turned around to see Jake with his backup hung on his shoulder. He brought his hand up and raked his hair, and you felt your face grow red. Jake is like a gift from the gods. How can someone look so ethereal even if they're just standing there? You could stare at him all day. You couldn't even understand a thing he said until he started waving his hands in front of you.

"Hello?" You blinked multiple times as you were brought back out to reality. You saw Jake's face grow into concern. "Are you okay? spaced out."

"O-oh..No, I'm completely fine." You reassured him, feeling embarrassed. "What were you saying again?"

"I was asking you if you wanted to go to school with me early tomorrow."

Well, shit.

Your eyes started to go wide, and your hands started to go clammy.

"Tomorrow?" You repeated, voice trembling.

'Well, yeah." He pouted his lips, and you felt like melting into a small puddle in your place. Your heart started to pound heavily.

Oh my fucking god, he is so adorable.

"Okay, sure I can go with you tomorrow," You weakly smiled at him, slightly tense.

How we're you going to give him the letter now?

"Good Morning," Jake said as he watches you close the gates of your house. It was past five in the morning, and you were a mess.

"Morning," You replied back before running your fingers through your hair, getting rid of any flyaways.

As you started walking your way to the bus stop, Jake kept on glancing towards you from time to time. He knew you were pretty, but since when did you become really beautiful in his eyes?

The walk was pretty quiet, but it was a comfortable silence. For him, mostly.

Meanwhile, you couldn't stop freaking out. You had written a letter the night before, but you don't know how you were going to slip it into his locker without him taking notice. If he saw you, he would know.

"Are you sure you're okay? You've been like this since yesterday," Jake blurted. You looked at him before heaving a sigh.

"It's nothing," You mouthed, suddenly feeling anxious and gloomy.

"Something on your mind?"

"Something like that." It was hopeless. I guess he would have to miss this letter today. It was the first time you skipped a day, and you're feeling guilty that you would have to see Jake's face sadden that he wouldn't receive it today.

As you two stop at the bus stop, Jake looked slightly panicked as he was rummaging through the pockets of his blazer before looking through his bag. "Hey, do you have an extra pen? I left mine at home and I have a quiz today."

You snickered, "Out of all the days, Sim Jake. The same day you have a quiz is the same day you forget your pen."

"Very funny." He scoffed.

As you unzipped your bag to grab your pencil case, a folded piece of paper fell out without you realizing it. When Jake went to pick it up, he notices that it was folded the same way as the letters in his locker. It looked so identical.

Once you already got your pencil case out, you were about to hand it to him when you saw what he was holding that made your body freeze with your hand holding the case in the air.

"Why were one of my letters inside your bag?" He glanced at you, waiting for you to reply.

If you were freaking out before, this is a whole other thing. The thing that you were fearing the most is happening right before you.

"Maybe it fell into my bag yesterday..." You stammered, making up an excuse to look like it was an accident. You were tightly holding onto your pencil case, chanting many curse words in your head as you watch Jake unfold the letter.

"I don't think I've received this one yet," He said before he opened the letter and read it.

You watch as his expression formed into confusion as he reads through the paper. It only took a few moments before something in him clicked that it was you sending him the letters.

"Y/N," He began, and you started quivering in fear.

You should've known this would happen, but you didn't expect it to happen this sooner. In fact, you believed that this wouldn't happen at all. But it did.

"Let me explain," You eventually gave up and accepted fate and watch as your identity as "Moon" be revealed to your crush. You're now exposed so you didn't have any other choice but to explain everything. "Yes, I am Moon. I was the one writing you the letters that you've been getting in your locker."

Jake's face was unreadable. He looked bewildered and puzzled. He was trying to comprehend what was happening right now. All this time, it was you?

"I started crushing on you when we attended that birthday party before. I didn't want to confess my feelings for you because I was scared that you were going to harshly reject me, so I started writing down letters as a way to tell you how I feel about you without making you feel awkward around me." You continued, eyes suddenly taking an interest in your shoes. They were brand new too.

Jake was silent, and you felt your heart crack into pieces. You were mad at yourself for being so careless about it that he ended up finding out about you as his secret admirer. You wanted nothing else but to run back home, lock yourself in your room and cry with your sad playlist on loop.

You were expecting a harsh rejection coming from him, but what surprised was how he took dangerous steps towards you, minimizing the gap between you two. He placed his hand under your chin, forcing you to look up at him.

"I don't plan on rejecting you Y/N," You stare into his eyes as it reflects the sunlight of the early morning. "I'm actually happy that it was you."

You look at him, puzzled. He lowly chuckles under his breath before leaning over to place his lips against yours. It was a light, quick kiss, but it brought you feeling ecstatic. You've dreamed of this moment before, and now that it happened, you thanked your clumsiness.

As he pulled away, you were sure your face was a red mess.

"Thank you," His smile was as bright as the stars in the sky. It was the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. "Thank you for making me like I'm special to someone."

You felt flustered over his words. You were scared that he could hear the sound of your heart pounding loudly. The butterflies in your stomach were going wild, and you felt like this was all a dream.

"So, what am I to you now?" You broke into a smile as he grabs your hand, intertwining your fingers with his.

Jake acted as if he was thinking, "Hm..maybe my best friend still?"

He bursts into a fit of giggles as he sees your smile slowly disappear, replacing it with a look of disbelief. You removed your hand from his and walked at a faster pace away from him.

