#ali?? actually posting a fic as planned?? not only that but the fic that he had planned???? unheard of

[sneezydarliing]

hello!! i haven’t interacted with your blog much but i just rolled in from the last tigh//nari post you wrote (so good!) and saw you might be looking for requests? i’m still really nervous asking and not sure what i’m doing so no offense taken if you disregard!

anyway, i’d love to read some cy/no content? if you’re along w any ships (cynari, haino, etc) that’s totally cool. maybe like a [plant/flower] allergy situation when he visits the forest?

hope you’re well and thanks for sharing content <3

Thank you so much for the req!! I'm sorry for the wait, I really hope you enjoy!

reqs are open

Pairing: cynari

Words: 1044

CW/TW: sneezing content, mention of mess

Cyno had not anticipated anything special out of this trip to the forest. He was going only to see Tighnari- who had excitedly informed him of a new discovery made deep into the forest watcher’s patrolling area. The look on his friend’s face, combined with the eager swishing of his tail behind him, was more than enough convincing to get the mahamntra to venture into the greenery.

It’s quiet as he pads along the roughly and hastily made trail, leaving him with his own thoughts- excitement to see tighnari again, listen to him ramble on about whatever he had found, a slight apprehension at the possibility of this being dangerous- not that either of them could not hold their own, but tighnari was often so eager to research that he did not stop to think about any possible consequences to himself, and he hated seeing him in pain. Muddled in with these feelings, a slight but sudden itch in the back of his nose. He presses a knuckle against the side of it absentmindedly, just as a pair of ears perking up quickly catches his attention.

“You made it!” Tighnari calls out to him, tredging through ankle-deep tangles of weeds to meet him. There’s a smudge of dirt on his cheek, and a tangle in his usual well-kept tail. As Cyno nods his greeting, he cannot help but wonder how long he’s been out here. The other seems to be aware of it, occasionally flicking the appendage about in absent-minded frustration.

Tighnari leads him further into the forest, happily rambling on about the things they pass by and what his research has granted so far. Cyno can’t get himself to focus, the itch in his sinus suddenly alight, forcing his breath to hitch just once before calming again. He can almost feel Tighnari’s concerned frown, but he decides to keep quiet about it for now, to Cyno’s gratitude.

Suddenly, he’s stopped. Tighnari moves to the side, looking at Cyno with pride clear in his eyes. He’s meet with the sight of a large, blooming flower, encased in golden vines that seem almost-conscious, twitching at any movement around them. “I haven’t been able to touch it yet, and my elemental attacks have no effect. That’s why I brought you out here, I was hoping maybe electrical- Cyno?” His ramblings cease as he catches sight of him, hands cupped loosely in front of his face, usually serious expression crumpled into one of desperation as he fights off the need uselessly, breath stuttering until he can no longer fight it.

‘hEh-itSH! ‘tShi! hiH-” The third one is lost, leaving him sniffling, trying to rub the irritation out of his sinuses. “Archons, bless you! Are you feeling alright?” Cyno sniffles uselessly again, trying to will some of the congestion out of his voice before he speaks.

“I’m fine. You can romaine calm.” Tighnari groans in response. “You must be, if you’ve got the energy to make jokes. Anyways, can you try to hit ones of the vines with your elemental attack? Be gentle, please, and don’t damage the plant itself.” Cyno nods, saluting in a ‘yes sir’ gesture, as he prepares to follow instructions. He presses the back of his hand to his nose, scrunching up the appendage as he aims carefully. But he was unable to fight against his body and control it at once, sent foreward with another flurry of sneezes the moment he releases the energy, causing it to be sent foreward towards the flower. It’s reaction was instant, sending out a shower of pollen before curling into a ball, vines wound around it tightly. Cyno faintly hears a noise of frustration come from Tighnari, but he can’t focus, paralyzed with the awful tickle that came as the pollen surrounded him. He was in the direct line of fire, and he felt it, nostrils feeling alight as his eyes watered, he couldn’t even fight it, thrown into a desperate fit.

“haH’TSCHhi- KSHhiew! hih- hidT’SHHih! ‘idtSHhiew- sCHih!” They tore at his throat, raw and painful as his body tried desperately to release all of the pollen. He felt almost embarrassed, unable to do anything as Tighnari watched helplessly. “tignarihHh-tSHhi!” Even just his name seemed to break his stupor, the fox-tailed man rushing over and grabbing Cyno’s arm, bringing him somewhere- he could not even keep his eyes open long enough to tell, the lower half of his face buried in an arm he threw up to avoid spraying the other. He felt himself be gently led into a sitting position, half aware of the sun now beaming down on them.

His breath caught, leaving him helpless into a rough fit of coughing that didn’t seem to let him. He felt Tighnari’s hand on his back, rubbing comforting circles as he whispered encouraging phrases until the coughing finally let up. He leaned back against Tighnari, unable to resist the need to catch his breath. His face was wet with tears, nose running onto his upper lip. He roughly cleaned it up with the back of his wrist.

“There you go, you’re okay. Any trouble breathing?” Came the soft voice next to Cyno, reminding him suddenly of his blunder. Tighnari had been so eager to research, and he had messed it up. Guilt shot through him. “Sorry, ‘nari.” He pawed at his nose again while he spoke.

“It’s alright. I can bring somebody else another day.” Tighnari soothed, hands beginning to card through the others' hair. “Right now, we need to get you cleaned up. The pollen on your clothes won’t do you any good.” he stood quickly, reaching out a hand to Cyno, but he was distracted with the need to sneeze once again, raising a shaky hand in warning.

“hIh’tSChih!i’tsCHuh!” He sniffled once more as Tighnari waited patiently, before taking the hand offered to him, letting himself be pulled onto his feet.

“Hey, ‘Nari?” The forest watcher turned back to face him, “What is it?” “I’m very frond of you.” Tighnari huffed, turning back around and beginning to stalk off, stopping only a few paces in front of him. “I love you, too, Cyno.” Mahamatra grinned, catching up to his partner as they began the trek home, punctuated with the occasional sneezes.

#snz stuff #sneeze kink #sneeze #sneeze fic #ali talks #snz #sneeze stuff #gen/shin #im so sorry for what is probably violent mischaracterization!! i only had what very little ive done of the sumeru quests to do #go off of #but this was really fun to do!! i feel like the way i write snz's gets repetitive so i tried very hard to aviod that #i hope the spelling isnt wonky though 😭 #forgive any errors i tried my best to proofread but ive got too much caffiene in my system rn #<- did this to myself b/c i forget to eat #anyways #reqs are still open so feel free to shoot anything else my way! hope you all enjoy #going to jump over to desktop in a minute to put a readmore on here do not fret #ali?? actually posting a fic as planned?? not only that but the fic that he had planned???? unheard of #it probably wont happen again #queing this until the evening because i feel like snzblr is a lot more active then #if anybody thinks differently lmk! I like to try to aviod my stuff getting buried lol

[luci3skydi]

I repurposed the text for this from an a/b/o fic wip that I’ll probably never post, but it really goes to show how much space comics require: all three of these pages were one written paragraph originally. Which is below:

(I changed the text a little.)

Meta rant under the cut (not necessary to understand the comic):

So there’s this quick moment where Daniel offers a handshake to Johnny right after the sucker punch in the beach fight. He says, “Okay, man, now we’re even, huh?” angling for some sort of truce, but he keeps his right hand raised in a fist, protecting his face. It’s quick, but this moment says a lot about how Daniel and Johnny function within and react to the world around them. 

Daniel offers the handshake, but is that only because he’s losing? He knows the fight’s inevitable as much as Johnny: he’s got the fist up. The fist is sincere. But is the handshake? As far as Johnny’s concerned, there’s only one path forward that makes sense: they finish the fight. But Daniel offers nonviolence, equilibrium as an alternative. It’s a baffling move.

Does Daniel actually believe they can end this here? Right after he landed the first real hit? Is he dumb? Or is this just plausible deniability in front of Ali (‘see, I offered him an out! I’m the good guy!’) Is it a taunt, like Johnny probably sees it?

It reads like an ill-fated attempt to save his skin, doomed to fail, but he tries it anyway. He’s got his pride and his world view (“well, it wasn’t his, was it?”) and someone to defend, so he doesn’t back down, but he can also try to turn this around (and maintain the moral high ground) by letting Johnny decide: the hand of friendship, or the way of the fist. If Johnny chooses peace, well hallelujah! But if he chooses violence, hey, Daniel’s still a good guy. The guy who got beat on, yeah, but for standing up for what is right. Daniel has moral clarity in spades and the strength and spunk to defend it. 

Johnny really doesn’t have that same strength in identity and purpose that allows Daniel to adapt and prosper (when he’s not beset on by enemy forces) in life. Johnny’s plans at the beginning of this movie are so heartfelt and good and simple: he’s got one year to make it work, and that’s what he’s going to do, make it work. But the second he’s faced with Ali snubbing him and Daniel standing up to him, he throws all that out thoughtlessly. Because what he does and who he is are not the same in his brain. He molds himself into a Kreese clone to get friends, success, and a girlfriend. And that’s worked until recently. But his life is built on shaky foundations. (Enter Daniel “Bull in a Bonsai Shop” LaRusso.)

I think the difference between Johnny and Daniel is that Johnny only ever sees one path forward, he’s rigid. And Daniel’s flexible, he can see outside of what is supposed to happen, to what he really wants to happen. How he thinks the world could work, if people weren’t so hung up on pride and selfishness and how they’re supposed to be doing things. I think that’s why Johnny and him clash so badly in Karate Kid: Daniel is a disturbance to the natural order. He is a destabilizing element to the balance of Johnny’s universe (he questions Kreese!). He is another way to live and be happy outside of the narrow confines of masculinity and ‘might is right’ that Johnny has built himself up around. He thinks outside the box. And that makes him a freak and a twerp and an enemy. It makes him something dangerous to be crushed. 

This choice between the open hand (‘open hand’ = karate, and in this metaphor; Miyagi’s karate, violence as a last resort) and the fist (‘the way of the fist’ = Kreese’s karate, violence as first response) is really a choice between Johnny’s plans to better himself, and his need to assert his dominance and win. And he chooses violence, (self) destruction, and essentially to lose everything (and for what? Pride? Kreese and the Cobras’ approval? Somehow winning Ali back by doing exactly what she doesn’t want him to do?) 

In Cobra Kai Johnny’s a ‘I’m just giving it to you straight, this is how the real world works’ kind of guy, and one of his big character growth things is realizing that it doesn’t have to be that way, he has the power to make it different. Kreese’s Cobra Kai doesn’t have to be his Cobra Kai. He can let things go. He can fight for Robby (I mean, he doesn’t, but he could.) He can move forward and improve and even lose without it killing him. Karate Kid Johnny doesn’t have that awareness, he only has one view (Kreese’s view) and that is ‘if a man confronts you, you strike first, strike hard, no mercy, sir.” So that’s what he does. And he doesn’t think twice about it. 

So when faced with this choice he chooses poorly, and he doesn't even see it as a choice in the first place. He takes less than a second to consider it. He fails at the first hurdle, and he doesn’t even realize it. 

#long post #karate kid #karate kid fanart #cobra kai #cobra kai fanart #comic art #Luci3skydi art #this is just me trying to figure out how these guys think #which is why it's kind of a mess #I got that 'johnny's story' comic for christmas #and it was good but they didn't really go too deep into johnny's interiority which was a really big part of why I wanted it #they must have been hesitant to overstep #there was a great part where johnny goes to sid for ali advice which i never would have thought up but worked perfectly #johnny was sooo desperate for father figures holy shit #and then after the forced kiss johnny's like 'I asserted my dominance over her just like you said sensei kreese and it didn't work! #this boy is so dumb #tumblr erased all of my italics which is probably for the best I use them a truly terrible amount #but I'm still feeling :/

[evrybodysdarlin]

My Aliwoo Fics

I thought I would make one post with all of my Aliwoo (or Sali, or Ali/Sangwoo or whatever ship name you prefer) fan fiction together.

Rated G

Dumplings and Fish Bread--Sang-woo is having lunch at a park when he's joined by a tiny stranger...and then meets the tiny stranger's very handsome father. (2869 words, pre-relationship, cute and sweet.)

Noodles, Pancakes, and Milk--sequel to Dumplings and Fish Bread. Ali and Sang-woo try to get together for their first date...or something like that. But somehow, things keep getting in their way. (3217 words, first date/first kiss, cute and sweet.)

Rated T

You won’t remember all my champagne problems-- College AU--Whenever Sang-woo drinks, he calls Ali to be his designated driver. But whenever Sang-woo drinks, he says all these sweet, loving things to Ali...then acts like everything is normal in the morning! But Ali longs for Sang-woo to really mean all of the sweet words he says. (4 chapters, 9849 words, a getting together fic with lots of humor. Just has some swearing and a bit of suggestive dialogue.)

Rated M

Surrender to the sound -- The games are interrupted and broken up during the marble game, and all the remaining contestants survive. But now, Sang-woo has to deal with the consequences of his betrayal and struggle with the fact that he may never see Ali Abdul again. Will they ever meet again, and can anything ever make things right? Just because you survived, doesn't mean you get a happy ending. (Completed, 7431 words. Warnings for violence, depression, and suicide of secondary characters, although I would say it’s still not even as dark as Squid Game was. Very different from my other Squid Game stories! My attempt and some closure and catharsis for what happened in episode 6.)

Rated E (these fics have adult content! NSFW, intended for adults only!)

There’s Nothing I Hate More Than What I Can’t Have--Sang-woo's new neighbor is so annoying. At least, that's what he tells himself and anyone who asks. I mean, what kind of neighbor is actually that nice...and handsome...and sweet...Ali Abdul, that's who. (13 chapters, 38173 words, my longest fic of all time and my favorite. It’s basically just an AU where the Squid Game people have somewhat less awful lives than in the show, Ali is Sang-woo’s neighbor, and they fall in love, deal with their issues, and build their own little found family.)

Don’t Blame Me--Actually mostly a Junhun fic, but it’s a sequel to There’s Nothing I Hate More Than What I Can’t Have and it shows some of Ali and Sang-woo’s future and their loving relationship! Still more focused on Gi-hun and Jun-ho. (WIP, not yet finished. Will be 6 chapters.)

He Built a Fire Just to Keep Me Warm-- Ali and Sang-woo wake up and their room is freezing...but Sang-woo knows just how to keep Ali warm. (2298 words, nothing but cozy and domestic smut.)

A Little Relaxation-- Cho Sang-woo goes to a bathhouse to relax, but he finds a more stimulating pastime when he meets Ali Abdul by chance. (5152, nothing but hook up in a bathhouse smut, no sequel planned.)

Your Sweetness-- Sang-woo goes out looking for a random hookup. He finds Ali, and they both find more than they were expecting. (6418 words, nothing but hookup smut. But quite sweet and respectful! Part 1 of a series.)

Pang--Ali and Sang-woo have been meeting up every weekend, for what they both claim is a meaningless hookup. They couldn't possibly be catching feelings, could they? On this occasion, Sang-woo asks Ali to flip the dynamic of their relationship, and everything starts to change. Sequel to Your Sweetness. (6216 words, nothing but Ali topping Sang-woo for the first time smut with a side of feelings realization.)

Say I’m Your Heart-- Sang-woo and Ali have settled into their relationship...although neither one of them can define exactly what that relationship is. But when Sang-woo has to go on a long business trip, the two of them have to find creative ways to make do while they miss each other...and their separation might bring new feelings to light. Three-quel to Your Sweetness and Pang. (5367 words, nothing but Ali and Sang-woo exploring phone sex, video chat sex, and sex toys while they’re apart and also slowly realizing they’re in love.)

I’m the Mess That You Wanted-- Ali and Sang-woo are reunited and have some big things to talk about...but also can't quite keep their hands off of each other. This is a..four-quel? Well, whatever, part 4 to the series that Your Sweetness began, and this one you really need to read the other parts for! It immediately follows Say I’m Your Heart. (2695 words, nothing but Ali and Sang-woo reuniting after their time apart with lots of fluff, mush, and smut.)

