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zeke-in-devildom · 2 months

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Dissonance - Chapter 15: Clicking, Clubs, and Crushes

Zeke practically fled the Devildom Law classroom the moment the bell rang, not wanting to chance Simeon attempting to talk to him so soon. He needed to mentally prepare himself before facing the angel again. He couldn’t handle any more Simeon smiles. That was asking way too much of him. He hated that his face was definitely flushed. Why was it so hard to keep his poker face in the presence of the angel? Was it because Simeon was an angel? He wasn’t entirely sure why that would make a drastic difference. The obvious answer was pretty simple - he just found the angel that attractive. Maybe the whole forbidden fruit thing had an impact too. Who even knows at this point?

“Oi! Human, wait up!” Mammon actually had to hurry to keep up with him. “What was that all about? Ya were gawking at Simeon the whole class!”

“Oh yeah? How would you know unless you spent the whole class looking at me?” Zeke wished the ground would swallow him whole right about now. His face was still hot. He rarely blushed so much, why now?

“W-well I wasn’t! Why would The Great Mammon stare at some dumb human? Ya were just super obvious, is all!” Since he got the demon to sputter he was counting that as a win.

“I’m not dumb.” Zeke scowled as he stared straight ahead, refusing to look at the demon walking beside him. At least he felt like he was finally regaining control of his composure, his heart was not beating so wildly anymore, and he didn’t feel flushed either.

“Well o’course not! I didn’t mean - That is…uh…” Mammon trailed off, clearly at a loss for how to respond. At least it got the greed demon to be quiet until they reached the front of the school.

“What happened to your hair? It looks stupid.” Belphie was remarkably blunt, but Zeke had forgotten that his hair was currently nearly silver in color.

“LOL. You look even more like a normie than before.” Levi chimed in unhelpfully.

“Don’t listen to them, sweetie. You’d look great in any color!” Asmo really did act like a personal cheerleader. He rewarded him with one of his genuine smiles.

“I think it looks nice.” Beel smiled at him.

“Thanks Beel, thanks Asmo. Satan, Solomon, and I made a potion that changes hair color for class today. I tested ours. It worked.” He ran his hands through his new hair. It felt softer than usual, but that was thanks to Asmo’s beauty products, not the potion. “It’ll be back to normal by the end of school tomorrow.”

“Yes, the effects should definitely wear off sometime tomorrow afternoon. The teacher said our potion was of exceptional quality.” Satan had a cute, satisfied smile on his face.

Just when Zeke had finally gotten those damn butterflies under control too. Why was Satan so damn adorable? He quickly looked anywhere but at the blond demon.

Asmo narrowed his eyes at him and stepped closer, looking intently at his face, even when Zeke tried to look away. Was he blushing again? Damnit! Why did were his reactions betraying him like this? Usually nothing phased him anymore. He had learned to hide his thoughts and emotions better than this!

“Ohoho~ Someone’s feeling amorous.” Zeke flinched when he heard Asmo’s sing-song voice call him out. Although he wasn’t sure amorous was the word he’s use. “Tell me! Tell me! Is it a succubus? I know everyone, I’ll introduce you ~”

Mammon scoffed and Zeke groaned. Most of the brothers suddenly looked like they had swallowed something sour, except Beel, who only tilted his head curiously, and Asmo who seemed jealous but also excited. He could feel the envy radiating off of each of them - none more than Levi, but that was to be expected. Actually, why would he expect any of them to be envious of his attraction to someone? They were all very attractive, very powerful demons. He was just some human. A psychic human, but still.

“It ain’t no succubus. Zeke was staring at Simeon all class.” The greed demon complained moodily while Zeke covered his face to hide his embarrassment.

“How naughty!” Asmo gasped as if scandalized, but there was a delighted glint in his eyes. “Simeon’s so pretty. Who could blame him?”

“Really? The angel? It’s never going to happen.” Belphie seemed angry, but he could also sense other emotions, like guilt and fear. Zeke finally lowered his hands once he felt that he’d gotten a little control back over his expression and his face had cooled a bit.

“Angels are forbidden to have romantic relationships with humans.” Satan seemed mildly jealous, but not overtly angry, and his words were more logical than driven by emotion. Zeke appreciated that. Ever since coming to the Devildom he’d been bombarded with auras full of emotions that he simply couldn’t fully wrap his head around. He couldn’t understand why they all cared so much, why they worried, and now why they seemed jealous over him.

“I kind of figured that out, but good to have it confirmed.” Of course the angel was off-limits, that was just common sense.

“Boo. You totally have a chance with anyone you want, even Simeon. You’re gorgeous, darling. Oooh, maybe you have a corruption ki-“

“Look, it isn’t a big deal. So Simeon’s really pretty, so what? Like Belphie said, it’s never going to happen. I was just caught off-guard. I’ve never reacted so strongly to someone before. Like, when I shook his hand, even through his gloves, it was like static shot up my arm. There was just something about him that really hit me.” Zeke felt himself get slightly exasperated.

Why did they all look so uncomfortable about what he’d said? It wasn’t like he had plans to date while down here. He was only going to be in the Devildom for a year. There was no point trying to form romantic attachments. That would just make it harder when it came time for him to leave. It wasn’t any of their concern about his love life either.

“Only about him? What about me? I’m the most beautiful, most charming creature in the three worlds!” Asmo was pouting at him slightly, although he didn’t seem genuinely upset.

“You’re definitely beautiful and charming, Asmo. I just don’t usually feel like this. I might find some people aesthetically pleasing to look at, but I don’t really feel an attraction to most of them. Sometimes there’s a person I look at and something just clicks in my brain? I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s only happened twice. Until now, at least. I thought the weird feeling might be because he’s an angel, but maybe it really is just it clicking again.” Zeke had never had a real love life, and that had never bothered him. He usually had to really connect with someone to be interested and since he kept himself distanced because of his circumstances, well it just had taken a backseat to everything else.

“So no click with me?” Asmo pouted. “None of my brothers?”

“Ah, no, sorry Asmo.” They all seemed to deflate a little. Why were they being so weird about this? Also that was a partial lie. Zeke hadn’t felt such an immediate, physical attraction with any of the brothers, not quite like with Simeon, but he had felt a gentler sort of attraction with one of them - he could easily see himself falling hard for him, but the heartbreak at the end of the year would be self-inflicted torture, so why do that to himself? Not that he’d be able to control falling in love or not.

What a mess. Why couldn’t he just be normal about anything?

“Oh hon, don’t ever apologize for something like that!” Asmo draped himself around Zeke’s shoulders, hugging him. “We like you just the way you are, darling. Besides, nothing wrong with a harmless crush.”

“It ain’t harmless! Listen, forget about it, human.” Mammon seemed both jealous and concerned. The others did too, but Mammon kind of lived with his heart on his sleeve, metaphorically speaking.

“Yes, well fascinating as this conversation is, there are club sign-ups after school today, and Zeke needs to choose at least one to participate in as part of the exchange program.” Satan steered the topic into something much safer.

Or so Zeke thought.

“Oh! I’m obviously in the anime and gamer clubs, but normie you have to sign-up for The Cohen Files fan club with Satan and me!” Levi was certainly enthusiastic about it.

“I dunno…” They had a whole fan club for his book series? It was one thing to watch the Devildom versions with the brothers and watch them speculate, but an entire club full of unfamiliar demons?

“It’s only right as a fellow E.J. Novak fan!” Oh this was going to be awful.

“I agree that it would be a good club for you to participate in, and an easy one, considering it’s mainly a club consisting of discussing things related to The Cohen Files.” Satan was awfully quick to jump on this bandwagon. Probably because he was also going to be in the club. They all seemed to want to monopolize as much time with him as possible, for some reason. It probably had something to do with making sure he enjoyed his time with the exchange program so Lord Diavolo could call it a success at the end of the year.

“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” Zeke let his shoulders slump in defeat.

“No way, normie. Let’s go!” Levi grabbed him by the sleeve and started pulling him back into the school, with Satan falling into step on the other side of him. Zeke noticed a pattern of being sandwiched between two of the brothers whenever possible. Was this part of them protecting him?

“There’s also a literary club that I attend, would you like to join me for that one, Zeke?” Satan seemed to be in a good mood.

“Uh, yeah. I actually would like a club like that, and I assume I have to have one of you with me for any club I participate in anyway, so tagging along with you is a good idea.” A literature club was definitely more his speed. Plus it would give him more time to spend with Satan, which was definitely a perk in his opinion.

There were club representatives lined up in what seemed to be an auditorium, with sign-up sheets ready for new club members. He got a few sneers as they made their way through the throngs of demons signing up for various clubs, but pointed looks from Satan stopped most of those. Levi ended up practically hiding behind him as they made their way to sign Zeke up for the two clubs they’d picked out for him.

The Cohen Files fan club representative actually seemed excited - genuinely - to have one of the human exchange students sign-up. He supposed that made sense, if they were already a fan of a human author then they might be more open to a human member. It was good to know not every demon was completely prejudiced against him. The literary club representative didn’t seem as excited, but at least seemed receptive, even mentioning the idea of including more human world literature into the club since Zeke was joining.

Amid the sea of demon auras Zeke almost missed the three other auras mingling in the crowds, although he wasn’t sure how he could have missed the angels. Of course they would need to participate in extracurriculars too. Luckily they hadn’t run into them yet, and Zeke was content to keep it that way. He was not prepared to meet Simeon again, although he should probably have tried to meet up with Solomon for another magic lesson. He would have to apologize to the sorcerer later. For now he grabbed both Satan and Levi by the arms and started pulling them back out of the school at a brisk walk.

“Why the rush?” Satan asked with a knowing smile.

“I want to get a head start on homework. Would you be willing to help?” Zeke gave Satan his best pleading look.

“Of course.” Satan gave a soft chuckle.

#obey me #obey me oc #obey me mc #obey me zeke #obey me ezekiel jada pendergast #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me simeon #obey me luke #obey me solomon #obey me dissonance

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cosmicjoke · 1 year

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Levi and Shipping Part 2:

I’m pinning this post. Again, because I keep getting asks about Levi and his commitment to humanity and his promise to Erwin, and I swear to fucking god, if I get one more. But whatever. Here, read this if you have a question. It answers all your questions, though why anyone would even have one at this point, after seeing Levi in the final episode is beyond me:

I posted this as a response in my other post about Levi and shipping, but I wanted to post it as separately as well, since it’s so long, and it addresses some important things I didn’t go into in detail in my initial comments.

I’m not saying people that ship Levi with Erwin are solely responsible for this notion of Levi not caring about humanity, but that IS an idea perpetuated by the idea that Levi made his vow TO Erwin, as in, he made it FOR Erwin and Erwin alone and there were no other contributing factors. Yes, technically, Levi made the vow TO Erwin. Erwin, after all, was his commanding officer. He was in charge, and Levi was fulfilling a final order. That isn’t, however, in any way, shape or form indicative of a “special” relationship between them, and certainly not of a romantic relationship. That’s pure poppycock. I’ve said before that when Isayama wants two characters to be linked romantically, it’s EXPLICIT. Eren and Mikasa, Historia and Ymir, Renier and Historia, Bertoholt and Annie, Marlow and Hitch, etc, etc... It’s OBVIOUS. One doesn’t need to read secret, subtle meanings into the text, or rely on wildly differing interpretations in meaning to conclude that these characters are linked romantically, even when the romance is one sided. So to try and claim that Levi is “in love” with Erwin, or somehow specially linked to him, is pure fantasy.

Yes, Levi’s promise was directly to Erwin, and he does say “I promised HIM”, but one can easily interpret that as Levi viewing the promise as a direct order, given to him by his commanding officer, one whom he personally chose to follow, not out of romantic love or loyalty, but out of a belief in Erwin’s ability as a leader. When one filters Levi’s choice through the personal intimacy of a romantic relationship, it colors it in a completely different light then what is actually intended in the text. That Levi cares about ALL of his comrades is implicit in both his character and the text, in his actions and speech. I never said anywhere that Levi’s main goal was to take out Zeke, just that it’s a goal of his that gets misinterpreted by so many people because of the insistence of some that it was a promise made out of “love” and “devotion” to Erwin. People interpret it as Levi PRIORITIZING his love for a single man over the betterment of humanity, SPECIFICALLY because of the implication that it was made out of personal love.

One of Levi’s defining characteristics, though, is that he wants to make sure nobody dies in vain. That the lives of his comrades, that THEIR sacrifices, aren’t made for nothing. That’s a defining quality to Levi’s character, and anyone who denies it as such is lacking a fundamental understanding of who he is as a person. With that in mind, it isn’t any kind of leap in logic, or “logic gap”, to extrapolate that Levi’s promise to Erwin that day included ALL OF THE SOLDIERS that went to their deaths with him. Levi’s need to kill Zeke isn’t an act of revenge, as you pointed out, but neither is it a personal declaration of love and loyalty to Erwin. It’s a way for Levi to make sure that that SPECIFIC sacrifice, on that day in Shiganshina, wasn’t one made without purpose. Zeke’s death is literally what all those soldiers died for. They gave their lives specifically so that Levi would have the opening he needed in order to kill Zeke. And thus, until Zeke is dead, Levi can’t say that those soldiers dying had meaning. He can’t justify their deaths. They died for something very specific, Zeke’s death, and Levi needed to deliver that death in order to make their sacrifice have purpose. I don’t know why this is so hard for some people to understand.

Look at these pages and panels. It proves Levi is talking about ALL of them, not just Erwin:

Levi sees in his minds eye the other soldiers charging to their deaths that day in Shinganshina, not just Erwin. That’s Marlow specifically that Levi is remembering as he’s crushed by rocks. Does Levi have some special love connection with Marlow? No. And then, Levi says in the next panels “Erwin... It looks like I’ll finally be able to fulfill the vow I made to you that day. Your DEATHS meant something. At Last I’ll be able to prove it.” Not death. DEATHS. Plural. He’s talking about multiple people, not just one. His promise is for all of the soldiers that died that day, not just Erwin. Yes, he made the vow TO Erwin, but that doesn’t mean it was just FOR Erwin.

As for Armin, again, it’s absurd to try and claim that Armin played no significant role in Levi’s choice to let Erwin die. Yes, of course, it was a personal choice for Levi in that he no longer wanted to see one of his friends suffer, and he decided to end that suffering for him. It was the humane choice, made over the abstract notion of the greater good. Indeed, it’s a testament, imo, to Levi’s humanity as a character. To how he values individual lives as greatly as he does the collective whole. But it’s also equally true that Levi weighed and considered multiple factors when making that choice, INCLUDING the conversation he’d overheard between Armin, Eren and Mikasa the night before. He thinks specifically about Armin’s eyes, and how the light in his eyes while speaking about his dream of seeing the ocean reminded him of the same purity and innocence he once saw in the eyes of his veteran comrades. He thinks specifically of Kenny and his dying words about how everyone is a slave to their dreams, and how if you can’t give up on those dreams, it will eventually corrupt you. He saw and realized that corruption happening in Erwin. And he weighed that against Armin, who DID give up on his dream. He let himself die. He didn’t have to be ordered by anyone, the way Erwin did. Armin willingly gave up his life and his dream for the greater good. He hadn’t yet been corrupted by his dream. Erwin HAD. Erwin was all kinds of messed up. Levi recalls specifically asking Erwin what he’ll do, once he gets to the basement, and remembers Erwin telling him he doesn’t know. He has no plan beyond that. He recalls Kenny telling him that without their dreams to keep them going, some people have nothing, no reason to live. All of this recollection occurs during and after Erwin starts speaking in a delirious, incoherent manner to his dead father, asking him how it is they can know there aren’t any people beyond the walls. Levi realizes in that moment that Erwin is still a slave to his dream, and that pulling him back into the land of the living will only bind him once more to that dream. A dream which was the only thing keeping Erwin’s demons at bay. Once that dream was fulfilled, there was no indication whatsoever that Erwin would be able to keep those demons back any longer. Robbed of the one thing distracting him from his crushing sense of guilt, what does one think would happen to him? He was already folding under the weight of his guilt at the end, before he could discover what was in the basement. Take that dream away, and there would be nothing between Erwin and his guilt. Assuming he would be the same as ever, able to operate and command with the same sureness and conviction, is a stretch, to say the least.

We’re just gonna’ pretend like these panels don’t exist? I don’t think so. Levi says “Erwin, I didn’t choose you... And I have no regrets about that. Because I entrusted the future to that kid who had the same look in his eyes as all of you.”

And once more, I reiterate, Levi thinks specifically of Armin. In chapter, what is it, 136, during his internal monologue, he recalls Armin’s eyes, how they resembled the eyes of his fallen comrades when they still had hope, and thinks about how he doesn’t regret his choice because of that. If you don’t think this is a clear indication that Levi partially made his choice based on the fact that Armin still had a pure and innocent dream, and how that would in the end be of great benefit to humanity, then I think you’re purposefully ignoring vital information to fit in with your desire to believe Levi and Erwin have a special connection.

Again, I never said that Levi didn’t let personal feelings play a role in his choice regarding Erwin. Of course he did. But it also wasn’t a choice made in total disregard to what was best for humanity either, as some like to say. Armin very much factored into Levi’s choice. He chose him in part because he knew that Armin had what it takes to guide humanity. Not as a replacement of Erwin, but as his own person who, nonetheless, had that hope and belief required for such a task. People often miss the fact that Levi alone knew of Erwin’s struggles. It was ONLY to Levi that Erwin admitted to his true motivation and weaknesses, at the very end. Only Levi knew how fragile Erwin had become. Quoting Floch, of all people, accusing Levi of making “selfish choices” doesn’t hold much weight, because Floch didn’t know shit. He didn’t know what state Erwin was in. He didn’t know how much guilt he felt, or the danger he faced in becoming totally corrupted once his dream was realized. Only Levi knew that. So even Levi calling his choice “personal” doesn’t disprove that Erwin’s general mental unwellness played a role in Levi’s choice. Levi knew Erwin wasn’t going to be the same, once his dream was realized. That’s the point of him recalling Kenny’s words about dreams and being a slave to them. Again, how one could not see that this revelation about Erwin and his mental health played a role in Levi’s choice confuses me. It absolutely did.

Just wanted to add these pages to this post, as once again, I think it makes pretty damn clear, not just from the images in the panels, but from the order of the panels and how they correlate to Levi’s thought process, that both Erwin’s well being AND Armin’s potential and purity lead Levi to his choice.

I don’t see why it’s so impossible for some people to accept that Levi was both considering Erwin’s personal suffering AND Armin’s suitability to lead humanity toward freedom. The only reason I can think of is that some people want to believe Levi is beholden to Erwin in some way beyond friendship or subordinate and commander. That they want to believe Levi loved Erwin so much, that the power of love entirely dictated his actions here, which really goes back to what I was saying about how shipping can color and cloud your ability to view the story and characters objectively. The placement of these panels, the inclusion especially of Kenny’s words about how people “couldn’t keep going unless they were drunk on something”, and Levi remembering Erwin admitting he had no clue about what would come next once he saw the basement, Erwin’s delirious rambling immediately following Kenny’s words about being a “slave to something”, and the memories of Armin’s eyes and his innocent and pure enthusiasm for seeing the ocean, are all clearly meant to be read as a large part in Levi’s choice. Why else include all these panels, otherwise? Eren pleads with Levi to consider Armin’s pure hearted motivation in the moments before all this, and how that makes him just as capable as Erwin to lead humanity, while Floch goes on a rant about how Erwin deserves to suffer for all he’s done. Again, it’s so obvious, at least to me, that both Erwin’s well being, and Armin’s purity and potential played a role here. Like in the panels I posted in the post above, Levi speaks to Erwin about why he didn’t choose him, “because I entrusted the future to that kid who had the same look in his eyes as all of you.” Levi flat out says it. He entrusted the future to Armin. He trusted IN Armin to be able to save humanity too, because he realized that in order to save humanity, you also need someone who fully believes in that salvation’s possibility. Erwin no longer believed in it, but Armin did. I don’t know why that’s such an awful thing to admit to some shippers.

#Levi Ackerman #Erwin Smith #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin

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strbry-shortcakes · 4 months

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okay, this is something that’s been on my mind for months now, even though no one cares because it’s not the brand’s MVP and given how much time has passed they might as well have changed the formula and fully rebranded the packaging, but shit do i need to exorcize this shit out of me.

so here’s a completely subjective shit review of Ohuhu’s Dual Tip Marker Pens, because i am a bit salty.

quickest explanation as to why i got em: my old Faber Castell Pitt pens got too dry so in a pinch i decided to get these because Pitt pens are pricey and so are alternatives like the Tombow ABT.

when i bought them, they were around 28 euro. i have no idea how much they were in other currencies/in other countries.

so, yeah, hm, what’s wrong with them?

alright, so here they are. the box is pretty. they even included a few spare nibs!! how nice.