He ran to match your pace beside you before holding your hand again, "I'm sorry, I won't ever do that again. Is my girl mad at me?"

"Oh my god, it's only five-fifty, Jake." You too broke into laughter over his cheesiness, but your heart fluttered over the thought of Jake calling you his.

HERE’S A LITTLE BONUS! since I've made you guys wait for 4 months :(

"What the fuck?" Was the first thing You heard from Jay as you and Jake entered the classroom. All of your classmates were staring at your and his hands intertwined together.

Jay stood in front of you two, crossing his arms together. "Can one of you explain when this happened?" he motioned towards your linking hands. You and Jake smiled at each other before walking away, leaving Jay in a fit of joy, and confusion.

169 notes · View notes

sicjimin · 3 years

Text

Sashimi Chain of Sickness 🍣

A.N : askjdbskd ok so the cat is out of the bag, finally me and @spence-sickfics can post our babies here :D a chain of sickness in bangtan’s dorm ! idk what else to tell, but we have a fun time working it and i hope you guys enjoy this story as much as we enjoy writing it ! :D here we go for the first day ~ it’s a long ride but i hope you like it :] ((you can read it on @spence-sickfics blog too!))

Sickie : Namjoon and Jungkook // Caretaker : Yoongi, Taehyung

TW : emeto

Day One:

(by sickyoonminie)

Namjoon curled his body smaller. He’d been awakened early by a series of cramps seizing through his stomach. He pressed his palm deeper into his stomach, hoping that the pressure might alleviate the cramps.

But it failed.

He rolled onto his back and let out an exhausted groan. His right hand mindlessly stretched to his phone on the nightstand. He squinted when the bright screen hit his eyes. 7AM.

He let the phone plop down before nuzzling himself deeper to the pillow. He tried to sleep again but nothing was working, so he got up from his bed, stretching his arms high above his head.

After a quick shower, he put on fresh clothes, and headed downstairs.

"Joonie, why are you up so early?" Seokjin greeted him from the kitchen, his hand busy with the toast and scrambled egg. For some reason, the sight of food made Namjoon’s stomach swirl. He feels full, despite not eating anything since last night.

"Can't sleep again", he mumbled as he set himself to water. Gulping it down in one go. He frowns when it feels heavy on his stomach.

Something is wrong with him.

But he shrugs it off. Maybe it's his nerves, or maybe he's too exhausted.

"You want some?", Seokjin asks, placing the scrambled egg on top of the toasted bread. Namjoon shakes his head, taking another gulp of water.

Seokjin takes one for himself before sitting next to Namjoon.

After that, it’s silence between them. But the members started going downstairs one by one, and it didn't take long before the kitchen became “lively”.

Namjoon tries to fall into conversation, but he just—didn't have the energy for that.

" You okay, Joon-ah?", Yoongi slides quietly beside him as they walked to their car.

"Huh? What do you mean hyung?"

Yoongi shrugs, "I don't know. You look a little off today, or maybe that was just my feeling"

Namjoon hums, glancing at him as they get inside their car. They sit in the middle seat.

"I just, don't get enough sleep", Namjoon sighs and leans on the window.

" You should stop caved in your studio", Yoongi mumbles, gaining a scoff from the younger, "Says you hyung"

Yoongi chuckles, "Try to sleep for few minutes"

And maybe Namjoon will comply.

—

It's Namjoon's fault that he just brushed off the uncomfortable feeling in his body this morning. As a result, he just feels worse by now.

He curled on the couch in his studio. He's shivering, despite the air conditioner being off. His hand settled on his stomach that has been so upset, like nauseous, but at the same time it feels bloated too.

Everything just felt off for him.

A sudden knock interrupts his thoughts. He groans before getting up. His muscles ache.

"Hyung! Are you busy? We want to get dinner!"Jungkook's doe eyes and bunny smile is the one who greeted him as he opened the door.

Namjoon leaned on the door, feeling tired.

"We? Is everyone coming?"

Jungkook nods, "Yes! Even Yoongi-hyung"

Namjoon contemplates for a second. Maybe he just needs to eat to make everything that has been going on in his body go away. If he thinks about it, his appetite hasn't been the best as he was too busy with the album preparation.

He sighs before mustering a smile "Tell them to wait for me. I'm coming"

Jungkook nods before giving him a thumbs-up, "Thank you, hyung!"

—

"Woah, this place is .. crowded", Hoseok chimed in, throwing his arms around Namjoon's shoulder as they stepped into the restaurant. Namjoon wants to bat it away, as it pressed his sweater to his skin that had been prickling uncomfortably because of his fever. But he's too lazy to do it.

" Don't worry, we had booked a secluded place", Seokjin says from behind.

Taehyung walks alongside Namjoon as they all walk to their table. Taehyung grabs the chair closest to the door before he sits down, while Jimin sits beside Taehyung. He scoots closer to Jungkook in the corner, as Yoongi takes the seat directly across from Jimin and beside Namjoon. Seokjin and Hoseok settle on the remaining orders, and Namjoon orders the same dish as Jungkook and Seokjin. Sashimi. It suits for dinner as it's not too heavy but enough to make him full. The waiter leaves as soon as their order comes. Namjoon lets out a breath as he relaxes.

They were having a nice meal, talking, and laughing. Namjoon can see that they're having fun. And the food is nice. He even got three servings, hoping that eating more could somehow drown out the pain in his stomach.

