#Happy late 2018 everyone!! How have you been? c:

[swan-of-sunrise]

Endgame (Chapter One)

Summary: (Y/N) and Steve struggle to come to terms with their loss as a new ally rescues Tony from space, and the Avengers decide to track the Mad Titan down.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Hi guys! Hopefully you’ve forgiven me for the way I ended the last book (sorry not sorry lol) because now we’re moving onto Endgame! It’ll be one hell of a roller-coaster, so be ready to experience every emotion a human can possibly experience lol thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter One June 2018 Avengers Facility, Upstate New York (Previous Book)

“Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune, something to make us all happy. Do anything, take us out of this gloom. Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy…”

As (Y/N) listened to the melancholy song blaring at an unhealthy volume through her earbuds, she stared up at the ceiling of hers and Steve’s bedroom and studied the subtle imperfections of the dry paint. The longer she stared at the slight ridges and streaks above her, the more they stopped looking like slight ridges and streaks and started to resemble the handful of faces she was trying her hardest to ignore.

“You are the one who can make us all laugh, but doing that you break out in tears. Please don’t be sad if it was a straight mind you had, we wouldn’t have known you all these years…”

Her throat tightened in grief as Sam’s teasing smile and playful gaze morphed into existence, quickly joined by Wanda’s devastated expression as she destroyed the Mind Stone embedded in Vision’s forehead and Bucky’s friendly but tortured eyes.

“Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune, something to make us all happy. Do anything, take us out of this gloom. Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy, yeah…”

T’Challa’s regal and commanding stare materialized beside the others and her own eyes began to well with fresh tears when her old friend Greg’s cheerful face appeared; she didn’t know that her friend and book publisher was among the Vanished until they all returned to the Avengers Compound and began taking a census, the shocking realization bringing with it a fresh wave of pain and anguish at the thought of Mara, Abbie and Leo having to grapple with his sudden disappearance.

“Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune, something to make us all happy. Do anything, take us out of this gloom. Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy…”

(Y/N) squeezed her eyes shut when Loki’s face came to mind, but she was unable to stop herself as she thought about the brave and misunderstood friend who offered her protection and support in one of her most desperate hours and who selflessly sacrificed himself while attempting to stop Thanos before it was too late. She struggled to cope with his loss, partially because she hadn’t been there to witness it herself but mostly because out of everyone residing at the Avengers Compound, she was the only one who truly saw the gentle and loyal side of the God of Mischief; Thor did, too, but the God of Thunder adamantly refused to speak or even look into her eyes after their defeat in Wakanda three weeks earlier. She knew that he blamed himself for not killing Thanos before he could use the Infinity Stones and although no one dared to say it out loud, she also knew that he felt responsible for her very personal loss.

“You are the one who can make us all laugh, but doing that you break out in tears. Please don’t be sad if it was a straight mind you had, we wouldn’t have known you all these years…”

Imagining Carina and how the infant looked when they said goodbye to her right before leaving to battle the Black Order and defend Vision – her tear-filled (Y/E/C) eyes and sweet little pout as she looked up at her adoring parents – proved to be the final straw. (Y/N) sat up on the bed and ripped the earbuds out of her ears, switching the old MP3 player off and setting it on the nightstand before wiping away the tears that managed to escape; she managed to hold back the sob that had started building in her chest and took a quivering breath to try calming herself down.

It had been three weeks since Thanos snapped his fingers and used the six Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe, three weeks since the Mad Titan walked through a portal and disappeared without a trace, and three weeks since (Y/N) lost her daughter and her friends in the blink of an eye. After everything they’d done since that terrible moment they realized they’d lost – returning to the Avengers Compound, conducting deep space scans to hunt down Thanos, documenting a complete census of the Vanished, becoming acquainted with the cosmic superhero who was summoned back to Earth by Fury before he himself Vanished, and checking in with their surviving friends and family – it still felt as though (Y/N) was trapped in a waking nightmare. Every day for the past twenty-two days, she woke up with thoughts of Carina on her mind and in one heartbreaking moment, she remembered all over again that her daughter was gone and an insurmountable wave of grief would threaten to overtake her.

After taking one final gulp of air, (Y/N) stood and crossed the room to the closed bathroom door, her hand hovering over the doorknob for a brief moment of hesitation before grasping it and slowly opening the door. Steve, who’d been leaning against the sink and staring morosely at his own reflection in the mirror, looked over at her and attempted to smile, but the haunting emptiness in his azure eyes remained; he set the razor he’d used to shave off the physical evidence of his two years on the run down in the sink and ran a hand over his smooth chin. “Yeah, I figured I was overdue for a shave.”

“You were looking a little scruffy.” Stepping into the room, (Y/N) pulled a towel off of the wall rack and carefully wiped away the spots of shaving cream he’d missed. “You and Rocket were beginning to look like twins.”

The super-soldier huffed out a quiet chuckle as his large hands moved to rest on her hips while she continued her methodical task. “Speaking of the talking raccoon, I saw that he disassembled your Bug’s engine; I thought that he was only supposed to be checking your brakes?”

“Well, after he finished with the brakes, he said that he should check out the rest of the car because – and I quote – ‘you humies don’t know jack-shit about machinery.’ He needed a distraction and seems to really enjoy fixing things, so I just let him continue working.” Her movements slowed as she recalled something she’d witnessed earlier that evening and it wasn’t until Steve started running his hands up and down her sides that she finally spoke. “He misses Groot and his friends, the other Guardians of the Galaxy he was telling us about. I saw him sitting in the driver’s seat earlier, listening to one of my old 80’s compilation cassette tapes and staring off at the woods across the lake.”

Steve pursed his lips and nodded. “Thor told Nat that one of the Guardians, a guy named Quill, was originally from Earth and that he loved music as much as you do; she’s been trying to get more intel from both of them to see if Quill’s still got any living family here, but she hasn’t had much luck going off of one name.”

“I can’t say that I blame either of them. They want to forget.” (Y/N) set the towel down on the bathroom sink and lowered her gaze, unable to look at Steve without seeing a hint of their daughter in his features. “I just…” Her lower lip trembled and she blinked back her rapidly-forming tears. “I want to forget, too. Even if it’s just for one night, one moment, I…I-I just want to feel something other than pain.” She mustered up enough courage to glance up and into Steve’s reddened eyes. “Make me forget. Please, sweetheart, make me forget about it all for just one night.”

“We’ll forget together,” Steve promised, a tear trailing down his cheek as he leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss; while she kissed him back with equal vigor, he backed her up against the sink and without warning, he lifted her up by her waist to sit on the bathroom counter and stood between her parted legs. Their kisses were desperate and needy, a far cry from the romantic reconnection she’d spent her entire pregnancy longing for, but their urgency to lose themselves in one another put any thought besides the two of them entirely out of their minds; (Y/N)’s arms wrapped around Steve’s neck and her fingers weaved through his long blonde hair, tugging on the locks and eliciting a sinful groan from Steve. The super-soldier broke their kiss and began to trail his lips down her jawline and along the column of her throat, causing her to tip her head back for easier access and stifle her own satisfied moan.

But just when Steve’s hands were beginning to tug the hem of her shirt upwards, he suddenly stilled against her. “Do you feel that?”

“Hmm?” (Y/N) struggled to regain her breath and comprehend what her fiancé was talking about but moments later, her question was answered when the counter she was seated on began to shake. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she glanced around the bathroom, noticing the mounted makeup mirror quivering and the window pane rattling in its frame, and she pulled away from Steve with her eyes widened in realization. “Oh my God. Do you think that Carol finally found the Benatar?”

Steve nodded as his azure eyes filled with a glimmer of hope. “Let’s go find out.” With a final fleeting kiss, the two of them quickly dressed and hurried outside to where Rhodes, Bruce, Natasha, Rocket and a distraught Pepper were all gathered; the CEO of Stark Industries and Tony’s fiancée had been staying with them at the compound since they’d returned from Wakanda, and she’d spent many sleepless nights analyzing deep space scans in a desperate effort to find Tony and bring him home safely. The super-soldier’s hand squeezed (Y/N)’s tight as they joined the others and they looked up in time to see a massive spacecraft descent from the sky; Carol Danvers, the former U.S. Air Force pilot more commonly known across the galaxy as Captain Marvel, glowed brightly with cosmic energy as she guided the groaning spacecraft to the ground.

“She did it,” Rocket quietly remarked, and there was a hint of fear in his voice. “The glowing chick found ‘em.”

The spacecraft’s steps descended and Pepper stifled a sob in her hands when Tony appeared at the top; a blue-skinned woman was helping the weakened billionaire down the stairs and when he showed signs of unsteadiness, Steve let go of her hand and ran across the lawn to help. (Y/N) watched Pepper and Rhodes share an emotional hug before hurrying to greet Tony, but the small smile she’d managed to muster at their reunion disappeared when she saw that no one else was onboard; at least Rocket isn’t entirely alone, she thought to herself, the hollow feeling in her chest growing as she watched Rocket sit down on the spacecraft’s steps beside the blue-skinned woman and wordlessly take her hand. But the others were gone, either Vanished or murdered by Thanos; the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Peter Parker…

A familiar hand on her shoulder pulled her out of her silent rumination and Natasha smiled a little when she turned. “Tony’s here, alive and safe. He’ll know where we can find Thanos.” The spy gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze just as Carol walked up to them. “Good work, Danvers.”

“We’re lucky I found ‘em when I did; another few hours out there and your friend would’ve been gone.” (Y/N) shuddered and the captain gave them an apologetic look before continuing. “Their food and water ran out two weeks ago and their ship was dead in the water. Whatever happened out there with Thanos…it wasn’t good.”

(Y/N) nodded, watching the others escort Tony inside as she twirled her engagement ring around her finger. “No, but Nat’s right; if there’s even a sliver of a chance of fixing all this, then we need anything that Tony can give us on that bastard.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite what she’d said to Natasha and Carol on the lawn of the Avengers Facility, (Y/N)’s confidence in Tony’s ability to aid them in their search for Thanos all but disappeared by the next morning. Bruce patched up the billionaire’s many battle wounds and inserted an I.V. into his arm to replenish the nutrients he’d lost after so many days without food or water, but Tony appeared almost detached throughout the entire process; he insisted on being briefed as soon as possible, so they reluctantly wheeled him into the common room and worriedly watched him twirl his spoon around his soggy cereal while they booted up the holograms of all their ongoing research. He looks like he’s been through hell, (Y/N) thought as she shared a look of concern with Steve and leaned against the table beside him while Rhodes started speaking.

“It’s been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth…”

(Y/N)’s jaw clenched as she averted her eyes from the holograms displaying all the faces of the friends and allies they’d lost; Sam, Wanda, Vision, Bucky, T’Challa, Shuri, Scott Lang, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Laura Barton and all three Barton children, Sharon Carter, Peter Parker, Stephen Strange, Erik Selving, Jane Foster, Hank Pym, Hope Van Dyne…she wasn’t sure which was worse, being forced to see their faces every single day since they’d gone or not having a picture of her own daughter to display as one of Thanos’ countless victims. The others weren’t immune from the emotional impact of the holograms; Steve crossed his arms tighter across his chest and pointedly looked down, Carol blinked away her tears as Nick Fury’s image faded away and Natasha cleared her throat right before Yelena Belova’s image appeared, still unwilling to accept the news of her younger sister’s loss.

“World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census, and it looks like he did…” Natasha paused for a moment to compose herself while Tony looked away from Peter Parker’s school I.D. photograph. “He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures.”

The silence of the room was finally broken by Tony. “Where is he now? Where?”

“We don’t know,” Steve replied, the forced calmness of his voice wavering when he glanced up at Tony. “He just opened a portal and walked through.”

The billionaire moved to adjust his wheelchair and caught sight of Thor, who was seated alone outside in the courtyard. “And what’s wrong with him?”

“Well, he’s pissed. He thinks he failed.” Rocket’s empty gaze met all theirs and he shrugged. “Which, of course, he did, but you know, there’s a lot of that goin’ around, ain’t there?”

“Honestly, until this exact second I thought you were a Build-A-Bear.”

“Maybe I am.”

Under very different circumstances, (Y/N) would’ve smiled at Tony and Rocket’s exchange, thrilled that the two like-minded geniuses were somehow able to meet one another. But there was only one thing that she cared to focus on, and that was making Thanos pay for what he’d done. “We’ve been hunting Thanos for three weeks – deep space scans, satellites – and we’ve got nothing. Tony, I know that you’ve been through a lot but you fought him-”

“Who told you that?” (Y/N) kept her irritation in check at Tony’s blunt interruption. “I didn’t fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleeker Street magician gave away the store. That’s what happened; there was no fight because he’s not beatable-”

“Okay…” Steve cut through the billionaire’s incoherent rambling, his struggle to maintain his patience evident in the way his fingers dug into the edge of the tabletop behind him. “Did he give you any clues? Any coordinates, anything?”

Tony snorted and flailed his hand in indifference, causing Steve’s grip on the tabletop to tighten in frustration as (Y/N) exchanged a knowing look with Natasha. “I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision, I didn’t wanna believe it…thought I was dreaming.”

The super-soldier pushed himself the table and took a step forward; (Y/N) anxiously bit her lip when she noticed the divots he’d left in the wood and she felt the tension in the common room grow. “Tony, I’m gonna need you to focus-”

“And I needed you.” The billionaire’s quiet but accusatory words echoed throughout the room and (Y/N) felt herself tense up. “As in past tense. That trumps what you need; it’s too late, buddy. Sorry. You know what I need? I need to shave.” He knocked the bowl of cereal over and it clattered against the table as he stood, making all of them flinch at the harsh sound; ignoring Rhodes protests and attempts to stop him, Tony ripped the I.V. out of his arm and continued addressing the room. “And I believe I remember telling all of you, alive or otherwise, that we needed a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not, that’s what we needed.”

“Well, that didn’t work out, did it?”

(Y/N) stepped forward and rested a hand on her fiancé’s bicep. “Steve, he’s not well…”

“Nah, I’ve really never felt better, Austen. You remember that day, don’t you? You remember what happened after Ultron, right?” Tony demanded and after she slowly nodded, he turned his attention back to Steve. “I said we’d lose. You said we’d ‘do that together, too.’ But guess what, Cap? We lost, and you weren’t there.” Steve’s muscles flexed beneath her hand but he remained silent, watching with regret in his azure eyes while Rhodes unsuccessfully tried guiding Tony back into his wheelchair. “But that’s what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We’re the A-vengers, not the Pre-vengers, right?”

“Okay, you made your point, just sit down-”

“Okay, okay,” Tony ignored his best friend’s pleas and pointed at Carol. “She’s great, by the way. We need you, you’re new blood and we’re a bunch of tired old mules!” Pushing past Rhodes, Tony walked right up to Steve and sneered. “I’ve got nothing for you, Cap, I’ve got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero, zip, nada. No trust. Liar.” He ripped the arc reactor off his emaciated chest and thrust it into Steve’s hand. “Here, take this. You find him, you put that on, you take your family and hide…” He suddenly dropped to his knees and raised a shaking hand as everyone hurried to his aid. “I-I’m fine, I’m fine…”

The billionaire collapsed onto the ground and the others sprang into action; Natasha ran out of the common room to alert Bruce and Pepper of Tony’s condition while Rhodes scooped his best friend up off the ground and Carol helped them to the infirmary. (Y/N)’s gaze met Thor’s as he watched the others scramble to help Tony from his seat in the courtyard, but he quickly averted his eyes and stared down at his clasped hands. Swallowing the lump in her throat, (Y/N) turned away from the window to face Steve; the super-soldier stood rigid as he stared at the spot where Tony fell, his soldier’s composure beginning to falter as his fingers clamped around the arc reactor.

Although (Y/N) still believed that Steve made the right decision when he rejected the Sokovia Accords and went on the run, she knew that everything that transpired in Siberia between him and Tony could’ve been prevented if he’d just been honest with his friend; Tony spent the better part of two years caught between the pain of learning that Steve betrayed his trust and the hope that his friend would someday reach out to him, only for the pain to fester and the hope to slowly dissipate over time. It was a dressing-down that Steve undoubtedly earned through the choices he’d made, but hearing how those choices were the reason why they’d lost everything to Thanos wasn’t what the super-soldier needed to hear. Not after losing our Carina, (Y/N) thought as she took a steadying breath, cautiously stepping forward and allowing a tearful Steve to pull her into a tight embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bruce gave him a sedative,” Rhodes announced to the four of them after stepping out of the infirmary; inside, Tony slept in a hospital bed while Pepper and Bruce shared a hushed conversation at his bedside. “He’s gonna probably be out the rest of the day.”

(Y/N) opened her mouth to ask the others what their next step would be but was interrupted by Carol. “You guys take care of him, and I’ll bring him a bottle of Xorrian elixir when I get back.”

The captain began heading back to the common room and (Y/N)’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Carol, where are you going?”

“To kill Thanos.”

Exchanging matching looks of apprehension, the three of them hurried after Natasha as she caught up with the older woman first. “Hey. You know, we usually work as a team here and between you and me, morale’s a little fragile.”

“We realize that up there’s more your territory,” Steve added. “But this is our fight, too.”

Carol sighed. “Look, you guys did an incredible job and that’s more than what countless planets across the galaxy can say; they’re the ones that Thanos decimated without breaking a sweat, the ones that were the first to suffer by his hand and the ones that I failed to protect. I owe it to them to put an end to Thanos once and for all.”

“And we owe it to our daughter to do whatever it takes to bring her back.” (Y/N)’s voice caught in her throat and an empathetic look crossed the captain’s face. “I don’t even know if that’s possible or not, but the only way we’re going to find out is if we all go after Thanos together.”

Rhodes nodded in agreement from his spot near the doorway. “Do you even know where he is?”

“I know people who might-”

“Don’t bother.” They all looked over at Nebula, the blue-skinned woman who’d gotten off the Benatar alongside Tony and one of the Guardians of the Galaxy; her raspy voice was filled with a heavy emotion as she stepped into the common room. “I can tell you where Thanos is.”

While Natasha left to fetch Bruce and Thor, Rocket switched on the hologram devices and began to input new data and Steve guided (Y/N) off to the side for a moment alone. “Do you really think that there’s a way to bring Carina back? To bring everyone we lost back?”

“Steve, you saw everything that those stones could do; if they could make half the universe disappear in the blink of an eye, then there’s no reason not to believe that they could bring them back.” She wrapped her arms around herself as she looked into Steve’s azure eyes. “But we won’t know unless we try.”

Nodding, Steve’s hand cupped her cheek as he pressed a soft kiss onto her forehead. “And we will, sunshine. Whatever it takes.”

They pulled away from one another as the others filed into the common room; Thor carried his bowl of food over to the dining room table and began picking at it while they turned their attention to Nebula. “Thanos spent a long time trying to…perfect me. When he worked, he talked. About his Great Plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him.” Nebula shifted uncomfortably and (Y/N) felt a pang of sympathy, unable to imagine what the warrior’s life had been like under the Mad Titan. “I’d ask, where would we go once his plan was complete? His answer was always the same: ‘To the Garden.’”

Rhodes’ brow rose in surprise. “You’re saying Thanos had a retirement plan?”

“Where is he?”

Standing on the table they encircled, Rocket pressed a button and brought up a holo-map of Earth that showed the planet being engulfed in a wave of energy. “When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became Gound Zero for a power surge of ridiculously-cosmic proportions. No one’s seen anything like it…” He shifted the map around to show an orange-colored planet as an identical wave of energy encompassed it. “Until two days ago, on this planet.”

“He used the stones again…” Natasha murmured as she leaned in to take a closer look at the holo-map.

“Hey, hey, hey, we’d be going in shorthanded, you know…”

“And he’s still got the stones…”

“So, let’s get ‘em.” Carol glanced over at (Y/N) with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “We’ll use them to get everyone back.”

Bruce looked unconvinced. “Just like that?”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “Just like that.”

“It’s like (Y/N) said, even if there’s a small chance that we can undo this, we owe it to everyone who’s not in this room to try.”

Natasha’s words resonated throughout the entire room, and (Y/N) glanced around to gage her friends’ reactions; Steve, Natasha and Carol looked the most on-board with their fledgling plan, Rocket and Nebula seemed more cautious but ultimately agreeable, and both Bruce and Rhodes’ expressions were filled with apprehension, with the scientist looking slightly worried as he addressed the room. “If we do this, how do we know it’s gonna end any differently than it did before?”

Across the room, Carol gave them a small smile. “Because before you didn’t have me.”

(Y/N) exchanged a knowing look with Natasha while Rhodes heaved a sigh. “Hey, new girl? Everybody in here’s about that superhero life; where’ve you been all this time?”

“There’s a lot of people in the universe, and they didn’t all have you.”

Thor’s chair scraped against the floor as he stood and crossed the common room to stand before Carol; the stoic Asgardian held his hand out and Stormbreaker blew past the captain, ruffling her blonde hair as it swiftly flew into his grasp. When Carol didn’t flinch and even gave him the barest hint of a smile while they sized one another up, Thor looked over at the rest of them and nodded. “I like this one.”

(Y/N) turned to Steve, who was still studying the rotating orange planet at the center of Rocket’s holo-map. After a long, deciding moment, the super-soldier looked up at her with a fierce determination simmering in his azure eyes and she found herself beginning to smile as he finally spoke. “Let’s go get this son of a bitch.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: And here we've arrived at Avengers: Endgame! This'll be just as emotional and amazing as the movie, and I really can’t wait for you to read it! Updates might be a bit more sporadic than usual but I'm hoping for a chapter every other week (still haven't decided which works best with my schedule and mental health), so make sure to stay tuned for more!

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5L6MERx3PIydW3FyNPqYvl?si=4b8ad4bbff8d4b2a

Chapter Two

“Endgame” Masterlist

Tagging: @mrs-obrien​​​​​​​​​​ @lahoete​​​​​​​​​​ @awkward117 @cminr​​​​​​​​​​ @natdrunk​​ @momc95​​​​​​​​​​ @savedbystyle​​​​​​​​​​​ @miraculouscloud @awkwardnesshabitat​​​​​​​​​​​ @marinettepotterandplagg​​​​​​​​​​​ @mangosandmimosas​​​​​​​​ @supersouthy @benakenalove​​​​​​​​​​ @brooke0297​​​​​​​​​​ @hufflepeople​​​​​​​​​​ @becausewelie​​​​​​​​​​ @outoftheregular​​​​​​​​​​ @junipermurdock​​​​​​​​​​ @ladydmalfoy​​​​​ @mads-weasley​​​​​​​​​​ @username23345 @crist1216​​​​​​​​​​ @capswife​​​​​​​​​​​ @lilmschild​​​​​​​​​​​ @avngrsinitiative​​​​​​​​​ @crowleysqueenofhell​​​​​​​​​​​ @y-napotat​​​​​​​​​​ @mary1raven​​​​​​​​​​​ @groovy-lady​​​​​​​​​​​ @ljej95​​​​​​​ @innersublimefury​​​​

#stumblin' in #steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #steve rogers #captain america #natasha romanoff #black widow #bruce banner #hulk #thor odinson #rocket raccoon #james rhodes #rhodey #war machine #carol danvers #captain marvel #tony stark #iron man #nebula #pepper potts #thanos #the black order #marvel cinematic universe

[2-lines-and-a-circle]

My otome game journey

Note: So, I’ve been thinking lately about my journey from playing otome games and I just wanted to put it out there. Mainly because I was so curious if anyone has done the same thing as me.

Let’s see, I started with Midnight Cinderella, and I remember the first route I ever did was Alyn’s, which was pretty chill. The ending in a way traumatized me because if I remember correctly, he actually went off to war instead of being with you. For Alyn it made sense because he’s a knight and all that but, I didn’t know at that time that sometimes it’s not always a happy ending.

After that I ventured into the world of wizardess hearts, I actually played several routes. Yet, I don’t remember much other than really liking the MC because I thought she looked cute. Yeah, I can't exactly say much about that one…

It was then that I found my forged wedding and started playing a bunch of voltage inc games. I absolutely love my forged wedding, it’s one of the few otome games where I recommended playing everyone’s route. Seeing as I loved my forged wedding, I continued playing a bunch of other games from them all the way to Irristable mistakes.

During that time, I heavily invested several hours into several different game titles and fell in love with many of the suitors. Some shoutouts would be Star crossed myths, My last first kiss, seduced in the sleepless city and many more. Of course, I came to find another game which was not mystic messenger. I actually was not involved in that because I had a sister who was too invested in that. Let’s just say, I didn’t want to wake up late at night because of their game events.

Anyway, I came to invest my time in Mr Love: Queen's Choice, but it was very short lived. Why, because during that time I was too far down the kpop rabbit hole. Even though I was a big kpop fan since 2011, I reached an all-time peak. I still do enjoy kpop now, just not to that level of extreme. When I say extreme, I mean following several groups and watching everything that they had. Anything they appeared in I felt like I needed to watch that, but more on my kpop journey later.