(these spare nibs have now gone awol so i cannot talk about them unfortunately. what a way to shoot myself in the foot.)

opening it, the markers look.. a bit cheap. the finishing on the caps looks very rough, and the body feels really light. but hey, what matters should be the nibs and the colors, so that's just a nitpick.

unfortunately, it doesn't get much better. if the fine tip feels just fine, the brush tip feels wildly inconsistent. if certain pens have stiffer brush tips , others have such soft tips that you fear they might fray if you use them a little bit too much. in both cases, they do not feel comfortably flexible.

this is particularly apparent with all the grays (colors 18, 20 and 23), but this can still be felt through a rather significant part of these pens.

well, okay, the brushes are kinda shit, but they did provide some spare brush nibs! ... except there's only a couple for a whole 60 pen set, and you can't even do the dualblade switcheroo because the nibs are one sided.

damn. bummer.

well, if the nib quality isn't the best, we can always count on the color selection, right? ... except once again there is an issue.

a lot of these colors don't really look much different from one another. here's a swatch of all the colors, both from a phone pic and an actual scanner:

above you can see that quite a bit of these markers look really similar. (please note that these swatches were made on a Leuchtturm sketchbook. paper has its importance when swatching).

this could actually be a good thing, if you like/use most the colors that seem to appear multiple times specifically, but with the caps actually varying in nuance, it's a bit of a gamble as to what they will actually look like. (the fluorescents (27 and 65) do remain fluo, at least.

here's some sketches i did using them (accompanied with some poscas):

the issue about the samey colors can be seen with the little swatches in the corners of the pages: expecting a different color than what actually was in the pen. a few stray lines lay in there, because the color was unexpected and not what i was searching for

ahh well

overall? they're. fine i guess. 28 euro for 60 pens is still less than 50 cents per pen, so i shouldn't be asking too much. i tend to be very "you get what you pay for" with a lot of art supplies, but really, they're fine enough for what they are. i don't know if i can recommend them since woo!! they don't exist in this form anymore!! but i can only hope they've improved with newer sets

i don't know, man :(

again, this is just something i needed to get

#art help #art supply review #art supplies #i don't even know who this might help?? like damn #i really want to write more reviews about newer supplies but i have too many i need to use already #idk. writing is fun yk :(#and i just don't know where to post the stuff i want to write #anyway sorry about that #my art #hb talks

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mademoisellehypergamy · 3 years

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✨ CREATING A PERSONA FOR HYPERGAMY & SOCIAL CLIMBING ✨

The votes are in and “Persona” won! Ladies, get the notebooks out. Class is in session. And this is gonna be a long one.

Be honest with me: Are you currently your ideal woman? The majority of you will probably answer honestly and say no. And there’s nothing wrong with admitting that. The harsh reality is most women on their hypergamous journey aren’t even close to being the ideal woman they aspire to be. Hell, the average woman (hypergamous or not) will probably live her life never being able to become that woman, if we’re being completely honest here.

I believe every hypergamous woman should create and adopt a persona. You are who you believe to be. When I was younger, my teachers and parents told me I was academically gifted. So guess what? I believed the same! That pushed me to work even harder in school. Same concept applies here. You are who you believe to be. A persona isn’t a “fake” version of you. It is you. Your ideal person. It is malleable, so it can change at anytime. Just like you changed throughout your life.

STEP 0 - WHY YOU SHOULD ADOPT A PERSONA

✨Not Everyone Will Win the Birth Lottery. But that doesn’t mean you can’t rewrite your past, and repave your future path. Let’s face it: some of you were born into bad circumstances; abusive families, poverty, toxic relationships, obstacles and barriers, etc. And some of you are living lives currently that you aren’t satisfied with: stressful job, health issues, bad environment, *insert sob story here*, blah, blah, blah, woe is me! But should your current and past conditions get in the way of your hypergamous journey? No! Absolutely not.

✨You Can’t Be the Same Basic B*tch Forever. Okay b*tch, when you were being “true to yourself” in the past, look where it got you. Probably in a less than favorable situation. Congratulations for being an authentic basic b*tch! 🥳😊

Ladies, change is necessary. When you started your hypergamous journey, you underwent a change. Are you saying your hypergamous self is fake? Of course it isn’t! It’s still you, just an “elevated you”. One that is more aware and knows what she wants.

✨ Most People Don’t Even Know Who TF They Are. It’s sad, but true. Most people are lost and suppressing their true desires and personality. I’m here encouraging you ladies to create your ideal persona and to become this woman. Because this woman is who you are deep inside, who you want to be. Stop hiding her! Create her, and become her! As long as this person isn’t harming anyone, there is no reason you shouldn’t chase your dream self.

STEP 1 - CHOOSE & CREATE YOUR PERSONA

This is the fun part ladies! Time to choose and create your new persona!

✨ What Kind of Woman Do You Aspire to Be? Have fun with this ladies! What kind of woman have you always dreamt of becoming? Is she wildly intelligent and beautiful? Or perhaps she has a heart of gold and is adored by all? Nothing is off limits. This is you.

For those of you who are truly struggling, below I have included a few examples of common personas. If you don’t know where to begin, choose one as the “foundation” and build on it. Make it your own!

*Disclaimer: Anyone that I mentioned/included below is simply for inspiration. Not all of these women are hypergamous. This is just for inspiration*

1. The Socialite/ The “It” Girl: This is the girl that everyone knows. She’s always at a party with a glass of champagne, wearing the latest styles, and living the BEST life. She’s glamorously unattainable and few have access to her, but somehow she’s a part of every social circle.

Inspiration: Jamie Chua (https://www.instagram.com/ec24m/)

2. The Traveler: This is the girl that travels constantly. Whether it’s across the globe or to a different state/town, she’s always on the go! No one seems to know how she funds her lifestyle because she always appears to be traveling and never working. Her pictures are always on point and high quality, with a combination of bikini pictures, relaxing scenery, exotic foods, and endless hotels.

Inspiration: Jennifer Tuffen (https://www.instagram.com/izkiz/)

3. The Influencer: Think of the ultimate Instagram Baddie; perfect body (usually because of surgery), full lips, carefully applied makeup, nails always done, hair on point. She is sponsored by all the clothes brands, and lives lavishly. She’s always out at a restaurant and traveling. Typically dresses in more revealing clothes/lots of bikinis. What differentiates her from the Socialite? The degree of elegance and class. While the Socialite gives you an “heiress” vibe, the Influencer is more on the “flashy celebrity” side.

Inspiration: Kaylar Will (https://www.instagram.com/kaylarwill/)

4. Femme Fatale: She rarely posts on social media, but when she does, it only makes you question her existence more. This girl is beautifully sensual, and her social media only reveals bits and pieces of her life. She is an entire mystery, no one knows about her private life. One day she’ll be flying from London, the next she’ll be visiting an art gallery She’ll sometimes post images of gifted roses with poetry captions. She oozes seduction and dark mystery.

Inspiration: Dita Von Teese (https://www.instagram.com/ditavonteese) Now I thought long and hard about who to choose for this one, and if you take a moment to look at Dita’s IG account, you will understand why. You will notice that the ONLY thing she posts about is her clothes/lingerie brand or things relating to business. She reveals nothing about her personal life. Every post is promotion about her business. In fact, the last time she posted something about her “life” was on October 8th when she posted her CAT modeling another designer’s scarf. She’s a very discreet woman, and it works in her favor.

5. Girl Next Door: You know that basic b*tch that’s SUPER popular for no reason? This is her. From her Starbucks to her Tiktoks, she’s just your average girl living her life. In a way, she isn’t a threat because she seems approachable, relatable, and friendly enough through social media. Something about her aspires others that they can achieve a similar lifestyle. She’s terribly basic, but somehow, it works.

Inspiration: Loren Gray (https://www.instagram.com/loren/)

6. Exotica: *This persona is best suited for women of color* She is exotically beautiful and unique. She is a trendsetter, not a follower. She has an air of heightened sexuality, with a touch of grounded-spirituality. Something about her is wild and untamed, and she oozes excitement and adventure.

Inspiration: Monica Leon, or “Danger”. Now if you’re in my generation, you may remember the reality show “For the Love of Ray J” (which was ghetto btw💀). To this day, one girl that I will NEVER forget on that show, was “Danger”, the girl with the tiger tattoo on her face and that NO ONE liked, but Ray J was obsessed with. Although she no longer is on Instagram (and has since legally changed her name), I still believe she naturally embodied that exotic and mysterious woman persona. I recommend watching the show for free on Youtube just to observe her (and only her because the other women were pickme’s 💀)

7. The Luxurious Diamond: This woman is the epitome of class and elegance. She exudes femininity and grace, and holds an air of mystery by only showing us bits and pieces of her life. What we see is soft luxuries, wineries, beautiful clothes/scenery, and a life of comfort. She balances a mature, elegant, ladylike presence, with subtle girly-youthfulness.

Inspiration: Г-жа Анисимова https://www.instagram.com/creme_de.la_femme/

✨How Does She Look Like? From her hair to how she wears her makeup, be able to create a vivid description of her appearance. Being able to do this will show you where to work on with your current appearance.

✨Personality We all have traits about ourselves that we don’t like. This is your chance to identify your traits that you love and maximize them, while also working on the aspects of your personality that are a bit more problematic.

It’s important to recognize that some “negative” traits are not really negative. Society just shames us for them. For example, “The Socialite” persona may be polite, but that doesn’t mean she’s super open and friendly with everyone. Not everyone is her friend, and she is naturally unattainable. So why would she be super friendly to everyone? Some may call her “standoffish”, but I call it “selective”.

✨Past Self? Not a Problem. So let’s say you had a less than perfect childhood and endured a lot of trauma. Not a problem, just reinvent your past! Now I’m not saying to straight up lie and make up a crazy story about how you grew up with billionaire parents and traveled the globe. I’m saying adopt a realistic story that’ll help you on your journey.

For example, if your date were to ask about your past, instead of telling him how tragic your childhood was and how you were homeless and abused by your parents, and no longer have a relationship with them, you can say: “I moved around a lot as a child (“homelessness”), so I really enjoyed being able to interact with a lot of different people (make the negative seem positive). My parents still move around a lot, so it’s hard for us to meet (explains why you aren’t in contact with your parents).

Reword and reframe, ladies. Not everyone needs to know everything.

STEP 2 - BRING HER TO LIFE

✨Remove. You cannot embrace your new persona, your new IDENTITY, if you are still stuck in the past. And that includes past connections that do not serve you. Some of your old friends (college friends, childhood friends, etc.) are not meant to accompany you on this journey. And that’s OKAY. Same with other toxic relationships in your life, family included. You will have to decide who to keep, and who to distance yourself from.

✨ Social Media! I’ve mentioned this in an earlier post, but social media is the easiest way for you to push your new persona. You control the content that goes on your social media, so even if you haven’t fully embodied your new persona, you can sure as hell fake it on social media.

- Unless your persona is a socialite/influencer type, avoid posting too often. - Be consistent; if you retouch your images, make sure its consistent with all your photos. - Be mindful of what people tag you in/post about you. You know that “friend” who always posts the ugliest pictures of you? Yeah. They’re not your friend, hun.

✨Dress. The. Part. Okay, sis. You can have the personality down perfectly, but if the look doesn’t match, no one will buy it. Your look is the first thing people notice, so invest in it. It doesn’t cost a lot, especially with fast fashion sites like Shein that sells clothes for $5. Just be able to keep up the appearance.

✨ Immerse Yourself in the Environment. Looking the part and having the right personality is not enough, ladies! It wouldn’t make sense for you to be a “Socialite” sharing pictures of you eating at Red Lobster and Olive Garden every night. It wouldn’t make sense for the “Traveler” persona to share only bathroom selfies in her apartment. You have to live like the woman you aspire to be, and that includes placing yourself in those environments.

If you are not in the place financially to do so, learn to project the image without spending money. Ex: If you can’t afford to go to Hawaii, go to your local beach and take bomb ass pictures. Don’t tag the location. People will automatically see a beach in your picture and assume you are on vacation traveling. Get creative, ladies.

✨You Owe Them Nothing. Ladies! Remember you don’t owe anyone anything. Not an explanation, not your time, nothing. So if you are living this new persona and people are asking questions you don’t want to answer: don’t. This is your life.

STEP 3 - YOUR PERSONA WHILE DATING HYPERGAMOUSLY & SOCIAL CLIMBING

So now that you have created your ideal persona, and taken the steps to incorporate it into your life, how can you use your newfound persona to aid you on your hypergamous journey and while social climbing?

✨Infiltrate New Circles. Your persona should be someone exciting and enticing. People love befriending people who are happy and adventurous. Use your persona to befriend others and enter new social circles. You can do this through: - Social media; follow similar accounts to yours and interact with them. - Activities related to your persona; Let’s say you adopted the “The Luxurious Diamond” persona and started visiting wineries. You may notice when you go that there are regulars; identify the regulars and use your common interest of wine to strike a conversation. -Interest groups; join clubs/groups that help you reach your goals. For example, “The Traveler” may have always wanted to travel to Bali, but didn’t want to go alone. She joins a travel group to meet other likeminded inviduals and meets a travel buddy. This person ends up introducing her to others who also enjoy traveling.

✨ Be a Chameleon. You should never be set on just one persona. Like I said earlier, your persona should always be malleable. You should be able to change yourself to your benefit, and always be open to expansion. When it comes to dating, a man may “want” a certain type of woman, but the secret is that most men just want a woman who is open to possibilities. I remember a man who used to be on my roster who loved music. This man was always insisting on taking me to operas and symphonies. And he too was a musician (I really don’t like dating musicians, but that’s a topic for another day), so whenever he was performing he would have me sitting in the box so I’d have an “undisturbed” experience. Now ladies, I’m not into music AT ALL. But I was open and willing, and guess what? The man adored it, and he adored me even more! He spoiled me like crazy and would serenade me with music he wrote about me because I was his “muse”. Although I ended up ghosting him, I definitely appreciate a good opera now!

✨Be Larger than Life to Entice. The attractive part about these personas is the fact that it feels almost fake. The image that is portrayed is almost mythical, like something out of a fantasy. You can’t believe this girl is traveling so much, or you can’t believe this girl still has a social life in the middle of a pandemic! It’s unbelievable, but that’s what makes us so intrigued. Men especially love fantasy. That’s why many men have a “dream girl”, a woman that embodies their physical and emotional fantasies. They love the impossible. It’s also important to remember that you are always being watched. People see you, whether in person or on social media, and when they see someone or something more interesting than their mundane life, curiosity will get the best of them. They’ll be drawn to you and want to know you.

✨ The Persona Advantage. Creating a persona is supposed to help your journey. The purpose is to reinvent yourself into someone who will help you better navigate your hypergamous life. For example, if you are trying to get into more exclusive, affluent circles, creating a persona who is skilled in social and dining etiquette would be more beneficial than a persona that’s an Instagram Influencer. Being an Instagram Baddie that wears Fashion Nova won’t help you at a Charity Gala. So be sure to think of what you desire in life to shape yourself into that. Don’t just become someone who won’t get you to where you want to be.

This post will definitely have a Part 2 in the future, but in conclusion: You can be whoever you want to be as long as you play the role. Be an actress in your own life, and live the life you desire.

Well ladies, I’ll be away for Valentine’s day weekend. Wishing you all a wonderful and safe weekend ❤️ Lots of love.

Follow my IG for more: @mademoisellehypergamy

#mhlessons #hypergamy #hypergamous #black hypergamy #hypergamy tips #black femininity #keptwoman #kept wife #spoiled girlfriend #spoiled gf #spoiled heaux #black girls in luxury #black women in luxury #luxury lifestyle #black women in leisure #black women in femininity #sugaring tips #sugaring

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jinxhallows · 2 years

Text

Method Writing (Lucifer x Fem!Reader Explicit One Shot)

-x-x-x-x-x-

HAHAHAHA I wrote this on a whim after exchanging some DM’s with the incomparable @scarlettriot (if you haven't checked out her Red Riot shit its incredible!) so shout out to you for the idea queen LOL. Dis just a lil snackie yall aint nothing too crazy LOL as far as I’m concerned in my head this is as subby as im gon get from daddy LUC lmao

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ᴍᴇᴛʜᴏᴅ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ (ʟᴜᴄɪꜰᴇʀ x ꜰᴇᴍ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ)

ᴄᴡ: ꜱᴍᴜᴛ, ꜰᴇᴍ!ᴅᴏᴍ, ʜᴜᴍɪʟɪᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ꜱQᴜɪɴᴛ ʟᴏʟ, ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴀʟ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

ʟᴇɴɢᴛʜ: ᴏɴᴇ-ꜱʜᴏᴛ

ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ: ✩⋆ 🎀 𝟤.𝟣k 🎀 ⋆✩

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You sigh in frustration as you lean back in your computer chair, staring hard at the few lines of text you had written.

“Hit another wall?” Lucifer asks, peering over his glasses from across the room where he sat, reading a tattered old book.

“Yes.” You frown, adjusting the display settings on the screen. Maybe if you made the page black and the text a soft peach color, it would help shock your vision enough to reset your creative juices into flowing again.

Lucifer sets his book into his lap and takes off his glasses. “What’s causing it this time?”

“I just…” You’re frowned up at the screen, trying to click around and make unnecessary adjustments. “I’m not used to this kind of sexual dynamic. When I write, its sounding too...fifty shades of grey-ish.” You settle on a brown page with an orange text instead.

But now you’re bothered by the font style.

As if anyone reading the manuscript would give a shit! You were supposed to use 12 point Times New Roman on the final copy anyway! Damn it. You were beginning to overthink and it was affecting the entire writing process that you used to enjoy.

“Isn’t that book wildly popular amongst human suburban wives? I’d perhaps argue it should sound like that if you intend for people to have an interest in purchasing it.”

You drag your hands down your face, pausing over your mouth, carefully trying to choose your next wording.

“I’m not just doing this for money. I’m trying to become a better writer, love.” You add the term of endearment at the end of your sentence, trying to sound less annoyed than you actually were.

“You are a marvelous writer, Y/N. Your thought pattern is girded at the moment, no doubt; but that doesn’t negate the quality of your penmanship.” Lucifer stands up, gently placing his book on the small table next to him as he crosses the room to hover over your shoulder, looking at your screen.

“What a dreadful eyesore, why have you edited the screen like this?” His arm crosses over you to stabilize himself as he leans in front of you, clicking around on the screen to return it to normal.

“Because I was trying to inspire myself, Luc, wait—” You reach underneath him and place your hand over his on the mouse. He glances down over his shoulder at you. “Maybe you could help me?”

“That’s why I’m fixing the screen.”

“No, you have to let me write it Lucifer.” You use a stern tone, “You could write this entire book in minutes, I want to be able to do it myself. I need you to help me in a different way…”

He stands up and raises a brow, “This is an erotic novel. Do you want me to fuck you?”

You’re briefly taken aback when he drops out of his tightly constructed pattern of speech to say a brazen phrase like ‘Do you want me to fuck you’.

“How do I explain this…I need you to be…submissive for me.” Your eyes darken, “Allow me to dominate you. Just a little bit, so I can get a feel for it.”

“My sweetheart, I would love to help you, but submission is not a part of my framework.” He chuckles, “I would have no idea where to start.”

“Exactly. You wouldn’t start, I would.” You lean back in the chair, folding your arms across your chest as you challenge him. “I have no idea how to be dominant but if we try together, maybe we can figure it out. At the very least, it’ll give me a break from all this.” You tilt your head at the screen.

Lucifer runs his thumb over his lower lip, considering your proposition. “Let’s say I agree to this arrangement, for tonight only...” his eyes meet yours, “You never breathe a word of this to anyone.”

You bite back your shit-eating grin. “I promise.”

“I’m very serious my love…” He’s towering over you, placing both his hands on the arms of your chair, leaning you back as his scarlet eyes burn through you. HIs lips ghost your cheek and rest right next to your ear and you nearly shiver as he whispers,

“If I hear that anyone knows about this, I will devour you.” he pulls back to look you in your eyes once more.

“Am I understood?”

Wide-eyed, you give a slow nod. His gaze flits over your face for a moment before he’s satisfied and stands back up.

“Alright then,” he starts to pull his shirt over his head, “What would you like for me to do for you?”

You watch him, your thoughts racing and your adrenaline causing you to get a little too excited about this experiment. Suddenly, this powerful man was going to be at your mercy. Well, Lucifer wasn’t someone who would go down willingly of course. All the better, you had to work for it.

Talk about method writing.

You arch your foot, dragging your painted toes up his leg until you were over his groin. You never take your eyes off of his as you press the sole of your foot slowly into him, taking the time to feel the outline of his cock through his silk pajama pants.

“First thing I need you to do is get on your knees.” You push in a little harder, feeling the slow firmness in his building erection. “I’m not going to be looking up at my pet.”

His stare remains intense as he slowly drops down onto one knee, followed by the other. “Like this?” He asks, now at eye level with you.

“Much better.” You praise and reach out to push a few stray wavy black locks behind his ear, “Good boy.” You study his expression and although he remains stolid, his fair skin betrays him as the redness rises in his cheeks. He claims he doesn’t know what to do, but he listened well; and he was enjoying it to some small degree. You stand up and push the chair away, beginning to circle around him, contemplating what you were going to do.

Damn it, he was so much better at this than you were. He seemed to take command of you quickly and confidently, and here you were, overthinking again.

Still, it was turning you on to see him on his knees like this, waiting for your next move. You suddenly have a strange idea, so you stop directly in front of him and he looks up at you from the ground.

“Release your horns for me.”

Lucifer silently obeys, two curled black rigid horns merging and curling from atop his scalp. His hooded gaze makes you intoxicated with power and arousal. It’s like he’s still the one in control, and is only allowing you the brief fantasy of believing you’re the one in charge.

This kind of irritates you, as you want him to fully submit to you. You curl your fingers around his right horn and give it a tug, “Come.” You command. He’s down on his hands and knees, crawling across the hard wooden floor as you guide him with your tight grip over to the bar cart. You let go of him and he’s now staring at the floor.

Good.

Maybe he’s beginning to learn some humility.