It was just as he finished his third plate when he felt an odd sense of pain in his tummy, and for some reason, the sashimi tasted funny too. He glanced at Seokjin and Jungkook. They seem fine, munching happily. He shrugs, maybe it's only his tongue messing with him. He had been felt off the whole day anyway.

He decided to just let it go. He'll think about it later.

—

"Hyung", Jungkook calls him when they are seated on the couch, everyone was retreating to their room. Ready to go to sleep.

" Hm?" Namjoon hums, not opening his eyes. He's tired. He's full. It feels like energy just sucked out of his body. And he could feel his fever going worse too.

"Um, are you feeling fine?", Namjoon tilts his head, looking at the younger with a frown, "What?"

"I mean. The sashimi .. it was fine, right?", Jungkook bites his lip, fiddling with his fingers. His eyes were wide, afraid of what Namjoon would say.

"What?", Namjoon blinks, "Yeah. Yes, it was".

"Oh."

Namjoon opens his mouth. Then closes it.

"Then maybe my tongue is just being funny", Jungkook said. A slight grin on his face. It looks more forced than usual. " Okay then I will get ready for bed, hyung. Go to bed soon, you look tired,", he adds, giving a squeeze on Namjoon's shoulder before he retreats to his and Namjoon’s shared bathroom.

Namjoon looks at the younger's retreating figure before looking at his hands. There is a dull pain in his stomach which started to hurt right after Jungkook asked him that. He doesn't like that. And he doesn't like the suspicion that comes after.

He stands up, heading towards his bedroom. Freshens his body and downing a Pepto-bismol along with some fever medicine that Seokjin bought a few months ago.

Maybe, it was just him being paranoid—in addition to his off-ish body the whole day.

It will be fine after he sleeps. Right?

— —

Night One:

(written by spence-sickfics)

Jungkook hadn’t been able to go to sleep until almost midnight. It seemed all the other boys had agreed on going to bed early, as everyone was most likely preparing for another long day at the studio. Jungkook, however, was too uncomfortable to sleep. Uncomfortable, mostly in his head. A nagging worry about Namjoon’s quietness throughout the day. Another worry, that the sashimi tasted kind of off. A bigger worry, maybe that Namjoon was sick or hurt and that’s why he ate so much. After knowing the leader for ten years, Jungkook was familiar with Namjoon’s tendencies to conceal any sort of discomfort he felt physically. And Jungkook also knew that the leader liked to eat a lot at meals that he didn’t want to talk at. To keep his mouth busy, probably. Maybe Namjoon was sick from the sort of strange-tasting sashimi? No, that didn’t make sense. He was acting weird before that. And if that was true, then both Jungkook and Seokjin should be sick by now. Come to think of it, though, Jungkook was noticing a dull ache in his belly as the hours ticked by.

Speaking of the hours, he’d lost track of time by around eleven pm. Namjoon was asleep in bed beside him by that point, in fact, he assumed everyone was asleep except for him. Jungkook had tried to go to sleep for around thirty minutes, but to no avail as the pain in his upper stomach grew. He’d taken a single painkiller at around 10pm, going back to bed and looking at his phone. But whatever he had taken wasn’t doing much to cover up the twisting sensation he experienced. He’d been able to distract himself, though, dully scrolling through social media and wishing he could fall asleep. He wondered if it’s what Namjoon had been feeling like every night recently, he’d overhead Seokjin and Yoongi expressing concerns for the leader’s insomnia. Whatever it was, though, Jungkook was able to fall asleep upon taking the painkiller. It hadn’t done much, but it had fogged up his brain enough to let his worries fade away.

Jungkook woke up again at around two in the morning, to a sharper stabbing pain in his stomach that made tears well up in his eyes. He sat up quickly, placing and arm over his middle and realized how sick he felt. His stomach looked horribly bloated, it felt like the contents were fighting to get out and it was making too much noise. He felt nauseous, not in a particularly heavy way, but more the feeling of disgusting sickness. He felt Namjoon stir, but not wake next to him. Jungkook needed his hyung’s comfort badly, but didn’t want to wake up Namjoon as he knew how tired he must be. His stomach was rolling as he let a quiet burp escape him and moaned quietly, putting his head in his hands. He hiccuped, and a wave of vomit splashed in the back of his throat. Before he could even process what was really going on, Jungkook clamped a hand over his mouth and ran out of the room, into his and Jimin’s shared bathroom. At that point, he bent over the sink and let the surge of vomit come out from his mouth. He winced at the sight of barely-digested sashimi. It must have been bad, he thought before his stomach cramped and he was sent into another wave of throwing up. He kept feeling his throat constricting with gags, feeling fearful for a minute until he felt a warm hand on his back and saw the lights turn on.

“You’re okay, Kook,” Namjoon whispered, his voice hoarse from sleep. Jungkook panted, then turned on the water to wash the sink out. “You all done?” Namjoon asked, and Jungkook nodded. He still felt terrible. Lucid. He knew he didn’t have a fever and he didn’t feel like throwing up again but his stomach was killing him.

“Yeah, sorry Joon, I just feel really sick all of the sudden. I think it was the sashimi. Do you feel sick too?” Jungkook asked as Namjoon guided him to a seated position on the ground together.

Namjoon swallowed, and Jungkook saw how pale the older looked. “No, not really,” Namjoon said lowly. His words were punctuated by a low gurgle from his stomach, and Namjoon paled further.

“That didn’t sound ‘not really sick’, Joon,” Jungkook offered.

