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wooawrites · 8 months

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love or letter: woozi version

pairing: l. jihoon x fem! reader

summar: reader accidentally sends head producer jihoon into unwanted popularity, creating tension within their office.

word count: 12k+

genre: semi-enemies to lovers, office romance, fluff

playlist

love or letter series

“Hello and welcome back to… Boo!”

“...Seok!”

“...Soon!”

“Radio Show!”

Chorus of laughter could be heard from around the recording room as the three hosts finished the final portion of the introduction together. Papers could also be heard being shuffled as the hosts eased themselves out of their advertisement break and into their next segment.

“Thank you very much for the love and support you sent us on our official Instagram page during our short university break. I hope all of you enjoyed my takeover for that day—”

“Yeah, I’m sure everyone enjoyed the tiger room tour you gave to our poor listeners, Hoshi.” DK interrupted. A thump could be heard, along with DK yelping in pain for a split second. “Just so listeners know, Kwon Hoshi just hit me, his coworker/host.”

Hoshi could be heard yelling something at him in rushed sentences, though it sounded as if he were underwater from the quality of the mics. They only seemed to stop themselves when a tapping from glass could be heard. Both sounded to be settled back into their seats as they continued with their show.

“Right, onto everyone’s favorite segment: Love or Letter!” Hoshi said excitedly, though there seemed to be a lack for it’s usual excitement in the studio as weak claps could be heard instead. Hoshi seemed to have picked this up as he asked, “Huh? Is something wrong?”

“I know that most of you are here for our most recent Love or Letter, but this one is a little strange. It’s only about half a page long but it’s quite… A tell-all, that’s for sure.” Seungkwan commented, letting out an awkward cough as he shook at the letter in front of him. Scraping from chairs could be heard, which was followed up by laughter from the two other hosts. “Kwon Hoshi, you read it since this is your undoing.”

Laughter had yet to cease, the sound of what’s mixed between a snort and crying could only be heard from the studio. Seungkwan did not hesitate to yell out his fellow host’s name once more, only earning a winded “Okay, okay!” from the other man.

Hoshi cleared his throat, remnants of a laugh ready to slip from his lips as he spoke. “Okay… Dear BooSeokSoon, usually this kind of letter comes from cliche shows and I dearly hope this letter becomes buried amongst the many letters your Love or Letter Team receives on a daily basis, but this is not much of advice and more of a confession…"

Tapping from the glass could be heard once more, a little more panicked than last time. Hoshi let out a hum, as if ignoring whoever was tapping on the other side, continuing. "...to your producer, Jihoon. The moment I saw his picture on Hoshi's Instagram post, I couldn't help but fall for him. I understand if he won't accept my affections, but if he ever sees or hears this letter, please know that Kim Gi—"

"AHHH!" Someone interrupts. Seungkwan. "We read the letters, not expose their names and addresses."

"How could he? She put her name and number down for our PD Jihoon to take." DK says, laughing. The knocking turned more erratic, silencing anything else anyone had to say. DK coughed. “Well… Dear writer, I’m sorry to say this will be a Letter. Our PD Jihoon is pretty anti—”

“Caught up with work!” Hoshi interrupted. “Anyways, sorry to cut the segment so short, we’ve hit a bit of a little issue here at the radio station. Tune in tomorrow night for our other special segment, Paranormals With Peachy, and to hear our daily campus news! Thank you again for listening to BooSeokSoon Radio and have a good night everyone!”

A chorus of goodbye’s from the other hosts could be heard. A final awkward sigh could be heard before the radio cuts off—

[Name] wasn’t sure if she wanted to peel away from the glass just yet. She could feel him staring at the back of her head, which would’ve frightened her if she wasn’t so exhausted. Her palm stung from how hard she was hitting the glass to make the hosts stop talking.

How am I supposed to take tomorrow’s exam if my palm’s going to bruise up? She asked herself, eyes never leaving Seokmin, who offered her a passive smile as he, Soonyoung, and Seungkwan settled their headsets on their respective mic stands. They were deliberately slow this time, much to [Name]’s chagrin.

“You let one of those letters slip through.” His voice held no such emotion, like it usually does, but the emphasis could be heard even if it was verbal.

[Name] closed her eyes, mentally bringing her walls up as she turned around to look at Jihoon. “I swear I made sure to separate the piles properly.”

“Not properly enough.” Jihoon chastised. The hosts were sure to be quiet to shut the door as quietly as possible, though it didn’t stop Jihoon from snapping his head at them, eyes narrowing at the three men. “And why did you three just keep reading?”

[Name] was glad everyone else from their respective teams were kind enough to clear away from the room before the radio show ended. At least this way they wouldn’t have to hear four of the five members that drove the show to be chewed out.

“Because it was entertaining.” Soonyoung answered honestly, sending a teasing smile toward Jihoon, who only rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Jihoon, it was a little funny. Those confession letters honestly just come from pure intentions—”

“And somehow makes a fool out of me—” Jihoon snapped.

“—and cut [Name] some slack. She spent the whole week separating your confession letters from the actual confession letters, printed out apology notes to any of the addressed senders, and was the one to narrow down the possible stories for us to use. And that was on top of everything else she’s usually supposed to do.” Soonyoung explained, giving the younger woman an easy smile.

Seungkwan nodded. “I’m sure someone just mixed up the papers when it was brought over to us. [Name] would’ve spotted it if she was the one to physically take it over to us herself.”

Jihoon was only seething in silence, [Name] fighting off the urge to tear at her hair in frustration. Her eyes narrowed in on her hand, finding the bruise forming on her wrist more interesting than the conversation. Though if she were to be honest, any conversation could be better than this one.

Her mind replayed every single moment that happened up until she handed off the stacks to her assistants. Had she told the wrong person to bring it to Seokmin? Why hadn’t they double checked like she asked them to? Either way, she knew it was her fault some way or another and she wasn’t sure how long she’s going to keep her job after this.

“I’m sorry.” [Name] said finally, bowing deeply to Jihoon and the three other hosts. “I swear I separated them—”

“Yeah, I know.” Jihoon started, only stopping when [Name] sent him a look that only seemed befitting to his own special glare.

“At least let me finish?” [Name] suggested, voice quipped as if she were a school teacher talking to a child. “I should have double—no, triple checked those stacks of letters. If I had done that in the first place, the segment wouldn’t have to be cut short and we wouldn’t be here.”

Seokmin shook his head. “No it’s okay. I should’ve checked on the papers before the show started too instead of handing it over to the other two. Besides, this is just your first mistake. You haven’t made any since you were moved up from production assistant to head producer for the Love or Letter team.”

[Name] nodded, appreciating the hosts' understanding, though she wasn’t sure if Jihoon would accept her apology. She bowed again to Jihoon, muttering another quiet apology to the man.

“Just… Don’t do it again. And make sure to keep your team in check and I want you to be the one to physically bring it over to Seokmin so you can triple check you have the right story next time. Got it?” Jihoon asked. At [Name]’s nod, he turned for the door, stopping as he turned to take a good look at [Name]. “And next time, don’t stay up so late trying to separate those letters. You’ve got five other people on your team to help you with those.”

With those words, Jihoon exited, Soonyoung following shortly after. [Name] sat on the leather couch behind her, digging her head into her hands as she let out a tired sigh. The couch dipped, Seokmin’s hand patting her back. “Don’t sweat it. Everyone makes mistakes all the time.”

Sungkwan hummed in agreement. “And it’s not as if Jihoon’s picture perfect either. He made plenty of mistakes before he became the radio show’s producer.”

“That’s the thing: before he was a producer. I’m a producer now and I made a mistake even rookies were able to avoid.” [Name] grumbled, rubbing at her eyes.

Sungkwan and Seokmin let out noises of discontent at their friend. “Don’t be so hard on yourself; the school year’s just begun and you’re still adjusting. Jihoon’s pretty forgiving after he’s finished with his chastising; he’s too busy to stay too mad.”

[Name] rolled her eyes at the last notion. “Sure, sure. As if he hasn’t had it out for me the minute I stepped foot into the building to meet up with him this summer.”

She hadn’t been wrong; when she had just been a production assistant to Yeri a year prior, Lee Jihoon had been nice to her—or polite, at least. Always offered small bows of acknowledgement whenever she was trailing behind Yeri or was by herself in the small office space provided to the Love or Letter team.

Once Yeri had graduated, Mr. Yang had been the one to announce [Name]’s step up into the open position her mentor left behind, suddenly making Jihoon become colder for some reason toward her.

The meet up she had with him and Mr. Yang had gone smoothly on the surface, but she could still feel the coldness behind Jihoon’s tone when narrowing down expectations needed once she became a producer.

Regardless, she kept her temper from rising and did her best to keep her composure throughout the meeting, though that didn’t stop her from dropping certain comments at him afterward. Especially when she felt as if she wasn’t wrong or trying to amend her wrongdoings.

Maybe she was just overthinking, but she was sure Lee Jihoon had it out for her and she was more than ready to hold her ground. Except now, though. That blunder was definitely her fault.

“Don’t be like that.” Seokmin responded, nudging her shoulder. “You probably just need to get some more sleep; there’s been a lot of confession letters sent to Jihoon after Soonyoung posted a picture of him last year and it accumulated during the summer. He seemed to understand in the end anyways.”

“Right… Right…”

“You have been getting enough rest, right?” Seungkwan asked, though all three of them knew the answer already. “How have you been?”

[Name] sighed. “Fine, I guess.” Silence had never felt louder as she could feel her best friends eyeing her suspiciously. “I’m just… Here, okay? It’s better than the last time you guys asked me if it makes you feel better.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Seungkwan asked, standing up. “We can go get food and head back to my apartment.”

“No, I just wanna get my stuff and head home.” [Name] responded honestly, making sure to offer Seungkwan a kind smile. “Thank you for being concerned for me, though. I really mean that.”

Sungkwan nodded. “Any time.”

“We’re always here, you know.” Seokmin said, offering her a side hug before they stood up.

They all walked out together, separating when [Name] walked over to her office and the other two moving toward their own. “Don’t stay up all night!” Sungkwan said.

“I won’t!” [Name] responded, well aware she was most likely going to, in fact, stay up all night. Her bag had already been packed and her coat folded on top of her chair. With a quick swing at both items, [Name] walked out of her office, fishing for her headphones as she walked out.

Two familiar voices and her name could be heard at the other end of the hall, however, making [Name] stop under the assumption her name was being called. [Name] was ready to call back and ask what was needed before she registered what was being said.

“...some slack, already, man. Do you not see how exhausted the poor girl is?” Soonyoung asked. “And you can tell she’s definitely going to make up for it. I swear she would have broken the glass with how hard she was tapping the glass earlier. She’s really trying her best.”

Jihoon sighed. “Her best isn’t enough. I don’t understand why Yeri and Mr. Yang wanted her become a producer with only a year under her belt. She’s too young to work with that kind of role and it’s obvious.”

“Why are you so hard on her anyways? The Lover or Letter team liked her before and after she became a producer.”

“I’m not being hard on her; I just don’t like something I spent four years building up with you come crumbling down by some second year.”

[Name] held her breath. Did he really think she was that incapable? Enough to tear down a four year radio station? She was almost ready to jump out of her hiding spot, ready to tell Jihoon off and ask him if he thought of Seungkwan and Seokmin, who were also second years with higher positions at the radio station, that way as well.

She only halted when she heard Jihoon yelp. “Ow! You dick!”

“You’re the one being a dick.” Soonyoung admonished. “Like I said, cut her some slack. She’s definitely trying so give her a chance. It’s only the beginning of the school year, too, so let everyone adjust. Besides… I think something’s going on with her.”

Jihoon huffed. “Why?”

“I don't know. She just seems like she’s keeping herself busy from something and she wasn’t like this last year. Of course, you wouldn’t know because you never spoke to her.”

“Hey—”

“That being said, be nice to her. She really did work her ass off this week; I swear she practically lives here if she’s not in class…”

Their voices faded out and [Name] could only wonder to herself how much had she changed and how obvious was it to the point that even an acquaintance like Soonyoung noticed it. Her brain was too muddled to think of anything, though, exhaustion clinging to her tighter.

She put on her headphones, immediately allowing the sound of instrumental music to flood her senses. She walked with the intention of slumber, though her mind continued to replay the continued conversation in her head, fighting off the sting whenever she remembered Jihoon’s words.

Naturally, news made its way around campus about last week’s fiasco on Love or Letter. Everywhere [Name] went, she could hear someone talking or spreading word of what happened in Love or Letter. And she never felt more embarrassment in her life.

When she found herself at the office of BSS Radio, she was quick to speed off to the Love or Letter office. [Name] evaded any probing questions the other segment teams had for her.

She wasn’t sure she was ready to explain her mistake and be the focus of ridicule just yet, though it seemed she had been the only one to view it that way. The segment’s events spread around like wildfire—interesting everyone and essentially inviting more people to listen to the radio station, Love or Letter in particular.

[Name] had expected some kind of termination request from Jihoon, especially after what she had heard from him from that night, but she hadn’t heard from him at all since the incident. She had wondered for the duration of the week as to why, though a quick call from the Love or Letter production manager, Colette, telling her to come to the station nearly sent her into a panic.

Like usual, [Name] speed walked to her office, more curious as to what exactly Colette needed from her if she was needed so desperately at the station.

Maybe I’m getting fired and Colette was promoted…? [Name] had initially thought as she opened the door.

“[Name] wait—!” A voice called out, cutting off when [Name] let out a gasp as a pile of letters fell at her feet. Evelyn, one of the new production assistants, had made her presence known as she leaned over the remaining pile in front of the door to pick up the fallen letters. “Sorry, I should’ve moved them.”

[Name] leaned down to help her. From behind the girl sat Colette, who was opening letters and sorting them into bins. Her eyes only furrowed in confusion when their eyes locked, silently asking her what was happening.

“Ever since word went out on what happened, more people have sent in letters.” Colette explained, waving a piece of paper around. “Those piles on your feet are unopened ones. Come in and help us sort it out.”

[Name] nodded, speechless at the information as she stepped over. From another side of the room stood the Love or Letter writers, Amelia, Eunwoo, and Jian. They offered a wordless nod as they filtered letters into more bins. “How many people sent letters?” She asked, a little afraid of what the number was.

“Almost three hundred—that’s twice as much as what we usually get on a usual basis.” Amelia informed, an excited smile on her face. “Almost all of them are actual letters instead of the ones we’ve been getting. Of course some of them are kind of useless, though—majority love confessions to Jihoon and others just writing crude things to see if they can get it on air—”

“Which we won’t.”Colette said. “Because all six of us are gonna sort this out together instead of leaving [Name] in the dust with this pile. And we won’t be giving the wrong files without checking over with everyone, will we?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and [Name] made use of their cooperation as she sat down on her desk and started working on sorting papers out with them.

“You should’ve seen the look on Jihoon’s face.” Evelyn said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him express anything past irritation until he came to the letter box today; he had to call every single one of us to help with moving these letters to this room. He looked like he was stuck in a daze!”

“Why did he call all of you and not me?” [Name] inquired, only earning a shrug from the younger girl. She shot Colette a look in confusion. “Does he not trust me anymore or something?”

Colette shook her head, eyeing her oddly. “Quite the opposite. He asked me where you were and I said you’re probably still asleep since you’re done with class. Told me to only call you unless it’s necessary.” She motioned for the piles of letters. “It’s kind of necessary right now so sorry if I woke you up.”

