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#Me minding my own business going on Instagram and seeing an edit of this man bleeding: oh my god who is he
cyhaino · 10 months
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JJK Appreciation Week ↪ Favorite Character | Kento Nanami
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httpsserene · 6 months
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𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐡 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰/𝐥𝐧𝟒
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📖𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: you’re upset with the switch up the internet has pulled on you. a few years ago, everybody was saying you were too pretty for lando, but now they’re drooling over him? you will not be letting this slide.  📖𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: fluff. mild angst. humor. twt users being twt users. reader is a fashion designer (not important but mentioned). reader is also wild af. brain-rot. not beta-read. 📖𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: lando norris x fem!black!reader 📖𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: smau. 📖𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸: spice girl • aminé
𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲: in honor of lando's birthday :) look y’all���i saw one tik tok edit that was like “why is lando kinda…” and i audibly said KINDA???? and then i got mad like, how are people just noticing how fine he is. and then i saw another one that was like, “oh everybody thinks charles is the prettiest on the grid…but now introducing: lando” and i almost threw my phone across the room :) so this is inspired by me flexing that i have always thought lando was fine, and that i’m also mad that i have to share him. loves, this is complete brain rot and it took me years to recreate these ig posts for some reason; have fun reading !!!
all pics are from pinterest/op's
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twitter • three years ago, 2020
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instagram
yninstagram • three years ago, 2020
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liked by landonorris, mclaren, maxfewtrell, lewishamilton, and 16,175,978 others
yninstagram lando norris is the man i want to spend the rest of my life with. he’s perfection personified. the most soft, kindest, sweetest, considerate, and funniest man has allowed me the privilege of being his girlfriend. i’m forever thankful that we get to grow together. he’s the cutest, hottest, and prettiest boy to ME–and that’s all i care about, and that’s all you need to accept. i don’t give a FUCK about your opinions on who *i* should date. i’m the only person who’s decisions matter concerning my romantic relationships. why the hell should y’all bitches who don’t even use their own photos for their pfp’s and use a k-idol’s face instead, dictate who is hot or not. it’s incredibly vein, disgusting, and immature behavior from people who think they’re my fans. acting like jealous school children isn't cute; i was never your property. it’s hilarious too, considering some of y’all are grown women DOUBLE my age talking shit about my business–go worry about why your kids don’t want anything to do with you anymore.
tagged landonorris
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yninstagram matter of fact, go ahead and change your little profile pictures to real pictures of you, i don’t want to see any filters. then we can all see that all y’all want to do is spread insecurity stemming from your own self-hatred 🙂
yninstagram and while i have you all here, my winter season clothes will be restocked on the 15th.
comments have been disabled.
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twitter • imessage • 2023
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instagram
landonorris • august 24th • zandvoort ⚑
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liked by yninstagram, mclaren, carlossainzjr, and 547,930 others
landonorris back in my favorite place
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yninstagram first!! stay back hoes 🤺🤺
➥ user being called a hoe by y/n is not what i expected this year
➥ user she has notif’s 😭on 😭 for 😭 lando 😭
yninstagram how r u so HOT 🥵
yninstagram that sweater is mine now 👺
➥ landonorris i can just get another for you love
➥ yninstagram …i want this one lan🫤
➥ landonorris okay it’s yours 🫠
user neither of them have any backbone when it comes to each other
➥ yninstagram as it should be 😤
user might have to trip and fall into lando’s arms this weekend
➥ yninstagram i’m flying in tomorrow rethink your plan 🙂
➥ user i think i’ll avoid lando like the plague this weekend 😅
➥ user smart decision babes
landonorris • september 12th
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liked by yninstagram, lnfour, tumitravel, and 425,395 others
landonorris coming in hot @ tumitravel
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yninstagram come in me—i mean come home to me haha 😳😊
➥ landonorris babe please not in front of the sponsors 😧
➥ tumitravel oh no pls don’t stop for us 🫣 we stan y/n
user i saw this photo shoot LIVE!!! lando was so sweet, he signed my hat for me, and he smells so good 😩😩
➥ yninstagram i’ll chop off your nose and then you can be voldemort for halloween 👺
user i don’t know if i want to choke him or have him choke ME
➥ yninstagram how about me choking you
➥ user omg i’m down for a threesome 😳
➥ yninstagram choking you to death :)
➥ user i don’t wanna play this game anymore
landonorris • september 18th • singapore ⚑
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liked by yninstagram, mclaren, oscarpiastri, and 950,706 others
landonorris whatttaaaaa weekend ❤
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yninstagram GODDAMN
carlossainzjr vamossss landito ❤️💪🏼🏆
➥ landonorris ayyyy 🧡🥳🥳
➥ yninstagram my boysssss 🥰
yninstagram that’s my boyfriend 🤤
➥ landonorris last photo is just for you 😋
yninstagram so proud of you baby, i’m running out of room to put all these trophies <3
➥ landonorris v happy to be your trophy husband
user i’m in love with this singapore haircut 🤤 thank you for not fucking it up lando 😅
➥ yninstagram mmm yes, i’m thrilled it’s still long on the top 😍 it gives me something to tug on
user surprised y/n allowed him to post that last one
➥ yninstagram he doesn’t need my permission, but i get to see him naked so i rdc
user quadrant helmet it so beautiful! i want it to stay 😭
➥ user i want him to fuck me with it on
➥ yninstagram out of pocket…but completely valid honestly—delete your account 😊
liked by landonorris
yninstagram carlando 1-2 makes up for the war i’m fighting in these comments
mclaren • novemeber 8th
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liked by landonorris, f1, yninstagram, and 97,293 others
mclaren pulling up fresh with @ landonorris
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yninstagram not pictured: @ landonorris pulling up to OUR flat
➥ user y/n said “he’s coming home with meeeee”
f1 does he come with the jacket👀
➥ yninstagram no, but the price of me folding you like a lawn chair is included in shipping & handling
➥ f1 i’ll go sit down 😅
➥ user she’s fighting the f1 main??? this is mentally-ill behavior y/n!!!
yninstagram mclaren admin go stand in a corner and stare at the wall
➥ mclaren they made me post this!!! i would NEVER risk upsetting you ma’am 🙇🏼‍♀️
➥ yninstagram no talking from the timeout corner 🫵🏽
user we don’t care about the jacket. which organ do i have to sell to buy an hour with him?
➥ yninstagram both kidneys
➥ user but you need at least one kidney to live?
➥ yninstagram how,,,unfortunate
user model!lando always glowssssss
➥ yninstagram it’s the 9 step skincare routine i have him on, you can follow steps 1-8 on his ig
➥ user what’s step 9?
➥ yninstagram kissing me 🤭
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lando.jpg • novemeber 13th • with my wife ⚑
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liked by yninstagram, carlossainzjr, mclaren, team_quadrant, and 976,234 others
lando.jpg lucky to have found you so early in my life. you're my best birthday gift.
tagged yninstagram
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yninstagram posting my side boob on the jpg account? forgiven since you called me your wife 🥺
➥ lando.jpg thought i’d start practicing your future title, mrs. norris
➥ yninstagram come back to bed. you can start practicing giving me your kids too.
user i want y/n to bury my head in between her boobs
➥ lando.jpg no. i sleep there also—you’re blocked 🤗
danielricciardo as long as i’m the godfather, i can forget i’ve ever read this 🤮
➥carlossainzjr get in line mate, i’ve called being baby norris’ godfather ages ago
➥maxverstappen wait your turn mates, clearly i am the correct choice for godfather
➥maxfewtrell ah, i believe you lads have forgotten my existence
➥yninstagram baby norris doesn’t exist yet, no need to fight to the death rn 🙄
➥lando.jpg i’ll convince the mrs to have four, for my racing number and so you each have a godchild 😅
user y/n may have won the war, but i’ve won the battle—bisexuals have been fed today!!!
➥user girl, i’m straight and i’ve zoomed in on the last photo an unhealthy amount of times
➥user i diagnose you with y/n-sexuality it’s incredibly common in humans
liked by lando.jpg
oscarpiastri you two are made for each other 😀
➥lando.jpg this sounds like an insult 🙂
➥yninstagram i thought kids under 13 weren’t allowed on ig
➥oscarpiastri you’re not even a year older than me @ yninstagram
mclaren mama y papa
➥ yninstagram still on timeout.
➥ mclaren :(
taglist: @saintslewis @cherry2stems @lorarri @inloveallthetime @mindless-rock @biancathecool @barnestatic @my-ylenia @katekipshidze @darleneslane @lovingaphroditesworld @smoothopz
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© httpsserene2023
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kayas-kosmos · 10 months
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Because of what's happening on Twitter...
I've made a little diagram to demonstrate why billionaires and the ultra-wealthy are bad for society.
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(Text in Image)
"If we view society as a body, every sector is like a different organ within the body that serves a function and works in harmony with other organs to maintain balance. Every part of the body is important for the whole thing to function."
"The ultra-wealthy want you to believe they are the beating heart and thinking mind of the society – they are the innovators who create our jobs and their brilliance drives society forward. They deserve to be at the top of society because they have earned that. Without them, the body won’t function because they are the most important part."
"In reality, they are more like a malignant tumour, sucking all of the blood (resources) away from everything else (people and the planet) to fuel its own infinite growth, depriving the rest of the body and slowly killing it. Workers create all of the innovation and keep things running, the ultra-wealthy take all the credit."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a public domain image so feel free to pinch it for whatever.
Elon Musk has put the careers of thousands of small business owners who depend on Twitter (myself included) in jeopardy by completely running it into the ground. Before this, Mark Zuckerberg had already been doing the same when he started pursuing Metaverse, making Instagram and Facebook much more unusable for artists. Do I really need to go into other examples of CEOs and very normalised practise of wage theft?
Meanwhile, the UK currently has the richest Prime Minister in its history. What is this man doing with this wealth? Continuing the Tory legacy of austerity in order to line his pockets and the pockets of his crony friends. This has resulted in a devastating cost of living crisis that continues to ravage the country as people's energy bills skyrocket out of control.
My diagram is pretty basic and lacks nuance, there's definitely more I could elaborate on with this comparison but I really don't have time. I just want people to get the basic point of how billionaires view themselves vs what function they actually serve. I'm also not here to debate whether some organs are more important than others since I'm not a doctor, that's not really the point here. And no, I don't care if people think I'm being harsh by comparing billionaires to a tumour. If they don't want to be compared to one they should stop acting like one. Jeff Bezos could end world hunger right now and chooses not to.
Also, I know a lot of people are going to come at me with the argument that billionaires give away massive amounts of money. First off, people like Jeff Bezos only give large sums of money to charity a.) for the sake of improving their public image and b.) because giving to charity allows them to write it off in their taxes. Also, charities in of themselves have a lot of problems, but that's a blog post for another day. Mutual Aid is a better way to help people directly. Really, the ultra wealthy need to be taxed, of course they do everything within their power to avoid taxes.
Also:
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"Earning a lot of money" and "holding onto a lot of money" are two different things. You cannot be a multi-millionaire unless you hold onto that money. If you give away massive chunks of it to enrich society, you cease to be a billionaire.
Oh and this is worth a watch, too.
Furthermore:
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Also before the inevitable great man comments:
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Being a billionaire is a moral failing. Nobody needs that much money.
[Slight edit here - I made the assertion that a billionaire could not spend all of their money in their lifetime, but as someone in the comments pointed out it's very easy for them to completely waste billions in no time. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have shown that].
Anyway, if you would like to see more anti-Capitalist art from me, I am currently working on a webcomic called "Flowerpunk" - a story about a group of anarchists who are trying to save the city of Wyrdon from a supernatural plague known as "the rot." The comic heavily discusses disaster Capitalism and how the rich will use mass death and destruction as an opportunity to further line their pockets.
I also like to do little anti-Capitalist doodles relating to this project, which I plan to make into posters at some point.
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Please consider donating a Ko-Fi also if you would like to help support this project. I am really struggling at the moment because I've basically lost a massive chunk of my client base due to this Twitter implosion and also because of the AI BS that has made it impossible for me to get any reach nowadays. The last year or so has been an absolute nightmare for my career because of all of this.
Thank you all for your continued support! Hopefully I can re-establish my audience here on Tumblr and wherever else I decide to go.
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folklorebae · 2 years
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𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐔 - 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐 𝐅𝐢𝐜
Cast(s): Actress!Reader & Actor!Suna Rintarou
Warning(s): Swearing, slut-shaming, reader is using she/her pronouns, slight semi x reader
A/n: I recommend you to read my drabble first. But this could be read separately
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Liked by sydney_sweeney and 5,946,073 others
yourinstagram un cappucino s'il vous plaît
tagged: @bellahadid
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bellahadid Love you, ma fée🧚‍♀️
Liked by yourinstagram
rintarousuna Me after downloading duolingo
↳yourinstagram 😀😁😐🤔
↳ynfan1 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THEM!
ynfan2 SHUT UPPP. THIS WHOLE WEEKEND YOU'VE BEEN SLAYING😩❤️‍🔥
yn.sassy Another day, another slay
↳ynln.xo Perioddd
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7,659 likes
itsunadaily WIRED Interview ft. Rin and Y/N is out now!
View all 214 comments
sunafan1 PLS PLS PLS THEY'RE SO FUCKING ADORABLE
↳sunafan2 IKR
ynfan3 Okay okay, I'm curious. WHO IS Y/N'S S/O?
↳ynfan1 I think it's clear that there's something between them
↳ynfan3 I thought Rin has a gf? I mean, that mysterious girl?
ynfan4 I NEED TO SEE THESE TWO AGAIN! CANT WAIT FOR THE SEASON 2😩
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Liked by atsumumiya and 4,825,948 others
rintarousuna Thanks @wonderland and everyone who played a part⚡️🖤
Order now.
View all 22,864 comments
yourinstagram Damn boy, can I get your number?
↳rintarousuna I'm taken, sorry
↳ln.dailyyy Atp I don't believe you guys are just friends
aquariusuna JAW ON THE FLOOR
sunafan3 RINTAROU SUNA THE MAN THAT YOU ARE
netflix [CAR CRASH] [GLASS SHATTERING] 'GOOD LORD!' [GENERAL COMMOTION] [BABY CRYING] 'WAAAAH WAAAH' [YELLING] [POLICE SIRENS] WEEWOO WEEWOO [HELICOPTERS] 'WE'RE REPORTING LIVE-' [EXPLOSION] 'MY LEG... MY LEG...' [DOGS BARKING] ARFFF ARFFF 'OH MY GOD MY CHILD!!!' [CRASHING BUILDING] 'MY FUCKING HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!!'
↳ynfan5 Bro... you good?😭
↳ynsangel I believe this is an easter egg for season 2
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11,736 likes
rintarouflorals RUMOR (via deuxmoi): Rin was seen with Y/N in Paris
P.s I beg all of you to not believe everything you read on the internet. Please keep the comments respectful, thank you.
View all 753 comments
sunafan4 Isn't it obvious that they're more than friends?
↳sunafan5 Maybe, but I think people should leave them alone and mind their own business lol💀
sunafan6 I will never trust that stupid gossip page
sunafan7 Idk bout you all, but Rin and Y/N don't make any sense
↳ynfan6 FINALLY. Someone say this! They don't give any romance energy imo
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21,858
florenceflorals Florence via instagram story!
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florencefan1 OKAY BUT Y/N IS IN FRANCE RN?!? I WANT TO MEET HER
↳ynfan7 She has been in paris for a week😭 That ig story is from yesterday
↳florencefan1 WHA–😭
florencefan2 Are we going to see Ms. Flo and Y/N work for the same project again👀
↳florenceflorals 🕯manifesting🕯
florencefan3 Y/N and her are together. Those people who ship Y/N with Eita or Rin could go😍
ynflorals I LOVE THEM SM OMG😭❤️
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Liked by privyn and 31,837 others
rintarousuna.com RINTAROU FUCKING SUNA VIA IG STORY
P.s GOODBYE Y'ALL IM DEAD RN. THIS ACCOUNT IS NO LONGER ACTIVE
View all 3,846 comments
privyn My bf is hotter than hell
↳sunafan8 Girl, he's OUR bf
↳privsuna lmao
sunafan9 Oh God... Idk how many people died because his whore behavior
ynfan8 FUCKKKK I JUST ORDERED HIS MAGAZINE AFTER THE WEBSITE IS GOING DOWN FOR AN HOUR AND NOW THIS MOTHERFUCKER HAS THE AUDACITY TO BE THIS HOT
ynfan9 @yourinstagram, ISTG you're the loml. But babe, I am this close 🤏 to steal your man
sunafan10 WHY THIS PIC IS TAKING ME BACK TO THAT VIDEO EDIT WITH "WHY'D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE HIGH" AS A BACKSOUND?!?!
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37,975 likes
enews The fans have been speculating about L/N and Semi's relationship for months. But after attending his concert last night in Paris, the "I Know Places" star was seen having dinner at César Paris with co-star Rintarou Suna. Click the link in bio for more👀 (📷: Instagram/Getty)
View all 535 comments
ynfan10 You guys need to stfu and get a life. Leave my girl alone
↳ antiyn1 Your fav is a hoe, just admit it lmao
↳ ynfan10 "TPWK🌸" in your bio is bs. Your fav is ashamed of you lmao
semifan1 Ok but imagine being that pretty and people make rumors between you and these two fine men🥲
privsemi Wtf is wrong with these people💀 @privyn
↳privyn Apparently netizens can't see a woman supporting her male friend😍
sunafan11 Rin ily, but you and Mr. Rockstar need to leave and let me be with Y/N
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44,748 likes
lnandsuna.media “I don't think I owe anyone an explanation about it (his romantic relationship). For now, both of us have agreed to keep our relationship out of the public eye and as long as we're happy, it doesn't matter what strangers think about us.” — Rintarou Suna for Wonderwall, 2022
View all 3,639 comments
ynfan11 Um... where is this coming from?😭
↳lnandsuna.media papz took some pics of him with his girlfriend kissing in the alley earlier this year
↳ynfan11 OH YEAH SHIT. I JUST REMEMBERED. THANK GOD WE CANT SEE THE GIRL'S FACE.
sunafan12 Even deep down I wanna know his girlfriend's face, these paps should leave them alone omfg.
sunafan13 I feel so sorry for him, he deserves better:(
ynfan12 Paps need to chill omg. What if that girl isn't a celebrity and suddenly everyone in her life knows that she's dating a famous actor?
↳sunafan14 That girl is a public figure (my aunt used to work for her stylist) and everyone around her knows her bf
↳ynfan12 So what if she's a public figure? She deserves a privacy
↳sunafan14 I didn't say she didn't deserve privacy. I just said that she's a public figure
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Another a/n: I'll do a part 2! (If you wanna be tagged lmk) Stay tuned mwah<33
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amourdivine · 2 years
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      𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒?
hey loves! i hope you’re doing well. i made a little poll & many of you have voted for this pick a card. so today we’ll find out what people assume about you based on your looks! i felt called to do five piles for this reading for some reason. i think many different people will be interested! please feel free to leave feedback & let me know if this resonates. follow your intuition and remember to never take something that doesn’t truly align with you. xo! ♡
how to choose your pile. take deep breaths for a few minutes & look at each and every one of the piles separately. which pile(s) sparks a feeling inside you? which pile(s) gives you a strong memory or calls out to you the most? take your time and feel free to come back to it later.
♡ ♡ ♡     if you’d like to book a personal reading, click here.
♡ ♡ ♡     pick a card masterlist & information.
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disclaimer. this reading is for entertainment purposes only. tarot is a divination tool designed to help you design your life & align it with your best intentions. it is not a substitute for medical and professional advice, nor is it meant to be taken as such. i do not take responsibility for any choice(s) made by you or others regarding my readings. please remember you are responsible for life and in power of it! ♡
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amourdivine. © do not copy, redistribute or edit my content.
♡ ♡ ♡     𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄. your cards: the hermit rx / queen of cups / page of cups / the hanged man / king of pentacles / the world.
Definitely my introverted, quiet or shy pile. People assume you’re in your own world and you’re not very easy to open up. They might have a hard time reading you or approaching you, mostly because you could be very dreamy and in your imagination a lot. Even as they speak to you, they feel as if you’re not listening. You look like something out of a fairy tale to them, even a bit surreal and unrealistic. They think you’re very romantic, but they assume you’re out of touch with reality, although you have a very rich inner world. It might even make them underestimate you or believe that you’re not very experienced, indecisive and idealistic. I think you may not pay attention to strangers or people around you very much, so it’s easy for them to make assumptions out of very little. Do you also wear headphones a lot, pile one? You seem very artistic, unique, but like I said.. out of touch. 
They see you in your own little world, minding your business, doing your own thing & not really telling anyone. So they wonder what’s going on in your life. I don’t think you post a lot on social media and if you do, it’s not something that gives a lot away. You might not even have Instagram or Facebook, so that makes them fascinated and very drawn by you. I know this is more so about their assumptions, but they get in their head a lot when it comes to you, because there isn’t much that you give away for them to assume. I think people might wish to know you better at a party or another social gathering, but you’re probably not the type of person who attends social events that much. But you really don’t give them much, which may annoy them a little & makes people unsure of how to approach you because they don’t find it easy. I’m also hearing “fairycore” for this pile and some of you could like thrift-shopping or wear vintage clothes and love classic books. You have a tight-knit social circle and they usually assume you’re very selective about it, so they just watch you from afar and try to make accurate assumptions about you. Major Pisces and Virgo energy. Nonetheless, you leave a very cryptic idea of yourself in people’s minds and that kind of makes them even more curious, pile one. If you enjoyed this reading, please consider booking a personal reading with me! ♡
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♡ ♡ ♡     𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎. your cards: wheel of fortune / nine of pentacles / seven of wands / four of pentacles rx / ten of wands / six of cups.
People notice your looks, pile two. Right off the bat, whatever choice of style you might prefer, you make things look very expensive, so they assume you’re very rich and spoiled. Some of them might even be intimidated and assume that you’re very assertive, confident and powerful - even if you aren’t. I’m hearing “mayor’s daughter,” so they assume you come from a wealthy family and have important connections. They think you spend a lot at the mall and honestly, some people could even assume you’re careless with your money or very self-indulgent. I think people may even feel like your presence is off putting because it triggers a lot of jealousy from them. I can practically see two people gossipping to themselves, asking each other how lucky you are to be so beautiful and rich. They feel like it’s unfair how blessed you seem. Remember, whether you think it is true or not, this is merely what they assume.
Some of them think you’re a model or have the potential to be. I’m getting that a lot of people are quick to make assumptions about you and they could project or carry their own prejudices onto you. If they’re in a committed relationship, they’re worried that you might steal their partner away or threaten their relationship, which is honestly kind of ridiculous, right? You have a youthful face and might have a very beautiful and cute laugh or smile. I think some of you might donate to charity or do volunteering work as well, because you are actually a very generous person, but people mostly assume that you’re a bit shallow and “catty.” I know it’s unfair, pile two, but let them talk. You’re a star! Some placements I got were Leo and Libra, also Sagittarius. If you enjoyed this reading, please consider booking a personal reading with me! ♡
PS: For a very, very select few of you, if you’re thinking about ending some sort of friendship or relationship that has turned sour, I think you definitely should, pile two. Not everyone has our best interests at heart and people who love to gossip are not good company.
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♡ ♡ ♡     𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄. your cards: three of swords / the magician / eight of cups / seven of wands / temperance / two of swords.
It was a bit difficult to interpret your pile, especially with so many cards that kept giving me opposite energies, but what I’m immediately seeing is that people see a lot of power in you. Based on your looks, they could see a lot of radiance, but they’re drawn more towards your mind / personality rather than your looks. They wonder what’s beneath your cool façade. If anything, I see a lot of people commenting or wondering about your personal & social life because nothing here gives away much. All of the people in these cards are alone, so I think you have very few friends and might not really trust people easily or that much.