“Yeah, says you,” Namjoon mumbled, “Worry about yourself.” Namjoon hadn’t meant to come off so sharp, but being distracted from what he felt like was his job to take care of Jungkook was the worst. The pain in his stomach had gotten worse too, making him more irritable and a sense of nausea was now bothering him too.

Jungkook frowned. “I’m sorry, hyung.” He looked sad to be scolded, and Namjoon instantly felt terrible for speaking to him in such a way. He wanted to apologize, but he felt nausea rising in his chest along with the guilt. He opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a gag and he leaned over the toilet, shutting his eyes tight and breathing heavily while waiting for it to come. Jungkook’s eyes went wide before he went over to put a hand on Namjoon’s back, and patted gently as vomit came rushing out of Namjoon’s mouth and splashed into the toilet. His body was shaking badly, likely a product of fever. It looked more than painful.

Jungkook felt himself get nauseous again just watching Namjoon and had to stand up before gagging again and throwing up a bit more into the sink. Namjoon was heaving, probably too loudly to hear Jungkook getting sick anyways. When Jungkook was done, he returned to Namjoon, who finished up a few seconds later after a few quiet dry retches.

“Namjoon,” Jungkook whispered, “Shit, you are sick. Lay down, please.” Namjoon obliged and lay as far as he could, upper body resting on the edge of the bathtub and hands over his face.

“Jungkook, can you please get Hoseok or something? I feel awful,” Namjoon admitted and Jungkook looked at him. His stomach was bloated, face pale and sweaty. He looked awful, and Jungkook almost said yes. But he was suddenly feeling really nauseous again, and his stomach was hurting worse.

“Uhm, I’m not sure if I can--huhghh--” Jungkook tried to speak but was cut off by a violent gag as he went back to the sink and threw up again, more undigested food pouring out in a thick stream from his stomach. It was Namjoon this time to stand up shakily and put a much-too-warm hand on the younger’s back, still feeling feverish but wanting to help Jungkook badly. He rubbed the back gently, until Jungkook was reduced to dry gags. His face felt sweaty as Namjoon pulled back the overgrown black hair into a ponytail to avoid getting it stuck in vomit. Namjoon’s hands were shaking badly, and Jungkook swore he could feel the body heat radiating from the older.

“Ughh, Namjoon, I’m so sorry,” Jungkook muttered, sliding a hand up under his shirt to put on his stomach, “My stomach hurts so bad, hyung.” He turned around to look at Namjoon, who still looked pale. Eyes half-shut, not able to pay attention to whatever Jungkook was saying. The singer gently placed a hand on Namjoon’s forehead and frowned when he felt how warm it was. “Oh, gosh, hyung, you feel warm.” Namjoon hummed in agreement, opening his eyes slightly. Jungkook was unsure what to do, still feeling sick himself when he saw Taehyung walk through the door. His eyes were puffy from sleep, but he could still see the situation at hand and was concerned immediately.

“Jungkook-ah? Namjoon-ah? Are you guys sick?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Jungkook nearly cried from relief. “I was sick a couple times, and he was too, I think he has a fever, thank you for coming, Tae.”

“Huh? Why are you sick? How is Namjoon even standing up, his eyes are closed?” Taehyung’s brain was too foggy from sleep.

“I think the sashimi, but maybe Namjoon-hyung was sick from something else too, he has a fever. He’s falling asleep right now, at first he was holding me up but now I’m holding him up, as you can see.” Jungkook responded, and cleared his throat. “Can you please get him some fever medicine? I can’t take care of him, my stomach still feels so sick.”

“Yeah, of course, please lay him down for a second. He needs some rest. I’m gonna get some medicine, and, uh...Seokjin-hyung. I’ll get him too. You don’t have a fever?” Taehyung responded.

“No, I feel really awake and lucid actually. My head is clear, it’s just my stomach, which --” he paused to inhale shakily as a worse cramp wracked his stomach “--could you get some medicine for, please?” Jungkook said.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll be right back.” Taehyung left the room. Jungkook spoke gently to Namjoon.

“Hey, let’s sit down for a second, Joon. Just rest a little and we’re gonna give you some medicine,” he said. Namjoon nodded and sat down, resting his back on the wall. His eyes were open, but glossy and not really looking at anything in particular. “Gosh, Namjoon, it really seems like throwing up made you so much groggier, yeah?” Jungkook tried to joke, but no response. Namjoon just closed his eyes slightly. Jungkook frowned in worry and felt the leader’s forehead again. Somehow, it felt warmer than before. And crap, he’d forgotten to ask Taehyung to bring a thermometer. He’d probably remember it anyway, though. And Jungkook was looking forward to nothing more than being able to rest. He could still feel the cramps twisting in his stomach, and he’d been able to bear through them for the past few minutes but now he wasn’t sure if he could do it anymore. He was beginning to feel sicker by the second, too. His lower stomach was churning as well, and it felt almost like there was a rock sitting in his stomach. He wanted to feel better so badly. His fingers played with his small ponytail, as they always did when he got anxious. The worst part of this was he knew what food poisoning felt like. He knew that this would last much longer than just a few hours, and he hated nothing more than feeling sick and useless. He needed more than anything a few cuddles from Taehyung once he got Seokjin taking care of Namjoon. Jungkook sighed to himself as he thought about it. A cuddle and a stomach rub from Taehyung was the best thing he could possibly imagine. Just a few more minutes.