Sway with Me, Go Astray with Me-- Gi-hun surprises Sang-woo with strippers at his birthday party...but the real surprise is Sang-woo getting addicted to the beautiful angel who gives him a lapdance--Ali Abdul. (Now complete!)

#sali #aliwoo #sali fic #aliwoo fic #squid game fanfic #my fic

[buckys-black-dress]

a fine line, part two

a/n: here she is, our promised part two of afl!!! honestly i love writing this series and it has almost all my fav things in one fic, so yup. anyways, again, thank you for reading/sharing/liking my work !! luv u all, x -ali

wc: 5.8k !!!

-

The tension in the room was palpable.

And although no one knew you two were working together by verbal confirmation, it was clear from the way you were both reacting.

Bucky was rarely this quiet, so it was obvious what was going on.

Also the fact that you seemed frozen in place.

“Y/N? Everything okay?” Wanda’s soft voice filtered in next to you.

You nodded, trying to break away from James’ gaze.

“Mhm, who’re you working with?” You ask, moving away from the topic at hand.

“Oh, you know Professor Vision? He teaches Comp Sci.” Wanda is now visibly blushing, making you curious.

“Ooh, does Wanda have a crush?” Natasha chimes in as she sidles up next to you two. “I got Banner. How about you, Y/N?”

“I uhh, I got... Barnes.” You mumble under your breath.

“Who? I didn’t catch what you said there.” Natasha’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I... I got Dr. Barnes.” You said, not even daring to look up at your friends.

“...Oh. Well, that should be... interesting...” Wanda comments.

“...Yeah. It’ll probably be fine!” Natasha tries to comfort you, but there’s a stirring feeling in your stomach that almost makes you feel sick.

“He said there was no way to change it... right?” You ask feebly, trying to hold out hope.

“No... and I wouldn’t want to go head to head with Fury.” Wanda frowns.

“Great.” You conclude, taking a deep breath. “You know what, I can do this. It’s fine, I’ll be fine.” You tell the girls, gathering your things and filing out of the office as people began to leave.

Wanda and Natasha were left watching your retreating form, staring at each other.

“I’ll be surprised if they make it to the end of next week.” Natasha says, earning a shove in her arm from Wanda.

Bucky watched you leave the office, and the gears were most definitely turning in his head.

-

You spent the rest of the week keeping mostly to yourself, trying to mentally prepare for what you’d have to face next week.

In the email sent out by Fury, he explained that you and your partner should have a lesson outlined prior to Monday so you could get right into teaching. He also explained that you would have to share all of your classes, and somehow correlate the two subjects that each professor taught.

English and History, seems easy, right?

Wrong.

Every idea you’ve emailed James has been shot down, and your patience was wearing thin. You didn’t like being unprepared, and the week would be coming to a close soon.

So naturally, you did what anyone else would do, and knocked on James’ office door until he answered.

“I’m comin’ jeez, would ya hold on?” You hear his voice, muffled by the door, until he swings it open, coming face to face with you. “What do you need, Y/L/N?”

“Oh, lovely to see you too, Dr. Barnes. I just wanted to know if you were actually interested in making our lesson plan. If we’re going to be spending the next few weeks together, we might as well have a plan. And I thought your input might be better, since you’re clearly not a fan of what I’ve shown you so far.” You rambled, moving to stand in the middle of his office, laptop in hand.

“You know, maybe if you sent anything good, I would’ve worked with ya on it. But I just don’t think your style of teaching fits me. It’s too... too intimate. You’re too far up your students’ asses. You get too close, too personal with them.” James explains to you.

You can only scoff at this.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, James, but my students and I have great relationships. If my students don’t like me, or what I teach, they’ll be more inclined to hand in subpar work. But if I make my expectations clear from the start, they’ll know what they have to do to earn an A in my class. That’s why my first two semesters here have been averaging with A’s all across the board.” You explain as simply as you can, because you felt like James was ridiculing you and the way you teach. You worked hard to get where you are today, and you know that’s why your students love coming to class.

Bucky stared at you for a few seconds, trying to process the information you dropped on him.

“So... your students... like you?” He asks, tentatively, almost.

“...Yes? I know you don’t like me, so it might hard to believe that others do, but I don’t think I’m that unappealing.” You scoff, looking at the floor to avoid Bucky’s eyes. “Anyways, do you have any ideas?”

Bucky’s chest tightened with guilt. After the incident at the bar, he was trying to not be as rude to you. He was trying to be more humane, in Steve’s words.

“I... Maybe we can take a look at some of the stuff you sent before. Maybe if you explain it to me face-to-face I’ll understand it better.” Bucky says, and you nod. “Take a seat, we’re gonna be here a while.”

As a few hours passed, you and James actually started a pretty solid outline for lessons. You started working on your first lesson, which would be the origins of literature. You could both talk about it, and you could both bring different aspects to the table.

“On average, how many kids do you have in your classes, Y/N?” James asks you, and your head snaps up at the mention of your first name. You had a moment where you imagine him calling you that way more often, making your throat run dry.

“Uhm,” you cleared your throat, “my biggest class is about thirty students, maximum.” You tell him.

“Really? My smallest is forty...” He tells you, scratching his chin. “Also very male dominated, I’ve noticed.”

You freeze, trying to process this. It’s only ten more kids... you’ll be fine, right?

“You alright, there, Y/L/N?” James chuckles, to which you let out a weak one. You weren’t used to large crowds, they made you anxious, nervous, like you were losing your footing.

“I-I’m fine. Yeah, all good, let’s get back to work.” You tell him, focusing back on your lesson plan.

“It’s uh, getting a bit late. Thinking we should head home soon.” James looks at you a bit longer, trying to gauge your mood.

“Uh- oh, what time is it?” You ask, squinting and cursing yourself for leaving your glasses in your office.

“It’s almost 7:30...” He tells you.

“Oh, I have to go! Lucy, she’s been all alone, I have to feed her!” In a panic, you begin gathering your belongings.

“Lu- Who’s Lucy?” James asks in clear confusion at your sudden panic.

“My cat! Oh, poor baby, she’s probably wondering where I’ve been...” You trail off, making sure you’ve gathered everything you need.

“W-wait, can I get your number?” James asks, and you both freeze.

“M-my number?” You ask, not bothering to hide your shock.

“Well, we’re gonna need to discuss the lesson plan somehow...” He tells you.

“Oh... well, here...” You pull off a post-it note from the pad on his desk and quickly scribble down your number, handing it to him. “I’m not usually on my phone too much, so if I don’t answer within a few hours, try shooting me an email.” You explain, making your way out the door.

“Have a good night, James.” He hears you say quietly before you turn away from the doorframe, and he hears the resonating shutting of your office door not even five minutes later.

Bucky sits in his chair, not having moved an inch from when you left. He stares at the blue post-it with your number scribbled on it.

He picked it up, inspecting it further.

Your handwriting was neat, but flourishing and borderline cursive because of how quickly you wrote.

Bucky pulls out his phone and inputs the number, saving your contact.

Y/N Y/L/N

He then types out a message:

Just wanted to text you so I wouldn’t lose your number. Hope Lucy is okay.

And he hits send, deciding to pack up his things, trying to understand why he chose to include your cat in his message.

And on your end when you check your phone after parking in your apartment building’s parking, you see a message from an unknown number. You choose to not answer until you’ve made it into your apartment and feed Lucy.

You open your messages, staring at it. Something in your chest fluttered, but you pass it off as your hunger, waiting for your dinner to warm up in the oven.

Hi James. Lucy is fine, thanks for worrying. Have a good night.

You send it off, saving his contact but choosing to not look at your phone until after you’ve finished everything that you needed to do.

After finishing some grading, doing the dishes, and adding to the lesson plan, you decide to settle into bed with a book. You check your phone while brushing your teeth.

James Barnes: Good to hear. Do you think we could work on the lesson plan over lunch tomorrow? Just so we can get ahead of the game.

Y/N Y/L/N: Sounds good. Are we still going to also meet up after classes?

It takes a few minutes before your phone dings again.

James Barnes: Yep. Do you want to just come by my place after? Kind of getting stir-crazy in my office. We could also order food.

You stare at your phone. Are you going crazy? Why is he being so... kind?

Before you could even respond, another ping pulls you back out of your thoughts.

James Barnes: You could also bring Lucy with you, if you don’t want to leave her alone at home for too long.

Okay, now you were sure you were going insane. He was being way too nice. Where was this attitude a year ago, when you’d first met him?

But then again, it wouldn’t hurt, right? You were trying to get out of your comfort zone...

Y/N Y/L/N: Sure, that’s good. Are you sure it would be okay if I brought Lucy? I wouldn’t want to impose on your personal space.

His reply was almost instant.

James Barnes: No, I don’t mind at all. Alpine would love the company.

Before you could even wonder who Alpine was, you remember your previous conversation with Steve once.

‘Bucky also has a cat...’

Y/N Y/L/N: Okay, then I’ll be there. You also have a cat?

James Barnes: Oh, yeah. He’s the sweetest. *1 Attachment.*

Opening the image, you see a fluffy, stark white cat. He had big eyes that anyone would swoon over. You look at the foot of your bed where Lucy is curled up into a ball, fast asleep. You carefully snap a picture, smiling at her.

Y/N Y/L/N: I’ll admit, he’s cute. But can he compete with her? *1 Attachment*

You smile, seeing the typing bubble, waiting for him to respond.

James Barnes: Doll, no one can compete with Al. But I can’t deny, Lucy’s a gem.

Reading over the message at least seven times, your eyes keep lingering over the first word. Doll. It was in a loop in your head, the only thought you were having was that one word.

Why did he call me that? Is he flirting with me? No... he doesn’t even like me! But then why would he be talking to me right now? And why would he send me a picture of his cat...

And now your hands were working faster than your brain, typing out a quick response with your stomach doing backflips.

Y/N Y/L/N: Alright, whatever you say, Bucky. I’m heading to bed, good night.

And you don’t wait for a response before shutting off your phone and plugging it in, putting it on do not disturb and abandoning it on your nightstand, flipping open your book. You were trying to clear your thoughts but miserably failing.

Unbeknownst to you, Bucky responded with a wide smile at the sight of you using his nickname.

James Barnes: Sweet dreams, Y/N.

That night, Bucky fell asleep with Alpine on the pillow next to him, but a wide smile on his face and his stomach full of butterflies.

Little did he know, so were you.

-

The next day, you woke up feeling like a brand new woman. You got a decent amount of sleep. You got out of bed and made coffee before you left the house. You arrived to school way earlier than usual.

To be honest, you didn’t know what was going on.

James was being nice. To you. Why the sudden change of heart? Or maybe he was going back to acting like an asshole when he sees you in person. You didn’t really know what to expect.

Honestly, what you expected the least was for a knock to be heard on your door, 15 minutes before your first class of the day.

“Come in!” You say, expecting a student or maybe Natasha or Wanda.

But the door swings open, and there’s James. He’s standing there with two paper bags, undoubtedly from the bakery down the street.

“Hi.” He says. Not offering anything. No explanation, no emotion. No indication of our conversation last night.

“Hi. Did you need something?” You ask, and for once, it wasn’t in a dismissive or cold tone.

“Uh, no. Just wondering if you’ve eaten anything yet today?” James asks, holding up the bags in his hand.

“Uhm... no...” You tell him, not understanding why he was asking.

“Oh, well I have an extra croissant, if you’d like.” He holds up the bags once again.

“Sure, you can sit in here to eat if you’d like...” You offer, not sure of the water you were treading in.

“Oh, thanks.” He sits down and you both pull out the pastries and start eating. “So, how’s Lucy today?” James asks, a slight smirk on his face. You honestly couldn’t tell if he was making fun of you or not.

“Uh, she-she’s good. Clingy as usual. How’s Alpine?” You return the question.

“Same for him, also clings to me like a koala when I leave, I always feel bad, but I don’t really have a choice.” You both giggle at the remark, nodding in agreement.

“I understand. Lucy’s still a kitten too, so she’s been getting attached a lot. But I think I need her just as bad as she needs me.” You tell him, and you don’t know why.

“Oh... no boyfriend?” James asks, and now you really can’t tell if he’s pulling your leg.

“Oh-” You giggle, covering your mouth. “That’s funny. No, no boyfriend.” You continue to laugh until you fall back into silence, and James is just watching you.

“What’s so funny?” He asks, genuinely perplexed at your reaction.

“James, I don’t think either of us are idiots. I don’t think I come off as girlfriend material to most guys.” You laugh again.

It became quiet, and you look back to your computer, ready to end this awkward conversation. You knew you had your insecurities, but it had always been hard for you to put yourself out there. Especially for guys. Your anxiety and introverted nature really put a pause on your already non-existent dating life.

Besides, you’ve always been alone. And you didn’t think that would be changing any time soon.

“Okay, well I’m gonna head out. I have a class to prepare for. See you tonight?” James asks, getting up from his seat across from you.

“Y-Yeah, I’ll see you then. Could you text me your address and what time I should be there?” You ask, also gathering your lecture notes and laptop.

“Sure thing, Y/N. Bye.” He waves, leaving. As soon as he steps out, you hear the clicking of heels against the laminate flooring.

“Why was Bucky in here?” Natasha’s gravelly voice asks, looking confused as ever.

“He just brought me a croissant, we were talking about our lesson plan for next week.” You explain to her. “Walk with me to my lecture?” You ask, pointing out the door.

“Sure,” she agrees, waiting for you to lock the door, “so, have things been... civil between you two?” Natasha asks tentatively.

“Actually, yes. He’s not all that bad. I’m going to his place after classes to work on the lesson plan, he asked me yesterday to even bring Lucy over so she could meet Alpine.” You tell her.

“Oh- wow, really? He’s being so... nice to you...” She responds.

“I-I know... I don’t understand why... He made it clear he doesn’t really enjoy my company.” You respond.

“Yeah... Well, this is new. I hope he keeps up with it.” She pats you on the shoulder as you reach the lecture hall.

“Yeah, me too.” You say, turning to her before going in.

“Hey, can I stop by your office for something at lunch?”

“Sure, see you then!” You tell her, setting up for your class.

-

Lunch time comes around, and Natasha was already waiting for you when you finished your class by lunchtime. You remembered James also asking to come by to eat with you and work, so you tried to make it quick with Natasha.

“So, you and Bruce already finished your lesson plans?” You ask, looking for a booklet she needed.

“Yeah, he’s fun to work with. Kinda a nerd, but he knows his shit.” She says, smiling and leaning against your desk. “Any reason you’re in a rush?” She asks, catching you off guard.

“Oh, uh, James is coming to eat here so we can get ahead on the lesson.” You tell her, looking back through your drawer.

“That’s... interesting.” Natasha’s brows were drawn together. “You two seem to have a lot of time allotted together.”

“Well, we have only a little of our lessons done, and we really don’t want to show up unprepared. You know how much I hate that.” You tell her, finally finding what she needed.

Outside your office, James was just about to walk in when he heard your voices.

“Yeah... Just wondering, did he ever... apologize for what he said that one night?” Nat asks.

“Uhm, n-no. He’s been really kind to be as of late, so I’m assuming we’re turning a new leaf... But he makes me... nervous sometimes. Just a few days ago, he wouldn’t even look at my lesson plan ideas. He looked like he would rather violently bash his skull in than work with me. I’m just- I’m confused. What made him change his mind?” You think out loud, really wondering if James’ behavior was genuine.

“Y/N, I know you’ve been through a lot, but I think you should give him a chance. Don’t be so weary. If he’s being nice, don’t question it. I don’t know why he was like that with you from the beginning, but you shouldn’t have to beat yourself up over the fact that he’s actually treating you with respect.” Natasha puts her hand over yours, meeting your gaze.

“Y-Yeah. I know. I know I deserve respect, but it’s been hard lately. Ever since my family stopped talking to me, I feel like a failure. They don’t understand that I deserve that respect either. They think teaching is a shit job, they think I won’t get anywhere in life with it. I’m just sick and tired of them acting like I didn’t work hard to get where I am today.”