They see someone who is very powerful and intelligent, but people wonder what you’ve been through to acquire so much experience and wisdom. You probably have no trouble standing your ground, saying no and walking away from things that have hurt you. People might be scared to approach you because they sense a duality from you: The Magician who can easily make anything happen and the Seven of Wands who fights whenever necessary. You might have been caught up in some drama in your previous connections and maybe people worry if you’re okay. I think you have a very serious demeanor, you might not look people in the eyes a lot or even seem very interested in them without knowing, so they wonder if you’re mocking them, if you’re bored or mad at them. Also, people usually make different assumptions about you, so they’re conflicted over what is really true and what really isn’t. I think you’re more interested in being successful, studying and working, pouring onto your own cup rather than worrying about what people assume.
So, it’s like they know it doesn’t matter because you won’t listen or take their assumptions personally. I think you’re much more logical than emotional, so it takes people a lot of guessing & mental energy to try and get something out of you. However, I don’t think you react very emotionally to whatever it is that they say. You’re very much in your own lane and you value your own opinions / thoughts much more than their assumptions. I’m getting some Capricorn, Aries and Virgo energy.  If you enjoyed this reading, please consider booking a personal reading with me! ♡
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♡ ♡ ♡     𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑. your cards: five of swords / three of pentacles rx / the world rx / page of pentacles / queen of pentacles rx / seven of swords.
Do you suffer from bitch resting face, pile four? This pile feels a bit like pile three, but a lot more feisty. People might perceive you as angry more often than you think. I think people are really intimidated by you and you might look or act older than you are. They could think you see right through them, especially if they’re lying to you. I think you have little to no patience for gossip and mind games, so people find your ways intimidating or threatening - especially if they are your classmates or co-workers. I’m mostly getting the latter. You could be in a leadership position and if not, you could aspire to that. People assume you’re extremely competent, but also very, very competitive. And let me tell you, they’re thrown off by that!
People might also assume you’re very, very independent. You have that kind of “I don’t need anyone” energy and it comes off strong! Your beauty could be very regal and classy. People assume you come from a very rich background, but they’re also intrigued by your intellect. However, they also assume you’re a bit unfriendly, nitpicky and perfectionistic, even? They’re super afraid of you upon first glance for some reason. Something about you makes them shiver and it might be about you having “brains & beauty,” so they usually assume you’re very arrogant, stubborn and conceited even before you speak to them. I pulled out one more card to get more of an idea (don’t tell the other piles!) and I got the Five of Wands. Pile four, people are so scared of you, it’s almost insane. Unlike the previous pile, though, I think it’s because you’re naturally outspoken and you’re not afraid of calling people out - so they’re naturally worried you’re going to say something that’ll cut through them. You’re not the kind of person who’s afraid to express their thoughts and feelings, although I don’t think you’re aggressive at all, people might assume that you’re a diva and you’re difficult to deal with. I’m hearing “You Need To Calm Down,” by Taylor Swift. A lot of Leo, Aries and Aquarius energy from this pile.
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♡ ♡ ♡     𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄. your cards: ten of wands / death / two of swords / king of wands / ace of cups rx / seven of pentacles.
People assume you’re extremely hardworking, pile five. I’m actually believing it’s not only an assumption, but likely the truth. They see you as someone wise, patient and you have something very striking and powerful about you. They even see you as someone who is or could be a great leader, but they have a hard time getting an emotional response from you - some people might even see you as frigid or emotionally repressed because you are wise and careful about your choices and your words.
I’m not necessarily getting this Two of Swords is in an indecisive or overthinker way. I think people simply assume you have a good head on your shoulders and you’re always ready to make the shots when necessary. People might speak a lot about your academic and work accomplishments, since I’m seeing people in suits, a lot of university students and teachers as well. By the way, people assume you don’t rest much! They feel like you’re always up to something important regarding your future and you’ve always got a backup plan in mind. With Death, I think they simply see you as some kind of superhero who can never be defeated and always comes back stronger? Something about you makes them feel like you’ve been through a lot and came back stronger on the other side, like you’ve endured many hardships through life. You definitely make a very remarkable first impression because you’re not the kind of person who makes foolish choices and you might be very professional. 
However, they assume you’ve had to fight for it rather than being immediately born into this success. They assume you’re fair and you know when to strike, you know how to rebuild yourself and most of them assume you’re very self-reliant and independent. Overall, people assume you’re a hard-worker and a very stable person, pile five. People might often come to you for advice because you seem to be the kind of person who’s “been there, done that.” Really heavy Scorpio and Aries vibes. If you enjoyed this reading, please consider booking a personal reading with me! ♡
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whiteqnn · 3 years
Text
PURE [5] - Corpse Husband x Fem!Reader
A/N: It’s been a while.  
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
PURE [5]
“Did you guys find anybody?” Felix’s voice sounded out when the man repeated the same question for what seemed like the third time since he joined the call. The number of players showed 7 of them, which meant that they were still missing three people. Sure, they could start the game now, but it would be way more enjoyable and funny with a full lobby. 
“Yeah, Toast will be here any moment. “Sykkuno replied right away. “He just texted me; he should join us in a few.”
“Cool. Anyone else?” 
“I think Corpse was also supposed to join us, right? Not sure though why he isn’t here yet.” 
“Oh, yeah, Corpse will be here soon too!” Jack suddenly chimed in with an explanation. “He said he needed to take care of something first, but he’ll be here before we start.” 
“Great. But that means we’re still one person short.” Felix hummed when Toast’s little astronaut appeared in the lobby “Hey Toast."
“Hey man.”
“Do you have anyone coming?”
“I’m afraid not. I asked MrBeast, but he’s busy, so...”
“Well then, we can just start when Corpse is here, and maybe we’ll find someone in the meantime?” Dave suggested, earning a few hums of approval from the other players. 
“Yeah, I think that’s the best option...” Jack agreed. But then his voice blared out in everyone’s headphones with excitement. “Ha! Corpse is bringing someone!” 
“Who?” 
“I dunno, he just texted me he has one coming and that’s all.” 
“Hm, all right. Let’s wait then.”
***
Corpse fidgeted with his phone, glancing between its screen and the chat in his stream. People were already asking countless questions, but rather than answering them, he was waiting for Y/N to call him. He was nervous - the girl still hadn’t commented on his request. 
The idea to invite her to the lobby wasn’t spontaneous. In fact, he’d been thinking about it for quite some time now, but never found the courage to actually ask if she would like to join them for the game.
It’s been almost a month now since that memorable phone call. A month since Y/N last played with her friends; a month since she considerably reduced her social media usage. 
Sure, she was still active on her youtube channel, but not as much as before the whole haters situation. No matter how hard she tried to just ignore them and simply continue her career, she just couldn’t. There were still these nagging thoughts at the back of her mind, reminding her of all those people and their comments, their messages. It seemed like a good idea to take a short break and sort everything out.
Her fans understood it. They were obviously sad that her videos weren’t as frequent as before, but everyone knew what the situation looked like and that Y/N needed some time for herself. 
Her audience knew it, and so did her friends. Especially Corpse. 
The man kept his word and talked to the girl whenever she wanted to. Which, in the end, was almost everyday. Although at the beginning their conversations mostly focused on her current problem and dealing with it, their topics broadened over the time. 
At one point though, Y/N started worrying that maybe she’s annoying him with her so frequent calls. She thought that she shouldn’t bother him that much - even if talking to him was what really helped her cope with her problems. He already had enough on his plate, and sharing her own concerns with him suddenly seemed like a very selfish thing to do.
But she quickly realized how wrong she was for thinking like that. When one day she didn’t call, figuring out that she should stop troubling him with her own issues, she was very surprised when Corpse reached out to her himself. He expressed how worried he got when she didn’t call, and when she explained what was the reason, he spent the next fifteen minutes lecturing her that she should never think she’s bothering him. 
From that day on, they talked every single day. And they talked about almost everything.
Corpse enjoyed their late night-talks more than anything. He liked to listen to Y/N talk about the things she finds exciting, her hobbies, and her dreams. Hell, she could talk about what she ate for breakfast, and he would still listen with interest. 
And even though they haven’t seen each other in person, even though she still hasn’t seen his face, they managed to get really close during those past weeks. For an outside observer (who also didn’t have access to Twitter) they would seem like a couple of very good friends.
But not for Corpse.
He couldn’t pinpoint when exactly did it happen. They were talking one evening and Y/N was telling him about the TV series she had finished watching recently. He listened intently and watched as her facial expressions changed from excited to frustrated, as she was enumerating everything she liked and disliked about the series finale.
And then he suddenly got this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, and simply couldn’t take his eyes off her. 
He tried to play it off and act as if nothing changed, but he couldn’t stop his heart from doing backflips whenever she laughed at one of his dumb jokes or called him partner. It was still a running joke between them and among the group of their friends, but there was something in the way she said it that made him instantly smile like an idiot. 
He also started paying more attention to the hashtags on Twitter and Instagram. #PartnersInCrime was still rather popular, even though it was a month since anyone last used this phrase on stream. Corpse also found out that #Y/Nforthebride was trending for some time; he even managed to stumble across a few fanarts. 
There was this urge to send them to Y/N, but he was too nervous that it would make things awkward between them... After all, he didn’t know how she felt about that whole shipping thing. 
That’s why he decided to just leave things between them as they are, and be happy that he’s at least her friend.  
Corpse nearly jumped out of his skin, when he was brought back to reality by the sound of an upcoming FaceTime call. Y/N’s photo appeared on his screen, her smiley face which he had assigned as her contact photo. His lips corners curled up in a smile almost unwittingly. 
“Hey Y/N/N” he said after answering the call. 
“Hi Corpse” she smiled softly upon hearing his voice. Although the screen on her side was dark, she didn’t mind not seeing Corpse’s face. She respected his wish to remain faceless and enjoyed their conversations anyway. 
“Whatcha doin’?”
“Just editing the new video. I guess I’ll upload it in the morning... but I’m not sure yet.”
“Well let me know then, I wanna be the first one to see it.” 
“Sure thing, Corpse” she chuckled, lowering her gaze bashfully. Corpse just looked at her face for a moment, unable to stop smiling to himself. Then he remembered why they were talking in the first place.
“So... have you seen my text?” Y/N sighed at his question but nodded her head slowly. “And what do you think?”
“I don’t know, Corpse...” she ran a hand through her hair in a nervous gesture. “...if that’s a good idea, I mean.”
“Well, it’s been a while. No pressure though, if you don’t wanna play then it’s totally fine.” he quickly clarified. “I just thought it would be fun if you joined us, even if just for a moment. I’m sure everyone would go crazy.” 
Her smile widened slightly at his words, but she still didn’t look convinced. Sure, it was tempting to join them. She wanted to do it each time Sean or Felix bombarded her with messages and codes to the lobby, both inviting her to join the group in the game. But then she remembered how people reacted to her appearance in their streams... and suddenly it didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.
“We’re gonna play on Polus...” he added after a moment when she still didn’t say anything. “That one map with the planetary base... there’s a lava pit, y’know. Just saying...”
She laughed wholeheartedly at his words, remembering their last game when Corpse jumped into the lava for her. 
“Sykkuno’s gonna be there as well” Corpse continued. “And I promise I won’t kill you this time.”
“Even if I’m the last player alive?” she joked.
“Even then, Y/N.”
Corpse stifled a laugh, as she cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes slightly as if trying to spot him in the darkness. 
“Are you streaming, Corpse?” she then asked.
“Not yet. I’m gonna start the stream as soon as you say yes, though.”
“Oh c’mon” she laughed at his words “That’s emotional blackmail!” 
“Maybe. Is it working?” he asked.
Y/N let out a heavy breath and ran a hand down her face. Corpse watched in anticipation as she seemed to have some internal battle with herself. He hoped that she’s gonna agree, he really missed playing with her. 
“All right, then.” she suddenly said, and his breath hitched in his throat. “I’m gonna stay for a few rounds I guess...”
“Wait, really?” he asked, a smile on his face only widening. 
“Well, yeah, partner.” she replied, which made his cheeks go warm “Your imposter techniques haven’t been very effective lately... Someone needs to help you out, or you’re gonna lose your title of the king of the Imposters.” 
“Oh, is that’s how it is now?” he laughed in fake shock. “I wouldn’t have to worry about losing the title if my accomplice hadn’t left me all alone!” 
“All right, all right.” she giggled at his accusations. “Your accomplice is on her way to support you.” 
Corpse smiled even wider at the sound of her laughter. Her eyes shined with happiness when she was giggling, which only brought out their E/C color. The fact that his stupid babbling was the reason for her smile was making him feel extremely proud of himself.  
“But just so you know... I still have no idea how this map works, so I’m afraid I’m gonna need you to guide me around it...”
“Y’know you could as well just say you want to hang out with me...”
“Corpse!” she laughed, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment. 
“Just kidding Y/N” he chuckled at her reaction. “Of course I’m gonna guide you, don’t worry.”
“Okay then...” she said after a moment, looking at the screen again. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Will you send me the code, please?”
“Sure I will, Y/N” 
“Okay. See you later, partner” she smiled brightly. 
“See you, partner.” 
When Y/N ended the call, Corpse let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He sighed in relief and ran a hand through his hair, before moving to sit behind his desk.
It was only after he started the stream that he realized he was blushing. Not only because Y/N would join them, but because there was also another thing he wanted to ask her about, but didn’t find the courage to yet... 
***
By the time Y/N turned on her computer and started the game, Corpse has already sent her the code, and there was a Discord invite waiting for her as well. She bit her lip nervously as her heartbeat quickened. 
Was she nervous? As hell. 
She did everything she could to avoid being in unnecessary spotlight since she started receiving those hate messages. Perhaps escaping the problem wasn’t the best solution, but it definitely was a comfortable one. People wouldn’t have a reason to hate on her if she disappeared. 
But then she couldn’t say no to Corpse. And truth to be said - she really missed playing with her friends. From what she’d seen on Twitter, the lobby would be filled with those she’d already played with, so she wasn’t that nervous before the game. What she was nervous about though, was how people would react.
Accepting Corpse’s request was something she did due to the sudden rush of courage. And now there was no coming back.
She knew Corpse would understand if she changed her mind... but she heard how excited he was when she had agreed. She couldn’t do it to him. 
So, once she’d taken a deep breath and put her headphones on, Y/N accepted the invite and braced herself for the inevitable chaos that was bound to take place in the call. She decided to wait with joining the lobby though - at least until they realize she’s with them. 
“..the fuck you’re talking about?!” Felix’s voice was the first thing she heard, which made her roll her eyes with a smile. “It’s not my fault I sound like that! At least I don’t have a liar voice like Rae!” 
“HEY!” the girl yelled “I don’t have a liar voice!”
“You do, you’re using it even now!” Jack argued, much to Rae’s dismay. 
“What is going on here” Corpse’s deep voice sounded out suddenly. 
“Oh, you’re here! Finally” Sykkuno immediately welcomed him with his always happy voice. 
“Yeah, sorry that I’m late guys.”
“No worries, man” Pewdiepie spoke up again. “We were just talking about playing the voice card and that you’re basically the only one who can do it.” 
“Not fair at all!” Rae chimed in, making Corpse chuckle. 
“The voice card...” he hummed after a moment, before adding. “I wouldn’t really say I’m the only one though...”
“Well who else then? Everyone else either starts laughing or have a liar voice” Dave asked, and Rae scoffed at the last words.
“Well what about my guest?”
Y/N inhaled sharply, realizing that now she should probably reveal herself. 
“Oh, right! Who you’re bringing man?” Sean asked with curiosity.
That’s when Y/N typed in the game code, and her white astronaut appeared in the lobby. 
“Wait, who’s- HOLY SHIT” Sean all but yelled, when realization hit him. Y/N laughed loudly at his reaction, and her voice only seemed to prove to everyone that she really was there. 
“KIDDO WHAT THE FUCK” Felix reflected Jack’s response, yelling over his friend.
“Oh my god, hi!”
“What a surprise!” Y/N managed to catch Sykkuno’s words. “It’s so amazing to have you here, Y/N/N!” 
“As I live and breathe.” another voice spoke up, and Toast’s little astronaut came face to face with her white bean. “My lifelong nemesis. Back here snap my neck again, huh?”
“Yeah, happy to hear you too, Toast” Y/N giggled at his words, then she adressed the whole group. “Hi guys.”
“Okay I did not expect that in the slightest” Sean laughed happily “You’re here kiddo!” 
“I am” she smiled from ear to ear, even though they couldn’t see her. 
“Wait- Corpse, is that the thing you had to take care of?” her best friend asked Corpse with suspicious voice. 
“Well...” he trailed off and cleared his throat, making everyone laugh.
“That’s so great Y/N! We missed you so much!” Rae thundered over the bickering of the boys. “The game hasn’t been the same without you...”
“Agreed. I suddenly stopped dying.” Toast commented, making her roll her eyes with a laugh. 
“I don’t know if I should be happy or fucking scared right now.” Felix laughed nervously. “With Corpse and Y/N? We’re fucked now, guys.”
“I promise I’ll go easy on you, I haven’t played in so long I think I forgot all my strategies...” 
“Yeah, sure.” Toast’s forever suspicious voice made her smile wider. “Just don’t kill me in the first roung, okay? I won’t vote you off just stay the fuck away from me you little murderer.” 
“Okay, I promise I won’t kill you...” 
She couldn’t stop herself from laughing, and the smile remained on her face even when they started the game. It only seemed to widen, when she saw the sign Imposter on her screen. 
Only to giggle hysterically when she realized that Toast was the other imposter...
And so the game went on with Y/N and Toast cooperating like perfect serial killers. Corpse did as he promised and guided her through the map, both of them being closely followed by Sykkuno. Because of that she’d just sabotage the map most of the time to give Toast opportunities to kill their friends, but eventually managed to sneak out when her two fellow crewmates were doing their tasks. It just so happen that Pewds was walking past her, and she might’ve accidentally snapped his neck... 
“Goddamnit! I knew it! I fucking knew it was you!” Sean yelled once the game was over and Y/N saw the sign VICTORY on her screen, her small character standing next to Toast’s one. He was ejected at some point because Poki managed to walk in on him killing Rae, but Y/N remained undetected until the very end. Perhaps the fact that Corpse was one of the two crewmates who were left alive had something to do wtih it...
“That was rude” Pewds said in a whiny voice, clearly referring to their encounter which led to his death. “I was just happily walking around, doing my tasks like a good crewmate, and then boom! Y/N happened” 
“I would say I’m sorry... but I’m really not” she laughed, making Felix gasp in shock.
“That’s what happens when you work with Toast!” 
“Good game, Y/N. That was amazing” the man in question said appreciatively. 
“Will you finally forgive me for killing you that one time if I say that being imposters with you was cool?” she laughed nervously. 
“Actually... Yeah, I guess we can bury the hatchet now. AND we should team up more in the future.”
“Great!” 
“Excuse me, what?” Corpse’s voice made the whole lobby laugh. “I don’t remember us cancelling our partnership, Y/N.”
“Corpse...” 
“Are you trying to steal my accomplice from me Toast?” 
“Well she’s a great partner in crime after all...” Toast deliberately used the phrase, making Corpse gasp.
“Hey! She’s my partner! Find yourself your own, Toast” Corpse joked, making Y/N laugh bashfully, her cheeks warming up at his words. 
“Yeah yeah, I remember, don’t worry man. No one’s gonna take your partner in crime away from you...” Toast’s teasing voice made them all laugh, Corpse and Y/N included. 
For the next few rounds Y/N played as a crewmate, running around the map with either Corpse or Sykkuno and doing her tasks. During meetings they joked and laughed, and for a moment, she stopped thinking about what people watching her friend’s streams might think about her presence. After all, there was at least a small chance that they didn’t think about it at all, and simply enjoyed watching their favoirte youtubers. Just as she enjoyed playing with her friends. 
Oh, and by the way, Corpse kept his promise and didn’t kill her even when she was the last player alive...
It was soon time when everyone started slowly leaving the lobby, having played for over three hours. Y/N also said her goodbyes to the others and promised that she’d join them to play a game called Raft next week. 
When she turned her computer off and threw herself on her bed, Y/N immediately grabbed her phone to call Corpse. He answered right away. 
“Well hello, partner...” she rolled her eyes with a smile when he accented the last word. “Or should I say, traitor, instead?” 
“Corpse... you know I would never betray you...” 
“Well how can I be so sure, now that I know how cool it is to be imposters with Toast?” she knew he was joking, she could almost hear the smile in his voice.
“Not nearly as cool as it is with you, Corpse” Y/N grinned from ear to ear when Corpse scoffed. 
“I spare your life so many times and that’s what I get in return? You cheat on me with Toast?” he said in disbelief “I’m disappointed, Y/N, I really am.”
“I would never!” she laughed through her words, even though her cheeks were now red because of Corpse’s words. “You’re the best partner in crime, Corpse, I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else!” 
Not only in the game, she thought.
“Hmm, alright. Let’s say I believe you.” he said after a moment of thinking. 
“I mean it, Corpse...” Y/N said after calming down from her laughter. “I... I really wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me? For what?” he asked, genuinely surprised. 
“Well, first of all for inviting me to today’s game... I really had lots of fun, it was great to play and talk with the others. And I wouldn’t be in the lobby if not for you...” Y/N mumbled, before verbalizing her previous thoughts. “And I also wanted to thank you for just... you know... being my friend. My real life partner in crime. I just wanted you to know I’m really glad I met you...” 
Corpse was silent for a good few moments, and Y/N started panicking that maybe she said something wrong, or maybe he found her spontaneous confession funny, or worse, dumb. She was almost ready to somehow laugh it all off, when his voice cut her off.
“Thank you, Y/N. It really means a lot to me too.” he sounded like he had some troubles with speaking, which made Y/N furrow her brows in worry.
“Is everything okay, Corpse?” 
“Yeah, I...” he stuttered, then laughed nervously. “I just didn’t expect that and... yeah. It’s not something I hear on a daily basis, especially from someone like you.”
Someone like me? 
 “But what you said... it’s mutual.” he said after a moment, and Y/N couldn’t stop herself from grinning like an idiot. “You’re the best partner in crime I could ask for. And not only in the game.” 
She could as well just pass out there and there...
“So uhm... there was one thing I wanted to ask you...”
“Yeah?”
“I was wondering if maybe... you know, if you’d have some time... and if you’d want to of course... would you maybe like to visit me here in San Diego?”
Yeah, passing out seems like a good idea. 
***
This is not the last part. 