A few minutes went faster than Jungkook predicted, and it felt like no time had passed when Taehyung came through the door again, followed by Yoongi this time. Jungkook stood up, “Tae, why is Yoongi here? I thought you were going to get Seokjin,” Jungkook asked.

Taehyung shook his head. “Yoongi said that Seokjin was complaining that his stomach hurt really badly before he went to bed. He ate the sashimi too, so he’s probably sick.” Taehyung paused. “Jungkook, let me take you to my room and get back to bed. You look really pale.”

Jungkook nodded. “Be gentle with him though, Yoongi, he’s so tired.” Yoongi nodded in understanding and kneeled down close to Namjoon as Taehyung helped Jungkook stand up. They were halfway out the door before Yoongi spoke.

“Taehyung. He has a fever of nearly 101 degrees (38.5 celsius). Should I call the staff?” Taehyung turned back around.

“101 isn’t too high. Just let me know if it gets worse. I’m bringing Jungkook to my room, and since I don’t have a roommate right now we won’t wake anyone up. You should bring Namjoon back to your and Seokjin’s bed. Keep an eye on them both, okay?” Taehyung responded, still gently using his hands to stabilize Jungkook.

“Sounds good,” Yoongi said, and Taehyung walked off with Jungkook. "Come on, Kook-ah. Let's get you to rest, hm?"

Yoongi kneels down as well in front of Namjoon who looks in pain, brushing his damp hair slightly, “Joon-ah, let’s rest too?”

#bts sickfic #bts emeto #tw emeto #tw vomit #sick!namjoon #sick!jungkook #caretaker!taehyung #caretaker!yoongi #ryu's collab first part

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sebstanseabass · 3 years

Text

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 22

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Tag: @maladaptivexxdaydreaming

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The next few weeks went by in utter bliss.

The days after the pitch presentation with the marketing team were spent shooting the models in Sam's building. When Bucky told me you'd had assistants for the shoot, you thought that he was just joking or just wanted to make you feel better but you knew now to believe everything he would tell you. It was the first time you'd had people help you work; the first time you had to order people around. You had people working for the lights, reflectors, fans, backdrops, wardrobe, and make-up. You also had people sitting behind two large desktops connected to your new camera to skim over the photos. You would head over there for every five minutes to look at the photos and if you found something that could work better, you'd have another round with the models.

Considering it was the first time you've handled professional models and athletes in photoshoots, you did excellent and handled everything smoothly. Even Sharon knew it, giving you a small reassuring smile from time to time.

Speaking of Sharon, she actually helped you with the models' wardrobe, and got every new clothing from their inventory, making sure everything and everyone were photographed. She was still walking around with her clipboard close to her chest. She never walked the grounds without it.

Sam would go in and out from time to time. With the other matters he had in his hands, countless partnership meetings on-site and online, it was understandable.

But you knew he trusted me in this. After all, you were partners in this project.

Meanwhile, Bucky had made himself comfortable watching you from the corner of the studio. He made himself too comfortable watching you the whole time you were working that the models thought he was planning something heinous. You laughed them off and told them you were dating.

"Isn't he too old for you?" One model had asked.

"Doesn't really matter to me." You turned your head and glanced at Bucky, his eyes glistening as he stared at you. You bit your lip and faced the model. "Plus, he's hot. I would be crazy not to jump on that."

If only Nat could hear you, you knew she'd be proud.

Even though the two-day shoots were brutal, you felt a sense of satisfaction wash over you. More when you finally had to do post-production the following week which meant editing the photos.

As promised, you spent your break time over at Bucky's penthouse, naked in his living room, his master bedroom, the kitchen, and his home office. Your legs would be trembling during the shoot but you persevered. You didn't want Bucky to see you weak while working, even though it turned him on. It wasn't helping that he was watching you the whole time. You couldn't see him but you always felt his eyes on you.

The Falcons' new release was set to be launched a month and a half later, just weeks after Bucky's birthday (I'll get to Bucky's birthday in a bit, 'cause that was a whole other thing kept at the back of my mind, you thought). There were still a lot of things happening with advertising and marketing such as the new website, and pages on social media platforms and new packaging.

After the project with Sam, your paycheck came one Monday morning in the mail. Peter kept asking you how much you were paid but you never told him because if you did, he'd let you pay the next six month's rent — and that wasn't even just for your half. It would be for the both of you. You would gladly pay of course, seeing that he's helped you enough financially but you wanted to invest this money to earn more. The paycheck wouldn't stop there, of course. Sam would still pay you if your photos ever get on billboards across any city or when he opens up a new branch.

Sam referred you to a couple more guys he knew. One who needed to photograph models for a skincare brand he'd been rebranding for the past couple of weeks and one who needed to photograph paintings to be sold online. They weren't as big as Sam's business but were big enough in the industry. The production of both were still in the talk.

The next day, you and Bucky went studio hunting downtown. Obviously, your little home studio wasn't fit for incoming clients and this was surely an investment you couldn't pass upon. After renting and earning more profit, you figured you could move into another studio and buy it; a permanent place where you could freely work.

While studio hunting, Bucky insisted to buy the place that you wanted — or better yet, buy a much bigger place so you wouldn't have to move to another studio. But you've already made up your mind. You told him you wanted to do this your own way, with the money you've earned. After signing the contract and lease with your name on it, Bucky hugged you from behind. The property agent eyed you.

"At least let me buy you something, doll." He whispered in your hair as soon as you were left alone. You stood at the center of the empty office, overlooking the busy streets of New York City through the glass walls. "Please."