“You didn’t.” [Name] reassured, opening the letter in her hands, sorting through the papers as if it were second nature once she found herself moving.

Almost an hour had passed through their sorting and [Name] only listened to her team’s conversation, only passing in conversations with Colette every now and then. A knock on the door brought her back to reality. Leaning her head over the pile of letters in front of her, she spotted Jihoon hovering at the doorway, red envelope in hand.

His eyes scanned the room, mouth ajar as he checked the space around them. "Uwah…" Was all he could manage out. "This is a lot."

"Yeah it is." [Name] agreed, watching as he tried to carefully step over the pile of envelopes at the doorway in amusement. He shuffled his way over to [Name], staring at her curiously.

"I thought you were supposed to be asleep."

"Couldn't." [Name] answered simply, seamlessly opening another envelope as she quickly filtered through it to decide on which pile to place it. Jihoon frowned at her words.

"Why?"

[Name] shot him a strange look. "I just couldn't. Why are you so concerned anyways?"

She bit back her tongue when she realized how sharp her tone was, though she had no means of apologizing. If he was more than willing to express his displeasure with her whenever he felt like it, she most definitely can do the same thing.

Her eyes were trained on his, noticing the slight twitch when she sent out her biting words toward him. She waited for him to respond to her in some sort of tone similar to her’s, half expecting him to mention that her job is still currently being evaluated for a clause of termination.

Instead, Jihoon only sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before moving his hand up to push back some of his hair. “Nothing. Here’s information for next week’s radio show.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.” [Name] said half heartedly. She stood up, accepting the red envelope and setting it on her table. She returned her attention back to the letters right afterwards, though she could still see Jihoon hovering around longer than expected. “...do you need anything else, Jihoon?”

“Huh?” Jihoon asked, clearly in a bit of a daze. As much as he attempted to remain as stoic as possible, he was horrible at hiding his embarrassment. “Oh—uhm, no. Good luck with all of this. And, uh, don’t push yourself too hard this time. Wouldn’t want something like last week to happen.”

[Name] felt irritation bubble up in her chest, though she pushed it aside as she watched Jihoon awkwardly turn and walk out of her office. She waited for the door to shut before turning to make eye contact with Colette, who looked just as confused as she was.

Since when did Jihoon become so concerned? Or, even more shocking, when did Jihoon ever hold a conversation with her for more than five minutes when it’s not a staff meeting?

If there was anything [Name] hated more than anything, it was phone calls. She wasn’t sure why she was so irked by them; maybe it was because she was so used to speaking to people in person? Or it could be the fact she wasn’t able to gauge what people were actually able to feel if she can’t see their face.

Whatever reason it may be, [Name] hated them to the point she would avoid them if they weren’t work related. Though, recently she’s been needing to answer personal ones more frequently, much to her chagrin.

“Are you coming home this weekend? It’s your dad’s—”

“I’m well aware of what this weekend is, Mom.” [Name] interrupted, letting out an irritated groan when he hip knocked onto a stack of paperwork to the ground.

It was late into the afternoon and [Name] was already behind on whatever needed to be finished before she left today. She cursed herself for answering the phone and having to prepare herself for an argument with her mother.

“Well then are you coming? You hardly leave campus since you went back to school. Honestly it’s kind of selfish of you to leave like that.”

[Name] snorted out a laugh, temper rising at her mother’s backhanded comments. “So, are you trying to get me to come visit or just helping me find reasons to not come home?”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just… You haven’t been home to help out like you promised.”

Seriously…? “Last time I checked, I was helping pay for the twins’ uniforms and cram school funds.” [Name] said, voice tense. “And I’m paying for their fees for their daily tutoring every week.”

A growing headache was blooming on the side of her head and [Name] was more than ready to hang up any minute to tend to it. She barely processed the swing of her office door, which revealed Jihoon walking in with courteous silence.

He rocked on the balls of his heels as he pointed at his watch, indicating the time for her to turn in one of her written proposals for next week’s segment. [Name] nodded, standing up with one hand on her phone as she rifled through the pile of papers she had all but forgotten on the floor.

“I mean, can you just be more present with us?”

“Honestly, with the way you talk to me, no.” [Name] said, anger almost bubbling over as she cast a glance at the still waiting Jihoon. Once she found the right papers, she double checked for a moment. “Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you later, bye.”

She hung up before she could hear whatever else her mother had to say stepping over the piles of papers to make her way over to Jihoon, who eyed her strangely.

“Everything alright..?” He asked.

[Name] only sighed. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Okay.” Jihoon replied, shrugging. For some reason, the simple response brought her shoulders to relax slightly, glad someone wasn’t going to press her for answers at the moment. “Anything you want changed for next week’s segment?”

“Not much. Evelyn mentioned something about Love or Letter needing a catchy tune now that the segment’s been spiking in popularity, though.” [Name] said, watching as Jihoon’s face morphed into slight disdain. She fought off a laugh, reminding herself to not question his obvious dislike if he wasn’t going to question her phone call.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Was all Jihoon said instead. “Though I would need someone from your team to work with so I can see what you all want.”

[Name] hummed, thinking back on who on her staff was available the following month. “Hmm… Colette is out of town for her internship and Evelyn is visiting her grandma for the next two weeks. And the writers are working on an upcoming event already but I think I can pull one of them out to help you.”

“What about you?”

“Huh?” [Name] asked, eyes that were once downcasted on her phone shooting back up to stare at Jihoon’s face.

He motioned to her. “What about you? Maybe you can just help me.”

“I’ve got a family obligation this weekend.” [Name] said, motioning to her phone as if to remind him about the conversation earlier.

Jihoon shrugged. “Just tell me when you come back and we can work on it together. It’s not as if you don’t practically live here anyways.”

“I don’t practically live here…”

“You have pajama pants to change into when it gets too late.”

[Name] shot him an odd look, not sure if she should question how he knew about her Hello Kitty printed pants that she thought she had hidden away in one of her desk drawers.

“Fine, fine. I don’t get why you’re so adamant that it has to be me, though.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You’re the only producer for this team. Producers are supposed to work with each other, right?”

"Right… I just wasn't sure if—" [Name] bit her lip back, not wanting him to find out she overheard his conversation with Soonyoung. "I'll let you know once I get back on campus and we can work on it that day."

"Working the day you get back?" Jihoon questioned, earning a lackluster nod from [Name]. “Don’t you ever get sick of this place?”

“Not really; I kinda like my job.” [Name] said, though the tone in her voice was unconvincing.

It was true; [Name] did like her job, despite all the trouble she’s recently had to undo. Something about the process of turning an idea into reality fascinated her and being a producer provided that type of environment for her.

[Name] had lost count of how many times she found herself pooled into her work to the point she’d have to get dragged out of the office by Seungkwan or Seokmin.

Right now, [Name] was more than tempted to see if she can go push her limits since she ended her phone call with her mother. She was sure this would also most likely cause Jihoon to not want to work with her if he ever saw her working conditions.

“If we’re done here, I need to head home now instead of later. I’ve got a few bags to pack right now.” [Name] said, clear with her intentions of wanting to end the conversation.

Jihoon stared at her, though what was going on in his mind, she hadn’t a clue. He only nodded once he let the words process through his brain. “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll see you when you come back; I’m working late so this is probably the last you’ll see of me.”

“Working late on a Friday? Aren’t you sick of this place?” [Name] asked, holding back a smile when she echoed his words. He only huffed out a laugh—a rare thing from him, honestly, [Name] should’ve recorded it to show Seungkwan and Seokmin—shaking his head as he moved aside to let [Name] out the door.

They didn’t bother greeting each other goodbye—a habit they both formed with one another due to the weird work tension they had. [Name] made sure to remind herself to change that once she came back now that some of that pressure had all but subsided.

Strange. That was the word Yeri had used when she mentioned her for the first time to Jihoon.

“She’s kind of strange, according to Professor Im. But talented. Super talented. He was practically begging me to take her under my wing so she can have a taste of production life early. Mr. Yang seemed impressed with her too. Just give her a shot this year, Jihoon, so you can see what they’re talking about.”

Jihoon had almost believed the upperclassman, expecting some kind of extraordinary freshman to be making waves at the radio station. Instead, he was met with a frantic looking girl always cowering behind Yeri whenever there were staff meetings.

Regardless, he was nice to [Name] during her first year, even taking in her recommendation of bringing Seungkwan and Seokmin in to be new possible hosts for the radio show after the previous two hosts graduated.

He had thought whatever Yeri was spewing out previously had disenchanted her before she graduated, choosing a different employee to be her successor for the Love or Letter segment team. Yet, she had still chosen the cowering girl and irked him beyond a point.

His doubts only subsided slightly when Soonyoung had mentioned to him she was acting differently than she had the previous year. He hadn’t believed his friend, thinking Soonyoung had some sort of soft side on the girl for being younger than them, until he had admitted that, yes, [Name] was anything but that frightened girl now.

Honestly, if the circumstances would be different, Jihoon would be glad someone like her broke out of her shell. He wasn't, though. Something just felt off about her behavior—like it was forced. Regardless, the strange girl he remembered was still around, evident from watching her stare at herself in muted horror at the gym for a little too long.

And the strange girl definitely hadn't left as he heard a crash sound from the other side of her apartment door, making him jump at the sudden noise he wasn't able to see. A shriek that definitely didn't sound like [Name]'s rang through from the door.

"Kill it! Kill it!"

"I can't if you're running so much—you're scaring it away!"

Those two voices definitely sounded familiar, though.

A sudden thump! could be heard, followed with a soft, "You're going to get us kicked out before the lease ends, you know." [Name].

Footsteps could be heard making its way to the door and [Name] stood before Jihoon, a slipper with a thoroughly squished spider in her left hand, still retracted as if ready to smack another one. Jihoon could only offer a stuttered, "He-eyy." in shock, eyeing the two figures behind her.

If they hadn't already been embarrassed, then Seokmin and Seungkwan definitely were with the way they made eye contact with Jihoon—who suddenly remembered he was their boss. [Name] hadn't seemed to care, however, setting the slipper down on the tiled floor of the entrance and stepping back.

"Oh, you weren't kidding when you said Jihoon was coming over." Seokmin said, gaping as the man walked in and took off his shoes (which was deliberately placed far away from [Name]'s spider'd slipper).

[Name] only offered a frown. "You didn't believe me?"

"No one would believe the idea of you and Jihoon working together, period." Seungkwan chimed in, also watching as [Name] and Jihoon exchanged awkward glances. "Why are you two working together?"

"Love or Letter jingle." Jihoon finally stated simply. He motioned toward the guitar strapped to his back. "We were supposed to meet a few days ago but—"

"I got a stay at home order from a certain someone." [Name] interrupted, giving Seungkwan a pointed look.

"You barely got home before you started spewing nonsense about going to the studio!" He countered back. “You’ll overwork yourself ag—”

Seungkwan bit back his words, sharing a knowing look with [Name], who only stared back at him blankly, as if attempting to stay unreadable. Seokmin shuffled his feet awkwardly, trying his best not to glance between his friends and Jihoon.

Jihoon could only raise an eyebrow. That was the first time he heard that. When they had been messaging each other back and forth, he had been under the impression that [Name] was already back home when in fact she was probably still with her family? He watched as [Name] shifted uncomfortably, as if not wanting to talk further about it.

He only sighed. "Workaholic lifestyles are hard to break." He said instead, offering [Name] a sympathetic glance. "Are we going to your room or staying out here?"

[Name] frowned at him for a moment, staying silent a little too long for his liking before she pointed toward a door. "My room. If we stay out here, Seokmin and Seungkwan might try giving unwanted input."

"Hey—" Seokmin started.

"Or squawk like a bunch of chickens if they see another spider."

"HEY!" Seungkwan countered this time, face bright red.

[Name] ignored her fuming roommates, motioning for Jihoon to follow her. He didn't bother to think twice, finding her nonchalant behavior more amusing than offending.

When he entered the room, he hadn't expected it to be so… Was girly the right term? He eyed the heart shaped pencil sharpener and the various plants being held by Sanrio themed pots.

No, cute. He thought as he made eye contact with a Badtz-Maru pot. "Nice pots." He mused to [Name], who was cleaning up her space. She glanced at him, then the pot.

"He looks like you." She says instead, making him give her a strange look.

He pointed at a Gudetama shaped pot on her window. "And that looks like you."

[Name] glanced at it, offering a small laugh. "Yeah, it does. Doesn't it?"

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up for a moment, caught off hearing her laugh—genuine and not the little huff of air he usually hears from her when she’s trying to amuse someone. He shook it off, however, reminding himself why he was here.

They worked together a little too well. It almost scared Jihoon with how well they got along tonight. Though, he had been anticipating some arguments so maybe he was just stupid for making such presumptions. Hours had gone by and the only reason they had to stop was when Seungkwan knocked on the door, popping his head in after [Name] called his name out.

He motioned to something in his hand. “Take it.” He commanded, shaking the bottle of water in his hand.

[Name] rolled her eyes, glancing at the clock on her desk. “It’s not even 8PM yet.”

“You almost forgot to take them last night. It’s better to take them early.” The blond answered back dismissively.

“You worry more than me.” Jihoon heard her murmur under her breath as she pushed herself off her seat.

“What?” Seungkwan challenged, eyes sharp when he locked eyes with [Name]’s.

“Nothing, dad.” [Name] teased, holding her hand out. A set of capsules escaped from Seungkwan’s hands and spilled onto her. [Name] took them quickly, drawing the pills down with the water bottle Seungkwan handed over to her right after.

Seungkwan nodded in approval, casting a glance at Jihoon before saying, “Okay, back to work.”

“M’kay.” [Name] answered back dismissively, settling back down on her seat. She kept her eyes on the door until it was fully shut, letting out a sigh once she heard it click in place. She looked over at Jihoon, who was still silently watching. “Sorry… He gets worried too much.”

“He’s a good friend.” Jihoon complimented, pausing for a moment. “Or boyfriend..?”

[Name] huffed. “‘Stand in-parent' is a better term for him.” She countered, shaking her head. “I didn’t balance school and work properly last year and he’s worried it’ll happen again if I keep working—which, fine, I get but I kinda wanna not get behind on anything for the studio—”

She cut herself off, biting at her lip to keep her from saying anything further. [Name] shifted back into her seat, eyes nearly burning holes onto her computer screen.

For some reason, the hairs on the back of Jihoon’s neck stood up again. “It’s fine. I get it.” He offered her. She sent him a sparing glance—as if silently begging him to change the subject. Again, he nodded, setting his guitar back on his lap again, though not before adding something. “It’s okay to, y’know…Not hold up a persona around me. I don’t bite.”

He only offered an awkward smile as he noticed, again, she was giving him a long, hard stare.

“Let’s go back to the song.” She said.

Whether she took his words to heart or not, a weight seemed to have lifted off [Name]’s shoulders, sitting a lot more relaxed in her seat. A wave of relief washed over him when he noticed the strange girl from last year had come up just a little bit to the surface as he watched her for a moment before turning his attention to her computer screen.

Pacing. Jihoon noticed that was a tendency she had when she was overwhelmed. She'd move from one end of the room to another in such a short span of time, no matter how big the distance. Jihoon was impressed; in fact, he wasn't sure if he could even take his eyes off her from how quick she did it.

