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#Like we KNOW he has a story we just don't know what it is
ariaste · 3 days
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Apparently there was some lil drama in Good Omens fandom again about people being deeply nervous and scared of the end of Season 3, and I wrote this in the replies of one of the asks that Neil Gaiman answered, but I feel like it is deserving of being crossposted into its own post (in a slightly expanded form) so folks actually see it.
cmere, good omens fandom, we're having an intervention. a Come To Jesus talk, if you will.
First of all, I'm literally begging the fandom to:
learn what personal boundaries are, especially around parasocial relationships with strangers. (Suggestion: When sending asks to authors you like, use "polite work email" etiquette, not "joking with a friend" etiquette. The latter comes off REAL weird sometimes, and sometimes outright mean/rude/bullying).
take a couple deep fucking breaths
embrace the philosophy of The Author's Intent Only HAS To Matter To The Author, It Does Not Have To Matter To YOU. If you do not like the author's intent, you can say "hmmmm no thanks" and write some fanfic. That's what it's for.
Friends, Romans, countrymen..... Stop trying to make Neil Gaiman responsible for your happiness. For one thing, that is an absolutely unfair and cruel burden to put on a stranger who doesn't know you. Neil is only responsible for Neil's happiness. You're responsible for your own happiness. In fact, do not rely on ANY external source to guarantee your happiness, not even very nice people like Neil, not even your significant other, not even your family members. Yes, those people might be able to help you with your happiness, but they cannot guarantee it. Expecting a third party to guarantee your happiness is how corporations exploit you, and it is the source of all media trauma. Take agency over your own joy! Don't give away your power! Plan to DIY your personal ideal ending!
Neil is not telepathic, Neil cannot know all your hopes and dreams and wishes, nor SHOULD he be expected to know them, nor does he have space to know them. He is busy with things like his own and Terry's hopes and dreams and wishes. Their hopes/dreams/wishes are just as valid and important as yours, aren't they? Yes, they are. So calm down. caaaaaaaallllllm dowwwwwn.
Yes, I love the show very much too, but at the end of the day it is just a story. And the great thing about stories is that you are empowered to retell them in a different way. It is not real, so if you end up unsatisfied by S3, then blithely impose your own reality and build your own joy. It's not like it's the End Of The World or anything (lil fandom joke there for you)
And look, if you read this and you're feeling Mad and Upset or Frustrated about it, that is a symptom that you are maybe feeling a little stung in your Media Trauma parts. I am sorry that other stories have let you down in the past, and I really sympathize that you are feeling scared about the fate of this story that really matters to you. You've invested a lot of love into it! I really understand the fear! You don't want to be hurt again, and that's super understandable and normal.
But bestie, literally the only way for you to find a story that's exactly perfect for you and that won't hurt you at all is for you to write it yourself. I know that sucks to hear, but it is the truth. If you keep pinning a hope of perfection on other people's stories, you will keep getting traumatized by the media you consume. Love other people's stories for what they ARE, not for the stories that you WANTED them to be -- the same way that we love people, you know? You have to let a person be their own person; you can't force them to be someone else. That's fucked up, so if you notice that you keep trying to do that, maybe go to therapy so you can be that Someone-Else person for yourself (or, if you can't afford therapy, read some self-help books from the library or find some good channels on Youtube who make content that might help with that (I really like JulienHimself)).
If you need a story to be something big and important for you, if you are seeking catharsis and healing from a story that matters to you and you're really scared that you won't get it, then open a Word document and start typing. You can do it. You're a human being, and you evolved to tell stories. Literally it's a species specialization. You got this. It's gonna be okay, because you're going to seize the means of production and MAKE it okay. Yes? Yes.
Good Omens S3 will be what it will be. It will be what Neil wants it to be and what Terry would have wanted it to be. Period. That IS actually the highest achievement and the most noble and admirable accomplishment that we can hope for. And hey, maybe what they want overlaps with what you want, and that will be wonderful! But that will be merely a happy coincidence. The only person who can TRULY center your wants is YOU. So stop trying to trap Neil into doing it, please, because he's busy and it's not his job, AND because your wants do matter and you deserve to have someone who can give your wants their 100% full attention (aka you. that's you. only you can do that. Not even your best friends in the world can do it. Not even your mom can do it, at least not if you're old enough to know how to read.)
It's gonna be okay. Really. Really, it is. No, stop typing the snarky melodramatic reply. This is not the time for jokes; I'm being serious. It's going to be okay. Neil Gaiman can only break your heart exactly as much as you allow him to do so. That's how art works. You have to consent in order to be affected by it, and you can withdraw your consent at any time. You're going to be okay. I promise. As long as you choose to claim your own agency and your own empowerment as an individual, then all will be well and all manner of things will be well.
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pathologicalreid · 2 days
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Hii I am making a Spencer Reid x citizen! F reader. They have been dating for a really long time but for a while reader has been dealing with a stalker, suddenly the stalker becomes much more violent and maybe even kidnaps her if we want to get real cray cray. Just lots of protective reid and angst to comfort!!
don't lose your head | S.R.
a stalker uses your work as a tudor history professor to follow your every move, so you go to the only place you can think of for help - the BAU
who? spencer reid x fem!reader category: angst content warnings: professor!reader, fiance!spencer, erotomaniac stalker, lots of tudor history facts, kidnapping, decapitation, happy ending, s11 (post-maeve), guns, death, spencer feels a lot of guilt, unhelpful police, exhaustion, nausea, dry heaving word count: 3.71k a/n: yall if i wanted to make this into a series would you read it 😭 i had so much fun writing this!!! and yes the title is a reference to six! thank you sooo much for requesting!!
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You told Spencer after the fourth note. While the first two had been near your office door – harmless enough to have been brushed off as a student prank, the third note had been left on your desk. When someone had gotten into your locked office to leave you an intense love letter, you knew you were out of your depth.
After years of hearing stories about the BAU needing to battle the chain of command, you thought the best thing to do was to first go to the campus police. You were a professor, so the natural assumption was that they’d look into it.
They didn’t even take a report. No one listened to you.
From the campus police, you went into the city police, then the county, and by the time you marched into DC Metro, you hadn’t slept in a day. Spencer was in Utah on a case, and you didn’t have anywhere else to go. Once DC Metro told you there was nothing they could do without an open investigation or further evidence, you went back to your apartment.
The fourth note was there waiting for you, covering the camera that you kept on your front door.
Since you had the first three notes already in your bag, you plucked the newest one from where it was stationed on the front door and stuffed it in with the others before making the trip down to Quantico.
You had no idea when the team would be back, but the security guards at the front desk recognized you from the times you’d come to pick Spencer up or bring him lunch and they let you up anyway.
There were no notifications on your phone from Spencer letting you know that they were flying home, but the only place you felt safe was in their headquarters. The idea of going to see Penelope crossed your mind, but as a profiler-adjacent, she’d likely see right through you. You never dropped by, especially not when Spencer was away.
Settling yourself at his desk, you pulled an empty manila folder from a drawer, placed the notes neatly inside, and left it on Spencer’s desk before sitting in his chair and waiting for something to happen.
“Hey, Reid,” you heard a familiar voice from behind you. Slowly, you spun the chair around and looked at the team as they filtered in the glass doors.
Confused, Spencer tilted his head at you, clearly wondering why you were staking out the bullpen as he approached you. As he got closer, he observed the bags under your eyes, bloodshot from your lack of sleep over the last few days, “What’s wrong?”
Chewing on the inside of your lip, you clutched the folder like your life depended on it – for all you knew, it did. Your eyes followed Spencer as he knelt in front of you, accepting the folder when you handed it to him, “I think I’m in trouble,” you whispered, voice raspy from lack of use.
Your fiancé flipped through the pages, reading each of them a few times while you garnered attention from other members of the BAU. Tara, Derek, and JJ all crowded around Spencer’s desk, curious on your surprise appearance.
“I…” you faltered as you tried to explain what felt inexplicable. “The first one was folded over the doorknob of my office, the second one was slid beneath the door to my office, the third one was left on my desk, and the fourth one,” you glanced nervously at Spencer, “it was on the apartment door.”
Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed, “apartment door? Our apartment door?” As he questioned you, he stood up, leaving you with four federal agents staring down at you.
Despondently, you nodded, steepling your fingers in your lap and letting your shoulders droop.
“I’ll go get Hotch,” JJ said, nodding at everyone else to confirm her intentions before turning around, making her way up the steps to Hotch’s office.
From there, you ended up in the roundtable room. Tara had personally brought the letters for the lab to be checked for prints, and the techs had sent Garcia scans that were now projected on the screen. Each member of the team had them up on tablets, but you and Spencer knew the words by heart.
Shaking her head, Tara looked up at everyone, “I mean, who writes like this anymore? ‘But if you please to do the office of a true loyal mistress and friend, and to give yourself up body and heart to me, who will be, and have been, your most loyal servant,” she shrugged, continuing to look over the letters.
“They’re love letters,” you explained, tugging the sleeves of your sweatshirt over your palms before crossing your arms in front of your stomach. “The words aren’t original, they’re all passages from the love letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn.”
Pointing to something on her screen, JJ frowned, “And what does his greeting mean? He always starts with ‘my rose without a thorn’.”
Nodding dejectedly, you focused your eyes on the now-empty manila folder on the table in front of you. “That was what Henry VIII called Catherine Howard, she was his youngest wife. It’s widely accepted among scholars that she was around seventeen when they got married, but others say she could’ve been as young as fifteen,” you answered, wondering if more details would help the investigation.
“So, we have Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, which wives were those?” Rossi asked, looking around the table for someone who knew the answer.
In the middle of scrawling something on an evidence board, Spencer answered quickly, “Two and five.”
Folding your hands in your lap, you scoured your memory for anything that could be helpful. When Hotch asked if those numbers meant everything to you, you just shook your head. “Is there any significance to the two wives he chose being Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard?”
Your lips parted in surprise as the blood drained from your face, “They were the two wives who were beheaded.”
An eerie silence fell over the room, interrupted only by a chime from Penelope’s laptop, her shoulders slumped forward in abject disappointment, “The lab didn’t find anything on the letters. No prints, no hair… nothing, but uh…” her voice trailed off as she looked up at Hotch, it was almost like she was seeking permission.
Each member of the BAU looked at each other with the same concerned expression on their faces. “What do you all know that I don’t?”
“Two bodies turned up last week in the greater DC area,” Morgan was the brave soul who spoke up, “they were both missing their heads, and they were both college professors.”
Goosebumps spread over your entire body, a chill of fear causing the tip of your nose to feel cold, “Oh, I…” you fumbled over your words, standing up from your chair and rushing to leave the roundtable, nearly throwing yourself out of the bullpen on your way to the women’s restroom.
Entering one of the stalls, you haphazardly gathered your hair at the back of your head and you dry heaved into the toilet. You dropped to your knees as nothing came out.
A knock at the door barely garnered your attention, you didn’t even bother responding as Spencer was already entering the stall, “Oh, honey.”
That was it, you sat back on your heels as tears welled in your eyes, looking up at Spencer as he sat down next to you. Immediately, you turned your body to face him and leaned forward.
Welcomingly, Spencer grabbed you, firmly wrapping his arms around your torso as he pulled you into his lap, “I have you. I’m right here.” His voice was gentle, no more than a whisper as he kept a firm pressure around your body, “You’re safe with me,” he reassured you, using one hand to keep you upright and the other to rub your back as you cried.
Your face was buried in the crook of his neck as you wept, the sensation of fear ran through your body like electricity, and you felt content for the first time in days in the safety of Spencer’s arms. “I- I just teach. I’m n- not built for this,” you cried, words slightly muffled by his shoulder.
You were a history professor, teaching a course on the six wives of Henry VIII, this was never even in the realm of things you considered when putting together your syllabus.
Taking a shaky breath, you pulled away from Spencer, and he reached behind you for a wad of toilet paper to dry your face. “Spence,” you said, though it came out as more of a whimper.
“When’s the last time you slept?” He asked, cupping both of your cheeks in his hands while he studied your exhausted expression.
Shrugging, you shuffled off of him, dropping the wad of toilet paper in the bowl and flushing it, “A day? Two?” You weren’t entirely sure what day it currently was, the events of the last few had caused everything to sort of blend together.
Spencer nodded in understanding, “Okay,” he responded, slipping his phone out of his pocket before typing something out, “Why don’t you go lie down in Morgan’s office for a little while? He won’t mind.”
You blinked a few final tears from your eyes before affirming, “Yeah, uh. I need to grab something from my car.”
“Okay, are you parked in the garage? I’ll go down with you,” he offered, getting up and lending you a hand up, mumbling about the state of the bathroom floor as he did so.
After washing your hands, the two of you made your way through the hall and to the elevator before Garcia called out for Reid, “Hotch needs you for something, he said it’s urgent.”
Glancing back at you, he pursed his lips before selecting a lower-level special agent to go with you to the parking garage. “Be right back,” you told him as you stepped onto the elevator.
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Once he was finished with Hotch, Spencer made his way back down the hallway, expecting to find yourself settling in Morgan’s office only to find it empty. Turning back in the hallway, he nearly bulldozed into Morgan and JJ, “Hey, what’s the rush?”
“Have either of you seen Y/N?” He asked, trying not to let panic rise in his voice, but there had been ample time for you to get to the parking garage and back. You should’ve been back by now.
The two of them shared a look, “Uh, no, I haven’t seen her since she left the roundtable room. Is she alright?” JJ asked, blue eyes filled with concern.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, Spencer hit the number one on speed dial – your number – and brought the phone to his ear before rushing to the elevator and moving to the side as JJ and Morgan piled in with him. Frantically pushing the button for the parking level, he cursed as the phone went to voicemail.
“Reid, what is it?” Morgan asked as the elevator started moving down.
Redialing your number, Spencer muttered to himself, hoping you’d pick up, “I sent her down with an agent. Hotch needed my apartment key so that Tara and Rossi could go look for anything.”
As the steel doors opened, the three of them drew their firearms, each of them taking a different direction when Spencer realized he didn’t even know where you had parked your car. “We have an agent down,” Morgan called out, calling Garcia and putting the phone on speaker. “Baby girl, we need medical and crime scene techs down to the lower-level parking garage,” he said into the phone.
“Spencer,” JJ called out, garnering his attention as he made his way through the garage to where JJ and Morgan were now stood, Morgan was applying pressure on Agent Franks’ wound, and JJ was looking at a car.
The passenger door to your car was open, and the vehicle was chiming as an alert to get you to close the door. As he stepped forward, something glimmered at the edge of his vision. Crouching down, he picked up your engagement ring from the cement, “He’s got her,” he said, a wave of déjà vu nearly toppling him over.
Impatiently waiting for the elevator to take him back up to the sixth floor, Spencer trudged to the roundtable room, desperate for another look at the evidence board. The dates of each letter that you had received, the content of each letter, and the reason for all of this didn’t make any sense to him.
It had to be an erotomaniac, it was the only thing that made sense. You were an object of someone’s desires, and their delusion had to have become so strong that they took you.
Quietly, someone stepped into the roundtable room behind him, “What are you thinking about?”
Imminent death. Statistics of harm and death in cases involving erotomanic kidnappings. “Synchronicity,” he answered simply, entertaining JJ’s conversation as he continued to study the letters. The love letters were at the core of it all, so the answer needed to be written in there. Everything that had come to you was almost an exact copy of words written by Henry VIII.
“Ah, that’s Jung, right?” JJ asked, her voice was kind, and she was using the same tone she used when doing cognitive interviews with victims. He didn’t have time for her pity, they were on a clock.
Sighing, Spencer picked his dry-erase marker back up and scrawled on the board, “It’s a concept that he introduced, yes. It’s meant to describe the occurrence of events which seem like they’re significantly related but there’s no discernable causation.”
JJ nodded understandingly, taking a spot next to him and looking at the notes, “And what occurrence of events are we thinking about right now?”
“I suppose more than anything, I’m wondering if there’s an action that I took in the past that somehow caused me to find myself in this situation twice,” he answered, circling the word ‘the place chosen by yourself’ on the evidence board.
Humming, JJ turned to face him, “Does Y/N know?”
Pressing his lips together in a thin, white line, he nodded tightly, “I told her years ago, when we had first started dating, actually. I never thought…” his voice trailed off as he set down the marker, “She came to me, JJ. She came here to be safe, and he grabbed her from the parking garage.”