You met his arms with your hands, pulling him closer. You leaned on his chest, sighing at the comfort his arms gave you. "Even if I tell you no, I know you're still going to do it."

"You're damn right. Do you have anything in mind you might like?"

You turned around and wrapped your arms around his neck. "Surprise me."

He chewed his inner cheeks before dipping his head to yours, your lips meeting each other. "Oh, I definitely will."

The next day, a whole studio setup filled the used-to-be-empty studio. Complete with backdrops, lights, light boxes, and reflectors. In your new office was a fully furnished desk, complete with a desktop setup where you could edit photos.

You looked at him with wide eyes, ready to lecture him that this was all too much and that you definitely made it clear that you wanted to do all of this by yourself.

Bucky had caught your expression early on, scared that you might have our first argument.

"Before you say anything, this wasn't all me. I figured out a loophole on how I could buy you the things you need for this studio and at the same time, still make you like me and would still make you want to rip my clothes off."

"What did you do this time, James?"

"All of this," he said, gesturing to all the equipment in the studio, "was both me and Sam. Think of it as an investment. If you can get more work and clients, then you can keep everything but if you can't, we'll pull them all out. When you afford to buy everything here, only then can you pay us. This little string here," he pointed to the both of you, "is just business."

You looked at him in disbelief. "Just business?"

He bit his lip. "Okay, maybe a bit of pleasure too."

"A bit?"

"Maybe a whole lot." He shrugged.

"And the whole idea was... just you?"

"Just me, sweetheart. Plain James Buchanan Barnes. You get me, you get the whole package."

"And besides money what will you get out of this little investment idea of yours?"

"I have little care about the money, honestly." He said. "But I'm doing all this for you and you is all I care about."

"You're damn lucky I like you, James."

"Like me enough to have some hot sex right here, right now?"

You smirked, pressing your crotch against his, teasing him. "I get the whole package, right?"

Bucky took you from behind. Your tight skirt hiked up to your waist. Your tits bouncing against the fabric of the beige curtains, your hands gripping them as hard as you could as Bucky thrusted himself hard and deep behind you, his hands either on your hips, your hair, your neck or your breasts. And as you both finished, the curtain rod broke in half, making you and Bucky topple on the ground, the huge curtains falling down on your bodies. The bright sun radiating across the room, the view of the streets startling you.

Laughter filled the room as you stared at each other. The look of exhaustion still evident in your faces and body.

"You're buying me new curtains." You breathed out.

"Me?" He chuckled. "You're the one who pulled them off!"

"The reason why was you."

"I have a better idea."

"I doubt that."

"We should just get these windows tinted." He smirked under the curtains and rolled over towards you, his arms wrapped around your waist. "That way we could just ravish each other in front of this goddamn city without anyone ever seeing us. How does that sound, doll?"

You hummed, brushing your nose against his. "Tempting."

"Is that a yes?"

You shrugged, pulling away from him. "You have to convince me more, Mr. Barnes."

"Oh babydoll, you're gonna regret saying those words."

The following weeks with Bucky was all you could ever ask for but it was getting harder and harder to hide all of this from Peter. Your time together was spent in the confines of Bucky's expensive penthouse when he wasn't in meetings and when you weren't busy finishing the setup in your new studio.

All day you'd cuddle up, watch movies, read books, and just talk more about the beauty and perils of life.

You couldn't go out that much because you couldn't risk Peter or any of Peter's friends to see you and Bucky around. When you visited the bar one day and told Nat all about it, she told you to go to places Peter and any of his friends will never be at.

"Besides, isn't Peter always working?" She asked as you sat down on the booth.

"We still don't want to risk it."

"So, go with my plan."

"Hey," you said, finally thinking her idea was a good one, "how's it going with Steve?"

She shrugged, chewing on her lower lip. You eyed her suspiciously. "Uh-oh, what's wrong?"

"It's still good but..." she paused, her eyes strained. "He's been acting strange lately."

"Isn't he always?" You chuckled. "You may not notice this 'cause you're sleeping with him but he's a bit peculiar for a man his age. Always cramped up in that little office of his. Seriously, how on earth do you have sex in there?"

"I'm bendy, bitch."

"Never should've asked." You mumbled, getting the picture of Nat, well, bending, out of your head.

"Anyway," she sighed, "it's just... he's acting really weird. I can't even begin to explain it. I think something happened."

"Do you think it's about you two?"

"I doubt that." She frowned. "I just know it's something else."

"You want me to talk to him? I'm like a little sister to him." You replied. "Sorta. It's a weird dynamic, I know."

"Sure, if you ever catch him in the office. He's barely even here."

You nodded, taking the new information in. "Now, that's a whole level of weird for Steve."

"Maybe he's just having problems with the bar or something." You shrugged.

"If he did, he'd be here in the bar. I tried talking to him but he says he's just fine. I don't know, I'm just letting him be. It's not like we're in a relationship."

You and Nat talked a bit more about Steve right before her shift started. Then the next day, you gave Bucky a map and marked all the places you could go to without risking being seen. Brooklyn was the only place Peter would never go to. You thought about Queens but May, Peter's aunt, lives around that area.

Brooklyn was no Upper West or Upper East side but it didn't matter to you or to Bucky. You had each other; just the two of us — in the restaurant & lounge, movie theater (where we always end up making out), Barnes & Noble, local coffee shops (where we read the books we've bought), and in the streets of Brooklyn. Strolling hand in hand, stealing kisses on every empty corner, and you taking photos and videos of the beautiful landscape, and the beautiful man who managed to steal your heart.