His obedience is making you want to just sit on his cock already, but you want to truly focus on the feeling of being dominant more than just the act of intercourse. You two knew how to fuck, that much was very clear; but you didn’t understand how this dynamic worked. So you extended the slow burn just how you liked.

You sit upon his back, knowing the limits of his strength. Of course, he doesn’t waver, and you grab a glass and pour yourself up some of his aged scotch. You take a sip of it before spattering it back out.

“This is disgusting.” You look down at him and dump the remaining expensive scotch over his head without a thought.

At first you gasp.

You went too far.

That was mean.

But he shakes his head to clear the liquid from his hair; reminding you of some kind of....goat-dog hybrid, what with his horns exposed and everything. You notice his hands curling into fists on the ground but he doesn’t look up. It makes you smile. Good thing he can’t see that.

“What a good boy you’re being for me Lucifer. Do you want me to reward you for your behavior?” You run your hands over his head several times, peeling back the wet, soaked locks from sticking to his brow and temple.

He exhales through his nostrils. “Yes.” He mutters. You can tell he wants to say so much more.

“Aht aht.” You give a tight yank of his horn, “Yes, what?”

He swallows, “Yes...M...” he’s struggling to say it. You yank again, harder, forcing his head back at a painfully unnatural angle.

“You better not make this fucking difficult Lucifer, I can get real fucking nasty with you and you’re pissing me off.”

“Yes Mistress.” He finally mumbles, nearly inaudibly.

You stand up and walk in front of him, kneeling down and grasping his chin with your hand as you force him to look you in the face. “I don’t think you understand what it means to be submissive, Lucifer. You are not in control right now, I am. So all this useless pride can go in the garbage. I am your Mistress and you will address me as such or I’m going to fuck—you—up–” You squeeze his face tightly, digging your nails into his skin as your teeth clench together; before you finally let go.

You shake your hand from the pain of squeezing. The deep, reddened nail marks you’ve imprinted into his skin begin to slowly fade as he watches you with an angry glower but doesn’t dare to object.

“Massage my hand you fucking worthless demon.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

You place your hand out and he sits up onto his knees again, taking your hand in his own and running his fingers over your skin, kneading into the muscle. It feels so good, you almost forget the intention you had behind him doing it for you.

“That’s enough.” You snatch you hand away, “Good boy.” You look him up and down before your tone eases by a hair. “I don’t want to have to be mean and nasty to you Lucifer, but please understand that your ego will be checked accordingly. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Mistress. Crystal.” He replies tersely.

“I’m not a fan of that tone; but we can work on it...” You begin to undo your robe, the satin fabric falling around your body as you sit in his reading chair, your leg hanging over the arm. His eyes scan over your naked body hungrily.

“You should allow me to clean you up.” The lust building in his loins was getting overwhelmingly frenetic; but if there was one thing that Lucifer was going to do, it was maintain his composure. He cleared his throat before asking again, more appropriately,

“Mistress, may I please clean you up?”

Your eyes lit up, “My sweet handsome pet, of course you may.” You watch as he crawls over to you and obediently makes quick work of the wet arousal you’ve leaked over your thighs from the start. Your flavor dances over his tongue as he swipes your inner thigh, over your folds, and slowly spreads them apart his lips closing over your pulsing bundle of nerves. He’s sucking and licking and you are coming undone with how good it feels.

“Oh god that feels so good–” Your head falls back against the chair as the breathy words tumble from your lips. He stops so abruptly, your head darts up again to look down at his beautiful face between your legs.

“Ah, there’s my pretty Mistress. I just wanted to see your face.” He kisses your mound, “I love watching it twist up, when I make you feel this good.” His warm tongue flattens over your slit before slipping in between and caressing your clit. You struggle to keep your eyes on him, feeling your chest huffing with your quickened, irregular breathing pattern. He drops you off the edge of a splintering orgasm that makes your back arch out of the chair, hand tangling in the hair between his horns, your grip tight as you ride out your release with a few bucks of your hips. You come down with a pleasant sigh, relaxing into the chair.

“I think I have enough now…for the scene at least...” You giggle softly.

Lucifer stands up, and you are at eye level with the prominent stiffness in the front of his pants. He then leans down to you with a malevolent smile.

“Oh but we’ve only just begun.” He places his fingers under your chin, tilting your head up. “This was a fun little game; but now you’ve made me so hard, it hurts. You wasted a very expensive glass of scotch being such a little brat.” He uses his thumb to pull down your lip, pressing the tip into your bottom teeth, hard. You stare up at him, hooked onto his every word.

“I’m going to have to punish you for that.” His voice becomes impossibly quieter, almost a demonic whisper, “You’ll have to forgive me, Mistress, but I’m going to fuck you until you can’t walk tomorrow.”

#obey me #obey me fanfic #obey me smut #obey me luci x reader #obey me lucifer x reader #lucifer x reader #lucifer x mc #obey me lucifer x mc #lucifer x reader smut #obey me mammon #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me solmon #lucifer fanfic #lucifer fanfiction #lucifer story

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happytroopers · 3 years

Note

crosshairs fic idea: reader is gossiping with coworkers (maybe medics idk) about who the most attractive clone is and reader mentions crosshair and he somehow finds out and teases her

Teasing // Crosshair x reader

“It’s definitely Captain Rex. ” Tula, a Rodian nurse from the 212th, stated decidedly. You giggled into the shitty GAR rationed caf.

“That’s just cause your into blondes.” You teased, content with the rounds of chuckles at the mess hall table as Tula’s teal cheeks blushed blue.

“I still don’t know why we’re having this conversation, they’re clones, they all look the same! Thats like the whole thing.” Rys groaned uncomfortably, the only man at the table of civilian enlistments. It was rare for some many of your friends to be in the same place at the same time- but medical staff and engineering alike, every six months after your first deployment civilian enlistments were shipped back to Coruscant for a week long training refresher.

“You can’t say that, it’s rude!” Tula slapped his arm, eyebrow ridges furrowing over her galaxy eyes. He held his hands up in surrender.

“Yeah Rys, we won’t assume you’re any less straight if you admit that Wolffe is clearly the most attractive.” Raina grinned, her peach colored lekku twitching at the thought of the commander. You considered the idea but shook your head as other names got thrown around.

Kix, Fives, Bly, Keeli, Cody, and a couple other names you didn’t quite recognize the names of were tossed around the table. Haircuts, scars, tattoos, personality all became deciding factors as you at your dinner, occasionally chiming in to tease your friends.

“Ok then, who do you think the hottest soldier is?” An engineer from some outer moon data post asked after you teased her for her choice- Tup, a younger soldier in the 501st that you hadn’t met since your transfer to Clone Force 99.

You held your hands up, ready to evade the question. But Raina interjected, a challenging look on her face. You’d gone through academy with the peachy colored twi-lek and her sharp tongue was almost faster than her flying. You knew that look, and it didn’t bode well.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll tell every trooper I see all week that you said it was them.” She threatened with a smirk that said she already knew she had won. The smirk grew to a grin when you let out a defeated sigh.

“Well, in my own personal opinion, that Crosshair is the most attractive man we work with.” You admitted quietly. An honest answer on your part, you did think he was attractive even if you’d never say it to his face. Immediately, several pairs of disbelieving eyes landed on you.

“What? He doesn’t even count!” Rys pointed an finger at you to emphasize his point, “he doesn’t even look like the other clones!”

You shrugged as Tula slapped the back of his head again, her voice scolding as she hissed, “You can’t say that either!”

Then she looked at you, “Really though? He’s meaner than a burned gundark.”

“He’s scary.” Raina nodded.

“He’s an ass.” Another one of the 212th enlistments echoed from down the table. You’d forgotten that a few of the units they were assigned to probably had worked with Clone Force 99 at some point. Nevertheless, suddenly, you felt a need to defend the sniper who had finally become what you’d consider a friend.

“Ok, so it takes a while to get to know him, but...” you started, thinking of all the amazing qualities no one else saw because they weren’t with him all the time, “he’s loyal to a fault, really funny, always pulls me out of sticky situations and usually manages to keep me out of them to begin with, once you get to know him and how he is, you see how much he cares about his-“

“Ok, sure,” Raina cut you off, clearly not believing the cold eyed sniper could care about anything or anyone. She paused to pitch her voice up, flutter her eyelashes, and clasp her hands beside her face like a cartoon princess, “we don’t know him like you do~”

She interrupted herself with a snicker before she continued in her normal voice, “and all that bantha crap, but this is about attractiveness. What makes him hot? And don’t give me any of this, personality is all I look at shit.”

“And if I tell you, you’ll leave me alone?” You asked, though it was more of a demand. Tula nodded, she had always been a little boy crazy, and was dying to hear the scoop. You sighed again, hoping your cheeks weren’t too flushed, “fine, He’s very unique looking, in all the best ways. He’s very tall and lean, but crazy built. I’m into the silver hair, and believe it or not, under the armor that man has the best ass you’ll ever see.”

Tula was leaning on the table, giggling wildly at the juicier bits of you description. Raina had leaned back in her seat, and rolled her eyes, “To each their own, I suppose.”

Fortunately for you, the conversation switched to complaining about to the soldiers that were in charge of your training. There was a rumor the Fox used “civilian training” as punishment for his men when they earned a reprimand. It made sense, all the Coruscant guardsmen that were tasked with running drills with you weren’t exactly thrilled to be there. As if any of you were either.

“Yeah, I definitely don’t understand that attitude. We get it, you don’t want to be here, neither do we, but we are so let’s just get it over with- with out the..... are you even listening?” You were in the middle of your tangent when it was clear none of your group was listening to you. Instead there were all staring over your head with varying looks of slight fear, curiosity, and overall disdain. Tula was the one who attempted to subtly point behind you. At first you feared it was one of the troopers in charge of your training, so you quickly turned around with a forced apologetic look on your face.

To your surprise, you found Crosshair. Helmet free, as usual he had a toothpick between his teeth as he gave your group an appraising sweep. He had the same look on his face that he did when he was sizing up ‘the regs’- until he got to you. It took a year for him to stop looking at you that way, but his slight sneer eased out to neutral-which when it came to the sniper, it might as well have been an ear to ear grin.

“Crosshair! What are you doing here?” You asked, turning around in your seat. In addition to his sudden appearance, just his president was slightly confusing. Typically, Hunter would come himself, or send Tech- all to avoid a potential fight. Your training mates looked slightly bewildered at the amicable exchange.

“Springing you. We’ve got an assignment.” He shrugged after plucking the toothpick from between his lips. Like a true creature of habit, he started twirling the stick between his fingers. You quirked an eyebrow motioning to the other civilians.

“You can’t ‘spring me’, it’s GAR regulation for me to do this training refresher.” You reminded him, he rolled his eyes- but you weren’t sure if his disdain was for your use of air quotes or just disdain for GAR regulation in general. With any member of the Bad Batch, it was usually general disrespect for the rules. You gave him a look before continuing, “I still have three more days.”

“Is it really training? You could run circles around anyone here, especially them.” He drawled as he nodded his head over his shoulders at the table of red painted troopers who were eyeing him in distrust. Your eyes went a little wide, was that a compliment? And then you ducked your head at the offended glares of your table. In an effort to prevent a fight, you stood quickly before letting him lead you off.

“They’re aren’t gonna let me leave, Crosshair.” You reminded him, looking up to meet his eyes. He smirked a bit, setting his eyes forward.

“How are they gonna stop us?” He challenged, dropping his smile to glare at a passing trooper.

“Well, ion cannons come to mind.” You mused before clearing your throat, “You guys could always go with me, you went on plenty of missions before you got stuck with me. It be like the good ole days.”

He didn’t laugh at your joking tone, but shook his head, “You’re one of us, you stay with us”

You were stunned to silence for a second, despite your friendship he’s never referred you you as ‘one of them’. Heat rose to your cheeks as you exited the corridor into a lift, so Crosshair diffused the tension.

“Mission takes precedence over regulations. When have we been know to follow the rules, anyways.” He mused, swiping his ID card so the lift would let you out in the hangar. He relaxed a bit when you snorted a laugh before he continued on, “Besides, how can pull you out of sticky situation if you’re on a different planet?”

You froze in your spot, stomach dropping and cheeks flaring with red hot embarrassment; you had forgotten the cardinal rule of working with Crosshair.

If you didn’t have eyes on Crosshair, Crosshair definitely had eyes on you. And in this case, apparently ears as well.

“Ok, look-“ you started, hoping to ease your embarrassment, but all of the excuses you could come up with fell flat before they made it out of your mouth. Fortunately, the lift door slid open, allowing you to escape before you could further your embarrassment.

Crosshair actually chuckled out loud, long legs easily traipsing past you as he headed towards the Havoc Marauder. Momentarily, he twisted around to walk backwards, pointing his toothpick towards you, “Don’t worry, your ass is almost as good as mine.”

#crosshair x reader #crosshair x you #bad batch x reader #bad batch x you

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causeiwanttoandican · 3 years

Text

Robert Lacey excerpt

I fully expect them to say William was the one commenting about the baby’s skin color after this. Battle stations! Book excerpt

The Times

Prince William ‘split his household from Prince Harry after Meghan bullying claims’

June 07 2021, 7.00am BST

‘So, are you saying,” asked Oprah Winfrey, talking to Meghan and Harry in their famous interview of March 2021, “that there were hints of jealousy?”

She was inquiring about the Sussexes’s wildly successful tour of Australia and the South Pacific of late October 2018, and the couple shifted uncomfortably in their plush wicker chairs.

“Look,” replied Harry, “I just wish that we would all learn from the past.”

By bringing up “the past”, the prince was venturing into an area that was almost taboo. He was making a sensational comparison between his mother and his wife. Harry was suggesting that Meghan had demonstrated in Australia the same massive star quality as Diana and was now having to face the family envy that went along with that.

“It really changed,” he said, “after the Australia tour, after our South Pacific tour . . . it was . . . the first time that the family got to see how incredible she is at the job. And that brought back memories.”

Memories of what? Again Harry shied away from putting words to the almost unmentionable. But Oprah had prepared and polished this moment, like so many others in the interview, and she had a reference ready to prompt her prince’s revelation. The latest, fourth season of TV’s The Crown had depicted Charles and Diana’s 1983 tour of Australia, showing how Diana had been “bedazzling” in her ability “to connect with people”. Episode six had depicted how the crowds would groan when they realised that Charles, not Diana, was walking down their side of the street — hence the beginnings of the “jealousy” on the family’s part.

“So is that what you’re talking about?” asked Oprah. “It brought back memories of that?”

“Yeah,” Harry finally replied in a fashion that was both dismal and unmistakably aggressive.

What on earth had happened, viewers had to wonder, to the old and once-familiar happy side of Prince Harry?

When trying to define the moment that marked the decisive rift with his brother William — the break-up and actual separation of the joint household they had established together in 2009 — Harry would fix upon his triumphant return with Meghan from their Australian tour at the end of October 2018. But if asked the same question, William would have fixed on a more specific event: the explosive argument he had had with his brother earlier that month.

Both brothers agreed how bitterly they had clashed back in the early days over William’s attempt to slow Harry’s courtship of Meghan — “Don’t feel like you need to rush this . . . ” But both of them had subsequently moved on. Harry’s transparent contentment with Meghan had relaxed the tensions, give or take the odd row over bridesmaids’ dresses. The “no speaks” had eased just a little by the time “best man” William escorted his brother down the aisle in May 2018.

Then five months later came the conclusive and determining rupture — the division that has lasted to the present day — though here the brothers’ retelling of history diverged. As Harry explained it to Oprah, Meghan’s Australian tour success sowed the jealousies that caused feelings to “change”. According to this scenario, William and Kate resented the Diana-like popularity that was generated by Harry’s wife. William had a different recollection.

We now know that Princes William and Harry were no longer on speaking terms before the Sussexes set off for Australia. Feelings had already “changed”, as Harry put it, and drastically so. The brothers had parted on extremely poor terms, with the trouble centring on Meghan’s stringent treatment and alleged bullying of her staff.

Most Kensington Palace courtiers were noted for the comparatively long tenures of their comfortable and prestigious jobs. But it came to look as if employees could not wait to escape service with Harry and Meghan. Those who left formed themselves into an informal fraternity that they titled the “Sussex Survivors’ Club”. They had finally hit back, and their organising agent had been PR man Jason Knauf.

The joint communications secretary for Kensington Palace — who was still, at that date, working on behalf of both of the brothers and their wives — had become concerned by the numerous stories of mistreatment being brought to him by colleagues whom he knew well and trusted.

Texas-born and New Zealand-educated, Knauf, 34, was a popular character in Kensington Palace, widely noted for his friendliness and loyalty towards his colleagues. He had been considered a real “catch” when the brothers snared him from the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2015, and one of his concerns was that professional management practices should be more effectively enforced inside the traditional British palace. Knauf’s American sensibilities caused him to see the Meghan situation as raising principles of human resources management in the palace system that needed to be formally addressed.

Knauf’s first priority was to set down the facts, as he saw them, for the record: “I’m very concerned,” he emailed to William’s private secretary Simon Case, in a document he drafted in October 2018, “that the duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year.”

Knauf described Meghan’s treatment of one aide as “totally unacceptable . . . the duchess seems intent”, he wrote, “on always having someone in her sights”. Specifying another staff member, Knauf alleged Meghan had been bullying her as well, “seeking to undermine her confidence”. His office had received “report after report”, he wrote, from people who had witnessed “unacceptable behaviour” by Meghan towards this member of staff.

“Meghan governed by fear,” claimed one courtier. “So many people said it. Nothing was ever good enough for her. [She] humiliated staff in meetings, [would] shout at them, [would] cut them off email chains — and then demand to know why they hadn’t done anything.”

As early as 2017, around the time of the couple’s engagement, according to a subsequent report in The Times, a senior aide had spoken to the couple about the difficulties caused by their treatment of staff. “It’s not my job to coddle people,” Meghan was said to have replied.

“Americans can be much more direct,” wrote the authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in defence of the duchess, “and that often doesn’t sit well in the much more refined institution of the monarchy.”

A Brit might have raised an eyebrow at Meghan’s alleged behaviour, then looked the other way. The Yank decided to act. Knauf was actually one of Meghan’s most senior advisers — her chief adviser, in fact, when it came to public relations. Earlier that year she had gone to Knauf for help when drafting the disputed letter of severance that she sent to her father. She valued his PR expertise.

Before that, Knauf had helped Harry to word the fierce anti-media statements that he had framed to try to protect Meghan from press harassment, both as his girlfriend and then as his fiancée. The PR man had taken considerable stick from some of his non-royal contacts who criticised him as being overprotective in fighting the newcomer’s corner. Like so many people in all the palaces, Knauf had started off on Meghan’s side.

But as the months went by the American’s feelings became more ambiguous, as numerous colleagues — women whom he greatly respected — continued to bring him stories of what they said they had suffered at Meghan’s hands.

“I can’t stop shaking,” one aide had told a colleague in anticipation of an encounter with Meghan. Another reported that the prospect of confrontation with the duchess had made her “feel sick”. “Emotional cruelty and manipulation”, were the words of a third, “which I guess could also be called bullying.”

The b-word featured prominently in the accounts of several, along with an even more sinister set of initials: PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder was a deeply serious condition to allege — flashbacks, nightmares and feelings of deep anxiety — but that was how one complainant said that they had felt.

Several people maintained they had been “humiliated” by the duchess, and that criticism extended to Harry as well.

“I overheard a conversation between Harry and one of his top aides,” recalled one Kensington Palace courtier. “Harry was screaming and screaming down the phone. Team Sussex was a really toxic environment. People shouting and screaming in each other’s faces.”

Shouting and screaming? PTSD? Making people feel sick? Prince William went ballistic when he heard the “dossier of distress” that Knauf had gathered. We do not know whether the communications secretary brought his allegations directly to his boss or submitted them via Simon Case. What we do know is that the prince was astonished and horrified. He was instantly furious at what he heard.

“I remember Christian Jones [William’s press secretary and later private secretary] explaining to me how the Cams [the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge] are paternalistic with their staff,” recalls one royal correspondent. “They copy the Queen in that respect with all her Christmas parties and Christmas presents to her people. They’re proud to treat their staff like family. They recognise that they don’t get paid loads of money, so they are just really nice to them. So this was a very deep clash of philosophies, with Meghan being used to a Hollywood service culture — getting exactly what she wanted whenever she wanted in that famous way that Harry said.”

William personally knew and liked all the individuals whom Knauf had named in his dossier. The prince regarded them as assets to his household — colleagues to be cherished and for whom he was responsible. Human beings. Like Knauf, the prince was appalled that his respected staff may have been put in this position.

For William, Knauf’s allegations also clarified something that the prince had long believed — that Meghan was fundamentally hostile towards the royal system, which she failed to understand as an outsider. William wondered if she had not wanted to leave from the very start — even dreaming, perhaps, that she could whisk Harry back with her to North America.

But Meghan’s lawyers and PR representatives said this was quite the wrong interpretation of their client’s thinking and behaviour in a statement that they issued to The Times early in March 2021. They denied all allegations of bullying as inaccurate and the product of what they described as a “smear campaign”. The duchess wished to fit in and be accepted, they insisted. She had left her life in North America to commit herself to her new role.

I have never met Jason Knauf. What you have just read is based upon the published accusations that Knauf set down on paper — refuted as “defamatory”, it must be stressed again, and “based on misleading and harmful information” in the view of the Duchess of Sussex’s lawyers. It also relies upon William’s personal account of these events to one of his friends who then spoke to this author.