By now it was late 2018 and I rekindled the flame for Mr Love: Queen's Choice but it wasn’t just that. I fell down the rabbit hole of the Chinese media! I grew to love c-dramas and their music. I kid you not I was in a whole different league of my own. So next thing I knew I repeated my kpop trash days but with everything c-pop instead.

Then, for a very brief time period in 2019 I grew to love Thai series because my mother had a liking for Thai BL. Then I went back to watching C-dramas and watched the series called the Untamed with my mother since she really liked the actors.

Finally, we arrive at the year 2020, the pandemic and such made life crazy. I also started to hear about this game called Ikemen sengoku and I was like hey how interesting. However, I was busy and never got back to the game after finishing a couple chapters. Yet, I heard about twisted wonderland, and I became more consistent with that instead. I love twisted wonderland and thought that I should find another game to give my life to.

This is when I finally decided to try ikemen vampire, I thought it was a pretty crazy idea. I was like, did someone drunk come up with this idea because I want what they were drinking. Now, we are in our present timeline.

I have finished over half of the suitors, routes and I’m very happy I did. This game made me fall in love with otome games all over again. However, every now and then I get a craving for something crazy. That’s when I play games from voltage inc. I highly recommend Ikemen vampire for those that like angst.

Aside from ikemen vampire, I tried out ikemen prince and romance MD as well as Her love in the force. Out of those three I just named, I recommend the latter two rather than the first, especially for those who want a breath of fresh air. Well, that’s all for my progress so far, but it’s not the last!

#otome game #my past #personal post #otome #ikemen vampire #shall we date wizardess #ikemen series #ikemen prince #ikemen sengoku #ikemen villains #twisted wonderland #kpop #I was crazy back then #voltage inc #voltage games #my forged wedding

[airyucat]

Hello again, tumblr. It’s a fitting that that my first post back comes from a place of deep pain. I used tumblr a lot in grad school, some of the most painful years of adulthood. It’s not that I don’t trust my loved ones, but it’s that I still have intrusive thoughts that I let become thoughts. But this animation also comes from a place of deep gratitude. I wanted to add more outlines to the video, but if you’re in it, how dare you not give up on me >:c How dare you always support me, no matter what I’m going through. Absolutely rude (am I supposed to specify sarcasm here). If you’re in the video, I love you inexplainable amounts. And if you’re not, or you’re wondering if you are, I probably love you too. But I have a constant feeling of a valley bigger Valles Marineris cut through my being. Loved one prove to me they love me over and over again, and my stupid scientist brain collects stupid evidence and puts together a stupid hypothesis and runs simulation upon simulation on why this is wrong actually, why those people don’t care about me, why they’re lying to me actually. I have far away friends on other states and countries, so we try and plan online events, that get cancelled or where 2 people show up and can only stay for 15 minutes. If you truly cared about me, why don’t you call, or message, or reach out, of your own volition. Why do I have to wait until I’m cracking and deseperate and seek you out in pain for us to connect? I left an online group I loved - I let one person ruin it for me - and there went a big piece of my life. And people who said they still cared about me, why should a hi every now and then be enough? We used to move mountains with tremendous conversations, but now I just get a Merry Christmas in response to me saying it. I have friends here, in norcal, that live 2 hours away by driving, and 3 hours away by public transit. It’s exhausting, I often need to spend the night if it’s a late event, and I’m so far away that there are events I miss by not knowing about them. I’ve known them forever, but like, not as long as the full time I’ve known them. I met some before moving to Michigan for grad school, others when visited norcal but lived in michigan and then socal. So I was MIA physically from their lives from 2012-2018

Trauma led me to move back to norcal at the end of 2018. I got a job in SF, and my now spouse, Tai, and I moved to a cheap area still far from friends. It was supposed to be temporary, but I’m bad with money, and weddings can be expensive, and it’s hard to save up when a pandemic hits. But, in late 2018, everything felt broken, awful, horrible. Honestly that time and the year before felt like “what if our whole polycule that hadn’t even formed yet fucked up every thing every where all at once.”

So, 2019 was the year Tai and I took time to ourselves fix serious issues in our relationship, which meant we were distant from everyone, no matter the distance. We got cats at the start of the year though, two of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The end of 2019 was when we we finally reconnected back with our poly partners, and started reaching out to friends. And then, well, happy happy 2020 pandemic. Mid-2021 was spent reconnecting for me, but disconnecting for Tai, for similar reasons. “If you truly cared about me, why didn’t you reach out until you found out how bad things were.” I like to think we’re both decent at masking though. As a kid, before my dad starting ripping up all my art, he ripped up the ones where I drew sad faces. Because you’re not supposed to be sad, ever. Early 2022 I lost my one of my best friend’s dad. He felt like my dad. How sad was I allowed to be? I still don’t know, and next month it’ll have been a year since.

Did you know that a wedding at Disneyland and another wedding at a Hindu temple are really, really hard to plan? That’s what almost half of 2022 was. The weddings themselves, in May, on our anniversary, and the honeymoon, wow. Breath-taking. Especially for all the adlibbing we ended up doing (no rehearsal needed). 12 years since I met Tai. 11 years since I asked them out. 8 years since I proposed. Took us long enough.

My favorite pictures are the ones with or of loved ones, particularly our polycule and wedding party. I generally never get nostalgic, but I cry thinking about all the people that supported us. A lot of them are outlines in the video. My chest physically hurts knowing I will not be able to express how damn much I love them. People from all those three groups above? Didn’t matter how long the drive was, or the plane costs and delays, or the wallet-draining hotels, buying Indian and Disney-bounding clothes, spending a day in weather that was too hot for them... they did it. For Tai. For me. They did it. Side note - I’ll never forget that my (white) girlfriend taught me how to tie a sari. If you ever feel like an outsider to your cultural roots, remember me. And after the wedding... it was back. June, July, August, September, October, worse worse worse feelings of being excluded, people not wanting to be around me, doesn’t matter how false those feelings were. You can know something logically and not know it. Tai withdrawing from everyone. Accidental emotional neglect - if someone’s masking well enough, you don’t know. You can’t know. You can’t. And it matched my self narrative anyways: I’m disgusting and people don’t want me around. It solves everything; no one can kick you down if you’ve already done it. Emotions compounded by feeling unskilled in art, drained by my job’s commute and miniscule amounts of time off, Kaiser giving me scraps of therapy once every 8 weeks... My mental health pludged. October. Went to Europe with my girlfriend. Met some internet friends IRL. Covid finally got its claws into me, but my symptoms were just a sore throat, and I thought, maybe I was climbing up mentally. Maybe I got this! Halloween. My fave holiday. Sat around the apartment and did nothing. November. My birthday. It hit. It always hits hard. I can mitigate it with a party, and I did two weeks later, but having friends in their 20′s makes me wish I didn’t spend half of those years rotting away getting a PhD. I guess I can slap a Dr. in front of my last name now. 32 is the age one of my fave webcomic writers ended her long-running comic, and had plans but not really, and I think about her a lot, now that I’m that age. What am I going to do? I’ve got 10 months left to this age.

We went to a convention that emotionally hit Tai bad, and now they really really really won’t reach out to our friends. And I started trying to see friends more and talk to them more and... burnt myself out a little I think, because if you feel excluded and think people don’t want you there and aren’t used to interactions without a spouse or partner, seeing friends more isn’t a magic cure. It’s helping I think... I hope. I had to also come to terms with the fact that I’m probably never going to move to Hawaii, or have kids, or buy a house of be a Cool Internet Artist™, and might never be able to retire. Everything felt like it was crumbling. And then I drew this ...last week? It feels like a million years ago, but the new year did just happen. Here I am now. I’m going to keep trying I guess. I don’t know why, really, but here I go. I’ll try and be on here more, and just, share more. Take things out of my head and plop them down, and hope that the void yells back every now and then. Love, Airyu (Agni)

#cw gore #cw vent #cw depression #animation #procreate #art #artists on tumblr #animators on tumblr #animator #indie animator #personal vent #vent

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

#medusa #Don't worry no one was hurt #Medusa just wanted to prank some people #Happy late 2018 everyone!! How have you been? c: #I'm done with my internship and aah I missed the internet why are people eating laundry pods #I drank dish liqud like once as a child and my family still brings it up #our cinema is doing a 24 hour Harry Potter movie marathon soon and I am tempted #but then I remember that Twilight marathon back in the day and how my entire body was just in pain by the time they finally married #and the next day I had a Physic test and I only got one point #and the teacher said I could save my grade by making a presentation about planet movement #But Jessie got the same presentation topic and then I didn't have to do it anymore because I think he forgot and in the end I got a D #I think a Harry Potter Marathon would just kill you #in a good way #I never saw the latest twilight film! #I think deep down I fear that if I do that the spell will break and that I will have to do my planet movement presentation at last #and somebody stole all of the fatballs!! #all of them!! #I suspect it were the racoons next door #that would be okay they have cute tiny hands #but why would you eat the string as well #that can't be good for your racoon body :c #one string was still hanging on the tree for a day and then it was gone #who came back for the string #I hope they made friendship barcelets

[wetookeachothershand]

Journal Entry: My Husband Has Been Missing For Six Months

Pairing: Bonten!Mikey x GN!Reader

Genre: Angst, Mystery

Warning: Mentions of abuse, cheating, murder, sex, swearing, violence, may be disturbing to some audiences-read at your own risk.

W/C: 1K+

Summary: Your husband, Mikey, had been missing for six months and suddenly returns. You keep a journal writing your thoughts.

Additional: This is my first time writing a journal entry type of writing, and it was a lot of fun. This is also heavily inspired by this reddit post: ♡. I would recommend reading the post after reading this so as to not spoil anything for yourself. Also each journal entry date is actually some Toyko Revenger's characters' birthdays.

Journal Entry: My Husband Has Been Missing For Six Months Ending 2.1 | Journal Entry: My Husband Has Been Missing For Six Months Ending 2.2

Ultimate Masterlist | Mikey Masterlist

Journal entry: August 1st, 2018

My husband has been missing for six months now. Mikey went to the Bonten hideout for an emergency meeting, but he never came back. He was completely missing, in fact the security and even executives said that he didn't even go to the hideout.

I cried for days, nights, weeks, months. I cried for so, so long. I admit that Mikey might not have been the best husband, but I still loved him very much. I wake up every morning hoping that maybe there'll be news about him.

Journal entry: August 20th, 2018

He's back. Mikey, he's really back!  He came back on his birthday too. Is this some kind of miracle?

I was tending to my petunia garden, when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and my garden shovel fell out of my hand. There Mikey stood; the same white hair, eye bags, clothes, empty eyes-everything the same. Except for his smile. Mikey rarely smiled, the last time I can remember him smiling was at our wedding. Even then though, it was a small smile. This smile, however, was a big smile. The same smile he used to have back in middle school. Back then.

When I had asked him what happened to him, he said he didn't know and couldn't remember anything. Not. One. Single. Thing. Still though, I happily brought him into my arms and welcomed him home.

Journal entry: August 30th, 2018

Everyone is so happy that Mikey is back. All the Bonten executives were confused, but came to accept that their boss is back and that they're not running around like headless chickens. I know that everyone almost can't believe it, but that's the thing: I don't believe it.

I understand that I sound insane, and that I can't turn to anyone but you-my dear, treasured journal. If I were to try and talk to any of the executives they'd think I'm crazy, but they're the crazy ones! They're criminals! They murder people! They're insane! Not me, I'm not insane!

I'm not insane.

Journal entry: September 16th, 2018

I'm not one for horror movies, or supernatural and paranormal things. This situation though, it makes my skin crawl. Mikey's been acting off lately. Usually he wakes up early to leave for Bonten, not bothering to wake me up or anything. Lately however, he's been staying home in the mornings. Sometimes he'd stay in bed and I'd wake up to our limbs intertwined together. Sometimes he'd even make breakfast, but the thing is that Mikey doesn't know how to cook. Suddenly he's cooking gourmet meals for breakfast.

I know it could be that he just learned, but someone doesn't suddenly become an amazing cook out of nowhere. Above that, Mikey always said that eating breakfast is a waste of time. He always liked to leave for Bonten early in the morning because he said I snored too loud, and he hated the ear bleeding noise I created in my sleep.

So why is it now that Mikey is acting like this? I don't know, but I don't think the man I sleep next to every night is my husband.

Journal entry: October 15th, 2018

I came home from the grocery store today, making sure to dress appropriately so as to not receive another bruise from Mikey like the ones he used to give me before he went missing. Bruises for dressing "inappropriately", not cooking food "correctly", there being even a single wrinkle on his clothing, not having dorayaki stocked in the cupboards. Dorayaki.

That's right I went to the grocery store to get dorayaki for Mikey, but weirdly he seemed unbothered by the fact I got dorayaki. He simply treated it like any other food, and helped me put away the groceries.

Journal entry: October 18th, 2018

I couldn't sleep well last night. Not after I woke up in the middle of the night. It was 3am and I could feel a presence looking at me, even while I was sleeping. I opened my eyes to see Mikey's face inches away from mine, staring at me with...lifeless eyes. I forced out a laugh and asked him what he was doing just to not get a response.

It stayed like that for what felt like an eternity before Mikey blinked and flashed me a smile. He said "Oh nothing, I just can't believe this is real sometimes" before cuddling my body and falling asleep. I was not able to fall asleep again, fear washing over my body as I was held by someone I didn't know.

Journal entry: November 3rd, 2018

All the Bonten executives' schedules had cleared up, and so had Mikey's so they had decided to all go to a club as a late celebration for Mikey's return. Mikey had invited me which confused me, he never wanted me to go to a club with him after an argument we had before he went missing. It was an argument about how he had fucked this woman in one of the vip rooms. Her name was Sayaka. Kakucho was the one who took a photo and sent it to me. I remember that the next time I saw Kakucho after that he had a black eye and wouldn't even look me in the eyes.

Mikey said that if I couldn't trust him alone at a club, then I wouldn't trust him if I was with him in a club and that he doesn't want me to go to a club with him after that. It didn't make sense, it still doesn't. Still though, I listened to my loving husband.

So why is it now that he invited me? I don't know, but I went. We stayed together the whole night, his arm wrapped around my waist. All of the executives were there, Kakucho's black eye gone but he still wouldn't look me in the eye.

Sayaka came over to our vip table, wanting to give Mikey a lap dance but he declined. That seemed to shock everyone except for Mikey himself. Sayaka left and I let out a laugh, calling her a home-wrecking bitch after she left.

I knew I screwed up. I knew I shouldn't have said that. I was prepared for Mikey to lash out at me, but he didn't. He agreed with me, saying he couldn't understand why she'd try giving him a lap dance when she knows he's married.

Married to the person he loves the most, and would never want to hurt.

Journal entry: November 25th, 2018

I'm terrified. I'm so fucking scared, I feel like I'm going insane. That thing isn't Mikey. I know it could be that he just had a freak accident that caused some kind of brain trauma that caused him to forget things, and maybe even have a personality change. Still though, earlier is how I knew that the thing pretending to be my husband isn't actually Mikey.

We had sex and I noticed something that petrified me when he took his shirt off. I hadn't seen Mikey shirtless since he came back, and what I had seen terrified me. Or rather what I hadn't seen.

There was no scar over his heart. No stab wound where I had stabbed him to death.

I'm so damn close to digging up my petunia garden to make sure his stupid dead body is still there. I don't know what this thing is, but it's not Mikey. It's not the Sano Manjiro that I married.

Tag List Form

All rights are reserved to wetookeachothershand. Do not plagiarize, repost, translate, or claim my work~ ♡

#mikey #sano manjiro #mikey x reader #bonten mikey x reader #mikey angst #mikey mystery #bonten mikey angst #bonten mikey mystery #mikey x reader angst #mikey x reader mystery #bonten mikey x reader angst #bonten mikey x reader mystery #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers angst #tokyo revengers mystery #wetookeachothershand

[causeiwanttoandican]

The Times

Prince William’s close friends on what makes him tick — and why he’s not trapped

March 20 2021, 6:00pm

As the world devours the Harry and Meghan interview, what’s going on with the brother who was left behind? He’s embracing his destiny, William’s close friends tell the Sunday Times royal correspondent, Roya Nikkhah

Next month Prince William will celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary — the day he became a duke and embarked on the most formative decade of his life. Back then, the tentative 28-year-old newlywed was not ready to devote himself entirely to royal duties. A decade on, he is in a very different position.

The job of being the heir to the heir to the throne, of finding a balance between life and duty, is difficult at the best of times. These are not the best of times. In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey this month the Duke and Duchess of Sussex accused the royal family and the institution around it of racism and callous disregard for a suicidal newcomer, among many other damning charges. Harry the spare also declared that William was trapped within “the system … My brother can’t leave that system, but I have.”

In the immediate aftermath of the interview William was “reeling”, a source close to the duke says. “His head is all over the place on it.” Four days after the Sussexes had their say, he hit back during an engagement with the Duchess of Cambridge at a school in east London. Asked about accusations of racism, William retorted with restrained fury: “We’re very much not a racist family.” He also confirmed that he hadn’t spoken to Harry yet, “but will do”. By the weekend it emerged they had “been in contact”.

William is thought to have been less than thrilled a few days later when that conversation made global headlines after the American presenter Gayle King, a close friend of the Sussexes, revealed live on air that it had not been an easy chat: “I did actually call them to see how they were feeling,” she told viewers. “Harry has talked to his brother and he had talked to his father too. The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive.” The intervention prompted a senior royal source to say that “none of the households will be giving a running commentary on private conversations”.

A close friend of both brothers says Harry’s “trapped” comment was “way off the mark”, insisting that William does not see it that way. “He has a path set for him and he’s completely accepting of his role. He is very much his grandmother’s grandson in that respect of duty and service.”

When the Queen turned 90 nearly five years ago William admitted “the challenge” that “occupies a lot of thinking space” is how to “modernise and develop” the royal family, and make it “relevant in the next 20 years’ time”. Twenty years now seems like a very long time. In the hours and days after the Oprah broadcast, William was at the heart of all discussions with the Queen and the Prince of Wales about how to respond to the Sussexes. He was keen that the issue of race should be acknowledged in the Queen’s statement as an area of particular concern that “will be addressed”.

William has always railed against being a “ribbon-cutter royal” and the issues he champions — mental health, battling racism in football, homelessness and his ramped-up eco-warrior role — are a window into where the future King William V will take the House of Windsor. A friend says: “He’s a small-c conservative. He values tradition and the need to go around the country, but he realises he can make a difference beyond traditional royal duties.”

Today royal popularity is, to put it mildly, in a state of flux, but William’s strategy has been working. Post-Oprah, he ranks just below the Queen at the top of a YouGov poll of royals. Not so long ago such a position looked like a long shot, when the “workshy Wills” and “reluctant royal” tags plagued him and he was clocking up fewer days of royal work than his nonagenarian grandparents. Pictures of him hitting the ski slopes and clubs of Swiss resort Verbier in March 2017, missing a Commonwealth service that even the Duke of York flew back for, didn’t help.

After the lasting PR gold dust of the Cambridges’ 2011 wedding and the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, it was the first public nosedive for William, who was still working as an air ambulance pilot. “That pissed him off,” a friend says. “He was leaving home at 5.30am, getting home after dark and saving lives in between, but people were still being critical of his commitment to his [other] job.” William was based at Cambridge airport with East Anglian Air Ambulance for two years, where he was on call for “some very sad, dark moments”, often working “on very traumatic jobs involving children”. He later acknowledged that “after I had my own children … the relation between the job and the personal life was what really took me over the edge, and I started feeling things that I have never felt before”. But it was a job he loved, because of “working in a team … that’s something that my other job doesn’t necessarily do. You are more out there on your own.”

A former royal aide says: “Immediately after their wedding he had a very clear idea of the pace at which he wanted to take things.” William was adamant he wouldn’t curtail his day jobs, first as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot in Anglesey and then with the air ambulance. “If you’re not careful, duty can weigh you down an awful lot at an early age,” he said, insisting he didn’t “lie awake waiting or hoping” to be king. He delayed full-time royal duties until the autumn of 2017, when, acknowledging the Cambridges’ future required more time at “monarchy HQ”, they moved from Norfolk to London and George started school.

He’d had to fight his corner for the air ambulance role. A source close to William reveals “there were lots of raised eyebrows in the Palace when he wanted to do that. While the Queen and his father backed him, some senior courtiers questioned whether it was becoming of a future king to be doing a middle-class role, hanging out with ordinary people. They thought he wouldn’t stick it out, he’d find it boring, or was doing it out of stubbornness to put off royal duties. He was pretty bloody-minded about it, and determined that other people’s expectations in the media or the system shouldn’t get in the way of his own values.” In the wake of Harry and Meghan’s interview much has been speculated about the extent to which royal life is dictated by Palace officials, but it is clear that William has managed to forge his own path. Who knows how high those senior courtiers’ eyebrows rose in 2019, when William spent three weeks shadowing the spooks of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to learn how they combat terrorism. He insisted on being called “Will” and lunching in the canteen every day.

Those closest to the duke say his resistance to the idea of full-time royal duties stemmed not only from a desire to achieve something for himself but also from a fear of the impact on his family life. Miguel Head worked alongside the prince for ten years until 2018, as William, Kate and Harry’s communications secretary and later as William’s private secretary. “In his role everyone’s going to tell you you’re marvellous,” Head says. “The RAF and air ambulance jobs were about knowing what his abilities were, what he was good at in his own right. Without that he’d still be hankering for something that was his own.” After children came along he says William developed a “visceral determination to give them a life of consistency and privacy that were missing for large parts of his own childhood”.

Another close aide says the plan enabling the Cambridges to have a few years of “normal” married life, away from the full-time glare of the royal spotlight, paid dividends: “For years, the battles around privacy and paparazzi intrusion were all-consuming. He wanted to know, could we build them a credible plan allowing them a family life while slowly increasing the profile of official life? It took years to get there, but the success of that plan allowed him to be confident and content in his role. He’s not worried about his kids’ privacy any more and he has been able to be the kind of dad he wants to be.”

“Marriage maketh the man,” a friend says. “Catherine’s groundedness has been the critical anchor. And where his relationship with the media was once all fury and frustration, he now understands using the power of modern media, so the public feel they’re getting enough access.”

The children’s birthdays are marked with photographs — often taken by the Duchess of Cambridge — and there has been a noticeable increase in their public appearances of late. While not “officially” staged, William was happy to let George and Charlotte be photographed at their first Aston Villa match with Mum and Dad in 2019. Pandemic set pieces have shown the family clapping for the NHS on the steps of Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, and, before Christmas, their first red-carpet appearance together for an evening at the panto with key workers and their children.

As they celebrate their anniversary on April 29, friends who joined the Cambridges on their wedding day tell me the partnership’s equal footing is key to its success. “They’ve got a solid relationship and she gives him confidence,” one says. “There is no jealousy, no friction, they are happy for each other’s successes.” In private William talks as passionately about Kate’s work as his own campaigns, and takes pride in her growing confidence on the public stage.

William has said his grandmother’s approach to being head of state is to take “more of a passive role. She’s above politics and is very much away from it.” He doesn’t plan to meddle in party politics, but he was not happy about the unenviable position the government put the Queen in with the 2019 proroguing of parliament, which was later ruled to be unlawful and forced an apology from Boris Johnson to the monarch. Constitutionally the Queen had no alternative other than to act on the advice of her government, but in William’s reign there will be “more private, robust challenging of advice”. His last three private secretaries — Christian Jones, Simon Case, now the cabinet secretary, and Head — had all worked in government departments, helping William to keep his finger on the political pulse. The new incumbent, the Whitehall heavyweight Jean-Christophe Gray, who served as David Cameron’s spokesman, continues in that vein.

The former Conservative leader Lord Hague of Richmond was last year appointed as chairman of the Royal Foundation to develop William’s work on mental health, the environment and a raft of new support programmes for key workers. “People internationally and nationally respect his credibility and knowledge on these issues,” Hague says. “He’s very persuasive. You only see that behind the scenes. He knows what he wants and he goes out to get it.”

Charlie Mayhew, chief executive of the conservation charity Tusk, has known William since he was 20. In 2005 Tusk and Centrepoint, the homelessness charity championed by Princess Diana, were the first patronages William took on. “In those early years I kept having to pinch myself to remember how young he was,” Mayhew says. “He was much more mature than his age and very aware of his destiny coming down the track. He had a sincerity, but never without wicked humour. His teasing is merciless.”

William knows some people see his passion for conservation as a posh man’s part-time hobby, but Mayhew says the duke’s “genuine and huge knowledge” undermines that view. “He’ll call and WhatsApp to flag up something that I haven’t even seen in the conservation space. He can be impatient to get things done.” Last year William launched the Earthshot prize, a £50 million Nobel-style environmental award to galvanise solutions to global problems over the next decade. He believes “conservation and the environment … shouldn’t be a luxury, it’s a necessity”, Mayhew says. “That’s the drum he wants to beat. He’s got a megaphone and wants to use it in the most constructive way. He speaks for that next generation and I think they can relate to it.”