TAG LIST: 
@golden-chan @pillowjj @afuckingunicornn @love-and-virtues @ignooynim @crapimahuman @hannahjsworld @laugh-like-the-moon @fallengoddess772 @kingric03 @dolphinpink310 @paigeyisme @bunnychano3o @dxrtygxrl28 @z-nyx @baby-iyania @trashygeek @qmalley @yn-dreamlife @queenshadow142003 @daughterofsmokeandbone23 @my-little-art-world99 @yoongi-holland @rinarecommends @psychoticunicornsblog @goldensunshinestyle @unstableye @pastelvixenbeauty @weallneednamjesus @benakenalove @corpsesimpp @xenos-sonex @jellicorn05 @must-be-a-weasley-92 @keijikunn @infinitely-kate @thisshitisfuckingdifficult @summerbbygirl @mygirlviolet @eat-your-veggies @evans-dejong @jeffxx @weepingdonuthumancookie @myinnergayistakingover @i-love-scott-mccall @thecanterburywitch @annshit @blood-of-fandoms @namjoons-crabssss @guadu-chan @harleyharleycrow @stormyskys13 @soft4kei @ukai-hoe @that-chick212 @campcampie @cookiewhoree @ukiyolixx @princess-skate @newtaholic-staygold @unknown-and-invisible @cherry-piee @marvelenthusiast3000 @apples-of-february @lovelybrit @wineandionysus @faepetersen @vincent-stargogh @idalinette @ggsmashgg @browneyespinkhair @uwucorpse @fluffylittellama-blog @yoshigguk @queentorresstuff @becihadshawn @winged-reader @x3musicismylife @musubipost @missdox @honeyames @dark-o-room @izthefangirl @l0verl0ser @laurenfangirlsout @asianfrustration13 @hopelessfluff @sacrifice-me-please @stopicouldhaavedroppedmycrossant @sleepingalaska @strangenerdsstuff @otakuartist05 @blossom-702 @astream-ofconsciousness @mythicalamphitrite @infinitelycharmed23 @ s1utforfictionalcharacters @ abrokenlink  @ lestrangeesme  @laazullii @ avesagittarius @ smiithys @zenx2003 @vintagexparker @write-from-the-heart @goalexis123 @ trrcelovesyou @rebloggingeverything @homosexualjohnwayne @xprettyqueenx @just-a-stan @tenebrisirae
818 notes · View notes
dystopiandilfs · 3 years
Text
Dream's discord podcast. Basically him answering questions for 2.5 hours. This will sort of be in order but I fucked up my notes so it might not be in order completely. (From 13th May 2021)
For reference the photos at the end are: A prototype of fidget spinner merch as loads of people asked, a reference photo of his favourite merch and a photo he sent of his hair to prove he wasn't a brunette.
•He said his teeth are mostly straight but he's thought about getting Invisalign. He's never had braces. He has a tiny gap in the left side of his mouth and his canines are longer and sharper (vampire arc). He's never had teeth surgery so has his wisdom teeth still.
•He thinks pineapple on pizza is good.
•He likes seafood like lobster and crab. He had crab made in an air fryer last night. He like peas. He thinks quesadillas are good and likes most food.
•He hates Coffee and most drinks
•The Dream Shorts team is Ken who is his personal reminder (Ken's main job is to spam him with texts so he doesn't forget things as he's got a habit of reading texts and not replying) and also comes up with a list of sets for Dream shorts. The builder is a friend and munchymc builder "his talent gets wasted on Dream's shorts but we pay him so"
•His editors are currently Dizzy, Firesale and Mjcr. Willz doesn't edit for him anymore
•The mask animation isn't done but Mask should be released May 21st. He wants to release them together as "the whole song is a double meaning and the whole nuance will be lost without the animation" but no matter if the animation is done the song is getting released on the 21st.
•He and Sapnap eat together often.
•He and Sapnap prefer medium rare Steak
•He wants a home gym it's something he's willing to splurge on. They currently have a weight rack but they haven't even set it up.
•"Eat the rich? Shut up shut up" - Dream
•Talked about money basically saying "Most people don't understand how money works I don't have millions in my bank account it's in assets like merch, land and warehousing for that stuff" (He's not in his landlord arc)
•He's been debating Pride Merch because of Rainbow Capitalism. He doesn't want it too be seen as a money maker and if he does most proceeds would go to charity. He's currently super busy merch wise with Sapnap joining and George in the middle of joining. He did say "Only if the LGBTQ+ community in this community wants it" He thinks he's going to at least change the merch website to a pride one. Sapnap wants to make pride merch including a rainbow flame on his.
•He wants to create a charity that's centered around helping LGBTQ+ one day because he thinks that there's a lack of them. He mentioned that creating a charity was expensive and took a lot and was a complicated process including a board of directors but he wants to do it someday.
•He wanted to buy a bunch of houses in Florida which was a service to house mostly LGBTQ+ youth and people stuck in abusive households for free to get them out of bad home environments. But he didn't because he didn't want people thinking he was profiting of of abuse victims and LGBTQ+ community.
•He said he's terrible with time management and replying to people which is why Ken helps him (and also helps George and Sapnap). He mentioned how Sam messaged multiple times and Dream just forgot to answer but felt bad "I feel like people think I hate them..... Cause I'd be mad if people did that to me"
•He tries to reply to a few texts a day (community number). He also can't do birthday messages everyday because you can only reply at certain times so it's not abusing the system so if you get one it's special. He said he does try but it's got a weird time gap.
•Him and the manhunt winner are trying to come up with a good time to film
•He wants to stream this MCC on twitch and says his team is good.
•He talks about why he's not partnered with Twitch. Basically Twitch has a lock rate (in which you make money) and you legally can't stream on YouTube. So legally if Tommy wanted to stream on YouTube he couldn't. Someone then mentioned how Bad is a twitch partner but still streams on YouTube "Bad streams on YouTube but he has for a while and I don't think that he cares" - Dream
•He likes to reply to every donation he gets on stream and feels bad when he doesn't so he'll turn them off when he streams and wants a platform deal where he can be payed to stream (not twitch). If he gets a streaming partnership he will stream a couple of times a week. He looked in to Facebook but they don't have an alias system meaning you can see everyone's actual Facebook account and personal info, he doesn't like seeing real names on Facebook so it would require a lot of altering if he was to stream there so he's thinking it's probably going to be YouTube.
•He was asked about if his demographic was what he expected and he said he went in with no expectations, he didn't even know what stans were, wasn't really on social media so he wasn't aware of the fan culture. "You guys are a handful sometimes but it's worth it"
•He also mentioned how he and the DreamSMP changed the twitch audience demographic. It used to be male dominated in both streamers and audience and now it's almost split which is unheard on.
•He has 5 fidget spinners in his house. Two in his bedroom. Two in his office. One in the living room.
•He likes his Minecraft skin as he thinks the arm is cook and you never see the rest of his skin really. He says it's unique and different and "me". Dream: You can't even tell half the skins apart on MC.
•He's not lost the motivation to stream. Most of the times if he wants to stream he gets George or Sapnap to do it and he just turns up. It's more beneficial to them as they have donos and subs on. (Don't we fucking know it "can you say hi to")
•He has listened to Lovejoy. Says the ep was great and they're very talented and awesome. Doesn't know what his favourite song is but probably would pick One Day because the chorus slaps.
•RIP to acoustic Roadtrip. He said instead of acoustic Roadtrip we get Mask so no losses today for Dream stans.
•"With Roadtrip I went to Parker and I said Hey I have a story I want to tell through music. I have no experience with that can you help me" He said sure. He crafted the music and melodies and how things are formed where it's catchy. I have less comfort singing that. I love the song and it's my song, it's very representative of me and I'm sure I could sing it but it's a song I'd be kinds of scared to sing live, with Mask I basically did everything. I sat there the entire time and maybe an hour out if the 100 I wasn't in the call. Dream came up with the lyrics and main melody for Mask (First one he's ever come up with) "That was just notes in my fucking voice memos"
•The clip we heard of Mask was a prechorus not the actual chorus. He thinks he'd be more comfortable to do a mask acoustic and it's more melodic than Roadtrip. The chorus also has a lot of instruments similar to Roadtrip. Mask starts of slow and guitar with minimal reverb and is more raw.
• He doesn't want music to be his main thing. It's something fun to do and he's passionate about it as it's a way to express emotions. He wants to release mask then go from there. He wants to release at least one more song but has nothing on his mind currently. His two ideas were Roadtrip and Mask.
•He wouldn't quit his job to become a pizza delivery man.
•His favourite features on himself are eyes or freckles and he also confirmed that he does have eyebrows.
•He was told that Parkour warrior would be bought back some time in the near future and he got excited for it. "Even if I don't win, which I will, it'll be fun"
•Went on about his MCC team but I'm not going to put that in as we should be getting them today. He did say he wasn't on Pink but he did sound confused. (For reference he's always in Pink as it's the last team announced and keeps the hype up by announcing the biggest streamer last)
•Said he and his mum had the Mr Beast burger. He recommends because he likes the avacado. He mentioned how Mr Beast uses "Ghost Kitchens" which is basically where he gives restaurants permission to cook his food so it's restaurant quality food.
•His favourite piece of merch is the circle smile. (The pool photo on Instagram). He said the quality was bad (he worked with a different company and didn't have his own company) and it was elasticy feeling and he's planning on re-releasing it again but with good quality.
•He's started to send merch out in custom packaging. So his bags have the smile and will mostly be green. Sapnap's has the flame and is either black or white. He's also trying to make it so every order has the sticker packs for both him and Sapnap.
•He loves the coins as it's cheaper than a hoodie but still celebrates the milestones and will last a long time. He mentioned how the old coins are getting removed off the site and how if you have any of the coins your special because only a few thousand get made. He's kept around 100 of each coin that he wants to give away in person.
•He wanted to have a cool store where you could access computers that give you access to the DreamSMP in spectator mode. But it's too costly and would require too much time and isn't safe fight now. He doesn't think it'd be worth it financially.
•Most of the hoodie are black instead of multiple colours because of limited supply and covid. Getting the colours are harder because if the pandemic which hopefully won't be an issue soon.
•He wants to do a short meetup tour with Sapnap and George with a few locations in the US (and if others nearby want to join like Quackity or Karl they can). He also wants to visit Australia, UK, Canada, Mexico and Philippines and do something like that there but definitely at least visit with George and Sapnap.
•He's never been to the Philippines but his mum has. He wants to set up a place in the Philippines where he can ship merch in bulk and it would help to reduce shipping. However it would probably be big milestone merch.
•He's not got the vaccine yet but will get it when he needs to. He doesn't leave the house so he doesn't see the point.
•He's the ideas man. George's footcam video was Dream's idea. The T-shirt video was Dream's idea. Most if not all of the Dream Team's videos are Dream's ideas.
•Said he's got a similar/the same hair colour as Froy (Dream buddy at this point the only difference between you and Froy is that one of you is dating Richard Madden /lh)
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297 notes · View notes
fantastic-bby · 3 years
Text
SKZ vs. their crush
Pairing: Gender neutral Reader x Member
Word count: 3.9k
Genre: Fluff
Summary: It’s just them crushing on you 
Warnings: -
Masterlist
A/n: I tried a different format this time and used bullet points rather than just making it like a full story since my brain was going crazy when I wrote this. Let me know which format you prefer and maybe I might incorporate both bullet points and the essay ones since I actually quite enjoy writing using both.
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Chan
You guys only met because you knew Jeongin 
The tiny babie brought you to meet his friends 
Chan was smitten when he first met you 
He thought you were so pretty when he saw you following behind Jeongin 
“Innie,” 
“Yeah?”
“Who is that?” 
He wants Jeongin to introduce you two
Sensing the vibes, the maknae is more than happy to introduce you two 
if he was being honest, he already knew Chan would pretty much fall in love with you immediately
Chan’s flustered when he introduces himself to you 
He’s almost blubbering all over the place 
You find it kinda cute but he’s scared you found him really weird 
He tries to steal little moments to be with you 
Like ‘accidentally’ bumping into you in the hallway 
Or how he just so happens to walk into Jeongin’s room when you’re on a call with him
Or how he just so happens to be lingering around the flea market nearby your college campus 
Chan takes care of you without even realising it 
If you bump into each other he asks whether you’ve eaten or how your day is 
He loves the way you seem to parent his friends like he does 
“Jisung, put the knife down. You’re going to hurt somebody” 
“Hehe, make me” 
“PUT IT DOWN 〴⋋_⋌〵” 
Chan’s surprised he listens to you
He loves how everyone only seems to listen if you’re the one talking too
If you’re hanging out with them at the dorms and Chan can’t seem to control everyone, you just step in 
“Guys, please”
And suddenly the chaos has calmed down 
Chan finds it amazing 
Everyone just… stops when you ask them to
You find it amusing 
It’s like watching a single dad trying to control his seven wild sons
He chases after Felix around the dorm a lot because he’s usually done something weird with Minho and Jisung
He manages to get your number using an excuse of needing you to calm down the boys 
“Please… they don’t listen sometimes” 
Jeongin finds reasons to push you two together 
“Yay! You guys made—oH nO I ComPleTeLy foRgoT!!”
Leaves the two of you alone 
He honestly just thinks you two should get together and so does the rest of the group
So they find excuses to get you two alone together 
But your relationship takes f o r e v e r  
Only because Chan wants to be absolutely certain that he likes you
He doesn’t want to commit to someone he’s worried he’s not sure of yet
Slowly but surely, he starts to ease into the relationship
He sends you music he thinks you’ll like 
Eventually he’ll start sending you his own music 
He only confesses when he’s absolutely sure he’s pretty much falling in love with you 
The way he does it just wins your heart immediately if you weren’t already as whipped for him as he was 
He writes a song for you (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ `)♡ 
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Minho
Bumped into you at a dance studio he goes to often
He thinks your dancing is amazing 
At first he doesn’t want to bother you 
But then he’s all like “heyyyy I’m Minho” 
And you’re pretty much taken away by how gorgeous the man is 
Minho wouldn’t be too flustered 
He would keep his cool around you 
Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try to impress you with his sexy dance moves 
Tries to win your heart the romantic way which doesn’t work because half the time you’re too busy dancing to actually realise he’s trying to flirt with you
“Hey, baby ;)” 
“Huh?”
“Nothing”
Wonders whether he should just make a dedicated advance towards you 
He likes your humour 
It’s similar to his 
You both just laugh at really weird stuff together 
When you share your numbers, he sends you weird videos that he thinks you’ll like 
Minho’s not much of a texter, but when you do get a message from him, it’s either something he’s really excited about or something really weird 
Only realises he’s actually crushing on you when Changbin points it out 
“Why are you so nice to them” 
“Who?” 
“(Y/n)” 
Then Minho realises that he really likes you
Starts slowly working harder to win your heart 
Helps you with your dancing
“Your body looks a bit stiff” 
Buys you lunch 
“I got you the lunch box from 7 11”
It’s always something you end up liking if you hadn’t tried it before
Buys you drinks from the vending machine 
“What is this???” 
It looks like a double shot coffee 
“Energy?”
Minho doesn’t know either but you both drink it anyway 
And end up being at the studio until 3 a.m. because you’re both so hyped with caffeine
Offers to walk you home if it’s getting late
“It’s not safe on your own”
“Minho, I’ll be fineeeee” 
Doesn’t take no for an answer and forces you to let him
His advances work
You’re pretty much whipped for him by the time he confesses 
Which Minho does by buying you flowers and bringing it to the studio 
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Changbin
You work at the music shop that he goes to often 
When he’s browsing the CD’s and the vinyls, he spots you at the counter 
His heart almost explodes when he sees you 
The first thing that caught his eye was the way you were dressed 
:0 
Fits Changbin’s style 
He’s nervous to approach you with the vinyl in his hand 
Why was he so nervous? 
Oh right, he was pretty much completely smitten by you 
“Hi!” 
 He loves your voice even more
“H-Hey,”
Changbin’s so nervous 
He likes your bracelets too 
He thinks they’re really cool 
He ends up coming back a lot and you wonder why this man needs so many CD’s and vinyls 
Eventually, he builds up the courage to talk to you
Changbin comes by every once in a while just to say hi 
Sometimes he just comes in to talk to you during your break
You tell him you’ve always wanted to try making music
He tells you he makes music 
You’re all :0 
Changbin tells you about it 
And you get really interested in his music 
He starts coming after your shift or during your break to play you his songs 
He gets all uwu when he sees the way your eyes shine 
You have him wrapped around your finger without even knowing it 
Doesn’t admit that he’s pretty much whipped 
Even though he visits you almost every other day 
And how he buys you your favourite snacks 
Or how he stays way longer than he expected to just bcs he’s talking to you 
You’re just as whipped tbh 
You love talking to Changbin 
You like his music taste and he’s fun to be around 
Confesses to you by taking you out on a date 
He brings you to his studio 
Shows you how he makes music 
He finds it adorable how you’re so amazed by his equipment
So he teaches you whatever he can in the time you’re together 
You both spend the evening just messing around 
You make a short track that you’re sure sounds really off
Changbin reassures you that it’s nice 
He teaches you how to layer the different tracks 
And eventually teaches you how to edit them despite the few hours you have 
You’re so excited 
He smiles every time he looks at you 
Bcs you’re so adorable he feels like he might burst 
Confesses at the end of the night 
“I like you a lot” 
He blurts it out and it catches you slightly off guard 
But you like him back so it’s fine 
Ends up offering to take you to the studio anytime you’re both free
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Hyunjin 
Met you through Felix 
Felix invited you to play a game with him and his friends 
Hyunjin hears your voice the first time and he’s already curious 
He thinks you’re really chill and he likes your vibe 
You end up playing more games with them 
He ends up wanting to get to know you more 
The thing that honestly gets to him the most is the way you take every loss so lightheartedly 
“There’s always another game” 
You don’t rage or stress out over it 
Over time, he starts spending one-on-one time with you 
Until you’re both just doing literally anything else but gaming together 
He denies them as dates whenever his friends ask, claiming that it’s just friend time
Until one night you’re both awake at four a.m. and talking about everything and anything 
He likes the way you think
“Hyunjin, did you know that sometimes in movies, they use trash cans to replicate tiger roars” 
“What???”
He likes how you’re joking talking about starting a revolution 
He knows you won’t
“So, yeah, fuck capitalism!” 
“Yeah!” 
He loves the fact that you’re so open about what you think even if it’s something small or weird
“Mercy’s ass is so thick… for what reason…” 
“She’s a video game character??” 
“Felix, her ass is so thick, she could kill someone with it” 
Hyunjin loves hearing you rant about your day 
“And?? It’s so stupid!!”
“Calm down, (Y/n)”
“Don’t tell me to calm down, you egg!” 
Hyunjin thinks you’re adorable when you’re all riled up
He finds it amusing because he likes hearing you talk 
“You live there too?” 
He didn’t expect to be so close to you
“Yeah, that’s how I met Felix” 
He never realised you and Felix knew each other in real life
You spend more time together 
Talking about whatever comes to mind until the dead of night 
Sometimes you watch movies together 
You stay away from horror movies because he doesn’t like it that much 
But you’re always talking about something with him
The two of you are always the last to leave the call because you end up talking after games 
Hyunjin asks you out without even realising it sounds like a date
“Is that a date??” 
“Sure” 
He didn’t even realise he asked you out until after he’s left the call
?!?!?!?!
Goes into panic mode 
He just asked you out!!!! 
Starts asking Felix about you
He laughs at Hyunjin but helps him anyway
Shows him what you look like on your Instagram 
Hyunjin thinks you’re so pretty on your posts
When he sees you in person for the first time 
He’s so taken away 
You’re gorgeous
Whatever feeling he didn’t realise he had for you comes rushing in 
Hyunjin loves your laugh 
You spend the whole day together just walking around town
It’s nice to hear his voice when it isn’t coming out of your headphones
By the time the date’s over, Hyunjin wants more of you 
So he tells you he wants to take you out again while he’s walking you home 
You accept 
He turns to you with a c: before asking if he can kiss you
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Jisung 
You’re a barista at the cafe nearby the JYPe building 
Jisung was designated as the drink buyer that time by the rest of his group 
If he was having trouble remembering all their orders before 
He has even bigger trouble now when he sees you 
YOU LOOK SO CUTE IN YOUR APRON 
He freezes the moment he sees you at the cashier 
“Hi! What would you like?” 
Jisung’s eyes go ◑.◑
“Uhm… sir?” 
“Sorry!” 
He struggles to get his order out properly
But you’re patient with him and even though he barely knows you 
He likes that you are 
Jisung’s watching you the entire time you make his order 
He can’t take his eyes off of you 
You do notice it, but you find him adorable so you don’t say anything 
He seems to be easily flustered
When you hand him his order, he’s still a blubbering mess 
“T-Thank you…” 
Your name tag says (Y/n) 
So he thanks you using your name which you smile 
“Have a great day!” 
Jisung comes back the next day 
He doesn’t even need any drinks, he just wants to see you again 
When he does, he feels all fluttery on the inside 
“Welcome back” 
He orders a dark chocolate smoothie and an iced mocha for Minho
Minho would kill him if he found out Jisung went to the cafe without him 
Jisung sits at an empty table and watches you again 
The next day, the cycle repeats 
And the day after that 
And the day after that 
Minho follows him at some point, wondering why Jisung seems to obsessed with the place 
“Why do you like this place so much?” 
“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT”
Something’s definitely up with him 
Minho only finds out when he sees the way Jisung’s face seems to light up when he sees you 
“You like the barista, don’t you” 
“WHAT BARISTA ಠoಠ” 
That’s all he needs to confirm it 
Minho lets Jisung order, seeing just how excited and giddy he is when he’s talking to you 
Jisung’s practically bouncing up and down while you talk to him 
When they leave, Minho’s all up in it 
“You really like them, huh” 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about >:c” 
Knowing Jisung, he wouldn’t do anything about it 
So Minho takes it into his own hands to bring you two together 
The group is having a mini event and they need someone to serve drinks 
Who else to ask other than you? 
Jisung’s eyes almost bulge out of his skull when he sees you because 
What are you doing here???? 
He’s so nervous 
Minho practically shoves him your way 
Again, you find him so cute that you don’t even realise he’s practically dying to know you more 
“Hi Jisung!” 
You learned his name over the course of him constantly coming back and Jisung just loves hearing it from you 
“Hi (Y/n)” 
“I can’t make anything ice blended, but I can trade if for an iced dark chocolate” 
“Okay!” 
As long as you make it, he’ll take it 
The event comes to an end but Jisung’s pretty much spent more time with you rather than his group mates 
Even they’re amused by how into you he obviously is 
“Hey Jisung” 
You stop him before you leave and he’s immediately at your side 
“Since you keep coming over, here’s my number” 
◑.◑
“Give me a call before you come in so that I can have your drink ready for you to pick up” 
He’s so happy :D
He sends you pictures of cute animals and random snippets of his music 
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Felix 
Met you through League of Legends
You have good synergy so you became friends through that 
At first, he only managed to play with you occasionally 
When he’s able to, he notices how you always sound so bright 
“Hi Felix!” 
He likes playing with you 
You’re laid-back 
You don’t stress over losses too much 
“Ah, what to do?” 
But when you’re irritated, Felix finds it funny
“Fucking asshole!” 
“You were in the way, (Y/n)”
“Shut the fuck up!” 
You’re so funny to him 
“Felix, don’t go into bush” 
“I can bait them” 
“DON’T”
His character dies
“Oops ( ͡° ͜V ͡°)”
“-`д´-” 
You’re easy to game with and that’s what he admires the most right off the bat 
You always seem to be up for games 
Even when he’s not able to play, whenever he logs into Discord he sees you’re online 
Wonders whether you sleep at all 
“I don’t need sleep. I am gamerrrr. Gamers don’t sleep” 
“Please sleep” 
“Lix, sleep is for the weak and I’m not weak” 
“You passed out last night in call” 
Honestly slightly concerned for you 
Overtime he realises that he really looks forward to games with you
Before Felix would just go to sleep after practice or shows 
But he’ll start waiting to see if you’re up for even one game 
Which you always are 
Slowly starts spending time with you just talking 
Eventually it leads to the both of you staying up until 5 a.m. laughing at really stupid memes 
During the day when Felix can’t join call 
He sends you funny tiktoks and memes 
You appreciate it because you like him 
But you don’t admit it because you’ve never met him in person before
Until you both find out that you live only a few hours away from him 
Invites you down to Seoul to spend time with him 
You’re nervous
Felix is nervous
He knows what you look like
You exchanged Snapchats and started streaking a while before 
He sends you funny pictures of his members 
You send him selfies with random filters
But nothing could prepare him for when you appear from around the corner 
He sees you appear and he’s all (゜ロ゜)
Your photos don’t do your natural beauty any justice
Is a bit of a mess when you’re walking around together 
Eventually loosens up around you 
Compliments you a lot and it makes you blush 
You spend the day just wandering around the place 
Felix takes you to his favourite places and favourite cafes 
He wants to share his favourite things with you 
You find it endearing 
Tries to make you laugh a lot because he’s just grown to really like the sound of your voice 
Since you’ve spent most of your time talking over call
Felix just loves hearing your voice 
When the day’s over 
He asks for more nights that aren’t just filled with games because owo he wants to do more with you 
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Seungmin
Bumped into you at JYPe because you were visiting a friend 
Hears you singing with Yeji and he immediately falls in love with your voice 
He peeks into the dance studio to see the two of you just sitting on the floor together 
There’s no music 
It’s just the two of you singing together 
Your voice makes him :D 
Seungmin leaves the two of you bcs he doesn’t want to intrude 
But he ends up seeing you more often 
Turns out you’re in Seoul for a while so you’re spending quite some time with Yeji 
He sees you in the hallways a lot
When you walk past each other, it’s always just a polite bow 
You don’t really think much of Seungmin other than the fact that you think he’s pretty handsome 
Yeji teases you for that 
When you’re walking through the building to look for her 
You hear someone singing in one of the rooms 
You peek through the glass 
It’s Seungmin! 