The moment the prince heard the bullying allegations, he related to this friend, he got straight on the phone to talk to Harry — and when Harry flared up in furious defence of his wife, the elder brother persisted. Harry shut off his phone angrily, so William went to speak to him personally. The prince was horrified by what he had just been told about Meghan’s alleged behaviour, and he wanted to hear what Harry had to say.

The showdown between the two siblings was fierce and bitter. William’s pre-engagement questioning of Meghan’s suitability had been quite reasonable, in William’s opinion. His fraternal doubts had been provisional, based upon how the new recruit appeared to be. The elder brother did not really know Meghan in those early days.

But now William had seen enough of his sister-in-law to feel sure that, sadly, he did know her and that many of his reservations linked unhappily with what Knauf’s colleagues had alleged. William believed Meghan was following a plan — “agenda” was the word he used to his friend — and the accusations he had just heard were alarming. Kate, he said, had been wary of her from the start.

Meghan was undermining some precious principles of the monarchy, if she really was treating her staff in this way, and William was upset that she seemed to be stealing his beloved brother away from him. Later courtiers would coin a hashtag — #freeHarry. It was only half a joke.

“Meghan portrayed herself as the victim,” recalled one Kensington Palace staffer, “but she was the bully. People felt run over by her. They didn’t know how to handle this woman. They thought she was a complete narcissist and sociopath — basically unhinged. Which was why the pair of them were drawn to each other in the first place — both damaged goods.”

William felt deeply wounded. “Hurt” and “betrayed” were the two feelings that he described to his friend. The elder brother had always felt so protective. He had seen it as his job to look out for Harry but this was the moment the protection had to stop. At the end of the day the British crown and all it stood for with its ancient traditions, styles and values — the mission of the monarchy — had to matter more to William than his brother did.

Harry, for his part, was equally furious that William should give credence to the accusations against Meghan, and he was fiercely combative in his wife’s defence. Some sources maintain that in the heat of the argument Harry actually accused someone in the family of concepts that were “racist”. But it must be stressed that neither brother has ever confirmed that the hateful r-word was used face to face.

Only William and Harry can know what they said to each other and they have respectfully maintained their silence on that. But Harry made clear to the world in his interview with Oprah that he considered his family’s response to Meghan to have been essentially racist — using the heavily freighted code words “unconscious bias” to provide an intellectual framework for his analysis.

Where could the two brothers go after such painful and damning notions had been thrown into their debate?

We have reached the crux of the drama. What painfully unforgettable and surely unforgivable things have been said? These are not passing differences. They are two core sets of values in conflict — love versus duty — going to the very heart and deriving from the deepest beliefs and loyalties of each man. Two opposing identities butting heads. In the months following the tragic and not-obviously bridgeable rift of October 2018 between William and Harry, the younger brother solidified his belief that his family were suffering from “unconscious bias”.

William, for his part, felt just as strongly about Meghan and the need for her subversive “agenda” to be removed from the operations of the British monarchy, which she did not appear to understand or respect. He certainly wanted Meghan removed, for a start, from the hitherto harmonious joint household that he and his brother had operated together for the best part of a decade. William simply did not want her or Harry around any more.

When accounts of the rift started seeping out through the winter months that followed, it was generally assumed that the volatile Harry must have set the pace in the splitting up of the joint Kensington Palace household. He was the brother who visibly departed, stalking off to set up a new home in Windsor, with offices for himself and Meghan in Buckingham Palace.

But the reverse was the case. It was William who made the decisive move. Following his furious confrontation with his younger brother in the autumn of 2018, the prince instructed Simon Case to start the process of dividing their two households immediately. William wished to be separated from Meghan on a day-to-day basis — and that meant being separated from his brother as well.

“William,” says a friend, “threw Harry out.”

©Robert Lacey 2021 Extracted from Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult by Robert Lacey, to be published by William Collins on June 24 at £9.99

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wutheringmights · 3 years

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In CTB you’ve had a few descriptions of both Mask’s and Warriors’ spirits when Spirit sensed them, which had me wondering. Do you have any thoughts about what the rest of the chain’s spirits are like, or are they generally the same as Warriors’?

This ask skirts pretty close to a spoiler for CTB. Your question didn't hit anything on the nail exactly, but this is about 3 steps away from something. Which means that if I want to avoid accidentally spoiling the story for you, I shouldn't give an in-depth lore answer.

Anyway, here's an in-depth lore answer and also what the rest of the Chain's spirits are like.

Everyone in the Chain shares a spirit, but the spirit has different qualities for each one. Somewhere in the story, I had Spirit explain to Warriors that a person's spirit changes based on their life experience. Since everyone in the Chain had wildly different life experiences, the Hero's Spirit feels different for each.

I have an entire rule set and system for how Spirit's senses work that will probably never be fully divulged in story because a) it's from Warriors's POV and b) Spirit doesn't really know how to talk about it.

But I can do my best now to explain how it works.

Let's use food as a metaphor. Every person is a different pastry. Zelda is a cake, Impa is a croissant, and so forth. There is only one type of pastry per a person, and that's it. So Spirit has lived his entire life thinking he's the only chocolate chip cookie in the world. Then he meets Warriors and realizes he's also a chocolate chip cookie, except his has cinnamon in it. Then he meets Mask, who is a chocolate chip cookie but with walnuts.

Same cookie, different additives.

The Hero's Spirit works the same way. Spirit can tell that they all share the same spirit, but there are other traits based upon individual life experiences added to it that make it unique to each holder. Along with life experiences, traits can be reflections of significant people in a person's life, like their friends, siblings, or spouses.

Everyone has these traits too, not just the heroes. Spirits could theoretically dissect anyone's spirit to get a vague sense of what their life experiences are. I say vague because what he senses is in relation to the traditional five senses. For example, he feels warmth (touch) when focusing on Warriors. Traits can also invoke a noise, smell, taste, or visual element. So it's not like he can learn someone's life story in completion, just get hints to it.

There’s two exceptions to the above rule is age and alignment. He can tell how old someone's spirit is, and he already used that in chapter 3 to figure out he had moved through time. Just go with it.

He can also tell right away if someone is a light or dark spirit. In fact, the light/dark difference is so stark that it’s usually the first he registers in a person. It’s automatic, like recognizing a source of light in an otherwise pitch black room.

Furthermore, Spirit has to focus to get a good read on someone’s spirit. Take our food metaphor, for example. If he eats a cookie, he has to focus to identify what the spices are being used to flavor it. If he's not paying attention, he could just eat it without noticing anything beyond the fact that he just ate a cookie.

Most people do this already with their senses-- you can identity at a glance if the blob at the corner of your eye is a person, but you have to look in order to see what color their eyes are.

This is why Spirit sometimes grabs a person's hand when sensing their spirit: it's like bending in closer to get a better look.

That also means he has to know a person's spirit really well before he can pull the long-range sensing tricks that he does with Warriors and Mask. If he's going to find a needle in a haystack, he has to know what the needle looks like.

I think that covers everything. Hopefully I didn't miss something important. And hopefully I won't have to break these rules later to fix a plot hole or something (I'm joking).

So if every member of the Chain has different traits affecting their spirit... what would Spirit be able to sense?

Sky

Spirit could clock that Sky is the first Link based solely on how old his spirit is; he could actually put together the order of the timeline pretty well based on spirit alone, with one except that we'll get to later.

The predominant trait would be the sensation of wind going through his hair

There would also be minor musical elements that sound like harp music to reflect Hylia (The Goddess's Ballad), Zelda (Zelda's Lullaby), and Fi (probably one of Fi's songs)

There would also be traces of the Song of the Hero all over him

Also little zaps of electricity, though none of it hurts

Demise's Curse would also be super fresh on Sky, to the point where Spirit would actually be able to realize that it's a curse and not a normal trait; over time, the curse had gotten so thoroughly woven into the Hero's Spirit that it looks natural

Four

Spirit, taking one look at Four: WHY IS YOUR SPIRIT IN FOUR PIECES WHAT DID YOU DO????

At his core, Four's spirit is like having blackberry jam all over your mouth-- sweet and sticky

There's also a persistent heat from his blacksmithing forge

These two predominant traits are reflected at different levels based on which of the Colors Spirit focuses on

Oh yeah, he can definitely tell that the Colors are there and if he focuses super hard, he can almost hear the internal monologue; mostly he can just get a vague idea of who's in control at the moment without trying

Spirit would also find this super distracting and headache inducing

Time/Mask

Mask's spirit sounds like a ticking clock, but Spirit can't get a good read on that because there are a lot of other spirits from his cursed mask collection clinging onto him that make it hard to find Mask underneath

As addressed in story, the Fierce Deity causes Spirit a lot of pain; basically, the Fierce Deity can tell that Spirit's senses are spying on him and he doesn't like it, so he sends the spirit-equivalent of a noise back at Spirit that causes him a bit of pain

As Mask gets older and becomes the Time that we know in the present day, his spirit changes.

Time has way less spirits clinging onto him; the ticking noise is also far less prevalent

Instead, he's starts to smell more like pinewood and Malon (though, Spirit has never met Malon so he wouldn't be able to identify it)

Other notable traits include Saria’s song, the echoing marble of the Temple of Time, and the feeling of a mask on his face

Twilight

He has used dark magic so much at this point that it’s all over his spirit; at first glance, Spirit would think he’s a dark spirit until he looked closer; the traces of dark magic would probably manifest as tiny black square of Twili magic in Spirit’s vision

Twilight predominantly smells like hay and manure, though it seems to be waning in favor of the sensation of fur covering his skin and the heat of the Gerudo Desert sun

Ilia’s whistle can also be heard, as well as the echoes of Midna’s laughter

There’s also the faint smell of stale wood and alcohol meant to represent Telma’s bar

All of the children of Ordon have also left their prints on him, as well as Epona

Wind

Wind’s version of the Hero’s Spirit feels fresher than everyone else’s, even fresher than Sky’s, though the curse is as old as it’s always been; Spirit would immediately get so confused trying to figure out who’s actually the first in the Chain

Wind feels like a rocking boat; sensing him, Spirits would feel like he’s swaying in tune with the waves

Whatever saltiness from the sea that would be over his spirit is tempered by a far more prominent taste of his grandmother’s soup

There’s a feeling of water on the skin, meant to symbolize the flooding of Hyrule

Whips of tobacco smoke also hover around Wind, representing Linebeck’s smoking (I know he doesn’t smoke in canon, but let me have this)

Legend

You know when you go on a long hike, and when you finally stop to rest at the end, your legs feels like they’re pulsing? That’s what Legend feels like

His love for travel shines clearly through every inch of his spirit, like a huge splash of color, as well as his love for music; Spirit would be able to hear a whole array of music coming from him

There’s also the soft feeling of dragging your thumb over a flower petal, representing Marin; there also a very prominent taste of salt from being adrift at sea

Other notable traits include the feeling of his uncle’s callouses and the feeling of whiskers at his nose for being a rabbit

New Hyrule is the only place in Hyrule that has rabbits, and I have seen at least one person headcanon that Spirit could be allergic to them (if you know who, please let me know); so it would be funny if sensing Legend just makes Spirit break into a fit of sneezing

Hyrule

Hyrule’s fairy magic would tickle so much, and he would sparkle as if he had a trail of fairy dust behind him

There’s also the scent of smoke stuck in the nose from numerous campfires and the feeling of dirt under the nail

There would also be a hot sensation coursing through the blood stream, meant to represent his anxiety over his blood being the thing that could revive Ganon

Hyrule knows a lot of people and all of them are important to him that, from this point, his spirit gets noisy with so many different sensations representing the old man who gifted him a sword, the moblin who befriended him, the woman in the red dress who healed him, the baker who gave him stale bread, the bar tender who laughed at his jokes-- he’s carries every single person he’s met with him

Wild

Wild is weird-- it’s almost like there was two different versions of Hero’s Spirits in him, but one had been written over and was faded to the point of barely being recognizable; Spirit would have to really dig to find out anything about the faded spirit

But Wild as it of course smells like nature, and he also sounds like nature with a quiet ambiance of birds and the breeze

There’s also the feeling of having water stuck up his nose from his time in the Shrine of Resurrection

There’s also the physical feeling of the scars on his body tensing up the skin

There’s the faint trace of the other champions’ spirits that had clung to him for a time, and they all left traces of their respective elements on him

Zelda’s voice can faintly be heard, but no words can be made out

Warriors

I actually can’t tell you more about how his spirit feels because (light spoilers) the way his spirit feels changes later in CTB

So for now all you know is that he feels like a very gentle fire

But I will say that right now, Spirit can smell the inside of the bookstore Warrior’s mother ran, but since he doesn’t recognize it, he doesn’t really notice it

And there you have it! Obviously, these are only rough sketches and I obviously can’t fit everything about each Link on here. If I miss something or if you have an idea, let me know!

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comingfromastatechampionasshole · 3 years

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Buttercream: A mostly complete but not at all exhaustive guide to the six main types of buttercream you will encounter in your travels.

There is no one “buttercream!” When you see a cake has “buttercream” you should be asking, “okay but what kind?” as they vary wildly in taste, texture, and ease.

I floated the idea, to great happiness, of me doing a post on the six main types of buttercream, what they are, how they’re made, and what they’re best used for. Are there different kinds of buttercream from these? Sure, I suppose, and it depends on how we’re defining them and who you ask. For example: There’s a style called “Russian Buttercream” that’s just American Buttercream, but made with sweetened condensed milk. I don’t PERSONALLY find it different enough nor does it it enjoy enough widespread use for me to include here. There’s also what I call “Corporate Buttercream” which is American Buttercream but made with shortening. It’s disgusting, for starters, and for seconds, few people make it outside of grocery stores. So that’s a small bit of how I decided which ones I was going to use in this.

I have organized them from easiest to most difficult to make, in my opinion. Some of these are flexible, based on your own personal opinion of cooking and things. So your mileage may vary. The “real” buttercreams (Italian, Swiss, French) are all more difficult than the “faux” buttercreams (American, Flour, German). But all have their uses!

American Buttercream

When people say they hate buttercream, I just assume this is what they’ve had in the past. It doesn’t appeal to me much either, especially if the butter isn’t whipped enough (It needs a SOLID 5-10 minutes of whipping) American Buttercream is a very simple frosting, one of the most simple, in that it’s butter, powdered sugar, vanilla (or other extract) and a little bit of cream. The great thing about American Buttercream is that it is extremely easy to make, and one of the first frostings I ever learned to make. It’s also easy to spread, and does will with broad piping, as it stays relatively soft, and holds color and flavor well. It’s a great pick for frosting sugar cookies with kids. The bad news is: It melts pretty easily. Do not try using this in the summer if you are even thinking of heat being a problem. Also, quite a few people do not care for it!

Flour Buttercream (or ermine frosting)

This is my PERSONAL least favorite buttercream. You would think that it being less sweet than American Buttercream would be a selling point, but I find the texture of it very offputting. This is used about as much as American buttercream, because it’s more resistant to melting. It’s made by heating a milk and sugar base with flour, and allowing it to cool and basically become a kid of sweet glue before adding it to beaten butter. It’s great for cakes that need to be in the heat because it’s more stable, which makes it well suited for decoration, and also, like American Buttercream, has little flavor of its own and holds flavors well. The downside is you have to cool it carefully and cover to avoid getting a skin on it, and it takes longer because of the need for very thorough cooling.

German Buttercream

Whether or not you think German Buttercream is difficult all depends on if you think making custard is difficult. German buttercream basically takes things a step further than Flour Buttercream, and makes the whole base with a custard. This is the best tasting of the ‘faux’ buttercreams by far, because of the flavor the custard allows in development. So why doesn’t it enjoy more wide appeal? A lot of people find the careful eye needed to make custard very difficult, and because of the development of flavor, this buttercream is really only well suited to strongly flavored cakes that can stand up to it. Also, if you thought American Buttercream melted? This one goes to pieces if you look at it wrong, don’t attempt piping or other decoration like that with it. It also is not great for coloring, being as it has a yellow coloring naturally.

Italian Buttercream

From here on in, you need a candy thermometer. PREPARE YE.

I went back and forth on whether or not I thought this or Swiss Meringue was more difficult, so you could flip them in your head and I wouldn’t complain. Italian buttercream is made in the ‘true’ buttercream fashion, by whipping eggs, specifically the whites of the eggs, into a stiff-peaked frenzy, and then mix it with a hot sugar sugar syrup, before whipping it with cubed butter. This is the sturdiest of the ‘true’ buttercreams, and if you wanted to do decorations with one, this would be the one I would choose. It even holds up pretty well in the heat! Downsides are: The difficulty inherent to any “true” buttercream, and also it uses raw eggs, and if you use pasteurized eggs, your whip flat out will not be as good. I just use the raw eggs. It also does not hold well at all--serve it the day you make it.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This is my second favorite kind of buttercream, and if you’re nervy about raw eggs but want a ‘true’ buttercream, this is for you. This is the kind of buttercream I make the most. In this buttercream, you cook the egg whites with the sugar, giving you a little bit of an opportunity to ruin the whole thing on the stove. This holds up about as well as Italian buttercream, heat wise, (though not decor wise--it’s very soft and pillowy) and I personally find it holds better overnight. The downside is of course, the cooking risk, and also it requires really constant whisking during to cooking stage. It’s a lighter buttercream and so well suited for lighter cakes and flavors.

French Buttercream

This is actually my favorite buttercream of all time. It is VERY rich, but when it’s done well it retains a quality of lightness and depth of flavor that really carries. What makes me put it at the most difficult? It’s made in the same way as Italian buttercream, with a hot sugar syrup, but you whip the egg YOLKS by themselves. I don’t know what you know about whipping an egg yolk, but there’s a reason you aren’t called upon to do it often--it takes a long ass time to do, and is frustrating. Which is why I rarely make it. But! In addition to tasting great, this buttercream holds decorations REALLY well, as long as it’s not exposed to too much heat--the high fat content means it’s not very heat-resistant. Also, if you’re looking for a white frosting, this is in no way your guy. But it tastes like fucking pastry cream when it’s done well, but solid like frosting. It’s amazing.

Have a burning question about food? Go ahead and ask me! Tip jar is here!

#frosting #dessert #cakes

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writing-in-april · 3 years

Text

Dahlias

Spencer Reid x Gender Neutral Reader (Spencer POV)

Summary: Spencer over analyzing what flowers to get Reader for their first date.

A/N: This is my SFW fic swap that I wrote for @imagining-in-the-margins (honestly was so freakin nervous when I saw that I got you lmao)Also thanks to @zhuzhubii for picking out the flower type Spencer ends up going with. This is my second super fluffy piece this week so go drown in the fluff 🥰 Requests are open and the my entry for the NSFW fic swap will be up on Nov. 29th or 30th- Also I have edited out a small mistake I made and the fic is now fully gender neutral, thanks to the people who pointed it out I never want anyone to feel excluded-

Warnings: Non my lovelies 🥰

Masterlist Word count: 1.1k

The overwhelming scent of botanicals hit me as soon as I entered the tiny floral shop. The shop was filled to the brim with every type of bud and bloom that I could think of. My mind was swirling as I looked at all the possibilities around me, nothing seemed to catch my eye, no flower seemed perfect enough for my upcoming date with Y/N.

My palms were sweaty in anticipation for this monumental date, I couldn’t screw it up. I had been pining after Y/N for so long and was shocked when they had actually agreed to my stuttering attempt to ask them out over the coffee pot at work.

Carnations are the first thing that fully grasped my attention- they had plenty of variety in color. Well, maybe not, since the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Carnations is prom boutonnières that I never had the pleasure of wearing or of funeral flowers.

Speaking of funeral flowers chrysanthemums were the flowers directly to my left. They were a beautiful fall flower but I could quickly dismiss them. I was pretty sure Y/N wouldn’t appreciate flowers that represented death- no matter how pretty they looked.

I looked to my right, my eyes catching sight of the section of the shop that had all the different colors of roses they had to offer pulling me away from the carnations and chrysanthemums. The variety of colors was almost too much, the display looking like Valentine’s Day threw up on it. I briefly considered choosing them thinking that roses were a classic go to; so what could go wrong? My fingers brushed over the silky petals of the crimson flowers while going through every possibility of why roses would be a good or bad idea.

Yes, they were a classic but-

No, roses would be too cheesy I finally decided. They were too closey related to the cringey romantic comedies that I knew Y/N loved to watch, laugh, and mock at how sickly sweet they were. They often commented on the fact that while they wanted to be romanced, the classic tropes often felt hollow to them and would rather be wooed as they say, in a unique way.

Unique.

That’s where my mind jumps to next as I dropped my hand away from the roses and spun around looking wildly for a blossom that had a unique quality.

The orchids then caught my eye as I cast my gaze over the store again frantically trying to find a bloom that fit Y/N perfectly. Those would be pretty and- they would be unique. They had quite the variety of types of Orchids, though I was quickly drawn to the ones whose blossoms were a bright magenta with a kiss of white on the edges. Sadly, I had to tear my eyes away from them when I realized they all sat in a pot surrounded by dirt. I only wanted to go with cut flowers, even though I had worked with them for years- a potted plant seemed too serious for a first date.

I spared a glance at my watch which was ticking dangerously close to the time when I had to meet Y/N at the restaurant.

I’m going to be late if I don’t pick something soon- Focus, Spencer.