“You sent her down there with an agent, you thought you were doing the right thing,” JJ tried to comfort him.
Scoffing dismissively, he stepped back and took a seat in one of the chairs, “I can’t stop thinking about if it would’ve made a difference. If her asking me for help would have fixed anything, or if it would have ended the same way.”
Taking a seat near him, JJ paused for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words, before responding, “We can’t really afford to think like that though, in our line of work.”
Spencer scoffed, “No, we can’t. Especially not now, but the timing of it is weird. It’s been almost exactly four years, and now…” his voice trailed off as his eye caught on something on the paper. “The timing is off,” he muttered, picking up the first letter you had received.
“What is it, Spence?” JJ asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.
Shaking his head, he read the letter again, “This letter, it’s from the first letter Henry VIII wrote to Anne Boleyn, but in this version, he says he’s been waiting for months to be with her, but they waited seven years to be together because they were waiting for his marriage to Catherine of Aragon to be annulled.”
Still confused, JJ leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, “Okay, what does that mean.”
“We ruled out a student because the crimes didn’t read as mature, but what if it’s a different kind of student?” He proposed, standing up from the chair abruptly and starting to write on the board.
Rolling her chair closer to the board, she shrugged, “I’m not sure I’m following.”
Holding up a single finger, Spencer wrote a name down on the board, “Y/N has a grad student TA, he’s been working toward his PhD for seven years. He’s been her TA for three months – that lines up with the timeline in the letters.”
“Okay,” JJ said, starting to follow along, she waved at the team members in the bullpen to get their attention before hitting the call button on the conference phone. “Penelope, what do you have on a Geoffrey Williamson? He’s a TA in Y/N’s class.”
There was typing on the other line before a sound of disgust came from the technical analyst, “He is a different kind of smarmy, it looks like he transferred programs two years ago to Y/N’s university after he… oh. It looks like he bounced from foster home to foster home as a kid, his parents never fully gave up their rights but couldn’t follow through on their case plan. He was unsuccessful in his last dissertation defense three months ago,” she continued clacking on her keyboard, “after which his mentor teacher dropped him and the school gave him one more semester before pulling his funding. He asked Y/N to be his new mentor teacher and it looks like she turned him down -very nicely, might I add.”
Scoffing, Morgan crossed his arms in front of his chest, “That sounds like a stressor and a trigger if I’ve ever heard one.
“Garcia,” Hotch spoke into the phone, “Do you have a location for Williamson?”
There was more typing as Spencer could feel his carotid pounding in his throat, “It looks like he lives in student housing, but… he recently inherited an old factory after his biological father passed away two weeks ago.”
Nodding, Hotch looked around the table, “Send us the address, and forward it to Rossi and Lewis too.”
“Done, go get her,” Penelope urged into the phone before hanging up.
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He slipped your engagement ring into his pocket before adjusting the strap on his Kevlar, thrumming with nervous energy as Morgan coordinated with SWAT, waiting outside of the old textile factory as the tactical team organized themselves in front of the BAU.
Spencer and JJ took the left side, Rossi and Tara took the right, and Morgan and Hotch went through the main doors.
“No!” Your voice broke out through the steel corridors of the factory, immediately followed by a yelp.
There was an awful noise then, like metal scraping against itself, “Fucking say it!” An unfamiliar male voice broke out in a holler.
Steeling himself, Spencer had to hold himself back from rushing into the room where your voice was coming from, each one of your sobs was like another strike at his resolve. “Good Christian people,” he heard you say, your voice was strained, “I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to- to-“ Your voice broke off into a heap of wails.
“What is she saying?” JJ whispered, waiting for SWAT to clear the corridor.
All of the blood had drained from Spencer’s face, “She’s reciting Anne Boleyn’s execution speech, from right before she was beheaded.”
JJ nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation – they needed to get in there, and they needed to do it quickly. SWAT waved them over, and the two of them filtered through the open doorway. The space was dimly illuminated by candles, but the only thing Spencer could focus on was your head, bowed toward the ground as you watched the ground. Above you, Geoffrey was holding a sword, ready to cut your head off.
“Geoffrey Williamson, FBI!” JJ called out, announcing themselves to the UnSub before he could get any further in his convoluted execution, “Put the sword down! Let Y/N go.”
Spencer clocked the UnSub’s grip tightening on the sword as he zeroed in on you, “I can’t! She has to pay for this! She has to finish the speech.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but as you raised your head slightly, he found himself silenced by your gaze. Roll, he mouthed the words to you, hoping Williamson was too focused on JJ to notice what he was trying to tell you.
“And by the law I am judged to die,” you continued the speech, your voice wavering.
Taking a deep breath, Spencer watched as the UnSub raised the sword despite JJ’s instructions to set it on the ground, “Y/N, stop talking!”
Releasing another sob, you finished the execution speech, “And therefore I will speak nothing against it.”
As soon as the last word was out of your mouth, Williamson brought the sword down, and as it swung, two things happened. JJ pulled the trigger on her firearm, killing the UnSub, and you rolled out of the way, the chains that bound your hands and feet clanging on the ground as you did so.
Holstering his weapon, Spencer ran over to you, dropping to his knees in front of you, “It’s done. It’s over,” he tried to reassure you, but you had begun struggling against your restraints as Spencer tried to settle you down, “Stop, it’s me, baby. Baby, it’s me,” he said desperately.
Once you had maneuvered yourself into a sitting position, you looked at Spencer with big, watery eyes before completely breaking down. “I just wanted it to end,” you babbled as your face crumpled.
“I know, honey,” he said, reaching out to pull you close as JJ contacted the rest of the team, asking for a chain cutter to get your restraints off of you as they weren’t able to find the keys on the body. “He’s gone, you’re safe,” he urged, holding you tightly.
You weren’t seriously injured, but there were enough bumps and bruises to make Spencer insist on a trip to the hospital. Until the EMTs could make it to you, he was fine with holding you on the floor of the factory. Keeping you close. Keeping you safe with him.
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930 notes · View notes
coff33andb00ks · 3 days
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Until You
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charles leclerc x female pop singer!reader x oscar piastri f1 smau with intermittent scenes fc: none it's a mix of taylor swift, sabrina carpenter, and random pinterest ladies. {voice claim is adele}
Summary: he drives vroom vrooms, she sings soulful tunes. there's no way in hell this is gonna work, right? Warnings: language Notes: my first foray into smau and holy shit these are a lot of fun (and work omg). special thanks to @driverlando for the encouragement and listening to me whine
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ynyln
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liked by charles_leclrec, landonorris, pierregasly and 3,689,476 others ynyln: Merci beaucoup, Paris! Je t'aime et à bientôt!! ❤️💋 user1: formula one what are you doing here     user2: she's always been a fan? user3: hope you're ok!! <3 user4: mother showing us all why she's mother pierregasly: magnifique spectacle, rendez-vous à Monaco! user5: did anyone see the fan vides of the f1 boys there?      user6: she's gonna be at Monaco?!?!      user7: were they in vip?      user5: yeah but from what I've seen they didn't go backstage or anything user7: announce split from shitbag bf then perform best show of her tour? queen shit
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ynyln
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liked by mclaren, charles_leclrec, scuderriaferrari and 2,912,672 others ynyln: For the first time I will be attending a Grand Prix! Vroom vrooms make my heart go brr. Eternally grateful to scuderiaferrari for the invitation. (They don't have to know my favorite driver is on mclaren) 📷: poster of the gp I was supposed to go to 2 years ago scuderriaferrari: 🤨 scuderriaferrari: we're sure you'll be a converted tifosi by Sunday mclaren: yn is our fan 🙏🏻 Oscar and Lando on cloud 9 now f1: Looking forward to (finally) welcoming you! user4: alright y'all is she a Lando or Oscar girlie      ynyln: can't I love them both 🥺 user8: great now I gotta watch all the grand prix stuff this week for a glimpse of mother user7: why didn't you go 2 years ago?     user8: J*stin that's why ynbff: I know this is so beyond huge for you! You're going to have such a great time!! (liked by ynyln) user4: idk but it's weird she's all happy and stuff right after the end of her relationship with IDK      user1: not really? If you look back for the past year they were rarely seen together. He didn't even go to her launch party in London      user5: yeah anyone could see they were over long before they announced it. she probably mourned it already
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ynyln
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liked by charles_leclrec, ybffn, oscarpiastri, landonorris, and 4,698,981 others
ynyln: Dinner in Monte Carlo. Do I go all in on black or red?
scuderriaferrari: red, obviously landonorris: black charles_leclerc: Red maxverstappen1: Black ynyln: all these blue check marks where are my lil lattes 😩 user2: yn stays forgetting she's the biggest blue check mark user1: not max joining in the mclaren vs ferrari fight for YN mclaren: Papaya 🥺 (but black)      scuderiaferrari: go comment on your own guest's posts      mclaren: you sent the invite after we mentioned doing it      landonorris: do better admin      mclaren: We'll get her next time      redbullracing: not if we get her first      landonorris: if not we're going on strike      oscarpiastri: we what      landonorris: for legal reasons that was a joke 🙄 oscarpiastri: I quite like the red user3: I love that YN asked opinions on her fit but it's just f1 drivers and admins fighting over her 🍿🍿 (liked by author)      ynyln: it's amazing right? no one's fought over me before user3: bffr sabrinacarpenter: love the black but the red slays 🫶🏻 redbullracing: we vote blue      mclaren: that's not an option?      redbullracing: we still vote blue      scuderiaferrari: don't you have an energy drink to go sell user4: came for the pics, stayed for the f1 chaos
ynyln has added to their story
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caption: making men wait for selfies before i order food? yes
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Y/n and Charles lingered over their wine, and when yn/bff made the signal that they should get going y/n waved her off. Usually she hated social settings, but Charles was so personable and warm that she felt like she was chatting with a longtime friend. "You can go, Pete can get me back to the hotel," she said, glancing to the table in the corner, where Pete and Charles's bodyguards sat. The dining room was private, and she had the feeling that Ferrari had paid to have the restaurant closed to anyone but their small party for the night.
"I will make sure she gets back safely," Charles promised.
Yn/bff relented, excusing herself and leaving. The next several moments YN bid goodnight to the others, smiling sweetly and shaking hands of the Ferrari personnel and members of the team, and finally Carlos, who shared a knowing look with Charles before he left.
"You don't have to stay with me," she said as the waiter came to refill their glasses.
"No, I am having a wonderful time." He smiled, asking the waiter to leave the bottle. "I have wanted to meet you for a long time."
That surprised her. "Really?" she asked, sipping her wine.
He nodded, standing and bringing his glass and the bottle around so he could sit next to her. "I've been a fan of yours since – ah, I'm bad at song titles. The song where it's – I heard that you're settled down. I can't sing, I'm sorry."
She smiled. "Someone Like You?"
"Yes, that one." Charles leaned one arm on the table. "A few of us came to Paris and we were supposed to come backstage after the show, but after what happened…"
"I saw pictures and videos of you and – Lando and Pierre right? I wish I could have met you then – I've been a fan forever, but…" She swallowed hard, glancing down briefly. "I cancelled my post show meetings," she murmured. "It didn't seem right."
"Were you…" He paused, then shook his head. "It is none of my business."
"Was I too upset?" she guessed, taking another sip as the surprised flashed in his eyes. "I suppose I was. You were at the show… Those emotional moments weren't rehearsed."
"I could tell."
"Do you want to know the crazy part?" She didn't know why she was sharing this with him. He was a stranger. Yet she felt so at ease with him. More at ease than she had in a long time, really. "I wasn't crying for him."
"Who were you crying for, chérie?" he asked softly.
"Myself. For the wasted time, the pain I put myself through." Y/n gave her head a little shake. "I'm sorry, you don't want to hear about that."
"I want to hear about anything you wish to say."
"Are you always this charming?" she asked.
"I'm not charming. That makes it sound like I'm trying to make you like me. I am just… Me, y/n."
"You. Charles Leclerc, one of the top drivers in formula one."
"And you are just y/n, queen of music."
"I wasn't always."
"Neither was I."
"Touche," she sighed, lightly clinking her glass to his. "But you are charming."
"Perhaps I am just charmed. I am glad you went with the red." His eyes stayed on her as he finished his wine. Then he glanced to the corner, hesitating before facing her again. "Would you like to go somewhere more private?"
She hesitated. She didn't know him. The last thing she needed was some messy disaster of a fling, or to dive into a new relationship. And yet… "Yes," she whispered.
tbc.
352 notes · View notes
5sospenguinqueen · 5 hours
Text
Lullabies Pt 2 | Max Verstappen x Singer! Reader
Summary: Max left without letting you fully explain. Nearly a year later, he realises he made a mistake when he thinks you're moving on.
Warnings: Swearing. Angst but also fluff. Redemption arc.
Female reader with various faceclaims (pics found on pinterest). Takes place in 2021 with slightly altered timelines.
Part 1
Main Masterlist
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Oct
YourUserName just posted
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liked by pierregasly, kellypiquet and others
YourUserName a huge thank you to everyone who came to my album release concert! 🥀 a huge apology to anyone who missed out but after such a phenomenal crowd this evening, i'm pleased to announce the GUTS tour coming 2022!!
11,998 comments
User1 a tour!!! release the dates/countries now please and thank you
User2 mother treating us
User3 okay but when she SANG The Grudge with the tears rolling down her cheeks, poured her whole soul into that
→ User4 omg yes, you could legit feel the pain in your own chest
→ User5 no no no because what about the gasp through her sobbing at The Stranger
User6 nobody can tell me that Obsessed wasn't written as a kelly piquet pov
→ User7 haha literally because y/n has never said a bad word about this woman but she is all up in her business 
→ User8 and all up in her likes too from what i saw
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User8 not my delusional ass hoping it’s max and that the lighting just made his hair darker
User9 love how she’s still featured on the wags page despite her and max not being a couple for 10 months now
→ User10 legit. they post her more than kelly
User11 i bet max is kicking himself for letting her go now that someone else has realised how much she’s worth 
FutureF1Wag i need to know where f1 wags got that pic from because it’s SOOO much clearer than the one i got
User12 okay but where can i get a man like that because that kiss looks hawt!
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Nov
YourUserName just posted a new story
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lilymhe have the best time, babe. brunch debrief tomorrow?
→ YourUserName 11?
→ lilymhe absolutely 
YourBestFriend oo look at you being treated right 
→ YourUserName i know. how sweet
they're sooo pretty as well
→ YourBestFriend you’ve had bigger though 
→ YourUserName don’t do this today 
→ YourBestFriend sorry. be safe. text me when you’re home 
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Dec
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User1 max really said, just because i didn't want her doesn't mean anyone else can
→ User2 be serious, he clearly loves her. he just confused his priorities for a hot second
User3 the way these rumours have been floating since max and kelly went social media official though. like everyone has constantly said they're on the rocks since we found out about them
→ User4 literally. like i loved max and y/n but they've both moved on. people are just creating drama because they can't accept that max and y/n aren't together anymore
User5 no because y/n is literally max's forever after and nobody can convince me otherwise
User6 max and y/n are literally each other's one true love. kelly was just the poison apple that leads to their true love's kiss
User7 y/nstappen shippers rise!
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User8 she's watching his races again!
User9 she watched him win!!
User10 @ YourBestFriend is just like us for real. you can tell she's been praying for them to get back together
→ User11 she's feeding us crumbs and we're lapping them up
User12 not red bull down here fighting with us in the trenches
maxverstappen1 just posted
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liked by YourUserName, danielricciardo and others
maxverstappen1 FUCK YEAH! WORLD CHAMP! 🥇🇳🇱 a huge thank you to @ redbullracing for their support throughout the whole season. you made all of this possible.
7,330 comments
redbullracing what a season! here's to many more, champ
christianhorner so unbelievably proud of you! enjoy the celebrations
danielricciardo congrats, mate. couldn't be happier for you. looking forward to celebrating later 🍾
landonorris woohoo! my shirt is still wet from your tears
→ maxverstappen1 don't lie. you cried more than i did
→ landonorris true
mclaren well done, max! an amazing achievement
YourUserName congrats, world champ x
liked by maxverstappen1
→ User13 mama en papa
→ User14 not the best phrase to use when the reason they broke up is due to a miscommunication about having children 
User15 omg omg omg, not a drill, guys. the queen has commented. and max liked!! 