A turning point for William was his 2015 official visit to China, one of the world’s largest consumers of ivory, where he met President Xi and condemned the illegal wildlife trade as a “vicious form of criminality”. Unlike his father, who has refused to visit the People’s Republic over its human rights record and treatment of Tibet, William’s view was that despite the UK’s fractious relationship with China, “we’ve got to engage”.

“It was very political, raising the illegal wildlife trade in China. I’m sure the diplomats were having all sort of nightmares in advance,” says Mayhew, who joined the duke in China. “But he was gathering greater confidence that he had the ability to be a mouthpiece for the issue.” Mayhew reveals that while William was visiting Japan before China, he still hadn’t secured a meeting with Xi. “But when the Chinese saw all the high-level meetings he was having in Japan, they changed their minds and Xi made time for him.” Later that year, as Xi began a UK state visit, William appeared on Chinese television condemning the ivory trade. Two years later China banned the trade.

In 2018 he spent months prepping for his most high-stakes overseas visit yet, to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that summer. Navigating the diplomatic tightrope walk between Jerusalem and the West Bank, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah. As he travelled back to Jerusalem, he changed his speech for a reception with young Israelis and Palestinians to strengthen his solidarity with the latter: “My message tonight is that you have not been forgotten … The United Kingdom stands with you.” It was a bold move, but both sides hailed his visit a success and the officials breathed a sigh of relief. To the delight of the travelling press pack, William’s engagements on the final day were brought forward, allowing the diplomat duke and president of the Football Association to land back in the UK in time to watch England’s World Cup tie.

Ask him if he’s a peacemaker and William will laugh, saying Kate is the mediator. But according to a source close to William and Harry, his bridge-building skills were deployed in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018, when tensions in the Kensington Palace household, then still shared by the brothers, were running high: “Every time there was a drama, or a member of staff on the verge of quitting, William would personally try and sort it out.”

As the brothers clashed more over the substance and style of their work, and the family hierarchy that William is a stickler for but Harry is less keen on, a split was inevitable. When they finally divided their households in March 2019, it had been a long time coming. But he never thought that a year later his brother would up sticks for America.

The pair went for a long walk to clear the air after the “Sandringham summit” when the Megxit deal was hammered out, but did not part shores as friends. What upset William the most was Harry and Meghan’s surprise launch of their “Sussex Royal” website before the summit, which featured their blueprint wish list of a part-time, commercial royal future. Later, when the Queen decreed they could no longer use “royal” in their future ventures, their website hit back with this bold statement: “While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy … over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ … or … ‘Royal’ …” Both “the content and that it’s still online is staggering”, a senior royal source says. “That was it for William, he felt they’d blindsided the Queen in such an insulting and disrespectful way,” says a source close to him, who reveals it was still at the forefront of William’s mind at the Commonwealth Day service one year ago. It was the Sussexes’ final engagement as working royals, and the froideur between them and the rest of the family was unmistakable.

It is a year since the Sussexes left for California and William misses Harry. “Once he got over the anger of how things happened, he was left with the absence of his brother,” an aide says. “They shared everything about their lives, an office, a foundation, meetings together most days and there was a lot of fun along the way. He’ll miss it for ever.” A close friend says William “definitely feels the pressure now it’s all on him — his future looks different because of his brother’s choices, it’s not easy.” Another friend says: “It’s still raw. He’s very upset by what’s happened, though absolutely intent that he and Harry’s relationship will heal in time.”

After lobbing bombs in his Oprah interview, Harry said: “I love William to bits … We’ve been through hell together … we have a shared experience … The relationship is space at the moment, and time heals all things, hopefully.” Harry would be wise not to set his stopwatch.

The first test will come this summer, when the brothers could be reunited for a series of family engagements including the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday and the Queen’s birthday parade in June. In July they are scheduled to unveil a statue of their mother at Kensington Palace, marking what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday, an emotionally charged occasion with the world watching.

While a chasm has opened up between the brothers, William has grown closer to the Queen and Prince Charles. He has helped them to navigate their way through Megxit, Prince Andrew’s removal from public life following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and, now, the Oprah controversy. “That has changed the way the Queen sees him and values his input,” a courtier says. William also feels his relationship with his grandmother has “massively improved” in recent years and their views are “more aligned than ever”.

Friends say there has also been a “renaissance” in William and Charles’s relationship. “As the years passed there were strains imposed by the system — money, work, competition, Diana,” one says. “Part of William’s evolution is that as he has become closer to his father, he sees their similarities. At William’s wedding there was a gag in one of the speeches that he was more like his father than he’d ever admit, which made a lot of us laugh. As their respective destinies get closer, it weighs more heavily on them and strengthens the bond. The rift with Harry has also brought them closer.”

William is said to hate “flummery”, though the role of future king comes with plenty of bowing and scraping. But in 2017, for the first time publicly, he didn’t get his way. As a new parent worried about rising teenage suicide rates, he had spent a year convening a Cyberbullying Taskforce with big cheeses from tech and social media giants including Facebook, Snapchat, Apple, Google and Twitter. He wanted them to adopt industry-wide guidelines creating safer online spaces for children. According to William the meetings at Kensington Palace got “fruity” and the tech giants didn’t come close to the change he wanted. He was furious.

Tessy Ojo, chief executive of the Diana Award youth charity, sat on the taskforce. “He was deeply disappointed,” she says. “He didn’t come into it as ‘the duke’, he gave emotional pleas as a father.” William has since publicly condemned social media giants for their “false choice of profits over values” and privately offered support to the family of Molly Russell, who took her life at 14 after viewing images of self-harm online. Ojo believes it is William’s “lived experience of the fragility of life that guides the work he does”.

It also shapes the way he and Kate are raising their family. William has said he is determined that the grandchildren Diana never knew should “know who she was and that she existed”. He “constantly” talks to his children “about Granny Diana” at bedtime, so that they know “there are two grandmothers in their lives”. Earlier this month on Mother’s Day, Kensington Palace’s social media feeds published George, Charlotte and Louis’s cards paying tribute to “Granny Diana”, revealing it is an annual ritual for the Cambridge children. After a difficult few weeks for William, a line in Charlotte’s card provided poignant insight into how he is feeling: “Papa is missing you.”

He is on course to be a more modern monarch than any before him, but William is still a creature of habit at heart. He has the same tight circle of friends from his schooldays, one of whom says that, with William, “it’s all about trust and loyalty”. He plays five-a-side football in his Villa socks when he can, goes to the Chelsea Harbour Club gym he went to as a child with his mother and has a “smart casual” public uniform of chinos, jacket, blue shirt and no tie.

“William’s not trying to be down with the kids,” a friend says. “He never wants to be painted as irrelevant or dull, though he’s allergic to being compared to celebrities. The public doesn’t always get to see his funny side, but otherwise he’s the same in private as in public. He once said, ‘I’ll be in the public eye all my life. I can’t hide who I am because I’ll be found out.’ ”

In 2019, during a visit to a youth homelessness charity supporting LGBT people, William was asked how he would feel if one of his children was gay. “Absolutely fine,” he replied. “I fully support whatever decision they make, but it does worry me from a parent’s point of view how many barriers, hateful words, persecution and discrimination might come.” Such a personal exchange was a radical departure from royal engagement small talk. But William, the first in his family to be photographed for the cover of a gay magazine, had personally put the issue on the agenda.

As president of Bafta he gave the academy a diplomatic dressing down in his speech at last year’s ceremony, expressing his “frustration” over the lack of diversity: “In 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process — that simply cannot be right in this day and age.” The 2021 nominees announced this month suggest his words hit home.

William “thinks the public look to him to keep royal work looking modern”, a confidante says. “The Queen and Prince of Wales are providing continuity and stability. He’s carving out his own relationship with diverse communities. He sees it all as a way of doing things now that will help a smooth transition when the time comes.”

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as a former frontline worker himself, William has led the royal charge supporting key workers. “Now, more than ever, he knows what his role in public life is, and he sees the value in it,” a close aide says. Chatting to NHS workers in January, William said: “Something that I noticed from my brief spell flying the air ambulance … is that when you see so much death and so much bereavement, it does impact how you see the world … as a … darker, blacker place.” Soon after the first lockdown was announced, the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation launched Our Frontline, a round-the-clock mental health and bereavement service for key workers.

Miguel Head says the future King William will continue to campaign on his big issues: “I can’t see him backing away from causes he’s passionate about. And while he’s not someone who loves ceremony, he knows the importance of it. When he gets the top job he won’t do away with it all. He’s mindful the monarchy represents something timeless that’s above all of us, and many people like the magic and theatre of it.”

Roya Nikkhah

Roya is royal correspondent at The Sunday Times. Over more than a decade she has covered royal events for the BBC, interviewed the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry and presented the films Prince William, Monarch in the Making and Meghan and Harry: The Baby Years.

#William #TeamQueen #TeamWilliam #TeamCambridge

[hnnyoongs]

akai shuichi headcanons

shuichi wears a beanie all the time because he's self conscious about hir hairline .... and I mean who can blame him? id be too

shuichi saw gin when he was visiting Japan in the 10 years ago flashback and was like ooh long hair is cool AND it'll piss ka-san off flash forward 5 years later when shuichi infiltrates the BO and is like fUck cool long hair dude is a psycho

shuichi cut his hair off when he heard akemi was killed by gin he kinda went into the whole mental breakdown mode and was like fuck this shit because he started growing his hair out cuz of gin and also akemi really liked his long hair

shuichi used to be a band kid when he lived in England and wanted to pursue a career in music (much to the chagrin of Mary) but after tsutomu disappeared he was like fuck that and stopped playing until he entered the BO

shuichi has a really bad memory about things that dont have to do anything with his job kinda like BBC's Sherlock but not as bad

shuichi used to find dead bodies when he was a kid just like shinichi but it wasn't as often maybe like a dead body once a year or something

shuichi named himself dai because that's what Mary actually wanted to name him when she was giving birth she was screaming die die die and tsutomu wasn't there yet so she was like aight die sounds like the japanese name dai the only reason shuichi wasn't named that was that tsutomu burst in and was like FUCK NO

shuichi was picked on when training for the FBI since compared to 6 foot jock white men shuichi was a 5 foot 7 asian with long hair and dressed like a teenage girl who frequented Starbucks in the toxic environment of the FBI for anyone who doesnt fit the mold shuichi had it cut out for him

shuichi showed signs of multiple mental illnesses but they were all difficult to pin down so he was never diagnosed with anything since he refused to talk at the FBI mandated therapy sessions

shuichi's type is someone who is kind but could wield a gun

he used to dislike kids but being around them as okiya has made SOME kids special in his heart

before tsutomu's disspeareance he taught shuichi how to hunt with a shotgun

shuichi lived off of sports drinks and bars whenever he was single since he couldn't rely on take out due to it being unhealthy which wouldn't help his FBI styled life

shuichi taught akemi simple self defense techniques but refuses to teach her how to shoot a gun saying he didn't want her hands to get dirty

shuichi and shukichi blackmail each other for favors by using the "ill tell ka-san you did that one thing that you blamed dad for when we were kids if u dont help me out"

scotch once told him that bourbon's type was a white milf (in reference to Elena who was white and was a mother) so shuichi was scared as fuck when rei met Mary's adult self for the first time

shuichi hates being compared to his mother but the truth is they're the most similar and they both started mimicking tsutomu after his disappearance

the only thing shuichi knew how to cook before meeting yukiko was plain white rice as that was the only thing tsutomu was able to teach him

shuichi mimics an American accent while talking in America or talking in English unless he's talking to his family or he's mentally shook up and his British accent slips out

he thinks in British accented English as well (idc if the animanga shows him thinking in japanese it makes no sense that western raised people like Jodie and camel think in japanese) but he does use some japanese like ka-san and when he's trying to get deep into his okiya persona

he tries very hard to keep the polite speech patterns of okiya Subaru since as akai shuichi he's very .. rude

shuichi's sniper skills were so good the fbi was willing to overlook his disrespect of authority and his tendency to do everything by himself without consulting everyone

shuichi slips into a British accent around James if he's feeling really comfortable

he felt bad about using shiho since she was only a year older than masumi and she hadn't done anything wrong so he vowed to get her and akemi out of the BO

he had a plan to get akemi and shiho out by convincing the higher ups to grant them immunity if they testified but akemi's death derailed the entire thing

he hates to admit it but his family is the most important thing to him he may not contact them that often but he's going to such lengths to bring his father back because he cares for his family so much

shuichi didnt really know what he wanted to do with his life once he took down his father's pursuers but after akemi and scotch he decided that if he solved his father's disappearance first he'd hunt down the BO next tho once learning that Haneda Koji’s death had something to do with the BO he's back at the thing where he doesn't know what to do with his life without revenge

he promised shukichi that he'd be the one to solve shukichi's death if what happened to Haneda kohji also happens to shukichi

he isn't a fan of dates in amusement parks but if it makes his partner happy and smile he'll have fun

dating Jodie was a quiet thing most likely from an attachment maybe due to a bad case or a loss of a mutual friend depending on the agency they might have been legally allowed to date each other but it is usually looked down upon I dont think they went out together often probably spending time together at home ... doing stuff

he identifies as bisexual it was normal to him in childhood since both Mary and tsutomu talked about their past relationships to their children he never told anyone due to the fact it would affect his FBI status since it was illegal in America shukichi and Mary know he's bi but shuichi has no idea Mary knows

akemi and shuichi would take strolls in parks go shopping and go to cafes

he's very self conscious about his height and whenever he goes to Japan it makes him feel good about himself since he's relatively tall there

Mary was the one who drilled japanese into his head not tsutomu

the last time shuichi talked to Mary was when he called her up to tell her to take masumi and leave Japan for Britain after masumi cornered him and scotch him and Mary had a whole argument and after that they stopped talking to each other, not that they talked to each other much in the first place

shuichi learned jee kun do by watching training videos from vhs tapes/cds/YouTube depending on when you consider detco taking place I personally believe conan shrinks in 2018 meaning that tsutomu disappeared in 2001 and shuichi used a mixture of tapes and cds to learn

shuichi can read people really well but has a hard time manipulating people by being nice he can use people by being a jackass very well but trying to be a normal person is hard for him

Yukiko and yusaku remind shuichi of his parents before tsutomu disappeared but like more upbeat

shuichi dislikes full body hugs

akemi and shiho were both anime and romance drama fans so he knows random things about the shows and uses that info to connect with the DB and especially haibara

he considered himself British first and foremost but when asked about whether he considers himself white or asian he'll always go with asian

he started smoking soon after his father disappeared since his father used to smoke and he needed to cope but didn't wanna fall into drugs like cocaine

smoking is heavily looked down upon in America and is seen as unprofessional which helped shuichi go undercover a bunch due to him being a heavy smoker

akemi would make him stop smoking around her and shiho saying that second hand smoking was dangerous and that shuichi who was smoking constantly was going to get lung cancer but he would tell her that he just couldn't stop smoking he did stop smoking around shiho and akemi tho going outside to do it instead

as okiya it makes him go wild because he desperately needs to smoke to cope but okiya cant smoke it doesnt fit his image so he smokes a shit ton at night during his nightly drives

shuichi forced himself not to smoke during his time visiting Japan when he met masumi because he knew Mary would get even more upset with him

shuichi was terrible driving American styled cars and he got so upset that he perfected his drive-in techiuque over the years just to spite the instructor that said he was barely passing

he likes to go on late night drives and speed on the high way because he's a thrill seeking idiot

he has no social media but he created on as okiya Subaru to keep an eye on haibara's higo stan account

he takes offense to the idea that he's stalking haibara he's just p r o t e c t i n g her

he wants shiho to be happy more than anything so he's an avid coai shipper and is exhausted in Conan's obliviousness

shuichi didnt tell shukichi he wasn't actually dead shukichi just walked up to okiya Subaru one day and was like shuuichi-ni-san right? shuichi has long stopped questioning shukichi's weird ways of knowing shit he shouldn't know

shuichi is a sherlockian but he's not like shinichi or hakuba in that he does not hate BBC's Sherlock and actually enjoys it a bit

one upside to shuichi living in America is that he gets to hoard guns because he's obsessed with them he thinks they're really cool it's like conan with Sherlock he starts yapping his mouth of about them

bourbon once dangled a gun on in front of a sleeping shuichi cuz he didnt believe scotch when he said that rye was obsessed with guns and started saying incorrect shit about the type of gun he was holding and shuichi just shot up and started berating him

shuichi hates that chianti is a killer because she's the only person who's as much as a gun fanatic as he is

he tends to steal Jodie's car a lot

he likes fucking with peoples heads it's very fun to him to watch them get all worked up

shuichi hasn't mourned his father yet because he doesnt believe his father’s dead

deep down he blames his father for his mother going slightly bonkers

he didnt want masumi to be a detective at first but now hes proud of her

he drinks a lot as okiya Subaru since he cant smoke as much

he's willing to go to hell if it means he can rip gin from limp to limp

he really hates gin yall I dont think I can convey how much he hates gin

#akai shuichi #akai shuuichi #dcmk #detco #case closed #detective conan #gin #chianti #miyano akemi #miyano shiho #haibara ai #sera masumi #akai tsutomu #akai family #akai mary #mary akai #haneda shukichi #sera mary #mary sera #okiya subaru #jodie starling #kudo yusaku #kudo yukiko #kudo shinichi #coai #detective boys #amuro tooru #furuya rei #morofushi hiromitsu #scotch

[potteresque-ire]

Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈  (June is Pride Month where I am 😊) For the occasion, may I recommend this animated musical short, 秘密港 Safe Haven, by the Beijing Queer Chorus (北京酷兒合唱團)? Published on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT; May 17th, 2021),  the animation, with its lovely (and at times, heartbreaking) song, is about a queer person and their friend who tries to offer their support. The lyrics is English-subbed.

(Below the cut: a wish for the c-queer community; conception of Safe Haven, as explained by the Beijing Queer Chorus; CW/TW for homophobia, violence and forced abortion)

Background for my wish: with the recent Chinese government’s aggressive turnaround in its population control policy to combat its declining birth rate—on 2021/05/31, China further lifted the cap of number of children allowed per couple from 2 to 3 (the number was 1 for almost four decades, 1978-2015; the population control measure has therefore been colloquially called the “One Child Policy”), younger generations of Chinese are already feeling the pressure and fearing the consequences of non-compliance (for example, if the state levies heavy fines on non-child-bearers).   

While I have not yet read articles that directly connect the major policy shift with the c-queer community, I imagine it may bring both relief and additional challenges. The relief will likely take time to come; the challenges, meanwhile,  will likely be immediate. 

This has to do with the root of antagonism against homosexuality in Chinese societies. Unlike in their Western counterparts, Chinese queers have consistently reported that family, instead of societal, pressure as the greatest challenge they face (societal pressure includes that from religion, from government etc). C-queers are expected to abide to the heteronormative traditions of opposite-sex marriage and child-bearing, in a collectivistic, conformist environment still strongly influenced by the Confucian notion that continuing the bloodline is the primary responsibility of a filial child. Men, especially, are under heavy pressure to carry on their family surname. Those who fail to do so are seen as irresponsible at best, moral failures at worst. They suffer anything and everything from constant nagging from their relatives, to ostracisation, to disownment. 

A better known consequence of this cultural antagonism against homosexuality in the tragic Tongqi (同妻 “homo-wives”) phenomenon that is, perhaps, unique to China. 

Tongqi are straight women who unknowingly entered marriage with closeted gay man, who often learn about their spouse’s sexuality only after the filial obligation of having children has been fulfilled. It’s a form of marriage fraud; women who file for divorce, however, are likely to lose custody of their child(ren) under Chinese laws, and so many of them keep mum. The gay men involved are also victims in many cases; the lack of public, open education and discussion of queer topics in the country mean even the queers themselves may not have a full understanding of their own queerness, believe that “straightening” themselves is something they can do with sufficient willpower and love for their family. 

As one may expect, these marriages are mostly unsatisfying; psychiatric issues and intimate partner violence (IPV), which include verbal, emotional and physical abuse, have also been frequently reported. Just how prevalent are Tongqi’s in China that, in turn, reflect how many gay men in China are pressured to remain in the closet and get married? The following numbers may serve as comparison. In 2010, the percentage of gay men married to heterosexual women in the US was 15-25%. In China and in 2018, meanwhile, the reowned Chinese sexologist, sociologist and LGBT rights activist, Li Yinhe (李銀河), quoted an estimate of 80% of China’s ~ 20 million gay men were married to heterosexual wives; i.e. the Tongqi population amounted to ~16 million. Literature has reported a similar estimated size of the Tongqi population—at 13+ million, in 2016. 

(Reason for the numbers being estimates: the exact size of the c-queer community isn’t known. China’s decennial census questionnaire from late last year (2020) once again excluded questions about its own LGBT+ community. "Room mate” is how many c-queers have to refer to their partners).

While the Chinese government decriminalised homosexuality in 1997 and its current laws carry no clauses that target the queer community—the official stance of Chinese government on homosexuality is currently 不支持，不反對，不提倡 “not supporting, not opposing, not advocating”—what may seem to be its non-queer-related policies have indirectly but majorly impacted the lives of c-queers. In particular, the “One Child Policy” has been hypothesised to exacerbate the challenge faced by c-queers, as the only child becomes the sole “next generation” available for producing grandchildren and extending the family bloodline. 

Hence, my expectation / hope that the relaxation of "One Child Policy”, by lifting the cap on the number of children a couple can have, will bring relief to the LGBT+ population—even if the relief will only come years down the road, as the newer generations of c-queers will then have siblings to share their filial responsibilities. 

However, this also explains my worry for now, for the immediate months and years to come, for not only c-queers but the younger generations of Chinese in general. My worry is about how, exactly, the state intends to drive its birth rate upward, and the hardship the new policies may bring. 

The practices of China’s population control policies have historically been brutal. Forced, late-term abortions were common, for example. This is reflected in the country’s birth control propaganda banners, commonly seen in Chinese villages until late 2000s, which were infamous for their verbal violence:

“Beat it out! Abort it! Miscarry it! Just cannot give birth to it!”

Fines, which were levied on offenders of the One Child Policy, may seem like a better option but can place an unbearable burden on poorer families, of which there remain many in China. Premier Li Keqiang reported, in May 2020, that >40% of China’s population—600 million—are living with a monthly income of ~$140 USD or below, despite the glitz often seen in the country’s entertainment productions. Using One Child Policy era fines for reference, the famous Chinese director 張藝謀 Zhang Yimou was fined 7.48 million RMB (~$1.17 million USD) for his three children, in 2013. Defying the new population control policies may therefore be a privilege reserved for the very powerful and very rich. And the government is likely to be aggressive in enforcing its new policies—the social media accounts of > 20 feminist activists, who advocate for reproductive freedom among other women’s rights, have already been shut down in the recent weeks. 

Will the Chinese government find ways to penalise members of the queer community who do not contribute to the new baby count? Will it turn a blind(er) eye to the Tongqi 同妻 (and to a lesser extent, Tongfu 同夫 ~ heterosexual men married to lesbian women) tragedies happening every day? It’s impossible to say yet.

For this year, therefore, I wish the c-queer community this—I wish it to be safe from the reach of China’s population control policies, whatever they will be. 

Back to the animated short, Safe Haven, which is about coming out. In 2016, a 18,000 people survey by the United Nations Development Programme reported only 5% of Chinese queers had come out to people outside their families. Only 15% have come out to their families. A more recent survey reports a significant improvement in these percentages, with ~50% of gays, bisexuals and transgenders and 70% of lesbians having come out to their families (Table 2). Fully out queers remain rare (<10%).

There’s still, therefore, a long way to go. With queers often being out (if they’re out at all) only to their most immediate/intimate social circles, with the state’s censorship of LGBT+ presentation in visual media, many (especially older generations of) non-queers in China haven’t seen a living, breathing, outwardly queer person before. The process of coming out, by extension—what it means, what it takes for both the giver and receiver of the message—may have never entered the thoughts of these non-queers before.

What should they say? What should they do? What words and actions will convey support? What won’t?

Safe Haven is about these questions. I’ll end this post with a translation of the Weibo post in which the animated short was first published, in which Beijing Queer Chorus explained the project’s conception:

#517 IDAHOBIT# Do you remember how it was like, the first time you came out of the closet, or someone came out of the closet to you? Who was that person? What did you say at the time, and how did that person react?

The person who voluntarily exposes their heart requires courage. The person who receives the message may have their own heart filled with unease. 

Maybe, both are thinking: “What should I do?”

Coming out is such an important occasion. It can, perhaps, change a relationship forever.

Some will welcome warmth and hugs. Some others will get their first taste of homophobia. Yet some others will find neither.

After a queer person came out to their friend, they got, in return, “Don’t worry. I’ll still treat you as a friend.” It made them uncomfortable for a long time. But their straight family and friends didn’t understand. How could this be not a kind thing to say?

What is gay-friendly? What is homophobic? It appears that everyone has their own standards. The same words and behaviours transmit warmth to some, deep offence to others.