“I think I have something perfect for you deary.” A quiet voice shook me from my frantic thoughts. I spun around to see a petite older woman dressed in bright colors who I assumed was the owner of the little shop. She reminded me of what I imagined Garcia looking like in her 70s.

The woman held in her hands a bundle of Dahlias. They ranged in color from a pale ballerina pink to a deep almost eggplant color with a few colored almost orange thrown into the mix.

Dahlias of course Spencer- those are perfect.

I’m pretty sure the woman who picked out the flowers is more of a genius then I am. Dahlias symbolize elegance, inner strength, creativity, and dignity. It was an exquisite choice- a unique flower that represented exactly how I viewed Y/N. She picked a pristine bloom that fit Y/N to perfection. And, even if Y/N had no clue what they symbolized I knew they’d appreciate the blooms.

I thanked the woman, who’s name I now know as Darlene profusely and paid quickly before dashing like a mad man out to my car to hopefully get to the restaurant on time. I would be sure to come back and thank Darlene properly when I next had the chance. Maybe I would even bring Y/N along so they could look at the Orchids.

I still ended up 5 minutes late because of traffic

Carefully cradling the bouquet I made my way to the entrance of the restaurant and was guided to the table I had reserved for us. My mind short circuited when I rounded the corner and had my first glimpse of Y/N for the night. They looked like a vision of absolute beauty to me, making my mouth fall open a little in a quiet gasp. My mind was still reeling from the sight as they came up to greet me, though I did maintain enough composure to hand them the bouquet.

“Thanks for the flowers Spencer, they're beautiful!” The smile on their face while they took a whiff of the sweet smelling buds made me beam with pride. I started to stumble out a response when I realized I had been staring at them for far too long.

“Well- I was looking for something unique for you and there were a multitude of choices in the flower shop but they all seemed really basic. I couldn’t go with carnations or roses or orchids. Luckily the lady that owns the shop-“

They swiftly cut off my rambling which usually would annoy me however they always knew when my train of thought needed to stop so it wouldn’t veer off into self deprivation and over worrying.

“I love the flowers Spencer. How did you know that Dahlia’s were my favorite?”

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid one shot #spencer x reader #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #mgg #spencer reid fluff

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dancingthesambaa · 3 years

Text

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 19

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him.

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 19: Got Your Back (And Maybe Your Heart)

“Okay let me get this straight-”

“No one here is, but go on.”

“Hush, I’m still mad at you,” Tang gave a stink eye to the Kappa before turning back to Macaque. “So let me get this straight, so not only are you the same Six Eared Macaque that has fought the Monkey King and the deity that’s known as the Wandering Healer-”

“Not actually a deity,” he inputted.

“Whatever, but I’ve been coming here for years and just now I find out that there are mythical deities and magical plants within the forest! The Yao grass that is said to be a component to the Immortality Pills, an actual Qilin living here?! And the brown bunny and that little shit stain, who probably wants to laugh his ass off, is actually a Kitsune and spirit!”

“Guilty as charged,” the Shui Gui chortled.

“Pretty much,” the monkey shrugged his shoulders.

“Yup,” Ní nodded in her fox form.

“…I am both very angry and very excited,” he grumbled. “Do you know how many questions I have?! Do you know how many things I could have tested? Do you know how long I have wanted to meet someone like you guys? Do you know how many questions I have?!”

“I think you already said that,” said the water spirit though he froze as he saw an ominous glint in his eyes.

“Oh yes I did, because by the time I leave here,” he mysteriously whipped out his phone, “I will have all my questions answered.”

“Just how many do you have?” Macaque cautiously asked.

Tang said nothing as he instead showed a folder containing many files within them. “Quite a few. Quite. A. Few.”

All three immortals, the ones who have faced many fierce opponents throughout their life, gulped at the looming trials ahead.

“Fuck,” they all unanimously said.

It was cold, damp, and thoroughly disgusting with all of the worthless piles of junk lying around, but she supposed she would have to work with what she had under these…conditions.

Lady Bone Demon quietly walked through the open sewer as she attempted to distinguish where exactly she should strike next while her underling, who has been waiting for all these years, searches for the one item she hasn’t quite found.

It was quite tricky, to say the least, all the rest of the ingredients she needed to procure, albeit a bit rare, would be much easier to obtain even if those incompetent bugs mess it up. It won’t be too hard to find a replacement for those, she just decided on them for the proximity, she does not desire to leave the city before she achieves her prize. The last item though is something that is an ingredient that is not so easily replaceable, so she will need to take her time and look through every crack and back alley down until she does.

It was quite irritating, from the conditions she found herself into the annoying bugs that seem to think they are above her to Sun Wukong.

Sometimes she just wished that she could be over and done with this little game entirely and reach the end, but alas that’s not how life works. But she will admit that it will be fun watching them all struggle to get one step ahead of her, though she can’t decide which one she’ll enjoy more, Sun Wukong look when she finally drains him of every last bit of power and torture what he cherishes in front of his very eyes or Spider Queen expression as she stabs her in the back when she becomes the component to her plans. Both sound absolutely delightful when the time comes, but for that to happen she suppose she will have to achieve this the long way, no shortcuts or cheats allowed.

But she doesn’t mind the wait, after all, she had been imprisoned for over five hundred centuries.

She has nothing but time and she intends to play this little game all the way to the end.

“So your not just some random ass immortal,” Macaque bluntly said when Shen met up with him again.

“Took you that long to figure that out,” the frizzy hair old man laughed.

“Well, how am I supposed to know that you were literally giving me Immortal wine when I have never tasted it before you all but shoved it to me?” He grumbled as he held the bottle of very rare wine once more. “You know I don’t really need this, I am still perfectly immortal without it.”

“Oh I know, Yama sometimes grumbled about it from time to time when we get together. Gods know he wants to strangle Sun Wukong's scrawny neck when he gets the chance,” he said while drinking some of the wine.

“You regularly drink with the King of the Dead?” He deadpanned, “Who the fuck are you? Cause that right there shows that you're not just a regular ass deity.”

“Hmm I’ll tell you if you tell me how you figured out how to make the Immortality pills,” he smirked at the monkey still look.

“What do you mean?”

“I may be old, but I can smell a lot of the ingredients for the pills in this forest alone. Yao grass, Biya berries, Voya roots, Gracidea flowers, just to name a few,” he tapped his nose.

“Can’t really hide the smell,” he clicked his teeth. “Alright fine I’ll talk, but you better keep your end of the deal.”

“Will do.”

And so they talked and talked and when Shen spoke of who he was Macaque all but threw the bottle in his hand.

“What the fuck Ping?!” He hissed out as he had to stop himself from bashing his head against the tree. “How the fuck?!”

“He was an interesting one,” he laughed. He met his old friend by the river where he was doing his laundry, they spoke and then he found himself another drinking buddy.

Macaque’s eyes twitched as he just slumped over and groaned loudly. “What the fuck!”

Shen just laughed wildly next to him.

“Yeah yeah laugh it up,” he hissed before letting out a sigh and sat himself up. “Shit I don’t know if I can ask you this but I might as well fucking try?”

“Hmm?” He curiously questioned.

“I may need something soon that I can’t quite get on normal means and I think-no I know I will need your help to get it,” he asked with an almost pleading voice.

“Hmm, why do you need it?” He noted the tone in his voice but didn’t say a word about it.

“There is a demon that wants to take over the land and almost nobody would be able to stop her,” the simian admitted.

“Eh, there will always be some creature that wants to take over the world, been there, seen that, but that never really happens now does it,” he easily dismissed it as he leaned in closer, “but why do you need it?”

“Because there are people that I want to protect and I know that they will be the ones that will be fighting against that monster and like hell I am letting them do this alone,” he growled.

“Oh now I have your reason, so here’s another question. How much are you willing to give for my favor?”

“Anything,” he determinedly said.

“Anything you say? Even your life?” His green eyes challenged his violet ones.

“Yes,” he replied with no hesitation as the question didn’t even make him flinch.

There was a long silence as both beings stared the other down until the red haired man broke off his gaze and chuckled lightly.

“…hehehe, always knew Ping was fond of the stubborn ones,” he grinned.

“Ping is an old coot with the perchance of running into the weirdest fucking things,” he huffed as the air around them seem to settle down.

“You're not wrong,” he nodded. “Alright I’ll help ya, but next time I drop by I expect some high quality drinks.”

“Tch, fine you alcoholic bastard. Hope you don’t mind Plum wine, have a few sitting for a couple of centuries.”

“Are you kidding? The longer the age, the better it is! It’s like you don’t know me sapling,” he said with a mock hurt expression.

“I mean I might as well as you just told me who the fuck you are!” He threw his hands in the air.

“But you know my wine tastes!”

“You've only given me one kind of wine bastard!”

“Still!”

“Don’t you fucking pout you overgrown child!”

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” MK cursed as he dashed his way through the volcanic land and ducked from a large fiery boulder aimed straight towards him. “Why does this happen to me!?”

Now you may be wondering how and why MK found himself stuck in the volcano arena, well he was visiting one of the more interesting customers he had delivered to before, as in she was trying to learn more about magic, with Red and Mei. Which is cool and all, especially since she has mastered how to change her hair color on will, but she was showing him her more advanced spells. Now it was very fun with the Bull Prince trying to explain to the young girl how each spell works and how much energy must be put into it. They were even going to try out a new spell together, but the thing about her is that while she does have quite a bit of talent, she is extremely clumsy. As she took a step forward and accidentally pushed him into the symbol on the ground and then ‘poof’ he teleported right in the middle of the fire imp territory.

Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, he can handle a few enemies on his own and he did with such ease that not even a scratch was laid on him. It’s just that the problem was that they all happened to be a bit too loud and woke up a humanoid creature that was three times his size, entirely made up of molten magma and rock crystals, and looked very pissed.

Needless to say all of them booked it as fast as they could, but unfortunately it had their eyes on one creature that looked different from the rest.

“Seriously!” He yelled as he climbed up the mountain and quickly hid and he held his burnt side. He knows that he is quick on his feet, but even he can’t dodge all of those boulders and swipes aimed at him. It doubly hurts as he can feel the burning of the magma touch his skin, he desperately wants an ice bath when he escapes this.

SMASH

But until then he will continue to make his way to the ocean ahead where he hopes that it would be enough to stop the beast in its tracks. He will swim all the way back home if he has to, he can deal with the sickness later after he saves his skin.

He felt the beast let out a devastating roar and a glance back he saw the creature lift the largest boulder that he didn’t even think he could dodge. So, he instead prepared himself as he was about to bring out his staff when-

“Here comes Jade Dragon/ Blazing Bull!” Twin voices shouted as the next second two terrifying forces slammed into the creature and with a pained roar he flew back.

He blinked as he saw Mei and Red Son, one who is surrounded by ethereal viridian energy and the other encaptured in a fiery crimson aura, jump in front of him protectively.

“MK/Noodle boy! Are you okay?!” Both of them have been trudging through not only ashes clogging their lungs and spot marking their skins, but also all different types of books and ruins trying to find the right activation phrase to reopen the portal to where their friend had disappeared to. They were tired, dirty, clothes ripped, and pissed off, but in MK eyes they were the most beautiful people he has ever seen as he couldn’t stop the blush forming on his cheeks as he took in their perfectly disheveled appearance, the muscles peeking from their ripped sleeves, sweat dripping from their face, and the worried look in their gorgeous eyes.

“Y-Yep!” He involuntarily squeaked. ‘I really should not have read some of those romance books with Jin,’ he thought as he cleared his throat. “I mean yeah, yeah you guys are perfect-I mean you got here at perfect timing!” He nervously said as he rubbed the back of his neck and tried to avoid eye contact.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head along the way,” she lightly teased as she kept a firm stance in front of him.

“Would be an improvement,” he smirked, but his eyes didn’t leave the Cherufu dazed form.

“Heyyy,” he whined before he realized what they said before, “Do you guys have names and you didn’t tell me!”

“Umm.”

“We’ll you see-”

“They are so cool!” His eyes sparkled, “they fit you both so perfectly, and the way you guys came in and shouted it made the scene even more awesome!”

Both of them couldn’t stop both smiles and blushes as their smaller friend, and small crush, kept on praising them, but unfortunately, their little bubble popped as the beast roared once more.

“Tch,” Mei irritably clicked her tongue at the beast ride interruption, showing off her fangs (after countless of honing to both tracing and the dragon sword, she was more than ecstatic to see that she matched with both of her boys) “I actually forgot about that.”

“You mean the walking miniature mountain that was just chasing me down,” MK huffed as he shook his head. Hopefully, the two would just blame his fluster on the heat and not drift towards the thought that he may like them more than friends.

“Yeah that.”

“You both need to really get up to speed with your Mythical beings,” Red grunted as he opted to not use his fire against the creature made of lava.

“Says the one who never knew what Advil was,” MK muttered.

“It’s not my fault you mortals inconsistently change their names for no reason!” He hissed as his hair flared up.

“Surrrreee,” both mortals said.

“Let’s just focus on getting out of here.”

“You just don’t want to admit that your wrong~”

“Shut it!

“And where do you think you're going?” Wukong flinched as he heard Macaque's voice behind him.

“Oh you know, just a little road trip,” he smiled wider than normal as he quickly turned around to hide his suitcase, “I thought that it was time I get off of my mountain and see what else I missed.”

“Uh Huh,” he noncommittally said as he casually walked forward, “and you just decided that right this week?”

“Yep!”

“Just out of the blue.”

“You know it!”

“With no thoughts in mind.”

“None whatsoever!”

“Sunny, I know you’re bullshitting me,” he bluntly said.

“Whattt?” He nervously laughed, “I’m serious, I am just going to go sightseeing for a bit and-”

“You still have that same tell when you lie, you know. Smiling too widely,” he pointed out.

“I thought I got that under control,” he muttered to himself and sighed, “alright yeah, you caught me. I was gonna go out and look for a weapon to stop her, but I have to do this, Lady Bone Demon is not someone to trifle with. You know how she can easily command someone under her will and that was when she just got out of centuries of captivity! Imagine what she could accomplish once she regains more and more power! I just can’t sit here and wait for that to happen.”

“I know, that’s why you're not doing it alone,” he pointed out.

“Huh?”

“Did you really think that talk we had the other day was just a one off thing? No no no, there are so many people and demons solely invested in this, because what Spider Queen did really pissed off a lot of people and they want revenge on not only her, but those who helped her,” he said as summoned a map and showed him. “Just see for yourself.”

The monkey took the map and he became confused about what he was looking at. “There’s just a bunch of doodles in certain areas.”

“Those are the areas that have been hit and investigated thoroughly, the ones with X are the no goes of anything suspicious or useful, the ones with question marks are the clues or hints, and the few with checks are the ones where they found positive report and/or confirmation on successful supplies that we need. All of these are for finding the necessary materials to end the Bone Demon life once and for all.”

Wukong's eyes were wide at the end of his statement, “You know how to destroy her?! How long were you planning this? How have you managed to search all of these areas?”

“Well, it helps that I have so many favors stacked up from my former clients. I usually don’t care what they pay me, but usually, it’s in either money, food, or favors and I have a lot of those. I mean just Po and his students alone have them all checking the western areas for it by themselves. He says it’s a good training exercise for them, but I think he just wants a break from those brats. And for your first one, we’ll ever since BK got possessed the family has promised vengeance upon her, and Queen Iron Fan happens to have knowledge of a permanent kill switch to ending that demon life,” he said as he showed him the formula.

Wukong examined it and after a while, he nodded his head and faintly said, “Yeah…yeah that might actually work…there is something to destroy her.” He still couldn’t believe his eyes, but it was right there in front of him, then the first part of his words hit him, “Wait, that long?”

“Yes that long,” he said with exasperation, “Am I the only one who found it fucking weird that the Demon Bull King, one of the strongest beings in the realm, got possessed out of fucking nowhere? That right there was already suspicious by itself and the ominous whispers were sure not helping her case, that just added it on. So we decided to get to the bottom of this and boy is this one deep chasm we got ourselves into.”

“It really is,” he agreed as he looked over the map and saw that some of the places that were marked were the ones he was going to go to, even some that only celestial beings can access, “You already investigated these realms?”

He looked over to see what he was pointing at and nodded, “Yeah, pretty much. As I said, I have clientele all over and I don’t really restrict unless they have really done something so fucked up that I would rather kill them.”

“You have favors with Celestial deities,” he emphasized.

“Just some minor ones,” the doctor tried to brush it off, but judging by his friend's look, it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Celestial. Deities.”

“How about we talk about this later.”

“Oh we are so talking about this later, but I still have to do this. I have to make sure that she doesn’t cause any more harm to people anymore, this is my duty that I have to do-”

“You're not understanding!” He gripped his hair in frustration. “I literally gave you a map and you still don’t understand what I’m trying to say!”

“What!” He threw his hands in the air, “What can you possibly-”

“You aren’t alone dumbass!” He hissed out and froze the Monkey Sage.

“Wha-” he was cut off once more by a furious finger poking his chest at each word Mac hissed out.

“You. Are. Not. Alone. I don’t know how many different ways I have to say this, but if it gets through your thick skull then god damn it, I will.”

“I-”

“I know what you were about to do, you were about to galavant off and try to do everything on your own and not say a single word to nobody like a stupid martyr, cause apparently this is a shared trait between you and MK about being so self sacrificial that you wish to take on the burden yourself! Well fuck that! I’m putting my foot down for both of you, you don’t have to recklessly go out there and hope that one of them will stick!”

“What else am I supposed to do!” He leaped to his feet, “I basically serve no purpose other than this glorified title of hero, which I am really sick of hearing, and that Bone witch could strike at any moment and we won’t be prepared. If I leave the city then that would mean that not only would I be faster on looking for the weapon, but I would be far away from her and her attempt to sap my power.”

“But you would also be away from the city and by the time you come back, there might not be anything left to come back to,” he said with a final tone. “No one would be able to stand against her, not the demons, not the people, not MK, not the Bull Family, not even me. We would all fall by the time the morning sun rises if we tried to face her head on. We would all be corpses below her feet.”

The Monkey King stilled as the morbid images flooded into his head.

City in ruins.

Bodies sprawled everywhere.

Familiar faces all dead eyed.

Bodies collapsed.

Heart stilled

His precious student.

All of his tribe members.

The rambunctious Demon quartet.

His family to the West.

The headstrong Dragon successor.

Demon Bull with his wife and son.

Yanyu surrounded by her siblings.

Macaque

They're all dead.

Dead

Deaddeaddeadeadeadeadeadead

“Wukong!” He snapped out of his thoughts by black furred hands and looked up to see Macaque worried Violet (alive there so alive and bright, so so bright and alive) eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m-” he stopped himself and remend what he was about to say, “I will be fine…I’ll stay.”

The Six Eared monkey let out a sigh of relief, “Good, that’s good. Sorry for putting that image in your head.”

“No, no I needed to hear that. I-I can’t be impulsive, not right now, not when things are becoming dangerous, I need to think things through,” he sighed as he sat down.

“You're not going to be out of the loop, you are the one who knows where a weapon may be hidden, so you can easily tell them which spot to tackle more thoroughly,” he reassured him as he sat by him.

“That would be more efficient than me just searching one at a time, okay I’ll do that,” he let out a small puff of air and managed a small smirk, “I guess that’s why I have you in my life, you somehow manage my little quirks.”

“‘Little quirks’ is an understatement,” he deadpans and leans on him, “but yeah we do fit well for some odd reason.”

“Like peaches and congee,” he grins.

“I think you are the only ones who actually dip it into the food.”

“Oh like I haven’t seen you do the same with mango,” he pointed out.

“There’s a difference okay! It just tastes better that way,” he huffed.

“Surrrre it does,” he drawled out.

“It does.”

“Whatever you say.”

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #mk #macaque #PlumTeaAU

14 notes · View notes

jilytho · 3 years

Text

Blind Dating and Miscalculating

Blind dating au where Lily is on a blind date and wrongly assumes James is her date

Read below or on AO3 :)

“Whew does Mary know how to pick ‘em!” James looked up in shock to see a woman, apparently under the impression some Mary somehow ‘picked’ James leering at him, teetering from side to side as she pulled back the chair opposite him and clambered into it, nearly knocking off the unused wine glass closest to her.

Drunk. Drunk but also gorgeous. Red tendrils that likely at one point in the night were neatly arranged were now flung about her shoulders in partial disarray.

“Scuse me, I’m not quite sure you’ve got the right-”

“I told her I didn’t want to go! I said,” she reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling it towards her, wide eyes locked on his. One look at her bright green eyes (beautifully green eyes, his favorite shade of green, actually) was enough to tell that while the lights were on, nobody was home. “I said, Mary!” She exclaimed, continuing to cradle his hand close to her while gesturing wildly with the other, “Mary I have no interest in dating, period. Nevermind getting set up with some random strange man. Especially with the name Mark. I mean, look, no offense Mark and other Marks of the world but it really is a rather plain name.” She paused to catch his gaping mouth opening and closing not unlike a fish before continuing. “That’s not to say that plain is always a bad thing or that extravagant names are a good thing,” she stumbled over the word extravagant and pushed right past it, “I mean I dated this bloke, Severus, once and I thought wow such an interesting name, fascinating. Nope. Dead boring and borderline stalkerish fellow as it turns out. So you’d think I’d like plain after an experience like that, wouldn’t you?”

She stopped abruptly, eyes staring at him expectantly, apparently waiting for some form of agreement.

“Erm I suppose so?”