→ User16 user we may not get them back together but i’ll take the tiny trickles of friendship they give us
→ User17 same sis same 
→ User18 may our delulus come trululu
YourUserName just posted
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liked by maxverstappen1, carmenmmundt and others
YourUserName so i may have just won my first grammy? my ultimate gratitude to @ lovelessofficial for taking a chance on me when no one else would, the biggest love to those who supported me before i deserved it, and a final huge thank you to the inspiration behind the album 💕🦁
9,556 comments
User1 miss thing, looks like you got more than just your first grammy
→ YourUserName it's definitely a nice collection ;)
francisca.cgomes so proud of you, minha linda 🌼
→ YourUserName couldn't have done it without you pouring wine down my neck, kiks
lilymhe that's my girl!!
YourBestFriend wow, look at that dress. it would look better on my bedroom floor
liked by maxverstappen1
lewishamilton amazing achievement, y/n. well done
→ YourUserName thanks, lewis. you raced so well this season
danielricciardo did somebody say celebratory drinks later? 🥂
maxverstappen1 congrats, grammy winner x
liked by YourUserName
→ lovelessofficial thanks for joining us for the celebrations
→ User2 max was at her after party!!!!
→ User3 over a year after their breakup and we might be getting them back together??
User4 the trophies in their house must be overwhelming 
→ User5 love that we’re talking like they’re already back together
User6 'the inspiration behind the album' is so shady and sweet haha, poor max. i love that he'll be forever reminded of how badly he fumbled
→ User7 what makes you think she's on about max
→ User6 um, she wrote the album after their breakup and used the lion emoji, which she always used in posts about him. read the room, babes
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Jan
YourUserName just posted
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liked by victoriaverstappen, charles_leclerc and others
YourUserName happy new year's from me and my loved ones to you and yours (yes, he got drunk after this and ruined the rest of my photos)
13,441 comments
User8 omg omg omg omg!!!
User9 they're back together! they're back together! we win!
charles_leclerc beautiful couple. glad to see you both happy again
danielricciardo yuck. i haven't missed the pda
→ YourUserName you're just jealous you can't be our third
→ danielricciardo every day baby
maxverstappen1 i didn’t ruin them! they just become less pg
→ User10 woah, mr verstappen, we were not familiar with you
redbullracing our favourite trophy winning couple. can't wait to have y/n back in the paddock next month
maxverstappen1 looking forward to all that the future brings us, mijn mooie vrouw 🥰
→ YourUserName mijn lieve echtgenoot 💕
→ User11 um, the pet names!!!
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I know some people said on Danny’s that they wanted it to be longer but this are only planned as a duo series. Sorry, guys! 💕
Baby Fever Angst
Daniel's Version | Lando's Version | Lance’s Version |
Charles’s Version | Oscar’s Version
Tag list
@bibissparkles @barcelonaloverf1life @rlalliehayes @dullypully @softtina @callsignwidow @lav3nder-haze @minkyungseokie @luvrrish @fall-bambi @evans-dejong @sadsierra2 @justdreamersdream @spookystitchery @dark-night-sky-99 @majusialikesfastcars @luckyladycreator2 @bborra @mrosales16 @reguluscrystals @tvdtw4ever @alwaysclassyeagle @gigicisneros @spanishcorndogs @thecubanator2 @goldenharrysworld @awritingtree @jxnellat @sbrn0905 @hc-dutch @buckybarnessweetheart @ironmaiden1313 @dreamercrowd @yourbane @reguluscrystals @peachiicherries @g-l-o-b-e-w-h-o-r-e @itsjustmyopinionf1 @evesfile @openthenyoor01 @princessria127 @hrrorflm @the-untamed-soul @nataliambc @oliviarodrigostan13 @sweate-r-weathe-r
As always, so sorry if I missed anyone. Thanks for all your support x
230 notes · View notes
busycloudy · 2 days
Text
The Love Potion
 *Sigh* Here we are, once again. This is the 3rd and FINAL part, hurray! 
 ft: The rest of NRC students
Tw: None, but if I need to add any please inform me!
 A fluff and crack fanfic
The reader is MC and goes by they/them pronouns. The reader is already in a relationship with these characters.
 Characters may or may not be ooc 
Hope you enjoy!
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Ace Trappola
Bro really asked Crewel "So, do I have to attend my classes still, or...?" He used you as and excuse to skip classes, and somehow it worked. He brought you back to Heartslabyul with a big grin on his face. When Riddle stopped him and asked why he wasn't at class he just said "I gotta take care of my dear MC here" And Riddle just stormed off to ask a teacher about it. Ace brought you back to his room to hangout and chill since he had the joy of not having to go to classes. He was just casually going through his phone when you plopped your head on his lap. He gave you a quick peck on the lips, well was going to, until you cupped his face and smothered him in kisses. He was a bit taken aback but quickly recovers and a small grin grew on his face. He kisses you a few times all over your face, then returning back to his phone. Lovesick you was a teensy bit upset his phone was getting more attention than you, but you let it slide, for now. Jokes on him, he had 10x more homework than he did before. That's what he gets for using you as an excuse to skip class.
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Deuce Spade
Why is he even surprised? It's just more trouble caused by Ace and Grim. He brought you back to his room and went to his classes, before doing so he gave you a peck on the forehead. After all his classes were done he went back to his room and started on his homework. You were wanting his attention so you walked over to behind him and put your arms over his shoulders. "Hm? Do you need something MC?" He raised a brow. "No, just wanted to cuddle" You innocently smiled. "Has anyone ever told you how cute you are? Your smile is brighter than the sun!" You said. Deuce blushed "T-thanks..." He mumbled. Once he was finished with his homework he cuddled you for the rest of the day.
(Deuce deserves more writing and love but I do NOT know what to write)
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Cater Diamond
Cater was walking around the halls, scrolling on magicam, his finger gliding across the screen as he scrolled down. He saw some cute pictures of a cafe that had recently opened. Maybe he would take you there sometime-"Cater!!!" A familiar voice interrupted Cater's thoughts. It was Ace, and Grim, and Deuce holding you over his shoulder-Wait...Deuce holding you over his shoulder?!"What'd you freshies do this time?" Cater asked as Deuce put you in Cater's arms, trying to not seem so worried. Then Cater saw the hearts in your eyes, and he immediately knew. "How did you get prefect to drink a love potion??" Cater questioned. "It wasn't our fault! They was the one that drank the water!" Ace defended. Cater looked confused. "It's a long ish story" Grim shrugged. Cater felt a sudden warmth to his cheeks as something cupped his face. "Well, we're gonna go" Grim announced, the three then leaving."Aww, your cheeks are so squishy.." You said with a droopy smile. Cater blushed. "W-well..." "I could take so much pictures of you and show em off. You deserve to be seen my everyone" You cut Cater off. Cater felt the heat on his face grow. Ok, you're a bit good at making him flustered...If you continued he was gonna turn out like Riddle when he's mad."Instead of staying in the hallways we should go back to my room.." Cater mentioned. The time you were under the influence of that love potion Cater took many pictures of you, and some videos too. You was just too cammable! How could he not? Don't worry, he won't post anything without your permission! (The pictures were mainly for him to look back at and smile...)
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Jack Howl
His ears twitch at the sound of 3 freshmans voices. "JACKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!" they yelled, to which he simply sighed in return. "What is it this time!? Wait, why does prefect have hearts in their eyes???" Jack was puzzled as Ace quickly gave you to him. "Perfect drank a love potion, which was totally NOT my fault, it was all Grim's," Grim groaned in the backround "So yeah anyways goodluck taking care of them the potion doesn't wear off until tomorrow!!!!" Then he ran of with the other freshman. Jack was confused, to say the least, but alas took you to Savanaclaw.When he walked in he got some strange looks while you was being carried over his shoulder, but simply ignored them as it wasn't a big deal."Jack, Why ya carryin' MC over ya shoulder?" Ruggie questioned as he walked oast Jack."Ace, Grim, and Deuce somehow got them to drink a love potion, so now I gotta be with them" Jack shrugged."Oh, well good luck with that" Ruggie chuckled, then going his own way.Jack had finally let you down after you got to his dorm, then he got started on his homework while he let you hug him from behind. Offly enough, he was much more comfortable this way and it kinda helped him focus.
Soon enough it was 9pm, and he was drowsy, so he went to sleep, ans joined him so he wrapped his arm around you, placing a kiss on your neck.
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Floyd Leech
He was walking around the hallways, upset because he hasn't seen his shrimpy all day! Where in the world could they be??? People moved out of his way, noticing he wasn't the happiest at this moment. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around with a frown, which faded away when he saw you. "Aw~ Shrimpy where have you been?" He smiled as he took you from the troublemakers. Meanwhile Ace and Grim were fighting over which one should tell him, but Grim got shoved forward "Nya! No fair! You owe me tuna after this!" Grim angrily said to Ace. Ace rolled his eyes in response "What is it Baby Seal?" Floyd raised a brow. "MC drank a love potion..." Grim said. "Myah! Run!" Grim, Ace, and Duece then ran. Floyd huffed "How do you get in this much trouble so often shrimpy? Whatever, this may be a bit fun" Floyd smiled, then taking you to his room. He was supposed to be at monstro lounge, but Azul wouldn't mind. "Floyd, has anyone mentioned how adorable you are?" You brought up. "Eh?~ Thank you shrimpy, but I'd say you more adorable yourself, ehe~" He said in return with a toothy grin. You two had comments like this for practically all day, and cuddled when the day ended.
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Epel Felmeir
Epel was in the Botanical Garden. Why? Probably for something in potions. He had a basket of things for his potions assignment and began to walk back on his merry way but heard a familiar voice.Grim entered the garden as you were being carried by Deuce and Ace. "Epel, MC drank a love potion!!!!" Grim squealed out of breath. "H...huh?! How??? Y'all troublemakers always causin' a problem for MC huh..." Epel saw you, hearts in your eyes, and was worried but also noticed how adorable you was. "Take your partner instead of admiring them all day long, would ya?" Epel put down the basket and took you in his arms, well, more like let you lean against his shoulder as he helped you walk back to pomefiore, but you get the point!Epel let you take a seat, then beginning to work on his homework. You and the other freshman were supposed to all study together today, but because of the love potion you obviously won't be able to.You walked up behind Epel, as you was beginning to get bored, and quite lonely at that, wrapping your arms around him and looking at his homework.You could practically feel the heat radiating off of Epel when you did this, which made you have a small grin.You had seen Epel get stuck on some questions, so you had graciously helped him, to which he thanked you for.Epel said it was starting to get dark and that you should get sleep, and you had gone to the bed, hut said "Hurry up and cuddle with me soon though..." in a drowsy tone, so Epel wrote his letter to his meemaw about this whole thing and you quickly, then cuddling up next to you with a small blush.
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Silver
Silver was startled awake from his sleep with a yell. "SILVER!!!!!!!!!" Ace yelled.Silver jumped awake with a questionable look on his face. "Hm? What exactly is it you need, Ace?" Then he saw the look on your face. And your eyes.Silver had heard about a love potion from his father, and from potionoligy, and how anyone who drank one would have hearts in there eyes, and you certainly did."Take your significant other!! I ain't taking care of them all day!" Ace quickly gave you to Silver, then going off with Deuce and Grim.Silver was still a bit drowsy, but he needed to ask Lilia if there was any way to cure this.Silver walked into Diasomnia, you clinging onto his arm."Boo! Oh? Is that your little partner clinging into you?~" Lilia chuckled.Silver didn't have much of a reaction to Lilia's scare, as he was used to it at this point, but nodded his head yes, then saying "They had drank a love potion, considering the look in their eyes. I'm not sure how, but do you know if there's a cure?" "No, there's no cure that I'm aware of, so good luck with your clingy partner" Lilia said, then smiling cheekily.Silver walked off to his room, and you just continued clinging onto him. "Silver, your eyes are so beautiful... I could get lost in them" You smiled. "Being with you doesn't feel real, it feels like a dream" You continued to ramble on.
Silver chuckled, running his fingers through your hair. Your warmth made him get more and more drowsy, causing the two of you to soon fall asleep.
Oh, Lilia will DEFINITELY take a picture of this.
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Sebek Zigvolt
Sebek was on his way to Diasomnia since he had finished all his classes and wanted to check if Malleus was fine, and there he happened to see 3 freshmans and his significant other being carried at the end of the hall. "MC!" Sebek ran to the part of the hall you were at and immediately took you in his arms. It was silent for a moment, then Deuce spoke "MC, somehow," Deuce looked at Grim amd Ace, "drank some of a love potion. Crewel said the effects will only be around for about 24 hours" Ace bit his lip, expected loud enough yelling to make him go deaf, but instead it was silent. So silent you could almost hear crickets as Sebek had a look of confusion, anger, and, most of all, worry.The freshman slowly backed up, then ran away.You played with Sebek's hair, booped his nose, and kissed him so much on the way to Diasomnia Sebek couldn't help but blush. He entered the dorm and continued walking to his room until a Lilia appeared. "Ah? Why's MC here?"Sebek looked frozen. "Those idiot humans somehow got them to drink love potion" Sebek answered, a tinge of sadness in his voice.
Malleus's voice came about "They'll be just fine Sebek, there's no need to worry." Lilia interrupted "That's only if they had a tadge bit. Did they have a tadge bit?" Sebek responded, saying Deuce said it would only last 24 hours according to Crewel. "Excellent! Well get on your merry way then" Lilia chuckled as he went to get tomato juice. "Thank you Waka-sama and Lilia-Sama" Sebek did a half bow and left.Sebek couldn't really focus on his work. No matter how much he wanted to. All the complements, kisses, hugs from behind, everything you did just out him in a different thought process."MC, I need silence and complete focus to work on this homework" Sebek stated. "My soldier, you've been working on that foreverrrr, can't I just get a bit of attention? Please?" You had a look on your face Sebek found hard to say no to. "...Fine, but only for a few minutes!" Sebek slightly frowned, but wasnt the slightest bit upset.Unfortunately, Sebek had fallen asleep in your arms as you brushed his hair with your fingers.
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AHHHH IT'S FINALLY DONE!!!!! IT'S BEEN MONTHSSSSSS BUT I FINALLY FINISHED IT!
Anyways, I hope you lovelies enjoyed! I will be writing more every so often, but I got this for now!
179 notes · View notes
lurkingshan · 3 days
Text
10 Things I Love About Triage
I am extraordinarily late to this party but I am here to scream about Triage, a show which I started on a whim after a stray comment from @incandescentflower and subsequently finished in two sittings. This drama has been on my list forever (I didn't watch it live because the distribution was wacky) and then it just kept getting overlooked as I fought to keep up with the deluge of Thai BL coming at us at all times. But I am very glad I finally hunted it down and made the time and I would like to tell you why!
Hello Again, Dr. Sammon
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I am on record as a Sammon fan. She is one of the best writers working in Thai BL and she has a knack for mystery and suspense. Her narratives are always really well constructed with tight plotting and smart character work, and Triage is no exception. This story feels confident, steady, and complete in a way few Thai BLs do.
The time travel rules are blessedly consistent
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Part of what makes the story sing is it's a time travel plot that actually gets the particulars right. In a time loop, the details are everything, and this show understands that. The series of events are consistent, the rules of the time travel mechanics are clearly explained, and when our protagonists learn something new, it always lines up with something we'd gotten hints about before or gives us new context for old information. There are no loose threads in this show.
My boy Tin is going through it
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Tin is a fantastic protagonist. He starts the show disillusioned with his work and hilariously grumpy about this time loop situation--he is a busy ER doctor and he does not have time for this--but as he starts to piece together how the loop works he gets more methodical in his approach, and eventually becomes emotionally invested in his mission to save Tol. Tin felt really well-calibrated in that he was smart and he tried all the things you would be shouting at the screen for him to try, but he's still a human being with flaws and insecurities and so he makes mistakes, learns, and has to try again. The show really successfully put us in the frustration with him.
Tol makes for an interesting damsel
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Because he's kind of an asshole! Tol is rude and disrespectful when he first meets Tin, he hangs around with some truly awful bullies, he treats Rit like garbage, and he's all around an arrogant dick. Until he isn't. I like the choice to make the focus of our mission such a difficult character, not only because it makes Tin's challenge that much harder, but also because it invites us to consider the reasons why someone might be behaving the way he is and whether they can be redeemed.