All the rendezvous with Bucky felt like you were a married woman having an affair — without the secret handwritten letters.

But everything was in place and your heart was full. It was so full it could almost explode.

Spending all the time in his penthouse, in Brooklyn and your studio made me miss your rooftop. A place you've claimed yours and Bucky's; a place he'd claimed you his, and he, yours. You wished we could just go there freely, without having to worry Peter seeing you together doing unspeakable things to one another.

And yes, telling Peter was getting much harder as the month went by.

Back in the Upper West Side, nothing much was going on in the bar. You barely see Steve (though according to Nat, he comes in the bar every now and then), Nat was still Nat of course (and nothing much had changed in whatever was going on between her and Steve), Nick got better at making drinks (thank the heavens for that), Sam would give you constant updates whenever he came with Bucky in the bar, and Peter had been having problems with his marketing team and Wanda's vision for the clothing line they landed.

Now that was something you couldn't believe and was the reason you and Bucky kept postponing on telling him.

Peter was constantly in a bad mood. It got to one point where he wanted to quit the team.

After that, you went to pay Wanda a visit at her studio. You found her sitting in her office in deep thoughts. She was surprised to see you but managed to put on a smile when she approached you with a hug. You offered if you could get coffee from a coffee shop down the block and there you talked about the conflict happening between her and Peter's team.

Boy, when you and Sharon had had an argument, you thought that was already big. But Wanda's case was much bigger.

"This isn't a collaboration anymore. It feels like my artistic vision has no place in it. It's like they're telling me, 'hey, you have a camera just shoot whatever we want you to shoot the way we want it to be shot.' I keep telling them that's not how it works. They keep throwing in my face that they hired me, that they're paying me." Wanda being Wanda, kept on and on and on. "... and that roommate of yours is no help either. He just stays silent the whole time during those god awful meetings. We're already behind track and apparently it's my fault. Can you believe it? God, I don't know what to do. I've never had a marketing team work alongside me before! Have you at least talked to Peter about it?"

You raised your eyebrows, taking a sip of the coffee. "Oh, I wouldn't wanna talk to Parker. He's been in quite a mood."

"Too bad, I was kind of hoping you could knock some sense into him. Should I just quit?"

You talked for about two hours in the coffee shop catching up. It felt kind of rude to talk to her about The Falcons but she insisted. And she genuinely looked and sounded so happy for you, which made you feel a bit guilty for being so envious of her success.

You parted ways in her studio but before you could even get out of her office and go to Brooklyn to meet with Bucky, Wanda called out your name and handed you a film camera.

And it wasn't just any film camera. It was yours — the one that she borrowed back in college.

"It's long overdue, y/n. I was just finding the right time to give it back to you."

You gave her a reassuring smile, telling her it's okay. Hell, you even forgot you lended it to her until today. "Thanks, Wanda."

"I haven't had the film developed, by the way. I took a couple of photos before realizing I've run out. I didn't want to get them developed since most of the photos are yours."

After that, you convinced Bucky to go to some shops in Brooklyn where you could get them developed but he insisted you should just make the little spare room in the studio into a dark room. You didn't know why you agreed but you did, anyway. Bucky always had a way with words. Or perhaps it was because of his intoxicating voice. Either way, you were addicted to every part of him. He could try to persuade you in gibberish and you'd still say yes.

It was already the week before Bucky's birthday. You've already met with your new clients, began planning pre-production, and almost finished setting up the studio, yet your brain was still racking what on earth to get Bucky for his birthday.

Howard picked you up in your studio an hour after your meetings and thanked him as you got out. Leonard greeted you inside and led you towards the elevator that goes right up to Bucky's penthouse.

Bucky just came out of his study when you greeted him with a kiss, his phone in his hand.

"So, who was on the phone? Parker?" You asked as soon as you sat down on the couch.

"That was Tony."

You pursed your lips and nodded, caressing the top of his head. "Tony's been calling you a lot lately." You commented, recalling the times you've seen Tony's name on Bucky's phone screen. "Is everything fine?"

"It's kind of weirding me out too, doll but this time, I kind of figured why he called."

You frowned and stopped playing with his hair. "What do you mean?"

"It's the first time in five years I'm in New York for my birthday and knowing him, I know he'd throw me this huge party." Bucky chuckled. "And I couldn't say no because well... It's Tony — "

You smiled at him. "That's really sweet of him! He must've been missing you a lot."

"I'm not done yet, doll." He placed his finger on your lips.

You giggled and hid how easily that gesture turned you on.

"The birthday party has a theme." With his finger still on your lips, you waited for him to finish. Something you always anticipated in bed. "It's the Great Gatsby."

Your mouth fell agape, smiling at him. In your head, you were already seeing him in a neat, dazzling vintage suit. "Oh my god, why do you look so glum? It sounds like a great party!"

He shrugged. "Honestly, I just want to spend my birthday with you." He pecked your lips then whispered. "No fancy party. Just you."

You kissed him back, then placed your head on his shoulder. "I'd love that too, boo but I'm nothing compared to a Great Gatsby party."

"You couldn't be more wrong, sweetheart." He sighed, pulling you up to his lap. "I'd choose you over any fancy party. I just want you."

"You still have to go, Bucky."