I talked to my brother the other day, and he said the same thing they’ve been saying since I started my PhD. ‘You’re not gonna get anywhere with this, you should get a boyfriend, we want grandkids.’ Like, okay! I get it! But where the hell am I supposed to find a guy when the cute one doesn’t even like me!? And my last boyfriend was in my undergrad. I feel a like teenager. I have literally no romantic life.” You huff out, absolutely tired of this.

“I- Y/N, I’m so sorry. You deserve a family that’s supportive of you and your passions. I hope Wanda and Carol and I have maybe helped you, kind of like a work family, y’know?” She holds your hand tighter. “We’ll always be here for you.”

You smile, walking around your desk to hug her.

“Thank you, Nat. I appreciate you all so much. I don’t think you’ll ever really know.” You hug her tightly before letting go. “James should be here any minute now, but we’ll talk more after class?”

“You betcha, but don’t think I forgot what you said... Maybe he does like you.” She says, and your face turns beet red.

“Natasha, no. I think he’s made it very clear he’s not into me. Like, at all. I’m surprised we’re even working together. I didn’t think he would cooperate.” You laugh. “Okay, seriously, you gotta go. I don’t want him to walk in on us talking about him.”

“Okay, okay, talk later. Bye, Y/N.” She says, making her way out, and Bucky pushes himself against the wall, hoping she wouldn’t see him.

“Don’t forget what we talked about, yeah?” She says to him, not even looking back. Natasha only stops when she doesn’t hear his response, turning around. “Listen to me, Bucky. We may be friends, but so are Y/N and I. I don’t know if it was me or Steve who finally knocked some sense into the dumb head of yours, but if she comes to me again, crying, telling me she can’t take it from you anymore, I promise; you’ll be off this faculty faster than you can say ‘tenure.’ Now, am I understood, Barnes?” Natasha concludes, completely in Bucky’s personal space.

“I- yes. I understand.” He gulps, looking down at his hands. “I-I’ve been trying. To be nice to her. I know what I did before was wrong, but I’m trying, okay? Steve and I had a... a long talk.”

“Yeah, whatever. This better not just be a one-time-thing. From here on out, I want no complaints from her. She’s been through enough shit, and she doesn’t need any more from you. I have somewhere to be, and so do you.” Natasha says, parting ways and letting Bucky release a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

He composes himself one last time, and walks into your office.

“Hi, James.” You give him a soft smile, “Take a seat, we’ve got work to do.”

-

When your last lecture finished, you made your way home to get what you needed to head to James’ apartment. He’d texted you the address and told you you could come by any time after 6:30.

You were thinking back on your lunch break with him. He was quiet, almost nervous to be sitting in front of you, and you couldn’t understand for the life of you why.

It was uncharacteristic of him to be so demure, and you wonder why he was suddenly so shy. Before, he wouldn’t have hesitated to make a remark, or take a jab at you. But now, he was quiet as a mouse.

It was concerning, to say the least.

So, on your way to his apartment, which was a solid 15 minutes drive, you call Natasha for advice.

“Hey. Can I talk to you about something?” You ask while you drive.

“Yeah, everything alright?” Natasha’s voice filters through your car’s speakers.

“Oh, I’m fine, but did something happen with James? He was acting so... odd today... He was so quiet, so nice. His behavior has been so different lately.” Your brows were furrowed, genuinely trying to crack this puzzle.

“Uh... well, isn’t it a good thing?” She asks.

“I mean, yes, but did someone say something to him?” You ask, puzzled.

“Uh, no...” lie, “maybe he’s just turning over a new leaf, Y/N. I think you should stop worrying yourself over it so much. And if you really want answers, just confront him about it.” Natasha concludes.

“...Okay. You’re right. I think I’m just reading too much into this. I need to go, I’m almost there. Thanks, Nat.” You tell her.

“Bye, Y/N. Good luck.” And the line goes dead.

“Looks like it’s just me and you now, Luce.” You look over at her carrier in the seat next to yours, where she’s curled up into a ball inside.

-

Once you park and text James to let him know you’re on your way up, you sling your laptop bag over your shoulder and grab Lucy’s carrier.

As you make your way inside, you stop at the concierge desk, where an older man with grey hair and glasses greets you. His name tag reads Stan.

“Hi, I’m here to see James Barnes?” You tell him, looking at the grandiosity of the lobby.

“Ah, yes, Ms. Y/L/N?” He asks, and you nod. “He said he was expecting you. Not that I don’t trust you, but I just need a form of ID before I can let you up.” You nod again, handing over you driver’s license.

He hands it back, giving an approving nod.

“Elevators are to the right, he’s in 12B.” Stan tells him, and you give him appreciative ‘thank you’ before you scurry to the elevator.

When you knock on his door, it takes a second for him to open it, a faint ‘Al, one second!’ resonating through the door, making you snort out a laugh.

“Hey, sorry about that. Come in,” Bucky finally appears, swinging his door wide open.

You walk in, setting down Lucy and taking your shoes off.

“So, is Alpine friendly with other cats?” You ask, weary of unzipping the carrier.

“Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?” He asks, but stops when he sees your expression fall.

“S-Sorry, I wasn’t trying to imply anything, It’s just- Lucy’s a bit shy, but she typically likes other cats.” You say, looking down at her.

“I-I’m sorry- that was rude. I wasn’t trying to sound like an ass, I swear. Alpine’s friendly with other cats, but he needs a little time to warm up to other people. Don’t take it personally if he isn’t too fond of you at first.” He laughs, directing you to his couch where Alpine was perched.

“Oh, hi baby!” You coo, holding out your hand to Alpine. He tentatively inspects you with his eyes, first, and then sniffs you. He then, his head buts against your hand, asking for affection.

Bucky’s eyebrows shoot up, shocked at how friendly Alpine was being. He barely even looked at Steve and Sam when they come by. But here he was, purring and shoving himself against you.

“Well, I think Lucy won’t have a problem with him at all.” You smile, bringing the carrier over to the end of the couch and unzipping it, letting Lucy move at her own pace.

At first, she just wearily looks at Alpine and the unfamiliar setting. She then looks at you, where you encouragingly coo at her, making sure she was comfortable.

Bucky gazes at the whole scene with a soft look, watching as Lucy slowly saunters out of the carrier, sniffing Alpine and the couch. Soon enough, Alpine sniffs back, and they start playing with each other, forgetting their owners completely.

You both laugh at how well they were getting along, and the contrast between the black and white furs making it that much better.

“Well, should we get started?” You ask, finally turning to Bucky with a big smile.

In that moment, his throat goes dry, and all he can think is... She has a beautiful smile.

“James? Everything alright?” You ask, breaking him out of his trance.

“I- Yes! Sorry, got distracted for a minute... Would you prefer Italian or Chinese for dinner?” He asks, shaking his head and trying to change the subject.

“Uhm, I don’t mind, whatever you’d like.” You smile, grabbing your laptop.

“So... Italian, then?” He asks with a light laugh.

“Sure.” You answer. “Where can we sit to work?”

“Oh, the table’s fine, we can eat while we work, too. Let me go order really quick.” He excuses himself after pointing to his dining table, and heading into the kitchen.

When Bucky reaches the kitchen, he takes a second to compose himself. He pinches in between his brows, his eyes squeezed shut. He didn’t know why he was acting like a teenager, he felt himself get flustered around you.

After he pulls himself together, he orders the food and comes back outside, finding you focused on something extremely intently on your screen.

“James, what do you think for something like this for a more interactive activity?” You ask, turning your computer to him, waiting for him to read the plan, biting your lip nervously.

“This- this is awesome, doll. This looks really good, the students would love this.” He tells you, reading over it one more time.

“O-Oh, thanks.” You thank him shyly, stomach fluttering while looking down at your lap again.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings, breaking the silence.

“Oh, the food-” James moves to grab his wallet, but you grab his wrist, stopping him.

“James, you’ve already been so hospitable, let me get it-” You say, but he shakes off your hand and shakes his head.

“No, I can’t let you do that, I insist,” he responds, beating you to the door and handing the delivery man his card, letting him ring it up quickly.

You huff, sitting back down in your spot with a pout.

“James, you suck,” you huff, visibly annoyed. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, I did. Now, let’s eat. You good with red wine?” He asks, pulling out two wine glasses.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” You say, unpacking the food as he pours some wine.

As he sets down some plates, he sees your expression still pouty, like a child.

“Y/N, stop pouting.” You look so cute. “You can get it next time.” I wish I could kiss you.

“Oh, there’s gonna be a next time?” You ask, your face turning red yet again.

“I mean, we’re going to have to make more lesson plans, depending on how long Fury keeps this up.” He laughs, but you freeze at his words.

It’s true, you think to yourself, we’re probably going back to how it was before when this is all over. That’s probably why he’s being nice to me.

“Hey, you alright? Did I say something?” James asks, a concerned look on his face.

“N-No, you’re good. Sorry. Ready to eat?” You ask, changing the subject.

“Yeah... You sure everything’s okay?” He asks again, trying to make sure.

“James, everything is okay, please. Let’s just eat.” You smile, placing a hand over his in reassurement.

-

Dinner was delicious, and now you and James were sipping on wine while working, occasionally checking on Lucy and Alpine.

“Hey, do you think a group project could work? I usually give some to my students, I have a template I follow, but you could change it to your liking-” James tells you, but you cut him off with your thoughts.

“James, can I ask you a question?” You ask, hovering a hand over his.

“S-Sure. What’s up?” He sounds weary.

“You know, before we started this project, you like... loathed me.” You say. “Why?” Your voice breaks at that last word, barely getting it out of your throat.

“I... I just-” He takes a deep breath and looks down, grabbing your hand, “I thought you were... snobby, stuck up. I thought you came to this school thinking you were better than everyone else, that you were here to one-up us all.”

And before you could cut him to deny it with your shaking head, he continues.

“And I know now that I was wrong. I-I’m so sorry for the way I spoke to you, especially at the bar. After you left and Steve took me home, he basically yelled at me and told me how what I thought of you was completely off. I shouldn’t have assumed all those things about you, and I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me, one day.” He concludes, holding onto your hand so tightly to convey just how sorry he was.

“I- Oh, James. Y-You know, I never meant to come off that way. I just- I’ve always had trouble making friends and talking to people, and things have been hard recently. I never meant to make you o-or anyone else, for that matter, to feel that way. I’m so sorry.” You say, tears prickling behind your eyes.

“Y/N, doll.” James moves out of his seat, wrapping you in his arms. “I can’t even tell you how much I wish I was more open-minded, more patient. Ever since Steve and Nat have talked to me, I’ve been just-”

“Nat? What has Natasha told you?” You stop him, pulling away.

“She- she just told me to stop. She told me you’ve been going through a lot, and that I wasn’t making it any better for you so-”

“Did she say what? Why would she tell you about my personal life-” You begin to ramble and waving your hands around.

“Doll, no she didn’t-”

“She had no right to say-”

But before you could continue, Bucky cuts you off.

With his lips.

Against yours.

Bucky was kissing you.

Oh my god, he’s kissing me!

You pull away looking at him in utter shock.

“Wh- What did you do that for?”

“I just- You were rambling, but I didn’t know how else to stop you.” James says, a blush creeping up his neck.

“So you kissed me?” You ask incredulously.

“Uh- yes?” He says, more like asks.

“I uh... I have to go.” You say, looking anywhere but his eyes as you gather your items, hunting down Lucy and putting her in her carrier; much to her protest and distaste.

“Y-Y/N, please, don’t go. Let’s just talk!” James pleads, but you’re not listening.

“N-No, I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll see you in class next week. Bye, James.” You huff out, running to the nearest stairwell.

A part of you wanted him to run after you, but you needed time to process... whatever that was.

Did he kiss you because he liked you? Or because he wanted to shut you up?

You cut the drive home into half, the first thing you do after getting through your door is calling Natasha.

“Nat, I fucked up...” Your voice was weak through the phone.

And back in Bucky’s apartment, he dialed Steve’s number.

“Steve, I fucked up... real bad.” He meekly provides, his head in his hands.

-

a/n: oh boy. what’s gonna happen ??? hmmm... let me know down below! hope you guys enjoyed ;)

also, did y’all peep my stan lee cameo? :)

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky imagine #bucky barnes fic #bucky x reader #bucky barnes series #prof!bucky #professor!bucky #prof!bucky x prof!reader #college professor au #enemies to lovers #bucky and alpine #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff

[nylwnder]

slow dancing | jack campbell

gif by dermott

a/n: hi guys!!!! so this is my first imagine. it’s kinda short but i think it’s really sweet! i had this idea with the song in my head for a while and with all the cute jack content we’ve been getting, just thought it was a perfect time to finally post. i always see a lacking amount of soupy fics, which hurts- so my goal is to fix that! i suggest to listen to the song to better the reading experience! hope you all enjoy, i’m a little rusty rn just cause i haven’t had much time to write but i hope it’s okay!

warnings: none! just fluffy.

word count: 1.3k

taglist: @nhlandotherimagines @sixmapleleafs @obsessed-with-nhl-players @brock-boeswhore

inspired by: slow dancing by aly & aj

jack was out for almost a week on a road trip set of games. it’s been a while since this had to happen. you two were in such a dream these past weeks. you had been together for so long as the toronto maple leafs’ schedule consisted of home games, so you were able to go to the arena and watch the game and then meet up in the locker room and head home together. so with this road trip, it hit hard for the both of you and you couldn’t get each other out of your heads. but this was the hockey life, and you always felt he's been gone forever even if it was just for five days or only three.

even though jack was the backup goalie for the leafs, whenever he played he’d used you as motivation for all his games but on road trips he really wanted to be extra good for you. it teased you though, knowing that you couldn’t celebrate with him as you normally would when he was here with you in toronto. the road trip was 3 games in the span of 5 days. today was the fifth day of the road trip, the last game until heading home. it was the second part of a back to back so jack was in, his first game for this roadie. the results were pretty good, he only let in 2 goals and they won 3 goals up! you were so proud!

they had stayed the night, and jumped on the plane the morning after! it was almost evening so you wanted to start getting ready for dinner. jack texted you that they landed and he was making his way home when you were about to leave to get some groceries. you were going to wait until he came, but he told you to go - you didn’t plan on taking long anyways. so you headed to your local metro to pick up some last minute ingredients for tonight’s planned dinner plus some things you guys needed to stock on. you checked mostly every aisle and was finally satisfied with what you had in your cart, so you went to checkout. you must have taken about an hour and a half or so but when you got home… oh was a sweet sight it was!!!!!

the lights were dimmed, there were candles on some of the counters and shelves, and the large doors leading to the backyard were open. you noticed the kitchen table was missing from its original spot in the dining area. you placed the grocery bags on the free kitchen counter and headed outside. jack was standing near the kitchen table now placed outside while pouring some wine in two glasses.

“JACK!” you said as he turned around and you jumped on him! he started laughing as he caught you, “hey darling!” he said, smirking as the biggest smile was plastered on your face.

“what is all of this?” you say admiring all the flowers, candles and food he had out on the table. there was some of your favourite little appetizers as well as a chicken fetugene pesto pasta which was your absolute favourite!!

“just a little something i thought we both needed! do you like it?”

“do you really have the audacity to ask me that question?” you both laughed, “i absolutely love it! but didn’t you just come home from the plane? how did you cook this in the hour i was gone?”

a smile crept on his face as he looked down, “well, i may or may not have lied to you when i said i just landed. we landed in the early afternoon and i was actually at muzzy’s place and cooked this before i headed over.” you laughed as you hugged him harder.

“i’m sorry for lying.”