So, when we’re talking about “homophobia”, what are we talking about?

To commemorate this years #517 IDAHOBIT#, the Beijing Queer Chorus interviewed its tens of members and their relatives and friends, in hopes of investigating the difference in perspectives between homosexuals and straight people. How can this barrier be crossed, how can they work together to take care of the valuable relationships.

In the stories of all interviewees, a warmth like this can be felt: even with the risks, there remain those who are brave enough to display their true self; even with the misunderstandings, there remain those willing to keep the secrets of others, willing to learn to understand a whole new world.

We condensed these stories into an original, animated musical short, Safe Haven.

We hope every boat riding the winds and waves can find a harbour to unload their secrets. We also hope every person has enough gentle strength to be the safe haven for others. 

We offer our best wishes to every queer who lets their heart be seen ~ may your courage reap its rewards.

We thank every friend and family who have treated these hidden matters of the heart seriously. You make the world a better place.

#pie metas #lgbt #pride 2021

[hahanoiwont]

WAITT!! do you have any fanfic recs? PLEASE IT’S SO HARD TO FIND GOOD UT FANFICS! Also any dancetale fanfics specifically?

Sure! I was actually midway through compiling a rec list anyway--I feel like my more Sans-centric first arc of WWU is fairly short, so it might leave people wanting more Sans-centric gen h/c fic. Here are some you may not have seen before, since they're all under 10,000 hits:

Memories in the Void (Kuma_in_Pink): ~90k, ongoing. This fic begins with an ordinary afternoon out going terribly wrong, and proceeds to have the classic "cast must view one character's important memories" trope in a really interesting way, going from Sans's childhood to (presumably) genocide runs and finally post-pacifist. Really confronts some questions that are underexplored in the Undertale fandom, I feel, and the author is really nice. Please go leave them a comment if you check this one out! But, uh, probably not a good fit for big fans of Asgore. This is Soriel, and I believe the only shipping fic in this rec post.

remember a second ago (nilchance): ~4k, oneshot. Papyrus, as an intangible phantom, follows his brother through a genocide run after his own death at the hands of the human. Really well done, and a great Papyrus and Sans study.

Baby Spinach (dotYoo): ~40k, complete, first in a short series. I finished this fic for the second time this morning. This is a babybones fic, with Gaster as a major character who encounters Sans and Papyrus as a couple of surprisingly self-sufficient children and bribes them to come home with by offering half of a sandwich (he ate the other half) and free access to high-level scientific research. I cannot recommend this fic highly enough--both the tone and characterization are just lovely, and fill a hole I wasn't even aware of in the fandom. Gaster's struggles with the rules and structures of socialization and child-rearing are often comedic, but never feel like a punch down; and once you know how to look for it, his disarming quirkiness hides a keen mind who absolutely knows what he is doing. Sans is adorable through the whole thing, and his rapport with Gaster is utterly charming. Seriously, I generally have some rough points with kidfic, but I love this one.

Those are my very favorites of the less-known fics I've read lately, but I'll put a couple of others under the cut.

Getting to the Root of Things (dotYoo): ~14k, complete. Ending and aftermath of a Flowey Possession AU, which are always interesting to me. Lots of good h/c and Sans and Papyrus learning to communicate with each other. Healing from the ground up.

The Doctor's Charges (Aeris_Blue): ~150k, complete. Tragically published during the 2018-2019 era when fics were simply not getting as much recognition. This one's another babybones fic, where Sans is a big fan of Gaster's, and Papyrus is therefore a secondhand big fan of Gaster's, and Gaster is charmed by the two of them as he continues to make increasingly less necessary visits to the orphanage they live in until he chooses to adopt them, after which much of the story begins. Sans and Papyrus are twins in this one, which I love. It has an unhappy ending, which unfortunately means that I stopped reading about 2/3 of the way through and chose to imagine everyone was happy forever; but it was certainly worth it to read the parts I did get to!

And finally, for something more Frisk-centric and much more in line with Whither Then:

The World, Upside Down (Last_Haven): ~130k, first part of a series. This fic features a deeply flawed but well-intentioned older Frisk, who finds themself in a strange sort of reset years after their pacifist run...they've somehow gone from their own world (UT) to a version that is much less friendly (UF). Now as an experienced adult, they make their way through the Underground in order to free their friends and find a way home. This fic inspired a lot of my very early ideas about what Underfell is and how it works, and the climax is especially well-written and gripping. The sequel is a set of side stories for the main fic, and features a romance between UF!Sans and Frisk; but if that's not your thing you miss absolutely nothing by sticking to the first story--it's a full and complete story in and of itself. It's been a long time since I've read this fic, but I still remember it--I was honestly shocked to come back to it and find that it was obscure enough to fit in this post. If you like AU-hopping and deeply flawed but still good characters, this is a great fic to look through.

I think that's all I've got--as for Dancetale, I will make this confession: I have actually not interacted with that much multiverse content. I'm pretty sure UF is the long and short of AUs I've actually read about...and only then in connection to UT, I'm pretty sure. I mostly just see a lot of art and invent the characters from there?? Which may be why my characterizations are slightly off the beaten path. Or, I assume they're off the beaten path. I guess I wouldn't know?

#long post #undertale #fic rec #it may surprise you to know that what i read is not totally congruent with what i write #but i get too easily frustrated reading things that are /almost/ exactly what i would want to write #and i just don't write ship but i'm happy to read it #so i read a lot of stuff that i love a lot but wouldn't write myself #it inspires me a lot but it's different enough that i can channel that inspiration back into my own writing #instead of starting a million unfinished ideas #........tho tbh some of the baby blaster fics tempt me. there's so much potential in that ay #*au #and so many ways to go that haven't been explored... #maybe one day #but in the meantime! here's some cool stuff

[myrandomimagination18]

Secret Marriages

Emilia Clarke x reader

Summary: Reader and Emilia quietly married months after filming for Season 8 of GOT. After they were seen wearing matching wedding rings while out on a walk questions about their relationship status rise during press for season 8.

You met Emilia during casting for Game of Thrones. She was auditioning for Daenerys Targaryen while you were auditioning for (Y/C/N) Baratheon. So that means you were there to hear the story of the Robot Dance Audition. The two of you actually didn’t get together until a brief break from filming season 6. You decided to make plans to fly from your respective filming countries and see each other. There was always something between you and Emilia but none of you decided to act on it until that moment. Let’s just say you were pleasantly surprised when Emilia made the first move by kissing you.

Since then your relationship has been amazing after filming for season 6 you were told by producers that your character is going to be aligned with Daenerys which definitely benefited your relationship. You two were happy and fabulously in love. So in love Emilia asked you to marry her on one of your shared day offs during the filming of season 8. Everyone was exhausted and it gave Emilia the time to think how much she loves and appreciates you so she proposed. Then after the proposal during the 2018 Emmys you decided it was time to get married. You had a little small intimate wedding with family and close friends. Your honeymoon was more of a grand affair the activities were just as great *wink*.

The world premiere for Season 8 was coming up. You were excited since it was going to be the last Game of Thrones premiere. You were also worried about what the fans would think because of the horrible way the show ended but there’s nothing you can do now but enjoy this press tour. You were set to appear on the Late Late Show with James Corden and you stupidly agreed to play arguably the worst game in existence: Spill your Guts or Fill your Guts. And now that you’re sitting in front of the most disgusting foods you’ve never even heard of there’s no going back.

“We have (Y/N) (Y/L/N) here tonight to play a little special game we like to call Spill your Guts or Fill your Guts” said James. “(Y/N) it’s a pleasure to have you here tonight, how are you doing?” adds James. I pick up a bowl of a 1000 year old egg and take a sniff which I immediately regret when I start to gag making the audience laugh, “Does anyone ever throw up on this show?”. “No but you could be the first” laughs James. “I’ll start with the first question so I think I will give you a bull's penis.” James turns the table so the bull testicle sits in front of you making you look at it suspiciously. James picks up a card, “(Y/N). You star on one of the biggest shows in history and it’s final season is airing this month. So the question is who ends up on the Iron Throne?” The audience cheers while you smile deciding to leave an Easter egg. “Is there like companies or BRANds that sell this?” James shakes his head mockingly, “We can find out after you tell us who is going to sit on the Iron Throne.” Knowing you can’t answer you pick up a piece of bull’s penis let out a sigh and put it in your mouth and chew which makes you immediately gag and spit it out in the bucket making James and the audience laugh. Drinking water you shake your head rapidly, “I definitely do not like penis.” James laughs, “Come on you could at least tell us whether or not it’s a he or she.” You give James a deadpan look, “I just ate bulls penis I’m definitely not telling you now.”

You sit up straighter scanning the table, “Ummm oo you made me eat bull so you’re going to eat pig.” Turning the table to sit the pigs blood curd making James facepalm and whisper, “You bitch. Well now I hope you don’t end up on the throne.” Throwing your head back you laugh and pick up a question. Giggling quietly you look up at James, “James you are one of many talk show hosts how much money do you make per year?” Hearing the audience's oohs James starts to blush staring down at the pigs blood curd. Deciding to rub salt in the wound, “You’ll tell me if it tastes like bacon right”, you say, giving him a faux look of sympathy. “Shut it (Y/L/N). Oh I don’t know if I can eat this.” James holds his face. “It’s ok you don’t have to, you just have to tell us how much you make, we don’t judge.” you say. James shakes his head and picks up the pig's blood curd and plops it into his mouth making you gasp and cover your mouth. Spitting it out in his bucket James gags, “That was absolutely disgusting”. James gives an evil smirk making your grin fall right off your face. “You were sniffing the 1000 year old egg earlier so let’s go with that.” Shaking your head rapidly you close your eyes when James sits the bowl in front of you and picks up a card and starts laughing. Laying your head back you groan. “(Y/N) it is no secret you are in a relationship with co-star and mother of dragons Emilia Clarke.” Nodding your head slowly you give James a questioning look when he sets down the card and picks up another one with a picture of you and Emilia walking down the streets of London with matching wedding rings. “You two were seen having an afternoon stroll wearing matching rings in fact it looks as if you’re wearing one tonight.” He then picks up another picture but instead it’s of Emilia kissing your neck making you blush. “Was this your honeymoon?” The audience cheers loudly while you laugh and look around deciding if you’ll answer or not. Making your decision you rest your chin on your hand looking right at James. “My WIFE can be very cheeky sometimes.” Your answer makes the audience cheer louder while James gasps shocked and turns to the crowd. “That’s all the time we have today so give it up for Mrs. (Y/N) Y/L/N) that was Spill your Guts or Fill your Guts”.

After you receive your congratulations after the show ends you grab your phone seeing an incoming call from your wife with a background picture of the two of you sharing your first dance at your wedding bringing a smile to your face. Answering your smile grows, “Hi babe”. Emilia answers, “Hi. Did you just announce our marriage on TV?”. “Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t” you muse. Emilia chuckles on the other side, “Well people were going to find out eventually, but cheeky? Really?” Laughing you say, “You were the one kissing my neck in a beach full of people.” Emilia grumbles, “Well if they are creeps and watch that’s not my fault.” You smile, “I’ll see you when I get home”. Knowing Emilia is probably smiling on the other end makes you grin. “Mhm. I love you.” “I love you too.”

Hanging up you look down at your phone. You definitely made the right decision saying yes.

#emilia clarke #emilia clarke x reader #game of thrones #game of thrones imagines #ok we’re doing this again

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch17: Welcome to Miami

 Chapter Summary: Frank, Fliss and the Circle Of Truth take a Road Trip….

 Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) No under 18s!!! 

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 16

 June 2018

“How’s Fliss?” Gregg asked as Frank leaned back in his chair, hand curled round his bottle of beer.

Frank looked at his friend and took a deep breath “She says she’s ok. I think it’s the waiting that’s the worst. Knowing the board’s been held is one thing, not knowing the outcome….” “I know it’s hard and easy for me to say this but…well, even if he gets out he won’t be allowed anywhere near her. As I explained to her likely hood is he’ll be tagged and on a curfew and movements restricted to the state of Mass.” Gregg took a sip of his drink “And if it isn’t done automatically, through the appeal process I can file for further restrictions as well around him contacting her in any way, shape or form…but I’d be surprised if that isn’t a condition.”

“I know.” Frank said, “And she gets that…I think it’s more anger about the whole thing now you know?” “It sucks.” Gregg nodded “He spent so long abusing her and he’s still managing to do it in a way through all this.” Frank raised his eyebrows and took a drink of his beer, nodding to Jake and Simon as they approached their table.

 “I know I don’t need to ask but…” Frank started but Gregg raised a hand. 

“You’re right, you don’t.” he understood immediately that Frank was asking him to keep quiet, and he nodded as their two friends arrived at the table. After the greetings they all settled down reaching for a beer from the bucket that sat in the middle of them all, the conversation easy. Frank was happy to see the boys, he hadn’t in a few weeks so he’d grabbed the opportunity for a few beers happily, Fliss and Mary practically shoving him out of the door as they had some girly night in planned with Roberta consisting of popcorn, pizza, facemasks and a Marvel DVD, Fliss and Roberta assuring him whole heartedly they were watching it because it was a good film and not merely to perve on Chris Hemsworth or Evans or whoever the hell the Chris was in this particular one.

Whatever, sweetheart.

 “So…” Simon said, looking around the table “Are we still on for a weekend somewhere? 22nd to 24th June?”

 They all made noises, and Frank nodded. “Schedules cleared, baby sitter lined up…we just need to decide where we’re going.”

 “Well, I got something to suggest to y’all…” Jake grinned “Greg already knows about this, but basically, the Company we’re doing the promotional work for has offered us up to 10 each for the Miami Rocks Concert which runs that weekend....so if you’re interested.”

 “Rock music?” Simon looked at him, and Jake shook his head.

“Not just rock.” he said, leaning forward “It’s a combination of tribute acts and the real deal…and there’s different stages each with a different genre, and the main stage which contains the big acts.” “Ok, I’m interested…” Frank leaned forward.

 “So the Friday night is a rewind to the 70s, 80s and 90s… headlined by none other than Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Mr Will Smith himself…” Frank let out a snort and looked at Simon who had started bopping in his seat, clicking his fingers.

 “That finishes about midnight and then Saturday is the big one. You got 5 Seconds of Summer, George Ezra and Liam Gallagher from Oasis headlining that night.” Jake continued “The other stages rage from all sorts. Mo-Town, Indie, Chart, Reggae…and then there’s a party after which continues until early hours, run by Hot Dub Time Machine.”

“Shut the front door!” Simon snorted “Hot Dub?”

Jake nodded.

“Dude I saw him one New Year’s Eve in New York a few years ago.” Simon said “He was brilliant!”

Frank sat and listened as his friends started to discuss the concert in more detail. He had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good idea, and just the distraction Fliss could do with.

 “Hate to be the voice of logic…” Simon said. “But if it’s only like three weeks off, wont’ we have trouble getting hotel rooms?”

“Fuck that, I’ll sleep on the back of the truck.” Frank said, causing the rest of them to laugh. “No need Frankie-boi, I got a client who works for the Hyatt Group man.” Jake shook his head “Three rooms already reserved out in the Regency, about 10 minutes’ walk if that from Bayfront Park where the concert is…just in case you fancied it. $100 a room for 2 nights, including a late checkout on the Sunday coz, well, we’re gonna need it.”

 “Three?” Frank frowned.

 “You and Fliss, Simon and Bonnie, and Me and Greg…” “What about Zara and Lisa?” he frowned “I thought this was a couple’s thing, not a boys weekend away…” 

“Well it was going to be…” Greg shrugged “But Zara’s away with the kids that weekend, decided to go back to California as her sister is being taken in for a C-section, and of course she has to be there…”

“And it’s Lisa’s idea of hell…” Jake supplied.

 “So why don’t we re-arrange?” Simon asked.

“Fuck that!” Jake snorted “I’m got a child and fiancée free pass for the weekend.” “Amen brother!” Gregg hi-fived him.

 “But you two can bring your girls, no problem…they’re cool” Jake gestured between Frank and Simon with his beer bottle. “Thanks for your permission…” Frank raised an eyebrow. 

****

Naturally, Fliss was over the moon with the promise of a music festival, especially when she looked up the acts that were on. So, when the Friday in question rolled around, after dropping Mary at school, with strict instructions she was to behave herself as Frank WOULD be checking, they set off in Fliss’ jeep, Frank driving as she lounged in the passenger seat, eyes hidden by her aviators, hair pulled into a loose side pony tail as they made the four hour down the coast and across state to Florida, stopping half way for some food at a roadside diner.

Simon and Bonnie weren’t due to arrive until just gone 5 ish, Bonnie having to finish the morning’s classes before she could leave, whilst Jake and Greg were here having come down the night before, so when they had checked in they decided to freshen up and go for a walk, Fliss eager to hit Lincoln Road Mall. They spent a few hours just walking and looking in the shops, eventually finding a Pandora one which Fliss headed into wanting a new charm for her bracelet as a memory of the weekend. She paced the shop eventually settling for a silver palm tree with a small diamond in the middle of the trunk and Frank batted her hand down when she went to pay, instead producing his card. The usual argument about who was paying ensued, which eventually Frank won by telling Fliss that he wanted to be the one that filled that bracelet for her, and she relented, smiling softly. Frank didn’t miss the relieved look on the shop assistant’s face as she finally waved the out of the store.

They met Jake and Greg in a bar not far from the hotel, and they were joined by Bonnie and Simon for a drink before the two girls announced they were heading off to get changed and ready for the evening.  Frank left it until about 20 minutes before he needed to be ready and headed up to their room, pulling on one of his infamous hideous Hawaiian shirts which he had brought especially. Fliss looked at him, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face as he innocently asked her what the problem was. She laughed and told him nothing at all, before she gave him a kiss and they headed down to meet the others.

 The walk down to the Park took them 10 minutes. Fliss was walking slightly ahead with Bonnie, her braid swinging down her back, gently brushing against the yellow off the shoulder top she was wearing. Her bottom half was dressed in denim shorts, a pair of pink converse boots on her feet. She’d certainly embraced the Festival Vibe, opting for bright colours in honour of the fact they were heading back musically a few decades. They arrived and joined the queue to exchange their tickets for wrists bands which took them about 15 minutes, and then they joined the lines to get through the main gates. That didn’t take long at all and once they were through they followed the crowd before Greg stopped, and looked around.

 “We get split up…” “We all got phones!” Jake snorted “What are you, 50?”

 “Sorry, force of habit with the kids…” Greg let out a groan as everyone laughed.

 “So the main stage is that way…” Jake said, pointing to his left “Right at the back. DJ stage is there, and the other stages are dotted about…anyone got any preference on where we go?” “Other than Will Smith I really wanna to go the 80s stage!” Fliss grinned and Bonnie Hi-Fived her.

 “Yeah we got some Duran Duran to dance to.” she agreed. “And Erasure.”

“And Wham.” “And Culture Club….” “Yeah, we get the picture…” Simon rolled his eyes.

 “Oh and I want to see the Queen and AC/DC tributes.” Fliss finished.

 “Anything else?” Frank looked at her.

“Beer.”

“Well we need tokens.” Jake said, “No cash at the bar, tokens only so…the tent is over there…”

 They all set off, Fliss and Bonnie hanging behind chatting away, but it wasn’t long before their chatter died down and Frank turned to see that, actually, it hadn’t died down, they’d disappeared. “Where the hell are the girls?”  Simon asked, looking round as he realised they were missing.

 “Knowing Fliss in some tent getting her face painted…” Frank paused, turning on the spot before he spotted them. Fliss was stood as Bonnie was sat on a stool, having some sort of Festival glitter painted around her temple and eye socket. “Yup, there you go…” Simon followed his gaze and snorted. “Fucking hell…what are they, 8?” “Leave ‘em be.” Frank said fondly “Come on, let’s go get the drinks sorted.”

 He waved at Fliss, before pointing to where they were going and she gave him a thumbs up to show she understood, before Bonnie stood up and she sat down. Frank smiled at her face as it lit up and he headed off after Simon.

 By the time they had gotten the tokens and ordered beers for them all, the girls still hadn’t joined them, and it didn’t take long to realise why. They were both in a tent which contained 2 electronic dance mats, right in the middle of a very energetic dance off.

 “It’s like having a pair of kids…” Simon mumbled the boys stood by the entrance to the tent whilst Frank simply grinned. As they watched Bonnie made a mistake, the mat flashed red, and then another one, before Fliss made one too. The two girls’ foot work was ridiculously fast as the song gathered pace and finally the routine ended. Fliss grinned and hi-fived Bonnie as their scores flashed up, Fliss winning by 60 points.

 “Yesss!” she punched the air as Bonnie shook her head and the man handed them both some really tacky bright pink beaded necklaces for taking part. 

“Re-match…” Bonnie said, looking at Fliss as they both dropped the necklaces over their heads. 

“Maybe later, I’m fucked now…” Fliss said, bending over, hands on her knees as she drew her breath “I need a drink!”

 She turned and saw the boys in the doorway, Frank raised an eyebrow and held up the beer and she grinned. 

“I knew I bought you for something.” He rolled his eyes and then Greg suggested they head off to the first stage for the start of the 80s Tribute acts. They only intended to stay for a short while but Fliss begged Frank to stay longer, and was backed up by Bonnie as the Duran-Duran band came on. Fliss told Frank if he wanted to go and meet up later he could, but truth be told he didn’t want to. This was as much a weekend for him and her as it was for him and his friends, so with that in mind Simon and Frank both decided to stay with the girls and that they would find the others later.

 And Frank was glad of his decision, as about 20 minutes later, when Hungry Like the Wolf started to play, Fliss was bouncing around like a lunatic. He knew it was one of her favourite songs, and seeing her cutting loose was making him a little horny if truth be told. He moved up behind her and grabbed her hips, swaying with her in time to the music as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder, gently singing along as she danced in front of him, occasionally brushing up against the front of his shorts, which was doing nothing to help his current situation.

 “Someone’s definitely on the hunt down…” she teased, pushing her ass back into his crotch whilst she turned her head to face him as the song morphed into Rio. He grinned and gave her a kiss.

 “Not hunting, I already got you.” “Hmm, yeah you did…” she murmured against his lips.

 The continued dancing with one another, Simon and Bonnie doing the same before the 4 of them all decided they were ready for another drink. As fate would have it, they found Greg and Jake already at the bar. They muscled their way in, grabbed another beer and then all turned to head towards one of the tall, standing tables which were dotted around not far from the bar. Frank waited for Fliss as she had ordered a bottle of water too, and the guy serving had forgotten it. When he came back, apologising, Fliss waved him off and thanked him as Frank picked the bottle up and stuck it in his pocket. He reached for Fliss’ hand, and they were making their way over to their friends when suddenly he felt Fliss yell out and she stopped dead. He turned to face her, seeing someone had bumped into her and her beer had spilt all down her top.

 “Hey, come on man…” Frank looked at the guy as Fliss pulled her hand out of his to wipe at her top “Be careful huh…” But the man wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were fixed completely on Fliss. “Yes, wouldn’t want an accident now would we, Felicity?” At the sound of her full name Frank instantly knew this had to be someone to do with her ex-husband and he reached out for Fliss as he saw her stiffen and slowly she raised her head to look at the man, her eyes widening and she swallowed.

 “Richard.” she spoke softly. 

“Fancy seeing you here. Must be nice to be free to do what you want.” “Yeah, well, making up for lost time. I didn’t exactly get a lot of chance to have fun when your brother was beating the shit out of me.” Her chin raised a little defiantly and Frank felt a surge of pride as she stood up for herself, the anger evident on her face.

 “You’re a fucking liar…” Richard said and Frank immediately stepped in.

 “Ok that’s enough…” he spoke sternly, glaring at the man “We’re not here for any trouble, we’re just out for a good time with friends, and I’d like to keep it that way. So, if you don’t mind, we’re done here.” he turned to Fliss and slid his arm round her waist, making to steer her away.

 “You need to be careful.” Richard spoke to Frank’s retreating back. “Now she’s got her claws into you, you’re done…first sign of trouble she’ll be accusing you of all sorts.”

 Frank sighed, he’d tried to be reasonable, but the anger felt like it was bubbling from his feet and he whirled round, placing himself in between the man and Fliss. “Listen, asshole, why don’t you just fuck off?” his tone was laced with venom. “Your brother is a nasty, wife beating piece of shit.”

 At that Richard stepped forward, drawing himself to full height, still a good 3 inches shorter than Frank. His fists balled as he clenched his hands at his side, his mouth curled up into a snarl.

 “She’s a liar.”  Richard pointed at Fliss, before his attention turned back to Frank. “She lied and because of her, John’s life and career is ruined…” “His life? Ruined?” Frank barked out a laugh “Your brother got nothing more than he deserved, and so will you if you don’t get the fuck outta my face.”

 “Frank…” Fliss pleaded with him, pulling on his arm and desperately looking around for help before this descended into a fight. Thankfully, she caught Jake’s eye who hit Greg on the shoulder, who in turn tapped Simon, and the three of them plus Bonnie hastily started to jog over.