He groaned, dipping his head on your shoulder as he pulled you closer, his hands tight on the sides of your thighs. "I don't want to."

"You have to." You giggled, lifting his head. You put your hands on his jaws, looking straight at him. "Okay?"

"I'm turning thirty-nine in a week, y/n. I'm too old for a costume party."

"Puh-lease." You scoffed. "You streaked in the streets of Greece when you turned thirty-four and you're telling me you're too old for a costume party?"

He groaned, throwing his head back. "Why do you always bring that up, doll?"

"It's one of my favorite stories I've been told about my boyfriend." You smirked, bringing his head back in between his shoulders. "It would be my favorite if I were with you."

Bucky sent you a glare. "No way am I letting other people see you naked. Never in a million years."

You shrugged. "You almost did when we had sex that one time in my office, Buck. Come on, go to the party. It's your party, anyway."

He chuckled, brushing a strand of hair away from your face. He tucked it behind your ear. You smiled at the gesture. "If anything, it's Tony's party, Not mine. He's sort of a diva."

"He's still throwing it because of you. Come on, boo."

A moment of silence occurred.

"You're coming with me, then." He replied. "I'm not going if you're not going."

You hummed, looking up at the ceiling. "Let's see... A party with my boyfriend, his adoptive father who's one of the richest people ever to exist on this planet, and his stepbrother. Well, it's a party but not that fancy."

He moaned. "Then be my date in secret. Come on, doll, we've been really good at it. We can sneak out for a few minutes and make out. That way, I could still be with you."

You knitted your brows. "That sounds more like Romeo and Juliet. Not the Great Gatsby."

He chuckled, kissing the tip of your nose. "Come on, y/n. It's my birthday. Don't I get special treatment on my special day?"

You looked at him with narrowed eyes, knowing he would never drop this. The worry of a party with the person you had been avoiding the past month was settling inside but Bucky's arms around your waist made that all disappear.

"Fine." You sighed. "Your wish is my command, Mr. Barnes."

Bucky smiled in victory, leaning in closer to your face. His lips brushed against yours. "Wishes, baby. That's not the only wish I want."

"You have two more then."

"Oh wait, I should rub you first after making a wish, right?"

You shook your head. "Don't push it."

He sneered, carefully rubbing your thighs. "My second wish would be me buying you a dress but don't let me see it until my birthday comes."

You hadn't had any chance to argue because well, it would be his birthday. And you couldn't resist Bucky.

I don't think I ever could.

"Deal." You sealed it with a small kiss then stood up from his lap. "Only if you let me go shopping now,"

"Now? Like, right now? It's a bit too early, don't you think?"

You nodded and gave him a playful smile. "It is. I just wanted to tease you with a little secret I'll be bringing home with me tonight."

"Oh no," he reached out his arms, "don't do that to me. Come on, get back here. I have a better idea."

You sighed, getting back on his lap, straddling him. "Of course, you do."

"I'll have someone over here tomorrow. I'll have one of the best dressmakers here to make you something gorgeous. How does that sound?"

"It sounds expensive." You warned. "But wonderful. I'll be here in the morning."

After spending another hour at Bucky's, discussing what could've been his birthday plans with me (a simple rooftop dinner, where we could get drunk and have drunk sex underneath the tent — that was just one of the crazy options he offered), you went straight to the bar and looked for Nat, hoping she could help me what to get for Bucky on his birthday.

As you got there, you barged inside only to find the bar empty. You looked around, wondering why there were no people inside only to realize it was two in the afternoon and it was a Monday. You looked back on the door, wondering why it was open. Then, it hit you: Steve. He must be here.

"Steve?" You called out as you neared his office. "Steve, you here?"

No answer.

You knocked on the door and called out his name one more time but you were only met with silence. Without hesitation, you opened Steve's door. You were greeted with a pile of papers. It was like they were growing from the ground.

"Steve?" You called out once more but there was still no answer. You walked around the room to find more papers. You picked one up, seeing it was a newspaper dated back 2012. It was an article about an explosion that happened in the Upper East Side. But you couldn't see the details since only the headline was in sight. It seemed like the whole article had been cut or shredded.

You wondered if Steve was the one who wrote it.

It was the first time you ever got a good look in his office. Inside were dusty. To think that he spends most of his time here, he'd bother to clean once in a while.

On the back of his table were a bunch of photographs lined up. Some of his family, you assumed, fishing on a lake. Then, something caught your eye: a small framed picture that was facing down.

Curious, you slowly picked it up.

An audible gasp came out of your mouth when you saw the photo.

It was Bucky and Steve.

#bucky barnes fanfic #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes au #bucky au #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky fanfiction #bucky x you #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky #bucky fic #bucky barnes fan fiction #james bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #marvel #marvel au #marvel fanfiction

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mr-entj · 3 years

Note

Hello Mr. ENTJ 👋🏻 ENTP girl here. Like any other Ne-dom I have major struggles with discipline and commitment. This ended up, obviously, screwing my life and I have no idea what to do. I have problems figuring out what career should I choose, and this is depressing me because I'm ambitious and would like to find my place and succeed. What advise do you have on discipline? Or on how to stick with something even when is not fun all the time? I know that for us is very difficult and that maybe an advise for others might not work so good with us (our brain is programmed to jump from one topic to another) but is there anything you know that could help with this?

Sorry for the long ask, and thank you so much.

(ps: I have depression, which I'm already working on with proper help. But discipline related to study/work and goals is something I still haven't found an answer)