ಠoಠ
And he’s so good
You listen from outside the door 
You knew he was good since he was an idol
But you didn’t think that he was that good
You don’t even realise he’s done when the door swings open and you’re standing there 
When Seungmin sees you, he realises you were most likely listening 
Now you’re just staring at each other like 
(゚ω゚;)
Because now he knows you were listening 
And now you know he knows 
“Uhm…” 
You’re embarrassed 
You’re lucky Yeji pops from around the corner and your eyes plead for her to drag you away 
Which she doesn’t 
“Sunbaenim!”
“Hi Yeji” 
“Have you met (Y/n) before?” 
You actually want to tear her apart
“Not properly, no” 
“Well... “ 
“WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME” 
You drag her away before she can say anything else 
The next time you see Seungmin 
You pass by him in the hallway once again while you’re looking for Yeji
“(Y/n)” 
ಠ_ಠ
“We keep passing each other but we’ve yet to actually meet each other properly” 
“Haha…” 
“I know you were listening the other day” 
“Haaahhhhhhaaaa…”
“I don’t mind that you did.”
“Huh” 
You’re actually bit surprised that he doesn’t mind
“I overheard you and Yeji singing the other day in the dance room” 
༼ : ౦ ‸ ౦ : ༽
“You sing really beautifully, (Y/n)” 
There’s an awkward wall that takes a while before you two actually break it down 
But when you do 
It’s almost like you visit the building to see Seungmin rather than Yeji 
She doesn’t mind since she saw it coming 
Doesn’t mean she can’t tease you about it 
Seungmin looks forward to having lunch with you in the cafeteria 
At this point, the staff don’t even question your now daily appearance 
You end up falling for Seungmin way faster than you thought possible 
The feeling’s mutual 
He just likes everything about you 
You’re so sweet 
You’re also really caring 
He notices that when you follow him to the practice room where Stray Kids are 
Changbin trips over Hyunjin’s legs 
You’re rushing over to help without any of them really realising it 
He loves how nice your voice is too 
“Can you sing for me?”
You’re shook 
You wonder why he wants to hear your voice specifically
“Your voice is just really nice 
He realises he really likes you when you briefly disturb their practice to give Seungmin lunch 
He briefly mentioned that he forgot his wallet and his lunch 
Since you aren’t an idol or staff
You had to use your own money in the cafeteria 
Seungmin’s heart flips at the realisation 
Ends up asking you out so that you don’t have to spend so much time inside the JYPe building all the time 
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Jeongin 
Meets you through Changbin 
You went to the same high school as him and you kinda just stuck around
Changbin brings you to the dorm bcs he borrowed a hoodie 
The entire dorm greets you really brightly 
Jeongin’s the only one just watching in awe 
He’s so shy when you wave at him 
Seungmin notices and raises a brow 
“I-I’m Jeongin” 
“Hi Jeongin! Changbin talks about you guys a lot” 
He’s so nervous 
He wants to know you more, but he also doesn’t want to make it obvious that he’s taking interest in you 
The others don’t really notice because they’re too excited by the new person 
Seungmin, on the other hand, tells Changbin about it 
Changbin now makes it his mission to bring you two together 
He brings you over to the dorm more often 
Especially if Jeongin’s the only one home 
“(Y/n), you’ve met Innie before right?”
You nod
Jeongin’s adorable 
Changbin ends up bringing you over for movie nights 
Now you’re just an honorary member of the group 
Everyone else loves you 
Jeongin always tries to sit next to you during movie nights 
Especially if it’s a horror movie 
When you get scared, you hug his arm and he likes that 
Makes him feel like he’s able to protect you like a big strong man ᕙ(`▽´)ᕗ
You kinda like him too
So you test the waters around him 
You start talking to him more since Changbin told you he’s really shy 
Jeongin slowly eases into your company 
It takes a bit of time, but he’s started getting more confident around you 
You visit the dorm thinking Changbin’s there because he stole your favourite belt 
When Jeongin opens the door he’s all :D but when you ask where his hyung is he goes D: 
Tells you he’s not home but lets you in anyway 
No one else is home except for Jeongin and Chan 
So you sit in the living room with Innie 
You start talking about random things 
You end up talking about almost everything because it turns out that Changbin’s gone way longer than both of you thought 
Chan eventually emerges from his bedroom and waves at you 
He orders fried chicken for you guys 
You and Jeongin continue talking while eating 
Chan finds it super cute
Jeongin’s playful around you 
But he doesn’t want to make himself appear immature 
But you like when he’s being playful so you slowly ease him into being more comfortable 
He still just wants to impress you so you like him back 
Wait, when did he start liking you??? 
He realised it when you were over for a regular movie night 
You fell asleep in his lap 
Jeongin thought you were so cute 
When you wake up he asks you out 
You accept 
He cuddles you for the rest of the night and asks you to spend the night at the dorm
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487 notes · View notes
tsukiihime · 3 years
Text
Heartbreak (Bakugou x Reader), (Shinsou x Reader) Part 2
The second part to the fic I wrote, this will probably be my last post for another week since I have school to catch up on. Enjoy!
Word Count: 3.4k
Warnings: Angst, a bit more fluff on Shinsou’s end, drinking
Taglist: @sugarandsoft
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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It’s three in the morning, and Bakugou can’t sleep.
He’s beyond pissed at himself for staying up this late, but he can’t help it - he’s been in bed since nine and he can’t get you out of his mind. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you since you stormed out of the apartment. He regrets not chasing after you, he loathes himself for being such a dick and he hates himself for even letting his stupid agency dictate his personal life. He wants to tell you so bad that you’re wrong, that beating Deku doesn’t mean a damn thing to him if it means he has to lose you. He wants to hear your voice so bad it hurts. He knows you’ll be going to Shinsou - you always do when you have a bad fight. He knows you’ll be safe there, but he feels like such a fool. He let you walk out in the rain on your own. What a hero he turned out to be. 
Bakugou spends the night alternating between flipping through the endless channels on the living room TV and staring at the ceiling. Every time he closes his eyes he sees your face - anger boiling your blood, disbelief painting your features as he fights with you, tears staining your cheeks. He feels sick to his stomach imagining you walking in the cold as you leave the apartment, sniffling as you make your way out in the rain. He wants to call you to explain himself.
But he doesn’t. His pride won’t let him.
It’s his pride that makes him trudge out to bars with Denki, Mina, and Sero the next day after you leave - he needs alcohol in his system to numb himself from the thought of you. Anyone will do if it warms his bed and makes your face disappear for even a second. God, he never thought he would be so hung up on you. He downs beer after beer, dances with woman after woman. Names and faces blur together as a cacophony of voices plays in his head. 
He ends up taking someone home that night - he couldn’t remember her even if he tried. He takes her back to the apartment you shared and pushes her onto the bed you shared. He kisses her collarbone and up her neck, but he’s aiming for your favorite spots instead of hers. The image of you overlaps with her, and he sees your figure beneath him instead of some stranger. Maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe it’s his broken heart playing tricks on him.
He kisses her, imagining it’s your scent he’s breathing in rather than the vanilla and booze she smells of. He pictures your arms wrapping around his neck, your lips on his. She says his name, like honey on her lips, whispers it into his ear. And if he tries hard enough, he can twist her voice in his head to sound like you.
“Katsuki, I love you.” He hears it over and over, sees your smile and hears your laugh. “Katsuki, I love you.”
He makes her leave after that. She’s upset but he is too - an argument ensures and she storms out, leaving behind her underwear in her hurry to leave. 
He doesn’t notice. He’s too busy thinking of you.
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It’s been three weeks since your breakup with Bakugou. 
The news stations and gossip websites have been flooded with reports of Camie and Katsuki - neither have said anything about their relationship and the speculation of if they are or aren’t a couple is driving everyone wild. Thankfully, the people who were leaving awful comments have long since left you alone, prompting you to turn your Instagram to private and changing your username so they can’t find you easily. 
You’ve been avoiding social media like the plague, ignoring all television interviews that involve either Bakugou or Camie - you’ve learned your lesson from the night of the Hero Rankings. But you’re only human after all, and the one time your curiosity got the better of you, you dove into the comments on a tabloid’s website to see what the public was saying.
It doesn’t escape your notice that the comments are much kinder - it ranges from well wishes to remarks about how they wish they could replace Bakugou or Camie in the relationship. No one mentions you, which you are grateful for. You know the media thrives off of drama and rumors, so you’re content to have been forgotten about in this narrative. 
Shinsou’s been treating you like normal - another thing you’re grateful for. He is kind without being overbearing, and he gives you distance while also being there for you when you need it. You’ve migrated from sleeping on the couch to crashing in his bed, and more often than not you fall asleep to the smell of his body wash as you lay on his chest. 
You wonder what Bakugou would say if he saw you. He knew how close you and Shinsou were and still are, but anyone could think that you and the purple haired man were lovers. Here you are, getting upset at your ex-boyfriend for having a woman over two days after the breakup, when you are falling asleep in the arms of another man - even if he is your best friend. You wonder if that makes you a hypocrite. Your emotions are in chaos, all jumbled and confused. You miss physical intimacy and a part of you wonders if you’re just using Shinsou as a replacement. “It’s better to sift through these feelings when I’m calmer”, you think to yourself, “I’ll come back to it when I’m in a better place.”
Otherwise, you’ve been steadily making your way back to a normal life - work, school, and your personal life all seem to be peaceful and you’re content in a way you hadn’t been for a long time with Bakugou. Of course, the wounds of the breakup are still healing, but you’re doing a lot better from three weeks ago, when you couldn’t even bring yourself to get out of bed. Shinsou has been making sure that you eat properly and that you take care of yourself. Now that you’re out of that post breakup funk, he notices that you’re cheerful and upbeat - a good sign that you’re slowly recovering from your heartbreak.
Today, you’re home alone while Shinsou patrols the city - he’s promised to pick up dinner on his way home so you don’t have to cook. He’s looking forward to tonight - you’ve finished all of your school work for the weekend and you’re off from work until Monday. He’s eager to come home to you, he’s turned down his coworkers invitations to drink so he can spend the weekend with you. He’s picked up food from your favorite Mexican restaurant, and he’s stopped at the grocery store to get your favorite flavor of ice cream - the one that’s almost always sold out. 
He arrives home to see you lazing about the house - you’re laying on your back on the couch, holding your pastel Animal Crossing Edition Switch with a bag of chips resting on the table next to you. Your eyebrows are furrowed together as you focus on beating the shit out of a boss in Cuphead - a game you and Shinsou spent hours playing when it came out trying to pass the incredibly difficult levels. You’re wearing Shinsou’s favorite hoodie again - you might as well claim it as your own already you wear it so much - and your fuzzy cat print socks match with a fluffy cat ear headband that keeps your hair out of your face. Your face is recently washed and slightly pink, and he can smell your favorite coconut body wash from where he’s standing. He waits until you lose the stage (let's face it - there’s no way you’re beating that damn clown boss without his help) and he makes his way over to you, leaning over to look down at you as you exhale in annoyance at your loss. 
“Hey there, I got dinner. Also nabbed some dessert for you - ready to watch nothing but ghost stories for the rest of the night?” You stretch out your arms and legs, groaning as you move to stand from the couch. 
“Only if you promise to sleep next to me until I see sunlight again.” You hate ghost stories - you can handle scary movies about murderers and clowns but you don’t mess with ghosts. The only reason you’re watching tonight is because you know it’s Shinsou’s favorite and he always watches your nature documentaries even though you know deep down he probably doesn’t enjoy them as much as you do. You saunter over to the kitchen, and prop yourself on the counter facing Shinsou as you pull a taco to your mouth. “Ugh, even though the Exorcist was made like 50 years ago it still gives me the creeps. I can’t believe,” you take a moment to drink some water, “that you can watch her crawl backwards down the stairs and not piss your pants.” Shinsou lowly chuckles, giving a teasing smile as he unwraps his burrito.
“It’s ‘cause I’m not a chicken.” You roll your eyes and snort. 
“Whatever Mindjack. Not everyone can be as fearless as you.” He smirks as you swing your legs, turning your full attention to the taco you have in front of you. “Hurry up and finish so we can do a facemask before our movie marathon. You didn’t forget about that did you?” 
“‘Course not. You wouldn’t let me forget even if I tried, since you’re such a nagger.” You pout, hopping off the counter to wash your hands. Shinsou spends a bit too much time admiring how small you look wearing his hoodie - enveloped in something that belongs to him makes him swell with pride even if it’s wrong of him to think so. He wonders when he started to feel this way towards you, when his love changed from a close friend to an admirer. When he remembers his life, you are always there with him. By his side like a part of his body, always around when important events pass by, always by his side when the going gets tough. It’s not as if he’s always been pining for you - he’s brought other girlfriends around before even if the romance fizzles out before long - but recently he’s noticed you in a different light. Your bedhead and your sleeping face are just as cute to him as when you have your hair done and makeup on. Bringing other men over was never a problem, you’re his best friend and your happiness was always the first priority. But now, he finds himself annoyed at the mere mention of possible partners. You have no shortage of those - you’ve always been able to draw people to you as nerdy as you are - and the green vines of jealousy wrap around his heart every time someone gives you a gift on Valentine’s Day or someone asks you out for a coffee. You usually turn them down since you have so much to focus on, work and school makes you a busy woman after all. But he can’t help but be irritated at the stares you get in public sometimes - as beautiful as you are, you would think that you’d notice the way others look at you. He’s always loved you, but now he feels this once platonic love changing into pure romance, he aches for you like he’s never had before - longing for your touches, your hugs, your feather light kisses on his forehead when he’s having a tough day. The guilt he feels every time he holds you close like he did when you were kids, when you lay your head on his chest and he plays with your hair. To you, it’s still the action of a best friend, but to him it’s something he’d do for a lover. And yet, you’re oblivious, as dense as a rock but he loves that part too. How infuriatingly adorable you are sometimes. 
“‘Toooooshi~”, You wave your hand in his face as he comes back to reality. You raise an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“Never better.” Your arms cross as you stare at him, suspicious that he’s hiding something from you. 
“You ready? I got everything set up.” He nods, and you turn to walk towards his bedroom.
Shinsou’s room is quite neat, a black bed in the corner next to ceiling to floor windows that gives a pretty good view of the city. He scored a good location in spite of his modest salary - he’s in it for the heroism and the good deeds, not the money. He may not make as much as Bakugou, Todoroki, or Deku, but he does alright. His capture weapon and artificial vocal cords mask rest atop his bookshelf, populated with picture books of you and him in your younger days, as well as a Polaroid camera you left with him when he went off to U.A and you stayed in Saitama. Next to the parts of his Hero costume is a picture of you and him on a trip to the beach - one he treasures above all else. In it, he holds you bridal style as you both smile from ear to ear at the camera. You’re practically glowing, wearing a bright yellow bikini set with a see through beach coverup wrapped around your hips, sunglasses resting atop your head. Shinsou recalls how you nagged him to actually swim with you, and you pretty much forced him to wear those green swim shorts - this picture was before he decided to run with you in his arms to the water. 
He sees your presence everywhere he looks in his room. After he reassured you that you weren’t a burden, you’ve basically turned his home into your home as well. The bottom half of his bookshelf is claimed as yours - it’s filled with your favorite stories, and your collection of Switch games is stacked next to the shelf neatly. Your laptop rests on his bed (you were no doubt doing homework before you got distracted and started playing Cuphead before he got home) with your Geology textbook open and notebooks filled with notes and highlighted phrases. Your clothes have been hung up in his closet, with your makeup and perfumes taking over three-fourths of his bathroom counter. If anyone else came to visit, they’d think you two were an item.
But alas, you two are not.
You push your schoolwork and computer aside to make room for you and Hitoshi, making your way towards the bathroom to grab a basket of skin care products and face masks. Shinsou knows how much you care about your skin - and by extension his skin - and he watches as you walk from here to there gathering what you need. You turn to him with a huge grin on your face as you hold up a matching cat headband in the color black, something you picked up from the store before you came home last week. He sighs, but turns around anyways to allow you to pull his lavender hair back into a loose ponytail and place the cat headband on his head before turning back to face you. 
He looks so silly wearing it, but for you, he’ll do anything. You grab your phone and open the front camera, sticking your tongue out while grabbing Shinsou’s face, squishing his cheeks as he makes an annoyed face at the camera. After taking the photo, you upload it to your now private Instagram and send the picture to Shinsou who does the same. He’s always been a private man, so you don’t worry about the public getting a hold of the photos and trying to make a story out of your life like with Bakugou. 
Tossing your phone aside, you motion for Hitoshi to turn towards you, propping yourself up on your knees in front of him as he sits cross legged. You giggle as he looks back at you, reaching to grab a jar of your favorite moisturizer and opening it. The smell is familiar to him - you always smell like it at night when you watch TV while sitting next to him in the living room. You start to apply the product to his face, careful to keep it out of his eyes and mouth. “You need to take better care of your skin ‘Toshi.”
“I know. I’ve been putting sunscreen on like you’ve asked.” He’s not lying, it’s become a part of his routine ever since you suggested it. 
“Good. You better be taking the time to eat properly at work too. I know you’re sleeping normally again since I’ve been here, so I won’t lecture you on that.” You glance at his arms, covered in scattered scars from run ins with villains. 
Most people look at heroes as an invincible force, unstoppable like All Might. Others may see Mindjack, but you just see Hitoshi Shinsou, your partner in crime.
“Thank you Hitoshi...for everything.” You blurt it out before you can stop yourself.
“I didn’t know this facemask meant so much to you.” You punch him in the shoulder as he laughs.
“‘Toshi, I’m serious. Look at all you’ve done for me. You let me crash here, listen to me complain, make sure I’m okay...without you, I probably would still be lying in bed all depressed.” You wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. “I have to say it before I never get the chance to. You may be Mindjack, a hero, but you’re still Hitoshi to me. You do so much for me and you put your life on the line for others every day. I watch you and I’m proud of the boy who proved everyone wrong when they said you had a villain’s quirk. You being here for me after everything with Bakugou and always being there for me growing up makes me realize how much you mean to me. You’re my hero, ‘Toshi. But I need you to stay safe. Look at all your scars...” You pull back from the hug and grab his arms, running your fingers over his scarred skin. You’ve always known Shinsou’s job is dangerous - he’s a hero after all, he saves people. But he’s also your best friend. He’s a selfless man, a kind man. 
You love Shinsou. You truly do, he is someone you can never lose. To lose him would be to lose a part of you.
He says nothing in response, so you continue. “Remember that time you fought that villain in the subway? All the news stations said that the tunnel was going to collapse and I just felt like my heart was going to burst. I saw you getting trapped and I felt like…”
You trail off, feeling the familiar sting of tears as you hold them back. Hitoshi gazes at you, lilac eyes boring into your own. “I felt like my whole world was ending. When you came out alright I thought I would faint. I was so scared ‘Toshi… scared you wouldn’t come back. I don’t want to lose you.” Shinsou grabs your cheeks, gently moving his hands so you face him. He wipes a tear from your eye. 
“I’ll always come back to you.” You close your eyes, and press your forehead to his.
“You better. I’ll be waiting.”
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Bakugou wants to be anywhere else but here. 
He’s at Kirishima’s apartment - he’s been dragged out of his house by Mina and Kaminari for a night of drinking, with Sero and Jirou also coming along for the ride. The blonde would rather be in bed, wallowing in his misery, but his friends won’t let him stay inside. So he pouts in the corner, arms crossed and a permanent scowl painting his features. Kirishima gives him a knowing smile, and mouths “I’m sorry”. Bakugou clicks his tongue and looks away, grabbing his phone in order to distract himself from all the noise. 
He would rather die than admit it, but he’s been looking for your Instagram ever since you left. You must’ve unfollowed him or even blocked him - he can’t find a trace of you anywhere. He hates this pathetic side of him, one that makes him seem like a stalker, but he has to know you’re okay. If his pride won’t let him call you, then he needs to know you’re okay.
To his surprise, you pop up on his feed. He immediately inspects the photo of you, and breathes a sigh of relief to see your face. Your tongue is sticking out all playful, beaming as you hold Hitoshi’s face for the photo. You’re wearing that cat headband you always use when washing your face, and he can tell you’re almost ready for bed. He smiles solemnly, vermilion eyes staring at you, so far away.
He notices you’re wearing one of Shinsou’s hoodies and his blood boils at the thought - he knows you are friends but he hates the idea of anyone else having you - although he shouldn’t be one to talk after bringing home that girl from the club. He hates himself for doing it. He stares at your face before standing, saying a curt “I’ll be back” before making his way to the balcony. His friend’s voices fade as he stands outside overlooking the city, and he makes sure the coast is clear before dialing your number.
Fuck his pride. He has to hear your voice. 
203 notes · View notes
shorkbrian · 4 years
Note
Okay hear me out and bear with my dumbass unrealistic thirst for a sec; imagine a real life reader who was obsessed with our anime character shinsou! She eventually gets over him, gets a real boyfriend, removes all those dumb poster, body pillows and photos of him. Only to get pounded on the mattress in the middle of the night by an angry shinsou who was watching everything behind a screen ✍️( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)💅 This is so unrealistic I'm so sorry—
This was supposed to be a Drabble but man? idek anymore what am I doing everything I do SUXXs lol 
(also you aren’t a dumbass lol that's MY job)
Okay wait but what if it wasn’t Anime Character! Shinsou but instead was like, Famous Instagrammer! Shinsou   👀
Like maybe he’s a model or does dance covers on youtube and has quite a few (2+ mil) followers. Dude’s got merch, t-shirts and photo cards and even a special edition body pillow (that you were lucky enough to buy before it sold out).
You follow him for years, from the time you were in middle school to now, watching his career, tuning into every instagram live and watching every story and following every fan account.
Freshman in college, you send him a message on instagram, A picture of you with a body pillow with his face plastered on it. You tell him how big of a fan you were, how you loved each picture that he released, you’ve been following him since day one and are so proud of how hard he worked to get where he is today.
Of course, nothing comes of it - you don’t think Shinsou even read it, but that almost has an appeal, doesn’t it? He’d never notice you, never know how obsessed you were with him back in high school, wouldn’t tease you for liking him so much. He was unattainable, an ideal so out of reach that you could safely idolize and love and imagine being with. You would never have to worry about the stress of him being in your life, whether to tell him about your giant crush or suffer through each day pining after someone who knew of your love, but didn’t love you back.
You were just another faceless fan in the crowd.
How do you know Shinsou doesn’t know who you are?