This show has everything: action, romance, and agony
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It's truly an emotional rollercoaster all the way through, and you can't relax for a moment. The pacing is relentless through most of the show, and even as a bond develops between Tin and Tol and they begin a tentative romance, danger is lurking around every corner. As soon as these boys started making out in episode 9 I knew something awful was coming for me and IT SURE DID.
Jinta, the ultimate frenemy
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On that note let's talk about Jinta, my nemesis!! Jinta is some kind of unspecified deity/whimsical god and the one who appears to be responsible for putting Tin and Tol in this loop. Is he trying to help them? Is he trying to torture them? I definitely think it's both! He seems to delight in showing up to taunt Tin as he struggles to figure out how to get through to Tol, and when it's Tol's turn on the merry-go-round he sends him to the darkest timeline for his high stakes final attempt to save Tin just because he can. I love/hate you, sir!
Sing and Gap and the darkest timeline
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Speaking of which, can we talk about how appropriate it is that Sing and Gap are a couple only in the darkest timeline? I don't know if people were shipping this for real during the live watch, but I definitely was not and so I started cackling when we got to the worst possible timeline and Sing was suddenly calling Gap his boyfriend. Sammon, you are hilarious and I salute you.
Fantastic side characters
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Let's talk about the sides I did love. First of all, aside from his weird aggressive flirting/not flirting thing with Gap, I actually did like Sing's friendship with Tin a lot. I also loved the hospital gang who were around to alternately tease and help Tin, most especially Toy and Fang. Toy is a sweetheart and a gossip who never misses a trick, and Fang is an actual badass who first cracked the case with that evil doctor and saved Tin's life. They are fabulous. Rit was also an excellent character with a lot of complexity and he added some much needed depth to the school storyline (does anyone else think he was basically the proto-DFF Non?). And while Mai and Heart were not my favorite people, I did appreciate that the show gave them a sympathetic portrayal instead of making them evil villains (we had the organ harvesters for that).
That beautiful clocktower
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I must give a shoutout to this gorgeous clocktower featured in several important scenes. I got so excited every time it showed up. Fun fact: in the first clocktower scene I was like oh hey I recognize that from gifs, but it can't be that scene because it's too early for a kis--TIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING! (I was right, it was too early for a kiss and Tol was Big Mad but bless you for going for it anyway, Tin).
The romance is balanced and rootable
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And on that note, let me give a shoutout to the romance part of this story for actually feeling balanced. This is not an epic swoony love affair, but more a story of two people putting in the time to understand and empathize with each other. Sometimes in these kind of time loop stories the romance can end up feeling very one-sided because one character is holding all the knowledge and all the cards. But in this show we have the neat trick of Tol taking over the loop to try to save Tin in the final arc, which means he got to go through a similar process of getting to know the darkest version of his lover and figuring out how to get through to him. I was delighted by all the events of the long loop playing out again, but this time with Tin being the obstinate one. Tol got a taste of his own medicine and it left me feeling like they were both equally invested in this relationship.
TL;DR: If you haven't watched this yet, you really should! It's a fast binge and a great time with some Thai BL favorites. It's unfortunately still not available for international streaming, but it's very easy to find grey now and it's worth the effort. Go forth!
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bonefall · 1 day
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do you have any tips for writing a low empathy character who isn't evil? Or how to make an interesting apathetic character who's a thoughtless sort of evil? These are two different chatacters btw-
I tried looking up examples and stuff but uh. It's been a bit fruitless.
Honestly it's not too hard! Having low empathy just means we're bad at automatically "connecting" to the feelings of other people. You can come to understand it's not even a character flaw once you uncouple the idea that Empathy = Kindness. And apathy, well, that one's a bit more complicated imo.
Low Empathy
In English, it's just unfortunately super common to conflate Empathy and Compassion. To have compassion is to be aware of the suffering of another person, and ergo, want to help stop it. To be empathetic is to identify with and understand the feelings of another person. These are different things.
For an example in action; imagine a medic with a patient whose shoulder is dislocated, and xey'll need to pop that arm back in place in order for the patient to feel better.
A medic feeling EMPATHY for that patient is having an emotional response to what xey're seeing. Xey might have a tingly "ghost pain" thinking about the injury, and xey might feel guilty xey're going to put them in more agony, but also joy because this patient is going to feel much better in just a moment.
A medic feeling COMPASSION for that patient is thinking about how the shoulder must be causing a lot of pain, and knows xey have the skill to fix it. Xey know from xeir own experience that pain sucks and so it is a bad thing that needs to go away. It will hurt a little more for a moment, but then there will be immediate relief.
This is imo, why a lot of low empathy people are "bad at" comforting people without going to Autism College where they give you the scripts of Shit Neurotypicals Say. We're not trying to be selfish when we end up making "comfort sessions" about ourselves-- that's what we think empathy is, because we don't have a lot of it to really know what you want.
Like, doesn't it make sense to you? "I don't know what you're feeling. Here's a similar situation I've been though. I must know what you're feeling-- does that make you feel better? That you aren't alone? I think that's what empathy is, am I right?"
A LOT of low empathy people go into medical fields, the funeral industry, and disaster relief. We often really do want to help people so seek these fields out, or when we get there, just end up not getting burnt out like our high-empathy peers!
Apathy
As for the apathetic character, honestly, I'd suggest thinking about your story's themes. Villains are very special to me and I always try to handle them with care. What are you trying to say is bad to not care about in your work? How does their apathy play into the story you're trying to tell?
A Captain Planet villain is completely selfish, and exists only to benefit itself by exploiting nature in some way. Then the Planeteers show up and punch it in the face. Boiled down to its barest, most simple essentials; "We have conflicting goals and so I will stop you."
Personally I find total apathy to be something not especially compelling in villains, for that reason. Like, if you really don't care about anything, why bother with the trouble of going against the protag? Motivation is meant to be MOTIVATING.
(also ngl I'm on the Shadow As A Hero sort of bandwagon where I find it much funnier for the simple apathetic cool edgy guy to be the funniest person on your tennis team)
Dungeon Meshi has TWO characters who struggle with apathy, and are both antagonists at some points in the story, but never villains. Shuro and Mithrun. The theme of Dungeon Meshi is the beauty and complexity of life, the value of living, and how our connections to others changes the people we are. Food is a metaphor for bonding, self-care, and understanding.
For Shuro, he begins the story as someone who's both been encouraged to bottle up his emotions for the sake of other people, as well as to not actually consider the emotions of those lower-born than him. He's from a very different place than the other members of his party, and this causes friction as class, culture, and sophisticated, refined, weapons-grade autism clashes.
When the woman he loves is eaten by a dragon, he doesn't stop to tell her brother and """childhood friend""" what he's planning, as if they both wouldn't run in and get hurt. He owns demi-humans. He doesn't consider his own needs or the needs of his rescue team of loyal vassals. As a result, he's too weak to continue, losing a fistfight with one of the main characters, Laios.
After this, he connects with him for the very first time, and reaches out to him by giving him an important magic item. There's even a MASSIVE moment where he outright tells Laios that his ability to be so open (read: not have to mask his autism) is something he envies, breaking through that veil of apathy he wears.
The story Dungeon Meshi is telling here is that it is important to value the needs of yourself and of others. Shuro's apathy towards his own needs in a bid to prove his love weakened him. In acting like he was above his old teammates, he never spoke to them like people to smooth out his issues. He's never even noticed how much his vassals love and care for him.
(and the incredible irony is not lost on me, that Shuro's name is because Laios mispronounced it and was never corrected... while Shuro never noticed that Izutsumi had the unwanted name "Asebi" forced onto her when she was "taken in" and made his slave.)
See how that comes back to the theme? Shuro doesn't exist to just "be some asshole" or act like a villain. He has a full character arc that contributes to the narrative.
For Mithrun? I won't even spoil it. Go read Dungeon Meshi. Watch elf depression. We love a king with strabismus.
Anyway,
If you ever need good personal resources on any stigmatized mental condition, I've found it's usually productive to go into the #Actually (Thing) tag here on Tumblr. You can find people posting about basically anything. I found a lot of really good resources on NPD that way.
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aeribbon · 1 day
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lunch or launch ? | rúben dias
summary; just you and your boyfriend soft launching your relationship until your bf hard launch one day out of boredom
pairing; rúben dias x influencer!reader
warnings; swearing ? english is still not my first language ahaha
an; didn't see a lot of content for one of my fav player like i never knew he was (i would say idk ?) underrated so here is a smau with loml rúben dias
fc; natasha aris
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username sheeshhhhh
username mother ate but who’s that guy
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username he’s an art boy now
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johnstones5 that drip !!!!!!!
username fine as hell
username y’all it’s me im the one he’s talking about and behind to camera 🤗
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yourusername - ibiza, spain
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username oh no soft launch today :(
▮ username check her story 💔
username GORGEOUS
username love orange on you ! it suits you so well
▮ yourusername thank you so much love
bffusername and to think i wasn’t invited on this trip 😠
▮ yourusername girl you know damn well
username NOOOOOO WHAT IS RÚBEN DIAS DOING IN HER LIKES WE CANT LOSE OUR MOTHER TO A FOOTBALLER
▮ username fr 💔
username just wow
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damnnnnn i hope you're enjoying those vacations
would be better with me but only the two of us tho 🙄
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GIRL WHO IS HEEEEEE
rubendias - ibiza, spain
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username STOPP PLAYING WITH US WHO IS SHE
username damn vacations and all 💔
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timowerner a well deserved rest i see
▮ rubendias !!!
username ok but i'm dying to know who she is
username you know who else was in ibiza ? y/n y/l/n
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yourusername monaco ily especially during the gp :)
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username mother
username you ate that paddock down
charles_leclerc you're welcome every day in monaco
▮ yourusername oh trust me i'll be back ahaha
▮ landonorris we'll definitely go clubbing together
▮ yourusername ahaha whenever you guys want
▮ username ok hold on what if the guy she's been soft lauching is one of the drivers
▮ username it could be but it's their first time interacting
username i'm just loving y/n's travel era lately like mother is everywhere and i'm here for it
username ok now i'm gonna need you to attend every gps please !
maxverstappen1 aye that's my car right there
▮ yourusername ofc ! i was cheering for the best driver on the grid
▮ landonorris ok y/n you're uninvited to go clubbing with me
▮ maxverstappen1 i think she already has someone to go clubbing with !
▮ username MAX SPILL THE TEA PLEASE
▮ username ayyoooo what do they know
rubendias
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rubendias race weekend ! 🏎
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username y'all he's sooo fine
username rumor has it he was hanging out all weekend with y/n 😖
username lindo homem (pretty boy)
carlossains55 hope you had a good time mate, you're welcome again !!
▮ rubendias ohh don't tell me that im gonna be here at every races from now on 😂
yourusername enjoyed the race ? 🤓
▮ rubendias oh definitely
▮ username WHAT
▮ username FIRST REAL INTERACTION OH MY DAYYYSS
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yourusername
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yourusername he said he needed a ride ⛳️
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username how many other likes ?? 127 (LIKA A STICKAA)
username STOP I'M CONNECTING ALL THE DOTS AFTER THE THREAD
rubendias very much needed, indeed
▮ username ARE WE GOING TO IGNORE HIS COMMENTS
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bellahadid gorgeous
bffusername all those activities without me, you starting to forget your own bff 💔/j
▮ yourusername the perks of having a boyfriend and your minuses of being single, sorry babe
▮ bffusername YOU CUNT
username oh she's so mother
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rubendias - mykonos, greece
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rubendias lunch or launch ?
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yourusername BABE WHAT
yourusername WHY ? YOU'RE CRAZY LD QKLJZDE
▮ rubendias out of boredom ? 😅
▮ yourusername THAT'S NOT A REASON YOU'RE CRAZY
▮ rubendias i wanted to show that you're mine 😠
▮ yourusername okay sorry babe ily
username I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I DIDNT MAKE THAT THREAD FOR NOTHING
username they were so (not) discreet
bffusername finally
jackgrealish it was time lovebirds
username *quick lets all act shocked*
yourusername - tulum, mexico
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rubendias you're fr the prettiest woman i've ever met
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username alexa play that should be me by justin bieber
username i bet they've been dating for like several years and decided to hard launch their relationship just today
▮ yourusername actwwwually 🤓☝️ it's been three years during the trip in mykonos lol
▮ username THE HELL ??? Y/N???????
▮ username HOLD ON NOW WHAT
username it's always been the other MAN 😡
username i would kill to date THE y/n
landonorris i've waited for three and half years, that portuguese man did it in one week 😣
▮ rubendias boy ?
▮ landonorris ahaha im joking rúben 😅….
▮ carlossainz55 im snitching she was his celebrity crush LOL
▮ rubendias well too bad for you little boy 🤓
▮ landonorris i’m not a little boy rúben…😖
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acourtofthought · 2 days
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"Gone to the mat again and again to fight for that future with Feyre"
Rhys may have stepped back and kept his distance for months when he thought Feyre would be happy with Tamlin but what Cassian said is true, Rhys did consistently show that he was willing to fight for Feyre.
Lucien fighting for his future with Elain:
Lucien breathed, "Where is he keeping her?"
"I don't know. Rhysand has a hundred places where they could be, but I doubt he'd use any of them to hide Elain, knowing that I'm aware of them." "Tell me anyway. List all of them."
"You'll die the moment you set foot in his territory." "I survived well enough when I found you."
"I need to find her."
I asked Lucien to escort me, and he'd been more than happy to do so, given that his own status of mated male made him uninterested in any sort of female company these days".
"I'm getting my mate back."
"Tell me about her - about Elain," Lucien said quietly.
"My mate is engaged to a human male." I want to see her. Just once. Just-to know." "To know what?" "If she is worth fighting for. And then I'll ask your mate how he survived it - knowing you were engaged to someone else. Sharing another male's bed."
"I would like to see them first. I know you're anxious -" "Just do it," Lucien said, bracing his forearms on the stone rail of the veranda. "Come get me when she's ready."
But Lucien was standing in the doorway. And from the devastation on his face, I knew he'd heard ever word. Seen and heard and felt the hollowness and despair radiating from her.
Lucien stiffened - not at what I'd said, I realized, but at the tone. A hostess. But he asked, "What of - Elain?" "I need to think about it," I answered plainly.
"I would never hurt her."
"She needs fresh air." "We'll judge what she needs." "Take her to the sea. Take her to some garden. But get her out of this house for an hour or two."
"I sensed no ill will, no conniving. Only concern for her. And ... sorrow. Longing."
"Let me do something. About Elain. I heard - from my room. Everything that happened just now. It wouldn't hurt to have a healer look her over. Externally and internally."
"Please tell me," Lucien said when I crossed the threshold into the foyer. "What the healer says. And if- if you need me for anything."
"I'll go." Lucien was staring at Elain as he spoke.
Lucien, haggard and bloody, panting for breath. As if he'd run from the shore. His gaze settled on Elain, and he sagged a little.
"I heard - what happened. I'm sorry for your loss. All of you."
"I heard you made the killing blow."
Lucien now stood in the sitting room, close to Elain's side.
"How is she?" "Good. But is she still..." A muscle flickered in his jaw. "Does she still mourn him?
Lucien had encountered him, I realized. Somehow, in living with Jurian and Vassa at the manor, he'd run into Elain's former betrothed. And managed to leave the human lord breathing.
"The bigger box is for you. The smaller one is for her."
Cassian's heart strained at the pain etching deep into Lucien's face as he tried to hide his disappointment and longing. "
Two years after their bond snapped "he tried to hide his disappointment and longing."
From the start of their bond snapping until where we are currently at in the series Lucien is still fighting for Elain.
Is he being pushy? No, because that's not what would best for a female who recently had a broken engagement with someone she loved.
But does he still think of her? Does he still long for her? Has he been loyal to only her?
That is the author showing us that Lucien remains committed to their bond, he is fighting for their bond.
Authors do not write loyal kings as not ending up with their HEA and Elain will always be able to take comfort in the fact that he wanted her, he waited for her, he allowed her to set the pace of things while he suffered for her.
That is how you write a real love story. Not a guy who rejected her at the first real test to their love as Graysen did, not a guy like Az who hadn't thought of a future with her beyond his sexual fantasies and proceeded to feel a spark in his chest at the thought of another female's happiness mere hours after he rejected Elain.