“god i love you!” you said, he kissed the top of your head before he brought you over to the small table set up. jack helped you grab the food in plates and you both moved to the bigger table that gave you a clear view of the sunset that was starting to paint the sky.

he pulled the chair giving you space to sit down, then pushed it closer to the table as he came over to his chair right across from yours. a vase holding a dozen pink and yellow tulips was placed in the middle! you looked at jack and couldn’t help but admire the way he looked with the evening sun’s last light caressing his face which complimented his beautiful blue eyes. you knew he was doing the same thing to you as you both got lost in each other for a moment.

he had some of his hair caressing the sides of his face which you love, and a white button up shirt showcasing his large build. luckily you were wearing a cute tanish/brown colour corduroy pants with a tucked in beige sweater - very comfy. you both ate the food, which was delicious (no shocker). jack is an amazing cook! you guys talked about the trip and games until both of you got up to put the plates away.

jack ran inside, “stay here, one sec-” he walked back out with a portable speaker and his phone. he placed the speaker on the small table and fidgeted with his phone. you chuckled watching him find whatever playlist he was looking for. when he found it, he pressed play and the soft music began to play through the round speaker.

he walked back to you and immediately hugged you as the two of you started to sway back and forth to the gentle music. you smiled to yourself as you recognized which playlist he was playing the music from - it was one you made about him one day when he was out for another road trip. it was filled with a bunch of songs that remind you of him, and if you recall correctly it was about 24hrs long!

“i missed you so much,” you avow as you rest your head on his warm chest. jack pressed into you tightly and kissed your head, “i know love, i missed you too.”

with your arms resting on his shoulders, his wrapped around your waist, you ponder. you missed his warmth, his arms assuring you he was here with you and that he wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon. his balmy breath on your neck and his sweet sweet lips kissing you all over. you missed him so much!

you continue slow dancing together, melting into the moment. laying kisses here and there and just entirely grateful of everything he’s ever done for you. all the hard work he put into just to make his arrival even more better, he always aims to make anything better for you.

when you move your head to look up to him, he has the softest face. “i wouldn’t have asked for anything better than this moment. being with you like this is all i was dreaming for while you were gone. so thank you baby!!”

he smiled greatly and you could tell he felt so relieved you were happy, “it’s the very least i can do. i couldn’t get this idea out of my mind while i was away. i was hoping you’d like it! i love you so much y/n!”

“i love you too!” you say, your cheeks starting to get sore with how much you were smiling from just right now. you hugged him harder and you never wanted to let go of him or this moment. all you wanted today and for the rest of time is to have him close to you.

so you came up with something else you and jack could do, and well you guys did that too, continuously! *wink wink*

#jack campbell #jack campbell imagine #jack campbell fluff #toronto maple leafs #toronto maple leafs imagine #toronto maple leafs fic #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #hockey fic #nhl writing #hockey writing #nhl goalies #jack campbell fic

[breadboylovin]

NEW POST FOR MY 95060 PLAYLIST!!! complete with explanations of every song choice under the cut because i love explaining my own creative decisions for some reason (PLEASE DO NOT FEEL COMPELLED TO READ ALL OF IT IF YOU DONT WANT TO ITS VERY LONG LOL). i may add a few songs here and there later on, or more likely rearrange what i've already put in slightly, but for now i consider it done.

alright now heres a look into my twisted mind

PART 1: TEMPTATION

Franz Ferdinand - Michael: It's a song about seducing someone named Michael. What more can I ask for (serious explanation is that it’s also very homosexually charged like you just have to listen to it… also feels taunting in a way where it’s like ‘oooooh you want me so bad’ and he’s RIGHT Michael DOES want him so bad). Also credit to this post for letting me know this song existed and inspiring me to make this playlist in the first place :-3

Mystery Skulls - Paralyzed: Just another song about how Michael is awestruck by David and feels compelled to follow him for whatever reason (the reason is that he wants him so bad)

TAEMIN - WANT: This is one of three Taemin songs on here because I think if David survived until present day he would fucking LOVE Taemin. Anyways this is a song about knowing you’re hot shit and everyone wants you and I think after seducing Michael through fucking?? Fatal motorcycle races and evil noodle mind tricks??? David deserves to feel that

Glass Animals - Gooey: OHGHGHGHFH THIS SONG… the vibes are impeccable on this one, Dave Bayley’s alluring voice feels like a slight remix of what David is going for and the way it feels like the singer is trying to convince the listener of something (even though it’s purposely vague) just FEELS like David with Michael. The line “I can’t take this place, I can’t take this place/I just need to go where I can get some space” especially fits when imagining how Michael is new to Santa Carla and may want a place to belong that David and the boys are happy to provide

TAEMIN - Impressionable: I see this as the moment that Michael downs the bottle of “wine”, where this song is David’s internal monologue reveling in how easy it was to charm Michael and get him to join. I always thought this sounded like a taunting villain song so it just fits. Also it’s like ridiculously horny which is a plus

PART 2: THE RELATIONSHIP ITSELF

MGMT - Me and Michael: In my head this is directly after Michael drinks the “wine”, and if it were an actual song in the movie, it’d play instead of Cry Little Sister in that scene. I already made art related to this but I really just love the juxtaposition between something that Michael will later see as horrible (becoming a half-vampire) and David seeing it as a perfect slow-dance moment. Also “Me and Michael, it’s not a question now” because the blood drinking has now linked them together… mmmmm. Credit to this post again for making me find this song!!

ALI - DESPERADO: This one is less about David and Michael specifically and more about how the night in the cave went down for everyone there, starting with a soft slowness as they ate and then descending into chaos as Michael downs the wine and they celebrate a new addition to the pack. The bacchanal energy is off the charts

Dorian Electra - Man to Man: This song is just one that I attribute to all of the boys because I think they do a lot of homoerotic sparring. Also the part of the movie where Michael punches David in the face and David just goes >:-3 back at him

Chase Atlantic - Friends: I don't know what it is about this one but it just Hits… The chorus kinda sounds like David and the boys trying to convince Michael to stay with them instead of coming back to human society after drinking the blood, in the same sort of taunting manner that they had when David (presumably?) made Michael hallucinate the bike lights and sounds outside of his house

Taking Back Sunday - You're So Last Summer: THIS SONG IS JUST REALLY GOOD. I don't know what it is about this one either… I guess the “Maybe I should hate you for this/Never really did ever quite get that far” part could represent the first glimpse of Michael’s more conflicted feelings about David. Also the second half of verse 2 not only fucks so hard but could also be indicative of Michael’s repressed gay feelings, lying to himself about how he wanted to be around David because he’s cool or whatever but he actually just has the hots for him and would let him do anything if he asked to

MGMT - Little Dark Age: Mostly here just for vibes. Have y’all seen that one edit set to this song? Yeah

The Neighborhood - Prey: I feel like this song captures the general unease that Michael feels right before he sees the boys kill for the first time, knowing that he’s probably turning into a vampire and something horrible is happening… especially with “Something is wrong, I feel like prey” just generally describing what it must feel like to be a human among vampires (though he’s not fully human anymore at this point)

PART 3: REALIZATION + FIGHTING BACK

TAEMIN - Criminal: YET ANOTHER TAEMIN SONG!!!! It’s all about realizing you're with someone who’s like, an evil manipulative villain and genuinely bad for you but you can’t escape just yet because you’re kinda into it. I don't think David is THAT bad of a guy, but Michael could be like “I need to get out of this situation because this man is a vampire but I feel attracted to him and it’s hard to really get away”. Also the line “My hands holding yours that stabbed me are not clean either” just HITS cus Michael hates David’s vampirism but HE’S a half-vampire now so it’s not like he’s innocent either. This is just a really good 95060 song AND a good song in general, listen to it even if you don't normally like K-pop cus it slaps

Glass Animals - Wyrd: This would be the moment where Michael snaps out of it and just starts running away, but to no avail, because he’s still a half-vampire (“You can’t run so you must hide” meaning that he can’t outrun his new monstrous nature, the best he can do is hide it until it eats him alive). Meanwhile David laments over how this is a stupid decision from his perspective (“So, my friend, our time is done/You and I could’ve had so much”)

Moonface - Minotaur Forgiving Theseus: This is a very veeeeery bitter song from Michael’s perspective about David being a vampire… with the “You’re just a hitman” repetition referencing how David. Y’know. Eats people. And the “I heard you're coming for me now” references both how David first approached him and the impending confrontation

The Neighborhood - The Beach: This song goes from the bitterness of the previous one to a pseudo-acceptance of the end of their brief friendship and what’s inevitably going to happen next. However, I think the bridge of the song illustrates the little bit of Michael that doesn’t want this to happen, that wants this relationship to somehow work out because he cares about David even if he is a vampire (unfortunately he ends up repressing this because he feels a duty to kill David now)

Gorillaz - Rhinestone Eyes: This is mostly in here because of the music video, the buildup to a battle just echoes in my head whenever I hear this song now. In the context of this playlist it makes me imagine David looking up at the Emerson’s house from the hotel (and Michael doing the opposite) knowing that something’s about to happen and it’s going to be horrible

Glass Animals - JDNT: This entire song feels like the climax of the movie. Verse 1 feels like the Emersons and Frogs getting ready to attack the cave (“I’m all armored up”) with “I feel that final poke” being when Marko gets staked, and the chorus right after is a tinge of regret that Michael feels once the plan starts to take shape. Verse 2 is the other boys waking up to see that Marko is dead + them dying themselves (“Where my funny friends gone?”) and the bridge is Michael and David’s fight before Michael finally gores David on the antlers. The outro of “You can’t breathe without me” VERY much feels like David taunting Michael from beyond the grave, knowing how much Michael loved him and how horrible what he’s just done is

PART 4: GRIEF

The Brazen Youth - Burn Slowly/I Love You: Ooooooghghgh the conflicted feelings about their relationship is STRONG in this one… The “Burn Slowly” part being him trying to convince himself that he did the right thing by killing David while the “I Love You” part is him realizing that he really did love David and it fucking hurts

Sufjan Stevens - The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us: MAN. MAN… Everything past “I can’t explain the state that I'm in” is just so… it’s Michael realizing what he had even more and just how much it hurts that he’s lost it. He knows he was in love now and it fucking hurts SO MUCH!!!!!

Sufjan Stevens - The Only Thing: [head in my fucking hands] Michael moping around Santa Carla because it feels empty without David. All the “should I tear my eyes out now?/Should I tear my heart out now?” parts oh my GOOOOOOOOD sufjan stevens i'm going to slap you on the head.

Paramore - Tell Me How: THIS SONG HURTS SO MUCH ITS SO. It’s another one about conflicting feelings so theoretically it should be earlier in the story but I always envision something very morbid when listening to this (and have now written a fic about it so check that out)… Michael going back to the hotel where he put David’s body and musing to no one, asking how he’s supposed to feel now, the “And always coming to your defenses” where Michael keeps defending David and their relationship to his family who all think David was a horrible monster… this song fucking hurts. Also I unintentionally drew a parallel between JDNT’s “You can’t breathe without me” and this song’s “Do I suffocate or let go?” and now that I’ve realized that it hurts even more. Fuck this song

#the lost boys #michael emerson #the lost boys david #95060 #michael x david #david x michael #text #Spotify #i have thought sooooo hard about this playlist fr and theres so many individual lyrics and bits that i want to make art for #if i had all the time in the world i would #but. for now. enjoy :-3

[zacs-of-rwby]

Continuing to answer @theladypeace's ask, as promised!

The Lie-Valkyrie Family

- Ren and Nora date throughout all four years at Beacon but, believe it or not, they get married last.

- They actually have their first and only child, Lokie, before they get married

- Everyone just sort of assumes that they got married quietly, but they didn't. They just decided that getting married was just a title and not a necessity

- Well, that's what Ren thought, anyway

- Until one day, almost six years after graduation, when RWBYJNPR pawn their children off to their cousins Ali and Oscar for a night to get together

- Yang makes a quip about "Ren's wife getting a bit feisty"

- A hush falls over the room as Nora gives Ren a death glare

- She's not technically his wife yet... And she wants to know why

- They have a kid! They've lived together since their first year at school! Who cares if they're married?

- Nora. Nora cares. So, Ren organizes an elaborate proposal and let's Nora take care of the wedding plans to make up for it. Obviously she goes all out.

- Lokie is in the wedding and they are a little pain in the ass, but their parents love them anyway

- Lokie is absolutely a little tyrant

- Fussy as a baby, energetic and restless as a toddler and little kid, loves pulling pranks and constantly pushing boundaries as much as they can

- It does. not. help. that Nora and Ren spoil the shit out of them

- When he can, Ren is usually the one who tries to be the disciplinarian, but, unfortunately, Nora is a bit of an enabler and Lokie almost never learns

- Lokie's semblance allows them to disguise themself by changing their facial features, hair, and skin color.

- They unlock their semblance while at Signal and obviously, during their teenage years, they use it to fuck with their friends and family all the time

- Also, you may have noticed that I have been referring to Lokie as "they" this whole time. This is because they are, in fact, non-binary

- Their semblance has no gender limitations and their natural look is more androgynous, so thats how they identify

And that's what we have for Renora so far! We love the idea that they have a very small, intimate family.

-----

And that's all of the families! I'll leave links to the other posts here just in case!

Schnee-Rose

Xiao Long-Belladonna

Arc-Nikos

I am now realizing that I never did one for the Branwen family because I've written about them in actual fics the most but I have a ton of headcanons and backstory for them as well. If anyone's interested my inbox is still (and always) open!

#rwby #fan fic #rwby fan fic #oc #rwby ocs #renora #nora valkyrie #lie ren #lokie Lie-Valkyrie #ask and you shall receive #zac speaks #hard to find hard to keep hard to forget #my ocs

[mcheang]

The most popular girl in school

I’ll admit this was inspired by High School Musical 2. For those of you who have watched it, do you remember on the last day of school before summer, Sharpay asked Ryan who is East High’s most primo boy. Answer: Troy, obviously. And East High’s most primo girl? Ryan glances after Gabriella but answers Sharpay, when she slaps him to answer the question. Sharpay then goes off on a dreamy recitation of her name and Troy’s. When Ryan snaps her out of it, she says it makes sense.

As Adrien happily helps Marinette with a bake sale, the girls all coo over this.

Chloe and Sabrina arrives and scoff at their Adrienette.

When the girls defend Marinette, Chloe raises an eyebrow and asks Sabrina who is the most popular boy at school.

The answer is Adrien, duh. Everyone knows that.

Chloe then asks, “And the most popular girl is...”

Before can Sabrina can answer, Alix responds. “Not you.”

Chloe is insulted but the girls follow up and declare Chloe as being the most infamous.

Chloe scoffs at that and then demands to know who else could be the most popular girl. After all she is the prettiest and richest girl in all of school.

Nobody wants a repeat of the golden rose incident. So Mylene suggests they let Markov judge since he is the most logical of all.

Markov tallies the components of what makes a girl popular: beauty, wealth, number of admirers, fame, social circle...

The results are in. The finalists are Lila, Marinette, and Aurore.

Chloe is infuriated that she didn’t even make the top 3. She got fourth because she does have some mean girl popularity but even Regina held her kingdom in awe of her.

Aurore and Lila she can understand with their fame and celebrity connections. But Dupain-Cheng?

Markov reminds Chloe that Marinette is sponsored by Jagged Stone, is a friendly and sociable class President, and actually holds the record for most male admirers.

Chloe accuses Marinette of tampering with the bot but Max defends her and Markov.

Chloe is upset but decides to sabotage the competition.

First is Aurore. That’s easy enough. Her daddy kicks Manon off that lousy game show and replaces her with his Daughter for the new judge. Luckily Nadja finds a regular role for her Daughter on one of her favourite kid shows. So Manon doesn’t get akumatized. The mayor also arranges for Chloe to star in one of the episodes of a celebrity reality tv series show.

Next is Marinette. Chloe doesn’t do nice, but she can throw awesome parties and become known as the party queen of the school. Slowly, she sends bouquets and love letters to herself and pretends they are from several secret admirers who don’t want to reveal their identities after Dark Cupid.

The last is the one that involves the most work. Chloe has to outshine Lila’s celebrity connections.

First is Jagged Stone because he stays at her daddy’s hotel. Chloe asks if he would be willing to write a new song about her and put it in his next album. She promises to pay him handsomely. Of course Jagged and Penny refuse because who would write a song about a minor? Chloe sulkily reminds him about Lila but Jagged is confused. Lila who?

Chloe realizes she has unwittingly stumbled across a gold mine and gets Sabrina to record this.

Chloe: So, are you saying you don’t know who Lila is? And of course, you’ve never written a song about her?

Jagged: Like I said before, Lila who?

Penny: Is this girl, this Lila, spreading rumors about Jagged writing a song for a minor?