When he was first up-and-coming, he checked every account that followed him, excited to meet people that liked him, praised him for his talent, admired his hard work and commitment.
For some reason, you stood out to him, supporting him behind your screen. He noticed every comment you left on his posts, looked to see if you liked each picture, asked his agents if anyone with your name had bought his merch.
Eventually he made a burner account to follow you back, find you on snapchat, facebook; any social media of yours he could get his hands on.
Just as you were a fan of him, he was a fan of you.
But how were you supposed to know?
For some reason, Shinsou could never get himself to reach out to you. Shoot you a message and thank you for your unwavering love and support. And by the time he built up the courage, he was too big and too popular that his management wouldn’t let him respond to individual fans.
So Shinsou watched.
He learned how to track IP addresses and hack into a phone (it was harder than he thought), all for you. He wrote down your address and took note of the apps you had on your phone, eventually learned how to access your camera on your laptop and would check in on you whenever he could during his busy schedule.
For as much as you watched him, he watched you.
And it wasn’t creepy, how could it be? He wasn’t doing anything wrong, or bad. His life was broadcasted for everyone to see, and since you loved him so much, you wouldn’t mind your idol getting a glimpse into your life.
Sometimes he would sit down between shoots, pull out his phone to watch you in your college classes, typing away diligently on your laptop as you too notes, face scrunched in concentration.
If you left your laptop open at night on your desk, Shinsou would check in and see you curled around his body pillow, squeeze his own pillow tighter (if only it was you) in return.
He learned so much about you. But as the years went by, Shinsou found himself featured less and less in your life.
The pictures plastered on yours walls were slowly removed, replaced with pictures of you with your friends, out doing normal stuff that Shinsou wished he was able to do. His management would never let him go hang out at diners, or go to concerts unless it was some endorsement. You got to do all the things Shinsou couldn’t
You slowly stopped leaving comments on his post, you didn’t buy his merch anymore. Worst of all, you got rid of the body pillow and replaced it with an actual boyfriend.
Shinsou was hurt. You were supposed to love him, not some stupid classmate of yours. Shinsou had to watch as the two of you cuddled close to watch a movie on your laptop, sharing popcorn and buttery kisses.
It made him ache inside.
His biggest fan had replaced him.
One night he checked in to see you had left your laptop open on your desk again, giving him a perfect front row seat to you.... and your boyfriend...... having sex.
Shinsou snapped.
He still had your address - you had never moved out of your hometown. It was just a few hours from his next photoshoot, so he started planning.
He was going to make you his fan again, whether you liked it or not.
You were only allowed to support him, to love him.
Shinsou was going to make sure you didn’t forget.
806 notes · View notes
hes-writer · 4 years
Text
Trial (4)
Summary: harry and y/n face the truth
Warnings: angst, a tiny bit of fluff
Word Count: 4249 words
A/N: thank you so much for supporting this series !! @devilinbetweenthesheet-s. I will do the taglist later in the day :)
EDIT: idk why the ‘read more’ is not working. I apologize for the scrolling!!
Part 4 of the Tarnish series!
___
Harry was crying.
Admitting his feelings when he was younger was quite a task for him. Now that he was nearly in his thirties, the journey of being vulnerable with himself and with his feelings became easier with each emotion that he permitted himself to submerge in. Harry validated those emotions--he was allowed to experience them because it makes him human. It added texture to the ever-growing mosaic that painted who he was as an individual. Adding to the people that surrounded him, influenced by their kind-nature and the goodness of their heart to become who he was now.
And now, it seemed like his emotions increased tenfold. The clench of his abdomen and the harsh jolt of his chest forced his slouched shoulder to stay deflated. His breathing hitched as sobs threatened to take over, throat sore with the effort to keep it all in because Harry was smart enough to know that these emotions coursing through him right now were ones he wasn’t validated to feel. Paired with the latest information that that little girl being held by another man was his own daughter--and that the woman who was glowing with her caring, motherly-instincts was supposed to be his family; it broke him completely. 
Quaking thoughts circled his brain and punctured his muscles as if they were attacking him not only mentally, but physically as well in exchange for his past mistakes that he couldn’t quite place if he deeply regretted or not. Was it a mistake to cheat on Y/N? To leave her alone in the exposure of the public eye while she was carrying his child in her tummy? 
Harry should have known the day she fell sick and vomited in their kitchen sink. He was, sadly, too busy throwing a subdued celebration of finally having time alone with Camille. He should have noticed the way her face brightened with radiance. Or the way her cravings for strawberries and pickles either grossed her out or completely compelled her to consume more than she usually would. 
But Harry guessed that that was around the time his efforts went out the window because he didn’t have to pretend to care as much anymore. Camille appeared to be his one and only. With their relationship coming so close to being revealed and Y/N having one foot out the door, Harry let fate play out the rest. Don’t get him wrong, Harry still loved Camille; that was why his slashed heart still throbbed at the sight of her watching over her little cousin, yet knowing that the topic of children was still not a card on the table. 
The distress that he was feeling right now was core-shredding, heartbreaking grief that left a hole in his heart. The worst part was that Harry didn’t exactly know how to fix it or whether he even could. As he walked to his car with hands jammed into his pockets, he was grateful that the hood of his sweater hid his face and the tears sliding down the slope of his cheeks.
His senses were in overdrive, figuring out how to fix the mess he created. Wanting to run up to Y/N and ask her why she didn’t tell him, needing to feel his little girl in his arms. Pinching his skin to transfer the pain he felt in his heart because of the thought that he missed his baby’s first words, her first steps. Was it ‘dada’ that babbled out of her mouth? Did she reach out for Connor when she stumbled over nothing when she walked on stubby legs? Did Y/N mention his name to her?
“Harry!” 
He kept on walking despite the hushed call of his name, assuming that it was a fan that caught sight of him and wanted a picture. Harry adores them, but now is hardly the time to fake a smile or act like his life didn’t just flash right before his eyes--quite literally. 
The vehicle beeped as Harry pressed the ‘unlock’ button on his key fob, just about ready to pull the door open and shield himself from prying eyes. He flinched when a hand fell on his shoulder, “Harry,” 
He looked up to find Gemma panting, resting her hand on the roof of the car, “Are you. . .alright?” Her drifting eyes inspected his face, tinted a slight pink and moist with the salty liquid dripping from his tear ducts.
Huffing in annoyance, Harry clutched the handle to let himself in. Gemma followed his actions, shutting the door and locking it. The tinted windows of the car provided a semi-private enclosure that was filled with Harry’s sniffling and Gemma’s heavy breathing, trying to catch her breath. 
“H-her name is Halo,” Gemma began, gulping when Harry paused his ministrations, straining his ears to listen despite the dull thud occupying his vessels. “She’s almost two years old,”
“You said you didn’t know,” Harry’s gruff tone echoed. Gemma anxiously rubbed the ends of her palms against her jeans. “Why didn’t you tell me? You knew all this time and y’didn’t tell me,”
“I-I was--she didn’t want me--” 
“Why would she tell you and not me? I’m the one that dated her,” He raised his voice with every syllable he spoke. The frustration he felt from seeing the woman he once loved living the reality they shared together, except he wasn’t anywhere in the picture and that reality was only a fantasy in his life now. “It doesn’t make sense,” He rested his forearms on the wheel, facing the car’s symbol.
“The baby is yours, Harry,”
His head quipped with speed, grazing his forehead on the rounded leather but that pain didn’t amount to the new wave washing over him. “W-what?”
“It’s really not my place to tell,” Gemma said nervously, making eye contact with Harry’s searing yet teary gaze. “She wanted to tell you but you were so happy with Camille. She was posting these things on her Instagram about your trips and Y/N called me crying because you looked so free and happy without her. Y/N didn’t want to ruin what you guys had by dropping this on you,”
"That's-that's my baby?" Harry stuttered over his words while tugging his head out of his memories. Gemma nodded in confirmation. “Then why in the world was she--Halo?--calling him ‘dada’? 
“Look, Harry, you’re not stupid. You know why Halo called Connor her dad,” Gemma spoke slowly, “This is a conversation that you need to have with Y/N if she lets you,”
At the mention of the man’s name, Harry couldn’t help but be filled with anger. He barely knew this man yet he received everything that Harry wanted in life. ‘But she’s my kid. I’m her dad. I’m the one who’s supposed to give her kisses and make her laugh,” He mumbled quietly as if his inner thoughts were far too strong to be kept in his mind
He was staring mindlessly at the numbers on his dashboard, hands gripping the leather steering wheel to try and ground himself. "But if that's my baby, how can she call someone who's not her father, dad?" He whipped his head towards Gemma, searching for validation that would make him feel better but the siblings were aware that he lost that title three years ago. 
“I think you know you lost that place in their lives,” She reached a comforting hand to pat his arm, feeling just how tense he was under the fabric.
Harry shrugged her off, pinching his brows and pursing his lips as sadness began to swirl down the drain only to be replaced with resentment, irritation and bitterness. The taste on his tongue was hot with anger and his ears felt warm as he wheezed air instead of opting to yell his dissatisfaction near his sister. 
“This isn't fair. She's m’baby too. Connor is not her father,” He spat with venom, “I am,” A pointed finger poked his chest. "She knew she was pregnant when she left me. She’s so fuckin’ selfish. How could she do this to me? 
Gemma was quick to remind him of his actions, "You cheated on her, Harry.” Gemma cowered back at Harry’s beady eyes glaring at her with an unreadable emotion, stone-cold. “Maybe you should go home. Calm down a little bit,”
“No!” Harry cut Gemma off, “Need t’a hear her say it myself,” 
Harry didn’t know what his plan was when he harshly slammed the car door behind him, practically storming on the patches of grass like a mad man. It wasn’t hard to spot the picture-perfect family sitting on a park bench which brought a scowl to his shielded face. He wanted to give Y/N a piece of his mind and it wasn’t necessarily the nicest thoughts that crossed his brain. 
Halo was sitting on Connor’s lap while he was feeding her a peeled cupcake. Red velvet with cream cheese frosting—-Harry felt like he was punched in the gut. The baked good was Y/N’s specialty and it had a lot of sentimental value to both of them. It was what she baked for their first year together. He could vividly see her frosting-dotted nose, aiming to splotch the cream on his cheek while she laughed. Harry wrapped his arms around her, hugging Y/N from behind and proceeding to kiss her sweet cheek, leaving the perfect opportunity to stain his skin with the frosting. 
But he didn’t care if he was smashed headfirst into the cake (as long as it wasn’t ice cream cake)—Harry just wanted to see her smile and hear her laugh heartily. 
Y/N was snuggled on Connor’s shoulder, fixing Halo’s hair as she made grabby hands at the confection. He cannot lie--Connor was a handsome man. Harry rarely felt intimidated or insecure, but seeing that this man managed to snatch everything Harry could ever want seemingly in a blink of an eye; Harry felt very jealous. 
He pouted, eyes rimmed red and lips quivering wishing that Cory or Connor--whatever that little shit’s name was would disappear so that Harry could take his place instead. Actually, it was his spot in the first place. Only if he didn’t mess up, he thought. He missed Y/N so much! Seeing Y/N in her element of niceness and bright-gleaming smiles sent a truck full of sand down his throat as he gulped his emotion below the surface. The closer he got to them, his vision tunnelled towards Halo; brown, flouncy curls and a cute dimple embedded in her cheek as she giggled, accidentally knocking the cupcake on the ground.  
If that wasn’t symbolism staring at Harry straight in the face; a sign that their so-called relationship really had no chance of reprieve. Harry chose to ignore it.
Connor clutched Halo tightly against him, crouching down with a napkin to clean up the scattered cake on the ground. Y/N was the first to notice him, her forehead creasing as her eyes bulged at the sight of Harry walking towards them. She subtly poked at Connor’s arm, hurting Harry even more because it meant that Y/N felt uncomfortable with his presence. 
He was close enough to read her pink lips, “We should go,” matched with Y/N’s frantic actions of packing the juice boxes and the Tupperware of cupcakes into the tote bag beside her. Connor searched the park until his gaze landed on Harry, protectively shielding Halo from him. 
Is he serious? Harry thought. That’s my own daughter.
Speaking of Halo, the two-year-old happily continued munching on her new cupcake, frowning slightly when Connor stood up, “Why we leaving, Daddy? Did I do somethin’ bad?”
Y/N sighed, they promised that Halo could play at the park all day and now it was cut short because of a certain someone. 
“No, you didn’t, bub. Let Daddy explain at home, okay baby?” Connor hitched Halo higher on his hip, hoping that she wouldn’t ask any more questions until the trio left.
“Who’s that?” Halo asked, pointing at Harry only metres away from them. Her stubby finger outstretched at the stranger in front of her, eyes bright and sparkling with curiosity. There was no sign of recognition painting her green orbs. 
Harry gulped, wanting so badly to scream “I’m your dad!” but he knew that Y/N will add that to the list of his mistakes he had made. 
“No one, angel,” Connor planted a kiss on her head, looking over at Y/N who had finished packing everything up. He tilted his chin in an attempt to scare Harry off.
But the thing was, Harry was already scared. He could feel his stomach in his throat but vomiting wasn’t the right word to describe it. His heart drooped deeper than the levels of the Earth. He was scared because his family was right in front of him but he couldn’t touch them or hug them in his arms. He was only allowed to look from the outside because there was a small possibility of being forgiven.
“Y/N. . .” Harry began hesitantly. The surge of confidence he had decreased with each passing second. He kept a close eye.
Y/N shrugged the strap on her shoulder, “Leave us alone, Harry.”
He felt his anger disappearing, a new emotion cascading his tear ducts and the blood in his veins. Harry looked back in retrospect; she really did mean it when Y/N said that she never wanted him around again. “I just want to talk. Please, let’s talk,”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you, Harry,”  Connor interrupted, grabbing the bag from Y/N and wrapping an arm over her shoulder, guiding them away from Harry. “She’s happy without you, mate. can’t you see?”
Harry kept his gaze trained on Y/N’s face, actively avoiding eye contact but drifted when Halo’s frown caught his stare. The little girl’s chin was hooked over Connor’s shoulder, squirming in his arms in an attempt to stop him from walking. Halo was smart enough to know that Harry’s expression screamed sadness and her mummy said that “you need to find a way to make them happy” if someone was sad.
“Wait!” Her shrill yell caused both Connor and Y/N to turn around. A piece of Harry’s heart shattered on the floor when Halo pulled Connor down by the nape of his neck, small hand leading his ear next to her lips. Then, she did the same to Y/N, pointing at Harry which caused him to straighten his stance, wanting to impress his daughter even though there was no point.
The couple shared a look before ultimately having Connor walk closer to Harry. Halo gripped her cupcake towards him, “‘ere y’go hawwy,’ She still couldn’t pronounce her ‘r’s’ yet. 
Harry began to sob. 
It was his daughter and those were the first words she had uttered to him. She didn’t know him yet Halo treated him with kindness and it ripped at his chest because Y/N must’ve taught her that. His palms became wet as tears streamed from his eyes, dampening the sleeves of his hoodie. He didn't care about looking foolish in front of them, not when his daughter saw him as a stranger and called Connor her ‘dada’. 
Halo recoiled at the sudden reaction, her lips curving downwards, “Dada, mama, he’s cwyin’,” She tucked her face at the junction of Connor’s shoulder and neck, scared that she made him cry. Halo didn’t mean to make him cry. She felt so guilty that she started spilling tears of her own too, her face contorting into a scrunched expression as her mouth wailed open sobs, matching Harry’s. 
Harry’s first instinct was to take a step forward and comfort Halo but he was rendered frozen when Connor shot him a glare, shifting Halo’s body out of reach and he could only see her face over the man’s shoulder. Y/N dimmed her eyes, brows pinching when she couldn’t help but let a smidge of sympathy wash over her. She muttered a few words to Connor, pushing him by the small of his back towards the parking lot. 
When they were out of earshot, Y/N faced Harry, “What were you thinking? Are you trying to mess everything up again?” He tried to cut in, “Isn’t it bad enough that we’re talking about this in public? Why must you ruin everything, Harry?” She whisper-shouted, trying her best not to garner them any attention. 
“N-no, Gemma told me and I jus’ wanted to see her--and you. Wanted to hear the truth come out of your mouth,” His large hands jammed into his pockets to prevent him from fiddling with them. 
“Look, you have no right coming here,”
“I know that b-but I--,”
She held a palm up, “I’m not sadistic like you Harry. If you thought that I wouldn’t let you around her then you’re wrong. As much as I hate to admit it, I do miss you and I wish that you were there for us when we needed you,”
“I had no idea--,”
“Will you let me speak?” Her tone carried irritation. “But we’re alright now and we don’t need you anymore.”
Harry never thought that those statements would ever come out of Y/N’s mouth. “Don’t you think I deserve to get to know her?” 
She sighed, “Deserve? Definitely not.” He nodded in agreement. “But I’d live in regret if Halo never got to know her real father. . .”
Harry’s expression lit up, hopeful eyes shooting glances at her, “D-does that mea--? Are you--?”
“You can see her. You can get to know her but only because you’re Halo’s father,” Y/N took a brave step forward, ignoring the way her heart throbbed as if she was being stabbed by a thousand knives. Painful memories drifted in and out of her train of thought until she shook her head to muster them out. It was in the past but she could never forget the feeling of hopelessness taking over her whole body. 
With a hand on his shoulder, she continued, “Anyone can be a father and you’re just that. Don’t think that you’re entitled to anything more. You will never be her dad. Connor is. Understood?”
Harry took a deep breath and swallowed a heavy gulp, “I. . .understand. Thank you, Y/N. For letting me back in when I don’t deserve it,” He glanced at the two tiny figures piling in the car. He could just imagine himself plucking little Halo into her booster seat, booping her nose as she asked for the hundredth time why she had to sit at the back and not at the front with them. 
“I’m not finished,” She deadpanned, “You are going to be there for her. Not for me, not for us because our relationship is over. You can hurt me as you did before and I can accept it but don’t you dare try to hurt her,” 
And it was true. Having endured his painful game once before, Y/N was stronger now. She could take heartbreak as agonizing as that but she wouldn’t dare stand seeing Halo’s teary eyes staring back at her, asking why Harry had left them. She was far too young to experience the feeling when a piece of herself is ripped apart. 
“I won’t hurt her. I promise,”
“I heard those words come out from your mouth years ago and look where we are now. Once you hurt her, it’s over.”
“Y/N, t-that’s hardly fair. I am her dad, aren’t I?” Harry cleared his throat at Y/N’s raised brow.
“No, you’re not. We just went through this, Harry.”
“Don’t call me that,” He muttered quietly because she only ever called him ‘baby’ or ‘h’.
“Will you stop? I laid out my cards. If you want to even have a speck of presence in her life, then you have to abide by what I said,” She crossed her arms in defence, “You will never be Halo’s dad, Harry. Connor is her dad. I don’t know how many more times I have to repeat this before it gets through you thick head,”
He opened his mouth to talk, “No wiggle room whatsoever?”
“No. Do I have to write a letter for you to understand that?”
In a moment of hurt and despair, Harry spat out, “Might as well, yeah? Waited over two years to tell me anyway,”
“Are you kidding me?”
His throat ran dry, realizing that he just ticked another box to favour against being a part of his daughter’s life, “I-I’m sorry. I didn't mean to,”
“Whatever. Are you willing to make the sacrifice?”
“This isn’t the place to talk about this,” Harry suggested, wanting to have some sort of foot on the ground so he doesn’t feel like he’s topping over with guilt and sadness. “Maybe you can come over to my house,”
Y/N shook her head, glancing briefly at her phone when it buzzed, “No. I will not step foot in that house again. If you really want to discuss it, you can come over at our place,”
“Your place?” Did they all live together? Well, that was another slap to the face. Not only was Connor playing dad to Halo, but he was also part of the household. Harry’s face must have contorted into a grimace because Y/N sighed softly. 
“Yes, our place. Meaning all three of us,” She gestured behind her. “I have to go. You can probably get my number from Gemma; you can text me then.”
“Yes, yes! Of course, I want to talk to you. . . about this, I mean,” Harry lowered his enthusiasm. The small voice in his head reverberating that this was not about him and Y/N; this was about Halo. 
“And make sure you don’t bring anyone else,” Y/N said sarcastically, subtly pointing in the direction of the paparazzi hiding behind some bushes. Harry was usually good at spotting them but today was just a puddle of hurt and confusion. “I don’t want her having to read nasty things like I did,”
What Y/N said may have been a side comment, but Harry couldn’t help but take it to heart. Was this a good idea? Sure, he wanted to be a present dad in Halo’s life. However, is it worth it to stir unwanted drama? If only he didn’t cheat on Y/N, all of this could have been avoided. 
With his mind in a haze, Harry barely noticed Y/N’s figure moving away from him. He jogged to catch up with her, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. Harry felt numb to the way she shrugged her touch off of her immediately, “Were you ever going to tell me about our daughter?’
Y/N stared at him quizzically, tilting her head a little bit sideways, “I thought I did? Wait!” A look of recognition plastered across her features, “I did try to tell you but you blocked me before the message sent through,”
Harry gulped with realization. He blearily remembered  bitterly blocking her number just as she texted “I need to tell you something,”
___
Y/N: Since you’re not picking up my calls
I need to tell you something
Y/N took a deep breath as her thumbs tapped on the letters slowly as if to withhold the news from him. She was not at all ready to reveal that she was pregnant and that he was the father but Y/N knew that it was the right thing to do. Despite the fact that he was currently out of the country on vacation somewhere on an island with sandy beaches with Camille. Y/N was aware that this spike of courage was rare and so, she had to do it now.
Y/N: I’m pregnant
And you’re the father
She locked the device as soon as she pressed the arrow to send the message, clutching the phone close to her chest and shutting her eyes so tightly that it hurt. Minutes passed with no response and Y/N was shouldered by curiosity to check if he had sent anything back or simply left her on ‘seen’. 
It was neither. The screaming red exclamation mark surrounded by a circle indicated that she had been blocked. 
___
The times when she left missed calls on his phone were for a reason much bigger than the two of them. Y/N didn’t call to beg for him back or to ask Harry to want her again. He was ashamed to admit that he had rolled his eyes upwards every time he clicked on a voicemail she had left, stating, “Hey H, it’s me. Call me back when you hear this. I need to talk to you,” which he deleted without a second thought. She didn’t text him endlessly to politely ask for her things packed and settled for her pick-up because Y/N could not bear to spend another second in a room with him.
It wasn’t that at all. 
Y/N was physically moving farther and farther away from him, settling herself into the car before driving off to hers and Connor’s shared house. Halo sat in the backseat, singing along to the radio.
Harry was surrounded amidst the joyful squeals of children and reprimanding voices of their parents.
He stood alone with no one but loneliness by his side and the brisk flash of cameras in his peripherals.
_____
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lokiondisneyplus · 3 years
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Holy crap. Look at Kate Herron's shirt. When the Loki director pops up on Zoom, she's donning the most glorious image anyone will see since we laid eyes on Alligator Loki: A Teletubby wearing the Loki horns. Are the Teletubbies Loki variants? Sure, why not!
"I got it on Instagram," Herron says. "There's an amazing comic book artist and he designed it. He made it into a T-shirt for me because I saw it and was like, 'That's incredible. Can I get it for the press junket?'"
Herron, no big deal, just pulled off an MCU miracle. Entering a mammoth franchise with, notably, some of Sex Education's best episodes under her belt, the director deftly brought a plot involving multiverses and Richard E. Grant in a cape and superhero mumbo-jumbo to brilliant, beautiful life. Following Loki's tear-jerking, mind-bending finale, the series has been dubbed by critics and fan's alike as one of Marvel's best efforts—which is no small feat. Of course, we needed to ask Herron how she stuck the landing. Following the most epic finale you, me, or any Teletubby can remember, Herron talked to Esquire about the Miss Minutes jump scare, filming the finale's introduction of He Who Remains, and why she won't return for Season Two of Loki.