“Exactly! You’d think! But I mean, Mark. So mundane. I just assumed the person would be mundane as well. Probably an accountant or a lawyer, blech. Not to mention I was a bit nervous, been a little since my last date if I’m being honest. Not that there weren't offers.” She gripped his hand tighter, “There were offers, Mark. Don’t start thinking I’m desperate. I had offers.” She dropped his hand and folded her arms as if he had suggested otherwise.

“I didn’t say- I’m not, I'm sorry can we back up for a-” his words and thoughts were a jumbled mess.

“Anyway,” she huffed, rolling her eyes and relaxing her arms, “anyway. Anyway, what was I saying? Mark! Yes, Mark. So as I was saying, I didn’t want to go on this date at all but Mary was all ‘it’ll be good for you! He’s so cute! We’ll get drinks first!’ and so I agreed to come meet you, but may have drank more than three margaritas but in my defense it was 2 for 1 and Mary was paying and I can never pass up a good deal. So that's why I’m late. But I am here. I am here with you, Mark, and you are far less boring looking than I expected. Yes, much cuter than any Mark I’ve ever met. Mary did well.” She nodded approvingly, sitting back in her seat and smiling constantly.

From the corner of his eye he saw Sirius walk into the restaurant and see the woman in the chair Sirius had been meant to occupy. James immediately tried to signal with his eyes, “HELP, HELP, HELP” without alerting the redhead in front of him when Sirius, the bastard, winked at him lightly, turned on his heel, and left.

She hadn’t noticed his desperate face as she was busy scanning the menu over and when she wasn’t calling him Mark or yelling in his face she was quite pretty. Extremely pretty, actually. Like exactly the kind of person he’d want to have one a blind date. Or a non-blind date. Any date really. And the girl clearly needed food in her stomach to soak up some of her margarita, really it would be irresponsible to leave her like this. The least he could do would be to keep her company, pretend he was Mark to try and minimize her embarrassment, and then make sure she got home safe.

“You know,” she met his eye over her menu as he spoke, “for someone who seems to have a lot of opinions on my name, I don’t believe Mary ever told me yours.”

She laughed lightly, a beautiful wind chimey, tinkly noise that sent delight shooting down his spine.

“Lily, Lily Evans.” She reached her hand across the table again, this time for him to shake. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure is all mine, Lily, Lily Evans.” He shook her hand lightly and looked back at his menu.

Dinner seemed to fly by. Once Lily got some food into her system she sobered up rapidly, yet sobriety in no way impacted her ability to keep him completely enthralled and entertained. Each passing minute made him more inclined to legally change his name to Mark and live the lie for the rest of his days.

Sure their life would be a lie, he thought as she threw her head back laughing over some asinine story he was telling of Sirius, red hair swirling around like flames, but it would be fun.

Not only was she bold, she openly mocked his ordering bourbon, ruthlessly holding nothing back despite only knowing him for a matter of minutes, but she was also unbelievably sweet. Listening intently to every story he shared, telling multiple of her own where despite being an ass kicking journalist she somehow also found time to volunteer at the animal shelter and had fostered three different dogs in the last two months. Ruthless, for sure, as she batted her eyes at him over her water glass causing all sorts of feelings to start to stir. She would give James, correction- Mark, a run for his money and then some. Barely an hour of sitting across from her and he was pretty sure he’d take his dinner knife to Mark's throat if the bloke ever actually did show up. Whether it be from jealousy or fury that any human being could ever stand up this goddess in front of him.

The conversation flowed easily. Leaping seamlessly from her parents professions to his childhood mischief to the time she dyed her sister's dog key lime green. Her dad had a thing for flowers, apparently, marrying a Rose and insisting on making their daughters Petunia and Lily.

“You could keep up the tradition, you know. Get your kids some flower names. Maybe something unique,”

“What?” She scoffed, “and subject them to years of cheesy, thoughtless bouquets of a flower you hardly like just because it’s your namesake? I don’t think so.”

“Then make it a flower they’d want to get! Or an herb, like Basil. Everyone wants a Basil plant around.” He pointed his drink at her as she spluttered incoherently, “are you telling me you don’t love a basil plant?”

“You’re right, how dare I overlook such a top quality name as Basil.” She drawled out in a monotone, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I suppose we’d go with something more colorful though, like Anemone!” She looked like the idea was pure genius and now he was the one spluttering in her face.

He tried not to let his heart burst at her use of we.

“I’m sorry, isn’t that the ocean thing? The Nemo thing? The sea anananamename thing where they live? That’s what you want to name your child?”

Her eyes were screwed shut as she clutched her chest, gasping for air through her laughs.

“What?” He grinned at her, not caring if he had somehow said the wrong thing or appeared dumb when her laughter was so intoxicating. He felt a tingling run straight down his spine.

“A sea,” she gasped out through choked laughs, “anemone!”

“That’s what you just said!” He continued to argue.

“Whew,” she wiped a stray tear from one eye, “truthfully you’re not that far off base at all. Same exact spelling. But they do have anemone for flowers that are on land as well as the sea. I’ve just never heard someone butcher a word so spectacularly.”

“Yes well, you know I’m quite good at that.” He leaned back in his seat as her eyebrow quirked up. “In fact, so good that I have been named the anti-Spelling B Champ,” he nodded matter of factly and continued on as if she wasn’t gaping at him, echo of a laugh still present on her face.

“It’s true! Annually, all the people that hate spelling b’s gather and compete to see who can truly butcher a word the most. I’ve won every time. You’re sitting with a nationally ranked word ruiner.”

“Oh wow, however could I have not known. Do you have any secrets of the trade you could share?”

“I usually would never divulge such confidential information but just because you asked so nicely and because you are in fact stunningly gorgeous, I’ll give you one.” He leaned in conspiratorially, hitching a finger for her to do the same, and dropped his voice low. “To really put yourself over the top and seal that victory,” he looked side to side dramatically, checking for eavesdroppers before looking back on her, “is all about the silent Q.” He sat back again and watched her shoulders shake lightly with poorly concealed giggles.

“Personally,” he grinned strongly, all pretense of secrecy gone, “I like to throw a minimum of three in there just to really set myself apart. Once I did a silent q followed by a silent x. I nearly sent the judge to an early grave.”

“You know I bet what would have really done him in is if you followed the x with a p but you pronounce the p like a-“

“Lily?” James reared back to find some bloke standing next to their table staring anxiously in between the two of them. “Are you Lily?” Lily nodded lightly, eyebrows scrunched in confusion, eyes flitting between the newcomer and James.

“Um yes I am, I’m sorry do I know you?”

A wave of cold dread overcame him, realization sinking into his chest. The newcomer, just about their age, polo and khakis, easily could have been a lawyer or an accountant. He had to explain before she realized as well and he looked like a total lying creep.

“Lily, I can explain-“

“I’m Mark, I’m so sorry I’m so late. My car broke down and I didn’t have your number.”

They spoke at the same time, the real Mark reaching a hand out to shake Lily’s.

She didn’t take it. Instead she swiveled dumbly between the two staring accusingly at the real Mark. “You can’t be Mark. I’m having dinner with Mark. You must be here for someone else.”

“Lily, I really can explain if you’d just-“ James started again as Lily whipped around to face him. “You! You liar! Who are you?” She pushed back in her chair looking at him as suspiciously as if he had just announced he liked to moonlight as a serial killer in his spare time.

“I’m sorry, your name is Mark as well?” The real Mark stared down at James politely inquiring, as if this was all perhaps a genuine mix up and not a case of an imposter stealing his date.

“Not quite, its erm James. But truly if you think absolutely it the names are quite similar, the whole second letter being an A and the part about being in the Bible and what not.” Mark's eyebrows rose and Lily did not appear amused by his comparison.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to lie or anything, I just… you sat down and assumed I was Mark and I was actually meant to be meeting a friend but you were just so pretty and funny and I didn’t want you to feel like you’d been stood up so I thought I could come clean later but I just wanted to get to know you. I’m sorry, truly.” She looked at him, hurt and confused, and he just wanted to hang his head low and apologize another half dozen times.

“I can leave so you two can get on with your date,” his heart sank as he stood, gesturing the open chair to Mark without quite meeting his eye.

He forced himself to look up at Lily, “I really am sorry. It was really nice to meet you, have a nice evening.”

He turned lightly and began to head out of the restaurant, feeling Lily’s eyes burning into the back of his head even while he heard Mark sit down across from her and apologize again for his lateness.

He was barely out the door when he heard her yelling his name, his real name, from behind and spun back around to watch her jogging to catch up to him.

He braced himself for her to yell at him or hit him or completely tear him a new one and gave her a forced smile.

“Lily, I-“

“Is your name really James?” she huffed, somewhat out of breath.

“Erm yes. Just James. No Jim or Jay or weird nicknames really…” his right hand came up to ruffle the back of his hair, still anxiously waiting for her to scream at him.

She reached up on her tiptoes, hand snaking around the back of his neck (oh god she was gonna try and hold his head still so she could really hit him strongly) and used it to pull herself up closer and his head down and touch her lips lightly to his.

The light kiss sent shockwaves down his body as he froze, processing what was happening.

“I like the name James so much more.” She whispered against his lips, barely a breath away. That was all he needed to throw an arm around her waist and tuck her snugly against him, the other hand going to caress her cheek and bring his lips back to her, stronger than before. They kissed deeply and sweetly and he felt it down through his toes and in every single nerve in his body.

When they pulled apart, still wrapped up in each other, and she lightly hummed his name against him, he felt suddenly very sure that there was no sound better than her saying his name.

“So, I’d really like to do that again. And the date again. With you knowing my name the whole time preferably. Preferably right now. What's to say I go take care of the bill and you take care of the real Mark and we go get some ice cream, maybe?”

“What’s say we do.” She intertwined their fingers and pulled him lightly back towards the restaurant for a fresh start.

#jily #jily fic #jily fanfic #mywriting #jilytho #james potter #lily evans #harry potter fanfiction #jily au

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noona-clock · 4 years

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What’s Your Sign?: Leo

Genre: Road Trip!AU

Pairing: Jiyong x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: Mild cursing, Mentions of serial killers/death

Words: 6,291

Author’s Note: Since I’m so fascinated by astrology, I decided to do a Zodiac series! I will be writing a one-shot fic for each sign featuring different members from different groups (and even an actor!). Each story will be posted on the 5th of the month during that sign’s season. Please reblog, comment, or send in an ask with your feedback! Thank you for your support 💜

“Why do you keep looking at the map?” Jiyong asked for probably the eighteenth time.

“Because,” you muttered through clenched teeth -- for probably the eighteenth time. “I don’t trust your navigation skills, and I think we’re lost!”

Actually, you’d thought he’d gotten lost about two hours ago. If only you’d had the courage to tell him back then -- the two of you would be back on the right track now!

...Oh, wait.

You had told him back then! He, being the insufferable, stubborn ass that he was, just hadn’t listened! And now you were still lost!

Though, not according to him.

“We are not lost,” he sighed, his annoyance very obvious as he spoke to you. “I know exactly where I’m going, so just calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” you retorted.

You quickly snapped your gaze back to the map because you knew Jiyong’s response to your words would be a frustratingly annoying roll of his eyes, and you weren’t sure what you would do if you saw him roll his eyes at you. Your patience was already hanging by a thread -- it could (and likely would) snap at any time.

But looking back at the map reminded you that... you had no idea where you were.

“I can’t even find where we are on the map!” you pointed out, your forehead wrinkled with both irritation and concern.

“I told you,” Jiyong sighed. “I know where we are. Just put the map down, you’re getting --”

“Don’t,” you interrupted harshly. “Even finish that sentence.”

To be honest, you were actually kind of afraid what you would’ve done if he had finished that sentence. Absolutely nothing good, of that you were certain.

Thankfully -- and somewhat surprisingly -- Jiyong took your advice, pressing his lips together and continuing on driving.

Also somewhat surprisingly, you took Jiyong’s advice and put the map down. It was very clear he didn’t know where he was going, but it was also very clear that he wasn’t going to admit it. He was just going to keep driving until... well, you had absolutely no idea. Until he fell asleep, probably. And then where would you be?

With an internal sigh, you leaned over and pressed your forehead against the cool glass of his car window, closing your eyes and trying to think of exactly what to say to your best friend when you finally saw her again.

You wouldn’t even be in this mess if it wasn’t for her, after all. This was all her fault! ...Sort of. Right now, she was the easiest person to blame, so that’s what you were going to do. Blame her -- and her soon-to-be husband, of course.

Okay, here’s the backstory of how you’d gotten to this point: Your best friend had been dating Jiyong’s best friend since your university days. You had met Jiyong several times, obviously, but you’d never actually hung out, gotten to know each other, or become friends in any way, shape, or form. Not because you didn’t want to, just... because you didn’t. Jiyong had majored in music production, and you had majored in cognitive science with a focus on artificial intelligence.

So, basically, the two of you had lived in two completely different worlds.

But, now, quite a few years after graduating, your best friends were getting married.

Jiyong had been chosen as the Best Man for the groom, and you had been chosen as the Maid of Honor for the bride. But you hadn’t really had to interact or plan anything with each other... until now.

For some reason you really and truly couldn’t explain, the bride and groom had chosen to have a joint bachelor and bachelorette party up in some remote cabin in the mountains -- a perfect setting for a horror film, in your opinion.

But what’s even worse: they had asked you and Jiyong to go up ahead of time to get things ready.

Together.

In the same car.

For... bonding time.

So, that’s how you’d gotten here. In the car. With Jiyong. Lost. On some practically deserted, hardly paved, winding road with no cell phone service (hence the paper map you’d had to resort to).

“Oh, come on,” Jiyong chuckled. “We’re almost there, trust me.”

You weren’t even going to dignify that with a response -- mainly because you didn’t want to divulge your trust issues to someone you barely knew. But also because you just didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of any sort of reply.

But when you just barely lifted your eyelids, you noticed that the sun was beginning to set.

Great.

If you had been in charge of this little road trip, the two of you would be at the cabin right now. But, no. You had been too nice and had let Jiyong drive, and now look where that had gotten you: in the middle of nowhere.

And you would never, ever, ever admit to him that the reason you’d been too nice and had let him drive was because you were actually kind of scared of him.

You didn’t even want to admit that to yourself.

But you worked with technology all day! Machines, you were used to. People... not so much.

And Jiyong was just... a lot. He was quiet on the outside but definitely not on the inside.

He was supremely confident and wildly intimidating, two traits you’d never quite gotten the hang of.

Although, he did occasionally sport some wild hair colors -- currently, his locks were a nice mix of bright orange and fiery red -- so he wasn’t always quiet on the outside.

But, anyway -- his supreme confidence wasn’t going to help you now because whether he knew it or not, you were, indeed, very, very lost. And it was going to be getting dark within the hour.

You then spotted a building way up ahead, sitting up straight and squinting to try and make out what it was.

“If you know where we are,” you began, not doing anything to hide the skepticism in your voice. “Then what is that?”

“That... is a building,” Jiyong answered.

“Oh, wow,” you scoffed. “Now I definitely believe that you know where we are. There’s no way you could’ve known that was a building without being familiar with this area.”

You took a risk and glanced over at him, but instead of seeing some smug, smarmy expression on his face... he was smiling. But not in a way that made you want to slap it right off his lips. His smile was... like... amused. And then you realized he was laughing.

“Well, I’m glad you think you’re funny because I certainly don’t,” you told him, your brow knit together so tightly that you were fairly certain you would have a headache soon.

Jiyong sputtered out a chuckle, returning your gaze briefly as he sported a pretty adorable grin on his face.

Oh, god. Why had you just thought his grin was adorable?

I mean... objectively, it was adorable. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked scary and threatening and like he was meticulously plotting your slow demise.

But when he smiled? It lit up his face and his eyes crinkled and you could see just a smidge more of his gums than your average smile and just -- he looked like a totally different person in a very good way.

But no matter how adorable his grin was and no matter how much his face was transformed by it, he was still an overly arrogant piece of --

“What?” he said with a somewhat taunting lilt to his voice. “It is a building.”

You simply replied with a scowl. Not only because you were not amused by his observation but also because he had interrupted your thoughts before you could properly, in your mind, call him an overly arrogant piece of --

“Okay, okay,” he relented. “Since you’re so concerned, I’ll stop at that building and make sure we’re going the right way. Because we are.”

“What if that building turns out to be abandoned? Or the house of a serial killer?” you asked, deciding to just give up on calling him silent names and turning away to look out the window.

Jiyong simply shrugged. “Then we keep going. Or we die.”

“Uh, excuse me,” you sputtered. “There is no we. You’re getting out of this car by your damn self.”

“But we’re supposed to be bonding,” he pointed out, and even though you were no longer looking at him, you could so very clearly hear the smirk in his tone.

“Dying together is not my idea of quality bonding time.”

A breathy chuckle escaped through Jiyong’s nose, and you looked back over at him with a very triumphant expression.

“See? You’re not the only one who can be funny,” you quipped.

“So, you admit what I said was funny,” he stated rather than asked.

“You thought it was funny.”

“And that’s really all that matters,” he nodded. “At least to me.”

At that, you merely raised your eyebrows and, yet again, shifted your gaze toward the car window.

There was semi-awkward silence between the two of you as Jiyong drove up to the building -- which turned out to be just a house, presumably. After parking off to the side of the road you’d been traveling, Jiyong turned off the car and leaned forward a bit in his seat to look at you.

“You sure you don’t wanna come with me?” he asked, his voice low as the engine cutting off had made it eerily silent.

“Oh, I’m sure,” you nodded. “You go right ahead.”

Jiyong took the keys out of the ignition then, jingling them a little before closing his fist around them. “Well, I’m taking these.”

“I wasn’t going to drive off without you!” you scoffed.

“Yeah, but now if I do get abducted by a serial killer, you have to come in and rescue me if you want to escape.”

...Okay, you had to admit. That was... kind of a genius plan.

Damn it.

“Just go,” you sighed with a weary shake of your head.

Jiyong murmured an ‘okay’ before unlocking the car door and hoisting himself out. You jumped slightly when he slammed it closed, but your eyes never left him as he loped up toward the house.

Your heart began to race as he approached the front door. You gulped anxiously when he lifted one hand and knocked. You clenched your fists in your lap when the door opened.

A short, middle-aged woman answered, and you almost immediately eased up a bit. She certainly didn’t fit the serial killer profile, and Jiyong was quite a few inches taller than her. He was skinny as a rail, but he could still probably take her if he had to.

You were too far away to make out any of the conversation between them, but the woman’s body language and expression both seemed very warm and welcoming. If you were a gambler, you would bet she was giving Jiyong directions to lead him to the right way.

Jiyong simply stood there nodding, though you knew without a doubt he was taking every and any opportunity to smooth-talk her.

Then, suddenly, Jiyong turned around and gestured to you, his lips curved into a smile. The woman waved at you, and you lifted one hand to awkwardly wave back.

If she was just giving him directions, why in the world would he bring you into it? There was no need for the woman to know about or wave at you... What, exactly, was he doing?

After another minute or two of conversation, the woman began to back into her house, one hand on the side of the front door as she got ready to close it. Jiyong, on the other hand, turned sideways a bit in preparation for turning around and heading back to the car. He quickly put his hands together palm-to-palm in front of his chest and bowed slightly to the woman, thanking her before turning on his heel and striding toward you.

Your eyes got wider as you watched him head, not for the driver’s side, but to the passenger’s side -- to your side. Why was he coming over here? And he had the keys, so you couldn’t roll the window down.

When he got to his car, he reached for your door handle and pulled it open. You instinctively leaned back a little, but then he leaned forward, ducking his head into the car and getting uncomfortably close to you.

“So, yeah,” he murmured. “We’re lost, and the closest way back is the way we came, but I don’t have enough gas to get us back there, and it’ll be too dark to drive soon.”

Before you could let out a victorious ha! and rub it in his face that you’d been right all along, Jiyong continued.

“This happens on occasion, so the woman who lives here has set up an extra room for people like us to stay in overnight.”

“Are you --”

“It’s our only choice,” he cut in, his voice sharp. “Either that or we sleep in the car.”

You honestly weren’t sure which one sounded less appealing: sleeping in a stranger’s house in the middle of nowhere or sleeping in Jiyong’s car in the middle of nowhere.

Well, at least in a house, there was food. And better protection from bears. Or mountain lions. Or whatever creatures lived around here.

So, you relented with a sigh and a shrug of your shoulders.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he muttered.

You moved to undo your seatbelt, but Jiyong stopped you with a soft clear of his throat.

“Oh, and... uh... but there is this... one... stipulation.”

You paused, furrowing your brow with confusion and tilting your head up to look at him. “...What?”

“So... here’s the thing.”

Oh, you did not like the sound of that.

“Just tell me,” you ground out.

“She only has one room, and I had to tell her we’re engaged otherwise I don’t think she would’ve let us stay here.”

...Your heart jumped into your throat. Your stomach fell down to your feet.

You stared at him, blinking.

And then you finally managed to get out, “You had to tell her what now?”

“She asked if I was alone, so I said I wasn’t and that’s when I turned around to show her you were waiting in the car, and then she asked if you were my wife, so obviously, I said you weren’t, but then she started to say something that sounded like she really doesn’t let just anyone in -- I mean, you can’t blame her because, like you said, there could be serial killers. So, I just blurted out that we’re engaged and will be married soon, and she said that was perfect and we can stay for the night.”

So... if you were hearing him correctly, the woman inside that house -- the only building around for miles, so it seems, and the only way you’ll be sleeping safely for the night -- was letting you and Jiyong stay here under the misconception that the two of you were... engaged? To be married?