 “If he was that bad why has he been considered for parole?” Richard shrugged “An appeal his lawyer is convinced he’ll win…” Richard said, taking a step back as the other men approached. “And that’s all because they finally saw through her lies…” Frank made an angry noise but Greg pushed himself in between the two men, patting Frank on the chest.

 “Come on buddy…” he said. “Whatever it is, leave it…” Jake went to grab Frank’s arm, but he jerked it out of his grip.

 “I’ll tell you this…” Frank pointed at Richard “If he gets out, you can tell him from me, he stays the fuck away from my girl, and the rest of my family, you got that? Or I’ll put him in a hospital, see how he likes it.”

 “Big man making all the threats huh?” “It ain’t a threat, it’s a god-damned promise.” Frank snarled. Richard gave a snort of a laugh before he allowed his wife to steer him away, shooting one last contemptuous glance at both him and Fliss.

 “What the fuck?” Simon turned to Frank, who completely ignored him and moved to where Fliss was stood, her arms wrapped cross her front, hugging herself, Bonnie gently talking to her.

 “You ok?” he asked her gently and she gave a nod as he took her in his arms, hugging her tightly, hand falling to the back of her head.

 Greg gave Frank a questioning look, which Frank answered with two words “His brother.” “Who’s brother?” Jake pressed, “What just happened? I’m so confused.” “To be fair that doesn’t take much…” Frank heard Greg say which earned him a “Fuck you” in response, and the two men began to bicker as Fliss stepped back from his arms. Frank looked down at her, taking her face in his hands.  “You good?”

“Yeah…” she nodded “You shouldn’t have risen to him.” “Probably not.” he shrugged “But I’m not having that piece of shit or anyone associated with him trash mouthing you.”

 “My hero…” she rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble. He gave a snort of a laugh and dropped a kiss to her head. “Can we go back to the dancing now please? And I need another beer, that ass hole spilt mine.” “Is it time for tequila yet?” Bonnie asked, offering Fliss a drink of her beer. Fliss took a sip, shaking her head

“I swore after last time I would never drink that shit again.”

“But that was a lie, right?” Bonnie looked at her as she passed her pint back over. 

“Yup, a very big lie…” Fliss agreed, causing the rest of the group to laugh. 

So they did their tequila. Several shots of to be intact and spent the rest of the night wandering stage to stage, lapping up the atmosphere. Frank kept a close eye on his girl who seemed none the worse for her encounter as she danced the night away with him and Bonnie, the 2 of them disappearing at one point for a walk around the various stalls that were around the outside, coming back with a packet of interlocking glow sticks which they proceeded to activate and make head wear out of. 

 Will Smith took to the stage at about 10 pm and Frank was beside himself with laughter as Fliss reverted to some kind of school kid. She seemed to know every single word to every goddamned song he had, and when it came to Men In Black she launched expertly into the dance routine that half the crowd were doing, in time to the video showing behind the stage.  Simon and Jake tried to copy her before they both gave up and when she finished she turned around and Frank raised his beer to her and she bowed, as they all laughed. Deciding that they didn’t want to stay for the after party, considering they knew it was going to be a really late one the next evening, instead they agreed to head down to the beach. They managed to find a guy who was walking round with a cool box selling beer and they bought 2 bottles each, for twice the price they should be but, whatever…

 When in Miami…

 As they walked across the sand, Frank looped his arm round Fliss’ shoulder whilst they weaved themselves through the various mini-parties which seemed to be going on as people were set up all over with small fires, beer, drinks and music playing. Frank had a sneaking suspicion half of them were probably intending on sleeping there too. Eventually they found a clear spot and flopped down onto the sand, under the illumination of one of the boardwalk lights and then Simon stood up, heading over to a group of teenagers sat a bit to their right.

“What’s he doing?” Greg asked. 

“I think he’s reverse bootlegging.” Jake said and Frank gave a snort of laughter.

“What?” Fliss frowned, “What’s that?” “Instead of selling alcohol to underage kids he’s buying it off them, look.” Frank said, nodding to him. Fliss watched as Simon slipped one of the kids a twenty and took the bottle of vodka he was offering to them, raising it up as he walked back.

 “What the fuck man?” Greg snorted “That’s…”

“Shameful.” Jake nodded before he chuckled, shaking his head. “I love it.” With a grin Simon dropped down next to Bonnie, standing the bottle of vodka up in the middle of the circle they seemed to have made as Fliss sat between Frank’s legs, leaning back against his chest. His spare hand ran up and down the outside of her thigh softly as they all sat chatting about the evening, comparing their best bits and what they were looking forward to tomorrow evening. Eventually, someone, Frank wasn’t sure who, decided that they should play Never Have I Ever, and Fliss eagerly agreed, jumping in with the first question.

 “Ok, never have I ever driven a boat…” Fliss smirked.

“What, that’s a crap one!” Frank snorted “Everyone here’s probably driven one…including you.”

“Nope…”

 “Bullshit!” he snorted “On our first date, and several times since…”

 “I sailed it Frankie, I didn’t drive it…”

 He paused for a moment and then looked up as everyone in the circle grinned.

 “She’s right man…” Simon conceded “I sailed mine too…” “And me…”

“And me…”

 “Oh fuck you!” Frank spluttered as they all laughed at him. Fliss handed him the bottle, which he took from her with a glare taking a mouthful. Fucking hell, he could tell it was cheap as it burnt like paint stripper as he swallowed, wincing. 

That was basically the way the game went. Each trying to deliberately catch everyone else out. Simon caught Jake spectacularly, forcing him to reveal a tale about how he got locked out of a hotel room, naked on the balcony and climbed down 2 storeys to go and get a spare key from reception, Simon repeatedly got Bonnie on a number of occasions before Frank caught Fliss out with the tale of how she had once called her University Lecturer “Daddy.” by mistake. 

“Ok, Never have I ever…”  Fliss paused, before a wicked grin spread on her face and she looked at Frank “Called anyone else’s name during sex.”

“Oh God…” Frank heard Bonnie mumble from where she was sat, but before he could even open his mouth to call Fliss an ass hole, he saw Greg reaching for the bottle.

“No WAY!” Fliss spluttered, looking at Greg “What? When!”

 “I was about 21…” Greg said, scrunching up his face. “I was in bed with a girl and, well, I called her mom’s name.” The entire group fell silent before Jake, Frank and Simon all let out a roar of laughter, and Fliss snorted, grinning from ear to ear.

 “That’s…impressive.” Frank nodded as Greg put the bottle down and Fliss picked it up and handed it to Frank. Everyone turned their attention to him as he narrowed his eyes and grabbed it from her.

 “Spill.” Simon pointed at him.

 “I err, well…look, it…” Frank stuttered over his words “I was…look we don’t need to discuss this…” he said, knocking back the vodka and avoiding Bonnie’s eyes, shaking his head “I plead the 5th.” There were various groans around the group but when they realised Frank wasn’t going to budge Greg shrugged, calling him a pussy, and picked the next category.

 “Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex.” he said, with a raised eyebrow. Both Fliss and Bonnie moved for the bottle at the same time, and the boys all cheered.

“Was it each other?” Simon grinned “Please tell me it was…” “Ok,no…that…” Frank began to protest, hiccupping slightly.  “That would be weird…”

“No it wasn’t each other.” Bonnie grinned at Simon “I was 17, playing spin the bottle and had to kiss this girl called Eva…” “And that’s it?” Simon asked.

“Yeah…” she nodded, taking a drink from the bottle before she passed it to Fliss.

 “Spill…” Frank instructed her, his hand on her hip where she was still nestled in between his legs.

 “I was 19…and, yeah, well, I experimented” she shrugged. “A few times…” 

“Wait, there was…” Frank looked at her as she turned her head to grin at him “You did more than kiss?”

 “For me to know and you to find out Sailor…” she winked. Well fuck me!

 Another 15 minutes or go they’d exhausted the bottle of vodka and decided to call it a night. Bonnie was faring the worst out of them all, her and Simon walking a little behind everyone as he kept his arm round her to keep her steady. Frank noticed Fliss was remarkably with it considering what they’d drunk, but then for such a small person she did have quite a high tolerance, and she’d drunk a hell of a lot of water as well.

 At the hotel they bid everyone goodnight and headed up to their room where Fliss decided she needed to shower to get rid of all the glitter and sand and sweat from dancing. Frank was inclined to agree so let her go first, swapping over after 10 minutes or so with an exchange of a soft kiss in the bathroom doorway. By the time Frank got out of the shower Fliss was sat cross legged on the large bed dressed in a camisole and boy-shorts set which was white with multi-coloured polka dots on it. It was the set he had bought her for Valentine’s Day, along with a set of baby-pink lace underwear. He loved seeing her in lace, but there was something about the lounge sets like the one she was wearing now that gave her an innocence, made her look so comfy and so settled that he adored seeing her wearing them around the house and to bed…even if they didn’t stay on long.

 She grinned up at him as he smiled, crossing to drop a kiss on her head.

 “You raid the minibar?” he asked, nodding to the packet of chips she had ripped open.

 “Yeah.” she shrugged “Figured fuck it, why not?” “Well…”he crossed the room and opened the fridge which was under the TV unit “In for a penny…” he pulled two beers out, popped the tops and passed her one.

 “Don’t you think we’ve had enough?”

“Can you see straight?”

 “Yeah…”

“Then no.” he said and she laughed, taking it from him.

 “You’re a bad man Frank Adler.” “I try.” he quipped. She shook her head, smiling before she reached for her phone which had just gone off. Frank whipped the towel from around his waist and stepped into a clean pair of boxers before he roughly dried his hair.

 “Bonnie says her and Simon are hitting the beach during the day tomorrow…do you fancy it?” “Sure.” he nodded, dropping to the bed, laying down on his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he reached for a Dorito.

 “At least I think that’s what this message says. ‘Going to the Bitch…’ I mean that’s gotta be beach huh?” 

Frank snorted as Fliss scrunched up the empty chip bag and tossed it across the room where it settled just besides the bin. They both looked at it for a second before Fliss shrugged. ”She was trashed.”

 “I’m not surprised.” Fliss said, moving to toss her phone onto the night table before she too settled on her side, facing Frank, elbow on the pillow “Simon was deliberately asking questions in that game where he knew she’d have to drink…” “Oh and you weren’t…” he looked at Fliss who shrugged, grinning cheekily “Never have I ever called anyone else’s name during sex, I mean seriously! She was right there!”

 “I know, which is what made it so funny.” “Funny is not the word I would use…” “Oh whatever, and as if Greg has done that too!” she said, chuckling as she also settled on her side “He’s a dark horse…” “So are you…” he looked at her taking a long drink of his beer. “In fact….I think you need to tell me more about these lesbian encounters you experienced whilst experimenting aged 19."  

 "They weren't proper lesbian encounters, I was teasing you...." 

 "I don't care, make em up." He said and she let out a laugh.

 "If I do will it get me something nice?" she grinned.

 "Something very, very nice."  He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

 Fliss grinned and then launched into a clearly made up bullshit story about some girl called Candy and Frank completely zoned out. He was simply too caught up concentrating on the childish, teasing expression on her face as she spoke. Her eyes were shining in the dim light of the room as she talked and grinned in the same manner she had been doing all night. Not even the encounter with that asshole’s brother has dampened her spirit. She was just enjoying herself, freely. And so was he. She said she couldn't remember the last festival or concert she had been to, and Frank had admitted the same. It had to have been easily 10 years ago. It felt good to be recapturing that part of their lives they had both given up (albeit for very different reasons) and making new memories together that he knew would last a lifetime. 

 A lifetime...huh, how about that?

 He zoned back in just in time to hear Fliss' very risqué story telling, and dropped his head with a sight that was half laugh, half groan at her filthy tale.

 "...and her thighs were so strong, it was ridiculous, my ears were squashed so hard, I felt like my head was in a vice. Still, I managed to-"

 "Ok..." he said, taking her beer off her and setting it down on his nightstand along with his, before he leaned over Fliss, caging her with his arms "I'm getting kinda jealous...and a bit turned on...it’s very confusing.

 “You asked…” she muttered as his face dropped her hers.

“Yeah, I did…” his lips brushed against hers “And I promised you something nice…” “Very,very nice…” Fliss said, her hands sliding up his arms to his shoulder.

 “Well, I’m a man of my word…” he grinned, lips pressing to hers harder this time in a soft, deep kiss which he pulled away from and ran his nose against hers. “Turn over…”

 “What?” she looked at him, her eyes widening slightly.

“You trust me?”

“Of course I do…” “Then turn over…”

 She took a deep breath, and looked at him and he looked straight back, fully understanding what she was thinking. He’d never asked her to do that before. “Lissy, I promise I’m not gonna hurt you.” “I know you’re not…” she shook her head, before she bit her lip and he moved back so she could turn over onto her stomach. With gently finger tips he brushed her hair off her shoulders, sweeping it to one side gently dropping soft kisses down her neck as his hands traced down to her hips. He gently grasped her top and she moved to allow him to slide it up and over.

 The sheets on the bed rustled slightly as he moved downwards, pressing his lips to the small of her back, watching her reaction carefully as he saw her fingers clutching softly at the pillow. He continued his affections, lips and hands exploring every part of the soft skin on her back until he was fully led over her, thighs bracketing hers, his mouth gently sucking at that spot behind her ear that drove her wild. And right on cue she let out a low groan and he felt his groin twitch at the noise. Fliss could feel his hardness against her back and as his teeth gently grazed her ear she felt her spine arch slightly.

 He moved away, and his hand gently slid to grasp at the hem of her shorts, and she tilted her hips up slightly so he could pull them down, hurriedly departing with his own boxers before he resumed his previous position.

 “You good?” he asked her softly and she nodded in response. 

With gentle hands he reached down between her legs to finding her hot and wet for him already. At his touch she arched her back again. Frank let out a grin and moved slightly so he could part her thighs with his knee. Repositioning himself, he led flat, his arms sliding up hers so he could lace his fingers with hers, palms resting on the backs of her hands and he gently pushed into her, the pair of them giving a groan at the feeling and tightness of this angle. He gently thrust, his chest sliding up over her back, and she moved ever so slightly with him, her head tilted back slightly and she turned her face towards his where he caught her mouth in a slow, sloppy kiss. Frank continued his languid, deep movements, listening to the quickening of her breath and eventually he felt her hips beginning to rise in slow circles, her whimpers increasing.

 He gently knelt up, and pulled her hips so she was perched on her knees, pushing into her slowly, deeply, letting her get used to the position that they’d never tried before because Frank knew it wasn’t one she had good memories of but right now, her body was relaxed and she was giving him everything. His hand reached up and he traced down her spine before he leaned over and placed another soft kiss on her neck before he moved and grasped at her hips again, his pace gently quickening, a low moan escaping his mouth as Fliss pushed back onto him, wordlessly telling him she wanted more. He thrust forwards again and again, pulling her back onto him at the same time, his eyes focussed on where they were joined, the sight of him sliding in and out of her made him moan with desire.

“Don’t stop…” he heard her half pant, half whisper and he picked up the pace ever so slightly, leaning over to gently nip at the back of her neck, causing her to shudder, a deep growl rumbled in his chest as her walls briefly squeezed around him.

“Fuck, baby…” he groaned as her hands clutched at the bed sheets whilst he buried himself deep inside of her stilling for a moment.

“Frankie…” she whined and squirmed as she turned to look at him over her shoulder. Once glance at his clenched jaw and she knew he was trying to fight back his high as he picked up his previous movements, just a little bit faster. She was close, quietly moaning his name as she dropped her head back down, forehead against the pillows, her spine arching as he continued to thrust.

Frank groaned again “Come on sweetheart...” his voice deeper like it always was when he was in the throes of desire, “let go for me.” He rolled his hips forwards, five or six more times before she was done.

“Fuck, Frank, I…” she let out a broken cry as her core spasmed again and again and her entire body trembled as a loud lament spilled from her lips. He was done himself, and with a groan of her name his relief washed over him with an intensity he couldn’t even begin to describe.

Fliss collapsed forward and Frank tumbled with her, his chest onto her back, his weight crushing her in the best way possible for a second ot two before he rolled onto his side. Reaching out, his hand gently across her bare back as Fliss face, which was pressed into the pillow turned to face him.

He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss, brushing her hair off her face.

“Okay…” she mumbled, nodding at him “I’ll concede. That was very, very nice…”

******* “You behaving?” Frank asked Mary as he and Fliss lay in bed the next morning, the phone held at arms-length so they could both see her.

“Yeah, of course…” Mary rolled her eyes “Bill took me to the yard last night and Joanne helped me tack Monty up and then Bill walked round the field with us so the dogs could have a run and it was awesome!”

“When I get back we’ll do the full trail ride.” Fliss smiled at her “Takes a good hour, we can go one evening before it gets dark.”

“Cool!” Mary grinned, bending down and then suddenly Fred’s bemused face filled the screen. Frank snorted as he was instructed to say hi to Fred, which he did, before the cat settled down on Mary’s lap and she continued to chat to him about what she had done the night before…which was basically staying up until gone midnight with Bill watching Harry Potter in the movie room.

Eventually they got her to pass the phone over to Verity, who assured Frank she was no trouble, and then they cut the call and decided to get up and head down for breakfast to meet everyone.

The day was spent lazily on the beach. Fliss hardly moved at all, simply soaking up the sun as Frank and Simon continuously brought her and Bonnie a supply of drinks as the man remained by the bar at the top of the sand.

“I gotta ask…”Bonnie said, turning to look at Fliss “And tell me to shut up if I’m outta line but yesterday, that guy Frank looked like he wanted to kill…who was he? Simon says he’s never seen Frank that angry…” “Oh, err…” Fliss rubbed her head “It was my ex-husbands brother, he was being an ass hole.” “Oh.” Bonnie frowned “I take it you don’t get along…nasty break up?” “You could say that…” Fliss said, taking a sip of her drink, tapping the straw lightly on her lips. “John…my ex…he er…he used to beat me. Badly. He’s actually in prison, well, for how long we don’t know as he had his parole hearing about 4 weeks ago so..” “Oh shit…” Bonnie dropped her gaze “Sorry, I didn’t…” “It’s ok.” Fliss said, waving off the usual apologies that came when she told someone about her past.

There was a moment of silence before Bonnie sat up and looked at Fliss.

“Wanna go for a dip?”

Fliss glanced at her, then down to the ocean and grinned, nodding.

Yelling to the boys to watch their stuff they headed down to the waves, Fliss happily diving straight in, simply allowing herself to float. She was calm, relaxed, and couldn’t remember a time she’d ever felt so happy before.

Eventually, it hit 5pm and Fliss was hungry. So they decided to pack up, grab a bite from the bar and then go change ready for the evening. Fliss had to smile as she saw Frank and the rest of the boys stood at a table by the beach bar all clutching pints and laughing. He was dressed in a pink shirt, black shorts with a baseball cap on the wrong way, glasses shielding his eyes.

“I never realised what an overgrown Frat Boy I’m dating.” Fliss mumbled to Bonnie who snorted as they made their way up the wooden boardwalk, beach bags in their hand.

 “Hey pretty girl.” Frank smiled as Fliss slid under his arm, reaching for his pint. With a roll of his eyes he watched as she took a huge drink. “You know if you want one I’ll get you one…” “Tastes better when it’s someone else’s.” Fliss shrugged.

 “Yeah, why is that?” Bonnie asked.

 “Because it’s stolen.” Simon looked at her “Well known fact, forbidden fruit just tastes better.”

Fliss went again for Frank’s drink and he jerked it out of her reach “Piss off, look, here…” he said, reaching into his pocket and handing her his wallet “Go to the bar.” She grinned and dropped a kiss to his lips, turning away, Bonnie following.

 “Dude you’re so whipped.” Jake snorted at him.

 “Yeah, I don’t much care.” Frank shrugged, burping slightly as he looked at Fliss, taking in her appearance. Her hair was falling around her face and down her back in a mass of long, messy salt and sand tangled waves and she was wearing a pink crochet slip over her black bikini. He would happily admit he was well under her spell and that she could whip him all she fucking wanted to. 

They grabbed a bite to eat, headed back, changed and made their way to the park for their second night of music. It went much the same as the night before, Bonnie and Fliss taking off on their own adventures, and Frank keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of John’s fucker of a brother, but he didn’t see him.

 By the time Liam Gallagher came onto the stage, Fliss was drunk. And so was he. But it didn’t stop her from going wild. Once again she knew every single word to every single song and when he launched into Rock and Roll Star she started pogoing like a person possessed. Mind you, so was everyone else on the dance floor in front of the stage, so Frank joined in. He quite liked this song and, well, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em…

 He ended the set with Live Forever, Frank’s favourite song that he had done and Fliss sighed happily.

“He’s sooo good!” she said, “Why does he have to go?”

“Because his set has finished.” “But why?” “Because it has!” Frank laughed “He’s been on for almost an hour and it’s 1 am!”

“Hey, Liss, don’t worry…” Bonnie hiccupped “Hot Dub starts in 20…just enough time for a drink…” “Yes…” Fliss agreed, pointing at her. “But I think I need some water too.”

“Pussy…” Frank looked at her and she narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’ll carry on drinking beer if you want, but you’ll be clearing up my puke later.” He snorted and held his hands up, palms out “Water it is.” Hot Dub Time Machine was surreal. He was on for about an hour and took them through a load of the best party songs from the 60s right through to the present day. One minute Frank was doing the Twist and Shout with Fliss, and the next they were all in a circle air-guitaring to Immigrant Song by Led Zep.

 By the time they left the park it was almost half 2 in the morning and Fliss decided that she didn’t want to walk and insisted Frank give her a piggy back. He rolled his eyes but crouched down and she took a jump onto his back as he carried her the 10 minutes or so back to the hotel, Simon groaning at him as Bonnie kept complaining he wouldn’t carry her.

 “You’re showing me up, dude!” he glared at Frank who simply shrugged as Fliss smirked.

 “I like riding him.” She hiccupped, as everyone burst into laughter and Frank shook his head as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

 “You’re a fucking nightmare” he sniggered and she shrugged.

 *****

 The next morning everyone was feeling the effects of a heavy weekend, and Frank was pleased that they had the late check out option. Eventually, after dragging themselves out of bed they managed to shower, pack up and head down to check out. There was another argument about who was paying for the room, this time Fliss winning as she put her foot down telling him he was paying for New York and that she really wanted to pay for this. She’d told Frank before about John never letting her have any financial control over anything and Frank knew that it meant a lot to her so he relented, and instead bought them brunch before they set off home.

 They got back in time for a roast dinner, and then they headed back to the annex to watch a film, Fliss crashing out halfway through. She left them to it and headed to bed and was flat out by the time Frank made his way upstairs.

 “I can’t believe you got the day off!” She moaned at him over breakfast on the Monday morning.

 “I can’t believe you didn’t” he shot back

“I can’t…clients and stuff.” She pouted, biting into her toast before she groaned again. “I’m too old for partying all weekend…I can’t hack it anymore.” Frank snorted and took a sip of his coffee before Fliss grinned at him. “Can we go again next year?”

 Frank laughed “The Circle Of Truth have already decided it’s going to be an annual thing from now on.” he said, standing up and with a kiss to her head he moved to the stairs yelling for Mary to get a wiggle on. She came down the stairs, Fred and Thor following before she ate her cereal and then Frank bustled her out of the door to drop her off for the last Monday of the school term. 

Wednesday lunchtime, however, their happy little bubble burst.

 Frank was actually in the sales part of the shop, discussing the benefits of different types of engines with a customer, having been asked to give some advice. He spotted Fliss’ jeep pulling up and as soon as she climbed out and turned towards him, he could tell from her face what was going on.

 “Excuse me for just one second.” He politely told the customer, and glancing at his boss he jerked his head towards Fliss. His boss, a nice enough guy called Andy, knew vaguely what was going on and nodded in understanding as Frank stepped outside.

 “Baby?” he asked tentatively as Fliss stopped in front of him.

“He did it.” she whispered softly, stepping into his arm, pressing her face into his chest.  “He made parole. They let the fucker out.”

**** Chapter 18

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic

[stuckinapatriarchalbullshitland]

Come cringe with me - ɟ

Guys… The cringe… The cringe 😖😖 I’ve been gone for less than 24 hours and I’m bombarded with news. One that made me very happy (who knows what I mean, gets me 😏 and heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped 🥰😍🤗), and others, most of which are honestly making me cringe to the core.

Point number 1.

Have you learned nothing all these years?

All the people who believe in all those accounts like T, my question is: why? No, seriously, why? Mari sent me screenshots of the list they posted that ‘should belong’ to Scooter, and where are the proofs of what they say? And I don’t mean something that can be easily faked like a Word document, or phone notes. I mean actual proofs.

So why do you fall for it? Because you’re kind-hearted? Because you still believe in Santa Claus? So if I were to write a list based on what people want to hear, would you believe it? Okay, let’s give it a try:

1° Shawmila will break up before Cinderella’s release.