ESQ: How are you doing?
KH: I'm good. I think I feel very relieved that I don't have to sit on the secret of He Who Remains anymore, It was a very big secret to hold, but for an important reason, right? Because it's such a good character to be launching. So yeah, I feel good.
ESQ: Loking back at your old interviews, you have such a good poker face when you're avoiding spoilers, but you're also incredible at giving aggregator crumbs.
KH: I play a lot of board games, so you need to be quite good at strategy and poker faces so people can't always read your hand. So I think weirdly board games have prepared me more for working with Marvel than anything else.
ESQ: I have to start with the Miss Minutes jump scare. What went into the decision to make her a memeable, creepy apparition in that moment?
KH: I love horror, and my executive, Kevin Wright, knew that. Me and him were talking about Episode Six and I remember that he was like, "Oh, maybe you could do something creepy of Miss Minutes." And I immediately was like, "We have to do a jump scare!" Because I haven't got to do a good jump scare in anything yet and I really wanted to, because a lot of my friends are horror directors. I was like, "I can't let them down." So I was really excited to have a shot at doing a jump scare. And Miss Minutes, it was really fun testing it because we'd kind of bring different people into the edit, me and Emma McCleave, the editor, and we'd just play it for them, watch them, and check that they were jumping when we cut it.
ESQ: One thing that I think is getting missed in all the craziness is that we see a peak moment of the love story between Loki and Sylvie. Where does the finale leave the companionship that they found in each other?
KH: When I started the show, that was always in the DNA of it—that Loki was going to meet a version of himself and they were going to fall in love. And that's honestly what drew me into the story, because I directed Sex Education. I love stories about self-love and finding your identity and your people. Loki is such a broken character when we join him, and seeing him go on this amazing journey with all this growth and finding the good points of himself in seeing her—I think that was very beautiful. It's also paying respect to the fact that Sylvie's in a very different place to him. She hasn't had the Mobius therapy session. She even says, in Episode Five, "I don't know how to do this. I don't have friends." You really feel for her because she has been on the run and her whole life has been this mission.
It's almost funny because these characters are thousands of years old, but it's almost teenage the way they both talk about their feelings for each other. I think everyone can relate to that, right? In any new relationship, there's always that kind of awkwardness and like, "Oh God, am I too keen? The important thing was the hope—like when Sylvie and him kiss, I think it is genuine and it is coming from a place of these feelings they have for each other. Obviously she does push them through that door, but for me it was a goodbye and it was with heart. But it's kind of a goodbye in the sense of like, I care about you, but I'm going to do my mission because that's where I'm at.
ESQ: I would pay for you to direct the Sex Education episode where Otis falls through a portal into the multiverse, into the main MCU.
KH: He really looks like a Loki as well, which is so funny. I always thought that. I was like Asa does look like a Loki. It didn't come to pass or anything, but it would be interesting to do a Sex Ed-Marvel crossover. I wonder who all the different characters would be within the MCU, but it would be quite funny.
ESQ: You're right, he could pull off a teenage Loki.
KH: Yeah, like a teen or a very young ’20s, maybe. But it was just funny because I was like, "Oh yeah, he looks a bit like Tom." I wonder how they could do it. I'm sure they'll find a way to do a crossover anyway.
ESQ: Can you just take me back to filming with Jonathan Majors? And you capturing him in such a compelling, quirky, scary way—I'm sure your direction was such a big part of that.
KH: I was just so excited because Jonathan is an actor that everyone was so excited about. He's like a chameleon in everything he does and he's so talented. I just feel as a director so lucky to have worked on this because I feel like I've got to work with some of the best actors out there. And when you're with Jonathan, you know you're in the presence of just someone really magnificent. For me as a director, it's giving him the space to play and feel safe. Because we filmed it all in a week, but it was a lot to film in a week. So I think it was really about creating a space where he could have fun and find this character because he's going to be playing him for a long time.
ESQ: What went into the decision to introduce us to the good guy first?
KH: I remember in the script, he comes up the elevator and it was so casual. I was like, "Oh man, that's so fun." And then Jonathan, when he plays it, he's relaxed. And I the thing he used to talk about a lot was that this is a character who's been on his own for a long time. Because at the beginning, we introduced him in a space in the universe that feels like this very busy, loud place, but actually, when we see the Citadel, he's surrounded by the Timeline and he's very isolated. Even in his costume with [designer] Christine Wada, for the idea of his outfit, he's a character who's existed for multiple millennia. So it's like, OK, let's pull from lots of different places so you can't necessarily pin down which time or which place he might be from. Also the fact that his clothes look comfy. They were like pajamas because he's living at home. He loved the idea of the office [being] the only finished part of the citadel and that the rest of the citadel was like this Sunset Boulevard kind of dusty, dilapidated space. And just again showed that he probably just keeps himself to his office. All those elements definitely fed into Jonathan's performance in terms of balancing the extrovert, but also the introvert of someone that would be living by themselves and only talking to a cartoon clock.
ESQ: It really is incredible how you pull a nail-biting finale with this battle of wits and dialogue.
KH: It was really exciting because I feel like Episode Five was a lot of fun because we got to play into all the joy of the different versions of Loki, but also just the fact that it was our big usual Marvel third act, right? Like it was where our big spectacle was as they were fighting this big monster. But I love that our finale bookends, right? We began with a conversation and we ended with one.
ESQ: I also loved that there was no end-credits scene—I think it makes the ending that much more impactful. Was there ever an end credit scene on the table, or any kind of a stinger?
KH: I think no, because weirdly, we never went after the kind of mid-credit sequences. I think we always just were thinking just of the story and where we knew we wanted it to end. For example, Episode Four, originally Loki was deleted and then we went straight to him waking up. And it was only in the edit I was like, “I think it'd be really cool actually. We should move that scene to mid-credits because then we'll really feel like Loki has died." Because if I watched that moment and then it went to the credits, I'd be like, "What?!" And then when we were talking about the best way to talk about Season Two, we were like, "Okay, well, let's do that like a little mid-credits at the end because that is exciting to confirm it in that way." I'd say we found both of those in the edit just because we wanted to kind of do it right and have a fun nod to something that Marvel does so well.
ESQ: Is there anything you can tell about the future of the story you've told here—or even where you personally would like to go with the studio or otherwise going forward?
KH: Yeah, so I'm just on for Season One. So I'm so proud of the story we told. I mean, it was amazing getting to set up the TVA and take Loki on this whole new journey. And I mean, I think we've left so much groundwork for his character, and as people see in the comics, there's so much more to be delved into. And I just am excited honestly to just see where all the characters go. Like, who is B-15? What did she see in those memories and where did Ravonna go and where is Loki? I think for me, we've set up these questions and I look forward to seeing them being answered as a fan in the next season.
ESQ: Absolutely. Well, can we please work on the Asa Butterfield Loki?
KH: I will call him and I'll be like, "You want to do some crazy Marvel crossover?"
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madmensideblog · 3 years
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MAD MEN BOOK RECS
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Happy pride/Don Draper’s fake birthday ❤️ Below the cut, I’ve listed info on my favorite Mad Men related books and a couple I haven’t read yet but I’m really looking forward to. Let me know if you check any of these out, or if you have any other recommendations! ❤️
Mad Men Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion by Matt Zoller Seitz
“Mad Men Carousel is an episode-by-episode guide to all seven seasons of AMC's Mad Men. This book collects TV and movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s celebrated Mad Men recaps—as featured on New York magazine's Vulture blog—for the first time, including never-before-published essays on the show’s first three seasons. Seitz’s writing digs deep into the show’s themes, performances, and filmmaking, examining complex and sometimes confounding aspects of the series. The complete series—all seven seasons and ninety-two episodes—is covered.
Each episode review also includes brief explanations of locations, events, consumer products, and scientific advancements that are important to the characters, such as P.J. Clarke’s restaurant and the old Penn Station; the inventions of the birth control pill, the Xerox machine, and the Apollo Lunar Module; the release of the Beatles’ Revolver and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds; and all the wars, protests, assassinations, and murders that cast a bloody pall over a chaotic decade.
Mad Men Carousel is named after an iconic moment from the show’s first-season finale, “The Wheel,” wherein Don delivers an unforgettable pitch for a new slide projector that’s centered on the idea of nostalgia: “the pain from an old wound.” This book will soothe the most ardent Mad Men fan’s nostalgia for the show. New viewers, who will want to binge-watch their way through one of the most popular TV shows in recent memory, will discover a spoiler-friendly companion to one of the most multilayered and mercurial TV shows of all time.”
A classic episode-by-episode look at the series from reviewer Matt Zoller Seitz.
The Legacy of Mad Men — Cultural History, Intermediality and American Television (Edited by Karen McNally, Jane Marcellus, Teresa Forde, and Kirsty Fairclough)
“For seven seasons, viewers worldwide watched as ad man Don Draper moved from adultery to self-discovery, secretary Peggy Olson became a take-no-prisoners businesswoman, object-of-the-gaze Joan Holloway developed a feminist consciousness, executive Roger Sterling tripped on LSD, and smarmy Pete Campbell became a surprisingly nice guy. Mad Men defined a pivotal moment for television, earning an enduring place in the medium’s history.
This edited collection examines the enduringly popular television series as Mad Men still captivates audiences and scholars in its nuanced depiction of a complex decade. This is the first book to offer an analysis of Mad Men in its entirety, exploring the cyclical and episodic structure of the long form series and investigating issues of representation, power and social change. The collection establishes the show’s legacy in televisual terms, and brings it up to date through an examination of its cultural importance in the Trump era. Aimed at scholars and interested general readers, the book illustrates the ways in which Mad Men has become a cultural marker for reflecting upon contemporary television and politics.”
This is a really beautiful collection. It was published in 2019. It’s rather expensive. (I found a used copy for much cheaper.) If you can afford it, I really, really recommend buying it. There is a pdf floating around if you know where to look though. But like I said, it’s really amazing work and the women who curated it deserve high praise and compensation.
A few favorite essays of mine include “Don Draper and the Enduring Appeal of Antonioni’s La Notte” by Emily Hoffman, “Mad Men’s Mid-Century Modern Times” by Zak Roman, “Mad Men and the Staging of Literature via Ken Cosgrove and His Problems” by Aaron Shapiro, and “What Jungian Psychology Can Tell Us About Don Draper’s Unexpected Embrace of Leonard in Mad Men’s Finale” by Marisa Carroll.
Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It Seems (Edited by William Irwin, James B. South, and Rod Carveth)
“With its swirling cigarette smoke, martini lunches, skinny ties, and tight pencil skirts, Mad Men is unquestionably one of the most stylish, sexy, and irresistible shows on television. But the series becomes even more absorbing once you dig deeper into its portrayal of the changing social and political mores of 1960s America and explore the philosophical complexities of its key characters and themes. From Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to John Kenneth Galbraith, Milton Friedman, and Ayn Rand, Mad Men and Philosophy brings the thinking of some of history's most powerful minds to bear on the world of Don Draper and the Sterling Cooper ad agency. You'll gain insights into a host of compelling Mad Men questions and issues, including happiness, freedom, authenticity, feminism, Don Draper's identity, and more.”
This collection was published just a month before the start of season 4, so it only concerns the first three seasons of the show. As such, it includes some assumptions that are proven false and a few strange misreadings that I’m sure would’ve been cleared up had they had the rest of the show at their disposal. But there are some great philosophical insights and analysis.
I haven’t yet read the whole collection, but my favorite essay of what I’ve read so far was “Pete, Peggy, Don, and the Dialectic of Remembering and Forgetting” by John Fritz.
The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men (by costume designer Janie Bryant)
From Joanie's Marilyn Monroe-esque pencil skirts to Betty's classic Grace Kelly cupcake dresses, the clothes worn by the characters of the phenomenal Mad Men have captivated fans everywhere. Now, women are trading in their khakis for couture and their pumas for pumps. Finally, it's hip to dress well again. Emmy-Award winning costume designer Janie Bryant offers readers a peek into the dressing room of Mad Men, revealing the design process behind the various characters' looks and showing every woman how to find her own leading lady style--whether it's vintage, modern, or bohemian. Bryant's book will peek into the dressing room of Mad Men and reveal the design process behind the various characters' looks. But it will also help women learn how fashion can help convey their personality. She will help them cultivate their style, including all the details that make a big difference. Bryant offers advice to ensure that a woman's clothes convey her personality. She covers everything from where to find incredible vintage clothing and accessories to how to pair those authentic pieces with modern shoes and jeans. Readers will learn how to find their perfect bra size, use color to convey a mood, and invest in the ten essentials every woman should own. And just so the ladies don't leave their men behind, there's even a section on making them look a little more Don Draper-dashing.
I recently ordered a used copy of this book and haven’t yet received it, but I’m very much looking forward to it. Like Mad Men and Philosophy listed above, it was published between season 3 and 4, so unfortunately does not cover the whole show. It sounds like it might just cover the women’s costume design, though I’m not sure. Janie Bryant is such a meticulous, genius costume designer that I can’t wait to read it. Relatedly, you should follow her incredible costume design instagram where she posts lots of her work from Mad Men and other shows with fascinating insight into her process.
The Universe is Indifferent: Theology, Philosophy, and Mad Men (Edited by Ann W. Duncan and Jacob L. Goodson)
Centered on the lives of the employees at a Manhattan advertising firm, the television series Mad Men touches on the advertising world's unique interests in consumerist culture, materialistic desire, and the role of deception in Western capitalism. While this essay collection has a decidedly socio-historical focus, the authors use this as the starting point for philosophical, religious, and theological reflection, showing how Mad Men reveals deep truths concerning the social trends of the 1960s and deserves a significant amount of scholarly consideration. Going beyond mere reflection, the authors make deeper inquiries into what these trends say about American cultural habits, the business world within Western capitalism, and the rapid social changes that occurred during this period. From the staid and conventional early seasons to the war, assassinations, riots, and counterculture of later seasons, The Universe is Indifferent shows how social change underpins the interpersonal dramas of the characters in Mad Men.
I only just found out about this collection, but I’m very interested in finding a copy. This was published in 2016. You can see the table of contents here. EDIT: This book is available to read on Scribd. They offer a 30 day free trial.
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fanartfunart · 3 years
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Fly Away
Episode 3: Despair Bear
Ao3 - First - 2
(Féline Sombre & Paon Lilas designs)
Summery: An AU where Adrien never went to in-person school, not getting the cat miraculous, and found the peacock miraculous. -Chloé, determined to be allowed back to visit Adrien’s house, and discovering Adrien is visiting Marinette, sets up a party to showcase just how nice she can be. (posted in full for tumblr while I have power/internet on my computer :P)
-
Duusu was sitting on top of Adrien’s shoulder when he pressed play on the virtual hello from the class he was almost able to join. Adrien handed him a dried mango chip and he happily munched on it.
 Chloé, of course, was the first person to show up on the video, “Adrikins Hiii! I miss you already~”
 The camera turned around to show Sabrina, who must’ve been recording. She waved “Hi!”
 “Sabrinaaa, camera focused on me. Meee.”
 “Oh, right!”
 Chloé spent at least a third of the video showing him the building as if she owned it. ...Adrien was surprised it didn’t last longer.
 It shifted from the single-take style into more professionally edited together clips of various classmates. Adrien assumed this was where the boy interested in filmmaking had taken over.
 “Yo, I’m Nino, hope you get to hang out outside of school one of these days dude. If you ever need a DJ I’m your man! See you around someday!”
 “Hi, I’m Alya, investigative journalist-”
 Chloé scoffed offscreen, “You wish.”
 “Chloé I will-” the video cut out whatever happened after that. Alya stood a bit prouder, “I run the Ladyblog and am the head of the school blog! If you ever have any curiosity about the school news or superhero news, just check those out! Leave some comments if you want and I’ll get back to you asap! Keep it classy."
 The rest of the class’s videos went about the same, until the very last one. The girl from the bakery frowned at someone off to the side out of sight from the camera.
 “Come on girl, before Chloé comes back.”
 “Hi, I’m er, Marinette. I’m uh, an aspiring fashion designer and my parents own Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. I suggest trying out the macaroons! I brought some on the first day, uh, but I tripped so there weren't many left anyway so you probably didn’t miss anything!” She giggled awkwardly. She trailed off, giving a pleading look towards someone behind the camera. “Alya, I don’t know what else to say.”
 “Whatever you’d say to a new kid!”
 “Uhg, get better friends than Chloé?” She covered her mouth as Alya and Nino laughed from behind the camera. “I- mean whatttt Chloé's er, Chloé. Great evil-er friend… to er, to be setting up this videooo….ohmygosh. Can you edit that out?”
 “I would’ve, but now I’m keeping it.” Nino said. Marinette gasped in offence while Alya and Nino giggled more.
 “What are you all giggling over?” Chloé complained off-screen. Marinette gave a pointed look to the camera, and the video faded into a written message.
 “Sorry I couldn’t properly finish my message. I wish you a wonderful year, and hope you can build great friendships, even without going to school. At least you don’t have to worry about being late! Good luck Adrien -Signed, Marinette.”
 “Awwwwwwww, that’s sweet,” Duusu cried.
 “Yeah, it was.” He got out his phone to text Chloé a thank you. He sighed as he looked at her many, many, many messages of upset about no longer being allowed over anymore. He was just glad she didn’t get akumatized over it….
 He got up, glancing at Duusu. "How about we go visit the bakery and see if Marinette is open to hanging out. My father can't ban me from bakeries, right?"
 Duusu giggled, "Sounds like fun!" He frowned, "Are you only choosing to visit Marinette because she has a good place to tell your father you're going to?"
 "...No… She's just the only person in that video who mentioned a place I can visit at all."
 Duusu just giggled like he knew something Adrien didn't. He shook his head with a smile and grabbed his bag. "Come on, let's go."
-
"Marinette," Sabine called, opening the trap door to Marinette's room. She waved to the group of girls doing a miniature fashion show there. "Your friend's here."
 Marinette looked up from the blog post Alya was showing her, as the other girls continued to put on various jewelry pieces. "Who? I didn't ask anyone else to come over?"
 "A boy named Adrien. I can tell him you're busy if you want me to."
 "Adrien… Agreste?" Marinette tilted her head. He was Chloé's friend. The one that visited the bakery and fell/she pushed. Wait… he was also the guy who she made a feathered hat for who had a feather allergy wasn't he?! Why on earth would he want to visit her? Did he have some sort of ulterior motive? Was he Chloé's spy? Did he want revenge for the feathers?! "Er."
 Alya, Rose, Juleka, and Myléne all oooh-ed at the same time.
 "Oh hush. What uh, do you all think?"
 Alya grinned "Good with me, girl. I wanna see how this plays out."
 Rose nodded enthusiastically and Juleka gave a thumbs up.
 Myléne smiled, adjusting her hat, "He's a professional model right? He probably could give us some tips!"
 Marinette rolled her eyes, lowering her voice to a harsh stage-whisper, "He's Chloé’s friend."
 "The one we made the video for, yep," Alya nodded, "Exactly my point. You said it yourself, he needs better friends than her." ….On the other hand, instead of a revenge-seeking spy, he could simply be that lonely sounding boy they made a video for, trying to escape the clutches of the evil Chloé. Marinette could be the only non-Chloé & minions person he knows! Marinette sighed heavily.
 Sabine sighed softly, "Marinette… he's waiting downstairs. Yes or no."
 "Okay! Okay. I'll go down and bring him up, I guess." Marinette trudged down, ignoring the giggling girls.
-
 Adrien was wandering curiously around the bakery, hands politely behind his back. He noticed the door open and waved enthusiastically to Marinette. She squeaked and closed the door. Sabine raised a brow.
 "You can always tell him you're busy."
 "Nooo, it's fine." Marinette sighed and entered the room. Adrien’s confused head tilt turned into a smile. Like a… puppy. An incredibly patient puppy waiting for someone to play with him.
 "Hi Marinette. I watched that video today! Thank you, it was really sweet of you guys to do that. I hope you don't mind me kinda just… showing up."
 "Oh er… you're welcome. I was actually hanging out with some of the girls who helped make that."
 "Oh! If you're busy-" He gestured awkwardly to the door.
 "No, no, uh, we were just hanging out, you can join us."
 He immediately perked up, "Cool! That sounds like fun!"
 Marinette stared at him in his enthusiasm and nodded. "Come on up."
 Adrien climbed up into the room, Marinette shortly after him. The group of girls all immediately hushed their conversation upon noticing them and dissolved into giggles.
 He chuckled and waved, "Well hello. You all are wearing some lovely hats, is this a fashion show?"
 "We're helping Marinette take photos for her Instagram." Myléne said.
 "And future blog!" Alya added.
 "They've been great models for me," Marinette smiled.
 "Oh really? May I see some of the photos?" Alya handed him a phone immediately. He scrolled through some of the photos, nodding."These are great," he smiled and glanced at Marinette, "You made all these hats?"
 Marinette nodded, giggling. Rose bounced over to Adrien, showcasing a necklace. "She makes jewelry too!"
 "Those are lovely! You're really talented!" He gave Marinette a dazzling smile. She giggled and stuttered something, which was almost a thanks?
 "Hey, you're like, a pro model, right?" Alya asked, "Do you mind helping us? Got some insider tips?"
 "Oh, uh, sure!" Adrien smiled. It would be fun to help them. Probably more so than a regular photo shoot.
-
 Chloé gasped at her phone. Her Adrien in a picture on Marinette's Instagram post? All squished in a group photo with her little squad?! Why is he hanging out with her!?
 She called Adrien, anxiously tapping her nails against the back of the phone.
 Adrien picked up and Chloé did not waste a precious minute. "Why are you at Dupain-Chang's?"
 "Hello to you too, Chloé. I'm just hanging out. Marinette and her friends wanted some help with modeling her fashions."
 "Humph, that ugly stuff? Far too kind of you to do that for her."
 He sighed, "Maybe you could benefit from being a bit kinder, Chloé. It's not that hard."
 She heard a few hushed whispers in the background over the line. She balked. "I- But why would your father let you visit her and not let me, your oldest friend, over!"
 "Marinette didn't steal a book from my father's safe and get him upset enough to get akumatized." Adrien's voice was level. Gentle even. Chloé felt that was probably worse than any direct anger.
 Marinette's voice in the background squeaked out "Chloé’s book belonged to your dad?!"
 "Oh." Chloé muttered. "But actually Sabrina-"
 "I don't care if you got Sabrina to do it or not. I care if you learn from this kind of stuff and become a bit more considerate," Adrien sighed, "Maybe if you showcase some better behavior my father might let you come back over more again. But until then, I can't do anything about it. Sorry."
 "I…" Any defences or retorts died on her tongue.
 Adrien waited a moment, "I gotta go Chloé. Talk to you later, okay? Goodbye."
 "Goodbye...Adrien."
 Adrien hung up and she plopped onto the couch, staring at the earlier text messages between her and Adrien.
 Chloé blinked away tears.
-
 Adrien sighed, turning towards the group of girls, "Sorry. My father kinda banned Chloé from coming over to my house and she's still… very upset about it…"
 "She…" Marinette coughed, "Um. What was that about a book?"
 "Chloé and Sabrina came over and uh, Sabrina got caught taking my father's book. It was important to him. Apparently they lost it… I was hoping they could find and return it and they'd be allowed back but…" He glanced at the floor and shrugged.
 "Right. Right. And where did your dad get this book? Er… Maybe we can get a replacement?" She giggled awkwardly.
 "I don't know. He didn't explain much about it." He waved a hand dismissively, "Anyway, you were uh, suggesting food?"