Sabrina: it’s on the Ladyblog!

Chloe: so I’m guessing you’ve never had a kitten

Jagged: I’m allergic to fur, so no.

Chloe: Thank you so much, Jagged!

She and Sabrina leave. Jagged and Penny just stare at each other.

Jagged: Penny, what just happened?

Penny sighs and flips open her phone. “We need to call your lawyer.”

Chloe and Sabrina, of course, pounce on this new info about Lila and decide to start gathering evidence to disprove her.

Getting Ali to talk on FaceTime is hard with his busy schedule but he makes time when Chloe promises to donate to his charity. It’s a short interview but yes, Ali has no idea who Lila is and why should he?

Rose is going to freak.

Getting Ladybug is going to be tricky since she doesn’t answer the Bee signal. But Chloe and Sabrina act like Alya. Basically throw themselves into danger with their phones on record mode.

They get lucky on their first try, Ladybug shrieks with frustration that she is not best friends with that liar and that they should get to safety now!

3 celebrities should be enough. Now, maybe they should look into where Lila has really been for all these months if not at Achu.

Chloe waits until Lila has an entourage before walking smugly up to her and saying, “So Lila, tell us again about Ladybug is up to now. As her BFF, you must know that.”

Lila assumes Chloe wants to talk to Ladybug again and makes up some lie about how she is working on charity cases.

Cue Sabrina playing the recording of Ladybug disproving Lila’s claim.

Chloe narrows her eyes and her smile widens gleefully. “You pathetic little liar. You never knew Ladybug. Or any other celebrity for that matter.”

Lila pales but quickly follows up that Ladybug is just trying to protect her and that Lila had gotten a reprimand from Ladybug about publicizing their friendship.

Chloe raises an eyebrow. “Some friend you must be, to hang off the coattails of a celebrity when they asked you not to.”

Lila’s entourage begins to back away.

Before Lila can spin another excuse, Prince Ali’s voice is heard next and his face is on Sabrina’s phone.

Rose hears what her prince has to say and looks at Lila tearfully. “How could you?”

Lila is panicked. “I didn’t lie.”

Jagged Stone is seen next.

Lila runs away as the crowd glares at her.

Adrien and Marinette are present and run after her to prevent another akuma. It’s a waste of effort because it isn’t Lila who is akumatized, but Rose.

There is a fight yada yada yada. Ladybug admits the truth but also revealed her method of exposing Lila had been harsh so she decided to give her a chance on telling the truth herself.

Alya feels guilty for not checking her sources. She is actually on the verge of being sued but Marinette pleads for to Uncle Jagged to show some leniency. He does so condition Alya make a new video apologising for that Lila interview.

Marinette is relieved about the exposure because, “About time!”

Nino scolds Adrien and teaches him the importance of standing up for the truth and to know what is causing harm (like friends being manipulated).

Lila is confronted by her classmates before she can run away from school (Princess Fragrance made sure she couldn’t escape before). She is backed into a corner, playing the victim when the principal calls her to her office.

Lila takes her chance and heads there. She soon wishes she hadn’t. Donna Rossi is there and she is furious with her daughter.

Donna Rossi had been at work when she received word that Jagged Stone is suing her daughter. At first, Donna wondered if she was being pranked but then the principal called next with a grim voice, asking for an emergency meeting.

How dare her Daughter turn truant? How dare she forge her signature and change her parent contact info? How dare she lie to her face day after day.

Yeah, Lila is suspended and will be repeating a year.

To make certain this doesn’t happen again, Donna hires a full-time Nanny to follow Lila. Her Daughter will also be receiving counselling from a trained professional who won’t be swayed by her glamorous lies.

Meanwhile, Chloe’s plan works. Markov tells her she is now the most popular girl in school. Not only is she a TV personality, the well-known Party queen, but she saved the school from that liar.

Chloe is happy and brags about it, even hosting a party to celebrate it.

Of course, what she doesn’t realize is that in wake of Nino’s lecture, Adrien has gone to Marinette to ask for forgiveness and even offers to treat her to a meal. Marinette accepts this Friend date.

And of course, Markov doesn’t tell Chloe she is tied with Marinette in popularity when Jagged actually writes a song about his adopted family, the Dupain-Chengs, called “Home away from home.” They even film the music video at the bakery.

But then, popularity is so fleeting. It always is.

P.S. Does this count as salt fic? Also, I left a link for the golden rose for those of you who haven’t read it yet.

https://mcheang.tumblr.com/post/189539626035/the-golden-rose

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #adrienette #lila salt #adrien salt #alya salt #lila karma #lila bashing #lila gets exposed #lila is exposed #ml salt fic #post miraculer #golden rose #uncle jagged

[leqclerc]

random nora au ask? or this might be too spoilery if you’re planning on a full length fic, but does the public ever find out that they’re married? how does the news get out? what’s their reaction? reaction of the grid?

Ooh, fantastic ask, thank you for this 👀

The full-length fic (the way it’s been plotted out anyway) begins and ends with them having this secret and keeping it all under wraps. It would span pretty much the entirety of the 2023 season, so we’re working with the assumption that the news doesn’t get out at any point during that year. 

Truth be told I’m on the fence about whether it should be this really well kept need-to-know kind of secret where only their families know about it, or whether their close F1 friends should be in on it, too. I think if people do find out it’s because they figure it out for themselves, and not because they’ve explicitly been told “look, here’s the deal.” Obviously the more people know the less safe your secret is, even if they’re people you trust. People slip up, stuff gets out. So if someone like Pierre or Alex or Daniel were to be in on it (both the marriage and the adoption) then it’d be because they’re perceptive and put two and two together for themselves just by picking up on clues and watching the way Seb and Charles (and Nora) interact. 

The media is...the media. I mean Sky pundits/commentators say borderline shippy stuff all the time - and just, like, the lingo of F1 tends to be quite...romantic/sexual sometimes which can be quite funny - but I don’t think they’d ever actually figure out that there’s something more going on between two drivers. I always go back to that one comment Martin made when commenting on Charles’s tribute helmet - “What is he thanking him for? Leaving?” I think they’re just too set in their ways to consider that fuck, maybe these drivers actually have feelings for each other, maybe they’re actually together, and so they remain oblivious or like, borderline willfully ignorant. Like they’ll comment on how nice it is to see that Seb and Charles have “managed to patch things up after their tumultuous two seasons as teammates” but never see it as anything deeper than like, bros being bros, lmao.

As for the public...I mean. I think a lot of people still very much cling to this idea of F1 being this manly-man macho sport where there’s no room for tenderness so...There’d probably be a split in online reactions. Some people would be super supportive and glad that there are high-profile athletes who are just like them. Kind of like the situation with female US soccer (football) stars, Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris. After fans noticed that they spend a lot of time together and post a lot of pics with each other on social media, they announced they’re dating. Then they got married and had a magazine cover shoot. And most recently they announced they’ve adopted a baby girl. Sound familiar? And from what I’ve seen the reaction of fellow athletes as well as fans around the world have been predominantly positive. So I think the guys on the grid would generally be supportive, too. I can even see some of them (Pierre and Daniel come to mind) being like, “I knew it!” asdjfshd Although, as with everything, there are bound to be spiteful trolls posting hate online and just being very negative about the whole thing; shitty comments/questions from interviewers, etc. 

There are fics that deal with this, but in my mind this fic is more...lighthearted in tone. There are of course struggles and conflicts, but they are mostly internal as Charles tries to juggle the pressure of being in the championship fight and his (still relatively new) role as a husband and father, feeling guilty for being away from Seb and Nora for much of the season. It just doesn’t feel like the right space/fic to explore the wider implications of two drivers coming out, I suppose. Also there’s just something fun about the shenanigans that arise from them trying to keep their relationship a secret. The almost-misses, the verbal blunders, the awkward interview/press conference questions, the endless speculation. 👀 

On that note, I keep meaning to make like, fake Reddit/Tumblr/Twitter posts for Nora AU. 👀👉🏻👈🏻 People commenting on how weirdly Charles is behaving around Seb and like compiling evidence that there’s something going on between them while others brush off it as just bros being bros and “stop being so insensitive towards Seb and his wife!” and just. Yeah 😳 If I have enough creative juice I also want to try my hand at like a fake La Gazzetta gossip piece or something. The Italian media was responsible for the brief panic caused by *shudders* baby rumours last year, so 🙈

#replies #anonymous #sebchal anon #sebchal asks #fic asks #headcanon asks #nora asks #an excellent question nonny 🥺💖 sorry it took me so long to get around to it #long post

[descentintobandom]

Alone on Valentine’s Day

Title: Alone on Valentine’s Day Chapter: One-Shot Pairing: Jack/OC Rating: T Fic Summary: Ali is alone on Valentine’s Day because Jack is on tour. Author’s Notes: Posting this now because who knows if I’ll actually write something for Valentine’s Day this year. Inspired by the above moodboard by @ylove-bandaesthetics​.

Ali woke up and rolled over towards Jack’s side of the bed, before remembering that he was still on tour.

Holidays like this were difficult. She’d have to go to work and see her co-workers get gifts.

She grabbed her phone and pulled up Instagram. She scrolled for a while until she came to a picture on Jack’s.

It was a photo of him biting into a rose with the caption, “Hugs, Kisses, Valentine wishes!”

She laughed.

The picture was definitely a very “Jack” thing for him to do.

She double-tapped the photo. She rarely commented on Jack’s posts anymore, because it usually ended up in two factions of the fandom fighting.

The ones who wanted Jack to be happy and the ones who wanted Jack for themselves.

Jack knew she loved him.

Ali eventually dragged herself out of bed and got ready for work. Walking into the office with her coffee, she saw the red and pink balloons on people’s desk. She knew when she arrived at her desk that there wouldn’t be anything.

Jack had wanted to send her something, but she refused telling him that the only thing she wanted for Valentine’s Day was him. If she couldn’t have him, then she didn’t want anything.

“Good morning, Ali!” Marilyn said. Marilyn sat across the aisle from Ali. Marilyn was a blonde haired woman in her early fifties and a surrogate mother to Ali.

“Morning, Marilyn.”

“So, any big plans for tonight? Being Valentine’s Day and all?”

“Not exactly.” Ali tried not to look sad, even though she was bummed that Jack couldn’t be at home with her.

“I think Ray and I are just going to stay home and make dinner together.”

“That sounds sweet.”

Marilyn noticed the sad look in Ali’s eyes. “Oh, sweetie. He’s not here is he?”

Ali shook her head. “I knew what I was getting into dating a musician. But it’s fine. When he gets back, he’ll be home for a few months.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ali tried putting off going home as long as possible. She was dreading going home to an empty house while everyone else was heading out to dinner with their significant others.

When 5:30 hit, Marilyn logged off and grabbed her stuff. “Don’t stay too late, sweetie.”

“I’ll head home soon, I promise.”

“Tell you what…” Marilyn pulled out $20 and handed it to her. “Get yourself some good wine and some chocolate. And then maybe take a vacation day tomorrow.”

“Thank you. I hope you and Ray have a good night.”

Around 6, Ali sighed. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She grabbed her things, logged off, and hit up the liquor store on the way home. She was going to make herself some dinner and then get drunk and probably cry herself to sleep.

She probably wouldn’t even call Jack tonight. Jack was the last thing she wanted on her mind.

Ali unlocked the door and her mouth dropped open. The apartment was covered in balloons and there was the biggest bouquet of roses she’d ever seen sitting on the kitchen table.

She walked over to the roses and dropped her purse and the bag containing her bottle of wine on the table.

There was a card sitting in the roses.

Ali opened it up and read, “Turn around.” She gasped and spun around.

Jack stood there holding a pink sucker up.

Kiss Me.

Ali did what the sucker said and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her hands threaded through his multicolored hair.

He’d changed the color of his stripe again. Now it was blue.

Her favorite color.

She pulled back, tears filling her eyes. “How are you here?” she breathed.

“Flew in this morning after you left for work.”

Ali sniffled. “How long are you here for?”

Jack sighed and stroked her cheek, swiping the tears away with the pad of his thumb. “Only for tonight. I fly out early tomorrow morning. I’m sorry.”

“Shut-up.” She kissed him again. She didn’t care that she only got to have him for 12 hours before he had to leave again. All that mattered to her was that he was here now.

#Jack Barakat #jack/oc #jack barakat imagines #all time low #all time low imagines #ATL #atl imagines

[motherstone]

When you have the time could you share the bad au?

Anon, I am deeply grateful that you asked, but I must warn you that this is LONG (16+ arcs long and that’s because I havent conceptualized the others yet) and i am only sending you pt.1 Be warned.

More under the cut:

Deviation from canon:

·        Anything involving the aliens is dropped

·        Algos island won’t be a gas station, but an actual fucking island

·        The Voice is spiritual in nature.

·        The Old is New scene occurs around Book 5

·        Trellis eventually gets some fractions of his memories, but I dunno how yet

·        The Resistance at Frontera won’t be THE Resistance but the Elven resistance – they refused contact with the human resistance because they’re very discriminatory and hostile. The ER is composed of the researchers/engineers/etc and their kids that the Elf King failed to purge when they revolted once they fully realized that they are actually creating weapons of mass destruction

·        Emily gets trapped in the Void

·        There’s a whole lot more, but I can’t recall all of them

Note: Do take that these are not yet properly developed. Many of these are ideas I just enjoy playing around with. It WOULD not put much attention to most characters because a.) I haven’t nuanced their roles nor what part they should play in the story and b.) the narrative focuses on Trellis because I’m biased and ngl the potential of the story he could create is a LOT. He has sooo many potential conflicts, be it in self, society, and nature I couldn’t help myself. Also, do take note that this story is meant to be a tragedy – it’s going to explore Trellis and his reign, and the burden and subsequent consequences from it. The narrative doesn’t seek to “punish him” because 90% of the problems he encountered are out of his control and there is barely a perfect solution to anything, so he is bound to create ruthless and even questionable decisions as a result of his inexperience and young age despite his intelligence; all of these I am intrigued to explore about because all of it I just made up lmao.

In addition, my head blurred between what is canon, what I want canon to be, and what you know about the “canon” in my head (which is likely, not a lot because I never post abt it), so I may suddenly spout things that may seem out of context because you guys lack the background behind it. So if you have questions, pls feel free to send them my way. These arcs are INCREDIBLY condensed because if I spout too many details, I’d forget the details in other arcs. So. Yeah.

ARCS

STONEKEEPER TRIALS

-      Guardian Council arrives at Algos Island which contains the knowledge to purify the Voice from the Elf King (which should weaken him and thus easier to kill him)

-      Stonekeepers of past made sure to put security measure to prove the worthiness of the person seeking said knowledge and using it responsibly for the right reasons by subjecting them to a Trial (they will experience their deepest greatest desires and greatest fears as well)

-      Technically, the knowledge isn’t a concrete thing – it only works once per keeper, but it modifies itself to fill in the gaps of the knowledge they lack but seek (so like if youre seeking how to heal, the Temple will give you that knowledge and THAT knowledge only)

-      Lacking time, all three decided to take the Trials separately but at the same time.

-      This is supposed to be the fic on ao3 is about, even had an outline n all but its too long so I’ll post it later

-      tl;dr: Tellis finished first and is the one who gained the knowledge, and Vigo finished second, but Emily isn’t waking up at all. Eventually they all got attacked by the shadows

-      Trellis sends Vigo up to get the airship to them as he stays behind to protect Emily from the shadows

-      He’s getting super desperate as the enemies increase but Emily isn’t waking up until she suddenly transforms and tries to kill him

-      He barely survives but the Firebird gets away. The rest of the crew retrieved him, but when he retells them what happened…

-      They didn’t believe him. They think he sabotaged Emily.

BURNING OF IPPO

-      It more or less goes the same in Supernova, except the memory thing doesn’t happen and none of the Amulet trusts him except Riva and Vigo. Leon Miskit and Karen are still on Cielis while Navin n Aly are on Frontera but they don’t know that yet.