Was he trying to figure out how she moves so fast or was it because he just wants to stare at her? He couldn't figure it out; he was still trying to figure out a bigger problem: why was she pacing so much?

“You wanna calm down, you’re distracting me.” Jihoon said, watching as [Name] halted in her footsteps.

“I don’t know how everything else in your room doesn’t distract you.” She says, eyes looking around the constellation ceiling.

They had gotten into a weird rhythm of going to each other’s apartments once a week to work on Love or Letter’s opening music. It was Jihoon’s turn to host, though he had a difficult time trying to think (let alone, play) anything with the amount of pacing his guest was doing.

“You act like you’ve never seen my room before.” He mumbles, glancing down at his music sheet, trying his best not to stare at the wandering girl. He couldn’t, however, after seeing her inch closer to his figurine shelves. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” [Name] responded, eyeing his Cardcaptor Sakura figurine intently. She cast a glance back at him. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to touch your prized possessions, Mr. Lee.”

[Name] laughed as she watched Jihoon roll his eyes at the nickname she gave him after showing him a love confession addressing him like that. He set his guitar down, leaning back in his chair as he turned himself to face her.

“You only pace when something’s wrong. Now, tell me what’s wrong so I don’t have to worry about having to clean up broken glass later.” He said, pushing the empty chair beside him out. [Name], albeit a little annoyed, made no move to argue as she sat down.

“I failed my exam today.”

Jihoon shot her a confused look. A part of him wanted to ask her if that was all, if that was really the reason why she was doing all this incessant pacing. The sullen look on her face was enough to tell him to do anything but that at the moment.

“Oh… That sucks.” He says, earning a hopeless look from [Name].

“You really suck with reassuring people, you know that?” She states. He only offered a silence of agreement to the statement, staring at her and waiting. “But, yeah it does suck; I studied just about everything and still managed to fail. Not really the best feeling.”

“So why the pacing?” Jihoon asked.

[Name]’s face morphed to one of embarrassment as she said, “I didn’t want to bother you with my life problems and pacing around helps me keep quiet… Clearly that didn’t work out.”

Jihoon smiled at the small joke. “Well, I’m in need of a break anyways. I lost track of time trying to figure this music out. Let’s just sit for a few minutes. Or pace.”

“Huh, Lee Jihoon admitting to a break? Didn’t think your little robot heart could do that.” [Name] said, earning a soft elbow to her side.

“You’re one to talk.” Jihoon responds, smile widening as he watches [Name] feign hurt when overdramatically rubbing her side. “I heard from Colette you barely even pay attention to time and just hold yourself up in the office. She’s also the one who told me about your Hello Kitty pajama pants.”

He nearly burst out into laughter when he heard [Name] whisper “Traitor” under her breath. Jihoon held himself back as he reminded himself that it might end up bringing one of his other roommates into his room, essentially bursting whatever safe bubble [Name] felt with him right now.

“You’re kinda funny if you try.” [Name] says, earning an odd look from Jihoon at the backhanded comment. “Almost made me forget about my failed exam.”

“Ahhhh, don’t think about it.” Jihoon said, waving a hand. “The more you dwell on it, the more you spiral. You shouldn’t try to think too much about a bad grade unless you want to go insane.”

A sigh was her only response and Jihoon watched as [Name] nodded at his words, shaking her head in frustration. “It’s just—I studied so hard but my mind was wandering so much that whole time and now I’m just wondering if I should even ask to re-take it or not.”

“Wandering?” Jihoon asked.

“College life would be so much easier if my family didn’t hound me every other day.” Was [Name]’s only response, making Jihoon hum. “They were asking me when I was going to visit them again, which by the way, I honestly loathe since it always ends up with me babysitting my idiot siblings.”

She shrugs, seemingly defeated as she was clearly thinking about her stressful family life. Jihoon could only watch on, thinking to himself if this was actually the girl he had butted heads with months ago.

“She just seems like she’s keeping herself busy from something and she wasn’t like this last year. Of course, you wouldn’t know because you never spoke to her.”

He nearly kicked himself right then and there as Soonyoung’s words rang through his ears. Did it really take him this long to realize that was probably why she was always pooling over her work and school, barely getting any sleep to the point of mixing things up?

She was doing it to forget about her family problems. And he might not have been a big contributor to her stress, but he was a contributor nonetheless, remembering all the times [Name] did her best to not upset him. Guilt swamped him, making him question what he should do next.

“You should ask your professor for a re-take.” He says instead. [Name] offers him a confused look. “It doesn’t hurt to be a little honest with them, you know. I think if you tell them that you’re taking care of your brothers, they’ll let you do something to save your grade.”

“But that might get in the way of work—” [Name] motions to the computer.

“Don’t worry about it.” Jihoon says. “It can wait. I definitely can wait. Just focus on studying until you make up the grade.”

“Jihoon, are you sure?” [Name] asked softly, brows turned down in a frown.

Something in Jihoon’s stomach turned from the way she said his name but he ignored it as he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Thanks. For the talk, I mean, but obviously the time off working—” Jihoon snorted as he watched [Name] stumble over her words.

“It’s no problem.” He said, swiveling himself back to his seat. “Now let me take the rest of your work time before you leave me alone.”

"You again?" Jihoon asked, narrowing his eyes as he watched [Name] enter the Love or Letter office. "I told you to take a break."

"I am on a break. I brought offerings." [Name] countered, waving the cups of coffees in her hands. Jihoon rolled his eyes.

"More like a bribe to see the plans for Love or Letter." He responds, holding up a hand when [Name] opened her mouth to counter him. "Evelyn told me you stopped by yesterday when I was away and offered her money if she says what I had planned for this week."

[Name] chewed at her lip as Jihoon stared her down sternly before she shook the cup of coffee again. "Bribe or not, it's still an offering. You look like you need it anyways."

She held the cup out to him, eyes bright as she waited for him to take it. Some part of Jihoon wanted to refuse, saying caffeine might affect him later when he works out. He didn't, though. He couldn't. Especially with the look she was giving him.

Wide eyed and hopeful that he'd accept her "offering". He didn't try to look at her as he closed his fingers around the cup, not sure if he can handle the look on [Name]'s face and a little embarrassed when his fingers brushed at her's as they handed the drink off to one another.

“Why are you here?” Jihoon asked, not willing to let up on the fact [Name] was supposed to be on her break.

She chewed at her lip again, a habit she had whenever she tried to think about an answer. And something Jihoon wasn’t sure if he should have noticed or not. He moved his eyes from her lips (though, he wasn’t sure why he struggled so hard) to her eyes, glad she wasn’t staring at him, but at the stack of confession letters on his—or her, actually—desk.

Carefully, Jihoon pushed the notes protectively to his side, shaking his head at her. Even with no words being exchanged, he could definitely tell [Name] wanted to say something.

Instead, a pause only came for a moment until [Name] offered a nervous smile. “It was to bribe Evelyn, but she’s clearly not here… But then you’re here so not really a bad thing, right?”

For some reason, he fought off the turning in his stomach at that notion. “To give me coffee?”

“Exactly.” [Name] said, smiling wider. Again, fighting off the urge of his stomach turning. “You always look like you’re about to fall into a grave; it’s getting worse since you took some of my load. I kinda feel guilty…”

“It’s not a problem.” Jihoon said dismissively, making [Name] scoff.

“You’re starting to look like me when I haven’t slept in 48 hours.” She counters in response. “You’re in your last year of college, too, so I know you barely sleep from school work anyways. Have you gone outside yet at all?”

“Yeah. To walk to work.”

[Name] rolled her eyes. “Okay, smartass, I mean what about not work related? The leaves are changing.”

“Should that mean something to me?” Jihoon asked.

“It means you’re going on a walk. With me.” [Name] said, matter of factly.

Jihoon only blinked up at her, not sure how to react. “A walk?”

“Mhm.”

“With you?”

“Yep.”

“When?”

[Name] walked around the table, ignoring the way Jihoon nearly shot out of his seat but nonetheless let her look at the time displayed on the computer. “Right now.”

Jihoon shook his head. “No way. I’m—”

“Busy?” [Name] guessed, shaking her head as she grabbed his coat from the chair and threw it at him. “Don’t care. You look dead and I feel bad since you’re doing my work at the moment. I’m taking you out.”

Jihoon felt his face heat up. Why does she have to word things so weirdly? He hadn’t much time to think about it, however, as he felt himself being pulled away from the room.

“Why?”

[Name] rolled her eyes. “So we can talk.”

“We spoke to each other on the phone yesterday. And you visit the studio when you’re not working on school.” Jihoon points out, which was all true.

Ever since he had offered to take over for [Name] while she was gone, a sort of camaraderie developed between them. They’d have conversations outside of work, though it was usually to gossip about Soonyoung’s sudden interest in a girl or [Name] telling him about Seungkwan and his rivalry with one of the other hosts for the radio station.

Not to mention, her little stints on trying to get back into the radio station to sneak in some information for weekly Love or Letter segments.

The first week, it was Jihoon who had caught her, dragging her out the building himself and telling her to study for her make-up exams (apparently, her professors loved a good sob story and it didn’t take much convincing to let her re-take them).

The second week, Soonyoung was with him when they caught sight of a blurry figure running into the Love or Letter room when no one else was there. This time, it was Soonyoung who dragged her out as [Name] and Jihoon argued on their way out the door.

It was currently the third week and Jihoon was more than surprised to see that she was the one trying to drag him out this time, though he might see why she did it; she seemed to have picked up on when someone wasn’t looking out of themselves.

“Well, we can talk more. Outside. In the fresh air.” [Name] comments and before he could think about anything else, he found himself on the side of the building, facing a population of trees.

“It’s great the radio station is near the forest, don’t you think?” [Name] said, eyes glancing up at the treeline. Jihoon only hummed, kicking at the leaves beneath their feet as they made their way toward a trail. They let themselves enjoy the environment around them, taking in the chirping birds and the cooling breeze for a while before trying to utter anything else.

Once they had reached a certain point to not see the building anymore, Jihoon finally spoke up. “You’re looking better.”

[Name] blinked at him. “You think so?” She asked, smiling.

She’s been doing that a lot. Jihoon thinks, noting how easily she offers her grins to him. Though, a lot of things have gradually changed in [Name] since she had gone on her break.

Clothes became cohesive, her demeanor was slowly becoming more like last year’s (though he wasn’t sure the spitfire attitude she harbored this year is going to leave, not that he’s complaining though—he’d rather have a co-producer who can speak up more).

She had done her hair up this time instead of keeping it down or tying it away from her face, letting more of her face become visible. Yeah, she definitely looks better. Healthier.

“That’s what you should look like all the time.” He says, regretting it immediately as soon as the words came out of his mouth. “I mean, that’s what you should look like if you actually balance your school and work life better.”

“Uh-huh.” [Name] said, though the smile never disappeared. She walked a little further ahead before saying, “I’d say you’re looking better, too, but I’d be lying. I wouldn’t have dragged you on a walk with me like this if I didn’t see how dead you were when I walked in.”

“Reading love confessions gets a little exhausting. Especially if they’re just about me.” Jihoon responds, shivering as he remembered a few not so safe for work confessions regarding him and his unwanted fangirls. “Seriously, who even has the courage to say those things to a bunch of strangers.”

“Welcome to my world.” [Name] comments blandly. “Gotta hand it to them, though; some of them are kinda creative.”

“Okay, ew.” Jihoon starts, watching [Name] laugh at his disgust. “You just say anything that comes to mind, huh?”

“As if you don’t.” [Name] responds back, elbowing his side gently. “I’m just a little less shameless about it. You, however, act like you don’t do the same thing I do. We are one in the same, Lee Jihoon, just accept it.”

Jihoon stared at the back of her head, wondering just how true that statement was. From what he’s gathered since his time working with the Love or Letter team, apparently they weren’t any different from one another when it came to working.

“It’s like nothing’s changed.” Eunwoo commented to him last week. “[Name] always sits back there and sometimes doesn’t even talk the whole time she’s with us. Similar to you.”

“Yeah, keep talking like that until you get fired.” Jian comments to him, hitting his shoulder with a folder. He offered an apologetic look to Jihoon. “He just means you both get caught up in your work a lot. Eunwoo is right, though; you do both seem like the same person when you work. It’s a wonder how you two haven’t become friends yet.”

Friends. An odd term for Jihoon whenever he thinks of that and [Name] next to it. Still, he does wonder…

“Are we friends?” He asked [Name], making her turn around. Her eyes became a little distant. Jihoon wondered if he crossed a line for a moment before he heard her hum in thought.

“I’d say a few months ago we weren’t.” [Name] admitted. “And now? I think so. We talked a lot since I went on break. We text each other a lot more now, too. Do you not?”

It was a brief flicker in her emotions, but Jihoon was sure he saw a flash of worry cross her features. He was silent for a second, looking at the fallen leaves on the ground as he kicked them out from the path. Finally he spoke. “Yeah, I think we are. If that’s how you see it.”

“I do.” [Name] said, Jihoon was a little touched at her immediate response. “Hopefully we grow closer.”

Something in Jihoon’s stomach turned again at the notion. He felt his throat dry up as he let the words echo in his head until something finally clicked in him about something. His eyes glanced over at [Name] and the way she kept her eyes trained on the changing leaves.

Well, shit.

His brain almost felt like it was exploding. Just when he asked her if they were friends too, such great timing. He did his best to ignore the nervousness crawling up him, trying to find the right words.

“Yeah.” Was all he could offer, ready to give a big sigh as he realized how lame that sounded.

[Name] didn’t seem to mind the one worded answer, giving a satisfied nod as they continued to walk the trail. “Let’s walk for another 10 minutes and then you can go ba—”

“Oh, [Name]? Jihoon?” A voice interrupts, making the two look up to see Soonyoung’s towering figure jogging up to them from the other side of the trail. The blonde was clearly out for an afternoon jog, his blonde hair covered in a cap and wearing warmer clothes. He gave an excited wave once he found himself standing in front of them. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Dragged him out for a walk.” [Name] explains plainly, watching Soonyoung cautiously. Clearly, she was well aware of his tendency to get excited.

Jihoon was the next one to speak up. “Why are you so excited?”

“Because you two are the last people I’d expect to see outside.” Soonyoung says. “Not to mention together. Alone. Not glaring at each other.”

“I’ll have you know we haven’t expressed wanting to strangle each other with our eyes in the past three weeks.” [Name] says, almost proud at the notion the two of them have had a normal interaction for so long.

Soonyoung let out a noise that could only be compared to a deflating balloon. “Sure.”

“Don’t believe us? Walk with us, then, and see.”

Just when Jihoon thought he could have some peace and quiet… Quietly, he muttered to himself, “Don’t say yes—”

“Okay! While we’re at it, let’s take a selfie…”

Working for a radio station had its perks. Due to receiving bigger funding for its popularity, the station let each segment team have their own office to work in, meaning distractions didn’t happen as often as possible.

[Name] was also allowed to work her own hours without question, meaning she could come in any time she wanted when they weren’t on air. Most times she spent her nights there, working on homework from classes and filing in any paperwork that was needed for Love or Letter.

She let out a groan as she finally pressed submit on her final comment on the discussion board, shutting off the music playing on her laptop before shuffling around to look for the papers she had to deliver to Soonyoung.