 "Right!" Marinette cheered, "Shall we raid the kitchen? Maybe dad can teach us a good recipe and we can bake something like we were supposed to at school today." She opened the door and gestured for the group to file out downstairs.
 "Yeah, before the fire alarm interfered," Alya said, walking down.
 Rose took Julika's hand and they made their way down, Meline and Adrien not far behind.
 Marinette waited for them to get out of earshot before whispering for Tiki to come out. She zipped out as Marinette grabbed her purse. "If Chloé got the book from Adrien's house, why did Adrien's father have the spellbook? He was akumatized so he can't be Hawkmoth right?"
 Tiki shrugged helplessly, "You'll have to go over and ask him."
 "Ugh, why is tracing down who had this book like a game of evil telephone?" Marinette groaned.
 "Marinette, are you coming?" Myléne called.
 "Oop! Be right there!" She opened her purse for Tiki to zip into it. She raced down the steps to catch up to her friends.
-
 Jean-Claude arrived with chocolates and Chloé tearfully popped them into her mouth. He lingered despite his job being complete. "May I ask what has upset Mademoiselle?"
 "Adrien doesn't wanna be my friend anymoreeee," She whined, "He's making new friends with other girls. How can he do this to me, Jean-Michel?"
 "Uh, my name is- nevermind. Perhaps Mademoiselle can see comfort with Mr. Cuddly?" He offered the stuffed bear with a light flourish.
 She gasped and grabbed the teddy bear, cuddling it close.
 "If you don't mind my asking Mademoiselle, did he say why?"
 "Something, something kindness and consideration." She waved a hand. She pouted. "What do I do Jean-Yves?"
 "Perhaps Mademoiselle remembers Mr. Cuddly when she was a little girl and how he was always nice to Mademoiselle when she was a child?"
 Chloé pursed her lips, eyes shiny, and nodded.
 "Mr. Cuddly is always kind, even when it doesn't directly benefit him. But that has made him a very good friend. Perhaps, Mademoiselle can follow Mr. Cuddly's example and Adrien  will see how good a friend Mademoiselle can be."
 "Oh you're right Jean-Jacque, Adrien wanted me to show his dad I'm considerate, so I'll show him! Then I'll get my Adrikins back and he'll stop hanging out with Dupain-Chang! Er…. How...should I do that?" She giggled awkwardly.
 Jean-Pierre sighed heavily, looking exhausted already.
-
 Adrien was covered in flour and giggling about it. Juleka wasn't even halfway through a mumbled apology before he was forgiving her. Marinette wasn't sure how he was supposedly friends with Chloé in the first place. Was he mind controlled or something by her?
 Alya slid next to Marinette and grinned "So, are we thinking friendly boy or boyfriend here?"
 Marinette rolled her eyes and shook her head "I am not competing with Chloé over her infamous 'Adrikins'. Blegh."
 "That wasn't a 'ew no' though~ You can't deny he's cute."
 Marinette huffed, "Like, in a cute puppy way."
 Alya snorted and nodded, "Fair enough."
 The group's phones all pinged with the exception of Marinette's.
 They each got out their phones. Adrien raised a brow. "Chloé's hosting a party?"
 "Did you all get one?" Juleka asked, looking around at them.
 Myléne nodded, "It looks like it. Maybe she's taking Adrien's advice and is gonna try to be nicer."
 Marinette scoffed, "Please, it's probably some sort of joke or prank."
 "Did you get an invite?"
 Marinette looked at her phone and shook her head, "No…"
 Alya chuckled, "Well that means it's real and not a joke, doesn't it, hm?
 Marinette made a disgruntled face. Then her phone pinged, "Eeew! I got invited!" She threw her phone, then stumbled to catch it before it landed in the batter. Adrien stumbled and caught it for her. They crashed into each other, pinning Adrien between the counter and Marinette. She immediately backpedaled. He giggled awkwardly and handed the phone to her, stepping back out of her space.
 "This is gonna be so much fun! There's gonna be dancing!" Rose looked up, smiling at Juleka.
 "Wait, you guys aren't seriously considering going, are you?" Marinette squeaked.
 "Why not?" Myléne muttered, shrugging, "Maybe she's really trying to be nice."
 "Chloé? Nice?" She shook her head, "Eugh, whatever, you guys can go but count me out."
 Adrien shrugged, idly fiddling with the dough. "I've known Chloé for a long time. She can be cool, sometimes, really." He looked up. ...Wait, did he have baby-doll eyes like Manon or something?! What is this sorcery? He smiled softly. "Maybe give her a chance, Marinette."
 Marinette pursed her lips and sighed "Yeah, yeah, fine, I guess." Alya’s teasing smirk didn't help at all though.
-
 Chloé had it all planned. She had set up a section for adults as well, having sent invites for some of the teens' parents. Namely, she needed Adrien’s father to see how great of a person she could be. Unfortunately the main person she wanted there...was not. But hey maybe this could work with word-of-mouth…. Parents talk to other parents about how nice random kids are, right?
 So while the adults mostly stayed around the tables talking, the teens danced and played in the ball pit. Jean-Paul had been practically following her around with Mr. Cuddly, reminding her what Mr. Cuddly would do. But, Adrien was there! And! Adrien smiled at her! Every time she was nice! So the plan seemed to be working.
Until he left the dance floor to talk to Marinette and her friends. She barely contained her rage. Actually, she didn't contain it at all. Chloé abandoned her dance with Kim and started marching toward them.
 "Oh, I do need to get some of your guys' phone numbers or something so I don't have to make surprise visits all the time," Adrien said, giggling awkwardly.
 Alya nodded, "Yeah for sure, I'll give you Nino's number too, he's DJing-"
 Chloé was so close to pulling Adrien away until Jean-George blocked her path.
 "Mademoiselle if you-"
 "Move, Jean-Marc!"
 He pulled out Mr Cuddly, and spoke in a squeaky voice, "Oh, Chloé dear, Mr Cuddly is very proud of you-" Chloé gasped and tried to bat the teddy bear away.
 "Is that your teddy bear Chloé?" Kim laughed, leading the traitorous group of teens.
 Chloé gasped and pulled Jean-Louis into the kitchens.
 "I've had it with you and your stupid advice! Ive had it with you, Jean-whatever your stupid name is!"
 "Mademoiselle I was only trying to help."
 "No more Mademoiselle, no more help, no more anything! You're fired!" She marched out, leaving Jean-??? clutching the teddy bear. Somewhere, a very patient Hawkmoth (who purposefully declined an invitation in a subtle attempt to make a teenage girl more frustrated and anxious and make a villain at her party eventually) grinned to himself.
-
 Sabrina was just chilling, really. She'd helped set up the entire thing and now they'd much rather just sit and drink her juice. Just as content as Plagg with an extra piece of cheese.
 Until a teddy bear clamped onto her leg.
-
 Chloé utilized her excess frustration to pull Adrien away from Marinette. "Come on, we should dance."
 "Right now? But, I was talking to-" Adrien half heartedly protested, already stumbling along.
 "He doesn't have to go with you if he doesn't want to, you can't just drag him around," Marinette interrupted, grabbing Adrien's other arm.
 "Chloeee," Sabrina called, brandishing a hair brush like a weapon, "Come here. Let me brush your hair. It won't hurt I promise."
 "Don't you see I'm busy?" Chloé huffed. She tugged on Adrien's arm, except this time she got resistance. Adrien pulled his arm away, frowning at Sabrina.
 "Uh, something's… wrong with Sabrina," he said.
 Sabrina smiled, and leapt toward Chloé.
 Marinette intercepted Sabrina, brows furrowed in determination and flipped her onto the ground. Adrien stared at her.
 "Oh. Wow," He breathed out.
 Sabrina blinked and sat up, "Huh? Why am I on the floor?"
 Marinette frowned, looking around the room, "Er… you were… trying to attack Chloé."
 Sabrina gasped and scrambled to a stand. "Ohno, I… I uh, I need to go." Sabrina anxiously smiled and then ran off.
 "Me too actually… I, uh ...too much orange juice." Marinette ran off, leaving Adrien with- ….Where did Chloé go?
 He glanced around, and found her swatting away… some kid Adrien didn't know. He was pretty sure they were in the video somewhere.
 He frowned and glanced around, before running off to the stairwell.
-
 Marinette shook her head as she hid in the bathroom stall, "Looks like Chloé upset someone. Guess it was only a matter of time. Tiki, Spots on!"
-
 Sabrina raced into the kitchen, "Oh I can't believe I was just mind controlled by an Akuma. Poor Chloé!"
 Plagg cackled in laughter, "You have the power of destruction and you were about to chase Chloé with a hair brush. I can't believe it."
 They rolled their eyes, "That's definitely a good thing. Plagg, Claws out!"
-
 Adrien closed the door to the stairwell, checking that no one was there. Duusu zipped out with a cheer, "You love Marinette!"
 "I- what? I er-" He blushed and glanced to the side, "No I don't," his voice came out squeaky.
 "Yes you do, I know it!" Duusu giggled, gesturing to himself, "      Emotion     Kwami." Duusu tilted his head, "Do you intend to tell her? How? Maybe a cute letter or something? Oh you two would be just so cute together! And we could have more fresh pastries!"
 He sputtered and shook his head. "Focus Duusu. We need to help Chloé," Adrien said, fixing the brooch to the front of his shirt.
 Duusu giggled more.
 Adrien took in a deep breath, trying to calm his own blush. "Duusu, Spread my feathers!"
-
 Ladybug and Féline Sombre were already there… Well that was fast.
 "You finally showed up! What took so long!?" Chloé cried towards the two superheros, as she peered from her hiding spot behind a pillar. ...Or maybe it wasn't fast? Did Chloé call them or something? She has mentioned being their friend. Often. By the annoyance from Ladybug, he guessed she wasn't a very good friend if that was the case.
 "What, not excited to see me?" Paon Lilas asked with a grin.
 "Oh yeah you too." Chloé waved a hand, apparently having just noticed him. ...Paon really needed to work on some dramatic entrances.
 Nino threw a CD disc towards Chloé and she shrieked.
 Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around Chloé's leg, pulling her back and into the ball pit. Féline Sombre leaped up to restrain Nino.
 Nino blinked in confusion, "Huh?"
 "Oh, sorry," Féline Sombre let him go, looking for the teddy bear controlling people.
 Another boy threw a chair towards Ladybug. "How about a game of flying chairs?" He taunted.
 "Love to but," Paon kicked the chair away, landing in a wall, "shouldn't music be involved?"
 Ladybug was grabbed from behind and she pushed Alya off, spinning around to find the teen reporter blinking in confusion.
 A boy raised a table above his head, and Féline Sombre extended her staff to knock it out of his hands. Paon grabbed the table before it flew into any civilians and dropped it on the floor. "Careful kitty."
 "Whoops... But, where'd he go?" Féline asked, turning around.
 Ladybug looked around frantically, trying to find someone who was acting off. Paon Lilas grabbed her hand.
 "What are you doing?" Ladybug tugged away. Paon pulled back, making her stumble forward. "Oh no."
 "Ooo, pretty earrings." He made a swipe towards her earrings and she shoved him back, making him stumble.
 "Knock it off, bird brain!" She exclaimed.
 He growled and tried again with a punch. Féline Sombre vaulted in on her staff and kicked him back into a table.
 Paon Lilas plucked a feather and grabbed a plastic spoon from the table.
 A floating marionette rod was summoned. The strings wrapped Féline Sombre's arms and legs. They gasped as they were dragged forward towards Ladybug.
 "Hey!" Ladybug cried, "What are you doing?"
 "I'm not doing this!" Féline shrieked. She threw a punch towards Ladybug, "Sorry!"
 "Paws off kitty cat!" Chloé called, pushing Féline over.
 "Thanks!" Ladybug called, "Lucky Charm!" And… got an over large crochet hook.
 Paon Lilas growled and motioned his head, the senti-marrionetted Féline being flung back towards Chloé. He charged toward Ladybug.
 Ladybug glanced between the marionette rod and the teddy bear. She grabbed a marionette string with the crochet hook Féline passed her and twirling the hook to properly tangle the string, threw it into a wall. The string snapped, giving Féline control of one of her hands.
 "Féline," Ladybug called. Paon kicked her and she jumped back, "I need you to cut some strings soon!" Ladybug and Paon Lilas fought. She shielded, he swept her legs. He went in for a strike, she blocked.
 "Sure thing, Bug," Féline raised a hand, summoning her destructive power, "Cataclysm!"
 "Now, Chloé if you could be so kind-” She gestured to the captured marionette strings.
 Chloé nodded, taking up the hook and diving for the teddy bear, catching a loop on its back. She tugged and threw it back to Féline Sombre. They touched the Akuma string with their Cataclysm.
 Paon blinked as the Akuma was destroyed, halting a punch. He took in heavy breaths, stumbling back as a wave of fear hit him over the receding fog of mind control. "Ladybug? What are you doing?"
 Fear was quickly replaced with relief and pride. Ladybug grinned, "Just saving your feathery hide with our new sidekick." She looked at Chloé.
 "You haven't defeated me yet!" A small voice squeaked and kicked Paon Lilas in the chin.
 "Watch your step!" Ladybug readied her yoyo to capture and purify the butterfly that was fluttering away.
 "Can someone help me out here!?" Féline Sombre yelled. Paon glanced at the senti-monster strings attached to her feet and hand and then at the spoon he was carrying. His miraculous beeped. He snapped his fingers, pulling the amok from the spoon and dropping it.
 Ladybug threw her crochet hook into the air, "Miraculous Ladybug!" The swarm of ladybugs returned everything in the room to normal. Ladybug and Féline Sombe high fived. Paon Lilas ran. Before either of them turned to look his way.
 Ladybug turned, finding the other miraculous wielder missing. She sighed, "He flew off again."
 Chloé cleared her throat.
 Ladybug blinked and looked at her. "Oh. Er, thanks for helping me back there…. It was very nice of you."
 Chloé smiled, dusting off her jacket, "It was, wasn't it? Did you hear that, Jean-Pascal?! If Ladybug says I'm nice then Adrien and his dad have to believe it!"
 "...Mademoiselle I must admit I have no memory of what just happened."
 "Basically you turned evil and I saved you. Without me the superheros probably never would have succeeded." Chloé explained.
 Both Ladybug's and Féline Sombre's miraculous' beeped.
 "Gotta go," Ladybug said, running up the stairwell to the roof.
 "Same here," Féline said, giving a polite nod to Chloé and Jean-Something. She ran out the doors.
 "Hm. Maybe some of this nice-stuff of yours makes some sense….. Jean-Baptiste, I've decided to keep you on. Don't let the guests all run away, they don't wanna miss what's next!"
 Jean-Pierre nodded "Thank you, Mademoiselle, I will Mademoiselle."
-
 Adrien sighed as he watched Marinette finish her macaroons. He was too tired to make his own. He sat in a chair to avoid any sudden dizzy spells, resting his head on the table.
 Chloé slid next to him, looping her arms around his shoulders. "Sooo Adrikins, I'm really nice now, did you notice? I even let Marinette's dad finish teaching everyone how to make those messy macaroons."
 He pulled his attention from Marinette and nodded. "Yes, it's very nice of you." He smiled a little. She frowned…. Usually smiling causes the opposite response.
 "Ugh, what's wrong? You're not like, super happy. I did everythingggg."
 "Oh uh," he glanced at Marinette again, before looking back at Chloé, "It's nothing."
 Chloé followed his glance and pouted, "Did she say mean things to you? Do I need to tell her her macaroons are appalling or something?"
 "No! No. Please no. We just talked about being nice."
 "Oops! Right…. Wait. You don't like her do you?"
 He blushed and looked away, shrugging.
 Chloé gasped, "Nooo! Ughhh, why couldn't you fall in love with someone unattainable? Like Ladybug or somebody."
 "Huh?" Adrien crinkled his nose, "What?"
 "Nothing~ Fine, fine. We're still best friends forever right though?"
 He huffed a smile and nodded, "Yeah, Chloé, best friends forever."
 "Pinky swear?" She held out her pinky in front of him and he linked their fingers.
 "Pinky swear."
 She let out an exhale of relief, "Okay, make sure to tell your dad I'm the best influence ever now."
 Adrien giggled and nodded, "Sure. I'll try."
 "Perfect. You promised," She grinned and waltzed over to the bakers and began listing off what was wrong with their goods. Pausing at Marinette, she glanced at Adrien and simply passed her by without a word…. Marinette seemed offended anyway.
 Adrien shook his head. Oh, that didn't cause spots in his vision. Good. Satisfied with the conclusion the worst of the battle weariness had passed, he got up to see if Marinette might share some of those cookies. Then, if he had the energy, repair some of Chloé’s emotional damage.
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galli-writes · 3 years
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(Click here to read on Ao3!)
fandom: Teen Titans
pairing: BBRae
genre/warnings: AU - Canon Divergence; Implied/Referenced Abuse, Abusive Parents, Childhood Trauma, Graphic Depictions of Violence
additional tags: Angst, Family Issues, Friendship/Love, Protectiveness, Slow Burn, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions
summary:
There are a few things that Beast Boy knows for certain:
He’s 21….and a total lightweight. He’s a vegan (but not like…a pretentious vegan). He’s not going to be single forever.
And the Teen Titans are the only family he’ll ever need.
a/n: Hello everyone! I am finally back--though in a way I guess I never really left. I've been working on this fic on an off since I last posted, but things have been so busy that it's been rather slow going. I'm going to try REALLY hard to keep to a more consistent schedule going forward. The fic is entirely written, but needs some pretty heavy editing. I'm going to shoot for an upload every other Friday from here on out. Thank you all so much for being patient!
Chapter 5: A Helping Hand (words 6,264)
It wasn’t often that Beast Boy played hooky. At least, not when he thought there was a good chance Robin would catch him. Skipping practice was a serious no-go, outside of a few exceptions. Beast Boy knew he wasn’t a good enough actor to feign sickness. The ‘family emergency’ excuse existed strictly as a formality for obvious reasons. Reasons that were starting to seem less obvious now. 
The letter in his drawer was already old news--at least to him. Beast Boy knew the contents of the note by heart. The memorization wasn’t intentional, but the words swam around in his head constantly nonetheless. A symptom of a much larger disease, as Raven might have put it. So he’d moved on to obsessively deconstructing and reconstructing the many packages that still littered their living room. Not that doing so had given him any more insight into who Nicholas Galtry was. Or why he had had possession of all of his parents’ things. Or why they were here now. Among the many disjointed thoughts that rattled in his brain, one consistently nudged its way to the top of the pool. That one was also tucked neatly away in a drawer in his room. Though he hadn’t dared to look at the picture since first putting it there.
Beast Boy glanced behind him at the clock in the kitchen. He’d been here an hour already--someone was probably already out looking for him, Robin’s orders. He quickly shut the box he was currently sorting through. It had been the same as all the boxes before it--filled with priceless, nameless items from another place and another time. He felt like a thief, searching his own belongings, not knowing what exactly he hoped to find among them. Each time carefully packing the boxes back as he’d found them. Like a thief, hoping to cover his tracks.
“There you are.”
Beast Boy flinched, instantly shrinking back from the box in front of him. He turned around to face Cyborg looming over him.
“Man, I’ve been lookin’ for you everywhere ,” Cyborg said, a twinge of frustration in his voice. “What the hell are you doin’ up here?”
“Nothing,” Beast Boy said, anxiously getting to his feet. “Just...hanging out.”
Cyborg frowned. “Well maybe you should come ‘hang out’ at training.”
“Training?” Beast Boy repeated automatically.
“Yeah, you know...the thing we have scheduled every single afternoon? At the exact same time? Every day?” Cyborg said, cocking an eyebrow at him. Now he seemed more confused than frustrated—a switch that was very typically Cyborg.
“Right. Training. I was wondering where everyone else was,” Beast Boy answered. It was a poor excuse, but it wasn’t actually a lie.
Cyborg sighed, but there was a hint of a joking smile on his face when he spoke next. “Let’s just get down there before Robin kicks both our asses, okay?”
Beast Boy nodded, and for a moment it was as if the boxes behind him ceased to exist. It currently felt like there were two worlds jammed under one roof, and now that he’d been pulled out of the one behind him, he saw just how much he preferred the one in front of him. Even if it meant getting his ass kicked.
The training field had come a long way from the public school playground it resembled when they’d first settled into the Tower. It was Robin’s ongoing project--adding another ropes course, integrating fully automated sparring dummies...there were even obstacles designed with each of their abilities in mind. Beast Boy was sure that Robin had a Pinterest board dedicated to the fiasco for all of the crazy things he was constantly adding to it.
Which is why Beast Boy was confused to find that none of it was being used.
“Oh no. Don’t tell me--”
“Yep,” Cyborg said, walking the opposite direction of Robin’s martial arts art display.
“Dude, I suck at hand to hand.”
“Probably why Robin thinks you ditched,” Cyborg shrugged.
In the distance, their three remaining teammates were gathered in a clearing at the opposite end of the field. Starfire stood leaning against a tree on the sidelines, water bottle in hand. In the center of a well-worn patch of grass, Robin and Raven circled each other in what seemed to be a never-ending dance.
“So when you said Robin was gonna kick my ass...you meant that literally, didn’t you?” Beast Boy said with a frown.
“Well it might not be Robin who kicks your ass,” Cyborg smiled. “It could be Star, or Raven, or yours truly.”
“Wow, thanks,” Beast Boy grumbled. He knew Cyborg was only teasing, and Beast Boy had been the first to admit that the skillset wasn’t exactly his strong suit. But the remark lingered in his mind a second longer than he knew it should have.
“Okay, so maybe it’s not really your thing, but hey,” Cyborg said, placing a hand on Beast Boy’s shoulder. “Practice makes perfect. You’ll get there.”
“Dude. I turn into animals for a living. Most of which don’t even have opposable thumbs,” Beast Boy said, flexing his own in front of his friend. “I don’t need to be good at something I’m never gonna use.”
Cyborg merely shook his head dismissively. “Never say never, man.”
“Okay, Robin ,” Beast Boy replied with a smirk.
As if on cue, Robin and Raven’s dance came to a halt as soon as the words left Beast Boy’s mouth. He had figured they were still out of earshot, but maybe he’d been wrong.
“There you two are,” Robin said as the two of them stepped into the loosely defined dirt ring. He glanced down at his watch and then directly at Beast Boy. “Beast Boy, you’re twenty minutes late. Practice starts at four. You know that.”
Any trace of teasing Cyborg had expressed instantly evaporated when Robin spoke.
“Uh...four-twenty blaze it?” Beast Boy said with a shrug and a terribly awkward smile. The one that always appeared on his face whenever he didn’t know what else to say--which was more often than he would have liked to admit.
Robin closed his eyes, raising a hand to his temples.
Raven’s facepalm was much less subtle.
“Starfire are you ready to go?” Robin asked, shaking his head slightly.
“Mmm hmm!” Starfire hummed in response.
“Great. Then I’m gonna have you and Beast Boy up next.”
“Uh…” Beast boy shot a glance at Starfire, who was practically the living portrait of an Instagram athlete. “Shouldn’t I warm up first or something?”
“In a real fight, you won’t always get the chance to ‘warm up’ beforehand,” Robin said, crossing his arms over his chest. Which was definitely his way of saying ‘that’s what you get for showing up late’.
“Don’t worry, Beast Boy,” Starfire smiled. “I will try not to injure you too terribly.”
Beast Boy certainly began to feel warm now, to the point where he was sure his face was turning red.
In his peripheral, he saw that Cyborg had cleared the training ring and was now standing beside Raven on the sidelines. She leaned in slightly to her left, whispering something into Cyborg’s ear with a devious smirk.  