-      So the firebird attacks as usual, but instead of taken out early in the game, he is pushed to the limit protecting the city and its citizens as he’s the only one who can create a barrier while Vigo distracts FB and Riva evacuates the people

-      Trellis also bothers to release the elf soldiers in prison when it burns so they would be able to evacuate (will be important)

-      He nearly dies from exhausting himself, but manages to repel the FB to leave Ippo alone after much of it is burned. He is devastated by the aftermath because most of the people burned right in front of his eyes (will be important)

-      Worried at FB’s destructive power, they argue between pursuing it or ending the war. Riva argues trellis can’t go around protecting every city as its too fast for them, so it leaves only one viable option; end the war as quickly as possible to focus on Emily before she  burns everything and kill everyone

-      They eventually reunite with the Cielis army, but eventually gets abandoned again alongside the human resistance because they refuse to serve under Trellis, who was going to command the assault

-      Lacking an army, the elven, Luciean, and Ippoei soldiers then offers to help

-      They reconvene with the ER on Frontera, finally reuniting with Navin, Aly and Pil, who were all horrified by the news. Navin has mixed feelings but ultimately agrees it was his fault and is optimistic Em will be ok. Aly on the other hand is apprehensive but continues to trust him.

-      Meanwhile, Vigo departs to convince the CA to change their minds and get more allies, while Trellis, Luger, and the rest forms a plan…

BATTLE OF VALCOR

-      Trellis pretends to be captured by Elf Army to get close enough to the Elf King to kill him – avoiding as much bloodshed as possible. Unfortunately, he was decided to be executed before he could confront him so all hell breaks lose as the disguised soldiers ditches their disguises and fights the remaining EA on the king’s side

-      Note: Trellis is waaay more powerful and skilled here although his destructive powers are nowhere near Emily’s

-      He tries to make his fights as curt and decisive as possible to avoid wasting precious energy for the confrontation (I swear to god the fight sequence is more elaborate in my head but hnng I’m busy rn). Eventually he does make it at the temple of kings – where his father was waiting

-      Trellis was nowhere weak, but he barely holds ANY dice against his father’s power and was very close to nearly dying

FALL OF THE KING

-      He was saved by the timely intervention of Vigo and Riva – who has finally arrived with the CA (who got threatened into cooperating)

-      They barely get the upperhand, but they manage to get Trellis close enough to enact the Scission but, got uphold by the fact that the man they were trying to kill wasn’t dead in the first place but ALIVE

-      The Elf King begs Trellis to end it all, the mercy of release, for death, and it horrified him into freezing into place – MISTAKE

-      He gets a fatal wound being stabbed because the EK was tricking him (he is alive, but he was not really manipulated by the Voice – He was always evil all along), sneering at his softness that was never quite wrung out by the abuse

-      But that also gave Trellis the perfect opportunity to cast the Scission, which he then does at nearly the cost of his own life

-      The Voice gets cut off from the EK and retreated to the Void, and the EK dies from his wounds, and Trellis was about to meet the same fate

-      All three of them are barely held together by threads, but Vigo uses the last of his power so trellis could survive. At this, Trellis just has a mental breakdown and he doesn’t want to go any further, being so close to his breaking point because of all the horror he has to endure (ohh boii and it doesn get better from here)

-      But Riva was pleading for him to get up, get the mask and get to the other side, to show the mask, the soldiers that he WON and Gulfen surrenders and end the war. These two stumble slowly, but steadfastly, Riva practically the only thing supporting Trellis as they try to get to the fighting

-       They eventually manage to reach it, but trellis has to stand alone, composed, undefeated, because if it were anything less, people would challenge him. He declares a surrender.

-      The battlefield silences. One by one, the weapons drop.

#ask #asks #amulet bad ending au

[buffyfan145]

One Fine Day 2/8

Fandom: The Karate Kid, Cobra Kai, Johnny Lawrence

Rating: T

Summary: An AU of Johnny Lawrence getting his redemption much sooner and Billy Zabka gets to be the romantic lead. In 1988 former West Valley alum Laurie Thompson reunites with her high school crush Johnny Lawrence in college. Becoming his tutor the two grow close and she learns more about the real him and his side of the story. As she helps him with school she also helps him with his life and letting go of things from the past, while also falling in love. Multiple characters mentioned, others will appear. Title is the song by The Chiffons.

Author’s Note: Thanks everyone for all the likes and comments on chapter 1!!! :D I’m planning to post chapters every Monday and Thursday since I’ve got the whole story written as a rough draft. This is now the fastest I’ve ever written a fic. LOL Now we have Johnny’s POV and what’s been going on with him. :)

Chapter 2

“So we’ve noticed there’s some issues with your school work and partying, and you know to keep playing on the team you’re going to have to get your grades up.”

Johnny Lawrence nodded as he sat across from his soccer coach.  He’d been playing for the past two years and so far had done well.  School had always been a struggle for him but he always found ways out of it or charmed his way through it.  College was different from high school and even if his stepdad helped to get him into USC Johnny was still going to have to do the work to graduate.  “I know coach.”  Johnny said reassuringly.

“Good.  We’ve actually matched you up with some tutors, both faculty and students.  This should hopefully help you and we’ll have no further issues.”

Coach Snyder handed him a paper with names on it of some professors, teaching assistants, and students.  Times were available too so he could just show up to what suited best in some cases.  “Thanks coach.”

“No problem Lawrence.  You’re one of my best and just trying to help.”

Where had he heard that before?  But Coach Snyder was nothing like Kreese.

It was hard to believe it’d almost been four years since everything that happened in West Valley.  That fall was a whirlwind of unexpected blows and changes.  Never in a million years would he have thought how drastically everything would change.  His jaw and neck still had phantom pains of that crane kick from LaRusso and what Kreese did after the tournament.   Johnny though it’d get easier with time but it was still there almost mocking him and would creep up every so often.

When he got back to his dorm he looked over the list and then noticed he spotted a name he knew.  Laurie Thompson.  That girl he went to high school with and was currently in his history class.  Obviously history was a subject listed for her but she had also put down to help students in math and science.  That’s probably why he didn’t remember her.  She was part of the smart, nerdy crowd.  Their worlds never mixed in high school.

Though looking at her now he was surprised as the girl was stunning.  Her long, dark hair perfectly curled in a way he knew most other girls he’d been with took hours to do and used god-awful amounts of hairspray to achieve.  And those green eyes of hers just drew him in.  He could tell she was shy though as it took her red-haired friend to get Laurie to talk to him, and he noticed her blushing.  So she obviously liked him, which wasn’t too much of a shock as most girls did.  Maybe she’d be a good choice as a tutor for some of his classes.

The next day after their class was over Johnny made his way over to Laurie and her friend.  They both weren’t expecting him to be there and were startled when he spoke.  “I’m sorry.”  He smiled and they giggled.  “Just wanted to ask you something Laurie.”

She looked shocked not only that he was talking to her but he remembered her name.  She turned to her friend and they shared a look before Laurie turned back to him.  “Sure.”

“I don’t know if you two know but I play on the soccer team and it was brought to my attention that I need some extra help with my classes.  They suggested some tutors and you were on the list.”  Why was that so hard to get out?  He hadn’t felt this nervous talking to a girl since Ali.

“Yeah,” her face lit up.  “I tutor other students in a few subjects.”

“Awesome, would you be willing to take me on?”  He asked.

Her smile got so wide.  “Of course.  Just let me know what free time you have and we can schedule something.  I usually use the quiet tutoring rooms at the library as it’s more private.”  She got out a piece of paper.  “Which classes are you taking besides this one?”

He told her and she wrote them down.  “Well, I can totally help you with your math and science ones.  For business there’s a great tutor who’s one of the professors.  And I’m guessing you’re good with the sports ones?”

The both laughed at that.  “Thanks so much for this.”

“You’re welcome.  What are you majoring in?”

“Sports management.” He answered.

“That makes sense.”  She then wrote something down and tore off the section of paper before handing it to him.  “That’s mine and Deb’s dorm phone number so we can schedule this.”

“Thanks.”  He looked down at it.  That was a new way to get a girl’s number.

“Bye Johnny.”  Laurie said as she and Deb got their things and took off.

“Bye.”  He said watching them and curious how this was all going to go.

#johnny lawrence #the karate kid #cobra kai #johnnylawrencefic #fanfic #my fics

[klcthebookworm]

2020 My Year In Fic

2020 Fiction Word Count:

86691 / 126531 words. 69% done!

Insights To Not Forget:

So I had a beautiful plan that I was going to reset and hit the ground running for 2021. See Year Zero is Reset Year.

Covid-19 was officially found in my state March 9, 2020, and life found unforeseen territory.

March 24th, I had to adjust to working at home. June 1st, back to working in the office and commuting daily. November 30th, we're back on a modified work from home/office plan (day at home, next day commuting in). I haven't gotten sick and I haven't passed on covid-19 to anyone else. For 2020, that is the biggest win anyone can have. 1.83 million people (to date) didn't get that win.

Would I have forgotten about my buckle down and reset plans without a global pandemic distracting me? Quite likely, I tend to forget all my plans every year. In fact, the writing business plan that I made to cover the year (I use it below for all the goals of the year), the printed version is on my filing cabinet and covered with so many other notes, I can't read the plan. (Removed the notes). This is for 2019. I never printed out 2020's?

And you can see by the total words written, I came under what I wanted to write. Let's see what I accomplished this year.

Stories I Posted:

Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Aftermath: Word count = 3309. The Fic Whining Circle was getting stories ready for May the Fourth. I decided that this story would be perfectly short to get it up and started writing on May 2nd. I didn't get it finished for May the Fourth, but put it up on Revenge of the Fifth. And then it turned out to be the only story I posted in 2020.

Stories I Finished:

Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences: Word count = 126,607 (31,008 written previously + 49,572 written in 2019 + 46,027). The first draft was finished on July 28th, and it took the rest of the year to get my first edits polished to a second draft for my beta to go over. Now I need to go prod her so I can start posting in 2021.

Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: MJ-0002: Word count = 5664 (387 written in 2019 + 5277). I finished this short story as planned after I finished Unexpected Consequences and before I picked up the next novel. I hope to post it after Unexpected Consequences, but I may need to use it for a May the Fourth story.

Stories I Didn't Finish:

Strix: Forget the Sun: Word count = 31,146 (26,588 written previously + 4279 written in 2019 + 279 written in January) I took a very tiny stab at this novel in January and promptly lost it to work on other things.

Star Wars: Looking For Home Future Timeline: Word count = 7598. So at the end of February, I got stuck on giving the Sequel Trilogy Trio better movie(s) and started writing detailed notes on a future story that will probably never been written. I had already put Rey and Poe Dameron in the sketchy future of the Looking For Home so I needed to figure out how to add Finn. I got stuck with the Third Act, and probably need to declare it has to be a trilogy to get the resolutions I want. Maybe I need a Death Star.

Star Wars: Everybody Lives But Maul: Another plot bunny developed during the year. Mara Jade was given to Darth Vader to annoy him so he would eventually murder her, but he bonds with her instead. So Palpatine orchestrates that Lady Vader's path crosses Maul's on Tatooine. Only Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter ruin the planned outcomes, and Mara remains on Tatooine for her safety. I really don't know if it will be a novel or something else yet.

Star Wars: Everybody Lives But Maul: Prologue: Word count = 1385. So far all I have written in this AU is the scene of the adoption of Lady Vader. I don't know where this scene will end up in the finished work.

Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban: Word count = 22,882 (8093 written in 2019 + 14,789). After writing "MJ-0002," I came back to Mission on Mimban from the beginning. Still working on it.

What I Think About My Stories:

My favorite story this year: Star Wars: Unexpected Consequence. I can't wait to turn this one lose on the readers.

Story most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Star Wars: Looking For Home: Future Timeline. I really need to spend some more brain time on this one if just to find a conclusion that makes me happy.

Most fun story: Everybody Lives But Maul. I really wasn't expecting to write it accept the idea would not leave the muse alone and then this happened:

KLCtheBookWorm: I really don't know what to do with Vader and Leia... unless he goes into her cell deactivates the IO droid and "Now Princess can we discuss waging war against Palpatine? Because he orchestrated my first family's death, has tried to kill my daughter, and your rebellion has made her flee her safe haven so he will potential see her again. He will not have her or my grandson." Sithspit, why does the muse want to rewrite OT constantly? JediMordsith: lolol Hmmm.... that could be interesting. Or he could go to Bail. "I will give you your daughter back if you help me get mine back." KLCtheBookWorm: YOU GAVE ME MORE PEOPLE TO HELP LIVE! JediMordsith: Bail convinces the rest of the Rebel leaders to work with Vader to take down the Emperor because he knows what a father's love is. KLCtheBookWorm: I always consider Alderaan's destruction a fixed point in time But the conversation between Bail and Mon Mothma. "You wanna do what now?"

Yeah, at that point I will write it.

Stories I wrote that I never thought I'd write: Star Wars: Everybody Lives But Maul. Technically I haven't really started the narrative, but really, Muse, was not expecting yet another rewrite of the OT. This one is the third, after Rescue the Farmboy and Sororal Lineality.

Hardest story to write: Star Wars: Looking For Home Future Timeline. I have never gotten stuck in which I couldn't finish off an outline. And this is so stuck.

Biggest disappointment: Strix: Forget the Sun. I did not even try for NaNo during the pandemic. (Huge props to everyone who did). I'm considering to do NaNo in April instead in 2021 to finish this novel.

Biggest surprise: I only posted ONE THING! I'm not beating myself up for any of the results of 2020 because it was garbage year, but I honestly didn't plan to leave my readers hanging so hard. On the plus side, they will have at least 30 weeks of new content to read in 2021.

What's your favorite piece of dialogue you wrote this year? From Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Aftermath.

Luke opened his eyes to Leia’s suspicious face. “She was arguing with Threepio. I went the other way.” “So she couldn’t put you back in the medbunk.” Leia bounced to her feet and helped leverage him out of his seat. “You are going right back to it and staying in it until we reach the Fleet, Commander.” “Aye, aye, Colonel,” Luke replied with less than the banter he normally did. He leaned heavily on Leia, more than he should. Lando finished locking down the controls and followed behind them. “Colonel? Not a General?” “Not a General yet,” Luke responded with a wheezy laugh.

It took a while to figure out what Leia's military actual rank is based of costumes and plot actions in Empire Strikes Back. Major Bren Derlin didn't get a yes from Leia because she loves the two men out in the cold, but because she out ranks him.

What's your favorite piece of description or narration you wrote this year? From Star Wars: Soroal Lineality: MJ-0002.

The last one she dared to open was a recording. Her memory replayed on the screen: a child’s best dress colored green as the recorder tilted down, followed by looking back at the sad adults in the shadows of the shuttle’s lights. She heard the woman’s quavering voice, “Please, don’t take my baby.” Then the gnarled hand extended from the sleeve of the black robe and a tiny hand took it, and the recorder turned to the lit hatch at the top of the ramp. Mara's surroundings registered in waves after that. Her glutes were tingling as she shifted from sitting in a collapsed position on the floor. The floor was cold stone. The recording was playing on a loop above her head. She hadn’t fainted because she wasn’t flat on her back. She climbed up to her feet and shut off the playback. Now the title of the file burned into her retinas, Primary Memory Imprint for Murdering Judges Clone Line.

I can't wait to share this story with readers.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would, less, or about what you predicted? Oh I came in under what I had aimed for, only writing to 69% of my goal that I set from what I wrote in 2019. But 2020 was a garbage year so I'm not beating myself up over word count results. As I went through the year though, I noticed that August and September were totally spent on just editing and no new words. That means I need to watch the schedule in 2021.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? I have officially started the write a series of short stories and keep them under 7500 words. I need more practice writing short, which is why I plotted Sororal Lineality this way.

Did you meet last year's goals?

That's a no, and boy, how is it a no. 2021 Goal is to not have Leeloo laugh at me.

The goals from my unprinted 2020 one-page business plan are:

Use Ali Luke's Two Year Novel Plan to finish the Strix series

January - May 2020: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun's first draft = Nope, not done yet.

June - October 2020: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun's second draft = Nope.

Writing Star Wars AU fanfics

Finish Unexpected Consequences' first draft = Done

Start writing Sororal Lineality = Two stories done out of 28

Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban's first draft = Nope, but I am currently writing it.