Lucien is loyal to Elain regardless of what he's getting out of the situation and that's exactly what we saw from both Rhys and Cassian with their mates.
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hederasgarden · 3 days
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Stand By Me - Part 3
Summary: When a local ranch hand’s attention evolves into something more sinister, Rhett Abbott becomes an unlikely source of comfort and protection for you. Pairing: Rhett Abbott x F!Reader Word Count: 4.8K Rating: Mature, future chapters will be explicit and 18+ only. Stalking, anxiety, and Rhett being protective. Future chapters will include some violence. No spoilers for Outer Range. A/N: Welp, here we are a year later. 😬 Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I cannot thank my beta N, @mayhem24-7forever and @whatblogisthis216 enough for their help and support putting this together. Thank you @callsignhurricane for the absolutely gorgeous header.
Please comment and reblog if you enjoyed this story. Your interactions keep me writing and inspired.
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Masterlist | Lewis Pullman Characters Masterlist
"I see you're in with the Abbotts now," your boss remarks, watching Rhett climb into his truck. "Got a phone call from Cecilia this morning about you not closing up by yourself anymore. That woman has a real way about her, all polite-like when she's handing you your ass." 
“Mr. Anderson,” you start, rushing to explain but he waves you off. 
“She was right, of course. I know you got that, er- fella who hangs around too much.”
“My stalker?” You question, your tone harsher than you intend. He looks down at you, surprised. There’s an apology on the tip of your tongue but you resist, meeting his brown eyes. Maybe it’s knowing you had Rhett and Cecilia on your side, or maybe some leftover frustration from the Sheriff. Either way, you don't back down from your statement. 
“I suppose he could be,” Mr. Anderson agrees. “Anyhow, I’ve got Johnny set to close from now on. You go on and tell that to Cecilia now. One dressing down from that woman is enough.”
“I’ll let her know.” 
He nods, patting your shoulder briefly before disappearing into the back office. You exhale and look back out to the empty street. It’s stupid to miss Rhett but a small part of you does. You’re safe in the store; there’s no need to have him here with you. He has a life of his own and a ranch to help run. 
“Was that Rhett Abbott?”
You turn to face the owner of the voice, finding your coworker Sandra watching you excitedly. She’s got that glint in her eye, the one that means she’s not going to let this go easily. Wabang didn’t have a town gossip, but if they did, everyone knows she’d happily take the job. In high school, she was in everyone’s business, spreading rumors and ferreting out information. She never looked twice at you back then, you were too boring and quiet. 
“It was. He just gave me a lift. Not a big deal,” you promise her.
“Uh, nope," she says, popping the p and stopping you with a hand on your arm. "We’re not going to breeze past the fact that you left your car here last night and now the manwhore of Wabang is dropping you off. Spill," she demands.
"We're not…," you start, an automatic denial falling from your lips before you can stop it. She gives you an incredulous look and you stammer out an answer. "It's not a big deal. We're, um, dating," you explain.
"Rhett Abbott doesn't 'date'," she tells you, eyes narrowed. "He has sex with whatever buckle bunny catches his eye.”
“He’s not like that,” you argue, defensive at the way she speaks about him. You know Rhett’s reputation, pretty much everyone does, but you saw a different side of him last night and this morning. You know there’s something more under that charming smile. He listened when no one else did and that means something to you. 
“Honey, please,” she says dismissively. “That boy is nothing but trouble and trash. You best stay away from him."
“Don’t talk about him like that,” you tell her, voice warbling with emotion. “He’s not like everyone says.”
Sandra’s perfectly plucked brows disappear into her hairline. “Alright, alright,” she concedes, hands held up. “Just be careful. He might not stick around after he gets what he wants from you.”
“He’s stuck around the last two months just fine,” you fire back, only realizing after the words are out that you and Rhett never talked about a timeline. 
“Really?” Sandra says, leaning in closer enough for you to catch the fruity scent of the gum she smacks noisily. “That certainty explains why he hasn’t been hanging around the Handsome Gambler lately. I just thought maybe he was getting serious about bull riding or Royal had him on a short leash after the last fight.” She leans back, looking contemplative. “Well, that was some exciting gossip for a Friday morning.”
“Please don’t spread this around,” you ask her, knowing full well she would. Although the idea of people talking about your personal life made your skin crawl, you knew if Rhett were here he’d say it was good. The more it spread, the more likely your stalker would learn of it and back off. 
“Your secret is safe with me,” she promises you, crossing her fingers and winking. 
Sandra spends the rest of your time together on her phone, chewing on the endless supply of gum she keeps next to the register. You’re normally not a self involved person but you’re fairly certain she’s texting about you and Rhett. During lunch, you send him a text of your own about your conversation with Sandra. He responds immediately with a thumbs up emoji which doesn’t help your anxiety. What if he was mad? What if he was with another girl at that time and you just screwed up this whole story?
You spend your shift distracted, overthinking what you told Sandra enough that you keep losing track of the inventory you’re working on. Eventually you give up and volunteer to work the till. An unexpectedly busy afternoon keeps your focus on the task at hand and you don’t even notice it’s 5 p.m. until you look up and find Rhett in line for your register, a shopping basket in hand. 
He steps up to the counter and smiles. “Hey.”
“Hey,” you return, feeling unexpectedly shy. You stare at him long enough that he clears his throat and nudges the basket towards you.
“You gonna check me out?” he asks, his tone playful. 
Beside you, Sandra scoffs. When you spare her a glance, you find her watching Rhett. His attention, though, is focused on you. 
“What’s all this?” You question, taking out the deadbolt kit and some window locks.
“For your apartment. When I was there last night I saw they could use an update.”
“Rhett…” you trail off, embarrassed. 
He seems to sense your emotions and leans forward, resting his elbows on the counter. “I think this is the part where you ask me, cash or card,” he whispers. 
“Will that be cash or card?” You ask, thankful for how easily he dispels your discomfort.
After you’ve finished checking him out, you clock out and let him walk you to his truck with an arm around your shoulder.  Once you reach your apartment he pulls out a tool bag from the bed of the truck and says he’ll install the new deadbolt while you get ready. A part of you wants to protest or offer to pay him for the supplies, while another is too embarrassed to draw attention to what he’s doing for you, so instead you say nothing and disappear into your room.
“Pretty sure they’re doing line dancing tonight,” Rhett calls out in between the sounds of the power drill. “You got some boots you can wear?”
“Uh…I think so," you half yell back, staring at the contents of your closet. 
You have to get on your hands and knees and pull aside a few boxes to find a pair of brown boots. The last time you wore them was for high school graduation, back when your grandfather had been alive. You trace the delicate lines of embroidery around the calf, pale pink and periwinkle flowers connected by green vines. There hadn’t been a reason to wear them since, all you did was go to work and come home. 
Tonight seems as good as any and you stand to finish getting dressed. The sundress and jean jacket are a little dated but they’re comfortable and look nice enough. Once you’ve managed to fix your hair and makeup, you return to the living room to find Rhett replacing the old window locks.
The creak in the floor draws his attention to you briefly before his eyes return to the window. A second later they’re back on you. He blinks and stands, clearing his throat. 
“I think I’m ready," you announce. 
“You, ah, look real nice,” he tells you, nodding. “I like the flowers.” 
“Thanks. You look nice too,” you add, touching your neck self-consciously when he doesn’t immediately speak again but keeps watching you.
“Well…we should probably get going then.”
“Yeah,” you agree, watching Rhett gather up his tools. “Thanks again for installing that stuff.” 
Rhett nods. “I’ll finish up with the other windows tomorrow.”
The drive to the bar is quiet. Rhett’s fingers drum on the steering wheel as you wait at the stoplight. You cycle through potential conversation openers but discard them all. Nothing feels right, and you realize that the sour pit in your stomach only grows the closer you get to the Handsome Gambler. 
Would he be there tonight you wondered? Just the thought of seeing him is enough to make your breath come quickly and your hands tremble. You exhale and close your eyes, trying to get yourself together. Rhett is here. 
When the engine cuts out you look up, eyes drawn to the neon glow of the Handsome Rambler’s sign. Rhett’s quick to meet you at the curb, offering his arm. You curl your hand around his bicep and he draws you close. At this time of night, the bar is busy, humming with energy and conversation. Rhett navigates the crowd with ease, exchanging brief hellos with a few people, finally stopping at an empty booth. You slide in and he follows. 
“Want a beer?” He asks.
You’re not much of a drinker but you nod anyway. Rhett flags down a waitress and a few minutes later two cold beers are dropped off at your table. You fiddle with the label as Rhett takes a long swig and leans back, shoulders relaxing. When you sense him watching, you bring the bottle to your lips and take a drink. It’s cold and a little bitter on your tongue. Your distaste for it must show because Rhett cocks his head to the side with a faint smile on his lips.
“I can order you something else,” he offers. “Wine? Something fruity?”
“Maybe something fruity… honestly though this is okay. I don’t want it to go to waste.”
Rhett shakes his head and flags down the waitress again, ordering you a daiquiri. “It won’t go to waste,” he assures you, pulling the beer toward him.
You return his smile as he rests his arm along the back of the booth. His fingertips hover just above your shoulder, not quite touching your jacket. This close to him you can smell his cologne, faint and a little musky but nice. Everything about this is surprisingly nice, including the way his denim-clad leg presses against yours, warm and firm. 
“He’s not here,” Rhett announces and you look up at him sharply. He’s still scanning the bar as he sips from his beer. For one silly moment, you forgot why you were even here, something that seemed impossible earlier. 
“Should we go?” You ask Rhett.
You’d only come to make it clear to the man that you were with Rhett.
“What?” Rhett’s brow furrows as he glances at you. “Why? You wanna go?”
“No.” You shake your head just as the waitress arrives with your drink. “We came so he’d see…”
“There’s more than one way to make sure he knows,” Rhett tells you, pushing up the brim of his hat before leaning in close. You can feel his breath against your cheek. “Look to your right, past the pool tables. You see those men?” You nod, watching the rowdy group in the corner playing darts as you absently sip your drink. 
“They all work at the Dustin ranch, including the one in the baseball cap who keeps looking at us.” At that moment, the man in question stands up for his turn and looks back, meeting your eyes. If he is surprised to find you looking, he doesn’t show it. He holds your gaze for a second before glancing at Rhett who smirks and waves. His expression doesn’t change but when he turns back you catch a brief flash of something.
“He’ll make sure Jimmy gets the message that you’re with me.”
“Jimmy?”
“Your stalker," Rhett clarifies. "After I dropped you off this morning I paid a friend of mine a visit that’s friendly with the foreman of the Dustin ranch. That’s the man’s name. He hangs out with the guy in the baseball cap, Rick.” 
“Oh.” You stare at the table, trying to process the information Rhett gave you.
When he says your name softly you realize several minutes have passed in silence. “Sorry, I….” you trail off and look back at the man with the baseball cap. 
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Rhett says. “This is a lot.”
You nod, lips pressed together because you don’t trust yourself to speak. 
“Line dancing looks fun,” he notes, taking a swig of beer. “Might be a nice distraction and you can put those fancy boots to good use.”
“They’re not fancy,” you defend. 
“Hmmm, don’t look like nothing I’ve seen at the feed store,” he teases. “Come on.” He stands and offers his hand. 
You let him pull you up and follow him to the dance floor as Vince Gill’s What The Cowgirls Do fades from the speakers and a soft, more subdued song  plays. The crowd thins and you realize the remaining dancers are pairing up. Rhett doesn’t seem deterred by the change in music, grasping your right hand and wrapping his left arm loosely around your body. His palm rests firmly on your shoulder blade, pulling your body close to his. After a moment of hesitation, you settle your left arm on his bicep.
“It’s been a while since I’ve danced like this,” you admit, watching how easily the other couples move around the dance floor. 
“Nothing to it. All you gotta do is follow, I’ll lead,” Rhett promises, surging forward and taking you with him. 
You stumble a little but he’s quick to adjust his pace for you, whispering words of encouragement. Maybe it's how Rhett guides you around the dance floor or some long buried muscle memory from high school but soon enough you’re moving in sync. Then he raises his arm to spin your body in a circle before quickly drawing you back into his arms. When he does it again a second time, a breathless laugh escapes you. 
“Atta girl,” Rhett says, drawing you closer. 
Your skin tingles and you feel warm all over when he speaks those two simple words. The world narrows to Rhett’s handsome face, his blue eyes dark pools in the dim light. Your chest constricts, only allowing you to pull in shallow breaths that leave you lightheaded. It’s only when someone else bumps into the two of you and the spells breaks that you realize a new, more upbeat song is playing. 
Rhett’s lashes flutter and he releases you, his gaze falling away a moment later. 
“Beer’s probably getting warm,” he says and you hum your agreement, letting him lead you back to your seat.
Before you can make it, two men you don’t recognize stop Rhett. 
“Shit, that you Abbott?” The shorter one questions, swaying on his feet. 
You watch Rhett for his reaction, only relaxing when he smiles. “Smitty.”
“Heard you’re riding tomorrow.”
“I am,” Rhett agrees.
“Damn,now we gotta go to see that,” he tells his friend before turning his attention to you. “Did you know your boyfriend's one of the best damn bull riders in these parts?" He asks. 
You’re not sure what to say so you just nod. 
“You guys gotta come get a drink with us,” Smitty says. 
“Thanks, but my girl and I were about to head out,” Rhett says, capturing your hand in his. “Y'all have a good night.”
My girl. 
Rhett uses that phrase so casually, like he’s done it 100 times before. For a moment, you let yourself imagine a world where it’s true, losing yourself in the fantasy long enough to miss the rest of their conversation. When Smitty and his friend stumble away, Rhett leads you back to the booth where  your daiquiri has all but melted. If Rhett’s beer is warm, he doesn’t show it, finishing it off in one gulp. 
“If you want to get a drink with your friends…,” you start hesitantly.
Rhett’s quick to cut you off with a shake of his head.  “Not with those two dipshits. They’re fun for sure but… trouble too.”
You turn to face him. “Sounds like there’s a story there.”
He waves your comment away, grinning with one side of his mouth. “Maybe, but it aint suitable for girls with flowers on their boots.” 
The rest of the evening passes surprisingly easy, so much so that before you know it, it’s nearly midnight and you’ve all but forgotten about Jimmy and the man in the hat. Rhett pays your bill with cash and walks you to his car, keeping a hand on your lower back. 
Once you arrive at your apartment, Rhett turns off the truck and leans forward to look out the windshield.
“Want me to stay the night?” He asks, leaning back. 
You do, but you’re aware of just how much he’s done for you already; staying over last night and pretending with you at the bar. You should decline and let him go home to sleep in a real bed but behind him you can see the dark windows of your apartment and the words catch in your throat. 
“Never was an Eagle Scout,” he starts, pulling a black duffle bag from behind the seat, “but I came prepared.”
You stare at the bag, surprised, and when you look back at Rhett he gives you that half smile of his, brow arched. You find yourself nodding before you can think too hard about it.
“Alright,” Rhett says, opening his door, “come on.”
That night you sleep better than you have in weeks and when the morning comes, you quietly slip out of your bedroom.  Rhett is already up, a mug of coffee in hand. He looks lost in thought, a deep crease between his brows but his expression clears when he sees you. 
“Made coffee,” he says, raising his mug. “Hope that was alright.”
“Of course,” you’re quick to tell him. 
“I won't be able to pick you up after work,” Rhett says, following you into the kitchen and leaning back against the counter. “Gotta be at the rodeo early but my Ma said she’d b there.”
“Okay.” You yawn as you doctor your coffee to make it sweet enough to drink.
“Looks like I kept you out too late,” he observes, watching you over the rim of his mug. 
“No, it was…” you pause searching for the right word but come up short. “I appreciate it,” you finally settle on. 
Rhett nods, looking away. “It’s nothing.”
When he sets his empty mug in the sink, you head back to your room and get ready for work.  Once you’re dressed, you reach for the beat-up tennis shoes you always wear, stopping short when you see your boots from last night. You hesitate for only a second before slipping them on instead. 