Rubbing out the exhaustion in her eyes before leaving her office, she maneuvered around the office floor as fast as she could to the host’s space, the idea of sleep already grasping at her.

[Name] let out a soft knock, waiting for Soonyoung’s tired “Come in” to signal her to open the door. She let out a laugh mixed with shock and amusement when she opened the door to see two stacks of papers on his desk. “Geez, Soonyoung… Did you wait for paperwork to pile up again?”

Soonyoung only glared at her, though she sensed no type of malice behind it, only an exhaustion she was unfortunately familiar with. His eyes shifted over at the pile in her hand. “Don’t tell me that’s more paperwork I need to look at.”

“Yeah…” [Name] said, waving the thick wad of paper in her hand as she placed it onto the corner of her desk. Something tells her Soonyoung wasn’t going to be able to look at it for a while. “I feel a little behind on work even though Jihoon covered for me.”

“So that means you make me have more paperwork?” Soonyoung cried out, offering an exaggerated cry.

[Name] rolled her eyes. “Oh, relax. You just have to sign it.”

Still, she watched as Soonyoung let out a tired groan, collapsing his head onto his desk in annoyance. “Why did I wait to push all my work? I could’ve done so much more fun stuff on a Friday night…”

“What, like go on a date with a certain someone?” [Name] jibed, covering her mouth as she remembered Jihoon swore her to secrecy about Soonyoung’s love life.

Picking his head up, Soonyoung glared at her. “Where did you hear that?”

“Um…” [Name] started, shifting to get ready to leave.

She was more than glad to not come near it, however, as it swung open so fast, it made the both of them jump. Their heads snapped over to see a panicked looking intern, eyes wild with adrenaline. A piece of paper crumpled in his hand, he shook it in front of the two as he tried to catch his breath.

“Jihoon… Papers… Important… Sign!”

Soonyoung set his pen down, standing up to help the new worker onto his couch while [Name] took the paper in his hand to see it had been an approval request form that was due tomorrow morning.

She handed it off to Soonyung once he stood back up, eye straining to read the paper. “Damn, so much for trying to finish as much paperwork as possible. Why wasn’t this given to him when he was still here?”

“No one saw it until now.” The intern explained. “We tried calling and messaging him, but he won’t respond.”

Soonyoung hummed, as if knowing what he was going to say. “Yeah that sounds like him. Once he’s out of the office he doesn’t respond to work calls unless we find him personally.”

“Yikes.” [Name] muttered. “Well, we kinda need this approval form turned in, though. Any chance you know where he is?”

“Either eating somewhere or at the gym. I dragged him to lunch with me so I’m assuming he’s probably at the gym.” Soonyoung explained. He walked away with the paper. “I’ll just find him and give it to him to sign.”

[Name] watched as he heaved himself onto his seat, clearly too tired to even kick the intern out of the office. He leaned his head onto his hand, picking up where he left off, hardly letting himself breath as his eyes scanned through the papers faster than the last time.

She sighed, offering her hand out. “It’s fine. I can find him before I go home and have him sign the paper. I’ll take it back with me to the station since I come in tomorrow.”

She cast a concerned stare at the intern on the couch, then back to Soonyoung who waved a hand her way, as if to say he’ll take care of him. [Name] was more than happy to offer a nod, not wanting to take care of whatever might come from dealing with him.

By the time [Name] was out of the building, Soonyoung had already texted her the location of the gym with the words “don’t scare him” written right after it. [Name] could only wonder what possessed him to send the last comment but didn’t think much of it as she found the campus gym illuminating in the dark.

She offered a polite greeting to one of the student workers, ignoring the way they stared at her, mouths agape. She could only assume it was because of the way she was dressed—a long coat and a tote bag that looked ready to burst any minute, nothing near gym clothes—as she walked around to look for the producer.

Surprisingly, the gym was close to silent, despite the large population of students in attendance, the music faintly playing in the background as the clinking of metal was the only disruption. Still, she did her best to keep her head low as she peeked around large contraptions that she would have assumed were death traps if it was outside.

She nearly gave up until she spotted a familiar black hat and red watch. [Name] was quick in her steps, careful to not run into anyone as she made her way to Jihoon, who had his head leaning down on his phone.

[Name] opened her mouth, ready to call his name out but choked up when she caught sight of him. Usually he wore the same clothes he was wearing now: black shirt with black pants, and black shoes with the same black hat that covered his head.

A clear indication he either came back from the gym or his intention was to go to the gym after he finished his tasks at the radio station. She was never close enough before but now she was seeing him and was he always built like some body builder?

[Name]’s mind could only immediately go to a certain celebrity known for having the same build as she fought off the thought. Composing herself, she walked over machines, offering polite “excuse me’s” to anyone she passed by and giving polite smiles to anyone who looked at her.

It was clear he couldn’t hear her, his earbuds tucked and volume probably louder than she could bear to think of as he kept his head ducked down on his phone. He only looked up when his eyes made contact with her shoes.

Jihoon blinked up at [Name], almost frozen in his spot. “What are you doing here?” He asked, making [Name] snicker.

Straight to the point, like always. “I wanted to work out with you.” She jokes as she fishes out for the papers, taking note of the fluttering in her stomach when she heard the small huff he let out in amusement. “One of your interns barged into Soonyoung’s office saying you needed to sign this. I was on my way out and I told them I’d look for you to sign them.”

"You could’ve just waited, you know.” Jihoon informed, taking the papers to sign anyways. [Name]’s eyes widened as she made eye contact with his arm, which looked like the size of her head from the way he leaned down on it to sign the paperwork. Hercules. He looked like Hercules.

As if sensing her, Jihoon glanced up from the rim of his hat, only spotting the swivel of [Name]’s head to a random spot at the gym.

Was she just…? Jihoon frowned for a moment, mouth opening slightly then closing it. How was someone supposed to ask their work enemy turned friend if they were checking him out? He wasn’t sure he needed to ask anything if his thinking was correct.

He leaned back down, signing the final page and coughing to catch [Name]’s attention. Jihoon offered [Name] an amused smile as he watched her turn back to him in cartoonish panic, seemingly doing her best to keep her eyes glued on the paper and not him.

“Thanks.” [Name] responds stiffly, stuffing the papers back into her bag before straightening up. She felt a sense of welcoming dread fall in her as she realized Jihoon had watched her haphazardly shoving papers into her bag.“Well, uh… Happy lifting?”

She gripped her bag, giving a bow so fast that she nearly fell over, waving Jihoon’s hands away when they reached out to steady her as she regained her balance. [Name] hadn’t made it far, only about three steps away when she felt a jolt shoot through her as Jihoon stopped her, hand reaching out to grab her wrist.

Jihoon felt something bubble in his stomach as [Name] looked over at him, eyes wide in confusion as he kept his hand on her wrist a little too long. He was quick to let go, doing his best to not focus on how doe eyed [Name] looked as she turned herself toward him.

“Are you heading home?” He asked, watching [Name] offer a slow nod. Jihoon didn’t need to hear anymore as he lifted himself off his seat. “I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to—” [Name] started, only stopping when Jihoon interrupted her, taking off his hat and shaking out his messy hair. When was the last time she saw him not wearing a cap? Usually he keeps them on so his hair wouldn’t get in the way during work. She felt like she was seeing something scandalous, even if it was just his hair.

“I don’t feel comfortable knowing you’re walking home alone in the dark.” Jihoon said, essentially cutting off any argument she had ready. He logged 15 minutes into his watch, the other days indicating 60 or more, mocking him for not finishing his usual work out schedule. He was quick to exit, however, when [Name] shuffled herself a little closer to him as he made his way away from the machines. “I was already finishing my workout anyway. Just wait by the door while I get my stuff.”

He walked away to the locker rooms, ignoring the feeling of [Name]’s eyes on him. He packed quickly, only bothering to change into his sweatpants and shoving all his materials into his bag haphazardly before exiting.

[Name] had been standing by the door patiently, hands clasped in front of her as she rocked on the balls of her feet. Relief washed over Jihoon, glad that [Name] hadn't actually left like he initially thought she would.

Words didn't need to be spoken as they walked out the gym together, Jihoon opening the door for her to exit first, smiling slightly as he watched her face wrinkle at the biting wind. [Name] kept herself moving forward, leading the way to her home.

Jihoon listened intently to the crunch of the leaves underneath his feet while [Name] did her best to kick them away as they walked quietly along the sidewalk. A sense of nervousness bit at her, a little afraid why Jihoon was so quiet.

Their newfound friendship was built on a basis of quiet understanding since the day she dragged him to go on a walk with her. Neither of them had to speak to one another during meetings to know what the other was thinking now. A single glance at each other gave them the ample opportunity to understand if something was a yes or no.

It seemed quite the opposite right now, however. An unexplainable paranoia followed her as she eyed Jihoon, who looked as if he wanted to say something but wouldn’t.

Sick of the awkward silence, [Name] decided to speak up. “Have you seen Soonyoung’s post?”

Jihoon groaned, rolling his eyes. “Don’t even remind me…”

She let out a quiet snicker, watching his ears burn red in embarrassment, [Name] recalling the post.

hosh_soonie: unexpected guests on my run!!!

His arms had been spread out in the picture, head thrown at the clouds as if screaming into the sky. [Name] and Jihoon right behind him and watching in amused judgment. Neither had thought nothing of it, assuming all the focus would be on their eccentric friend.

A quick look at the comments had proven otherwise, however.

dj_boo: two house cats and a hamster

imdeekay: best producers!

0_tkm_0: pd jihoon looks so good here

notjiyeul: JUST A MOMENT IF YOUR TIME SIR 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

.kimgi: his dimples omg

user087261846: who s the girk next to him?

[Name] had never brought it up, feeling a bit embarrassed herself as she read a few of the comments asking about her and hoping it had died down until someone had came up to her a few days ago in class.

“You know that guy you were standing next to in Hoshi’s picture?”

“Jihoon?”

“Yeah, do you know if he’s… Um, single?”

The people pleaser she was, [Name] had agreed to ask him next time she saw him, despite the sinking feeling in her stomach when she had agreed to pair them up together. She continued to ignore it as she spared a glance at him. “You seem like you’re getting popular again, though…”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well I’m not too sure I like the attention.”

“Really?” She asked, elbowing his side gently. They had made it to the crosswalk that was leading to her apartment. A car slowly turned into the same street, making Jihoon maneuver to her other side when they had crossed. “Some girls have been asking me if you’re single or not. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“Sure, I guess.” Jihoon responds, ruffling his hair and looking lost in thought. “I’d rather have as much privacy as possible. I’d be more confident without a bunch of eyes on me.”

“Ah,” [Name] hums, a settled agreement coming between them. With such a popular segment like Love or Letter and dealing with the radio station as a whole, [Name] wouldn’t put it past Jihoon to want to have some semblance in his life. “Well, you’ve been doing great at work so if you’re feeling pressure there, don’t stress about it.”

“Well yeah.” Jihoon said, matter-of-factly, mouth gaping open for a moment as he let out an awkward cough. “It’d also be good to have more confidence so I could’ve asked you out sooner.”

Pause. [Name] felt like the wind was just knocked out of her as she registered his words, head whipping toward him. “Huh?”

“I, uh…” Jihoon faded off, eyes darting left and right as he stopped, facing [Name]. “Wanted to ask you out? Like on a date somewhere this weekend…” He analyzed her face, trying to understand her reaction as he continued to ramble on. “Or not? If you don’t see me that way. Or if its too awk—”

“Jihoon I’d like that.” [Name] suddenly scrambled out, unable to control herself when a smile settled on her face.

“Right.” Jihoon said, face burning as he looked at [Name], her face tinting a shade probably similar to his but he definitely didn’t look as cute. “Cool. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

[Name] nodded, suddenly remembering they had been walking to her apartment. She turned to the stairs, ready to walk up as she said, “Yeah, tomorrow. And this weekend.”

Jihoon laughed, walking backwards as he watched [Name] make her way to her door. “Yeah, this weekend too.”

An urge suddenly seemed to stop her as she noticed him turn around, however, making [Name] go back down the stairs of her townhouse and jogged back up to him. “Jihoon, wait!”

“Yeah?” Jihoon asked, feeling [Name]’s hands reach for the side of his face and bring his lips to her’s. The suddenness of their closeness made Jihoon grab her waist to balance himself as he finally registered that they were kissing. It was short and [Name] was running out of breath from her jog, making her pull away too early for Jihoon’s liking.

“This weekend.” She breathes against his lips, Jihoon squeezing her waist as he feels her soft breath brush his cheek. He only nods, making [Name] pull away and run back to her apartment, scrambling to grab her items as she finally disappeared through her door, the last thing he commits to memory for the night the feeling of her smile against his as he walked home.

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lord-of-the-prompts · 1 year

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HORROR/THRILLER/SUSPENSEFUL STORY SETTINGS AND PLOT IDEAS:

[Feel free to use any prompt that shouts out to you! I would very much appreciate a tag if you post a story that was inspired by a prompt of mine! Happy writing everyone!]

amusement park (where the ride breaks down with everyone trapped on them, and there is a killer loose in the park…)

art gallery (where paintings trap visitors inside the frame and force them relive the scene the painting was based on...)

aquarium (where the protagonist gets trapped inside one of the shark tanks...)

basement (where the basement floods, there’s no way out, and there’s something weird swimming in the water…)

blood bank (where a blood bank is run by a vampire cult…)

board game cafe (where a group of teenagers are forced to play a game of snakes and ladders in real life, with real snakes and real ladders…)

bunker (where the captor holds his victim hostage in an old bunker and convinces the girl that he is protecting her from a world apocalypse…)

car (where a taxi driver picks up the wrong person and fears he may never live to tell the tale…)

castle (where the gargoyles come to life and attack the royal family…)

circus (where everyone who is hypnotized by the magician turns into a member of his unholy cult…)

desert (where a group of travellers are swept away by a sand storm and wake up in a haunted oasis…)

dungeon (where the visitors pay to torture subjects and the subjects are paid to be tortured…)

farmhouse (where the scarecrow comes to life and attempts to create a new body for himself with the farming family’s bodies…)

forest (where a lone hiker is caught in a bear trap in the woods and unable to escape, the bear is close by…)

graveyard (where the dead buried at the local cemetery come back to life and all the living people in the town die, except for you…)

haunted house (where a house manages to kill anyone who enters it…)

hotel (where the concierge is a vampire with a thirst for his visitors’ blood…)

house (where the family home falls into a sinkhole that leads straight to hell…)

island (where a new species of insect is discovered, and when the travellers get bitten, they start mutating into bugs…)

jungle (where a group of explorers start disappearing one by one during a rescue mission deep in the jungle…)

library (where the ghost of character killed off in a series haunts anyone who reads the book…)

military base (where a group of soldiers end up face to face against their canines who have somehow turned into werewolves…)

opera house (where the killer murders the musicians with their instruments...)

operating theatre (where an unwilling subject wakes up part way through the operation and is unable to move no matter how hard they try...)

prison (where the inmates are released from their cells and the officers are locked up in their place, leaving them at the complete mercy of the prisoners…)

psychiatric ward (where patients are forced to fight to the death in padded cells…)

pyramid (where archeologists discover an ancient tomb and unleash an ancient curse…)

railroad (where a cowboy spends his final hours repenting his sins as he lays tied to a railroad track…)

research centre (where the subjects loose the ability to either see, hear, or speak…)

sewer (where a family takes cover in the sewers when a nuclear missile is headed towards the city…)

shipwreck (where divers explore an ancient shipwreck, but the pirates are very much still alive and do not take well trespassers…)

space (where there is an explosion on ship leaving the crew without enough oxygen, there are only four extra tanks left, but there are six people…)

submarine (where there's an unknown killer aboard and no way to escape the deep ocean...)

tavern (where a knight is seduced and kidnapped by a handmaid who plans on avenging he sisters murder in the most heartless of ways…)

underwater (where evil merpeople kidnap scuba divers...)

university (where a group of students engineers create an artificial intelligence that goes rogue and attempts to create a real life body out of human remains…)

virtual reality (where virtual reality becomes a true reality, and to escape, 10 players have to survive all levels of the game, but after every level, the loser dies…)

zoo (where the animals turn into zombies and attack their abusers…)

#writing prompt #writing ideas #writing tips #creative writing #writers of tumblr #writers block #writing things #writing #writing advice #prompt list #horror #thriller #suspense

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longwuzhere · 10 months

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Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers: For the first episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the second episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the third episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the fourth episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the sixth episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the seventh episode's Easter eggs it's here and here

For the eighth episode's Easter eggs post it's here

For the ninth episode's Easter eggs post it's here

For the tenth episode's Easter eggs post it's here SPOILERS if you haven't seen this week's episode obviously

We start off the episode with this shot of Superman with the drawn on glasses. A good homage to what Lois did in the 1980 Superman II movie...

where she not only drew the glasses but also a full suit and hat on a picture of Superman.