Send Unexpected Consequences to beta reader = Done

Send Sororal Lineality stories to beta reader = Done

Edit Unexpected Consequences = In Progress

Edit Sororal Lineality stories = Done

Post regularly to Intentionally Left Blank, Dreamwidth, Discipline Under Fire, Tumblr Random Thoughts, Pillowfort = Do once a week on Saturdays = I haven't been doing this at all. Tumblr posts happen when I'm home but usually reposting and not anything I have written.

BookWorm's Library website maintenance = Work on once a week on Sundays = Really need to do this

Make sure the software is up to date once a month

Add any files that need adding

Add Media Center to BookWorm's Library = Work on once a week on Sundays = Hasn't happened yet

Create section

Make artwork

Code section

Upload files

Add more fanfics to AO3

Upload Zackverse in story order = Nope, not yet

Upload Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences when edited on Ao3 = In Progress

Upload Sororal Lineality stories when edited = In Progress

Upload Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation to FF.net and the Library when finished = Oops, forgot about this

Upload Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service to FF.net and the Library when finished = Oops, forgot about this

Post Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences to FF.net = In Progress

Post Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences to Library = In Progress

My daily writing plans to help the above list of goals get done:

Write 600 daily words. Can be split among the projects. I'm making the yearly goal to reach whatever number I actually reach on December 31st.

Write and edit every day.

Schedule website updates and fanmix work on the weekends.

Work in meditation time with Brain FM.

Use my Kanban Flow checklist consistently.

Don't let chores pile up now that you have two jobs plus writing to do.

Reward myself when goals are reached throughout my Reset Year.

Do you have any goals for the coming year? The goals from my 2021 one-page business plan are:

Use Ali Luke's Two Year Novel Plan to finish the Strix series

April - August 2021: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun's first draft (I'm going to push myself to get it done in by treating April as NaNo, but more time is available if I need it)

Sept. - Dec. 2021: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun's second draft

Writing Star Wars AU fanfics

Finish Unexpected Consequences' third draft

Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban's first draft

Edit Rescue the Farm: Mission on Mimban to second draft

Send Rescue the Farm: Mission on Mimban to beta reader

Finish Rescue the Farm: Mission on Mimban third draft/li>

Finish Sororal Lineality: Miha first draft

Edit Sororal Lineality: Miha to second draft

Send Sororal Lineality: Miha to beta reader

Finish Sororal Lineality: Miha third draft

Writing Zackverse

Work on Hyrueliana's overhaul

Post regularly to Intentionally Left Blank, Dreamwidth, Discipline Under Fire, and Tumblr Random Thoughts = Do once a week

BookWorm's Library website maintenance = Work on once a week on Sundays

Make sure the software is up to date once a month

Add any files that need adding

Add Media Center to BookWorm's Library = Work on once a week on Sundays

Create section

Make artwork

Code section

Upload files

Add more fanfics to AO3

Upload Zackverse in story order

Upload Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences when edited on Ao3

Upload Sororal Lineality: MJ-0002 on Ao3 on May 4th

Reload Sororal Lineality: Aftermath on Ao3

Upload Soroal Lineality: Miha to Ao3

Upload Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation to the Library

Upload Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service to the Library

Post Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences to Library

Upload Looking For Home: My Home Is You to the Library

Upload Looking For Home: Outcast to Library

Upload Sororal Lineality: MJ-0002 to the Library

Upload Sororal Lineality: Aftermath to the Library

Upload Sororal Lineality: Miha

Update FF.net profile of where newer stories are now

My daily writing plans to help the above list of goals get done:

Write 600 daily words. Can be split among the projects. I'm making the yearly goal to reach whatever number I actually reach on December 31st.

Write and edit every day.

Schedule website updates and fanmix work on the weekends.

Work in meditation time with Brain FM.

Use my Kanban Flow checklist consistently.

Don't let chores pile up now that you have two jobs plus writing to do.

Here's to 2021. We'll get through it together.

#fic life #2020 goals #2021 goals #my year in fanfic

[princess-of-the-corner]

Hero Chat: Lila

This is just something for me to write out my thoughts on how to handle the Lila plot in the Hero Chat fic. And in general, but mostly this. Because I discussed using the ‘Lila has some kind of Magic’ plot for why everyone believes her.

I want to discuss both the ‘Magic’ plot and the ‘everyone kinda fucked up a little’ plot. Because both are things I want to talk out.

This isn’t necessarily salt, but it does involve Lila and the class believing her lies and a little of Adrien’s ‘don’t do anything’ plan. So you know. 

Let’s start with the Magic plot.

I’m calling the Magic ‘Silver Tongue’, because of course. It was a kind of Magic created by someone who used the Fox Miraculous for selfish gain in the past. They used the Fox’s Illusions to trick their way into fame, money, and power.

Eventually, they created a more subtle version of the Magic. Illusion in just words. Silver Tongue is just words that are believed as much as the Fox’s Illusions. They are also just as real as the Fox’s Illusions, believable, but destroyed if you try to touch them.

What I mean is that as long as the Silver Tongue’s lie is not given proof that it’s a lie, they will believe it. But they won’t believe something they know is false. For example, Alya believes Lila when she says ‘oh, I’m bffs with Ladybug’. But if Lila said ‘I’m Rena Rouge’, Alya would be able to tell it’s a lie.

Which, yes, brings us to Lila. In an ironic twist, she was right about being descended from someone who used the Fox Miraculous, just not a Hero. She actually had no idea and was making it up but hey. Everyone gets lucky sometimes.

The thing that makes a Silver Tongue lose their power, is the realization that they’re lying. Once you know that their words are lies, you won’t be enchanted by further lies. This is why Marinette and Adrien aren’t effected by Lila.

Marinette knew Lila was lying due to her saying ‘I’m bffs with Ladybug’. She knows for a fact that it’s false. Between this and the fact that she knows other lies are false, such as Jagged Stone having a cat or Lila being traveling for months, she isn’t enchanted by Silver Tongue.

Adrien was suckered in at first. But Ladybug showing up and calling Lila out on her shit broke the spell. It would’ve been broken anyway if Lila kept talking about having the Fox Miraculous, as she would’ve made up stuff about it that Adrien would know is false. For example, he could ask her to transform and she’d make up a reason why that doesn’t fit with what he knows. And she’d say nothing about a Kwami. So he would’ve figured it out without Ladybug’s help.

However, while there is Magic making the class believe Lila’s stories, she doesn’t control their reactions to it. Sending Marinette to the back without asking, dismissing her as jealous, and ignoring how uncomfortable Adrien is around Lila? That’s all on them.

There is also nothing stopping them from doing their own investigation, other than the fact that they feel like they don’t need to because ‘Lila is obviously telling the truth’.

When the classmates realize they’d been tricked, they will still feel guilty and apologize, recognizing that they fucked up even if Magic was involved.

-

Now for the non-magical version!

There’s a lot of factors of why Lila’s lies work. Some of it is because she’s good at manipulating the situation, and making up other lies when she’s called out.

Next, there’s the fact that Lila knowing celebrities isn’t that far of a stretch given the classmates.

Chloé and Adrien are actually rich and famous, but are in this one random public school class.

Marinette has gotten the attention of several celebrities and big names in the fashion industry.

Rose knows Prince Ali. And while we don’t really know how often they talk, a lot of people assume they talk a lot.

Then there’s Kitty Section. The band has gotten a lot of attention in the short time they’ve been playing.

Alya runs the Ladyblog, Number 1 source of Ladybug news.

Not to mention the Heroes. Everyone knows about Chloé being Queen Bee. From Alya and Nino’s perspectives, there’s three heroes in class. Other classmates who have been Heroes think there’s themselves and Chloé, making two.

So yeah, Lila, daughter of someone from the Italian Embassy who travels a lot, says she knows some celebrities. That’s kinda believable when compared to the rest of the classmates’ fame.

But there’s also the fact that multiple people expect other people to fact check or say something. For example:

When Alya makes a post on the Ladyblog about Lila being ‘Ladybug’s bff’, Ladybug doesn’t challenge that. Ladybug knows about the Ladyblog and knows how to find Alya. From Alya’s perspective, if it wasn’t true, Ladybug herself would have said something.

Not to victim blame, but Marinette really should’ve done that. If only to keep Lila and her family from being targeted by Hawkmoth.

Rose talks to Prince Ali. She could’ve asked him about Lila. Everyone probably assumes she did. Since she didn’t call Lila out either, he probably told her she’s on the up and up.

I do headcanon that Rose mentioned Lila to Prince Ali, but she didn’t do major digging. It was probably like: Rose: “Hey! I made a new friend! Lila Rossi!”, Ali: “I’m glad you’re making new friends! Would you like to hear about this cool thing that happened earlier?”. It’s the kind of situation where she didn’t ask directly, and since Ali didn’t go ‘who?’, she assumed that it was fine.

Lila’s ‘disabilities’.

From the Class’s perspective, it’s not on them to ask for documentation. It’s on the staff. If the staff members believe Lila has tinnitus and whatever else, then they have the documentation necessary to confirm it.

As for the staff believing it, that’s probably Lila forging doctor’s notes and hijacking her mom’s email. Or giving a fake email on the paperwork.

Lila being out of Paris for months

Like the disabilities, the class doesn’t need to confirm it as the school staff have done that. After all, Lila couldn’t just be skipping class for several months without consequences! The school would’ve contacted her mother, and her mother would’ve done something about it!

Obviously Lila also used the email thing from the disabilities section to fake an email from her mom saying ‘we’ve been traveling lately. Can you email Lila any classwork she needs?’.

As for her mom, we know she’s lying to her about the whole Akuma situation. Saying the school is closed because of all that fuckery.

So yeah, between decent lies, people assuming things are cool because they’re naive kids who like to see the best in people, and a few screwups, it’s easy to believe Lila’s claims.

And once she has a hold on the class, getting them to believe her, she can turn things around on those who try to call her out. Marinette tries to say something? Lila pulls out the ‘I’m being so nice! Why do you hate me!’. And since, from the class’s perspective, there’s no reason for Marinette to be mean other than jealousy over Adrien, they assume that’s the problem.

If Adrien had spoken up, Lila would’ve found a way to turn it around. Maybe she spins it as ‘Marinette’s obviously been telling you horrible things about me!’ or ‘Now he’s making stuff up to protect Marinette!’ . It depends on how dedicated she is to thinking she can win Adrien over.

So yeah it’s not that they’re entirely falling for a bunch of lies without proof. There’s enough plausible to Lila’s lies that they don’t feel the need to search further. Of course if they looked into it they’d find the truth, but for now they’re sitting back.

And of course when they do realize what happened, they apologize to Marinette and Adrien.

-

Side note: Adrien’s view of ‘why does it matter, she’s not hurting anyone?’.

First of all, Adrien wasn’t there for all of Lila’s bullshit. He does know she was lying to impress him and the classmates. He might be skeptical about the tinnitus claim, but can’t really prove that she doesn’t have tinnitus(obviously he knows the ‘how’ is fake, but she could hypothetically have it from something else). And it wasn’t Lila who made Marinette sit in the back, just the classmates assuming she’d be chill.

Adrien didn’t see the scene in the cafeteria where Marinette tried to call Lila out and everyone turned against her. He didn’t see the bathroom scene of Lila threatening her. And no one told him about it.

So, again, from Adrien’s perspective, Lila is just telling grand stories to try and impress everyone. Which doesn’t really hurt anyone. Maybe it will in the long run, if people keep believing her and base all their decisions on what she says instead of thinking for themselves. But that’s a bit unlikely. Also he’s still a teenager and they’re not the best at thinking long-term.

Adrien’s experience with liars is also more limited. He would mostly deal with paparazzi and tabloid reporters that make up gossip for clickbait views. People who saw him hanging with Marinette in ‘Gorizilla’ and tweeted out that she was his secret girlfriend. There’s a line I keep wanting to put into a fic somewhere of Adrien saying ‘If my father stopped what he was doing to disprove every rumor about him having an affair with a model or intern half his age, he wouldn’t be able to get any work done at all.’.

From Adrien’s perspective, it’s not worth it to call Lila out like Marinette was doing. All it’ll do is enrage the class and push them further into Lila’s side. They would be alone. They’d have each other, but no one else.

As shown in later episodes, like ‘Oni-Chan’ and especially ‘Ladybug’, Adrien does come to realize Lila is less of a ‘hey pay attention to me’ liar and more of a ‘I’ll manipulate the fuck out of everyone and destroy anyone who tries to stop me’ liar. And he decides to do something about it. Even if he can’t prove Lila lied, he can ‘make a deal with the devil’ and get her to fix things.

Okay, that’s it now. Goodnight everybody.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Hero Chat: Lila #Hero Chat AU

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

The Chopped Madness Champion is….

@the-most-beautiful-broom​

the-most-beautiful-broom was a steady force in this competition, writing everything from a Canonverse Bellarke Robin Hood Fairy Tale AU to a Marper Titanic Angst AU (+ Marper Aeronauts Angst) to a Political Aassassins Memori Dystopia AU to a Zaven Spider-verse Superheroes AU to a Luna/Lincoln Mirror Universe Thriller AU and they were all FANTASTIC! That’s six (6!) fics and 31k words during the weeks of this competition! You deserve the title of CHOPPED MADNESS CHAMPION! Congratulations! Check out all her fics below:

Qualifying Round Fic: we'd up and fly (if there were wings for flying)

Mods’ Review: Robin Hood was such an awesome fairtytale to choose, we loved this fic! You were really able to bring us into the world of your story so well! Your description of Wells’ death was great, and it really helped bring us into that “robin hood medieval” world that this story needed! And, obviously, we LOVE wells, so this death was so rough, but so well done!! We really loved Villain Kane, the whole quarry/slavery/chancelor kane concept was so good and so well executed! We really loved the concept, with Bellamy as Robin Hood and Clarke as Maid Marion! It was so great, we need more!! Bellamy being so badass, and putting his name on the packages to make sure Kane knew it was him, was EXCELLENT! We love a Hero!Bellamy plot, but let’s be real here… who doesn’t! We also really loved your little hand washing tutorial, always important, but even more so now… your corona is showing ;)! Bellamy giving Clarke the ring that Wells gave him for her was so sweet! You always manage to bring in such soft, sweet character moments that really bring your stories so much life! This story had so much heart to it, and we loved every word! 

Round 1 Fic: Macushla & Both

Mods’ Review: The whole concept of the Macushla fic, the Titanic and the “road trip” being them on their life boat trying to escape, was so creative and exciting. You were able to really nail this setting and story, we loved this fic! Harper just absolutely murdering that journalist was such an awesome opening scene!! The set up of the sinking ship and her trying to find her way to a lifeboat was so good! We were on the edge of our seats, you really established the life or death nature of the situation really well! Also, we love the touch of Monroe being involved somehow! Harper trying so hard to get more people aboard their lifeboat was so harrowing and sad to watch, and it was a really nice touch to see her pushing the people onboard to do their part, and shaming them when they didn’t. It was a really nice character moment for Harper, and felt very true to who she is. Harper choosing to steer the ship was so good! It really added to the story to see how much she wanted to be a part of the effort to help in whatever way she could. She was a heroine we wanted to root for! You were really able to craft this story exceptionally well, and we loved reading it!

We also have to add your Aeronauts AU, Both, to this review! We can’t believe you wrote two fics this round and we’re sorry you couldn’t enter them both for the competition! But we are glad we get this fic in it’s entirety! It’s so beautifully written and a really great look at Harper and Monty. Going from Strangers to Lovers in a hot air balloon “road trip”, was mesmerizing. And it had just the right touch of angst that had us going back to read this fic over and over. Thanks so much for sharing it! 