2° Camila will come out as queer after the movie reviews.

3° Lauren’s album will be released in March 2021 around Camila’s birthday.

4° Camren will tell the world about their epic love story in late 2022.

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Guys, come on. What else do you still need to open your eyes? Did you forget all the accounts that turned out to be impostors? I wasn’t here at the time when it happened, but Mari told me about a Lola, Lota? I don’t remember her name. But take her as an example. Or take the story about Lauren’s journal. Remember that one?

For those who don’t know, on September 16, 2016, Lauren tweeted: “So just found out my journal was thrown away in Nevada..there’s no feeling in the world to describe the desolation I feel inside my soul”. And coincidentally, a fan, who along with three of their friends found it after eight hours of searching in the dumpsters, posted a video the next day with this so-called journal belonging to LMJM. The journal was obviously a fake.

It’s easy to fake something nowadays and pass it off as proof. So please don’t be so gullible.

Point number 2.

For all those who still don’t understand how things work behind the scenes.

The music industry, even if it doesn’t seem like it, is as small as a butthole, literally. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone uses everyone. Things are planned months and even years before. Everything has a purpose. Why am I saying this? Because Roger is in touch and has connections with as many people as possible. Even more horrible people than Scotti bRice. Whether you like it or not, he needs to have these connections FOR Camila. Think about this. Camila has always been his priority since 2015. If C is where she is now, if she has and has had this success, it’s also thanks to him.

Point number 3.

As for the Shitshowmila situation and the CS who are leaving because they can no longer bear the weight of their monkey business, guys, okay, go if you really can do it no more. But I want you to think about one thing. Picture the sharks pat you on the back and walk you out the door with a huge smirk plastered on their faces. Because that’s what happens when you play their game, and my friends, although I understand that everyone is free to do and believe what they want, you make them win by leaving.

The days of Shout’s releases are approaching, it’s obvious that everything will be thrown in our face and that everything will be heavier. Because THAT’S HOW IT WORKS. You have to resist. You have to be patient. Do you think that I myself don’t get annoyed to see all that falsehood? It’s more the time that I roll my eyes than the rest.

“It’s all about her”. Yeah, sure, Chin Chin. And what about the relationship you had for two years (2014-2016) with that girl, Lauren Arendese? Didn’t you confirm that in that Q&A in 2017? Didn’t you say you had a girlfriend for two years and write songs about her that day, therefore loooong before this whole made-up comical little story? Ah, no? My bad. *And then I’m sorry but when have you ever write your songs?* And what about the example of the song you used, Treat You Better? Weren’t you together with Lauren at the time? And above all, 🎵 “The second you say you’d like me to” 🎵, didn’t you say you never had the balls to tell her you liked her and that you were going to do it when her PR with Matteush started? 2016 song, 2018 when you were supposed to confess your oh so great love. The math, the math…

There will always be holes in their narratives, guys. There will always be bullshit that they will try to inculcate in us to make us fall into their traps. With any PR. You need to resist. You must not give them any importance. You must not fall into the traps. You need to keep your eyes open. Don’t give up. And above all, don’t give up on hope.

I love you guys. Always with love, F. ❤️

P.S. I’m not 100% back yet, but I couldn’t resist after talking to Mari.

___

Thank you for the necessary wake-up call, because it was something that was not really taken into consideration. But what you're saying is true, although I really don't like the part about Scooby tied to Camila. Disgusting. I think the most basic problem here is that the anons, the fans who leave have been too bombarded by all the circus they see on social networks, because all that shit comes from there. I know, because I do my best to ignore all that mess and nothing happens to me when I ignore everything. I am aware that it is there, that the clowns behind the PR are desperate to sell showmila and do whatever it takes to win that goal, that we can disrupt. It can. Most of us don't believe that circus because we know that they started creating it in 2015 and had to stop because Camila needed to launch her solo career and they took up the circus in 2018. Since that year, there has been talk of a showmila circus on steroids and that. is what we are seeing. Nothing they do or what they say will make us change and believe that Showmila is real because the Diva was never there with Camila. Not in the sense that they want to sell because it wasn't even that way from the beginning. So at least, for those of us who believe that Showmila has been a boosted circus since 2018, nothing they do will make us believe otherwise. Lauren didn't make it with her podcast, no one will. And for the anons who want evidence, I am sorry to say that direct evidence from Camren will never have unless Lauren or Camila want to show us something. Keep in mind, folks. Artists have two lives for a reason. It's to keep your private life private and not transform it into a PR circus like Showmila. And I think we have to respect their decision. At least that's what I've decided. I love both girls too much to risk something as important to them as their privacy. And F, was Loca. That insider was called Loca.

#submission #f anon #camren

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph! How you’re doing? First of all, I wanna say that I love your lists. So, I was wondering, do you have some long Johnlock fics? Like, with a bunch of chapters and all that. Thank you!

Hey Nonny!! 

I absolutely do! And you know what?? I’m gonna be selfish: No one has ever EVER asked me for my shorter long fics, so I’m going to take this opportunity to finally release this list, because it’s been sitting in my drafts for YEARS lol. BUT you can check the list below for the links to all my longer-fics lists! Happy reading!!

NOVELLA LENGTH FICS: 20-25K

See also:

Novella Length Fics: 25 to 50K (Aug. 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K (Nov. 2018)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K Pt 2 (May 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. (May 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 2 (Aug 2020)

Through the Clouds by Mazarin221b (E, 20,004 w., 6 Ch. || Retirement, Home Improvement, First Time, Romance) – Sherlock takes a remarkably early retirement at 47, and convinces John that a change of pace would do them both good. They buy an old cottage on the South Downs, and exchange their nonstop life in Baker Street for quiet contemplation, bee studies, and book writing. They might go completely insane, but sometimes it takes stepping outside of the life you're living to find the life you want. Part 1 of Through The Clouds

A Life Well-Lived by Kate_Lear (E, 20,121 w., 1 Ch. || Original Male Character, Sherlock Woos John, Jealous Sherlock, Reluctant Bi-John, Past Abuse, Insecure John, Reassuring / Caring Sherlock, Protective Sherlock, Understanding Sherlock) – John got scared off men by an abusive past relationship. Sherlock has to try and woo him while not scaring him off with protective possessive rage.

The White Lotuses by SilentAuror (E, 20,340 w., 1 Ch. || Slow Burn, Domestic, Romance) – One day John realises that he just isn't where he belongs, which is back at Baker Street with Sherlock. So he goes back and Sherlock, in his own way, courts him. Romance.

Out of the Woods by SilentAuror (E, 20,471 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Romance, Slow Burn, Flirting, Drunk Sex, Practical Jokes, POV Sherlock, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Pining Sherlock, Frustrated Wanking, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, First Kiss/Time, Virgin Sherlock, Love Confessions, Soft Sherlock, Dancing, Bum Appreciation, Hanging out with the Yard) – Sherlock is fairly certain that John has taken to flirting with him of late, but can't be entirely certain of it. At least, not until a case takes them into a forest, along with Lestrade's team and something happens that will change everything about their lives...

You're On the Air by prettysailorsoldier (M, 20,616 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock, Matchmaking, Radio, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Flirting, Bisexual John) – The Consulting Detective and The Woman dominate the airwaves of their university radio station, doling out advice on everything from meeting the parents to sexual positions. When their ratings start to dip before the holidays, however, manager Mike thinks it's time for some fresh blood, and who better to fill in the gaps than rugby captain--and notorious flirt--John Watson? Part 1 of 25 Days of Johnlock

whiskies neat by Ellipsical (E, 20,660 w., 15 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, POV Second Person Sherlock, Slow Burn, One Night Stand, Rimming, Blow Jobs, Anal, Soldier John, Crying, Emotional Lovemaking, Switchlock) – Home and hearth and whiskies neat, or, alternatively, Sherlock Holmes falls in love.

Achieving the Together-Coloured Instant by teahigh (E, 20,776 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel, PTSD, Codependency, Fluff & Angst, H/C, Smut, Demisexual Sherlock, Experiments) – John wonders if this is how it’s going to be: A life speaking in code, because they’re both too stupid to figure out how to say, “I love you.”

Winter's Delights by Kate_Lear (E, 21,173 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Bed Sharing, Domestics) – Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family. Part 1 of Winter's Delights

Once More, With Feeling by cellard00rs (T, 21,178 w., 7 Ch. || John’s Family, Fake Relationship, Romance, Fluff, Humour) – To put off his meddlesome, matchmaking mother, John convinces Sherlock to play the role of his significant other. Unparalleled awkwardness ensues.

Love Is by SilentAuror (E, 21,508 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, UST / URT, Post HLV, Romance) – At Mrs Hudson's urging, Sherlock finally decides to tell John how he feels about him. Part 1 of Love Is

echoes through time by chellefic (E, 21,619 w. || First Time, Romance, ACD & BBC, Epistolary) – Mummy sends a trunk from the Holmes cottage in Sussex to 221B. Its contents alter the way John and Sherlock see themselves and one another.

The Real Meaning of Idioms by feverishsea (T, 21,691 w., 1 Ch. || Texting, Humour, Post S2) - After two weeks away, John finally texts Sherlock. He doesn’t expect Sherlock to respond. He doesn’t expect Sherlock to keep texting him. And he really doesn’t expect things to spiral out of control so rapidly.

5 Times John Got the Girl (and lost her) and 1 Time John Got the Guy (and kept him) by LiviKate (M, 21,695 w., 6 Ch. || 5 and Ones, Kissing, Oblivious / Awkward Sherlock, BAMF / Sexy / Stud John, Embarassed John, John’s Scar, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Sherlock) – John has always had good luck with the ladies. He's charming, friendly and funny, not to mention great in bed. However, his usual skill with the opposite sex is constantly being thwarted by Sherlock and his outbursts. How will John ever get a leg over when Sherlock is always cockblocking him?

Brief Conversations with the Woman by May_Shepard (E, 21,906 w., 20 Ch. || Pining, Love Fairy Irene, Filler Fic, UST/URT, Drug Use, Clueless Sherlock, Relationship Advice, Angst w/ Happy Ending) – Sherlock has a puzzle to solve, and his name is John Watson.

When to Let Go by KendylGirl (M, 22,109 w., 8 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Reverse Reichenbach, Sacrifice, Forgiveness, Angst, Love, Implied Drug Use) – What if it were John who had to die to thwart Moriarty's plans? John's supposed death shatters Sherlock, and when he returns, it will challenge the pair to forge a path of forgiveness, to peace, and to find a way back to each other. Part 1 of When to Let Go

A Shipless Ocean by myswordfishmind (M, 22,135 w. 4 Ch. || Post-TRF, John has a Kid) – Ten years after the fall Sherlock goes back to London to find that John no longer lives there. Instead, he resides in a seaside town, a widower, and the father of a seven year old son. Now, Sherlock must struggle with the fact that there may no longer be a place for him in this new world.

Ghost Stories by SwissMiss (M, 22,256 w., 1 Ch. || Pining, Holmes Family, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, First Time) – Sherlock's parents think he and John are a couple. They might be onto something.

The One With the Proposal by kim47 (E, 22,375 w., 3 Ch. || Fluff, Romance, Marriage Proposal) – Proposing shouldn't be this difficult.

Sonatina in G Minor by SilentAuror (E, 22,574 w., 1 Ch. || Case Fic, POV Sherlock, Angst, UST, Sherlock’s Violin, Post-S3, Romance) – John has come back to Baker Street, but Sherlock doesn't understand the strange tension between them, even after he begins teaching John to play the violin at John's request.

Dear John by wendymarlowe (E, 23,031 w., 64 Ch. || Post-TRF, Online Dating, Pining, Epistolary, Cybersex, Long Distance Romance) – With Sherlock dead, John eventually (under duress) makes a profile on an online dating site. And falls into a long-distance relationship with an enigmatic partner who reminds him of Sherlock in all the right ways. (Hint: it turns out to be Sherlock.) Part 1 of Dear John

Knotted by naughtyspirit (E, 23,166 w., 4 Ch. || UST/URT, Cuddling, Sharing Body Heat, Confessions, Kissing, Mastrubation, Frustration, BAMF!John) – John has to cancel a date because of Sherlock's case, which leads them to be tied up in a basement from which they have to escape. They get wet, get tied up close and John has to step up and save them. Because he's pretty. And hot. And just a little bit of a BAMF.

You Can Imagine the Christmas Dinners by ardenteurophile (T, 23,584 w., 9 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Drama, Fluff & Angst, Humour, Romance) – Sherlock takes John along for Christmas dinner with Mycroft and Mummy (And "Anthea", too). Over the course of the evening, John realises that everyone in the room - apart from him - seems to think that he and Sherlock are a couple. Part 2 of Xmas Dinners Verse

Once Upon a Beast Becoming by antietamfalls (T, 24,042 w., 6 Ch. || Beauty and the Beast AU || Magical Realism, Folklore, Celtic Mythology) – An act of pride, a druid’s curse, an enchanted leaf; Sherlock’s torment has lasted an age. Hope arrives in the form of one John Watson, a man uniquely suited to break the spell. But with a single night to win his affections, Sherlock finds his carefully laid plans disrupted by a monstrous killer whose sights are set on the only thing he has left to lose: John.

The Kepler Problem by kinklock (E, 24,270 w., 1 Ch. || Sci-Fi AU, Alien Sherlock, Space Repairman John, Alien Biology, Horny John) – Working in uncharted space exploration was not as exciting as John had hoped, especially when it turned out to be mostly bot maintenance on uninhabited planets. However, the mystery of the repeated, unexplained malfunctions on planet BAK 2212 might turn out to be exactly the kind of adventure he'd been craving.

Maintaining A Personal Life by Gingerhermit (E, 24,284 w., 6 Ch. || Alternating POV’s, Bisexuality, BAMF!John, Jealous Sherlock, Romance / Drama, Sort-of Case Fic, Peril & Angst, Love Confessions, Toplock, Soft Idiots in Love, Post S3) – Sherlock and John discover some interesting revelations about each other’s sexuality, which lead them both to question the assumptions they've made about one another for years. In the midst of their mutual discoveries, a dangerous psychopath looms on the side-lines who threatens to destroy their new beginning.

The Sexual Awakening of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson by suitesamba (M, 24,579 w., 10 Ch. || Post-TRF, Case Fic, H/C, First Kiss/Time) – Sherlock owes Mycroft a favor. Mycroft calls in that favor by offering Sherlock's consulting services in a charity auction. Sherlock and John soon find themselves at the country manor of Mrs. Ives-Patton Smarmington III - not very coincidentally a long-time friend of Sherlock's mother - where they are reluctant participants in her Murder Mystery Weekend. It's a play within a play for Sherlock and John, and their roles for the weekend event bleed over into their real lives, waking the sleeping dragons within.

Tomorrow's Song by agirlsname (M, 24,645 w., 5 Ch. || Post-TRF, POV Sherlock, Angst with a Happy Ending, Virgin / Repressed Sherlock, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Pining, Jealous Sherlock) – How can he think a relationship with me would be a good idea? I am the sort of person to take a break from my life and when I come back after two years, I expect to find it exactly as I left it. In reality I find it shattered to pieces. (I actually equate you with my life. When did I start doing that?)

State of Flux by Atiki (E, 24,655 w., 4 Ch. || Sherlock POV, Slow Burn, First Kiss/Time, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Cuddles and Snuggles, Awkwardness, Insecure/Virgin Sherlock, Romance) – John’s marriage is over and he is finally back home (i.e. at Baker Street, where he belongs). Sherlock is awfully insecure and John is awfully hesitant, and they're both awkward idiots, of course, but they figure it out. Many First Times happen.

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #my fic recs #20 to 25k #long fics #Anonymous

[wetookeachothershand]

Journal Entry: My Husband Has Been Missing For Six Months Ending 2.1

Pairing: Bonten!Mikey x GN!Reader

Genre: Angst, Mystery

Warning: Mentions of abuse, drugs, murder, swearing, violence, may be disturbing to some audiences-read at your own risk.

W/C: 1K+

Summary: Your husband, Mikey, had been missing for six months and suddenly returns but you know it's not him. You keep a journal writing your thoughts.

Additional: I'm ecstatic to see how much you all enjoyed the first part of this unexpected mini series. This is one of the endings for Journal Entry: My Husband Has Been Missing For Six Months please read that first if you haven't yet. Another thing I would like to say is that you can decide which ending is the true ending. Also some of the journal entry dates is actually some Toyko Revenger’s characters’ birthdays.

Journal Entry: My Husband Has Been Missing For Six Months | Journal Entry: My Husband Has Been Missing For Six Months Ending 2.2

Ultimate Masterlist | Mikey Masterlist

Journal entry: November 25th, 2018

This is my second entry of the night. I dug up my petunia garden, and Mikey's body-rather his bones are still there in the ground. So just what the hell is that thing that's living in my home with me? Perhaps it's a miracle, some kind of weird blessing that whatever that thing is is like a new Mikey. A better Mikey.

I'll pretend to play dumb for now, pretending that everything is fine.

Journal entry: December 2nd, 2018

I had a date with "Mikey" earlier today. We went to a park together, and everyone looked at me as though I was insane. I couldn't understand why and when I asked "Mikey" he said to just ignore them. So I did, instead choosing to watch "Mikey"'s movements.

When we sat on the grass, it had felt like the earth was trying to drag me down under. I can still feel the feeling of someone's hands trying to drag me down. "Mikey" suddenly grabbed my hand, pointing to some flowers and said that he'll make me a flower crown.

I can't remember the last time the real Mikey made something for me. I can't remember the last time the real Mikey grabbed my hand as softly.

Journal entry: December 7th, 2018

A boy with black messy hair came by today. Oh that's right, it was Hanagaki Takemichi. Apparently he was looking for Mikey, but "Mikey" was at the Bonten hideout at the time. Takemichi gave me two invitations to a wedding that he and Hina would be having in spring of next year. He gave me a smile before leaving.

When "Mikey" came home I handed him the invitations to see how he'd react. Instead of reacting the way the real Mikey would have (ripping the invitations to shreds, before accusing me of betraying him by leaking his address to Takemichi), he had smiled and said that while he was happy they were getting married he doesn't think he'll be able to go since he's a criminal and is supposed to stay hidden away from the public eye. Instead, he encouraged me to go and have a great time.

Journal entry: December 19th, 2018

"Mikey" took me out on a shopping spree today. It may be wrong to think this, but I'm thinking that maybe this "Mikey" is the Mikey I really wanted to marry. The real one I wanted to be with, not the one I ended up actually marrying.

No, I didn't write that just now. What am I thinking? I can't think straight lately. My head's been pounding and I keep having flashes of the night I killed Mikey play in my head.

Whenever I see "Mikey" I always feel as though he's looking right through me, like he knows that I killed the real Mikey. I think he might actually be planning my murder. I'll make sure to keep a close eye on him.

Journal entry: December 28th, 2018

He almost stabbed me today. "Mikey" was supposed to be chopping up vegetables for dinner while I was getting the pot we would need. I placed it on the counter when I felt him suddenly grab my shoulder from behind. He spun me around and pinned me down to the counter, holding the knife he was supposed to be using to cut the vegetables right above my heart. His eyes looked completely lifeless, his expression completely blank. I panicked and ended up grabbing the pot and hitting him on the side of the head with it. He got knocked out, falling to the ground and the knife dropping from his hand.

I almost killed "Mikey". I grabbed the knife from the ground, holding it above my head with my eyes trained on where his heart is. I couldn't bring myself to. He's not as bad as the real Mikey. He's not a monster like him. He wouldn't hurt me. I'm sure it was just an accident. It was just an accident. It. Was. Just. An. Accident.

Journal entry: January 2nd, 2019

I saw him touch you, my dear journal. I came into the room to grab a jacket because it was starting to get too cold in the house when I saw "Mikey" holding you in his hand. I don't know if he read the pages or not, he simply placed you down on the bedside table and smiled at me.

The thing is that I keep you inside of a box, inside another box, inside a suitcase with a lock, and lastly inside an old game console box so as to not raise suspicion. So how is it that Mikey was holding you? I could've sworn I put you back. No, I know I did!

When I asked Mikey what he was doing he simply answered cleaning. I checked if any pages were missing, but nothing at all. Everything was exactly the same. I can only hope he didn't read anything.

Journal entry: January 18th, 2019

I'm deciding to go to the Bonten hideout today with "Mikey". I can't take this anymore, I feel like I'm slowly teetering between being sane and going insane because of his existence. I'm losing sleep trying to figure out just who, or what the hell "Mikey" is. Why couldn't he have just stayed dead? Didn't he curse me enough when he was alive?

I can hear "Mikey"'s footsteps, we'll be leaving soon. "Mikey" wants me to drive us to the hideout.

Journal entry: January 18th, 2019

I don't understand anything. The Bonten executives, they're all confusing. They said that everything with Mikey is just a hallucination. Can you believe it, my dear journal? It doesn't make sense!

They said that they pretended that Mikey existed because they knew he would've wanted that. Or rather, they were scared he'd haunt them if they didn't pretend.

Are they all taking Sanzu's drugs or something? They all sound insane.

Journal entry: January 20th, 2019

I talked to the Bonten executives again. I wanted more answers. Something that at least made sense. When I asked them if they really thought Mikey would haunt them, they said who knows he could haunt them. They all lived and still live in fear of Mikey.

I asked them about Sayaka offering "Mikey" a lap dance, and they said that she was offering Sanzu one before I lashed out at her and said to get the hell away from us before I kill her. That's why they all looked shocked; because I had threatened her, and they didn't expect me to react as though she was talking to "Mikey". When I told them about Takemichi they said that no one else but them and me knows that Mikey is dead, and that no one from the past even knows he's missing.

When I said "Mikey" tried killing me, they said I must've been imagining things. That it must've been my guilt that made me hallucinate that. But it wasn't a hallucination! Right? Right, my treasured journal?

I asked if they were going to kill me, and they answered no. I could tell by the look in Sanzu's eyes that he wanted to though. Right now "Mikey" is currently sleeping in our shared bed. I wonder what would happen if I kill him.

No I can't! Not again! I can't murder Mikey again! But this Mikey isn't real! So I should just kill him and get rid of him! I've done it before, I can do it again! But I can't hurt him!

I can'̷̆̈̆̈́̒̊͝t̷̡̫͕̓̆ ̵̻̘̥̬͛̾̔̎͊̃̃̉͘h̶̟̑̀̔̑͗͊̾u̶̡̬͔̹͕̬̬̞̺͘r̴̢̢̬̠͚̤͎͔̆̄̚ţ̷̛̦̮̖̝͙͇̺̻̈́̅̌̏̾͜ ̶͍̦͝ḩ̴͎̪̭̹͚̼̲́̅̓ͅí̴̜̙̂̾͗͒͒̿͠m̷̨̛̻͇̱͙̣̪͚̤͌̈ͅ!̶̡̛̰̀̈́̐̏̈́͒̎̃ͅ!̷̧̨̛̣͚̝̜̒̀̓͗̋͗͠!̵͈̼͈̪̝́̿̀̈́̚

Journal entry: February 1st, 2019

This will be my final journal entry. I can't do this anymore. I feel like I'm going insane, like I can't breathe. Every time I sleep I dream of how I killed Mikey. I admit that Mikey might not have been the best husband, but I still loved him very much.

Tonight I will stand in front of my petunia garden, and stab myself in the heart with the same knife I used to murder Mikey. Maybe then I can finally be at peace.

Or maybe not. Nobody knows.

To anyone who reads this journal, do you think I'm insane?

Tag List: @crown5 @kitrinafalcon

Tag List Form

All rights are reserved to wetookeachothershand. Do not plagiarize, repost, translate, or claim my work~ ♡

#mikey #sano manjiro #mikey x reader #bonten mikey x reader #mikey angst #mikey mystery #bonten mikey angst #bonten mikey mystery #mikey x reader angst #mikey x reader mystery #bonten mikey x reader angst #bonten mikey x reader mystery #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers angst #tokyo revengers mystery #wetookeachothershand

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch 17: Welcome To Miami

Chapter Summary: Frank, Fliss and the Circle Of Truth take a Road Trip….

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) No under 18s!!!

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: As always, gotta thank @icanfeelastormbrewing for her help and suggestions with this!

Chapter Song:   Live Forever by Oasis

Series Masterlist  // Main Masterlist 

Maybe you're the same as me, we see things they'll never see, you and I are gonna live forever

June 2018

“How’s Fliss?” Gregg asked as Frank leaned back in his chair, hand curled round his bottle of beer. 

Frank looked at his friend and took a deep breath “She says she’s ok. I think it’s the waiting that’s the worst. Knowing the board’s been held is one thing, not knowing the outcome….” “I know it’s hard and easy for me to say this but…well, even if he gets out he won’t be allowed anywhere near her. As I explained to her likely hood is he’ll be tagged and on a curfew and movements restricted to the state of Mass.” Gregg took a sip of his drink “And if it isn’t done automatically, through the appeal process I can file for further restrictions as well around him contacting her in any way, shape or form…but I’d be surprised if that isn’t a condition.”