Next we see Jimmy waking up and seeing someone debunking his conspiracy theories on Sub-Diego.

Sub Diego was an actual place in the DC universe before the New 52 reboot. In Aquaman #15 and #16 (2003) , shown here (W: Will Pfeifer, P: Patrick Gleason, I: Christian Alamy, C: Nathan Eyring, L: Jared K. Fletcher for issue 15, Nick Napolitano for issue 16). The underwater city is actually San Diego, but is buried underwater thanks to a tidal wave and makes its first appearance in Aquaman #15 (2003). There was a lot of casualties from this.

When we get to our title its "You Will Believe A Man Can Lie" a reference to the tagline for the 1978 Superman movie.

As seen here on the poster, it says "You'll believe a man can fly".

Next we see our villain, well one of the villains, for the episode, Heatwave.

In the comics Heatwave makes his first appearance in Flash 140 (1963) (cover art by Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, and Ira Schnapp). Heatwave aka Mick Rory is a Flash rogue usually acting as a rival to Captain Cold aka Leonard Snart. In MAwS, their Heatwave shares the same last name and powers, but MAwS Heatwave is gender flipped. You might have seen Heatwave in the CW DC comics shows where he is played by Dominic Purcell in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

Lois, later in the episode, name drops Heatwave's name. Gotta be honest when Heatwave showed up I was like is that Rampage? Cuz the MAwS design looks vaguely like Rampage.

If she does show up in MAwS, I'll talk more about her in another post, but for now, Rampage aka Karen Lou "Kitty" Faulkner, makes her first appearance in Superman #7 (1987) (full page here: W&P: John Byrne, I: Karl Kesel, C: Tom Ziuko, L: John Costanza).

Steve drags Jimmy to film his debunking Flamebird videos and references Starro who I talked about here.

Lois, later runs around with the Daily Planet police scanner trying to catch Superman and the dispatcher reports that a robbery is in progress at McGuinness Luxe Garage.

This is a nice reference to Ed McGuinness who was the artist for Superman, Action Comics, and Superman/Batman in the early 2000s. If you've seen Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, then you'll know the movie takes inspiration from his character designs in the first arc of the Superman/Batman comic series. The Superman/Batman #1 (2003) cover here is done by Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, and Dave Stewart. I like Ed McGuinness's pencils, very stylized.

Heatwave name drops Livewire and the Gazzo mod family. Both of whom I've talked about here and here respectively

Heatwave has been running away from Deathstroke here who has been taking our her crew. Notice that Slade Wilson doesn't have the half black half orange helmet yet that almost every Deathstroke depiction always has.

He, Amanda Waller, and the General who I totally think is General Sam Lane, Lois's dad, are fans of DBZ cuz of the scouters they're wearing.

Later in the scene we see the General again he's totally General Sam Lane. I'll talk more about him when we get a double confirmation through a name drop/reveal in a later post calling Amanda Waller, Mandy. What a fucking bold thing to say to Waller! Like damn! power move right there!

Superman and Deathstroke are fighting under a highway and we see the traffic is heading to Bludhaven!

Very good reference to my favorite character in all of pop culture, Dick Grayson aka Nightwing. Nightwing makes Bludhaven his city to protect. The city makes its first appearance in Nightwing #1 (1996) (the panel here - W: Chuck Dixon, P: Scott McDaniel, I: Karl Story, C: Roberta Tewes, L: John Costanza). Fun Bludhaven fact, its crime rate is WORST than Gotham! Also HIGHLY recommend reading the new Nightwing run cuz its fucking amazing! Won a few Eisner Awards (think the Oscars but for comic books) recently and I am not just saying that because I am a Dick Grayson fan.

Near the end of the episode, we see Lois willing to jump off a building to prove that Clark is Superman. A lot of discourse was happening online over this, but I do want to say this is pretty on brand for her to do.

In Superman II, Lois does something similar and Clark saves her. its just in MAwS, Clark flies to save her thus ruining the secret identity, while in Superman II, Clark does save her but he is still able to get away with it thanks to him playing it more subtly.

Don't know why people we're in such a fucking fit over something that Lois has done before.

In the after credits scene, Jimmy, who planned a sasquatch finding adventure with Lois and Clark, but they were dealing with their shit and Jimmy was by himself, decides to do the finding on his own and meets a giant gorilla. In the first episode Jimmy mentions an intelligent gorilla in France and my guess is this is Monsieur Mallah. You can read more about him here. If you made it this far down, I appreciate you taking the time to check this post out and if you want to see my other MAwS Easter Eggs posts - Episode 1 is here

Episode 2 is here

Episode 3 is here

Episode 4 is here

Episode 6 is here

Episode 7 is here and here

Episode 8 is here

Episode 9 is here

Episode 10 is here

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smaptain-smerica · 2 years

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Time: Post-Top gun: Maverick

Y/n Blackwood - L/n, daughter of Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. Y/n took a strong interest in planes from a young age. Knowing her father was an esteemed pilot drew her even further into the navy. Quickly, she became one of the best solo pilots and graduating at the top of her class at Top Gun.

Her next mission? Return to Top Gun, Face certain death, romantic interests, and finally, her thought-to-be-dead, father.

This book contains strong language and sexual content that may be sensitive readers under the age of 18

This story was originally posted on Wattpad, follow me on there for faster updates. I have published a non-binary version of this story published there for those who do not identify as female or use she/her pronouns. It will follow the exact same story line. Link to Wattpad Account Link to the Non-Binary version

Master list

Blue Suede Shoes

Third person POV

Pete Mitchell walked back into the same screening room he had been in a year ago when he was called to train Top Gun graduates for a mission. He was met by Warlock and Cyclone sitting on the opposite side of the long table.

"Captain Pete Mitchell. We meet again." Cyclone boasted into the empty room.

"Too soon, Admiral." Pete replied, a small hint of a smile on his face.

"As you can probably guess we have another mission that requires your expertise. The enemy has once again dishonored the NATO treaty by building another nuclear bunker. We expect this one started construction a few months before we terminated their previous bunker. The kicker, this time it is under water and heavily guarded by a series of SAM's with a air fleet approximately 7 minutes away from the bunker."

The screen came on, displaying the map of the under water bunker. It was hidden under sediment and plants but it was definitely visible from the top waters.

"We aren't sure yet if we will be able to take our their air fleet with missiles or not. We are attempting to send scout drones but they keep getting shot down. The underwater bunker will be easy to hit with missiles, but getting there-"

"It's going to be a dog fight in and out." Pete finished Cyclones sentence, looking at the overhead map while tapping his finger on his face in thought. "Alright, who's our candidates?" Pete asked.

The screen swapped to show portrait pictures of the flyers. Pete recognized nearly every face and was excited to be reunited with them. One person stuck out to him, a h/c woman with a familiar last name to him, though he shook off the feeling.

Warlock cleared his throat. "As you can see, we have the same crew as before. They're all very eager to work with you again."

"Who's this? This Y/n Blackwood- L/n?" Pete asked.

The room went silent for a moment. Warlock and cyclone looked at each other briefly before warlock continued. "Y/n Blackwood-L/n is an extremely skilled pilot. She graduated at the top of her class and has received training from our most skilled pilots, iceman being one of them."

"Her mother, who's her mother?" Pete has a sinking suspicion as to who it was, though Blackwood could be a common last name, it could be anybody who's child this is. He had mixed feelings, he hoped and dreaded for it to be his long lost love's child.

Warlock and Cyclone exchanged sideways glances, unsure of how they should approach. "Charlotte Blackwood."

Pete felt his heart drop into his stomach. She had a child? Why had she never tried to contact him again after she left? Pete had thought they had something special why would she cut off communication? Y/n had two last names, had she not been married when Charlie had the child?

"Maverick."

Cyclone's voice snapped Pete out of his thoughts. He turned back to the two Admirals with his full attention. "I'm sorry. Um, when do we need to mobilize?"

"We've got about 4 weeks. They're still building parts of the facility but the first shipment is predicted in 6 weeks. Better to be safe than sorry." Warlock explained the time frame.

Pete nodded in response. It should be plenty of time to train these already skilled pilots in dogfighting. "I'll do my best, sir."