Rhett drops you off with a kiss on your cheek and a wave to Sandra, who watches the two of you from the front window display. The day passes uneventfully, without any sign of Jimmy. A little after 6 pm the Abbotts come to collect you. Cecilia is warm and open, asking about work while Royal drives, glancing at you occasionally in the rearview mirror. You’ve only met Rhett’s father in passing and always found him to be an intimidating man. Tonight he’s mostly silent, only chiming in when you tell Cecilia about an issue that happened today with Donald Everrtt’s lumber order.
“That man’s got more cows than sense,” Royal grumbles and you laugh when Cecilia chastises him.
Leaning back and gazing out the window, you think about your own parents. They weren’t so different from Rhett’s and you’d forgotten how nice something as simple as this could feel. Thinking of them hurts like it always does and you swallow around the lump in your throat, distracting yourself by listening to Cecilia and Royal talk about Rhett and the bull he’s meant to ride tonight. 
When you arrive at the rodeo, it’s loud and chaotic. The announcer booms something about the bull riding beinging soon. It doesn’t escape your notice that Royal and Cecilia keep you between them as they guide you through the crowd of people to the metal bleachers where Rhett’s brother and his family are waiting. Their daughter, Amy, is quick to question you once you’re seated. 
“Are you Uncle Rhett’s girlfriend?” she asks, leaning around Cecilia to see you.
You stare at her, unsure how to answer with so many people around. Rhett had shared the plan with his parents but you weren’t sure who else knew the truth. Your silence makes Amy’s  little brows furrow, a look so reminiscent of her uncle that it almost makes you smile. 
Thankfully Cecilia interjects before you have to figure out what to say. “Yes, Amy.”
Before Amy can ask you any more questions, her mother suggests they get some popcorn. Once they disappear, Perry takes a swig from the flask in his boot, and when he sees his mother looking, he makes a face.
“Come on Ma,” he grumbles, but Cecilia pins him with a silent, angry look and he eventually puts the flask away, sighing heavily.
There are several riders before Rhett and you watch each of them get thrown from their bull with increasing anxiety. You search for him among the crowd of riders at the far end of the fence. When you spot him, you’re surprised to find he’s watching you. He grins, tipping his hat. It’s such a simple gesture, but it fills you with a fluttering warmth that lasts long after he looks away to acknowledge his parents. 
When it’s finally Rhett’s turn to ride, you rub your hands on your thighs anxiously. The buzzer goes off and you flinch as the gate is ripped open. The world narrows to Rhett, the bull, and the sound of your own breathing. The seconds tick past agonizingly slow until he’s thrown from the bull. 
Dust flies and the bull stomps. You stand up, searching until you find him stock still in the dirt. You make a small, terrified sound and Royal touches your shoulder drawing your gaze. 
“He’s okay. Just got the breath knocked from him,” he assures you. 
You look at Cecilia who seems just as concerned but then a second later the bull is gone and Rhett stands. His gaze is focused on the scoreboard but you watch him. His expression is serious, lips pressed into a thin line as his chest heaves. Then suddenly he smiles, open joy written across his features and the crowd cheers. When you look up his name is first on the board. 
Beside you, Royal yells and Perry sticks two fingers in his mouth and whistles loudly. Cecilia shouts his name and Amy jumps with excitement. You expect Rhett to come straight to his parents but he makes a beeline for you, climbing up the bleachers and past people with ease. 
“Rhett,” you start, whatever you were going to say cut short by his lips on yours. The kiss is intense but brief. When he pulls away, he looks as surprised as you feel. You stare at one another before suddenly he’s pulled back by an older man who claps him on the shoulder. More people push forward to offer him congratulations. 
“Let him hear you one more time,” the announcer encourages. “Ladies and gentlemen, your hometown hero, Rhett Abbott!”
You touch your lips, mind working hard to process what just happened. Rhett looks back, eyes glued to yours as he’s pulled back into the ring.
“Come on sweetheart,” Cecilia urges, patting your arm. “Let’s wait for him at the other end. Less people.”
You can’t see her eyes under the brim of your hat but you suddenly realize she and about a hundred other people just witnessed what Rhett did. You have no idea what his parents must think. There’s another feeling under the embarrassment and awkwardness that you don’t investigate too closely. 
“Well that was something,” Royal says and you glance up at him sharply before you realize he’s talking about Rhett’s ride. 
Cecilia smiles. “He’s gonna ride next weekend in the finals for sure.”
“I knew he’d make it,” Royal says proudly and you smile at both of them, nodding your agreement. 
After a few minutes, Perry arrives alone. “It was getting late so I thought it best Amy went home,” he tells the three of you, hands on his hips. “She can celebrate with us tomorrow.”
“Hmmm and I suppose you’re gonna help your brother celebrate tonight?” Cecilia asks, judgment clear in her tone.
“Yeah. Handsome Gambler,” he confirms, clapping Rhett on the back as he arrives. “You’ll be drinking for free, that’s for sure.” 
“Did you consider that your brother might not want to go?” Cecilia asks, looking at you pointedly. 
“Oh, that’s alright. We can go,” you say, feeling even more awkward.
Perry grins and leans in. This close you can smell the alcohol on his breath. “Great, I’ll get us a booth.”
He disappears before Rhett even has a chance to speak. Cecilia sighs and Royal rubs her back. “Nothing wrong with having a little fun,” he reminds her.
“I know,” she concedes. “But be safe,” she adds, looking intently at Rhett.
“I will,” he promises her, nodding seriously.  
Cecilia offers you a tight hug, promising to stop by the store later in the week. Once she and Royal are gone, you’re alone with Rhett. He rubs the back of his neck and clears his throat. 
“I’m sorry.” He pauses, looking back at you. “For the kiss. I shoulda asked if you were okay with that. I was out of line.”
“It’s okay. It uh, was good. Lots of people saw. That’s the point right?”
He stares at you for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face. “Yeah, that’s the point," he agrees, finally before his gaze flicks away. “But, we don’t have to go to the Gambler tonight. Perry’s just… Perry,” he finishes with a long suffering sigh. 
You think about how excited he was before and what tonight means for him. He’d done so much for you lately, the least you could do was go with him to the bar. There was no way he’d drop you off and home and go alone. You had fun with him last night after all. Maybe tonight would be just as nice. 
“We can go,” you tell him but he frowns, clearly unconvinced. It’s late and you’re tired but it isn’t hard to manage a genuine smile for him. “Afterall, I brought my dancing boots,” you add, pulling up your jeans to reveal them. 
“Alright,” he agrees, his expression lightening. 
The bar is more crowded than last night and Rhett keeps you close. Everyone wants to talk to him, including Maria. You can’t help but feel jealous at the way she lays a hand on Rhett’s arm and leans in close to speak to him. She’s even more beautiful than she was in high school when half the town knew he’d been in love with her.
Watching them together and seeing the easy way he smiled at her, you wonder if he still is. That makes your chest ache, which is silly. You and Rhett weren’t actually together. Nothing, from the dance last night to his kiss earlier, was real. It was an act because you caught the wrong kind of attention. Suddenly, you want to be anywhere but here. You take a step away but Rhett’s quick to face you, his hand shooting out to grasp your elbow.
You lean in to be heard over the din of the bar. “I need to use the restroom but Perry said he can come with me,” you lie, looking over your shoulder at his brother. 
“I can come,” Rhett tells you, setting his beer down. 
You wave him off. “Catch up with your friends.”
When you realize Rhett doesn’t turn around immediately you’re forced to actually ask Perry. He agrees and finishes off his beer, following after you a little unsteady. You take your time in the bathroom, splashing water on your face and staring at your reflection. It’s quiet here but your mind is buzzing. You close your eyes and sigh. You’re not sure how long you stay like that, lost in thought but eventually a toilet flushes and you stand straight. You were being selfish, Rhett deserved to celebrate tonight without worrying over you. 
With a deep breath you head back into the bar, searching for Perry. When you left he was leaning against the wall, scrolling on his phone. Now he’s nowhere to be found. You only make it a few steps before someone’s hand closes around your wrist and tugs you back. You spin around, half expecting to find Rhett but it’s not him. 
Green eyes meet yours. 
“Hi baby,” Jimmy says, smiling. 
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ordowrites · 2 days
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fatherhood
hopping on the hybrid bandwagon i'm sorry but it's not entirely the focus i just wanted to write diluc being a dad. just a small snippet in the day of the life.
cw: none, mdni, minors do not interact, sfw, fluff, afab reader, hybrid!reader (fox), family fluff. diluc is desperately in love with reader and vice versa, they have a child. diluc is a total girl dad.
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Diluc knew he was screwed when he first held your guys daughter in his arms - the way she looked up at him with those eyes of hers and small hands reaching to grip his finger and a soft coo escaping her, he knew, right then, he was screwed. He didn't know how to hold her and Adelinde had to gently guide him - elevate her head, cradle her, if she cries, don't panic.
She gotten his hair but she inherited your ears and your tail, and soon enough, that personality trait of yours that's ever so curious and playful. While she has a name - Aelia - he still only really calls her little one, or his sunshine because it feels right, correct, to only call her those things. You smile when he holds her, tucked under his arm as she blabbers away about some interesting thing she saw in the vineyard or stories her little imagination makes up. And Diluc engages with her because he adores her, and her innocent existence. When he wears a little tiara on his head because she demands him to, all you can do is stifle a giggle and a head shake.
Diluc knew he was screwed when he's with the maids, in the kitchen, helping them with some cooking and he sees a familiar poke of ears from behind the island. Little fingers grope about until they find what they're looking for and he frowns a bit. It's an hour to dinnertime and she's sneaking cookies. Since Aelia was born, there'd been an uptick of baked sweets available in the manor.
Well, actually before that - your pregnancy cravings always consisted of some sort of cookie or another and all he could do was give you what you wanted and needed. And now, they're kept on hand for his mischievous daughter whose sweet tooth matches his own.
"Aelia," he says, his voice firm. "What are you doing, my little one?"
A soft giggle and his heart flutters. "Nuffin'."
"Oh? Doesn't sound like nothing." Diluc answers as he watches her little hand reach up again to search around for another cookie, that he gently slides over. He shouldn't be giving her these things before dinner, considering all of your warnings for him to not do so. A tuft of red hair meets his eyes with those little triangular ears that poke out, before finally, her entire face.
"Hi, daddy." There's some crumbs and melted chocolate on her face. "'m just sayin' hi."
"Oh? And what about the cookie in your hand?" She looks at it, faking the best shocked look she could. "Sunshine, we have an hour before dinner."
"'s for you." Aelia answers, after a moment of consideration, holding it out to him.
"Oh? And here it looked like you were about to eat it yourself." He watches as Aelia's expression falls for a moment.
"Please, daddy? I want a cookie."
At her doe eyed looked, small pout, Diluc found himself agreeing to letting her have another cookie. "Just don't tell your mother." he gently tells her. "Or Addie, okay?"
Aelia's grin is victorious and Diluc knew, right then, how right you were about him being wrapped around her tiny finger as she reaches to be picked up. With her perched on his hip, he leaves the kitchen to go find you.
When he finds you outside, amongst the vineyards, his face lights up as Aelia waves at you.
"She's a handful." Diluc murmurs as he leans in and kisses you in greeting. Of course, Aelia gives you big, sloppy kisses on the cheeks.
"Of course she is," you hum as you offer to take her from his arms, but Aelia seems to choose to latch onto him. So instead, you give her a kiss on the top of her head. "She is your daughter. I think you enable her too much."
"I do not." He protests. "I merely encourage her to be curious and try new things."
You're brushing some crumbs off of your daughters face, giving a soft laugh. "Sure, sure." A pause. "Seeing you with our daughter makes me want us to have another kid."
"Well if you're offering..." Diluc says, grinning a bit. "I won't say no."
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thewertsearch · 1 day
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You reflect on your prior experience as the team's ectobiologist. It seemed like you were doing something so important at the time. Finally everything made sense. This was why you were here. But what was the point? You are all clearly going to die the most pointless deaths possible. [...] You are no ectobiologist. If only there was some other title more befitting of the true discipline you practice, and the death sentence given to whatever you do the disservice of creating.
Oh, I get it. Karkat's the CarcinoGeneticist, so his universe spawns a session with a tumor.
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The Tumor was described as a mutation, so it might literally be a form of cosmic cancer. Perhaps Sburb sessions are part of their host universe's body, and the kids' frog has faulty cells.
And what about the OTHER twelve wigglers you spawned? Who were they? Probably further proof this was all meaningless and random. Could it be that they were the true heroes meant to be sent back to play this game, while your team was the superfluous crop?
That would be the ancestors, the troll Guardians that Eridan mentioned. It seems they might have an actual role in the story, especially if they really are the ancestors who were giving Aradia orders.
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Sollux is up, but his glowing eyes are gone, presumably indicating that his psionics are offline. I was relying on him to turn the tide against the murderers, and losing his support is a pretty serious blow. Let's hope it's temporary.
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EB: so… what about jack? […] EB: are you still planning on killing him? […] EB: it is much better than killing friends. AG: Yeah, you're right. AG: And to tell you the truth, part of the reason I wanted to kill him was to protect them. It's not just a8out glory you know.
I don't doubt it. It's always been apparent to me that Vriska does care about the people around her. The problem is, every time she tries to express that affection, it comes out in weird, fucked-up ways.
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At best, she comes off as rude and confrontational.
At worst...
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...let's not talk about it.
AG: 8ecause if I don't do it, then who will? EB: well, we have a plan to defeat him too, so there's that. AG: Yes, I know a8out your plan. AG: I guess two plans are 8etter than one, right?
Not always. In this case, I'd argue that a single collaborative plan would be better than two unworkable ones. If you don't rendezvous with Karkat soon, there's every chance that Gamzee will get to him before he's done helping Jade.
Then, once Jack's reduced you to atoms, we'll have zero plans.
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An Analysis of SPY × Family Chapter 99
Manga spoilers, and a very long post ahead!
I'd like to preface this with saying that all of this is my own analysis, and I'm not very smart at these things, so take this with a grain of salt!
This chapter was extremely heavy: with Henry realising his feelings for Martha, and how it echoed the main theme of this story: how war destroys relationships and how innocent civilians are forced to enlist out of fear for their families' safety.
The chapter starts off, continuing off the cliffhanger of the last chapter— it turns out to be a false alarm, but Martha leaves her feelings for Henry unsaid.
She begins writing letters to Henry, and they keep a regular correspondence to substitute for their tea parties--
The war continues to grow dire, and Martha's squad hasn't been given any combat training, yet, they're forced to go to the front lines, under the pretext of "serving your country" and "keeping your family safe".
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Henry is obviously shocked and scared for Martha when he finds out she's on the front lines, but we never get to hear his thoughts with the introduction of this fucking bitch-
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🤓☝️ lookin ass--
In this chapter, we get to see Donovan's own ideals, which are shown through his argument in the debate. Interestingly, Donovan is almost the same age as Demetrius is in the present-day. (At least, that's what I'm assuming-- Henry mentions being in charge of the middle schoolers, and Demetrius is a middle-schooler.)
He claims,
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I have a couple of thoughts about this. First,
"I know that solving differences with dialogue and weapons is ideal". The phrasing of this is interesting, because it kind of sounds like he doesn't believe in that-- he just knows that solving differences with diplomacy instead of war is 'ideal', but does he really believe in that? I don't think he does-- and, his own definition of 'peace' is definitely... ambiguous. What does he think 'peace' is? Subjugating other countries with his own power?
He already has a strange concept of humanity and other humans' own ideals-- he believes that, at our core natures, human beings are liars. That the only thing we're capable of is war and destruction.
This is also very similar to his own ideals that we see in modern-day. He doesn't care about either of his sons, as he says, they are essentially strangers to him. And, you might have raised them (though with Donovan, "raised" is a stretch), you might be their own father, according to him, he will never truly know his sons. Which is why he doesn't even attempt to understand them. His own ignorance for human nature and for others around him is really what makes him a failure of a father-- we are never truly born "knowing" others. Yet, every day, we make an attempt to learn the people we care about-- and isn't that a little of what love is? Take the Forgers-- they are three strangers to each other, each concealing their own natures from the others. They're all liars, and yet, they're making an effort to heal; they're learning to love and they're learning to learn about the people around them, the people they care about.
This is his flawed ideology. In his world, humans are strangers-- humans are nothing to each other, they're always hiding their true intentions from each other. Humans can't be trusted-- humans don't trust each other, which is why war and destruction and pain is all humanity is capable of.