Round 2 Fic: Good to be Back

Mods’ Review: Big fan of the opening, with the radio calls back and forth! It gave the audience the information we needed to get going with the story, while also adding some mystery and suspense as well! Murphy selling salt cubes, and using saltwater as currency, was so creative and fun! It was a nice touch of world building that really added depth to the story! Abby’s death leading to a political coup of some kind was such a great plot line, and it set up your fic so well! Assassins is always such an exciting plot! The “accidental death” assassination was so cool, it showed the expertise that Emori and Murphy have in their line of work, and it was a really cool scene. Hiding the syringe in a tampon wrapper? Genius!! Forced bed sharing to keep up with their married couple facade? Oh the angst! We love a good wake up scene, all sleepy and cute while they lovingly gaze at the other person, and this was no exception! You were able to add such a nice touch of romance and sweetness to a pretty gnarly story, well done! The Resistance pushing Murphy and Emori out after they did their dirty work for them is so good, it made the story feel even more real, and the stakes even more intense! The fact that the reaction to the death by the government was mass destruction was so unsettling but also so believable, you really created a very real dystopia that had us white knuckling it throughout the whole story! Loved that ending, of them planning to keep the work going, and try to save the world. Memori as sort of underground heroes is always a great storyline! This fic was so good! 

Round 3 Fic: Into the Blue

Mods’ Review: It’s amazing how you managed to capture the very essence of the Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse movie into your fic! Raven’s introduction to the Other Times Square (and to us) was the perfect setup! We became obsessed with all your character choices, too! Raven as Gwen, Miles/Zeke as Spider-man, Jordan as Miles, Octavia as Doc Ock!, Jasper as Prowler, Diyoza as Aunt May, Madi and her robot, Bellamy as Spidernoir and Murphy as Spider-Pig?! SO CREATIVE! The added layer of angst you weaved between these characters is something to behold. The simple glances between Zaven and lines like, “The universe gives her back her best friend for him to not know her, to be older and colder and to not know her. And then kills another version of him, just for fun.” Or “Who was your Jasper?” Raven had been alone in her world and you explored the found family trope so wonderfully in this fic. “It’s been so long since she let herself rely on others...a part of her wants to go back with each of them. She doesn’t do friends. This feels a little more like a family.” Cue the tears as they all said goodbye and Raven went into the blue!!!  And the final scene much later as she goes into yellow hinting at more for Zaven is just perfect. We enjoyed this fic so much!!!!

Round 4 Fic: we cross our bridges and burn them behind us

Mods’ Review: We love the idea of a Science Squad who are HELLBENT on proving the multiverse, it feels so true to the sci-fi thriller genre, to have a team of ‘good guys’ who make some discovery, and then have to deal with the repercussions. Also, such a nice touch, using Nadia’s last name for Luna. It’s a nice change from the ‘water’ based last names that Bailey is definitely guilty of lol. The escaped double is an excellent concept, and so very exciting! Honestly, HOLY SHIT. ALIE leveled midtown in like four hours?! That's Insane! You are always so deft at creating real tension within your stories, while still making sure they have real meaning and emotion behind them, and we love that you never pull your punches! “I don’t do teams” “wrong earth for that” FANTASTIC. It's like ‘you will join this found family and you will LIKE IT.’ And from Wells, our hearts! We always love any mention of Wells! We ALSO love a  suspenseful two hour countdown! Very ‘end of the world, 1 man can save us’, like one of those movies where Gerard Butler is somehow the only man who can save the President from certain doom, but obviously in a good way! Raven’s motivational hero speech being ‘nah it’ll be good as long as we get to it’ is so in character and hilarious, we loved it! Oh my god… Jasper’s death scene, Bailey literally had her mouth hanging open. We loved that you had Luna ask if he knew, and the weight of the realization that it was usually Luna, even if he didn’t say it. So much emotion happening in such an intense scene, so well done! The twist that she’s not actually Luna 47!!! SOO well done, we can’t deal! And it makes the scene a little earlier, where Lincoln said “thought it was you” make so much more sense! We were honestly BLOWN away by this fic, it was intense and exciting, heartfelt and sweet, full of deftly handled intense plots and really amazing character moments. This fic was definitely deserving of pushing you over the edge to become our Chopped Champion! 

———

Now that Chopped Madness is complete, all the fics written for Chopped Madness by all authors have been revealed and you can post about your fics! Don’t forget to tag us!

Our non-anonymous collection is still open for anyone who is interested in sharing fics they’ve written based on any of the Chopped Madness prompts! We’d love to see what you come up with, and we’ll happily share your work on our blog! The non-anon collection can be found here! To submit your fic to the collection, simply enter ‘chopped_non_anonymous’ as the name of the collection when uploading your fic!!!

Non-Anon AO3 Collection Link: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Chopped_Non_Anonymous

This is the end of Chopped Madness! Thanks so much to the 16+ authors who participated in this event, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!!

#chopped madness #chopped madness: champion #author reveal

[ohblackdiamond]

little t&a (paul/gene, nc-17) (part 1 of 29)

part 1   part 2   part 3   part 4   part 5   part 6   part 7   part 8   part 9   part 10   part 11   part 12   part 13   part 14   part 15   part 16   part 17   part 18   part 19   part 20   part 21  part 22   part 23   part 24    part 25   part 26   part 27   part 28   part 29 Four weeks before KISS gets back on tour, Gene discovers that Paul’s been cursed by a groupie. For the sake of KISS’ finances, Paul’s comfort level, and Gene’s libido, this situation must be rectified. Sexswap fic.

Notes: This has been on the backburner pretty much since the quarantine started. I really wrestled with posting it at all since it’s a weird premise, and most of my fics have a more realistic bent, but I decided that if it perked me up while working remotely, eating ramen, and feeling like I was back in uni in all the worst ways (when was I in uni? why, during the Great Recession!)-- then maybe it’d perk someone else up, too. So here we are.

           Gene really didn’t think too much of it at first when Paul vanished just after the tour. He didn’t take it personally, the way Peter did, and he didn’t get too quizzical about it like Ace did. The whole band was burnt-out on each other. The days where they had to share hotel rooms were gone, and the days where they wanted to share vacations were gone, too. Gene couldn’t pinpoint when it had gotten like that, and it made him a little regretful, sure, but it was just another inevitability. The Beatles had made it ten years before imploding, all those hurt egos just smushing together and screwing everything up. KISS had four years under its belt now, and already he could feel things faltering.

           So maybe Paul was trying to ease all that via his disappearing act. Spend his tour break at home, probably with a bevy of girls lining up at his front porch, and come back refreshed and ready for another nine-month stretch with only a wall between him and his bandmates, assuming Ace and Peter didn’t tear a hole in it on a drunken whim. It made sense. The first time Paul didn’t return his phone call (the tinny sound of his $400 answering machine the only response), Gene wasn’t concerned. The second time, Gene assumed Paul had gone to a disco, or was spending the night at some chick’s house. The third time, Gene immediately called up Bill, who said he hadn’t heard from Paul, either.

           That was cause for concern. Paul could, and did, blow off anybody but their manager. Still, Gene figured he’d give it one more day, and one more lay, before he started to investigate.

           That was the plan, until he got his mail late one morning. There was always a fat stack of it. The actual sackfuls of fan mail would end up at some office, where a poor secretary was stuck stuffing envelopes with their pictures and a canned response. Sometimes a real sleuth would find his address, and he’d open those out of sheer novelty, when he had the chance, only to be disappointed when the writer turned out to be a twelve-year-old who’d spent his paper route money on several books of stamps, and mailed the same letter out to every Gene Simmons in the greater New York phone book. Every so often he’d get the good stuff, like a saucy letter from a college girl, with photos and pubic hair taped inside. “See you next time in Sacramento.” He never wrote them back, but he’d put the photos in a separate album from his conquests. Almost a hope chest of photos, there.

           Gene thumbed through the newsletters and errant bills so quickly he nearly missed it. A glossy postcard, with Buckingham Palace on the front. It couldn’t have been a piece of fan mail, but he didn’t know anyone who’d bother writing him, either. He flipped it over out of curiosity. Weird.

           He recognized the scratchy longhand before he got to the signature. Not that it took long. Thee address was almost lengthier than the postcard message.

           “Gene—Do you know anything about curses? Write me back soon. Thanks, Paul.”

--

           He called up Peter about it that afternoon, still baffled. He didn’t really think Peter would have any insight on it—Paul and Peter hadn’t been as close as they used to be, though that went for everyone—but he surprised him.

“I haven’t heard from him. I figured you had.” Peter was chewing gum as he spoke. Gene could hear the smacks through the receiver. “Why the fuck would he send you a postcard? You live closer to him than I do.”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

“Talking about curses…” Peter trailed. “Shit, I went over there last week. Didn’t call him up first, just thought I’d go over like I used to. I banged on the door and some chick came out and screamed at me to go away. I told her who I was and she just stared at me.”

           “Paul doesn’t pick girls for brains.”

           “It was kinda weird, though. Picky bastard usually gets blondes.”

           “What, was she a brunette?”

           “Yeah, real dark, curly hair—you don’t think he’s shacked up with her, do you? Some New Age type, turning him on to something funny? ’Cause he doesn’t usually want ’em sticking around, either, and I stopped by after lunch…”

           Evidently, Peter paid more attention to Paul’s habits with girls than Gene ever had.

“I don’t know. Was she cute?”

“Yeah. She had nice tits.”

           Of course she did. Gene rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

           “I’m gonna look into this. I’ll let you know if I can’t get in touch with him.”

           “Sure.” There was a slight hesitation. “Hey, thanks for calling me. I thought he was pissed at me or some shit. But I guess he’s pissed at everybody.”

           Gene privately feared it was worse than that. If Paul had gotten a girlfriend, one serious enough he was ignoring everyone and everything else, even the looming tour, for her sake… well, that didn’t make sense, not unless she’d conned him into something. There were still plenty of cults and communes all over the place, the leftover remnants of disillusioned hippies. They’d join fringe churches or create their own religions and live in tents on the side of the road. He didn’t think Paul would have fallen into something like that, unless the girl had spruced it up with a bunch of psychobabble and talk therapy. Paul dug astrology and self-help, but it wasn’t something he’d trade his lifestyle for. Was it?

           “I’ll find out. I’ll see you, Pete.”

           He hung up, then dialed his chauffeur. An hour or so later, he was pulling up to Paul’s.

--

           He told the chauffeur not to wait on him. If Paul was at his house, he’d make him drive him back. It turned out they weren’t Paul’s only visitors. Ahead of them, walking up the driveway, was a kid carrying two grocery bags, his bicycle parked in the grass.

           Gene didn’t normally have an issue making his presence known. But he held back, curious. He wanted to see who would open the door—that supposed live-in girlfriend, some other chick, or Paul himself. As the chauffeur drove away, he hung back a bit, tucking himself behind a tree at the edge of the front of the house, near the front porch. The kid didn’t seem to notice.

           He watched the kid—he was probably about eleven—ring the doorbell with his elbow. After a couple seconds, the door opened, a girl in a blue bathrobe walking out, shutting the door behind her. Gene recognized the bathrobe as one of Paul’s, though she filled it out better than he ever had. She wasn’t even wearing anything beneath it that he could tell, cleavage obvious, the loosely-tied bathrobe hiding none of it. Curly, dark hair—Gene wondered if this was the girlfriend, or bedmate, that Peter had seen earlier. No telling.

           “How much was it?” she asked the kid.

           “Eight twenty-five.”

           “You have the receipt?”

           The kid pulled out the receipt. The girl looked at it, nodded, then took a wallet from the pocket of Paul’s bathrobe, tugging out a couple bills.

           “Here’s nine. Keep the change.”

           “Thanks.” The kid paused. “I thought somebody famous was supposed to live here.”

            “You thought wrong.” The girl took the two bags of groceries and turned back towards the door, trying to use her elbow to turn the knob. The kid was already back on his bicycle. As he kicked the stand up, he called back out to her over his shoulder.

           “Hey, you gonna need groceries next week, too?”

           “I hope not.” She set both bags on the front porch. The kid nodded, waving as he started down the driveway. The girl didn’t wave back, busy opening the door.

           Now was Gene’s chance. He stepped out from behind the tree and walked to the front porch as the girl picked up one of the grocery bags again.

           “Hey.”

           She turned around immediately. Her eyes got big.

           “Shit—Gene!”

           She recognized him. That didn’t narrow it down. She looked familiar, somehow—she wasn’t a Playmate, Gene always recognized those—maybe a model, or a groupie? But Paul didn’t bring those home. Gene raised a finger to his mouth.

           “Shh. Look, I’m here to see Paul. Is he in?”

           “Wh—no. No, sorry.” A tense, quick smile. Definitely not a model. Only Ali MacGraw could manage to make it with crooked teeth.

           “Can you tell me when he’ll be back?”

           “I have no idea. I don’t know where he is.”

           “So he just left you over here?”

           The girl set the bag down, folding her arms. Something about the mannerism made an eerie feeling prickle down the back of Gene’s spine.

“Are you telling me I can’t be here?”

           “No!” Gene pursed his lips. “Look, I don’t care who he’s with. But we’re supposed to go back on tour in a couple weeks and—”

           “I know!”

           “That’s great. So maybe it might be nice to know where he is beforehand.”

           The girl bristled.

           “I told you, I have no idea! I just—can’t you leave me alone?”

           “You’re living in his house, wearing his bathrobe—that wasn’t even your wallet, was it?”

           “Hey!”

           Gene scrambled for it. The girl was fairly tall; he probably only had about five or six inches on her, but she wasn’t quick. He grabbed her shoulder with one hand, then jammed his other hand into the bathrobe’s pocket, starting to tug the wallet out. She clenched his arm, nails digging in roughly, not nearly hard enough for him to drop the wallet.

           “Stop it! Let go of me, you goddamn idiot!”

           She shoved forward, stomping on his foot. Gene couldn’t feel that much of an impact, given the thickness of his boots. He kept a grip on her shoulder as he got the wallet fully in hand, opening it up as she screamed at him.

           “You don’t understand, Gene! It’s not what you’re thinking!”

           Unsurprisingly, Paul’s driver’s license photo was the first thing staring back at him from the see-through plastic card slot. Eisen, Stanley B. (God, the guy still hadn’t legally gotten his name changed) printed across it. Beyond the license was a handful of credit and business cards, as if Gene really needed to thumb through them for any further confirmation.

           “You stole his wallet.”

           “I didn’t steal it!”

           She had a lisp, Gene noticed out of nowhere.

          “Like hell you didn’t. Where is he?”

           “I told you, I don’t—”

           She jerked back abruptly, digging her nails deeper into his arm. He didn’t let go, but his hand shifted, accidentally yanking the bathrobe down at the shoulder. The girl’s eyes got huge. One of her breasts was exposed, which would’ve been plenty distracting enough, under normal circumstances, but for once, Gene’s eyes went to her bare shoulder first.

           More specifically, the rose tattoo on her bare shoulder.

           It wasn’t possible. It had to be a coincidence. He only saw the tattoo for a second at best, before she smacked his hand away and yanked the bathrobe back into place, covering her shoulder.

           It didn’t prove anything. But in a nice, W.A.S.P.y neighborhood like Paul’s, how many chicks had tattoos? And how many would have one like that, a Lyle Tuttle tattoo, when Lyle’s shop was clear across the country?

           She looked pissed-off. Scared, too. Something about the tight, sour way her lips were pressed together seemed weirdly familiar. The way she was acting didn’t add up. She’d called him by his first name on automatic. No deference or starry-eyed behavior. This girl didn’t give a damn about him being a rockstar. Those caustic responses made it come off like—like she really knew him.

That prickly feeling down his spine was only getting worse, even as he tried to dismiss it as impossible. If Gene was right, what he was about to do was incredibly cruel. If he was wrong, he’d just owe Paul Stanley’s latest chick a sincere apology. He wasn’t sure which option was worse.

           But he had to know. He let go of the bathrobe and quickly shoved his hand through the girl’s tangled, curly hair, starting just at the temple, lifting it up to fully expose the right side of her face. The abject horror in her dark brown eyes might have been confirmation all on its own, but the damage was already done. He’d already pushed back enough of her hair to see what he’d only ever been told about before.

“Gene, y-you fucking asshole!”

Not an inch past one wispy sideburn was a stub of cartilage where her right ear should have been.

           He wasn’t dealing with Paul’s girl of the duration. He was dealing with Paul.

#kiss the band #kiss fanfiction #paul stanley #gene simmons #gene simmons x paul stanley #ace frehley #peter criss