“I know.” Frank said, “And she gets that…I think it’s more anger about the whole thing now you know?” “It sucks.” Gregg nodded “He spent so long abusing her and he’s still managing to do it in a way through all this.” Frank raised his eyebrows and took a drink of his beer, nodding to Jake and Simon as they approached their table.

“I know I don’t need to ask but…” Frank started but Gregg raised a hand.

“You’re right, you don’t.” he said, understanding immediately that Frank was asking him to keep quiet, and he nodded as their two friends arrived at the table. After the greetings they all settled down reaching for a beer from the bucket that sat in the middle of them all, the conversation easy. Frank was happy to see the boys, he hadn’t in a few weeks so he’d grabbed the opportunity for a few beers happily, Fliss and Mary practically shoving him out of the door as they had some girly night in planned with Roberta consisting of popcorn, pizza, facemasks and a Marvel DVD, Fliss and Roberta assuring him whole heartedly they were watching it because it was a good film and not merely to perve on Chris Hemsworth or Evans or whoever the hell the Chris was in this particular one.

Whatever, sweetheart.

“So…” Simon said, looking around the table “Are we still on for a weekend somewhere? 22nd to 24th June?”

They all made noises, and Frank nodded. “Schedules cleared, baby sitter lined up…we just need to decide where we’re going.”

“Well, I got something to suggest to y’all…” Jake grinned “Greg already knows about this, but basically, the Company we’re doing the promotional work for has offered us up to 10 each for the Miami Rocks Concert which runs that weekend....so if you’re interested.”

“Rock music?” Simon looked at him, and Jake shook his head. 

“Not just rock.” he said, leaning forward “It’s a combination of tribute acts and the real deal…and there’s different stages each with a different genre, and the main stage which contains the big acts.” “Ok, I’m interested…” Frank leaned forward.

“So the Friday night is a rewind to the 70s, 80s and 90s… headlined by none other than Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Mr Will Smith himself…” Frank let out a snort and looked at Simon who had started bopping in his seat, clicking his fingers.

“That finishes about midnight and then Saturday is the big one. You got 5 Seconds of Summer, George Ezra and Liam Gallagher from Oasis headlining that night.” Jake continued “The other stages rage from all sorts. Mo-Town, Indie, Chart, Reggae…and then there’s a party after which continues until early hours, run by Hot Dub Time Machine.”

“Shut the front door!” Simon snorted “Hot Dub?”

Jake nodded.

“Dude I saw him one New Year’s Eve in New York a few years ago.” Simon said “He was brilliant!”

Frank sat and listened as his friends started to discuss the concert in more detail. He had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good idea, and just the distraction Fliss could do with.

“Hate to be the voice of logic…” Simon said. “But if it’s only like three weeks off, wont’ we have trouble getting hotel rooms?”

“Fuck that, I’ll sleep on the back of the truck.” Frank said, causing the rest of them to laugh. “No need Frankie-boi, I work for the Hyatt Group man.” Jake shook his head “Three rooms already reserved out in the Regency, about 10 minutes’ walk if that from Bayfront Park where the concert is…just in case you fancied it. $100 a room for 2 nights, including a late checkout on the Sunday coz, well, we’re gonna need it.”

“Three?” Frank frowned.

“You and Fliss, Simon and Bonnie, and Me and Greg…” “What about Zara and Lisa?” he frowned “I thought this was a couple’s thing, not a boys weekend away…”

“Well it was going to be…” Greg shrugged “But Zara’s away with the kids that weekend, decided to go back to California as her sister is being taken in for a C-section, and of course she has to be there…”

“And it’s Lisa’s idea of hell…” Jake supplied.

“So why don’t we re-arrange?” Simon asked.

“Fuck that!” Jake snorted “I’m got a child and fiancée free pass for the weekend.” “Amen brother!” Gregg hi-fived him.

“But you two can bring your girls, no problem…they’re cool” Jake gestured between Frank and Simon with his beer bottle. “Thanks for your permission…” Frank raised an eyebrow.

****

Naturally, Fliss was over the moon with the promise of a music festival, especially when she looked up the acts that were on. So, when the Friday in question rolled around, after dropping Mary at school, with strict instructions she was to behave herself as Frank WOULD be checking, they set off in Fliss’ jeep, Frank driving as she lounged in the passenger seat, eyes hidden by her aviators, hair pulled into a loose side pony tail as they made the four hour down the coast and across state to Florida, stopping half way for some food at a roadside diner.

Given that Simon and Bonnie weren’t due to arrive until just gone 5 ish, Bonnie having to finish the morning’s classes before she could leave and that Jake and Greg were here having come down the night before, when they had checked in they decided to freshen up and go for a walk, Fliss eager to hit Lincoln Road Mall. They spent a few hours just walking and looking in the shops, eventually finding a Pandora one which Fliss headed into wanting a new charm for her bracelet as a memory of the weekend. She paced the shop eventually settling for a silver palm tree with a small diamond in the middle of the trunk and Frank batted her hand down when she went to pay, instead producing his card. The usual argument about who was paying ensued, which eventually Frank won by telling Fliss that he wanted to be the one that filled that bracelet for her, and she relented, smiling softly. Frank didn’t miss the relieved look on the shop assistant’s face as she finally waved the out of the store.

They met Jake and Greg in a bar not far from the hotel, and they were joined by Bonnie and Simon for a drink before the two girls announced they were heading off to get changed and ready for the evening.  Frank left it until about 20 minutes before he needed to be ready and headed up to their room, pulling on one of his infamous hideous Hawaiian shirts which he had brought especially. Fliss looked at him, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face as he innocently asked her what the problem was. She laughed and told him nothing at all, before she gave him a kiss and they headed down to meet the others.

The walk down to the Park took them 10 minutes. Fliss was walking slightly ahead with Bonnie, her braid swinging down her back, gently brushing against the yellow off the shoulder top she was wearing. Her bottom half was dressed in denim shorts, a pair of pink converse boots on her feet. She’d certainly embraced the Festival Vibe, opting for bright colours in honour of the fact they were heading back musically a few decades. They arrived and joined the queue to exchange their tickets for wrists bands which took them about 15 minutes, and then they joined the lines to get through the main gates. That didn’t take long at all and once they were through they followed the crowd before Greg stopped, and looked around.

“We get split up…” “We all got phones!” Jake snorted “What are you, 50?”

“Sorry, force of habit with the kids…” Greg let out a groan as everyone laughed.

“So the main stage is that way…” Jake said, pointing to his left “Right at the back. DJ stage is there, and the other stages are dotted about…anyone got any preference on where we go?” “Other than Will Smith I really wanna to go the 80s stage!” Fliss grinned and Bonnie Hi-Fived her.

“Yeah we got some Duran Duran to dance to.” she agreed. “And Erasure.”

“And Wham.” “And Culture Club….” “Yeah, we get the picture…” Simon rolled his eyes.

“Oh and I want to see the Queen and AC/DC tributes.” Fliss finished.

“Anything else?” Frank looked at her.

“Beer.” she nodded “We need beer.”

“Well we need tokens.” Jake said, “No cash at the bar, tokens only so…the tent is over there…”

They all set off, Fliss and Bonnie hanging behind chatting away, but it wasn’t long before their chatter died down and Frank turned to see that, actually, it hadn’t died down, they’d disappeared. “Where the hell are the girls?”  Simon asked, looking round as he realised they were missing.

“Knowing Fliss in some tent getting her face painted…” Frank paused, turning on the spot before he spotted them. Fliss was stood as Bonnie was sat on a stool, having some sort of Festival glitter painted around her temple and eye socket. “Yup, there you go…” Simon followed his gaze and snorted. “Fucking hell…what are they, 8?” “Leave ‘em be.” Frank said fondly “Come on, let’s go get the drinks sorted.”

He waved at Fliss, before pointing to where they were going and she gave him a thumbs up to show she understood, before Bonnie stood up and she sat down. Frank smiled at her face as it lit up and he headed off after Simon.

By the time they had gotten the tokens and ordered beers for them all, the girls still hadn’t joined them, and it didn’t take long to realise why. They were both in a tent which contained 2 electronic dance mats, right in the middle of a very energetic dance off.

“It’s like having a pair of kids…” Simon mumbled the boys stood by the entrance to the tent whilst Frank simply grinned. As they watched Bonnie made a mistake, the mat flashed red, and then another one, before Fliss made one too. The two girls’ foot work was ridiculously fast as the song gathered pace and finally the routine ended. Fliss grinned and hi-fived Bonnie as their scores flashed up, Fliss winning by 60 points.

“Yesss!” she grinned punching the air as Bonnie shook her head and the man handed them both some really tacky bright pink beaded necklaces for taking part.

“Re-match…” Bonnie said, looking at Fliss as they both dropped the necklaces over their heads.

“Maybe later, I’m fucked now…” Fliss said, bending over, hands on her knees as she drew her breath “I need a drink!”

She turned and saw the boys in the doorway, Frank raised an eyebrow and held up the beer and she grinned.

“I knew I bought you for something.” He rolled his eyes and then Greg suggested they head off to the first stage for the start of the 80s Tribute acts. They only intended to stay for a short while but Fliss begged Frank to stay longer, and was backed up by Bonnie as the Duran-Duran band came on. Fliss told Frank if he wanted to go and meet up later he could, but truth be told he didn’t want to. This was as much a weekend for him and her as it was for him and his friends, so with that in mind Simon and Frank both decided to stay with the girls and that they would find the others later.

And Frank was glad of his decision, as about 20 minutes later, when Hungry Like the Wolf started to play, Fliss was bouncing around like a lunatic. He knew it was one of her favourite songs, and seeing her cutting loose was making him a little horny if truth be told. He moved up behind her and grabbed her hips, swaying with her in time to the music as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder, gently singing along as she danced in front of him, occasionally brushing up against the front of his shorts, which was doing nothing to help his current situation.

“Someone’s definitely on the hunt down…” she teased, pushing her ass back into his crotch whilst she turned her head to face him as the song morphed into Rio. He grinned and gave her a kiss.

“Not hunting, I already got you.” “Hmm, yeah you did…” she murmured against his lips.

The continued dancing with one another, Simon and Bonnie doing the same before the 4 of them all decided they were ready for another drink. As fate would have it, they found Greg and Jake already at the bar. They muscled their way in, grabbed another beer and then all turned to head towards one of the tall, standing tables which were dotted around not far from the bar. Frank waited for Fliss as she had ordered a bottle of water too, and the guy serving had forgotten it. When he came back, apologising, Fliss waved him off and thanked him as Frank picked the bottle up and stuck it in his pocket. He reached for Fliss’ hand, and they were making their way over to their friends when suddenly he felt Fliss yell out and she stopped dead. He turned to face her, seeing someone had bumped into her and her beer had spilt all down her top.

“Hey, come on man…” Frank looked at the guy as Fliss pulled her hand out of his to wipe at her top “Be careful huh…” But the man wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were fixed completely on Fliss. “Yes, wouldn’t want an accident now would we, Felicity?” At the sound of her full name Frank instantly knew this had to be someone to do with her ex-husband and he reached out for Fliss as he saw her stiffen and slowly she raised her head to look at the man, her eyes widening and she swallowed.

“Richard.” she spoke softly.

“Fancy seeing you here. Must be nice to be free to do what you want.” “Yeah, well, making up for lost time I suppose…” she said, “I didn’t exactly get a lot of chance to have fun when your brother was beating the shit out of me.”

Her chin raised a little defiantly and Frank felt a surge of pride as she stood up for herself, the anger evident on her face.

“You’re a fucking liar…” Richard said and Frank immediately stepped in.

“Ok that’s enough…” he said sternly, looking at the man “We’re not here for any trouble, we’re just out for a good time with friends, and I’d like to keep it that way. So, if you don’t mind, we’re done here.” he turned to Fliss and slid his arm round her waist, making to steer her away.

“You need to be careful.” Richard spoke to Frank’s retreating back. “Now she’s got her claws into you, you’re done…first sign of trouble she’ll be accusing you of all sorts.”

Frank sighed, he’d tried to be reasonable, but the anger felt like it was bubbling from his feet and he whirled round, placing himself in between the man and Fliss. “Listen, asshole, why don’t you just fuck off?” he spoke, tone laced with venom. “Your brother is a nasty, wife beating, rapist piece of shit.”

At that Richard stepped forward, drawing himself to full height, still a good 3 inches shorter than Frank. His fists balled as he clenched his hands at his side, his mouth curled up into a snarl.

“She’s a liar.”  Richard pointed at Fliss, before his attention turned back to Frank. “She lied and because of her, John’s life and career is ruined…” “His life? Ruined?” Frank barked out a laugh “Your brother got nothing more than he deserved, and so will you if you don’t get the fuck outta my face.”

“Frank…” Fliss pleaded with him, pulling on his arm and desperately looking around for help before this descended into a fight. Thankfully, she caught Jake’s eye who hit Greg on the shoulder, who in turn tapped Simon, and the three of them plus Bonnie hastily started to jog over.

“If he was that bad why has he been considered for parole?” Richard shrugged “An appeal his lawyer is convinced he’ll win…” Richard said, taking a step back as the other men approached. “And that’s all because they finally saw through her lies…” Frank made an angry noise but Greg pushed himself in between the two men, patting Frank on the chest.

“Come on buddy…” he said. “Whatever it is, leave it…” Jake went to grab Frank’s arm, but he jerked it out of his grip.

“I’ll tell you this…” Frank said, pointing at Richard “If he gets out, you can tell him from me, he stays the fuck away from my girl, and the rest of my family, you got that? Or I’ll put him in a hospital, see how he likes it.”

“Big man making all the threats huh?” “It ain’t a threat, it’s a god-damned promise.” Frank snarled. Richard gave a snort of a laugh before he allowed his wife to steer him away, shooting one last contemptuous glance at both him and Fliss.

“What the fuck?” Simon turned to Frank, who completely ignored him and moved to where Fliss was stood, her arms wrapped cross her front, hugging herself, Bonnie gently talking to her.

“You ok?” he asked her gently and she gave a nod as he took her in his arms, hugging her tightly, hand falling to the back of her head.

Gregg gave Frank a questioning look, which Frank answered with two words “His brother.” Gregg’s mouth fell open and he gave a nod of understanding.

“Who’s brother?” Jake pressed, “What just happened? I’m so confused.” “To be fair that doesn’t take much…” Frank heard Gregg say which earned him a “Fuck you” in response, and the two men began to bicker as Fliss stepped back from his arms. Frank looked down at her, taking her face in his hands.  “You good?” 

“Yeah…” she nodded “You shouldn’t have risen to him.” “Probably not.” he shrugged “But I’m not having that piece of shit or anyone associated with him trash mouthing you.”

“My hero…” she rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble. He gave a snort of a laugh and dropped a kiss to her head. “Can we go back to the dancing now please? And I need another beer, that ass hole spilt mine.” “Is it time for tequila yet?” Bonnie asked, offering Fliss a drink of her beer. Fliss took a sip, shaking her head 

“I swore after last time I would never drink that shit again.”

“But that was a lie, right?” Bonnie looked at her as she passed her pint back over.

“Yup, a very big lie…” Fliss agreed, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

So they did their tequila. Several shots of to be intact and spent the rest of the night wandering stage to stage, lapping up the atmosphere. Frank kept a close eye on his girl who seemed none the worse for her encounter as she danced the night away with him and Bonnie, the 2 of them disappearing at one point for a walk around the various stalls that were around the outside, coming back with a packet of interlocking glow sticks which they proceeded to activate and make head wear out of.  

Will Smith took to the stage at about 10 pm and Frank was beside himself with laughter as Fliss reverted to some kind of school kid. She seemed to know every single word to every goddamned song he had, and when it came to Men In Black she launched expertly into the dance routine that half the crowd were doing, in time to the video showing behind the stage.  Simon and Jake tried to copy her before they both gave up and when she finished she turned around and Frank raised his beer to her and she bowed, as they all laughed. Deciding that they didn’t want to stay for the after party, considering they knew it was going to be a really late one the next evening, instead they agreed to head down to the beach. They managed to find a guy who was walking round with a cool box selling beer and they bought 2 bottles each, for twice the price they should be but, whatever…

When in Miami…

As they walked across the sand, Frank looped his arm round Fliss’ shoulder whilst they weaved themselves through the various mini-parties which seemed to be going on as people were set up all over with small fires, beer, drinks and music playing. Frank had a sneaking suspicion half of them were probably intending on sleeping there too. Eventually they found a clear spot and flopped down onto the sand, under the illumination of one of the boardwalk lights and then Simon stood up, heading over to a group of teenagers sat a bit to their right.

“What’s he doing?” Greg asked.

“I think he’s reverse bootlegging.” Jake said and Frank gave a snort of laughter.

“What?” Fliss frowned, “What’s that?” “Instead of selling alcohol to underage kids he’s buying it off them, look.” Frank said, nodding to him. Fliss watched as Simon slipped one of the kids a twenty and took the bottle of vodka he was offering to them, raising it up as he walked back.

“What the fuck man?” Greg snorted “That’s…”

“Shameful.” Jake nodded before he chuckled, shaking his head. “I love it.” With a grin Simon dropped down next to Bonnie, standing the bottle of vodka up in the middle of the circle they seemed to have made as Fliss sat between Frank’s legs, leaning back against his chest. His spare hand ran up and down the outside of her thigh softly as they all sat chatting about the evening, comparing their best bits and what they were looking forward to tomorrow evening. Eventually, someone, Frank wasn’t sure who, decided that they should play Never Have I Ever, and Fliss eagerly agreed, jumping in with the first question.

“Ok, never have I ever driven a boat…” Fliss smirked.

“What, that’s a crap one!” Frank snorted “Everyone here’s probably driven one…including you.”

“Nope…”

“Bullshit!” he snorted “On our first date, and several times since…”

“I sailed it Frankie, I didn’t drive it…”

He paused for a moment and then looked up as everyone in the circle grinned.

“She’s right man…” Simon conceded “I sailed mine too…” “And me…”

“And me…”

“Oh fuck you!” Frank spluttered as they all laughed at him. Fliss handed him the bottle, which he took from her with a glare taking a mouthful. Fucking hell, he could tell it was cheap as it burnt like paint stripper as he swallowed, wincing.

That was basically the way the game went. Each trying to deliberately catch everyone else out. Simon caught Jake spectacularly, forcing him to reveal a tale about how he got locked out of a hotel room, naked on the balcony and climbed down 2 storeys to go and get a spare key from reception, Simon repeatedly got Bonnie on a number of occasions before Frank caught Fliss out with the tale of how she had once called her University Lecturer “Daddy.” by mistake.

“Ok, Never have I ever…”  Fliss paused, before a wicked grin spread on her face and she looked at Frank “Called anyone else’s name during sex.”

“Oh God…” Frank heard Bonnie mumble from where she was sat, but before he could even open his mouth to call Fliss an ass hole, he saw Greg reaching for the bottle.

“No WAY!” Fliss spluttered, looking at Greg “What? When!”

“I was about 21…” Greg said, scrunching up his face. “I was in bed with a girl and, well, I called her mom’s name.” The entire group fell silent before Jake, Frank and Simon all let out a roar of laughter, and Fliss snorted, grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s…impressive.” Frank nodded as Greg put the bottle down and Fliss picked it up and handed it to Frank. Everyone turned their attention to him as he narrowed his eyes and grabbed it from her.

“Spill.” Simon pointed at him.

“I err, well…look, it…” Frank stuttered over his words “I was…look we don’t need to discuss this…” he said, knocking back the vodka and avoiding Bonnie’s eyes, shaking his head “I plead the 5th.” There were various groans around the group but when they realised Frank wasn’t going to budge Greg shrugged, calling him a pussy, and picked the next category.

“Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex.” he said, with a raised eyebrow. Both Fliss and Bonnie moved for the bottle at the same time, and the boys all cheered. 

“Was it each other?” Simon grinned “Please tell me it was…” “Ok,no…that…” Frank began to protest, hiccupping slightly.  “That would be weird…”

“No it wasn’t each other.” Bonnie grinned at Simon “I was 17, playing spin the bottle and had to kiss this girl called Eva…” “And that’s it?” Simon asked. 

“Yeah…” she nodded, taking a drink from the bottle before she passed it to Fliss.

“Spill…” Frank instructed her, his hand on her hip where she was still nestled in between his legs.

“I was 19…and, yeah, well, I experimented” she shrugged. “A few times…”

“Wait, there was…” Frank looked at her as she turned her head to grin at him “You did more than kiss?”

“For me to know and you to find out Sailor…” she winked. Well fuck me!

Another 15 minutes or go they’d exhausted the bottle of vodka and decided to call it a night. Bonnie was faring the worst out of them all, her and Simon walking a little behind everyone as he kept his arm round her to keep her steady. Frank noticed Fliss was remarkably with it considering what they’d drunk, but then for such a small person she did have quite a high tolerance, and she’d drunk a hell of a lot of water as well.

At the hotel they bid everyone goodnight and headed up to their room where Fliss decided she needed to shower to get rid of all the glitter and sand and sweat from dancing. Frank was inclined to agree so let her go first, swapping over after 10 minutes or so with an exchange of a soft kiss in the bathroom doorway. By the time Frank got out of the shower Fliss was sat cross legged on the large bed dressed in a camisole and boy-shorts set which was white with multi-coloured polka dots on it. It was the set he had bought her for Valentine’s Day, along with a set of baby-pink lace underwear. He loved seeing her in lace, but there was something about the lounge sets like the one she was wearing now that gave her an innocence, made her look so comfy and so settled that he adored seeing her wearing them around the house and to bed…even if they didn’t stay on long.

She grinned up at him as he smiled, crossing to drop a kiss on her head.

“You raid the minibar?” he asked, nodding to the packet of chips she had ripped open.

��Yeah.” she shrugged “Figured fuck it, why not?” “Well…”he crossed the room and opened the fridge which was under the TV unit “In for a penny…” he pulled two beers out, popped the tops and passed her one.

“Don’t you think we’ve had enough?”

“Can you see straight?”

“Yeah…”

“Then no.” he said and she laughed, taking it from him.

“You’re a bad man Frank Adler.” “I try.” he quipped. She shook her head, smiling before she reached for her phone which had just gone off. Frank whipped the towel from around his waist and stepped into a clean pair of boxers before he roughly dried his hair.

“Bonnie says her and Simon are hitting the beach during the day tomorrow…do you fancy it?” “Sure.” he nodded, dropping to the bed, laying down on his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he reached for a Dorito.

“At least I think that’s what this message says. ‘Going to the Bitch…’ I mean that’s gotta be beach huh?”

Frank snorted as Fliss scrunched up the empty chip bag and tossed it across the room where it settled just besides the bin. They both looked at it for a second before Fliss shrugged. ”She was trashed.”

“I’m not surprised.” Fliss said, moving to toss her phone onto the night table before she too settled on her side, facing Frank, elbow on the pillow “Simon was deliberately asking questions in that game where he knew she’d have to drink…” “Oh and you weren’t…” he looked at Fliss who shrugged, grinning cheekily “Never have I ever called anyone else’s name during sex, I mean seriously! She was right there!”

“I know, which is what made it so funny.” “Funny is not the word I would use…” “Oh whatever, and as if Greg has done that too!” she said, chuckling as she also settled on her side “He’s a dark horse…” “So are you…” he looked at her taking a long drink of his beer. “In fact….I think you need to tell me more about these lesbian encounters you experienced whilst experimenting aged 19."  

"They weren't proper lesbian encounters, I was teasing you...."

"I don't care, make em up." He said and she let out a laugh.

"If I do will it get me something nice?" she grinned.

"Something very, very nice."  He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Fliss grinned and then launched into a clearly made up bullshit story about some girl called Candy and Frank completely zoned out. He was simply too caught up concentrating on the childish, teasing expression on her face as she spoke. Her eyes were shining in the dim light of the room as she talked and grinned in the same manner she had been doing all night. Not even the encounter with that asshole’s brother has dampened her spirit. She was just enjoying herself, freely. And so was he. She said she couldn't remember the last festival or concert she had been to, and Frank had admitted the same. It had to have been easily 10 years ago. It felt good to be recapturing that part of their lives they had both given up (albeit for very different reasons) and making new memories together that he knew would last a lifetime.

A lifetime...huh, how about that?

He zoned back in just in time to hear Fliss' very risqué story telling, and dropped his head with a sight that was half laugh, half groan at her filthy tale.

"...and her thighs were so strong, it was ridiculous, my ears were squashed so hard, I felt like my head was in a vice. Still, I managed to-"

"Ok..." he said, taking her beer off her and setting it down on his nightstand along with his, before he leaned over Fliss, caging her with his arms "I'm getting kinda jealous...and a bit turned on...it’s kinda confusing.

“You asked…” she muttered as his face dropped her hers.

“Yeah, I did…” he said softly, his lips brushing against hers “And I promised you something nice…” “Very,very nice…” Fliss said, her hands sliding up his arms to his shoulder.