You inhaled deeply, letting it out very slowly before politely and quietly asking Jiyong to let you get out of the car.

He stepped aside, and you methodically unbuckled your seatbelt. You swung your legs over the side of your seat, and you put your feet on the ground. You stood up, and you turned to face Jiyong.

And then you reached out and hit his upper arm.

“Are you crazy?!” you hissed, feeling your frown on every inch of your face.

“Ouch!”

“Oh, we haven’t even scratched the surface of ouch,” you warned him before hitting him again. “Why -- why would you tell her that we’re engaged?!”

When you geared up for another hit, Jiyong’s hand darted out to grab onto your wrist. “Didn’t you hear me?! I don’t think she was going to let us stay here if we weren’t! She must be one of those super old-fashioned ladies -- I mean, come on. We’re in the middle of nowhere. The last time she watched something current on TV was probably decades ago.”

“But still! Engaged?!” you cried, using every mental muscle in your body to not sound like a shrill witch.

“I’m sorry! It didn’t feel like I had a choice, and I panicked!”

“Yeah, you should be sorry! You’re the one who got us lost in the first place, and you wouldn’t have been in the situation to panic if you had just listened to me!”

Jiyong carefully let go of your wrist, though he still kept his hand up at the ready in case he needed to protect himself again. And then he plastered a very convincingly apologetic expression on his features.

“You... are right. You’re right. I did get us lost, and if I had listened to you, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now. I’m sincerely sorry, and I understand and accept that you have every right to be angry with me.”

Your jaw fell open with utter shock.

...All of those words had really come out of his mouth?

His mouth? Jiyong’s mouth?

“When we actually get to the cabin, I give you full permission to shit talk me as much as you need to, but tonight... I really need you to play along. Without this lady’s help, we’ll probably just get lost again, and we won’t get any gas or food, so we just --”

“Okay, fine,” you interrupted. “I just have one question.”

Jiyong’s eyebrows rushed up his forehead, and he waited for you to ask it.

You simply lifted up your left hand, your palm facing you, and wiggled your fingers. “Where’s my ring?”

“I, being so much in love to the point of distraction, bought a ring that was too big, so it’s at the jeweler’s getting resized.”

Your head jerked back with surprise. “Wha -- um... you thought of that really quickly.”

“What can I say?” Jiyong smirked, lifting his shoulders in smug satisfaction. “I’m quick on my feet. She said she’s putting dinner on the table right now, so just leave all the talking to me.”

Well. Humble, repentant Jiyong had been nice while he’d lasted.

God, this was so painful.

After lugging your overnight bags into the house, you and Jiyong had almost immediately sat down to dinner with Mrs. Elderberry, and she had almost immediately started asking about the two of you.

You had been incredibly curious to hear what Jiyong would come up with, but to your slight disappointment, he had basically told her the actual story of how you knew each other -- you had gone to university together and your best friends had dated each other. He had simply added on that you had fallen in love and were now getting ready to be married.

And, apparently, your first date had been to an old-fashioned drive-in movie theater. Mrs. Elderberry had thoroughly enjoyed that, and it was then you realized just how smart Jiyong was.

Not when it came to directions, of course, but when it came to people. He knew your hostess for the night was old-fashioned, so he’d thought of an old-fashioned first date to endear the two of you as a couple to her.

She had also believed his story about getting your ring resized, so you decided that leaving all the talking to Jiyong (he’d explained that you were frightfully shy) had actually been a good idea.

But still. It was painful. Listening to Jiyong wax poetic about how in love the two of you were was not a pleasant dinner soundtrack. Or one you’d ever thought you’d have to experience.

Ever.

Though... you had to admit... the way he described you to Mrs. Elderberry was scarily accurate. He knew your job, he knew you were shy and reserved unless it mattered (like when he had gotten you more lost than you’d ever been in your life -- you certainly hadn’t been willing to keep quiet about that), he knew you preferred video games over books even though you did still like books, and he knew you were a cat person. He even called you “smart as a whip.”

At the end of the meal, Jiyong volunteered the two of you for clean up duty, something which you heartily agreed to since Mrs. Elderberry had refused to take any money for the room.

Your hostess shuffled into her living room to “catch up on her stories” -- though when you heard the television come on, you definitely heard the theme song for a soap opera that was at least twenty years old... -- and you sidled up next to Jiyong at the sink to help with the dishes.

And since this whole situation was just absurd, you found your shyness had basically vanished completely. So, you came out and asked, “How do you know so much about me? Everything you told her was true, and it kind of freaked me out, to be honest.”

Jiyong lifted one shoulder into a half-shrug, letting out a breathless chuckle as he rinsed off a plate. “I’m just observant. I pick up on things easily, and I get to know people quickly.”

“That’s... impressive,” you admitted.

He murmured his thanks, and then the two of you continued on doing the dishes in companionable silence.

As soon as the kitchen was clean, Jiyong poked his head into the living room and let Mrs. Elderberry know the two of you had been in the car for so long today and were simply exhausted and were going to head up to bed.

...You froze right there at the sink.

How had you completely forgotten about that? The whole... sleeping situation. The fact that Mrs. Elderberry had a room -- one. One room. A single room.

And there were two of you.

And if she wouldn’t let an unmarried -- or unengaged -- couple spend the night here, you had to assume there was just one bed.

“Hey, you coming?” Jiyong murmured, interrupting your thoughts and making you jump a little bit.

“Hmm? Oh -- yeah. Yeah, I’m coming.”

He raised one eyebrow at you, obviously suspicious of your awkward stammering. “Are... you okay?”

You just nodded quickly but, apparently, it was enough for Jiyong because he headed over to your bags and picked both of them up to carry upstairs.

“Up the stairs, first door on your left!” Mrs. Elderberry called out as you began to ascend the staircase following Jiyong.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Elderberry,” Jiyong called out in response. “We truly appreciate this.”

“Yeah, unless she kills us in our sleep,” you muttered.

“Good night!” Jiyong cried, but you knew he’d heard you. And, sure enough, once he reached the landing at the top of the stairs, he turned to you with a reprimanding expression. “You really think she could kill us?”

“Did you watch and make sure she was eating from the same serving plates as us? Our dinner could have been poisoned.”

You knew it wasn’t likely -- in the least -- but still! You never know!

“Okay, if anyone is going to kill you, it’s going to be one of those robots you work with,” he chuckled, shaking his head.

“That is absolutely not true. And I don’t work with robots! I just help design smart AI --”

Jiyong opened his mouth to interject, but you finished your sentence before he had the chance.

“For tech support chats. You know when you’re on shopping websites and that little thing pops up asking if you need help?”

“...That’s you?”

“That’s me,” you grinned. “Well. Kind of. I help design it. And make it smarter.”

“Ah... so... you’re not helping build an army of robots who are going to eventually take over the world?”

You shook your head. “No. Not yet. But probably someday.”

Jiyong snorted with amusement before turning and heading to the first door on the left, standing aside to allow you to open it since he was carrying both of your overnight bags.

Even though you knew there would only be one bed, you had still held out some hope that maybe -- just maybe -- there would be two smaller ones instead of one bigger one. If Mrs. Elderberry was truly old-fashioned, she would’ve set up her guest room like the mom and dad’s bedrooms on those black and white television shows -- the kind where they slept in separate beds even though they were married.

But, alas. When you opened the door... there it was.

The one bed.

“I can sleep on the floor,” you said hastily, not even waiting a second after closing the door behind you.

You were expecting Jiyong to let you, but surprisingly, he replied with, “No, that’s okay. I got it. I’m the one who got us into this, so it’s only fair.”

Would you ever get used to Jiyong admitting he had been wrong? For as long as you’d known him, you’d never witnessed him do that -- and now, he had done it twice. In the same night.

“Are you sure? You could probably use a comfortable mattress. You must be exhausted from accepting so much guilt tonight.”

“Hey, now,” Jiyong chuckled. “When I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong.”

“Uh, only after you’ve found unavoidable proof that you are,” you pointed out. “Do you remember how many times I said we were lost?”

“Yeah, well --”

“You just don’t trust me,” you said, half-teasing but half-serious. He had every right not to trust you, though -- you’d known each other for a long time but not well enough to have developed any sort of trust.

Plus, you still had the aforementioned trust issues, but we won’t get into that.

“I thought I knew where I was going!”

“So, you just wouldn’t even listen to me,” you tsked. And then you let out a soft gasp. “You wouldn’t listen to me because I’m a girl, and girls are bad with directions!”

Jiyong had been rifling around in his bag to find his toothbrush, but your words made him spring up and look at you aghast.

“That’s not true!”

“Oh, really?” you smirked. “You just honestly thought you were 100% right and there was no way you could be wrong?”

And then something happened you truly never expected: Jiyong looked... embarrassed. And shy.

“No...” he said slowly, drawing the word out in a very unconfident manner.

What was going on? You’d only ever seen Jiyong in a state of complete self-assurance, so this was kind of throwing you off-balance.

“I just...” he continued, lifting one shoulder into a half-shrug. “I didn’t want to look stupid in front of you.”

You almost choked on the air you were breathing.

Jiyong? Didn’t want to look stupid? In front of you?

“Wh --”

“You’re, like, crazy smart,” he interrupted. “And I guess... I just wanted to prove that...”

But he trailed off and didn’t finish his sentence, leaving you just as dismayed.

“But... I mean, you kind of are a genius,” you pointed out after a few awkward moments.

“Yeah, when it comes to music.”

Ah. There was the confidence. But, according to your best friend, he really was a bomb music producer. So, his confidence wasn’t unfounded in this particular instance.

“Well, I certainly couldn’t create or produce or even sing a song if my life depended on it. That’s something I can’t figure out with an algorithm.”

“True,” Jiyong replied softly with a little chuckle. And then he waved his toothbrush at you and said, “Well, I’m gonna get ready for bed, I guess.”

You shot him a swift grin before he headed to the small en suite bathroom, and when you heard the door close behind him, you dashed to your own bag so you could change into your pajamas before he came back out.

You had no idea what time it was, and at this point, you were too afraid to look. You only knew you’d been lying in bed -- in Mrs. Elderberry’s guest bed in Mrs. Elderberry’s house in the middle of nowhere -- for a very long time, and you hadn’t been able to manage one wink of sleep.

And... by the sounds of it. Jiyong hadn’t been able to, either. He had been fairly quiet and still so far, but just a few moments ago, you heard the telltale signs of tossing and turning.

Since you were awake... and since you now knew he was awake... you would feel kind of awkward if you didn’t say anything.

“Jiyong,” you whispered hesitantly into the darkness of the room.

“Hmm?”

“Okay, just making sure you were actually awake.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Can’t sleep. You?”

“Nope.”

He moved around again, and this time, you saw his silhouette move into a sitting position and turn to fluff the pillow you’d given him.

“You can’t sleep because... you’re too uncomfortable?” you guessed. Your heart began to beat just a bit quicker because you knew what you were going to follow-up with if he said ‘yes.’

“...I mean, yeah. It’s the floor.”

And here we go.

“Just come up here. The bed is big enough.”

Unsurprisingly, Jiyong didn’t answer right away. He waited a couple of moments before replying with a very wary, “...Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure right now, but if you wait too long, I’ll probably change my mind.”

You immediately heard some rustling, and not even ten seconds later, the side of the bed next to you dipped down.

“I don’t know if it’ll help much,” you whispered, keeping your eyes glued on the ceiling. “Because I’m still awake, but it’s gotta be better than the floor.”

Jiyong let out a satisfied sigh, and for some reason, the sound of it made a tiny smile appear at the corners of your lips.

“Much better,” he murmured. “Thanks.”

You simply hummed in response, and then the room went quiet again.

That is, until you found yourself asking something which had been on your mind for... well, however long ago it was that he’d said this.

“Why did you not want to look stupid in front of me?” you asked with an almost undetectable waver in your voice -- almost. It was definitely there because you were definitely nervous, both to have him lying right beside you and to hear his answer.

“You just couldn’t let it go, huh?” Jiyong chuckled. You could tell he turned over, and when he spoke next, his voice was more clear -- he had turned over to face you. “I didn’t want to look stupid in front of you because I think you’re cool.”

A laugh burst from your chest, and you immediately brought a hand up to cover your mouth, not wanting to wake your gracious hostess. “I’m sorry, what?” you choked out. “Me? Cool? I am not cool.”

“You are to me.”

“But... I’m a technology, video game nerd. It’s a well-known fact that you are the cool one.” You glanced over at him, but only briefly. Your heart was racing enough as it was; looking at him would only make it worse.

“You’re authentic,” he replied. “You’re genuine. You don’t care what other people think. You’re 100% totally yourself, and to me... that’s cool.”

Your forehead had started wrinkling as he’d started answering you, and the wrinkles had only gotten deeper as he’d kept talking.

“I... I had... no idea you thought that,” you said with a breathless laugh of disbelief. “Why didn’t you ever tell me before?”

“Because I just started thinking you were cool earlier today,” he answered without missing a beat.

“Shut up,” you chuckled, reaching out absently with your hand and swatting his shoulder -- or, at least, you thought it was his shoulder. You still weren’t facing or looking at him.

“No, in all seriousness... I just... didn’t think you’d care.”

And you could definitely understand why he would’ve thought that. Because you’d thought the same thing.

You finally turned your head to the side, meeting his gaze through the darkness. “I thought the same thing about you. I thought you were way too cool for me, and there was no way you’d ever want to be friends with a geek like me.”

“So, we both were idiots then, huh? Me more than you, of course.”

Your brow knit together in confusion. “Why’s that?”

“Because I’m a guy.”

“Oh,” you chuckled, your lips curving into a smile. “Well, yeah. I can agree with that.”

“So... are we friends now?” he asked -- and you could’ve sworn you heard a hopeful lilt in his tone.

“Yeah, I guess. And from one friend to another? A good leader isn’t the one who has all the right answers. A good leader is the one who recognizes the right answer when he hears it.”

“Wow, okay, how many times do I have to admit that you were right about being lost?”

“As many times as it takes me to forget.”

“So... for the rest of my life, then.”

...Why did the thought of knowing Jiyong for the rest of his life make your heart flutter? Just this afternoon, this thought would have almost disgusted you -- it definitely would’ve made you uncomfortable.

But now you were realizing -- pretty quickly -- that he wasn’t exactly who you thought he was. He was certainly still arrogant and stubborn, but he was also generous (letting you have the bed), determined (willing to do whatever it took to let Mrs. Elderberry give you her guest room), and... actually pretty sweet.

“Okay, my turn -- from one friend to another.”

His words interrupted your thoughts, but you were kind of glad about that. You didn’t really need to be thinking about how sweet Jiyong was when he was lying right next to you in bed.

“Go for it,” you murmured.

“...Would it be super weird if we cuddled?”

“Wha --!” you choked.

“I need something to cuddle when I sleep! That’s why I couldn’t sleep on the floor! And unless you want to give me your pillow...”

You immediately lifted your head, grabbed your pillow out from under you, and threw it over at him. There was no way you were going to cuddle with him. That was a very bad idea.

...Mainly because you were worried it wasn’t a bad idea at all.

One Year Later

You knew Jiyong was tired when he fell asleep before you.

That man could labor away in his studio basically all night, so when he was already in bed when you got home from work?

Granted, you had been clocking some late hours at work the past few days. Your team had been busy with a new project, and you’d even had to bring your work laptop home with you tonight to finish things up.

But, still. When you’d popped your head into your shared bedroom and seen with your own eyes that Jiyong was fast asleep, you knew he had been working himself too hard for too long.

...Which didn’t stop you from bringing your laptop with you to bed and getting your own work done, though. You had a deadline to meet!

You tried to get into bed as stealthily as possible, not wanting to wake your boyfriend up from his much-needed rest, but as soon as you opened up your laptop, Jiyong managed to throw the pillow he’d been cuddling over his shoulder and onto the floor. He scooted closer to you and snaked his arm around your waist, his leg over yours, resting his head on your arm as you sat up next to him.

“Ji, I have some more work to do,” you chuckled, trying to shrug him off -- to no avail.

“You can still work,” he muttered, his words slurred with sleep. “I need cuddle.”

“No, you need sleep.”

“Mm mm. Cuddle. You.” He nuzzled your arm, pressing his cheek into the crook of your elbow before turning his head and brushing his lips gently over your skin. “I tried to wait up for you.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” you frowned. “We’re almost done with this project.”

“Almost?”

You hummed positively, glancing down at him with a soft, adoring grin.

“And when you’re done --”

“We’ll celebrate, for sure.”

“By getting married?”

Your head jerked back with surprise, and even though his eyes were closed, you stared down at him. “...Excuse me? Since when are we getting married?” Because this was the first you’d heard of it!

“Since forever,” Jiyong mumbled. “Since Mrs... Mrs... Blueberry. What’s her name.”

“Mrs. Elderberry,” you laughed. “Oh, I’d almost forgotten about her.”

“How could you forget? That’s where we got engaged,” he sighed.

“Oh, it is? So, we’ve been engaged this whole time?”

Jiyong nodded, his hair scratching your skin slightly and causing shivers down your spine.

“Then I just have one question,” you said with a smirk.

“Hmm?”

You pulled your left arm out from his embrace, sticking your hand palm-down in front of his face and wiggling your fingers. “Where’s my ring?”

You were expecting him to reply that it was getting resized -- the excuse you’d given Mrs. Elderberry as to why your ring finger was... well, ringless.

But, to your complete and utter shock, Jiyong dug one hand underneath your pillow, emerging with the most beautiful, the most sparkly, the most perfect ring you’d ever seen in your entire life.

OTHER SIGNS: ARIES, TAURUS, GEMINI, CANCER, VIRGO, LIBRA, SCORPIO, SAGITTARIUS, CAPRICORN, AQUARIUS, PISCES

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maryroyale · 3 years

Text

The lovely @curiouselfqueen tagged me on this one. (Thank you! I love these things.)

Uh. I have *feelings* about these? I have no idea why I feel so strongly, but... uh... there you go.

deep violet or blood red? Both? Not at the same time, but I love both. Purple and red are both power colors, but they convey very different things. Old ladies are allowed to wear both because they have the power to pull it off.

sunshine or moonlight? Oof. My default answer is moonlight? Some of the medication I’m on makes my eyes super-sensitive to sunlight. I’m like a damn vampire. Even on cloudy days I need sunglasses. I like seeing the sunlight through the trees when I’m in the woods? It’s pretty and far less painful.

Don’t get me wrong—I do love the moonlight. It’s so beautiful. Winter moonlight and summer moonlight are gorgeous.

80s music or 90s music? How dare you! Don’t speak to me or my 874 music genres ever again. Seriously though, I really love music. I listen to a wide variety of genres and some artists span decades. I love new wave and synthpop, but I also love pop punk and the swing revival. I can’t say one decade is better than the other.

orchids or dahlias? I like to garden, and from a gardening standpoint it’s dahlias all the way. Orchids are a wildly diverse species (over 25,000 types), but the pretty, delicate orchids they sell in stores are not hardy and require a lot of intensive, specific support. They’ll die if you plant them outside where I live. And the garden outside is what makes me happy and brings me joy.

garnet or ruby? These are such different stones. It’s almost like asking if I like chocolate milk or cola. Yes, they are both brown and you can drink them—but they’re really not similar.

Garnet— it’s semi-precious, plentiful, in use since antiquity. A decent go-to stone for jewelry. Like any gemstone, the color is determined by the type of impurities, so garnet can be almost any color. Blue garnets are the rarest. The Mohs scale for garnet depends on those same impurities because some can actually strengthen the hardness of the stone. Generally 6 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale.

I like garnets. Depending on the talent of the jeweler you can get lovely pieces set in silver that won’t cost an arm, a leg, and your soul. It was also my mother’s birthstone, so there’s that.

Ruby— Occasionally confused with spinels, rubies are pieces of corundum that contain the impurity chromium. Corundum that contains the impurities iron, titanium, vanadium, or magnesium are usually blue and referred to as sapphires. (Pink sapphires are actually poor quality rubies that the jewelry industry decided to rebrand to dupe the public. Similar to “chocolate diamonds” and other attempts to sell gems that don’t meet the criteria for their type.)

Corundum is a 9 on the Mohs scale. They highly sought after, have a rich mythos surrounding them, and feature prominently in history.

It seems like a lot of hype to me? They’re sturdy pieces of jewelry, not prone to breakage, but they ought to be for the price you pay. They’re pretty, I’ll grant you that.

moths or butterflies? Well, one is nocturnal and one is diurnal. One is fuzzy and stocky and one is smooth and slender. One is drab and one is brightly colored. I feel like I should picks moths on principle. I love Luna Moths. But butterflies are so very, very pretty. Moths I guess?

Aphrodite or Athena? Okay... so, um, here’s where it’s going to get heated. I apologize. I am *specifically* addressing how Athena and Aphrodite were worshipped/treated in Greek myths. I’m not looking at proto versions from Minoa, Mycenae, or Phoenicia. I’m also not looking at later syncretizations with other cultures e.g. Rome. It is the Greek myths that matter here because those are the myths and attitudes that were directly incorporated into Western culture. We’ve learned a lot about their origins, but *those* myths and attitudes were *not* incorporated into mainstream Western culture.

Athena was either born from Zeus’ head or his thigh. Either she has no mother—Zeus is her only parent—or Zeus swallowed her mother Metis (wisdom, prudence, counsel). This is critically important. In Athenian law, the father was the only legal parent. Mothers had no legal rights to their children at all. Athena is a very real symbol of that.