"I would hope so. As much as we hate having you here, you are the best."

~~~

Your POV

My car rumbled to a halt in the parking lot of a small bar called The Hard Deck. I turned the engine off and stepped out of the vehicle. I locked my doors and pulled out my phone to check the text message I had gotten earlier that day.

I checked the time, it was right after 7. I put my phone back in my pocket and looked up to see a couple guys pointing and whispering. I gave them a smile and a wave. When I took the mustang anywhere, it was guaranteed men were going to stare and wonder why a woman has a car like that.

I had on my brown pilots uniform that was given to me when I checked into the base. My hair was slicked back into a low bun. I stepped into the bar, it was small and crowded with chandeliers made of ceramic cups on the ceiling. I remember coming here when I was in the Top Gun program but the building looked different, someone else must have bought it.

I looked around for some familiar faces but couldn't locate any. That was, until I saw a group of people around my age, standing around the pool table wearing the same uniform that I had on.

I stopped at the bar, ordered a Michelob Ultra from the brown haired woman behind the bar. "I've not seen you around before." She commented, handing me the cold glass.

"I just Shipped in, I'm here for the naval academy." I explained to her, taking a small sip of the cold beverage.

"Ah, top gun?" She questioned, taking a towel and wiping down some glasses that had just come out of the dishwasher.

I chuckled a bit. "I guess you probably get a lot of us here, don't ya."

The woman chuckled and winked at me before she moved on to the next customer. I noticed the sign behind the bar and raised my eyebrows. Good thing I didn't put my phone down on her bar.

I began to make my way to the pool table, slipping in between people to get by. I noticed another woman with dark hair and a smaller man with a round face on the right side of the table, Hangman and Coyote (who I recognized from my time in top gun) on the right. They looked up as I rounded the corner. The dark haired woman's eyebrows raised in surprise and she nudged the smaller man who then looked up at me.

"Would you look at what the cat dragged in." Hangman's signature smirk was plastered on his face as he leaned against the pool stick that was propped up on the ground.

"The only pussy I see around here is you, Hangman." I sassed back at him, a playful smile lingering on my face. A bunch of 'oh's' came from the other pilots around us.

"It's good to see you too." Hangman paused, looking me up and down as he did so before turning his attention back to the game. "This is Robert and Natasha."

"You can call me phoenix." "And I'm Bob."

I shook both their hands as they introduced themselves by their call-signs. "I'm y/n. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. What's your call-sign?" Phoenix asked me, taking her shot at the pool balls.

"Wolf."

"I've heard a lot about you, Wolf." I turned around and met two men both of different skin colors. I smiled up at them. They were handsome, kind faces and warm smiles. The navy definitely wasn't running low on eye candy.

"I'm Ruben Fitch, call-sign Payback." "I'm Mickey Garcia. Call-sign Fanboy."

I shook both their hands as they greeted me, a smile on my face. "Y/n Blackwood-L/n, Call-sign Wolf. But apparently you already knew that." I smirked up at fanboy who brought it up earlier.

"What can I say I'm a fan of talent."

"Oh please," Hangman began. "The only talent she has is kissing up to superiors to get back in the program."

"You wouldn't know talent if it hit you in the face. You got lucky I left that year or you wouldn't have been at the top of your class." I aggressively defended myself, taking a long sip of my drink afterwards. The group of pilots that were slowly gathering around snickered at my comments towards him. Hangman rolled his eyes. "That never would have happened. I am the best and I'll always be the best."

Fanboy leaned over my right shoulder form where he stood behind me. "Someone knows how to push Hangman's buttons."

I smile in response to that and lean back to whisper; "I've specialized in that field."

"If you're the best, why didn't you get chosen for our last mission then, eh hangman?" The group turned to see a tall, tan skinned man approaching. He had on a white undershirt and a thin floral button up that was left open. He flashed the group a crooked smile and held out his arms.

"Rooster!" "What's up man!"

"Hey I saved yours and maverick's asses." Hangman replied to rooster with a smile. They met each other with what seemed like joy, clasping hands and pulling each other in a bro hug.

The entire group greeted him one by one, he seemed to be a popular crew member. Normally a man can't pull off just the mustache without looking like a pedophile but Rooster wore it well. His facial features were strong and structured but his personality seemed lovable, caring, and friendly. He greeted his friends with hugs before finally getting to me. He took off his sunglasses, his eyes seemingly lost.

"My name." I tried to guide the star struck man in the right direction with a smirk plastered on my face.

"I'm sorry?" He finally blinked, snapping out of whatever trance he was just in.

"You we're going to ask me my name. It's Blackwood, Y/n Blackwood-L/n. Call-sign Wolf." I held out my hand to him and he took it gently while shaking it. "Bradley Bradshaw. Call-sign Rooster. You said Blackwood, right? As in-"

"As in Charlotte Blackwood? Yes. Although it's L/n now." I finished his sentence for him with a small smile on my face. It was impossible to read what he was thinking. His entire face showed thought, like he didn't know what to think of the person in front of him. That person being me, I wanted to know what he was thinking so hard about.

"I see, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

It wasn't long until the group slowly grew as more people filed in. Everybody mingled, talked, laughed, it was nice to get to know the people I could potentially be working with. I found myself gravitating towards Phoenix. She was a strong willed woman who wasn't afraid to stand up to all the guys. We were very similar in that sense.

"And when we asked him what his call-sign is, he goes, 'Bob?'." Phoenix and Bob began chuckling to one another. I joined in the laugh.

"Wait so you hadn't been given a call-sign yet? Or even thought to make one up?" I asked Bob who gave me a shake of his head.

"I did make one up I just didn't know you needed a cool one!" Bob put his hands up in surrender while he defended himself. The three of us broke into hard laughter, bending over at the knees.

"Hey, Bob's as cool as any call-sign." Phoenix reassured her friend, clasping him on the shoulder.

Suddenly the music in the bar stopped, the crowed awed at the sudden stop in tunes. "Oh here he goes again." Phoenix chimed in.

I looked to the sound of soft music playing. It was Rooster sitting at the seat of the piano. Phoenix stood up and grabbed my arm to take me with her. "You ever heard 'Great Balls of Fire'?" She asked me as we walked over to the piano.

"Do I know it? I'm surprised you guys do!" I playfully elbowed Phoenix and she smiled at me.

"Well, get ready for this one."

The entire bar erupted into song as Rooster played Great Balls of Fire on the piano. The pilots all gathered around the piano, hanging on each other and singing and laughing. This entire feeling was euphoric. This was a close knit family, it almost felt like attending a family reunion. The entire bar could feel the energy we were putting off because pretty soon everybody started singing it.

I guess the song was more popular than I thought.

The crowd cheered as the song ended. Hangman had returned to our group with a beer in hand for him and a beer in hand for me. He nudged me and gave me a smile, handing me the drink. I took a long drink, about half of the pint before I set the glass down on a nearby table.

"Alright rooster, scoot over." I commanded, bumping into him on the piano's bench. The crowd around us cheered me on in encouragement.

Rooster scooted to the end of the bench but still sat on it. We sat close, no space between us. He smiled down at me before taking a swig from the bottle.

"Take the lead, wolf." He spoke kindly to me. I looked up at him with his sunglasses on the end of his nose. He gave me a playful wink before pushing his sunglasses back up on his face.

I quickly looked down at the keys, thinking about what to play. I put my fingers down on the keys and began to play 'Blue suede shoes' by Elvis Presley.

"Ooo I love this song!" Fanboy chimes out, sitting down next to me as he began to sing the first lines of the song. I was sandwiched between the two singing men on the bench, laughing my head off.

Midnight finally rolled around and it was way past time for the pilots to go to bed. We had to wake up early to be on the base. I walked out to my car, putting my key in the door and twisting it to unlock.

"I was wondering who's car that was." My attention turned to Rooster who stood on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets.

"1968, right?" He asked, stepping off the sidewalk and walking up to my car.

"Yeah, it was my moms. I only drive her on special occasions. Plus I find most people in the military have a thing for classics." I mentally cursed myself for rambling. I felt so nervous now that we were by ourselves. Maybe it was attraction I was feeling, because it wasn't intimidation.

Rooster chuckled and nodded his head. "I've got my dads old Ford." He pointed down the line of cars to the end where a powder blue First-Gen Ford Bronco.

"Are you kidding me? You're disrespecting that bronco by calling it an 'old ford'. I'm disappointed in your Bradshaw."

We shared a laugh as he approached the car to take a look at the interior. He whistled while checking it out. "She's beautiful."

"Thank you."

"I'll have to take a ride sometime." It seemed like he was flirting, looking at me from the corner of his eye while looking into the car.

"Only if I can catch a ride in the bronco."

Rooster laughed and stood straight up. "I think we can manage that."

I thought about tomorrow. Last year they had Maverick train them for the mission. It also wasn't new news that Maverick and Rooster were close. Being his best friends son and partner in life and death. I was so disappointed I didn't get to train under him during flight school. "Hey, do you know if Maverick will be training for this mission? I'm excited to meet him." I asked.

Rooster raised an eyebrow at me and cocked his head. "You haven't met him before? "

"Can't say I've had the pleasure."

He looked me up and down with a confused look on his face, which I returned back to him. What was he looking at? And why was he looking at me like that? Was something wrong?

"We will have to see tomorrow then. Goodnight Wolf."

"Goodnight Rooster."

Next Chapter

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starlightbooklove · 3 months

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Ok lets keep going.

Episode 4.

He was so confused with Poseidon saving Percy LMAO, i had to explain him. He was telling me that HE CAN BREATH UNDERWATER and i had to tell them that he didn't know that and he was like BUT HE CAN RIGHT??

He said that the chimera looked like a dog I thought he was referring to before he transformed but he told me no, even transformed he looked like one I asked him since when do dogs have horns lmao

Episode 5.

He really liked the scene of the ride of love

I think it helped him to understand more about the gods things.

He was on the edge with the scene of the chair, again he mentioned Percy's powers

Like HE CAN SAVE HER RIGHT

He was so confused about who Ares was

I told him that he was the god of war and he asked me if he liked to fight

I was like yees, but no at the same time, he creates wars, he went *impressed Pikachu face*

Episode 6

Him: Who's him?

Me: Hermes.

Him: what does he do

Me: dude we literally saw him like two episodes ago, he delivered medusa's head.

Him: aaaa

Wait why are they forgetting? I explained him

He repeated like three times if they forgot anything And I told him yes but that Grover was the one who forgot the most. I had to remind him who Pan was because he completely ignored the chatter on the train.

Episode 7.

He's commenting everything, he's all in now.

Got half scared, half excited for the dog.

He was asking a lot bout the underworld cause he was wondering if it was hell, lol

Also i explained him who was hades

The biggest wtf face when they found the lighting

He was much more confused when the shoes tried to drag him to Tartarus

Why is his mom there?

My sweet child pay attention

Ooooh it was Kronos. He keeps calling Ares, Percy's cousin lmao

OMG they're gonna fight.

Episode 8. (Definetly My favorite reactions of all of the episodes).

OMG THE OCEAN

Is that his house??

He literally remembered Alecto's name as a "teacher" in the first episode that her actual name btw

Him: Why the necklace?

Me: Because it is a lucky necklace

Him: Can you buy a lucky necklace? I had to explain that to him that that's not how it works, he was not very convinced.

What is a forbidden child? OMG 😭

What is Zeus doing on a fliping stone throne? L M A O i fucking died (He said it with such a sass)

Oooh that's his dad right? Why does he say he gives up?

Why are they speaking in English? (we watched the series in Spanish)

Me: that's not english hun.

He's back, to the tree, wait they Made it?? That means he gets the glory right??

Has a theory: the man in Black that has the light and is in his dreams is the thief, and that's his cousin!! (LMAOOO I don't know what made me laugh more, how wrong he was or that he kept calling Ares cousin)

I was like sure Jan.

His mouth went full Open with the revelation of the thief He even laughed at himself for his big mistake about who the thief was.

In shock the whole fight and when Annabeth showed up.

In the last dream of the episode he was half confused but he said ''finally'' when the figure appeared Because he could finally see it properly and he said it was scary

Post credits scene.

As soon as he saw the box he said that's where the head was and he laughed when Gabe turned to stone.

Latest impressions

I asked him what he thinks and he excitedly told me that he loved it and that it was super exciting and good I asked him if he wanted to be like Percy and he told me something like that, without the monsters but with the lightning and the sword hehe

Yes he finished it in less than a day lmao

Proud to introduce him to this, hope that one day he gets to watch the complete adapted series or likes to read so he can read it 🥹

#little brother #percy jackon and the olympians #percy series #percy pjo #pjo thoughts #pjo season 1 #pjo tv show #pjo tv series #pjo tv spoilers

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hlficlibrary · 1 year

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✤ Fantasy Fics ✤

A series of posts with the top five fics of each category by kudos plus five more hidden gems from that category! Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find our other recs here.

- Top 5 H/L Fics -

1️⃣ Collision by itjustkindahappened / @tequiladimples [E, 226k]

Mythology/Fairytale!AU in which Louis is a dainty fairy with a temper who wants to be intimidating and Harry hurts people. Naturally, they hate each other.

(Featuring Liam, the big and not-so-bad wolf who’s got a thing for humans, Zayn, a human with supernaturally good looks, and Niall, the cupid who just wants his job to be easier.)

2️⃣ Purer Than The Water (like we were) by FeelsForBreakfast [E, 33k]

Louis is a merman and Harry is a boy. The lake is a good place to fall in love.

"Louis wants the boy to wade deeper, deep enough that Louis can go under and wrap his fingers around his ankles for just a moment. Pull him under. Just touch skin, for a second."

3️⃣ with your love we could breathe underwater by luminescents [M, 28k]

Harry’s brow furrows, a look of confusion spreading over his face. “But I am real. I exist, see,” he says, raising a hand out of the water and wiggling his fingers at Louis.

Louis finds himself relaxing a bit. Harry seems harmless really. And he’s quite cute, for something that’s not supposed to exist. If Louis is indeed having a hallucination right now, at least it’s a cute one.

AU where Harry is a mermaid, Louis is a human, and they both discover a lot more than they anticipated.

4️⃣ long hair don't care by ballsdeepinjesus [E, 20k]

He catches his breath and stands, brushing dirt off of his breeches when he hears a scared peep behind him. Louis spins around, startled, and is greeted by the sight of an extremely pale boy with extremely luscious dark brown curls. His hand starts to reach out involuntarily to try and pet his hair, but he stops it quickly and tries to smooth it into a bow. He glances up, fluttering his lashes, and levels the trembling boy with a charming smile.

“Hi,” he drawls. He doesn’t see the frying pan until it’s too late. Everything goes black.

[harry is sheltered and louis is a thief. or, a tangled au.]

5️⃣ Through Eerie Chaos by MediaWhore / @mediawhorefics [G, 102k]

For as long as anyone can remember, Old Hillsbridge Manor has always been believed to be haunted. Everyone in the village agrees and keeps a respectful, fearful, distance. New in town after a bad breakup and an internship that led to disappointment rather than a permanent job, Harry Styles figures taking pictures of the decrepit building could be a great new creative project. Or at least a much-needed distraction while he searches for a job and crashes at his parents’ new house. No one warned him about the apparitions though; about the music, the laughter, the people who flicker and vanish when you call after them, the echoes of a past that should be long gone… Harry has never believed in spirits but even he can admit that there’s something weird going on. What starts as mere curiosity evolves into a full-blown investigation and soon enough, Harry finds himself making friends with an aristocrat from the 1920s and struggling with finding the best way to tell him that he’s dead.

The Ghost Hunter AU where Niall lives to prove ghosts are real, Zayn is a skeptical librarian and Harry gets caught up in a century-old mystery and catches feeling in the process.

- HIDDEN GEMS -

💎 forever is in your eyes by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed [M, 125k]

Harry looks fragile in the moonlight, and Louis stands there, pondering, not even sure what it is that he’s thinking of. It’s all just noise in his head, a mix of melancholy and desire, of longing for something that he doesn’t even have a name for.

He wants-

He wants love. He wants to be held and cherished and have a home. Not just a place to lay his head down at night. He wants to be loved the way that Louis had loved creating Harry. He wants his perfect man, but he wants him to be real. He wants Harry to be real-

His lips press against marble, against something cold and unforgiving, and it’s not until his hand comes up to rest against a sculpted neck that his eyes fly open and he stumbles backwards, nearly falling off the stepladder that he’d stood on.

“Jesus Christ.” He whispers, shaking his head and resisting the urge to brush the back of his hand against his lips, erase evidence that isn’t even visible to the naked eye. Harry stands there, as though nothing’s changed, and of course he does, because he’s a statue.

A statue that Louis has just kissed.

💎 Love Will Light The Way by @jessapeak [E, 26k]

Most people throughout Louis's life thought that dying brought you to one of two gates. Heaven or Hell. Really, it brought you to a dated diner, just outside of the suburbs, skirting the beginning of the city. Where, instead of God, you met Liam Payne and his post-it notes. Well, not for everyone, but for the select few whoever is in charge up there deemed fit to help guide the living into death. Unfortunate people like Louis. Who'd honestly rather just lie in bed and pretend it had all been a dream. A very bad, cliche dream. It wasn’t though and this was his new normal. As much as he hated it.

And Harry? He just wanted to know who the man was that kept killing his patients.

💎 The Blood of Love by @mugglemirror [E, 25k]

Harry is a nurse and Louis is a painting worth more than a thousand words. As desire and darkness encompasses him, Harry has to learn the secrets of Thorne Hills manor before he succumbs to the mystery that surrounds him.

💎 foothold by @turnyourankle [M, 18k]

Louis has crossed the galaxy with a ship full of crystals; they’re the only thing he has to offer in exchange for safe harbor. He thought getting to his destination would be the hardest part, hoping that once he got his family to safety everything would fall back into place; Louis struggles to adapt while his sisters thrive. Louis suspects Emperor Styles may have something to do with it.