But it's really not. SxF's message is of how three strangers--- three orphans of a war they were forced to partake in--- come together and form a home. Yes, they are liars, yes, they're hiding their true intentions, but they're making a home for themselves, a home where one can be safe, where a young girl, who's experienced horrors no child should, can feel safe and in her mother's arms.
Which is why I think Donovan's ideology is so flawed--- and how beats of it echo in the modern-day SxF story, especially when Twilight meets him.
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Yes, by mere dialogue, reaching a mutual understanding is idealistic, but the most important thing is to not stop seeking to understand each other.
Humans are flawed, humans are selfish, humans are kind--- there's a debate on whether, intrinsically, humans are good or bad. We're all given different cards to play with, but really, it's up to us to decide on our faith in humanity.
It seems like Donovan has a wholly negative view on humans--- we can never know each other's true intentions, and it's with this doubt that humans wage wars--- it's with this doubt that humans lie and kill and cause destruction.
It's because of this doubt that Desmond is planning a war himself.
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Martha writes Henry a letter, and she talks about a dream where all the students are holding hands, circling Henry. She can't join them because her hands are filthy--- maybe it's guilt? Maybe she's feeling guilty, maybe she feels like she can't join the others because her hands are stained with blood.
She's scared. She's regretting joining the front lines. Her only solace is the letters from him. The only way he knows she's alive is the letters from her.
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I feel like another story would have taken a turn, making Henry regret his own feelings for Martha because the war had torn them apart. Instead, Henry realises his own feelings and his own wants too late-- and it becomes the last letter he gets from her.
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It feels like an extra gut punch, as in the beginning Martha was embarrassed to call him "beloved", but now, he's calling her beloved, and he misses her so much. He cares for her so much, and doesn't know how she is.
All he can think is---
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His hands are stained with ink. The nib of his pen is almost breaking. Ink is bleeding onto the page. In Martha's dream, her hands are stained with blood due to her desire to protect Henry and her country. In Henry's reality, his hands are stained with ink due to his desire for Martha to come back, be with him again. The Soldier and the Scholar, each trapped in their own Hell.
Henry finds out that Martha's squad has been killed. Their lives were a "sacrifice" for their country. This is blatant propaganda, and, he feels they're sullying her memory by mythologizing her; by using her life, using her death as a way to snare more students into a violent and hopeless and painful battle.
He speaks out. He's punished.
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He's been brutalised so much, that he needs to wear a monocle.
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We learn more about Donovan's and Henry's own ideals. Donovan gives up on people who've disappointed him-- people who he deems as fools. Henry doesn't believe in that. He believes that everybody deserves to not be given up on--- every body deserves a person in their own corner.
Towards the end of the chapter, Henry's forced into a marriage by his father, believing it's "for the best", because the soldier he was waiting for never came back to him.
We cut to "Somewhere near the East-West border", to a home with a fireplace. Martha is just opening her eyes, and is severely injured.
This definitely isn't a safehouse or military barracks or a military hospital.
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A home with a family, or at least a person, with a fireplace and a chopping block for firewood.
This place is also near the sea,
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which makes me think it's somewhere near the south. (If I'm remembering the map correctly).
Edit: The map is faithful to irl Germany, which means the sea is to the north, not the south. Sorry for the discrepancy before!
I'm thinking someone rescued Martha while she was injured, and brought her to their place to rest and recuperate--- which is why she's presumed dead, and why Henry wasn't ever given closure.
The next chapter is no doubt going to be explosive--- the 100th chapter. I feel like this arc will segue into something bigger, something more heart-wrenching and painful (I don't know how that's possible, but I trust Endo-sensei.)
---
Thank you for making this far and reading this whole thing! I hope you enjoyed, and I hope I wasn't annoying with my hatred for Donovan lol.
Also, on a more light-hearted note, I explained the plot of SxF to my dad, and he's intrigued and wants to read the manga. I'm planning on showing him the first ep of the anime, to see if he likes it. I feel like he will.
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these last 3 chapters more than ever have left me wondering about the timeline of spy x family and in particular,
donovan's age.
i'm not going to go too deep into the full timeline because i simply don't think we have enough info to make a real robust timeline, BUT i do think we can very feasibly approximate donovan's age with our current info.
I also won’t be using any precise years like 1964 or whatever bc at this moment in time I find that to be kind of useless, bc the only years we have happen very early in the story in background details and for a lot of those ones, I noticed endo had a tendency to just carelessly put whatever so long as it looked fine from afar, which includes news that were happening around the time of that chapter's release. SO unless he decides to explicitly highlight actual years, I’m not gonna be like “this happened in 1964 and that happened in 1953” and anything of the sort.
now, i shall partake in my least favorite activity.
✨math.✨
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so uh buckle up my fellas and feel free to correct me anywhere where i might be wrong bc i am more than aware that math is NOT my strong suit!
SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 97, 98 AND 99!
gonna start with the facts!
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according to the spy x family EYES ONLY fanbook, henry henderson is 66 years old at the time of the current events of spy x family! in the past three chapters we have learned that there is a 3 year age gap between him and martha, so that would make her 63 years old currently.
as of the events of chapter 99, he is 22 years old (and martha is 19), assuming there wasn't any years-long time gap that was not mentioned within the chapter! which, it doesn’t seem like there were any MASSIVE time gaps, so I’ll be using those ages for calculating.
so, what all this means is that we are (roughly) 44 years into the past at the moment! previous info about the war of loid and yor's childhoods puts it at around 20 years old, so from where we are in the backstory, we still have roughly 20 more years before Luwen is attacked — clearly, because this first war has already ended with donovan still in school.
while we don't have loid's age, we do have yor's, who is 27 years old — meaning she was born around the time of henry being 39 years old, aka clearly neither loid nor yor have been born yet as of the events of chapter 99. too into the past for now!
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now, how am i gonna get donovan's age out of all this?
simple! henry's his teacher and has a talk with him after his jail time.
like I mentioned previously, I shall be sticking to 22 for henry’s age here. it may not be fully correct, it may be a year or two off because we aren’t given concrete details on exactly how long he was in jail, so just take it with a grain of salt! it's only going to remain as a rough estimate until we get a definitive answer on donovan's age.
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so! henry has a talk with donovan, but the conversation itself, while very important for the plot and especially for our understanding of donovan’s character, is irrelevant for this conversation. no, what's crucial here is what henry is holding. endo even highlights it by focusing an entire larger panel on it!
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it's a history textbook for year 7 students!
it being a history textbook is very poignant for the conversation they're having, but the reason this is important to me is because it's very clearly a year 7 textbook.
now, i don't know how much of eden academy's curriculum is based on the uk! but because pretty much all of the architecture of it is based on eton college and endo has literally just returned from a london trip where he showed us he visited a kindergarten, so i think that's grounds enough for me to assume eden academy's year 7 is generally populated by children between 11 and 12 years old. luckily for me, that seems to be the general age for germany's secondary school year 7 too, so even if it's not the british one, it's still close enough!
with all that being said, if donovan is, say, 12 in that moment and henry is 22, that means there is a 10 year difference between the two of them, which, drum roll please, means donovan desmond is 56 years old when our story's events take place! assuming the war of loid's and yor's childhoods took place exactly 20 years ago (when yor was 7 and henry was 46), this would make him around 36 years old when he became ostania's prime minister! it would also mean he had damian at 50 years old, and if demetrius is 12 right now, that would mean he was born when donovan was 44 years old (and his birth would’ve been in the last years of the war).
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so, rough events timeline based on all that, focusing on ages!
66 years ago: Henry Henderson is born.
63 years ago: Martha Marriott is born.
~56 years ago: Donovan Desmond is born.
49 years ago: Martha (14) transfers to Eden and meets Henry (17)
47 years ago: Henry (19) graduates Eden.
44 years ago: Henry (22) joins Eden as a teacher, in the same year becomes Donovan Desmond’s (~12) history teacher. Martha (19) graduates Eden and joins the Women’s Defense Auxiliary.
~44 years ago: Martha (~19) is presumed dead. Henry (~22) faces jail time. The war ends, and he marries.
27 years ago: Yor is born. At that time, Henry is 39, Martha is 36, and Donovan is 29.
~27 years ago. [REDACTED] is also born. Same as above, just approximate this time!
~20 years ago: Second war begins. Yor and [REDACTED] are ~7, Henry is ~46, Martha is ~43, Donovan is ~36. Yuri is born.
~12 years ago: Demetrius is born. Donovan is ~44, Yor and [REDACTED] are ~15, Henry is ~54, Martha is ~51, Yuri is ~8.
~10 years ago: Second war ends. Demetrius is ~2, Donovan is ~46, Yor and [REDACTED] are ~17, Henry is ~56, Martha is ~53, Yuri is ~10.
6 years ago: Damian is born (and most other kids in his and Anya’s grade). Demetrius is ~6, Donovan is ~50, Henry is 60, Martha is 57, Yor is 21, Twilight is ~21, Yuri is 14.
5-4 years ago: Anya is born. Damian (etc.) are 1-2, Demetrius is 7-8, Donovan is ~51-52, Henry is 61-62, Martha is 58-59, Yor is 22-23, Twilight is ~22-23, Yuri is 15-16.
1 year ago: Yuri (19) becomes part of the SSS. Anya is 3-4, Damian (etc.) is 5, Demetrius is 10-11, Donovan is ~55, Henry is 65, Martha is 62, Yor is 26, Twilight is ~26.
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I HOPE THAT HELPS PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE?? melinda is not included bc we have nothing to go off of for her age outside of purely subjective things like her appearance.
super glad endo included the year 7 thing JAKLSDFKLSD
anyway thank you for reading!!! :DD
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Text
Vampire's Kiss | Chapter Three
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Pairing | Vampire!Jungkook x Reader
Word Count | 4,4k
Warnings | +18, trouble for MC is not over, use of a dating app to look for someone, Jungkook is absolutely cute and sexy, kisses, fluff
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⤷ Summary | Humans have finally unveiled and accepted the centuries-old existence of vampires, in a modern world people share their lives with these peculiar and mysterious creatures, but it is not all roses.
Will two souls belonging to such different species be able to be together?
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➢ Author's Note | Hi, guys! ❤️
I apologize to all of you who have waited so long for chapter third to arrive, I'm really sorry, but life has been really hectic and I'm also working on many other stories, so I hope you enjoy the chapter now 😭💕
Let me know what you think, I always love your comments ❤️
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Taglist: @katherine-kookie @peterstarkchrishiddleston @reallygenerouskoala @btsuga-d @angelicsmilesworld @jimincrystal @velvet-stardust2002 @ke1k029 @kylafox09 @pantara @takemeaway5402
Chapter List - Previous - Next
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You're going to kill Park Jimin.
It's been a whole week since that party and you're still spinning in your head his words, which had the effect of making you even more depressed.
“In truth ... they specifically told me that they don't believe our relationship, they will only believe it when we go to their house for lunch.”
The idea of spending time with them again haunts you, Jimin had said one evening. One.
Yet, you still have to help him, because his parents did not see passion from both of you, you were blatantly fake in their opinion.
Well, kudos to Father and Mother Park, you certainly don't lack the nose like bloodhounds!
But why at their home of all places? Are they going to secretly feed you to their servants? You shudder just thinking about it. They are certainly up to something, Jimin repeats to you that you should stay calm, but it is easy for him to talk. You are nothing to them, just a dirt stain on their perfect son's shirt.
You must be eliminated somehow.
But the worst thing about all those days spent thinking and agonizing between you and you is the wrong idea that Jungkook may have gotten about you.
Shit, he's just a guy you met briefly at a party, so why can't you get him out of your head?
You always think back to the way he held you close, to his cautious and sweet look whenever he tried a more direct approach with you... and there they are, the damn butterflies! They don't leave you alone for a moment, your wormy little brain even dares to loop back his last words, before Jimin cursed Park ruined the atmosphere.
You roll over on the bed hugging your faithful stuffed animal you've been carrying around since childhood, gazing into his inane black eyes, you sigh.
“What should I do, Little Sunshine?” but the teddy bear, predictably, does not answer you.
He has left without deigning you another glance, perhaps seeing you there with Jimin he must have thought of who knows what, they know each other and must know of your best friend's reputation as a womanizer.
You violently plant a hand in your face, long ago to fuck Jimin it was enough to be his acquaintance, it wasn't necessary to get up to girlfriend status, you may have said Jimin is just a friend ... but in someone else's eyes there may still be a possibility that the two of you are some sort of fuck buddies.
Besides, why else would a human like you willingly accompany a vampire like Jimin?
You feel like screaming like crazy, you don't just do it because you sense your phone ringing in the darkness of the room.
You try to compose yourself, imagining it was a business call, but it turns out to belong to your best friend.
You stare at the phone screen with tears in your eyes almost.
<<Ellen!>> you shout, on the other side your friend whines, <<My sweetest Ellen! You called at just the right time>>.
<<You scream like that again and I'll block the phone in your face!>>.
You ignore her empty threat and begin to tell her what happened with Jimin and about the meeting with Jungkook, omitting nothing. By the end of the explanation you are out of breath and your eyes are glazed over, why do you have to feel that way about a stranger? What is happening to you.
<<Let me understand... Jimin asked you to be his fake girlfriend and this Jungkook, whom you described as more handsome than a normal vampire, flirted with you for at least half an hour or so and then left offended?>>.
You frown, <<He didn't flirt with me! He was just being nice...>>.
You hear a laugh stifled on the other end of the line, <<I used to say the same about Shawn and look at him now, chained to me in the sacred bond of marriage>> a smile escapes you… actually it doesn't sound bad.
<<What should I do?>> you ask more to yourself than to her.
<<Uhm... you said he works with Seokjin, right? Isn't Seokjin the creator of Vampire's Kiss? Maybe he's on that site too, try looking for him... and maybe contact him, they even created a very convenient app!>> you widen your eyes. Sure! That could work...
<<But what if he doesn't want to hear from me? I mean, he didn't leave on the best of terms, surely he must have thought of something strange>>.
<<Take your balls out and look for him! You said you felt something different next to him, right? Don't let such an opportunity pass you by, what you felt doesn't happen to everyone ... and for your sanity and mine too, put your mind at rest once and for all>>.
You nod, she has a point, then you hear her stifle a shriek.
<<Wait a minute! ... You said that just looking at him turned you on-!>> you close the call in half a second, redder than a tomato! There, that thing you might as well have avoided revealing it to her, even if it simply slipped out of your mouth without realizing it ... such a thing has never happened to you, neither with humans nor with vampires, that was a detail as embarrassing as it was surprising.
You make a decision and install Vampire's Kiss on your cell phone, the app's simple and intuitive screen allows you to enter your account right away, go to the purple heart with the magnifying glass and search for Jeon Jungkook.
The results are immediate and the search leads you to no less than five users, but only one is the one that immediately hits you like a bouquet of soft flowers in the middle of your face.
He is right there, posing for a photo taken in the middle of a summer day, not at all concerned about possible sunburn, and you smile instinctively at his caption, which is short and absolutely adorable.
So your impression was right, this is a good guy. You zoom in on the photo and look admiringly at the sunlight softly shining on him, he is also smiling and without thinking about it you take a screenshot, do you look crazy? Probably yes, but your chest tightens at the idea of not being able to see him every day.
It's really crazy... it's just a stranger.
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But you and this stranger have one thing in common. The two of you are desperate for love, to the point of signing up for a dating site to find it, your finger trembling, undecided whether to press your purple heart to follow him and thus engage in conversation with him or just drop everything and move on from your lightning-fast meeting at the party.
You turn off the phone with a sigh. Even if you wanted to try, you are nothing compared to him. You would only have wasted his precious time.
“But seeing you there, under the moonlight, I-”
You shake your head violently, it's no use daydreaming, he didn't even finish the sentence. That only indicates one thing, that it was not meant for you two to continue the acquaintance, period.
Suddenly an annoying noise starts from your stomach, you cast a glance at the time -- 2:11 p.m., you haven't even had lunch and there is nothing edible in the fridge, in short, the typical life of a single career woman. But below the house there are several small stores open 24 hours a day that sell noodles and allow you to cook them immediately after purchase. Yes, you would have graciously taken advantage of their services, that is also the beauty of living in Korea, every place becomes home.
You turn on the light and look around for your shoes, heedless of the eyes burning at the sudden impact.
Next mission: don't starve.