She is often portrayed as the goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and war. She is a goddess of industry (wine and olive oil). The thing we must ask is what kind of wisdom? What kind of war?

Plato argues this in Cratylus— that Athena’s wisdom could be a number of things from divine knowledge to moral intelligence. I think it’s important that Plato, one of Greece’s most celebrated philosophers, and more important one of the philosophers most embraced by Western Culture praised this choice of “moral intelligence.” [see Plato’s stance on poets in The Republic.]

Athena’s war is not the war of Ares, which is tied to passion and emotion. Ares represents the brutal aspects of war where humanity gives way to cruelty and inhumanity. Athena’s warfare is rational and “just.” Athena makes war on behalf of the city-state. Athena makes war to defend the government.

Athena’s purpose in myth and in poetry and song is to support the government. She is the shield of the king. She upholds and enforces the status quo. Look at her role in the Orestes trilogy. She supplants the Erinyes [the furies originally hunted and tormented ppl who committed matricide]. She decides that Iphigenia’s murder didn’t matter. Clytemnestra (Iphigenia’s mother) didn’t have the right to revenge for her daughter. Orestes was *justified* in murdering his mother because she killed his parent, his father.

Aphrodite also has a motherless birth, but it’s more incidental and spontaneous. Kronos cuts off his father Uranus’ genitals ( like you do ) and tosses them into the sea. Aphrodite is born from the sea foam. There’s a different feel to Aphrodite’s myth. An independence almost. Yes, a male god was involved because it’s a Greek requirement for any child, but it’s in such an incidental way. There was no purpose or intent on Uranus’ part. He had no control over her birth.

Aphrodite is an incredibly independent goddess. She owns her own sexuality and has autonomy over her own body. She is often referred to as the wife of Hephaestus, but in both the Iliad and Hesiod’s Theogony, Hephaestus has wives with different names and Aphrodite is unmarried.

A goddess with this kind of freedom and power in her own right—not tied to a husband or male family member (sorry Artemis!)— is almost unheard of. It makes Aphrodite unique and interesting.

TLDR: I prefer Aphrodite.

grapefruit or pomegranate? Pomegranate. For so many reasons, not the least of which is it’s associations with death and fertility. It’s a lovely contrast and a reminder that death brings forth life e.g. Nurse logs.

angel’s halo or devil’s horns? Oof. This is another rant, guys. Horns as a symbol of divine power are used throughout history and throughout the Indo-European culture. From Egyptian gods like Amun and Isis to Hindu gods like Śiva to Canaanite gods like El and Yahweh, horns have been used to show their power and might. Moses has most famously been depicted with horns due to murky/difficult translations of the Hebrew verb keren/qaran, which can mean BOTH “to send forth beams/rays” and “to be horned”.

There was a concerted effort to associate horns with the devil/evil/bad. Horns are also used to imply fertility/abundance, and that may have played into the perception of horns as devilish. Moses with horns was used as a jumping off point to demonize Jewish people during the Medieval period in a variety of European countries and cultures.

Halos, too, have been used across history and cultures as a symbol of divine power. Sumerian literature talks about a bright emanation that appears around gods and heroes. Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art shows Buddhist saints with halos.

I choose horns because I choose to reclaim that divine power. I reject the idea that either symbol is wholly good or wholly evil. I reject the idea that sexuality by itself is evil/wrong.

sirens or banshees? Both!!! I must admit a partiality to Sirens that is based wholly on my preference for the sea/ocean.

lorde or florence + the machine? Both!!! I love both groups and I’ve listened to their albums so many times. I will admit that I end up listening to Lorde more often when writing.

the birth of venus or the starry night? Huh. I’m going to assume that you mean the painting by Boticelli, even though there’s more than one Birth of Venus.

Honestly, Venus Anadyomene (Venus rising from the sea) is my favorite. It’s her origin myth and anyone could paint it, draw it, write about it, and put their own spin on it. It is malleable because it is myth. It lives on and changes and grows with us. Boticelli’s version is particularly lovely.

Starry Night (1889) belongs to VanGogh. No one can really recreate it without copying his style or his vision. Verschuier’s The Great Comet of 1680 Over Rotterdam could never really be confused with Starry Night. Not even Munch’s Starry Night (1893) could be confused for VanGogh. The two paintings are wildly different in subject matter despite the fact that their subject is the night sky.

I doubt any modern painter would dare. O’Keefe called hers Starlight Night, and I can only guess that others would follow that naming pattern of not quite using the title Starry Night.

Boy, I bet @curiouselfqueen is regretting tagging me now... sorry?

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sea-side-scribbles · 3 years

Text

Fanfiction: Sympathy For A Downer

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22737214/chapters/68223810

Chapter 40

The next morning, Norbert was shaken awake, much too ungently for his taste. "Norrie", his lover whispered softly, so he figured he didn't miss anything important, because the other boy would've been more strictly in that case. He sluggishly turned arount to look at the clock, figured that it was way too early in the morning to stand up, moaned and curled himself back into the blanket. "Norrie, hey," Morrie hissed louder and shook him again. "I know you're awake." "I wasn't," Norbert murmurned grumpily. "Why do you hate sleep so much?" Morrie crouched closer to him and whispered into his ear: "Today it's our day off." It meant they didn't have a concert tonight. It was actually another good reason to sleep in, Norbert thought.

"So let's stay in bed," he proposed with already closed eyes. Morrie fell silent after that and for a while Norbert thought he considered the idea. But then he said: "I thought we go out for a walk. It looks like it's gonna be a lovely day." Norbert opened his eyes again but didn't move yet. "Sure. Just get some more sleep in advance, okay?" Now Morrie moaned loudly. "You know they won't leave us alone when they see us outside in the middle of the day!" Sluggishly, Norbert pondered. "You think so?" "Of course I think so!", Morrie urged him. "You must've noticed how they follow us! Fans, reporters, critics...all that rabble! Run after us, stare at us, fancy themselves invisible...I want none of that!"

Norbert turned to Morrie while he let out his rant and watched him closely. It was unlikely for his lover to get into such a fret, but it confirmed what Norbert was thinking for a while now. Morrie was the one who had the hardest time getting used to their new life. Everything bothered him, not the concerts, but everything else. "We are interesting now. That's a good sign," he tried, but Morrie countered: "Nonsense, they don't care about us, all they want is a big story! If they cared, they wouldn't ask such shitty questions! As if anyone would want to read about my underwear!" "Right, that's only my business," Norbert said and smiled at him. "They frantically search for something to write, and everything they come up with is this utter rubbish! I hope not all our fans are such idiots!" Norbert sat up. There was no chance of sleeping anyway.

"You know, If there's something you want them to write, you should tell them. After all, they pick up everything you say, so you can lead them a bit," he explained calmly. "I don't want to tell them anything", Morrie hissed. "At least not today. God, you're thick as a brick this morning." Norbert shrank a few inches and fell quiet. Morrie silenced too and they continued to sit on the bed without anyone moving.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have yelled at you...", Morrie broke their silence. "I'm just so...confused about all this...I just want to spend time with you, without all the fuss." Norbert lifted his head, closed in and rested his head on Morrie's shoulder. "It's okay...I'm sorry I didn't cotton on right away. I was tired." Morrie's hand stroked his cheek. "Of course...", he whispered, carefully fondling his lover. "Would you still go out with me?" "Sure," Norbert whispered and poked him into the side. "I'll get the leash." "Oh, I thought I'll trust you this time." They chuckled. Morrie cupped Norbert's head and turned him around to face him. "You're so cute, Norrie", he sighed. "You're my sunshine. I never want to ruin your mood again." "Morrie, I love you. You can't ruin my mood at all." After some eagerly kisses they finally left the bed.

Walking through the empty corridors of their hotel, Morrie already ejoyed the calm and quiet. Moments like these were precious. When they stepped out into the fresh morning air, Norbert took a deep breath and stretched himself. His fatique had vanished and he was looking forward to some quality time. "Where are we going?", he asked, curiously looking around. They currently lived in Lud's Holm, the district that was known for it's elaborate beautification, with colorful facades and carefully selected plants decorating windows and gardens. Even the streets were painted in bright colors at some places.

"As far away as possible," Morrie urged him. "Out of the town." Norbert gave him a confused look. "How do you plan to get over the bridge?" "Not that far away, dummy. I mean the coast or something." "Oh, right...sure..." He looked around, furrowing his brows. "Do you know where the station is?" "Follow me." Morrie led the way at a quick pace, to get off the street fast. Norbert followed and they soon reached the entrance to the underground. It seemed that nobody was following them when they went into the tunnel. They also met nobody at the platform. Approaching the ticket office, Morrie said: "Leave the talking to me, okay? And keep a low profile." "Alright, alright." Norbert fell back behind him.

When Morrie asked for two tickets to the farthest station, the salesman was curious. "What do you want in that godforsaken place?" "You know, watching birds," Morrie said in all seriousness. "Oh, really?" "Yeah, there are the most interesting specimen out there, you'd be astounded." He held out the coins and the man took them, not without eyeing him suspiciously, and then Norbert. "Hey,...I think I've seen you before." Norbert made an innocent face. "Me?...Well, it's not the first time I'm buying tickets here so..." "No, not like that," the man interrupted him. "I mean...on TV. Yeah, now I remember." "No, no, you must be mistaken. He was never on TV, I would know that," Morrie tried to wave him off. Norbert was eagerly nodding behind him. "Can we have our tickets now, please?"

The salesman wasn't satisfyed yet. He pointed at Morrie. "You've been there, too." "Pardon?" "You two, you're from this band..." He must've noticed their expressions, because he changed the tone: "Hey, don't worry. You can go wherever you want, it's none of my business. But you can't fool me." He said the last words with a self-contented grin. "Alright, if it's none of your business, you can let us pass, right?", Morrie urged him again. "Oh, sure." Finally, he handed out the tickets . "Bon voyage!" Morrie only made a face and went. Then he had to turn around again to see that Norbert was still standing there and talking to the man.

"We're only careful, you know, we keep being recognised and followed around," he explained. "I'll be as silent as a grave," the salesman assured him. They bandied some more nice words before they finally parted. "What was that supposed to be?", Morrie asked when they met again. "You know we're in a hurry." "Doesn't hurt to be a bit nicer. He recognised us - so what? Didn't make him bite our heads off." "What did you tell him?" "Nothing. Do you take me for an idiot again?" Morrie gave a loud sigh and shook his head. "No."

In silence, they waited for the train that seemed to be extra late today. Morrie kept his distance to Norbert, not because he was angry at him, but because he was afraid they would look suspicious if they stood closely together. This feeling was growing stronger since people had started to watch them. He instead watched other men who traveled together, had a chat, and observed their behaviour. The fact that he saw so many of them could've calmed him down, told him that him and Norbert didn't look any special in public. But that one question kept pestering him, if it was visible that they were different, that their glimpses and smiles and shoulder pats had another meaning. That was why he avoided Norbert now, he only peeked at him from time to time.

Norbert assumed that his lover was under stress and needed comfort as soon as possible. But even he thought that hugging him right there on the platform was a bad idea. So he had to wait and resign to his fate for now. However, he noticed that Morrie gave him a shy look from time to time. When their eyes suddenly met, Norbert used the opportunity to wink at him. Morrie's heart missed a beat at that and he almost turned as red as a beetroot. 'Heaven's sake, Norrie', he thought to himself while his heart was pounding wildly. Finally, the damn train arrived.

Inside, Norbert sat down right next to him. "Hold on, my love, we're almost there.", he whispered to him, quietly enough that no one else could hear him. Morrie nodded. Still, he said: "It's gonna be a long ride." "Maybe not. The train is moving fast, you see, we'll be there in no time. Don't worry", Norbert let his soft voice soothe Morrie, who wished he could be as optimistic as his lover. But in fact, the ride would be over eventually, so he tried to comfort himself with that. Shortly after, it bothered him how the train was trudging from station to station and more people entered. It didn't take long until someone sat down nearby and Morrie had the unsettling feeling that he stared at him.

"Don't look," he hissed at Norbert who was about to turn to the suspicious passenger. "He's watching us," he explained quietly. "Perhaps we're lucky and he doesn't remember who we are." "Morrie, come on, he doesn't even look at us." "Don't look," he hissed again with emphasis. "Okay...just calm down. I bet he's not interested." Promptly, the man left his seat and approached them. Norbert saw how Morrie froze and turned to the man who probably only wanted to ask where the train was going.

"I'm sorry, aren't you Nick Lightbearer and Morrie Memento? You look just like them, you know...", he instead asked and Norbert, because lying hadn't worked, decided to say the truth. "You've got us there. Right, Morrie?" "Indeed," Morrie said without showing any feelings. Except maybe that he wished to be very far away. "Oh, man." The passenger, who looked like a fan, became excited. "Seeing you here, it's just..." Shortly, he was out of words. "Could you give me a signature, so I can prove that I've seen you?" He held out a piece of paper. "Sure," Norbert said and brought out a pen he was recently keeping for occasions like these. "What's your name?" Norbert eyed the passenger. "Oh, my name is John...and my wife's name is Martha...could you mention her too? She'll freak out." Norbert wrote in curved letters "For Martha and John", noted the date and signed just as neatly, before he gave the page to Morrie. Morrie's signature was a bit more cornered, but still as neat.

While they were busy giving the autograph, they didn't notice that more people gathered around them, curious about what was going on. It didn't take long until a female voice gasped: "Oh my god, it's Nick Lightbearer and Morrie Memento!" The crowd came closer, battering the two musicians with questions. Norbert managed to give the page back to John, before the others edged him away. Then he tried to quieten them down. "Hey, there, calm down, everyone. One after the other, we can't talk to so many people at once..." Suddenly, Morrie pulled him under the seat. "What are you doing?", Norbert asked his lover who was crouching next to him. "Did you drop something?" "Don't ask, just follow me." While crawling, he noticed that it was the only way to get past the crowd of fans, that was beginning to follow them. "Quick, to the door," Morrie demanded and they ran as fast as they could. They were lucky, because the door already opened to welcome them to a new station. More people went in, and they squeezed through them. This way they escaped from their fans. In a dirty, empty hallway they caught their breath.

"That was close," Norbert gasped. He added in a more amused way: "They didn't want us to leave at all." "It's getting worse," Morrie said less amused. "And we're still five stations away. How are we supposed to get there?" "With the next train?" "You want to take that risk again? If they get us in one train, they can get us in the other." "What if we politely ask them to leave us alone? They are only normal people after all." "Norbert!," Morrie said firmly. Then he took a breath. "I don't want to be seen at all." "Well," Norbert thought about it. Walking all the way thought the town was also out of the question.

Pondering, his gaze wandered around the hallway, until he suddenly found a door. "Hey, what about that?" He gestured towards it. "Workers use that to follow the track." Morrie sceptically eyed the door. "If so, then it's only allowed for workers." "But Morrie, this is an emergency. We have no other choice." "And how are we supposed to get in there?" Norbert tried the doorknob first, but of course it was locked. "You don't happen to use hair pins, don't you?", he asked Morrie. "No, not even tie pins." "What a shame. There must be another way. The workers carry the keys with them, right?" "I think so, but they aren't here right now." Norbert started to walk along the way, searching. Morrie followed. "And even if we meet one of them, they won't give us a key."

Suddenly, Norbert came to a halt. He examined a pipe that ran along the wall. It looked very clapped-out. "What happens, if...", he muttered. A second later he kicked the pipe with all the strength he had. It broke, and the motilene that bursted out damaged it even more. "Are you crazy?", Morrie shouted against the noise that the dying pipe produced, but Norbert put a finger on his lips and shoved him further. They hid in a corner and Norbert eyed the hallway, waiting. "What do you expect from this?", his lover hissed. "Sssh, just wait and see." Soon, they heard voices and three workers appeared, loudly cussing and complaining, looking at the mess. "A motilene pipe, again!" "I told that stupid department a thousand times now, that stuff is eating through the metal. But those bloody surveyors insist it's all peachy. Damn office-sitters! I never see them down here and fixing this shit!"

During all their tirades, Norbert crawled out of this hideout to reach out for the keys that were dangling from one of the men's belt. Morrie watched in shock how one of them them apruptly turned around and found Norbert. Then all of them looked at him. He quickly got up, wiped the dirt from his suit and said casually: "Good day gentlemen...I've heard the noise and I thought...uh...you might need some help." They continued their staring. "No? Uh...okay, so I'll be on my way..." He set himself in motion, praying that also Morrie would find a way around them, when one of them said: "Wait a minute. Aren't you Nick Lightbearer?" As if it was the cue, Norbert threw himself into a pose. "Yeah, man, that's me. Why do you ask?" Then also the others became interested. The damaged pipe was forgotten, and Norbert had to listen to a lot of stories and answer their questions, until they remembered what they were there for. Norbert would've walked back to their hiding spot, if he hadn't seen Morrie on the other side of the hallway, waving at him.

"What a flop," he muttered when they were together again. His eyes widened when Morrie held out the keys to him. "Don't make me do that again," he said quietly. "We don't even know if the right key is among them." "Morrie, you're amazing!", Norbert blurted out and the other boy turned pink while he shrugged. They tried one key after the other and the fourth one actually worked. As a reward, they were greeted by an even smaller and dirtier tunnel that was dimly lit, but didn't ruin Norbert's mood at all. "Freedom, we're coming!", he said strutting into the tunnel. A rather doubtful Morrie accompanied him. "I hope so." "If not, we still had fun, didn't we?", Norbert countered. "And best of all, we're alone here." With one arm, he pulled Morrie closer to give him a smooch on the cheek. Morrie lost all inhibitions and deeply kissed him back. "Thank you," he then said. "I feel much better now." "Me too." Norbert beamed at him. "Let's go, pretty boy, the coast is waiting."

It was rather tiresome to walk past all five stations. The wish to get out grew bigger in Morrie's guts. The darkness and the smell supported it. Thinking of their comfortable hotel room, he wondered if it had been a mistake to go outside. Then he remembered their trips in the past, their old life in that empty house, and thought there had to be a way to get it back. He needed it. And he would find out if Norbert needed it too.

When he was already wondering if they had missed the exit and wandered all the way thought the canal under Britannia Bridge, they reached the door to their destination. Of course it was locked, too. Norbert tried the same key and it worked again. Quietly, he opened a tiny crack and peered outside, before he signified Morrie that everything was alright. "Finally," Morrie sighed, stepping out into the hallway. On the way to the exit they didn't meet anyone, but on the last few steps to freedom Norbert said: "Wait..." and walked back down. "Where are you going?", Morrie forced himself to stay calm. "Just go ahead, I'll be there in a minute," was the weird answer, before Norbert walked around a corner.

Morrie shortly hesitated, then he hurried after him. Around the corner, he searched for Norbert, but couldn't find him. His heart skipped a beat, when he pictured the most drastic scenes in his head. Norbert threatened, kidnapped, hurt...Breathing heavily, he told himself to calm down. If he ran away head over heels, Norbert wouldn't find him. So he walked back to where he came from, very slowly, up the stairs and placed himself in front of the exit. He was presented a panorama that he couldn't have imagined any more beautiful. It was exactly what he needed. This and Norbert. Where was he? Why did he have to go? He jumped when he heard a loud gasp right next to him. His lover appeared, out of the blue. "That was worth it," he commented the sight with wide eyes. "What did you do?" "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, that's why I got us sandwiches. I couldn't get coffee, but at least some lemonade." He lifted up a bag that was carrying their picnic and Morrie didn't know if he wanted to kiss or punch him. "Of course you risked everything for that!" "You don't have to eat anything, but I will."

They continued to squabble while walking away, but when they had left the station and all signs of that noisy town behind them they soon stopped. At the coast they rested on a rock, since they had been walking a long way already. Then Morrie was glad that Norbert had brought some food, and all they needed to do was relaxing and watching the waves roll. After eating up, Morrie laid his head on Norbert's shoulder and closed his eyes. "Are you sleeping?", Norbert asked him after he hadn't moved for a while. "Almost," he sighed. Norbert kissed his forehead. "This is exactly what I wanted. This solitude, only you and me..." Norbert leaned his head on Morrie's. "Yeah...it's beautiful."

"Norrie, can't we life somewhere else other than these noisy hotels?" "Don't tell me you want to pitch a tent out here." Norbert was half joking, half worried. "No...But didnt Virgil say we could live in a house one day? I'm sure we have enough money now to give our old home a beautification? I miss it." "These old rooms?" "No, they would be new, and they would be ours. And we could protect them, so fans and reporters can't bother us anymore. Wouldn't that be nice?" "Everyone would know where we live." "They know that now, too. They only need to look up where our tour is going and search the best hotels there. There aren't too many options." Norbert had to agree with that. "And in our own house, we would have no uninvited guests. What do you think?"

Norbert had mixed feelings. He'd love to spend time with Morrie whenever he wanted, without anyone bothering them. But he had to admit he liked the luxuious life in a hotel. He didn't know if he could go back to an ordinary home after this. No service, no buffets, no bars, no one interrupting his daily routine to tell him how much he adored Nick Lightbearer... The others wouldn't give it up so easily. They enjoyed their new life to the fullest, without regrets. That was something Norbert envied them for. "We have to ask the others," he only said, while he watched the waves crash against the shore, loudly rushing, not caring about anything around them. Norbert wished he could be more like the waves.

#we happy few #wehappyfew #whf #whfnick #whf nick #nick lightbearer #morrie memento #nickxmorrie #fanfiction

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