💎 Sympathy For The Devil by @taggiecb [G, 5k]

Louis keeps stealing some of Harry’s mail, which would be annoying for anyone, but it’s especially troubling when you consider that Harry is Santa Claus. Harry will have to go through hell to get Louis to stop. Literally.

Or the one with Santa Harry and Satan Louis and a series of misspelled letters to Santa.

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quackquackcey · 1 year

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More Than Enough

Rated E, 8k words, 2 chs. Tags: season 2 canon rewrite, 5+1 things, hurt/comfort, fluff & smut, idk. Read on AO3.

Summary:

A story about how Derek managed to find peace in his life amidst the chaos of a murdering reptilian creature, war with the Argents, and his own mind in the arms of a bambi-eyed, pain in the ass boy.~ 🐺

Five times the word ‘prove’ haunted Derek, and the one person who changed it all.~ ✨

“The only way to prove yourself is through blood. Fear. Remember that.”

Peter’s voice ran through his head as he stood over Isaac, Erica, and Boyd groaning in pain on the floor, fear in their eyes as their broken bones mended.

“You think I’m teaching you to fight?” said Derek, voice hard. “I’m teaching you to survive, and you all need to learn everything that I know. As fast as I can teach you.”

And then he disappeared into the abandoned subway train car where he lived, seething, before he broke more bones.

That night, he dreamed of fires, of burnt ash and empty graves.

Of drowning guilt and searing agony.

“Naive, foolish boy.”

A warm laugh, now cold.

“You haven’t changed a bit. When will you prove that you can do more than destroy things?”

He woke up in a sweat, even more tired than before he’d fallen asleep.

Both Peter and his mom’s words echoed in his head throughout the rest of the night, as they had for the past six years, along with his own churning thoughts.

‘Prove yourself.’

Prove that he wasn’t a colossal failure. Prove that he wasn’t a walking harbinger of death. Prove that he was a Hale, that he was stronger now, that no one and nothing would stand in his way any longer.

Prove that he was an alpha.

But god, the exhaustion wore at him. He acted like he knew what he was doing, but he knew nothing, and that chipped away at him bit by bit, just as his family dying had, just as finding Laura ripped in half had, just as killing her murderer and the last surviving member of his family had—and he knew this was only the beginning.

The creature that killed Isaac’s dad, the Argents, and soon, other alphas.

He needed power.

He needed…more.

Not these high schoolers on a power trip who couldn’t even land a single hit on him.

To top it all off, as if things weren’t already beginning to spiral out of his control, of course he got himself paralyzed and near drowning in a pool when he’d gone to get details on what the creature looked like from Stiles.

“I don’t trust you. You don’t trust me,” he’d told Stiles. “You need me to survive, which is why you are not letting me go.”

Stiles let him go, pulled him back up, and got absolutely zero results from trying to call Scott.

An hour passed, or maybe it was two. Derek incrementally sank lower by the minute, but he didn’t say anything because Stiles was sinking, too—at this point, Stiles did not need him to survive if it meant dying in this damn pool.

“Hey, so since it’s looking like we might drown here, I was wondering about something that I read the other day,” spluttered Stiles, because apparently now was a great time for a discussion. “Have you heard of ‘Twilight’? It’s a book series? Has movies?”

Derek just looked at him.

“Okay, well, it’s some fictional universe where there are, like, vampires and werewolves, so I was wondering how true some of the stuff was,” said Stiles.

“…We’re drowning, and you want me to tell you how true a fictional universe is.”

“Hey, tone! I’m the one holding you up here! And if we’re drowning, then it doesn’t really matter how much sense it makes, now does it?”

“If we’re drowning, it doesn’t really matter if you know or not, now does it?”

“Don’t be such a sourwolf.” Stiles nearly sank underwater before kicking harder back up. “Oh god, I can’t keep this up, I need something to hold onto.”

Except there was nothing to hold onto, because it was a fucking swimming pool.

“Just drop me.”

“What?” Stiles spit out water as he struggled to keep their mouths and noses above the surface.

“Just drop me,” repeated Derek, because there were quite literally zero benefits to Stiles continuing to hold him up.

“What, no! What happened to all the bullshit you were spouting about me needing you to survive?”

“We’re both going to die.”

“Has anyone told you what a downer you are?”

They both dipped underwater for a heartstopping second, then up they bobbed once again, coughing up water.

“I thought that’s what ‘sourwolf’ meant.”

A pause.

Stiles spluttered out a laugh. “Was that a joke? Did you just make a joke? Now we really can’t die here so we can celebrate this occasion.” He looked around, breaths coming out heavy. “Okay. Okay, I’m going to try to get to the diving boards.”

Except they floundered and slowed down the nearer they got, and by the time Stiles made it there, he didn’t have enough strength to hold onto the diving board, so down they both sank to their certain deaths until two hands grabbed the both of them and quite literally threw them out of the water.

Continue on AO3!

#sterek #sterek fic #sterek fanfic #sterek fanfiction #sterek is eternal #eternal sterek #omf writes #derek x stiles #derek/stiles #derek hale #stiles stilinski #fic: more than enough

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mud-castle · 1 year

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sfowefnjfwkn;l I'm trying to figure out the biology of the pantalian(?) dragons and it is just. so confusing.

For example, do rainwings secrete poison, acid, or anything else? Some poisons can burn/damage skin, but not to Queen Scarlet level, and that's not even talking about how it would have to pass through SCALES, not skin! AND HOW DO THEIR FANGS WORK. ARE THEY FELXIBLE. DO THEY HAVE TO AWKWARDLY MOVE THEIR HEAD TO AIM. WHAT IS GOING ON.

How do Sandwings survive? They don't have an easy way to get rid of heat(Ex: Big ears) aside from their 'sails' and even then that's IFFY cause I don't know if blood runs through it or not. Realistically, they should be awake during evening/dawn, or night(Based on whether the dunes get cold at night) but they seem to be active during the day?? but they can still get heatstroke??? tf is going ON with these guys.

Mudwings are fine, ig. nothing really special. Trying to make em more like crocodiles.

Nightwings are also fine- making them more like fluffy bats. Volcano idea might get scrapped/reworked, so there's that. Still gotta massively nerf Mindreading/FutureSight.

Why are Seawings so small? Do their ears fold underwater- wait, why do they go above land? They can live underwater without ever going up, and with the war and all, it would make sense if they never left. Maybe they still need to get air, but they live in coastal areas/islands and have the 'mudwings can hold their breath for an hour thing'? Would give them some actual stakes.

Skywings should have feathers/beaks. They would get cold in high altitudes, and they should just have feathers cause they have nothing else going on with them.

I am not touching Icewings with a ten foot pole. They do not radiate cold. They have fur. They live in the Taiga. I will die on this hill.

aeejcnjkdnddjikssk this dragon series has me by a chokehold.

*Pyhrrian* and Welll

Poison and acid are not mutually exclusive, could be both and scales can be very tough but they will be affected regardless, and there are 100% acids strong enough to do that to Queen Scarlet. Idk man, they open their mouths and black acid comes out, that's about as far as the books describe. Where did it come from? Are their teeth stronger and hollow? Does it come from behind their teeth? Back of the throat? Are their mouths made of tougher stuff so the inside doesn't melt or does the acid never touch the inside of their mouths? Idk.

Idk man they just be doin it. Mind you, it's canon that Sandwings can get heatstroke so idk what they're doing always running around in the middle of the day.

I think the fact that Mudwings are fine shows how neglected they are as tribe. Which is sad..

I am unfortunately not on the dragons with fur train when it comes to WoF, you do you though. Also 100% more batlike Nightwings. I think there's a lot of ways to go about Mindreading without nerfing it. For example I found out that apparently some people narrate their lives internally while others have more concepts they hold unless they're thinking of something specific. There's a lot to do with just that. Future sight is honestly not overpowered. The average future-sighted Nightwing has 1 unclear vision a week, Clearsight and Darkstalker had 10,000 clear visions a day and are outliers who should never have been counted.

Seawings being aquatic is exactly why I've been questioning why they ever joined the war to begin with. Trade is basically nonexistant, they have no settlements on land, why bother with the war at all?? There could be Seawings who don't know how to verbally speak because there's got to be seawings who've never had much of a need to go above water.

As with fur, I've never personally been a fan of feathers on the dragons. I do like to think that Skywing fire burns the hottest (rather than Sandwings) and that's why they don't get cold up there. They're living furnaces, which would also explain why firescales are specific to them.

Icewings are weird.

I explain away some of the weirdness I want to keep in my rewrite as an effect of magic during the evolution of the dragons, and other stuff is just kept because Rule of Cool or suspension of disbelief.

#wings of fire #wof #ask

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rjmenvs3000f23 · 6 months

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Lichen and Moss ~ Blog 9

As we near the end of the semester in this course, I can say with certainty that I am a Nature interpreter, and that interpretation is all around us. It works to enrich our daily lives and serves as a motivator when we may least expect it. In our textbook reading for this week, one story struck me. A father and his son were visiting Gunnison National Park, but the boy was eager to leave the trail. One man noticed the pair and offered to take them to a spot where they could see a bighorn ram. The son was in awe, and now he was refusing to leave the trail as he was memorized by the animal. Honestly, if I saw one in real life too, I would also be memorized. This moment in the boy’s life was probably a stepping stool in his future with nature. It shows that unexpected experiences can change one’s life.

For this week's blog, we were asked to write about the most amazing thing we know about nature. Recently I started watching this documentary on Netflix called “Life on Our Planet”. I haven't watched a Nature series in a while, but I thought why not? This series is like no other I’ve ever watched, and I highly recommend anyone who has Netflix to check it out! It recounts the evolution of our planet and all the stages of life and hostility on Earth.

Before the age of the dinosaurs, our planet was completely desolate and inhospitable. According to the documentary, it almost resembled the moon, covered in dead volcanoes and craters. I know for me it's hard to imagine our world like that, but it's also immensely fascinating that it used to be like that. However, even before this, life underwater had thrived for more than a billion years. From this emerged lichen, a curious life-form that is neither a plant nor an animal. Almost like fungi, and they are a combination of fungi and algae. Lichen spread rapidly over our planet and worked to break apart and infiltrate rocks that covered the land. Producing soil, and I’m sure we’re all familiar with the life-bearing properties of this medium.

From this first development of soil, came moss; which ruled and carpeted the planet for 40 million years!! This brought forth the evolution of plants that had lignin, which strengthens the cell walls of plants, allowing them to grow upwards. Trees and all different types of plants start shooting up, growing closer to the sky to get the best access to sunlight. Trees are the tallest living organisms on our planet, and this green evolution made the land hospitable to animals, insects, and all different types of creatures.

It’s honestly crazy to think that lichen and moss gave rise to all the greenery we see on our planet. Now when we look at plants, we know that their beginning was simple yet so profound that it changed the face of the Earth. I find that simply amazing, and I stumbled upon this finding because I wanted to watch a new documentary on Netflix. There’s beauty in the small things in life, quite literally.

Lanfear, S. (Writer & Director), Hamlin, J. (Director), Salisbury, E (Director). (2023, October 25). Invaders of the Land (Chapter 3) [TV Series episode]. In S. Spielberg, D. Frank, J. Falvey, K. Scholey, A. Fothergill (Executive producers). Life on Our Planet. Amblin Television & Silver Back.

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Chapter 21: The Bright Future of Interpretation . In Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World (pp. 457–476). essay, SAGAMORE Publishing.

#plants #lichen #moss

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hollyswofrewrite · 1 year

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sfowefnjfwkn;l I'm trying to figure out the biology of the pantalian(?) dragons and it is just. so confusing.

Mudwings are fine, ig. nothing really special. Trying to make em more like crocodiles.

Nightwings are also fine- making them more like fluffy bats. Volcano idea might get scrapped/reworked, so there's that. Still gotta massively nerf Mindreading/FutureSight.

Skywings should have feathers/beaks. They would get cold in high altitudes, and they should just have feathers cause they have nothing else going on with them.

I am not touching Icewings with a ten foot pole. They do not radiate cold. They have fur. They live in the Taiga. I will die on this hill. (I am working on Frostbreath but basically its gonna be an animus magic thing and oh god I haven't even talked about animus magic yet.)

aeejcnjkdnddjikssk this dragon series has me by a chokehold.

#wings of fire rewrite #wings of fire #uggh #watch me wrestle with this childrens series and try to make it reasonable #oh yeah and I forgot to mention this #tui put a hot desert next to the arctic #how does that even happen?#and UGH I haven't even gotten to animus magic yet #or arc three biology #mudwing #sandwing #rainwing #seawing #icewing #skywing

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twh-news · 2 years

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A mischievous god, a reverend and a newly engaged man: Tom Hiddleston has been busy

by Bob Strauss. Photos: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

It hardly needs saying, but Tom Hiddleston is a much nicer guy than Loki, the supervillain he’s played in six Marvel movies and an acclaimed Disney+ series, which just started shooting its second season in England.

And despite the Norse God of Mischief’s ubiquity, the Cambridge and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art-educated actor does have other interests. His stage résumé is as impressive as the array of auteurs he’s made movies with: Joanna Hogg, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Terence Davies, Jim Jarmusch, Guillermo del Toro, Ben Wheatley. There’s also prestige TV such as “The Night Manager” and now “The Essex Serpent,” which launched in May on Apple TV+.

Still, “‘Loki,’ ‘Essex Serpent,’ they have occupied the last two years of my life,” Hiddleston notes on a warm afternoon in an L.A. hotel garden.

Of course, there was more to the last several years than “Essex” and the first season of “Loki.” Hiddleston found time in March to propose to Zawe Ashton, his co-star in a 2019 West End revival of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal.”

“I’m very happy” is all he wants to say about that, perhaps gun-shy regarding personal matters since a super-scrutinized 2016 romance with Taylor Swift. But just get him started on the latest shows ....

“I love playing Loki, have loved playing him every time,” the actor says about Thor’s shape-and-loyalty-shifting brother. “In every story, there’s been a different iteration, a different director, a different spin on the ball, if you like.”

The “Loki” series takes place in a divergent timeline before/after he was killed in the last two “Avengers” movies. This trickster version is detained by a kind of cosmic bureaucracy, the Time Variance Authority, and stripped of his powers if not his arrogance.

“If you take away everything that the character knows and understands, what remains?” Hiddleston submits. “Something will be revealed to us and to Loki about who he is. This idea of him undergoing an almost psychoanalytical interrogation with the TVA’s Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, and being confronted with repetitive patterns of destructive behavior, which only resulted in his loss and loneliness, I found to be extremely exciting.”

Another first, for Marvel and Loki: He came out as bisexual to the series’ other key frenemy, Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie, a female variant of himself.

“In my research into the character and the ancient stories, Loki’s identity has always been fluid in his gender and sexuality,” Hiddleston notes. “It was a privilege to touch on it this time. I’m aware it’s a small step and there’s further to go, but I hope that people felt represented by it.”

Contemporary concerns are also represented in Sarah Perry’s bestselling historical novel “The Essex Serpent.” It’s set in a scientifically advancing 1893, while superstitions still haunt the Blackwater Estuary on England’s eastern coast. People go missing, a big underwater thing is bumping into fishermen’s boats, and some believe a folklore dragon has returned.

Claire Danes plays Cora Seaborne, recently widowed from an abusive marriage and an amateur paleontologist, who comes up from London to investigate. An attraction grows between her and the local, married vicar, Hiddleston’s Will Ransome. All six episodes were directed by another of the actor’s admired auteurs, Clio Barnard (“The Arbor,” “Dark River”).

“I loved this combination of her and the story,” Hiddleston says. “It deals with some very resonant themes: uncertainty, fear and how fear of what we don’t understand can sometimes collectively distort reality. There’s an ideological debate between science and religion that’s staged in the dynamic between Cora and my character, the very progressive but nevertheless faithful reverend of the community.

“It felt like with the pandemic, we all had to manage so much uncertainty,” he continues. “It’s about that, but of course there’s a very psychological metaphor about the serpent, things that lie beneath the surface.”

Hiddleston tried to be a gracious host to his American co-star when they filmed in the Essex salt marshes 13 months ago but fears he might have gone too far.

“It’s windy and it’s muddy and it’s wet,” he says of the shoot. “Claire was incredibly game about all of that. I became a kind of cliché Englishman, endlessly promising that the weather would improve. Every day I’d be like, ‘It’s going to get better, Claire! Just you wait, the spring in England is lovely!’”

Cliché, or in actuality a particularly nice chap?

“I was very lucky when I was younger,” Hiddleston reckons, regarding his reputation. “I worked with some great actors, and I could see that they were very committed to the work and very kind, inspiring in that way. I was junior to Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench and Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ewan McGregor; these are the best of guys doing it.

“I try to put my best foot forward,” he concludes, then adds with a sheepish grin, “It’s hard to address that.”

#tom hiddleston #the essex serpent #loki #loki series #interview #article #los angeles times

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ratsoh-writes · 1 year

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y e s p l e a s e

-void keith

Lol here goes:

Despite being rather skinny looking compared to his bro (fisher is ripped) Jasper is much much stronger than he looks! He can handle really high water pressure from being underwater and can dive farther than most sea monsters.