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You look thoughtfully at the shelf stuffed with packages of noodles, there are all flavors and colors, but maybe you'll have to buy some instant cook rice too to satiate your stomach more, and speaking of your stomach, you hear it growling once again.
Ungrateful, why doesn't it give you time to think?
You grab a packet of spicy chicken-flavored noodles on the fly, then reconsider -- better two.
Excited to eat, you jump merrily without looking over your shoulder, like the clueless fool that you are, you feel your head collide with something sharp and immediately see the stars in the middle of the convenience store, a stifled moan escapes your lips and you squeeze your eyes shut trying to chase that pain away, being interrupted by another unexpected moan of distress.
You turn back to the source and notice a boy behind you, head down, you can just make out a wonderful mass of dark, wavy hair.
You blanch, your own flushes of pain sidelined. Did you hurt him? Medical bills are fucking expensive.
"I-I'm sorry! Did I hurt you very much? I didn't want to, believe me."
The boy makes a strange noise, as if he has suddenly held his breath, then slowly his head rises and you find yourself going wide-eyed.
In front of you Jungkook in casual clothes and a jacket far larger than his own size is holding his chin with one hand.
“Gosh, you knocked me out,” he chuckles with difficulty, removes his hand and you see a red spot take shape on that area of smooth, soft skin, “I didn't think I'd find you here....”
You're frozen, you can't utter a single word, the only thing that assures you you're still alive is the slow pulsing of the bump on your head, but is this guy made of granite or what? A very sexy granite, of that there is no doubt.
"I didn't... I didn't think so either” for the simple fact that not even twenty minutes earlier you looked him up on a dating app, then clandestinely saved his picture like a poor desperate spinster.
"Are you okay? I think you were the one who got the hardest hit,” he asks worriedly, out of the corner of your eye you notice how his hand tries to rise, but he instantly lowers it, you gloss over the incident by waving yours away.
"No, absolutely! I'm fine, I'm so sorry, I'm stupid,” you mutter to yourself, feeling guilty.
You see him looking around carefully, “I'll get you some ice, wait here!” not even time to tell him to let it go, it vanishes in an instant.
You lower your eyes to the packages of noodles, “This happened because I never buy real food, right?”
You both find yourselves so seated face to face in front of the convenience store, you're uncomfortably pressing ice on what appears to be quite a bloody good bump. Jungkook just stares at you with that innocent look on his face, is he seriously a vampire?
You take the floor, trying to fill that uncomfortable silence, deliberately ignoring the palpitations of your heart, “Does it still hurt?” you point to his chin, which seems to have returned to normal coloring, in fact he denies it.
“It's okay, for us vampires pain is momentary, we heal quickly.”
Okay, now what?
There, meeting him was not some kind of miracle, but a curse.
"Um... you look different, I mean... with these clothes you look normal, no wait! I mean you look great even without clothes, No! T-those elegant clothes! But you look fabulous even like this, really!” you stumble over your own words and god, you want to hole up in some dirty hole on top of a remote mountain. You look great without clothes, really?!
“Hey, hey, don't worry, you look very good in your normal clothes too,” he smiles amused, then changes his expression, “Did you have a good time at the party when I left? I apologize for how I left you, I don't usually go to parties and I don't know how to behave,” he explains, his voice sounds colorless, different from the sweet voice he used before and even during your first meeting.
Something has been bothering him and you even know what it is, or at least you think so. You shouldn't worry about it, but you like him and want to clear it up.
You take a breath, “Jungkook, I don't know what you thought seeing me there with Jimin, but I assure you we're just friends, there's no romantic or ... well, sexual interest,” you just want to calm him down, but evidently your words have the opposite effect, because he whitens starting to gasp.
“Oh god, I made you feel like a lowlife, didn't I?” he puts his hands to his face shaking his head, “I'm just an idiot, you don't have to pay attention to me,” he complains with his forehead pressed against the surface of the table.
"You didn't make me feel like a lowlife! I just wanted to make it clear that I didn't lie to you, I was really there to accompany Jimin” maybe it's best not to specify the plan that brought you there that night.
But the boy continues to shake his head, at times in despair, “I never thought you had lied to me or anything...” he raises his eyes to you fearfully, “I was just... disappointed, your knight for the evening had returned and my company therefore no longer needed, that's it, I was disappointed and envious,” he chuckles exasperatedly, most likely at himself.
You feel the same pleasant grip on your heart as a smile makes its way across your features. Should you tell him?
Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all, you would have loved him even in case of rejection, he seems like a really good person.
“I'd like to tell you a secret...” you start by saying and immediately come back with a straight back, in his eyes you can glimpse ill-concealed curiosity, “I too felt disappointed... my real knight left that night, leaving me with one of his underlings,” you sigh sadly.
“That knight may have felt he was in over his head in that situation,” he says embarrassed, but you shake your head.
“He shouldn't have left me there, it's his duty to make sure I'm okay!” you don't know where all that courage came from, you just feel it's the right thing to do.
He tilts his head to the side, biting his lower lip with what you identify as a canine, the soft scarlet skin drooping under his pressure, but not tearing. Images and thoughts of what he could have done to you with those luscious lips of his leap into your head, adding to all the erotic dreams you've had over the past few nights, they always knocked treacherously, but you let them in willingly.
“Even this knight has a secret to confess” he leans toward you, enough to breathe your own air just inches away, you remain in awe of his deep irises, where you catch a vermilion flash, “Wasn't the moon beautiful that night” you begin to cough because of your own saliva, you didn't expect such a statement, not from someone like him toward someone like you. You beautiful? Is he really saying that? The darkness must have been to blame, the moon cannot be darkened by a mere human, he must have seen wrong.
But wait… vampires see in the dark as nocturnal predators, don't they?
A grin from him surprises you and you also understand the motivation behind it, after all, the rush of excitement your body undergoes is not ignorable. Now you also have confirmation that vampires perfectly sense a person's emotional and physical changes.
You try to compose yourself, bringing a lock of your hair behind your ear, he remains firm in his position.
“I like you, I've done nothing but think about you, do I have a chance?” his bluntness amazes you in no small part, he is showing much more courage than any other man who would have gone around us instead.
You swallow, not knowing what exactly to answer, so you try with resolving one of your doubts, “Y-You know I'm human, right?”
It seems a silly thing to ask, but it's very important to you that he knows what he's getting into, you two have different rhythms and abilities, you don't want him to feel stuck in a relationship too different from the ones he was used to with women of his own kind.
But his eyes soften, you feel you can also calm down.
“Of course, I knew right away...the sound of your heart beating is something I couldn't give up, your skin is warm and it warms mine,” he takes your hand between his, the ice falling to the ground from your shock. Doesn't he care about that? “Can we at least try?”
In that instant you realize that you cannot give up on him so easily, you nod contentedly as your eyes glaze over, incredulous that such a thing could have happened to you.
From that moment you continued to go out every day, especially at night hours, as he wrote in his profile on Vampire's Kiss, he loves to take walks under the dark sky and he also took his dog, Bam, with him from time to time. You, who usually prefer cats, found no difficulty in falling in love with that handsome, hyperactive dog, so similar to his daddy in both physique and character.
You and Jungkook are now hand in hand at the seashore, neither of you speaking, simply listening to the sound of the waves calmly crashing on the shoreline.
You see him lying comfortably on the sand, heedless of the grains that go to hide in every fold of his comfortable clothes, without much thought you follow his example.
It is nice to gaze at the stars like that, but turning your head in his direction you find yourself thinking that the best show is there by your side.
Unlike you, he has never looked away from you, you have literally found the boy of your dreams, “What is it?” you ask with a laugh in your voice, he doesn't answer right away, settling on his side.
“I feel a little confused,” he replies, frowning a little worriedly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I love this beach at night, but the only thing I can think about is you next to me, it's a little confusing to me, now whenever I come here without you, I'm sure I'll be thinking about you nonstop.”
You watch his face engulfed in darkness, yet you can make out the brightness of his eyes; he is a nocturnal predator, you lift yourself up on one arm to get a better look at him.
“Who says you'll come back here without me?”
He inhales sharply, “Don't say such things, don't make promises you can't keep, baby,” he hisses an inch from your face, he has never called you that. Sometimes you forget that he is an adult vampire, much older than you. You like being called that by him, with Jimin it's a game... with Jungkook it's something more intimate.
"Why, Jungkook... Have I been giving you a lot to think about these days?” you are literally talking on his lips, clenching a fistful of sand tightly, the urge to kiss him is becoming more and more pressing, but he shakes his head, pulling away suddenly.
“You always make me think a lot of things, but no ... you don't have anything to do with it, it's just that all my relationships have ended one way,” he laughs without humor, “That is, with a broken heart, mine. It's funny coming from a vampire who doesn't have a heart, isn't it? Or at least, not as alive as you humans',” he explains with a look up at the sky. No, you can't believe it, it's impossible that there is someone who can leave such a boy.
"Are you so convinced that this will also apply with me? If that's really the case, then why have we come to this point?” if he believes it will end badly, why the hell did he invite you on all these dates?
He shrugs, “I've never dated a human girl, I look good with you! I would never say otherwise, but...."
Sighing, “You're afraid,” you finish for him, “But you know what? I have never dated a vampire guy, yet I want to give myself and him a chance, even if it ends badly, with him now I want to think it will be okay."
Silence falls between you, you return with your back to the sand, unsure of what just happened.
Perhaps you have both gone too far in such a short time? Oh... maybe he wants more space for himself, that's why he talked about going to the beach alone, your lips begin to tremble.
“Jungkook... maybe I'd better go home,” you murmur, rising slightly again in search of your bag and shoes, but a hand on your arm stops you instantly.
"What? Why?” he stares at you like a lost puppy, unable to understand your intentions.
“Maybe I rushed you too much, I'm sorry,” you try to wriggle your arm still in his grip, but all you get from it is an imprecation from him that makes your eyes go wide, he has never cursed in front of you, and before you can say anything to him you see his figure descend entirely on you, just like the vampires in the old movies, with only one difference, at that moment he is not interested in your blood.
His moist lips make contact with yours without hesitation, you accept them willingly using your free arm to anchor yourself to his blemish-free neck, you close your eyelids inhaling his wonderful scent, crushing his weight on you as if your very life depended on it, he lets you do it by filling your lips with numerous small kisses in the mold, your heart threatens to melt under all that tenderness and you note with happiness the softness of his lips that taste like cherries, not resisting you lightly grasp a flap of his lower lip between your teeth, savoring it on your tongue.
His shoulders shake and he releases your arm from his grip so you can sink a hand into your hair, this encourages you to do the same with his, enjoying his little moan. Jungkook with an extra bit of resourcefulness deepens the kiss, tapping his tongue against the seam of your lips, which you open willingly to his passage.
You kiss him as you've never kissed in your life, in your chest a soft warmth pushes to bring you to accept him in his entirety, your eyes moisten from that almost suffocating instinct, it has an effect on you that you can't even imagine. It scares you a little, but that is bearable if it means keeping his taste alive on your lips.
He separates from you slowly, “I've been dying to do this,” he whispers an inch from your noses, you take a big breath.
“So it's okay?” you whisper, you don't want barriers between you two, it's hard enough to accept the fact that you are not yet an actual couple.
He brings his head to your chest, resting his ear exactly over your beating heart, then nods.
“I think I've lost hope, every woman I've had wanted different things from me, mainly money and sex, then there were the ones who wanted to own me in everything... I've just come to a dead end after all these years, it's not easy for me to open up now.”
Gently you stroke those locks from which only a sweet floral scent comes, “Jimin said you never attend parties like that.”
“It's not easy for me to stand by and watch couples who are doing much better than me,”he look up with huge eyes, almost as if you want to express something very obvious, “I'm a very envious guy, you know?” you burst out laughing, sounding like a child, and lean slightly toward him to print a tender kiss on the tip of his nose.
He looks surprised and awkward for a moment, then returns to hide his expression.
“I'm talking seriously, and you go and do things like that,” he mumbles, shrugging.
“You're so cute,” you whine, he lets out a grunt.
“A little human talking like that to a vampire much older than she is.”
A question mark the size of a house makes room in your mind, “I've been wondering this for a while... how old are you?”
You hear him smiling at you.
“S.e.c.r.e.t,” he punctuates nicely, before lifting himself up on his arms and planting another soft kiss on you, “I'll tell you my age, if we're good together.”
You arch an eyebrow, “On Vampire's Kiss you wrote twenty-five, so I already know how old you are,” you say in an offended tone.
He shakes his head, “Twenty-five years I've been living in Seoul, baby.... We vampires tend to fake our age so as not to scare you humans."
Oh dear. He always has an answer for everything!
“All right, how long would you be willing to make me wait?” he clearly pretends to think about it, his expression too theatrical, but you let him. You find that side of him really adorable and would never try to change it in any way.
“A hundred days, a hundred days and you'll know who you've decided to spend your life with,” he chuckles, wrinkling his nose, nodding in agreement.
“A hundred days.”
You both don't know each other very well yet, but already hearing him say such a sentence sent your heart to heaven, and the butterflies in your stomach to a valley in bloom.
How much more can you like Jeon Jungkook?
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gffa · 10 hours
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I keep updating my feed to see if you have more opinions about the acolyte episode. I feel like this recent episode could’ve used a couple of your posts as reference when it comes to how the Jedi canonically go about acquiring [redacted for spoilers just in case you haven’t seen it yet]
Honestly, it felt like the show was trying really hard to portray the Jedi's methods as hinky, but couldn't actually do anything about it because of established worldbuilding. The Jedi of the High Republic have explicitly said they have to get permission from the parents. The Jedi of the prequels are explicitly shown as not adoption-hungry, the only time we see potential Jedi younglings, neither of them are taken from their parents, one says they'll be going later, one is just handed back to her mom, no indication Roo-Roo is going to be a Jedi at all. So, I think it's a weird situation, where The Acolyte is working so hard to create tension and mystery, but I'm not sure how it's going to shake out. I keep thinking of Torbin, like, yeah, what happened was a tragedy, but why was he specifically so torn up about it that he felt he had to die to obtain Mae's forgiveness? From what we saw in the episode, Mae set the fire, Mae ran off and the scaffolding fell and she was assumed dead, the Jedi never forced Osha to join them, Osha was the one who said she wanted to go. Therefore, unless the show is really, really poorly written, there has to be more to the mystery that we haven't yet unraveled. I feel like that's also influencing everything going on with the Jedi potential adoption, that this situation feels like we still don't have the full context. Why was Aniseya so worried about the Jedi finding out how the twins were conceived? Why do the Jedi care so adamantly, when we see in both the High Republic and the prequels that the Jedi live perfectly fine with other Force using traditions/cultures? Even if this coven was dark, that doesn't mean anything to the Jedi, they were perfectly well aware of the Nightsisters' existence and did nothing about it. Unless this show is extremely poorly written/ignoring top level canon, there has to be more to what was going on with the coven than we know about. Because what we see is the Jedi felt very strongly about these two girls for some reason, but they were clear that, while they had the right to test them, it still relied on the parents' permission. We see that they're pretty aware that Mae and Osha were failing on purpose--Mae can't fake her blood results, after all--and they don't push Mae, but they do gently push Osha because everything about her is straining towards wanting to be a Jedi. And EVEN THEN they just say she passed the test, it's Osha who talks to Aniseya and gets her to agree to letting her go, not the Jedi. The show's vibes kinda feel like there was pressure from the Jedi there, but the actual content of the episode is that the coven agreed to it specifically because they didn't want to attract attention, like they weren't part of the Republic, they specifically said they didn't have to agree, the others were willing to fight about it, but Aniseya was the one who said, no, let them take the test. Yeah, the Jedi are pushing for some reason, but it feels like it's not because that's how they operate in any other situations where we see them with Force-sensitive children, but because they know something specific about this situation. So, I'm fine with everything presented so far and, honestly, it was a lot more positive than I was expecting! Like, this show isn't just a big lore dump, it has a specific story to tell, you know? It's a situation that has its own unique circumstances and, sure, they were borrowing elements from other Jedi worldbuilding, but everything we saw in there was done with permission and they made a point to roll with what each girl seemed to want. Sol was so careful not to unduly pressure Osha, just ask her what she really wanted, gave her a little nudge because he could see what she wanted. They made sure it was her choice! That it was her mother's choice! How could I have asked for more than that?
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