“Well, I’m a man of my word…” he grinned, lips pressing to hers harder this time in a soft, deep kiss which he pulled away from and ran his nose against hers.

“Turn over…”

“What?” she looked at him, her eyes widening slightly.

“You trust me?”

“Of course I do…” “Then turn over…”

She took a deep breath, and looked at him and he looked straight back, fully understanding what she was thinking. He’d never asked her to do that before. “Lissy, I promise I’m not gonna hurt you.” “I know you’re not…” she said, shaking her head, before she bit her lip and he moved back so she could turn over onto her stomach. With gently finger tips he brushed her hair off her shoulders, sweeping it to one side gently dropping soft kisses down her neck as his hands traced down to her hips. He gently grasped her top and she moved to allow him to slide it up and over.

The sheets on the bed rustled slightly as he moved downwards, pressing his lips to the small of her back, watching her reaction carefully as he saw her fingers clutching softly at the pillow. He continued his affections, lips and hands exploring every part of the soft skin on her back until he was fully led over her, thighs bracketing hers, his mouth gently sucking at that spot behind her ear that drove her wild. And right on cue she let out a low groan and he felt his groin twitch at the noise. Fliss could feel his hardness against her back and as his teeth gently grazed her ear she felt her spine arch slightly.

He moved away, and his hand gently slid to grasp at the hem of her shorts, and she tilted her hips up slightly so he could pull them down, hurriedly departing with his own boxers before he resumed his previous position.

“You good?” he asked her softly and she nodded in response.

With gentle hands he reached down between her legs to finding her hot and wet for him already. At his touch she arched her back again. Frank let out a grin and moved slightly so he could part her thighs with his knee. Repositioning himself, he led flat, his arms sliding up hers so he could lace his fingers with hers, palms resting on the backs of her hands and he gently pushed into her, the pair of them giving a groan at the feeling and tightness of this angle. He gently thrust, his chest sliding up over her back, and she moved ever so slightly with him, her head tilted back slightly and she turned her face towards his where he caught her mouth in a slow, sloppy kiss. Frank continued his languid, deep movements, listening to the quickening of her breath and eventually he felt her hips beginning to rise in slow circles, her whimpers increasing.

He gently knelt up, and pulled her hips so she was perched on her knees, pushing into her slowly, deeply, letting her get used to the position that they’d never tried before because Frank knew it wasn’t one she had good memories of but right now, her body was relaxed and she was giving him everything. His hand reached up and he traced down her spine before he leaned over and placed another soft kiss on her neck before he moved and grasped at her hips again, his pace gently quickening, a low moan escaping his mouth as Fliss pushed back onto him, wordlessly telling him she wanted more. He thrust forwards again and again, pulling her back onto him at the same time, his eyes focussed on where they were joined, the sight of him sliding in and out of her made him moan with desire.

“Don’t stop…” he heard her half pant, half whisper and he picked up the pace ever so slightly, leaning over to gently nip at the back of her neck, causing her to shudder, a deep growl rumbled in his chest as her walls briefly squeezed around him.

“Fuck, baby…” he groaned as her hands clutched at the bed sheets whilst he buried himself deep inside of her stilling for a moment.

“Frankie…” she whined and squirmed as she turned to look at him over her shoulder. Once glance at his clenched jaw and she knew he was trying to fight back his high as he picked up his previous movements, just a little bit faster. She was close, quietly moaning his name as she dropped her head back down, forehead against the pillows, her spine arching as he continued to thrust.

Frank groaned again “Come on sweetheart...” his voice deeper like it always was when he was in the throes of desire, “let go for me.” He rolled his hips forwards, five or six more times before she was done.

“Fuck, Frank, I…” she let out a broken cry as her core spasmed again and again and her entire body trembled as a loud lament spilled from her lips. He was done himself, and with a groan of her name his relief washed over him with an intensity he couldn’t even begin to describe.

Fliss collapsed forward and Frank tumbled with her, his chest onto her back, his weight crushing her in the best way possible for a second ot two before he rolled onto his side. Reaching out, his hand gently across her bare back as Fliss face, which was pressed into the pillow turned to face him.

He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss, brushing her hair off her face.

“OK…” she mumbled, nodding at him “I’ll concede. That was very, very nice…”

******* “You behaving?” Frank asked Mary as he and Fliss lay in bed the next morning, the phone held at arms-length so they could both see her.

“Yeah, of course…” Mary rolled her eyes “Bill took me to the yard last night and Joanne helped me tack Monty up and then Bill walked round the field with us so the dogs could have a run and it was awesome!”

“When I get back we’ll do the full trail ride.” Fliss smiled at her “Takes a good hour, we can go one evening before it gets dark.”

“Cool!” Mary grinned, bending down and then suddenly Fred’s bemused face filled the screen. Frank snorted as he was instructed to say hi to Fred, which he did, before the cat settled down on Mary’s lap and she continued to chat to him about what she had done the night before…which was basically staying up until gone midnight with Bill watching Harry Potter in the movie room.

Eventually they got her to pass the phone over to Verity, who assured Frank she was no trouble, and then they cut the call and decided to get up and head down for breakfast to meet everyone.

The day was spent lazily on the beach. Fliss hardly moved at all, simply soaking up the sun as Frank and Simon continuously brought her and Bonnie a supply of drinks as the man remained by the bar at the top of the sand.

“I gotta ask…”Bonnie said, turning to look at Fliss “And tell me to shut up if I’m outta line but yesterday, that guy Frank looked like he wanted to kill…who was he? Simon says he’s never seen Frank that angry…” “Oh, err…” Fliss rubbed her head “It was my ex-husbands brother, he was being an ass hole.” “Oh.” Bonnie frowned “I take it you don’t get along…nasty break up?” “You could say that…” Fliss said, taking a sip of her drink, tapping the straw lightly on her lips. “John…my ex…he er…he used to beat me. Badly. He’s actually in prison, well, for how long we don’t know as he had his parole hearing about 4 weeks ago so..” “Oh shit…” Bonnie dropped her gaze “Sorry, I didn’t…” “It’s ok.” Fliss said, waving off the usual apologies that came when she told someone about her past.

There was a moment of silence before Bonnie sat up and looked at Fliss.

“Wanna go for a dip?”

Fliss glanced at her, then down to the ocean and grinned, nodding.

Yelling to the boys to watch their stuff they headed down to the waves, Fliss happily diving straight in, simply allowing herself to float. She was calm, relaxed, and couldn’t remember a time she’d ever felt so happy before.

Eventually, it hit 5pm and Fliss was hungry. So they decided to pack up, grab a bite from the bar and then go change ready for the evening. Fliss had to smile as she saw Frank and the rest of the boys stood at a table by the beach bar all clutching pints and laughing. He was dressed in a pink shirt, black shorts with a baseball cap on the wrong way, glasses shielding his eyes.

“I never realised what an overgrown Frat Boy I’m dating.” Fliss mumbled to Bonnie who snorted as they made their way up the wooden boardwalk, beach bags in their hand.

“Hey pretty girl.” Frank smiled as Fliss slid under his arm, reaching for his pint. With a roll of his eyes he watched as she took a huge drink. “You know if you want one I’ll get you one…” “Tastes better when it’s someone else’s…” Fliss shrugged.

“Yeah, why is that?” Bonnie asked.

“Because it’s stolen.” Simon looked at her “Well known fact, forbidden fruit just tastes better.”

Fliss went again for Frank’s drink and he jerked it out of her reach “Piss off, look, here…” he said, reaching into his pocket and handing her his wallet “Go to the bar…” She grinned and dropped a kiss to his lips, turning away, Bonnie following.

“Dude you’re so whipped.” Jake snorted at him.

“Yeah, I don’t much care.” Frank shrugged, burping slightly as he looked at Fliss, taking in her appearance. Her hair was falling around her face and down her back in a mass of long, messy salt and sand tangled waves and she was wearing a pink crochet slip over her black bikini. He would happily admit he was well under her spell and that she could whip him all she fucking wanted to.

They grabbed a bite to eat, headed back, changed and made their way to the park for their second night of music. It went much the same as the night before, Bonnie and Fliss taking off on their own adventures, and Frank keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of John’s fucker of a brother, but he didn’t see him.

By the time Liam Gallagher came onto the stage, Fliss was drunk. And so was he. But it didn’t stop her from going wild. Once again she knew every single word to every single song and when he launched into Rock and Roll Star she started pogoing like a person possessed. Mind you, so was everyone else on the dance floor in front of the stage, so Frank joined in. He quite liked this song and, well, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em…

He ended the set with Live Forever, Frank’s favourite song that he had done and Fliss sighed happily.

“He’s sooo good!” she said, “Why does he have to go?”

“Because his set has finished.”

“But why?” “Because it has!” Frank laughed “He’s been on for almost an hour and it’s 1 am!”

“Hey, Liss, don’t worry…” Bonnie hiccupped “Hot Dub starts in 20…just enough time for a drink…” “Yes…” Fliss agreed, pointing at her. “But I think I need some water too.”

“Pussy…” Frank looked at her and she narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’ll carry on drinking beer if you want, but you’ll be clearing up my puke later…” He snorted and held his hands up, palms out “Water it is…” Hot Dub Time Machine was surreal. He was on for about an hour and took them through a load of the best party songs from the 60s right through to the present day. One minute Frank was doing the Twist and Shout with Fliss, and the next they were all in a circle air-guitaring to Immigrant Song by Led Zep.

By the time they left the park it was almost half 2 in the morning and Fliss decided that she didn’t want to walk and insisted Frank give her a piggy back. He rolled his eyes but crouched down and she took a jump onto his back as he carried her the 10 minutes or so back to the hotel, Simon groaning at him as Bonnie kept complaining he wouldn’t carry her.

“You’re showing me up, dude!” he glared at Frank who simply shrugged as Fliss smirked.

“I like riding him…” she hiccupped, as everyone burst into laughter and Frank shook his head as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“You’re a fucking nightmare” he sniggered and she shrugged.

*****

The next morning everyone was feeling the effects of a heavy weekend, and Frank was pleased that they had the late check out option. Eventually, after dragging themselves out of bed they managed to shower, pack up and head down to check out. There was another argument about who was paying for the room, this time Fliss winning as she put her foot down telling him he was paying for New York and that she really wanted to pay for this. She’d told Frank before about John never letting her have any financial control over anything and Frank knew that it meant a lot to her so he relented, and instead bought them brunch before they set off home.

They got back in time for a roast dinner, and then they headed back to the annex to watch a film, Fliss crashing out halfway through. She left them to it and headed to bed and was flat out by the time Frank made his way upstairs.

“I can’t believe you got the day off!” she moaned at him over breakfast on the Monday morning.

“I can’t believe you didn’t” he shot back

“I can’t…clients and stuff.” she pouted, biting into her toast before she groaned again. “I’m too old for partying all weekend…I can’t hack it anymore.” Frank snorted and took a sip of his coffee before Fliss grinned at him. “Can we go again next year?”

Frank laughed “The Circle Of Truth have already decided it’s going to be an annual thing from now on.” he said, standing up and with a kiss to her head he moved to the stairs yelling for Mary to get a wiggle on. She came down the stairs, Fred and Thor following before she ate her cereal and then Frank bustled her out of the door to drop her off for the last Monday of the school term.

Wednesday lunchtime, however, their happy little bubble burst.

Frank was actually in the sales part of the shop, discussing the benefits of different types of engines with a customer, having been asked to give some advice. He spotted Fliss’ jeep pulling up and as soon as she climbed out and turned towards him, he could tell from her face what was going on.

“Excuse me for just one second…” he politely told the customer, and glancing at his boss he jerked his head towards Fliss. His boss, a nice enough guy called Andy, knew vaguely what was going on and nodded in understanding as Frank stepped outside.

“Baby?” he asked tentatively as Fliss stopped in front of him.

“He did it….” she said softly, stepping into his arm, pressing her face into his chest.  “He made parole. They let the fucker out.”

#riding high #frank adler x ofc #frank adler #gifted #gifted fan fic

[bpro-cardstories]

Tatsuhiro Nome SSR

2018 ー BIRTHDAY PARTY [BIRTHDAY PARTY]

“Until it’s time for the audition, how about having Tsubasa playing the role of your dance partner?”

Part 1

(The magazine interview seems to progress smoothly.)

Interviewer: ‘The year has passed and Nome-kun will be celebrating his birthday by the time this issue comes out. What year do you want it to be?’ 

(Now that it has been mentioned, Nome-san’s birthday is only a few days away…..)

Tatsuhiro: ‘Let’s see…. I want to refine my performance and make our fans happy. And, if I can overcome my weaknesses….. Ah.’

Interview: ‘Hee, weaknesses, you say?’

Tatsuhiro (nervous): ‘C-Compared to the other members, my talking skills are weak, so I’d like to work on them.’ 

Interview: ‘Aah, I see. Talking skills are important, aren’t they.~’ 

(It seems that I was wrong about it progressing smoothly. But it’s about Nome-san’s weaknesses, so it must be that......) ______________

Mikado (winks): ‘Tatsu-dono, you said it before in the interview, but wanting to overcome your weaknesses is very positive of you.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘I-I said it without thinking. I thought that it can’t go on as it has been.’ 

Hikaru: ‘Though, it’s sudden? What’s wrong?’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘To be honest, in the stage audition I accepted this time, I’m assigned to do a ballroom dance with an actress…..’ 

Kazuna: ‘I see. And it puts pressure on you.’ 

Tatsuhiro (smiles): ‘Yeah. But I want to overcome it, even if it’s just a bit, by taking this chance. After all, I also want to widen my work field.’ 

(That seems to be the case. I wonder how he’ll be able to overcome his weakness?) 

Momotaro: ‘Then there’s a good method for it.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘What one?’ 

Momotaro: ‘Until it’s time for the audition, how about have Tsubasa play the role of your dance partner?’ 

Tatsuhiro (shocked): ‘What?’

Tsubasa: ‘Me!?’ 

(You’re quite close to each other in ballroom dance. It must be more stressful than when meeting the actress for the first time. Will I be good enough…..)  

Tatsuhiro: ‘Wait a minute, Onzai. That’s…..’ 

Mikado: ‘As expected of Momotasu! I think it’s a great idea. You sure are used to everything.’ 

Hikaru: ‘True, true! If you need to do a ballroom dance then a partner is necessary, right?’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘You aren’t wrong but…..’ 

Kazuna: ‘Sumisora-san, what do you think? It’s not part of your work as the A&R, but you’re suitable, in my opinion.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘If Nome-san is not against it, then I am fine. I am also happy if he can overcome his weakness.’

Tatsuhiro (surprised): ‘.......’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Since I received this chance, I want to pass. Sumisora, will you cooperate with me?’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Of course!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Sorry for the trouble.’ 

Hikaru: ‘Of course it won’t be just Tsubasa-chan! We’ll also lend you a hand! One-two-three-one-two-three, was it?’ 

Tatsuhiro (smiles): ‘You’re a big, Hikaru. I won’t dance with you.’ 

(The role of the ballroom partner is difficult. I hope the audition will go well.) 

Part 2

ーAnother day, in the lobby.ー

Tsubasa: ‘This is all for tomorrow’s schedule. If there are no questions, I will take my leave…..’

Kazuna: ‘Everything’s fine. Thank you, Sumisora-san.’

Tsubasa: ‘Yes, you are welcome!’

Hikaru: ‘Thanks~!’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘I will head to the studio afterwards.’ 

Momotaro: ‘Practice today, too?’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Yeah, the stage audition is close, after all.’

(Practicing at such a time again…..) 

Mikado: ‘Tatsu-dono sure is a hard worker.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san, is there something I can help you with?’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘No, not really.’

Mikado: ‘Oho, didn’t you ask Tsubasa-san to be your ballroom dance partner?’ 

Hikaru: ‘That’s right, Tatsu! Let her accompany you~!’

Tatsuhiro (blushes): ‘T-This….. I was going to ask when I improved a bit.’

Mikado: ‘If you say so, then it will be the day of the audition in the blink of an eye, you know.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Anyways! I want to practice alone for now. I’m going now.’ 

Hikaru: ‘Ah, Tatsu! Aw, he’s gone…..’ 

Kazuna: ‘Well, practice only just started. Let’s watch over him, shall we?’

Momotaro: ‘I agree.’ 

Mikado: ‘Alright, since Tatsu-dono is gone, shall we talk about the plan from the other day?’

Hikaru: ‘Ooh, now that you mentioned it!’

Tsubasa: ‘The plan from the other day, what do you mean?’

Mikado: ‘Hehehe….. You’d like to hear? If you listen, then you will be our accomplice and can’t turn backーー’

Momotaro: ‘It’s about holding a birthday party for Tatsu.’

Mikado: ‘Momotasu!!??’

Tsubasa: ‘Waah, this is wonderful!’

Kazuna: ‘Because we want it to be a surprise, keep it a secret from Tatsuhiro, okay?’ 

Hikaru: ‘Ah, come as well, Tsubasa-chan! Pi-chan and Mikachin will serve us lots of delicious food!’

Tsubasa: ‘Thank you very much. I am happy about your invitation, but if I am present, Nome-san will not be able to relax…..’ 

Momotaro: ‘No, Tsubasa is fine.’ 

Kazuna: ‘That’s true. If Sumisora-san comes, too, Tatsuhiro will be even more pleased.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘If this is the case, then please let me celebrate with you!’ 

(Nome-san’s birthday party, huh….. I need to buy him a present.)

Part 3

ーAnother day, in MooNs’ room.ー

Hikaru: ‘Tsubasa-chan, welcome! What’s wrong?’

Tsubasa: ‘I am sorry for coming so late in the evening. I am here to deliver the materials for the stage audition to Nome-san. The office entrusted me with this task.’

Mikado: ‘I see. Even though you came all the way here, I have to apologize. Tatsu-dono went to the practice studio.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Is it for the audition?’ 

Mikado: ‘Yes, this is what I assume.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘He really is working hard.’

Kazuna (worried): ‘Yeah. He really seems to do his best but…..’ 

Momotaro (worried): ‘Yeah…..’

Tsubasa: ‘Is there something the matter with?’ 

Momotaro: ‘Because he’s been practicing without a partner, he’s struggling to grasp the image.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘I see…..’ 

Hikaru: ‘We said so many times to ask Tsubasa-chan.’ 

Mikado: ‘Asking you to be his partner was too high of a hurdle for Tatsu-dono, so it seems.’ 

(You can’t simply ask someone to be your partner in ballroom dance, huh. But I’m worried…..)

Tsubasa: ‘I will go take a look at Nome-san’s condition.’

ーAt the studio.ー

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san, good evening.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘........’

(Even though I came in, he didn’t notice. He looks like he’s concentrating…..)

Tatsuhiro: ‘I need to turn here…..’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘......., Sumisora!?’

Tsubasa: ‘I-I am sorry. I surprised you.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘No, I exaggerated. Since when were you here?’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Since a bit ago. Because you were seriously concentrating, I thought it would be bad to interrupt…..’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Is that so.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Ah, because additional audition material came in, I am here to deliver them.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Understood. Put them over there for me.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Is that all? Sorry but it’s distracting, so could you leave me alone. That would be a big help.’ 

(As I thought, when it’s just us two it’s awkward, huh….) 

Tsubasa: ‘...... I understand. Please do your best!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘.......’

Tsubasa: ‘Then, I will ーー’

Tatsuhiro: ‘W-Wait!’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh!?’

(Nome-san is holding my hand……) 

Tatsuhiro (perplexed): ‘Ah, my bad……’ 

Tsubasa: ‘No, is something wrong?’

Tatsuhiro: ‘...... So, is it alright to ask, after all? I want to ask you to be my dance partner.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san……’ 

(His hand that held mine was cold, he must be nervous. Despite this, to overcome his weakness, he’s trying his best…..)

Tsubasa: ‘Of course! Let’s work hard together!’

Part 4

Owing to the nature of ballroom dance, Tatsuhiro and Tsubasa are extremely close to each other during practice.

Tatsuhiro: ‘ーーIt must be like this. Okay, that’s it for today.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Yes.’ 

(I had my doubts at first but during the second half, it became pretty good.) 

Tatsuhiro: ‘It’s a completely different feeling with a partner, after all. Thanks to it, I was able to grasp the image.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Yes, it’s getting better and better.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘You’re right. ….. Uh.’

Tatsuhiro (blushes): ‘....... Uh!?’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Ah…….’ 

(Right, since we stayed like this when the dance ended, we stayed close to each other.) 

Tatsuhiro (blushes): ‘My bad, I…..’ 

Tsubasa: ‘No, please don’t be.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Haa….. Even though it was fine during the dance.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘No, it’s amazing how you overcome your weakness during the dance!’ 

Tatsuhiro (smiles): ‘Now that you said it, until now it was hard for me.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘If you keep up practice in this condition, the audition surely will be fine. Please be confident in yourself!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Yeah, it’s a step forward.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Sumisora, you must be busy, too, but will you join me during practice from now on?’

Tsubasa: ‘Yes, of course!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘That’s a big help.’ 

Part 5 

ーAnother day, in the evening.ー

Tsubasa: ‘The recording for the Variety show program earlier was very lively.’ 

Hikaru: ‘Absolutely! I also had tons of fun! During the quizー.....’ 

Mikado (sighs): ‘Hikarun, it’s time to go.’ 

Hikaru: ‘Eh? …… Ah~, okay, okay!’

Mikado: ‘Because we have a business to take care of, we will excuse ourselves now.’  

Kazuna: Sumisora-san, we leave Tatsuhiro in your hands.’ 

Momotaro: ‘Goodbye.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Ah, yes. Take care……’

(It was obvious that they went ahead to prepare for the birthday party…..) 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Geez, if you lie then do it more naturally.’ 

(As I thought….. . I wonder if it can be called lying.) 

Tatsuhiro (smiles): ‘Then, let’s take our time going back, huh.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san…….’ 

Tatsuhiro (surprised): ‘Hm?’

Tsubasa: ‘No….. Fufu, let’s do that.’ ______________

ーAfter coming back to MooNs’ room.ー

Tatsuhiro: ‘I’m home.’ 

Hikaru: ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Uwaah! Are these crackers…..?’

Mikado: ‘Tatsu-dono, Happy birthday!’ 

Kazuna: ‘Happy birthday, Tatsuhiro.’

Momotaro: ‘Happy Birthday.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san, Happy birthday!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Thanks, everyone.’ 

Kazuna: ‘Come in. We prepared your favourite food.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘...... Wow. When did you even prepare all this?’

Mikado: ‘Hehe, we used KitaKore’s kitchen.’ 

Momotaro: ‘We put all our skill in making all the dishes, so don’t hold back and eat.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Thanks.’ 

At that moment a phone call comes in.

Tsubasa: ‘...... Ah, please excuse me, I will answer the call.’ 

Kazuna: ‘Then, shall we start when Sumisora-san ended her call?’ 

Hikaru: ‘Yup! Alright, I will prepare the drinks.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Hm? What’s wrong?’

Tsubasa: ‘The result of your taken stage audition the other day came in just now…..’ 

Tsubasa: ‘You successfully passed! Congratulations!’

Hikaru: ‘Ooh! Tatsu, congrats!’

Momotaro: ‘Your hard work paid off.’ 

Kazuna: ‘You stayed up late to practice so hard for this audition, after all.’ 

Mikado: ‘Tuunk! It's a piece of information perfectly suitable for this kind of day!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘It’s thanks to everyone. I’m especially indebted to Sumisora.’

Tsubasa: ‘No, that’s….. It’s the result of Nome-san’s hard word.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘No, it’s thanks to you playing the partner role that I could take the challenge without being nervous on that day.’ 

Everyone in MooNs is astonished by this information. None of them expected this when they suggested the idea back then.

Hikaru: ‘Eh, what does that mean?’

Mikado: ‘T-Tatsu-dono, did Tsubasa-san really play the partner role!?’

Momotaro: ‘It’s my first time hearing this.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Haa? Didn’t you all say I should ask her.’ 

Kazuna: ‘We did say it, true but…. To be honest, we didn’t think you would actually do it.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘What’s with that!?’

Hikaru: ‘A one-to-one practice with Tsubasa-chan, how unfair~~! I also want to take a ballroom dance audition~~!’ 

Mikado: ‘Kuuh……! To think Tatsu-dono would take such bold action…..!’

Momotaro: ‘Mika, Hikaru, calm down.’

Kazuna: ‘Momo’s right. Shall we celebrate both Tatsuhiro’s birthday and his passing first?’ 

Hikaru: ‘Oh, oops, you’re right!’

Tatsuhiro (smiles): ‘Good grief……’ 

(Fufu, Nome-san seems to be happy while saying so…..) 

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san, once again, Happy birthday. This is my present for you.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Are you sure?’

Tsubasa: ‘Of course. They are mobile warmers. If your hands get cold because of the nervousness, please use them to warm up your hands.’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘I see…..’ 

Tatsuhiro: ‘Thanks, Sumisora. I’ll use them with care.’ 

END

#b project #b-project #tatsuhiro nome #moons #myps #card:2018