Beast Boy felt his stomach drop. He didn’t know what was worse. Starfire’s complete sincerity or Raven’s total lack thereof.
But he didn’t have much time to dwell on the thought before it was overtaken completely by a harrowing sense of panic. He had been posed for a fight, staring head on at his partner. But it was only now that his vision snapped back into focus, just in time to catch a whirling ball of green energy headed directly toward him.
He quickly swerved out of the way, trying to regain his balance. But before he could find his footing, another blaze shone at his feet, knocking him straight to the ground. He squinted, eyes beginning to water from the dust cloud that now surrounded him. He wanted to open his mouth to say something--make some complaint that he hadn’t been ready, that there had been no signal to start. But he knew that wouldn’t buy him any sympathy in Robin’s eyes.  
Of course, vying for Robin’s attention was even less of a no-go once the sirens started blaring.
Without so much as a nod from the leader in question, everyone took off in the same direction. Everyone except Beast Boy, who was still on the ground.
He pushed himself to his feet, the palms of his hands stinging against the soil. He knew it wasn’t personal. None of this was personal. Kind of like how the sense of isolation and strangeness he’d felt around his friends since the reading that letter certainly wasn’t personal .
But as he watched them disappearing now--not one of them looking back to see if he had followed--it sure felt that way.
So what if calling shotgun was more important than helping him up? He shook his head, now unable to hold back a self-satisfied smirk. No matter how much of a head start they had, no one was going to outrun a cheetah.
Within seconds, the ground flew under his feet like a treadmill set on max speed. When the garage came into view, Beast Boy was relieved to find that it was already open--and more importantly empty. In a flash, he transformed back, and with the same proud smile lingering on his face sauntered over to crack open the passenger door.
His smile instantly disappeared when he saw who was behind it.
“ Raven ?”
Even at her name, she didn’t so much as shoot him a glance. Raven just sat there, comfortably nestled in the passenger seat with her feet kicked up on the dashboard. She scrolled through her phone with a bored expression--like she’d been there for hours.
“How the hell did you beat me?” Beast Boy blurted out, feeling irrationally annoyed as Raven continued to sit there, chewing a piece of gum in silence.
“Want a piece?” she said absentmindedly, materializing a pack of DoubleMint from the locked glove box. There were dozens of other flavors inside--so many packs that they filled almost half the compartment.  “It’s Cyborg’s secret stash--but I won’t tell.”
Beast Boy ignored her. “There’s no way you could have beaten me here. I took a shortcut even you don’t know about,” he said curtly.
“Weird, huh?” she said, turning her attention back to her phone. “It’s almost like magic. ”
Beast Boy frowned. “That’s cheating.”
“And you turning into a cheetah clearly isn’t,” she said plainly. Then another sly smile crept onto her face. “Get it? A cheetah ?”
Beast Boy’s face scrunched up in even further annoyance. Without a word, he shut the passenger door, opening the one behind it. He already knew which seat he’d be directed to sit in. Though even calling it a seat was a bit generous. Nevertheless, he’d occupied it since day one because, of course, ‘he was the shortest and it just made sense for him to ride in the middle because if they were ever in a crash the height of the headrest wouldn’t do anyone else any good blah blah blah’. As if something as normal as a car crash would really be enough to injure a bunch of superheroes.  
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” Cyborg said, swinging open the door to the driver’s seat and hopping inside.
As the doors on either side of him opened and closed in perfect sync, Beast Boy was struck with another harrowing consequence of his seating arrangement.  
It was true that Robin and Starfire were relatively tame as far as couples went--at least in terms of explicit PDA.  It was only once in a blue moon that you actually caught them exchanging so much as a kiss on the cheek. But there was no denying the magnetic force between them. And it was times like these that Beast Boy felt less like a person and more like a glitch jamming the radio signal.
“Okay,” Robin said, flicking open the communication device on his wrist. A small holographic map appeared above it, marking several heat signatures as they traversed the grid on the screen. In an instant, an identical image appeared on a screen in the center console of the car.
“Looks like they’ve already hit Gorman street,” Cyborg said, glancing at the center console.  
“They’re moving fast,” Robin added, adjusting something on the device. “But only because they’ve sacrificed numbers for speed”.
“Well let’s just see if they can outrun this, ” Cyborg replied, revving the engine in response. Within moments, the Tower was far behind them.
Beast Boy leaned forward slightly to look out the window on his left. They hadn’t been driving long at all, but he had no idea where they were. Left and right, worn down warehouse buildings lined the streets as far as he could see. Overhead, a thick gray fog swallowed the entire sky.
“Starfire, I want you and Cy to go after the group of three heading west,” Robin continued, pointing to several figures on the map as he spoke. “I’ll go after the solo. Raven, Beast Boy—you two track the pair heading in the opposite direction.”
Raven didn’t outwardly protest, but her agitated sigh was enough to send its intended message.  
After what seemed like only a second later, the car skidded to a halt at the edge of a narrow alley. And without missing a beat, everyone else took off in their respective directions at full speed. This time Beast Boy could confidently blame the middle seat for keeping him a step behind.
“I’ll race ya,” Beast Boy said, throwing a competitive smile at Raven, who had surprisingly seemed to be waiting for him.
“Just hurry up,” she said plainly, looking to the sky.
The streets seemed even more bleak from above.
Every other street light flickered as if choking out its dying breath. Cracks ran down the sidewalks like jagged scars, and chipped paint and graffiti adorned the walls of the decrepit buildings. Beast Boy found himself wondering where everyone was--there were barely even any cars on the streets.
“Ow!” Raven exclaimed suddenly.
Simultaneously, Beast Boy felt his wings crumple under him as he crashed into her from behind. He screeched involuntarily, trying to regain his balance.
“Why are we stopping?” he asked--or rather squawked--momentarily forgetting he was still very much a bird.
Luckily, Raven seemed to get the idea. Without a word, she pointed to two shadowy figures slipping around the corner of a nearby building. She started to open her mouth to say something then, but Beast Boy was already locking in on the figures below.
Without a second thought, he dove sharply down toward one of the shadows in his sight. Talons poised, he only managed to graze the top of his target’s head. Or at least what he could think of as being the thing’s head, as the action felt more like skimming a silhouette than an actual person.
At the very least, the surprise of his attack was enough to knock the figure off balance and trip on some debris below.
Beast Boy landed nearby, skidding onto the asphalt. Back on two legs, he whipped around and morphed once more. A rhino was always a solid play when you didn’t quite know what you were dealing with. He kicked up the rubble under his front foot and ducked his head, preparing for a  running start. Then he let his momentum carry him forward--feeling the power of an entire stampede in his muscles--which turned out to be much more than he bargained for.
It was like the wall came out of nowhere. Or maybe he just hadn’t looked before leaping. Though his horn mdulled the impact slightly, Beast Boy felt every shard of cement as the crash sent a shocking ripple through his entire body. When he opened his eyes, he was back to his usual self again. But unlike a moment ago, his head was spinning, and he was on his back watching the dark clouds rolling above. His vision had doubled, even tripled, and he shook his head wearily in an attempt to focus on anything at all. Instead, he saw the shaking image of someone approaching him. And his gut told him it wasn’t one of the people they were after. It was something much worse.
“What the fuck was that?” Raven said, leaning over him with a disapproving pout on her face.
“Rhino,” was all Beast Boy could manage, his head still spinning.
Raven scowled, but extended a hand out to him regardless. When she yanked him to his feet in one swift motion, the gesture suddenly felt less sympathetic.
“We’re supposed to be working together , moron,” she said, her tone biting. “How the hell are we supposed to do that if you knock yourself out before we even catch up to the bad guys?”
Beast Boy didn’t have an answer for that. So he didn’t give one, which probably didn’t help his case any more.
“God, you’re useless,” Raven said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him behind him. “Come on.”  
They continued down the natural path of the alleyway uneventfully. And that was what worried Beast Boy most. If he wasn’t going to die at the hands of their enemies, he was sure he’d die of embarrassment knowing he’d let them get away. Again.
Luckily for him, if Raven had any more thoughts on the matter she kept them to herself.
When they reached what seemed to be the end of the narrow street, Beast Boy was somewhat relieved to find that it wasn’t the dead end he had been expecting. Rather, the space before them now opened dramatically into something resembling a large courtyard. The entire perimeter was lined by walls of surrounding brick buildings--the only other entrances and exits to the pavilion being opposing alleyways much like the one they’d just emerged from.
But the courtyard’s strange location certainly wasn’t the most interesting thing about it.
In the very center, shrouded by a cloud of steam trickling through a nearby grate, two figures turned abruptly to meet their gaze. Even though Beast Boy could hardly make out the eyes looking back at them, he knew their stare was a threat.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Raven said quietly, lingering in the shadows for a moment longer.
The words echoed in Beast Boy’s head, this time in his own voice. Then a wave of panic suddenly passed over him. He wasn’t actually sure he knew the difference between what was considered brave and what Raven would consider stupid. And he didn’t exactly have the time to mull it over.  
Raven stood next to him, arms outstretched, as a flurry of flying rubble began to swirl around the two figures like a vicious tornado. Everything pulled toward them like scrap metal to a magnetic core--everything from the pebbles on the ground to full sized wooden beams and crates that littered the edges of the arena.
Beast Boy searched desperately through this mind for something to do--something to be. A mouse? Small enough to go unnoticed, but way too slow to bridge the gap between the opposing sides in such a short time. He thought to the opposite end of the spectrum. A gorilla or a bear could give him a boost of much needed strength if he cut back on speed. But maybe that was too on the nose. Just like the rhino.
He bit his lip nervously, catching Raven in his peripheral again. They were supposed to be working together after all--and she had clearly taken the lead. But he had no idea how she expected him to follow.
And suddenly, it occurred to Beast Boy that that was the secret to the riddle. The one way he could truly and certainly ‘not do something stupid’ was by not doing anything at all.
For a moment, he was almost proud of himself for finally cracking the code. But the false sense of pride evaporated as soon as he realized what it implied. Maybe his only use was...being completely useless? And just like that, he felt his stomach twist in a knot again as a familiar sense of embarrassment washed over him.
“Hellooo?” Raven’s voice rang out suddenly, snapping Beast Boy out of his daze.
He turned to look at her, finding her in the same position, teeth clenched and arms shaking ever so slightly as she held her pose.  
“I said not to do anything stupid ,” she snarled. “Not ‘don’t do anything at all’!”
Beast Boy blinked hard, absorbing her words--the hint of need in her voice, however faint. And suddenly, miraculously, his feeling of uncertainty disappeared as quickly as it had come.
In a flash he was a mighty T-Rex, half as tall as the building behind him. Charging forward, he reached down and fished out one of the criminals from the fading cyclone. Grabbing the figure by the arm, he swung them into the adjacent wall with ease, a cloud of dust gathering upon the point of contact. A hit that would probably kill the average person; but Beast Boy knew that right now he was just buying time.
From the corner of his eye, he caught the second figure starting to pull out a small radio, shielding it from the winds as they spoke into the device.
But before they could utter more than a sentence or two, Beast Boy spun around, sweeping them off their feet completely with his enormous tail. The person went flying at a ninety degree angle from the last, and he watched as the body hit the crumbling wall with a ‘definitely unconscious’ crash.
Morphing back, Beast Boy stood tall, admiring his work.
Raven appeared beside him a moment later, surveying the scene.
“Not bad, huh?”
“I warmed them up for you,” Raven said matter-of-factly. But Beast Boy couldn’t stop himself from brandishing another self-satisfied smirk.
Raven automatically went over to the first fallen figure, pushing directly past him as she went. Beast Boy took the hint and headed the opposite direction, preparing to inspect the second wreckage site hound dog style.
Bombarded by a multitude of different scents, he realized that he wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for. He hoped he would know it when he came across it. And he did--when something cold and metallic brushed up against his nose.
With an obnoxious sneeze that sent his floppy ears soaring, Beast Boy took a step back from the dust cloud he had created in front of him. He squinted, coming back up on the area after the dust had settled to find a small coin-like silver disc buried in the ground. But it looked incomplete somehow, like it was only one half of a whole, given several small divots on the surface of the disc. And there was something else mixed in with the scent of the cool metal. Something thick and tangy. He followed the scent further until he found its source.
“Uh...Raven?” He hesitated, instinctively pulling back from the spot it had led him to.
Directly at his feet, the second figure lay face down in the rubble. Their clothing made it difficult to tell what kind of injuries they sustained, but there was blood. Lots of blood.
At the top of the neck, just under their hairline, a perfect silver circle was embedded in the skin--a corresponding piece almost identical to the one on the ground a few yards away. Except this one was covered in miniature circuits and drenched in the dark red liquid oozing from underneath it.
Beast Boy quickly turned back to pick up the first piece and compare the two. He was certain they had once made a single whole. But the half he inspected in his hand seemed to be no more than the covering to the blood caked battery beneath. There was some writing on it though--and maybe that could tell him something .
In a moment, Raven was beside him again, abandoning her less interesting finds at the other end of the courtyard.
“What is it?” She asked, leaning over to try and get a better look at the item in Beast Boy’s hand.
“I don’t know,” he replied, squinting at the object as he tried to make out the markings engraved on its surface. “A...R...S…,” he read slowly. “It looks like there’s more but I can’t make it out.”
Raven extended her hand, and Beast Boy automatically dropped it into her palm for a second opinion.
“Whoever these people are, they must have something to do with that break in,” she said, flipping the silver piece over in her hand. “I guess Robin was right.”
Beast Boy looked down at the body again with a frown.
“Okay, but we still don’t have any more of an idea what they’re after.”
Raven didn’t say anything. She just stood over the body, staring at it intently--in a way that suggested more than just superficial intrigue.
Suddenly, the small metal badge embedded in the figure’s skin was enveloped in a purple haze, and Beast Boy watched in horror as it began to peel away from the flesh underneath like a perfect silver scab. Leaving behind a gruesome red ring of skin, it slowly floated up and over into Raven’s open pocket.
Beast Boy swallowed hard at the sight, a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. For a split second, he was worried he was about to revisit breakfast in the worst way.  
“Dude...what the fuck ?” he said, eyes darting between the site of the impromptu surgery and Raven’s slightly blood stained pocket. “That’s nasty.”
Raven didn’t even blink. “Yeah, well so are you and Robin still keeps you around so...”
Beast Boy took a step back from the scene, the scent still of blood still lingering a little too strongly for his liking. And after watching Raven pull off something like that without so much as a moan or a grunt from the disc’s owner, he wasn’t so certain the victims were just napping anymore. He tried not to think too much about the potential fate of the person at his feet. He hated the possibility of pushing that boundary--even if they were ‘the bad guys’.
“You know, that actually wasn’t too bad,” Beast Boy said suddenly. His laugh was stifled and unconvincing, but he knew Raven wouldn’t likely acknowledge his discomfort, which was a bit of a relief in its own right. Regardless, he turned on his heel and made a purposeful decision to start walking away from the scene in hopes that she would naturally follow. Luckily, she did.  
“The fight? Or having to be alone with you for more than five minutes?” She said, overtaking him by a step or two. “Because if you’re referring to the latter I’m gonna have to disagree.”
“I mean, but it works. We work. Sometimes,” Beast Boy said, though he was unsure why he was still talking. “It’s like...you know,” he droned on as they walked. “Like oil and vinegar.”
Raven noticeably began to slow her pace. “Like what ?”
“Oil and vinegar. You know. It’s like our flavor ,” Beast Boy said, making some attempt to clarify with a hand gesture.
It was here Raven stopped completely, turning to face him.
“ This ,” she said gesturing between them in return, “is not a flavor .”
Beast Boy shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well I still think it’s a good metaphor.”
“Why? Raven replied, mimicking his pose. “Because we can’t stand being together and naturally repel each other?”            
“Buuuuut,” Beast Boy added pointedly, “sometimes when you put us together you get an affordable and delicious salad dressing.”
Raven paused. She closed her eyes, raising her hand to her temple in a deep, meditative stillness before opening her mouth to speak. “You know, sometimes I really wonder how I haven’t killed you by now. Even accidentally.”
Beast Boy frowned. “Just to be clear, you’re the vinegar in this situation.”
The two began to walk again, but Beast Boy only made it a few steps before Raven thrust a hand out in front of him, stopping him mid-stride. And this time it didn’t seem to be because of anything he’d said.
“What?” he blurted out stupidly. At least this time Raven would be able to understand him.
Raven was completely still for a moment longer, her eyes slowly scanning the area around them. “You didn’t hear that?” she said quietly.
“Hear what?” Beast Boy said, again the words feeling stupid and redundant the moment he uttered them.
“Something other than the sound of your own voice,” Raven said under her breath.
Beast Boy looked all around them, just as Raven had. But he didn’t see anything. Let alone hear anything out of the ordinary.
“You’re just being paranoid,” he said, lightly pushing her arm back down to her side. “There were only two of them. You saw on Robin’s map.”
Raven didn’t seem too comforted by the reminder.
Beast Boy moved slightly to meet her gaze, which was focused somewhere far off in the distance. “I’m tellin’ ya. Oil and vinegar.”
Then, with a little more force than he expected, Raven pushed pushed past him and began to walk again.  
“Where are you going?” Beast Boy said, somewhat startled.
“Home.”
“Didn’t you wanna sweep the area first?”
“Not if it means twenty more minutes of this,” Raven said, waving her hand dismissively. “Besides, I’m just being ‘paranoid’.”
“Okay, well so much for working together then I guess,” Beast Boy said, rolling his eyes.
Raven shot him a look over her shoulder. Then, in an instant, she froze, eyes growing wide as she opened her mouth to say something.
But Beast Boy beat her to it.
He wasn’t sure the noise he made was completely human, even if the small blade twirling in the dirt just past him hadn’t completely hit its mark. He bit his lip to keep himself from another outburst. It had only grazed the side of his calf, but that was enough to bring him to one knee. He knew that if it had hit him the way it had been intended, he’d be on the ground.
Suddenly, everything around him was engulfed in shadow--and Beast Boy wondered if this was what people meant when they talked about ‘blacking out’. He really hoped that wasn’t what was happening. Not in front of Raven of all people. And not over a glorified paper cut .  
A moment later, finding he was still very much conscious, Beast Boy was relieved to find that Raven was the source of the shadowy dome that now surrounded them on all sides. But the relief didn’t last long.
Beyond the opaque screen of darkness, there was a ceaseless blur of motion. Hundreds of tiny silver sparks rebounded off the outer edge, like hail raining down in a terrible storm.
Beast Boy glanced up at Raven from where he knelt on the ground. She was gritting her teeth, brow furrowed and eyes aglow. She didn’t so much as blink when he looked at her, which wasn’t a good sign.
He looked around frantically. Every direction depicted the same terrible scene. Every direction—except for one. It was only now that he noticed how soft the earth was underneath him. How the asphalt of the alleyways seemed to melt away as they worked their way toward the center of the courtyard. And that gave him an idea. An idea Beast Boy didn’t allow himself to think through.
There was something reassuring about being so close to the ground. But the transformation into a badger probably hadn’t been the best for his wound. His leg was starting to ache even more now, and he realized that would probably make digging all the more difficult.  
But before he could test his hypothesis, a voice rang out over the crackling of bullets, clear and strong and demanding to be heard.
“Do you have a death wish?,” Raven yelled, her voice cutting above the static.  
“What do you think?” Beast Boy said, instantly morphing back. The words came out as sharp as the blades whirling around them.
“Well I guess it’s a good thing gophers are bulletproof ,” Raven said with a laugh dripping with anything but humor.
“ Badgers . It’s a badger .” Beast Boy could feel the adrenaline pulsing in his veins like wildfire--even though he knew the reaction was unwarranted, especially given the more concerning matters at hand.
“Really bad time for an argument, Beast Boy. Really bad time,” Raven bit back.
For a split second, Beast Boy thought of going ahead with his plan anyway. Then it occurred to him that he’d probably already used up what little luck he had for the day.
“Okay, so what’s your bright idea?” he said, struggling to hide the growing annoyance in his voice. But all things considered, he really hoped she had one.
“Not dying. That’s my plan,” she said, shutting her eyes tightly.  
Beast Boy looked around nervously--though he wasn’t sure what he was looking for.  
“Can’t you just...teleport us out or something?” he said, biting his lip.
“Teleportation or force field. You get one .”
The second Raven spoke though, she was interrupted by a noise that overtook even the hammering of the bullets around them. The short metallic pings were swapped for one firework-like explosion, the ground beneath them trembling just enough to make Beast Boy second guess his balance. From the looks of it, their attackers hadn’t been so lucky.
The bullets raining down on them slowed to a drizzle--then seemed to stop completely after a few stray shots. But not because the remaining gunmen had ceased fire. Rather, the firing now seemed to be directed somewhere else entirely.
Before Beast Boy could figure out where everyone else had turned their attention, his own focus was redirected again as he felt something cold on his wrist. A hand, gripping onto him with what felt like an unnecessary amount of force.  
Beast Boy felt the ground sway beneath him again uneasily until it disappeared completely, the hard dirt and asphalt replaced by rough gray concrete. When the scene before him came into a clear focus, his stomach lurched. With a primal desperation, he reached out, searching for the hand that had just let go of him. Now he was the one holding on like his life depended on it.  
In front of him now was a perfect aerial snapshot of the pavilion. They had to be at least ten stories up, given the size of the figures below them.
“Um…”
Beast Boy looked up, heart still pounding, though he wasn’t sure the vertigo was responsible for the anxiety he felt now.
Raven was staring at him--or rather their hands intertwined--with a clear level of discomfort. What kind, Beast Boy couldn’t tell.
“You can let go of my hand now,” she said slowly.
Beast Boy flinched, releasing her hand from his own as quickly as he had grabbed it. His knuckles were stiff, flushed by the strain of his grip.
An awkward beat of silence passed between them, broken only when Raven turned to grab something from her pocket.
“What are you doing?” Beast Boy asked, terribly conscious of the slight crack in his voice.
“Calling Robin,” Raven replied, an audible ring echoing from the blood-spotted comms device now resting in her hand.
The two waited for another excruciatingly long moment until the ringing came to an abrupt, unanswered halt.
“I guess he’s busy,” Beast Boy shrugged. But something snagged in his stomach at the thought. Robin probably was very busy. But Beast Boy wasn’t sure he really believed that was why he hadn��t picked up. He took out his own pager anxiously, already flipping through the contacts on the main screen. “Lemme try Cyborg.”
The dial tone cut off after the first ring.
Raven paused for a moment then looked up at him. “I don’t even have a signal.”
Beast Boy looked down at the device in his own hand. Neither did he. “Huh. Well that’s...weird.”
“Yeah,” Raven said, a definitive frown forming on her lips. “And that’s not the only thing that’s a little weird.”
As she spoke, Raven stared down at the pavilion below them, unblinking. She seemed intently focused on...something. But Beast Boy wasn’t entirely sure that it was the fight happening on the ground. A fight that was becoming increasingly hard to follow, even for someone who was trying to keep up with it.
Beast Boy scanned the turf once, then again through the eyes of a hawk, hoping for a better view. Squinting beyond the cloud of dust, he finally was able to hone in on the action--and more importantly, their attackers’ new target.  
The man stood out like a current rolling on a still sea. Rather than trying to dodge the attacks of his pursuers, he danced through the waves with an impossible accuracy, almost as if he were intentionally trying to attract their shots. And he did--like hungry flies to a show horse. Only he never seemed to get bitten. The flies bit themselves. They bit each other. Falling one after the other around him as they continued to follow him further and further away from the center of the pavilion.
Just before the man disappeared into the shadows of the opposite alleyway, Beast Boy finally caught a glimpse of his face amongst the swarming insects--his shiny black hair and toothless grin glistening in the artificial night.
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