Also when Jasper has his ecto on, he’s way heavier than he looks. He may be slender, but his ecto is very compact

Besides rollercoasters, another thing he’s really curious about is planes. If he hadn’t picked his engineer career, he would’ve liked to become a pilot!

Jasper’s favorite cartoon is the scooby doo series. He thinks Fred’s over the top traps are the best thing ever

Jasper has never seen or touched a bare tiddy before

Jasper has some misconceptions abuts humans because of fisher messing with him. Fisher told him that humans grow hair inside of their mouths too, that when human women have their periods they just have chocolate or they die from their bodies eating themselves, and that the fake nails some ladies wear are actually secret weapons and that it’s illegal for the men to wear them to make things more fair. Jasper is gullible and fisher is a menace

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tailsrevane · 1 year

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[comic review] avatar: the high ground (2022)

writer: sherri l. smith artists: various

it’s weird that i keep having to talk about star wars in my avatar reviews, but there are a lot of truly bizarre connections between the two considering i don’t think there’s any real cross-pollination between them aside from disney having a stake in both of them? but, yeah.

a lot of star wars fans are probably familiar with the story of splinter of the mind’s eye. this was a novel by alan dean foster (the ghostwriter of the first film’s novelization) that george lucas commissioned as a book that could be easily adapted into a low-budget sequel for star wars if the first movie didn’t make enough money to finance a sequel. of course, that was before the first movie totally redefined expectations for a summer blockbuster, so foster’s novel ended up not being needed for its original purpose, and it just sort of existed as a kind of awkward entry in the canon of the eu until disney nuked it. dark horse did a comic adaptation of the novel in the 90s with some of that gorgeous coverart that the dark horse star wars comics always had, which is the way i found out about it.

avatar: the high ground, on the other hand, was james cameron’s first pass at an avatar sequel script. it doesn’t appear that cameron altered the trajectory of the sequel for budgetary reasons, but rather due to a combination of just deciding to break the story differently and possibly technological breakthroughs in convincing underwater cgi? regardless, rather than wasting his first script idea, a decision was made to adapt it into a series of three hardcover graphic novels.

the resulting comis are… honestly not great, immo? i’d actually say this is my least favorite avatar comic i’ve read so far. like, even adapt or die which wasn’t great at least felt like it was something different? this felt like “avatar 2, but worse.” and repurposing it as a prequel is also kind of fraught because they obviously had a lot of the same storytelling goals in this version of the sequel so you end up with weird stuff like jake & meytiri’s kids running through what should’ve been their parents’ entire budget of “telling them to stay & wait in a place, them not listening & getting kidnapped” patience before the first movie? like, when the kids first get captured by blue!quatritch in the sequel, it’s this big shocking moment, but imagine if they had just been kidnapped & daringly rescued, like, last week? it would totally change how that would feel, right? there’s a very real feeling in the movie that this is the first time their innocence has been challenged like this.

… come to think of it, that’s actually another parallel with splinter of the mind’s eye? because towards the end of that book, luke has a lightsaber fight with darth vader, and when splinter of the mind’s eye was still considered canon that just made it really awkward that their confrontation in the empire strikes back was clearly supposed to be the first of its kind? i think this comic is just avatar’s splinter of the mind’s eye. i think it’s best to just pretend it doesn’t exist, because it’s definitely not going to impact the movies–i mean, no one’s really thinking “this is awkward becasue splinter of the mind’s eye got there first” when they watch empire, right? but it just makes the high ground pretty unsatisfying at the end of the day.

even ignoring those sorts of issues, it’s also just super obvious that this story wasn’t intended for a comic book format? it’s just a series of honestly pretty flat action scenes that don’t really translate all that well on the page. and it isn’t helped by the fact that the art, while pretty enough to look at, doesn’t actually do a great job of conveying the action in a way that’s painless to follow? it’s sometimes hard to tell characters apart except for in extreme closeup. so yeah, on the whole, really not a huge fan of this one, unfortunately.

c-rank

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vannahfanfics · 10 months

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Hello, this is anonymous commissioner 🍄! This is my information for my One Piece matchup. Thank you for writing it!

I’m a bi/pan woman. 5’1”/155cm with short blue hair (naturally dark brown, but I like experimenting with different colors), gray eyes, and I guess kind of a cozy femme style.

My personality is free-spirited, even-tempered, independent, and adventurous. I love learning new things, and I’ll try anything once - as long as it’s not too dangerous or obviously harmful to someone else. As a partner (or friend) I’m loyal, supportive, and fun, but not the most romantic or verbally affectionate. It’s actually pretty hard for me to say “I love you,” and I even feel a little awkward hearing it tbh. My biggest flaw is probably that I can be a little self-centered - not in a diva-ish way, but prone to getting caught up in my own thoughts and goals sometimes. My hobbies/interests are reading (mostly horror, science fiction, and science history), gardening, swimming, knitting, traveling, and games of all kinds.

In a partner I’m attracted to confidence, creativity, and passion. My favorite dates are ones where we visit a new place (whether that’s a new restaurant or a whole new city) or learn a new skill together. When meeting someone for the first time, I start out a bit quiet and withdrawn, but I warm up quickly once we find a good topic of conversation or an activity to work on together.

At long last, here is your match-up, Anon! I apologize for how terribly long this took me; medical school has kept me so busy, and I suffered a pretty prolonged period of writer's block as well. Things are finally settling down, though, and I have my creative groove back! I hope you find this worth the wait, and thank you again for commissioning! :)

P.S. Someone please tell me to stop trying to use Ctrl+Z on Tumblr so that I stop accidentally deleting entire drafts with no way to recover them! >:(

I match you with...

Vivi Nefertari from One Piece!

There are a lot of amazing characters in One Piece that I could have matched you with, but the first one that came to mind was one of the best girls in the series: the lovely princess Vivi! It wasn't just because she also has blue hair, LMAO; I think she's a great fit for you. Let's delve into why:

Free-spirited, even-tempered, independent, adventurous: these are all qualities that Vivi shares with you. She is also very much someone who seeks new experiences and is willing to try anything at least once; however, danger is not something that Vivi shies away from! I could easily see her being one of those daredevil thrillseekers—skydiving, bungee jumping, deep sea/underwater cave diving, you name it! Naturally, she would want to enjoy these experiences with you, but she would be totally understanding if you aren't quite as keen to try. She'd never push you to do something that makes you uncomfortable. She's happy to undertake said venture by herself or with a more enthusiastic companion, then tell you all about the fun she had afterward! Of course, when it comes to anything that you are willing to try, Vivi wants to be a part of it. She's the type to want to memorialize the adventure; expect to get lots of pictures that Vivi will immediately pore over after all is said and done so that she can gush about how much fun you both had and what great memories you made!

Vivi is also a loyal and supportive partner, so it doesn't bother her in the slightest that you aren't "openly" romantic. Vivi has high emotional intelligence when it comes to those who she is close to, and, therefore, she doesn't need to rely on words or overt physical gestures to understand what they are feeling or trying to express; that would certainly be the case with you, too! You may not be easily able to say "I love you" in words, but there are certainly ways that you do say it, and Vivi will be able to perceive these with no problem. Vivi is a bit more open in this regard, but she is more than willing to operate at your comfort level. Again, she knows that there is more than one way to express affection than by just saying it; she will express her feelings in any way that you are receptive to!

Vivi is not quiet or withdrawn like you are, but her more outgoing nature certainly wouldn't get in the way of the two of you hitting it off. In fact, it aids it! Vivi is like you in the fact that she immediately lights up when the topic of conversation turns interesting—especially if it is something she enjoys. Vivi is definitely one of those to start excitedly gushing once she realizes that the other person(s) is similarly interested in a topic. She'll talk your ear off, and she'll gladly let you do the same to hers! Her interests are similarly varied like yours, so this would also present a good basis for establishing a rapport with Vivi. Mutual interests are the foundation of any strong relationship, and you certainly have plenty with Vivi!

It goes without saying that Vivi is extremely passionate, and she's certainly creative, too. Your ideas of dates are Vivi's idea of dates; it ties into her sense of adventure! She loves to visit new places. If you have any inclinations of being a globetrotter, then dating Vivi is certainly a way to realize those aspirations. She has a lengthy list of historic and otherwise famous places that she would like to visit at least once in her life—not that she'll stop there! Anywhere she goes, she's eager to explore from top to bottom and sideways so that she can not only get a well-rounded experience but also discover places and things she wouldn't have otherwise! She is also always willing to try new skills, too, whether it's associated with a trip or not. Quite a few of your fond memories would be the two of you trying your hands at some obscure art or cooking form or what have you. Whether your results are successful or comically terrible, Vivi is all-smiles; not only is it fun for her just to be experiencing something different, she's just happy to be doing so with you!

I really feel that the greatest trait that you and Vivi would share is a love of travel, so here are some headcanons on that!:

Seriously, Vivi loves to travel. She'd jump at every opportunity to journey somewhere new, and she's the type of person to have a collection of things from her travels—postcards, magnets, novelty mugs. She loves all kinds of souvenirs!

If you are the type of person who also collects things from places you visit, not only will it send her over the moon, but she'll also be more than happy to indulge you! Whatever you collect, you can bet that Vivi will be buying something for you on a trip, whether you are on it together or not. In the same vein, if you do the same for her, it will make her the happiest person alive!

Some people have specific kinds of places that they like to travel to, but not Vivi. She'll happily go on any kind of trip, whether it's a relaxing beach trip, a rustic mountain retreat, a jaunt through a historic landmark, or an adventure like an extended hike or diving experience. The world is a vast place full of countless wonderful things, places, and peoples, and life is too short to experience them all—but by golly, Vivi is going to experience as many as she can!

As I mentioned earlier, Vivi is very much into photographs as mementos, so you'll be taking a lot of them together! Don't worry, though, they won't just sit in your phones' photo libraries; Vivi will put her creativity to work and make a scrapbook! To her, it's almost more fun than the trip itself. She loves to dive right into the newest scrapbook pages as soon as the trip is done, sometimes with so much zeal that she has them finished the day she returns home! Her favorite part is sharing them with you, of course, and reminiscing, whether it was a solo trip on her part or one you both went on together!

Obviously, life is never a dull moment with Vivi. This go-getting gal is sure to drag you along for countless adventures, whether it's a spontaneous lunch at a new restaurant or a hike into the thick of a rainforest—and she's going to be sure to immortalize every amazing moment that she shares with you. For all the amazing things that Vivi's seen and done, nothing compares to the way that you enrich her life!

Finally, I'd like to highlight the one un-adventurous aspect of Vivi... her disdain for horror movies, LOL! I just don't see her enjoying the genre at all because the poor thing is terribly prone to jump scares! Despite that, she'd love to support your interests and would watch them with you... well, what little bit she sees through her fingers! So, here's a drabble on the topic:

"Eeeeeeeek!"

You can't help but laugh at the piercing shriek that tears from Vivi's mouth when your television's speakers thunder with the crescendo of the suspenseful music and the very predictable jump-scare scene of the horror movie you and your girlfriend are watching flashes across the screen. Could you even call Vivi's terrified, fragmented peering through the gaps in her fingers watching, actually? The dubious nature of Vivi's movie experience just makes it all the more comical, prompting you to laugh again just as she flops over onto her side and curls into the fetal position with a mournful moan.

"How can you be so stoic while watching this?" she laments, her voice muffled from how tightly her hands are plastered to her face. "That ghost popping out of nowhere like that—I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest!"

"I saw it coming from a mile away," you explain with a little laugh. Really, there was a formula to these things. The protagonist goes creeping through a dark, dusty attic; it's practically horror movie law for something scary to happen, whether it's furniture being knocked to the floor with a tremendous crash or some spooky specter to suddenly appear from the darkness. You've watched enough horror films to recognize the tell-tale patterns of an impending jump scare or at least a subverting de-escalation of tension. Vivi, despite watching several of them with you now, had apparently not quite acquired said skill. Hence, she was terrified out of her wits each time.

You really ought to make more effort to reassure her that she doesn't need to watch them with you, but you can't bring yourself to because her exaggerated reactions are just so darn cute!

That, and the way that Vivi always comes crawling back for more because she simply can't stand to leave a story unfinished. Even as she lay beside you on the sofa with her knees tucked to her chest and her quivering hands pressed to her face, she parts her fingers to stare apprehensively at the television screen with a squeak of, "Did I miss anything important?!"

"She just dashed down the attic ladder so fast that she lost her footing, fell, and hit her head on the floor so hard that she was dazed for a bit. As she was in and out of consciousness, she saw the ghost peering out of the attic opening at her and smiling creepily," you explain, calm despite describing an absolutely nightmarish scenario.

Just the description of the event gives Vivi the good ol' heebie-jeebies; she is gripped with a full-body shudder, then hastily snaps her fingers back shut with a frightened squeak of "No, thank you!"

You laugh, then give her a reassuring rub of her back while returning your gaze to the television screen.

"I guess this means that you'll never visit a haunted graveyard or something with me, huh?" you tease. You've yet to find a challenge that Vivi will shy away from, but a haunted locale just might be the line drawn in the sand, you consider then.

To your surprise, however, Vivi shoots up into a sitting position to look at you with a resolute glower.

"It doesn't matter if it's haunted! If it's a place that you want to visit, then I want to visit it, too!" she asserts with a conviction that shocks you so deeply that you pause the movie and turn completely sideways to gape at her in utter incredulity. Vivi's bottom lip is quivering and her eyes are shaking with fear, but there is no mistaking the resolve in her expression. She totally meant it!

Still, you're so amazed by the notion that you can't help but ask, "Really?"

"Really!" Vivi insists with an emphatic nod. "I won't let something silly like fear get in the way of enjoying an experience with you! Even if it's scary then, it'll probably be really funny in hindsight, you know?"

It was one-hundred-percent Vivi logic, and you couldn't help but smile at her assertion. Before you could respond, however, Vivi continues:

"Kind of like this." She gestures vaguely at the television with a little chuckle. "I keep watching scary movies with you because it's always fun to laugh about how worked up I get later! The fright I get from the jump scares and stuff is temporary... but the joy of spending time with you, and the giddiness at how funny we both find my reactions are permanent." She smiles in a mixture of adoration and bashfulness. "A-anyway, what I'm trying to say is, what's the difference between watching a scary movie with you and going somewhere haunted, really? I'm happy to do this, so I'm happy to do that, too! Just say when!"

You are so struck by the sudden emotional outpouring that you can only stare at her in shocked silence for a second. Then, the utter insanity of her logic strikes you, and you burst into laughter.

"Vivi...! Ahahaha, y-you... you really are a-a... a masochist, you know that?!" you exclaim between frantic giggling. Vivi blushes brightly at your explosive laughter, but only smiles sheepishly and offers a small shrug in response.

The amusement quickly gives way to a rush of affection, prompting you to smile breathlessly at Vivi while you use the heels of your palms to wipe away the tears that had sprung to your eyes from laughing so hard. It takes a minute for you to regain the ability to speak, but when you do, you take her hands in yours and give them a squeeze.

"In all seriousness, thank you, Vivi. Not everybody would be willing to waltz into a haunted house, let alone those who don't even like scary stuff. You really are amazing... or out of your mind." You can't help but tack on the jibe at the end, but Vivi doesn't resent you for it; she just laughs and nods in agreement.

"I'm definitely out of my mind," she giggles. Her expression then softens and she looks at you in pure adulation that can only be love. "But I'll happily sacrifice a little bit of my sanity if it means that I can experience as many amazing things with you as I can."

"Vivi..." You breathe her name as warmth floods your entire being. You nibble on your bottom lip as a big grin tugs at the corner of your lips, but it does little to keep it from stretching from ear to ear. You give her hands another squeeze, then release a half-sigh, half-laugh as you let go and settle back against the couch. "Let's get you to where you can make it through a horror movie without dying of fright, and then we can talk about trips to haunted places, all right?"

"I don't know if we'll ever take a trip to a haunted place, then, because I don't think I can!" Vivi groans even as she flops against you and looks at the television screen with mounting anxiety. You laugh and press play on the remote, and it's only a few seconds before Vivi is clutching onto you for dear life and burying her face into your shoulder. It's admittedly a pretty frightening scene, but there's no way that you can feel fear right now, not when you're full to the brim with love for your amazing girlfriend.

That's okay, you think. I could spend the rest of my life never going anywhere else, and I'd be just fine as long as I'm with you... because you make every day an adventure no matter where we go or what we do.

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#one piece #matchups #match-ups #one piece matchups #one piece match-ups #vannahfanfics commissions #commissions

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