#hope this week was good! forgot how much i missed these two and their overall vibes

[belligerentbagel]

the day we met, frozen, i held my breath  right from the start  i knew that i'd found a home for my heart 

widojest 7: wedding 💐

#the compulsion to put jester lavorre in white or light-coloured dresses #not even always in a wedding sense! i just think the blue skin + riotous curls + poofy white silhouette is very fetching #widojestweek2022 #widojest #critical role #okay so this is actually the first post i'm making for wj week (and also the f i r s t p o s t in like four? months) and #ho boy has the painting experience on this been AN EXPERIENCE (ie trying to remember how to apply colours & make choices on lines) #BUT WE DID IT BABES #time to trek backwards in the week & piece together some other posts 👀 #hope this week was good! forgot how much i missed these two and their overall vibes #jester lavorre #caleb widogast #widojestweek #draws

[crazyunsexycool]

No, it’s a new beginning.

pairing: Stucky x reader.

Word count: 5.8k

Warnings: some angst, some fluff, forgiveness (because apparently this needs to be a warning.) pregnancy, babies, giving birth nothing graphic because idk what im talking about. Stucky and their feelings/crying. Please let me know if I forgot something.

A/N: first of all I want to say thank you to everyone that read, liked, commented and reblogged part one. It means so much you have no idea!!!! I really hope you enjoy part two. When I first got this idea the ending(this part) is what first came to mind. Some might not like it and that’s ok just please be kind.

I did try to tag everyone that requested if I forgot I’m sorry. There were some that I tried to tag and couldn’t.

Part 1

They had convinced Tony to display the facial recognition software on every single electronic device in the apartment that could show it. That was all they did, sit in the living room or in bed and watch as pictures and videos were scanned. They even started taking shifts to make sure they didn’t miss an alert. They were barely taking care of themselves, staying glued to a Tv, tablet, phone or computer. They had locked themselves in the apartment and declined going on any mission until you were back or at least until they knew you were safe. Sam and Nat were the only ones that they would allow into the apartment. Bucky and Steve were dead set on finding you no matter how long it took.

Steve and Bucky talked in those times on how they would apologize and make it up to you. But after the fight Bucky was left with doubts on whether he was good enough for both you and Steve. Although the blonde assured him that he was more than enough and he acknowledged that it was his fault Bucky was questioning himself and the role he played in their relationship. They even talked about only one of them being in a relationship with you but they could never imagine that you would reject them, so they prepared themselves for every scenario except for that one.

Bucky sat on the couch in the dark living room, the only light source was the Tv. The images flashed by quickly as F.R.I.D.A.Y compared them to various pictures of you at different angles to try and get the best match. He had his arms stretched out on the back of the couch and one sleepy Steve leaning against his shoulder. They shared a blanket as Steve tried to keep his eyes open. Bucky places a kiss on Steve’s temple and moves to drape his arm around the blonde’s shoulder.

“I have a feeling we’re getting close. We’re going to find her tonight.” Bucky whispers mostly to himself thinking Steve has already fallen asleep.

“You think so?” Steve asks with a yawn as he continues to fight the drowsiness.

“Yeah I do. Now get some sleep, it's my turn to stay up and watch anyway.”

It’s around 4 am when the software stops searching and one single image flashes. Bucky on the edge of sleep blinks the drowsiness away as he begins to study the image. He stands abruptly causing Steve to wake up. Bucky stands close to the tv, his eyes watery. There in the background of someone’s picture of a festival is you, well most of you. Looking over your shoulder toward the festivities, a small smile gracing your lips but sadness is what is reflected in your eyes.

“Is that her?”

“Yeah Stevie. I told you we’d find her tonight. Let’s get the coordinates of this place and try to find her.”

You have been living on your own for 5 months now. Well not completely alone you had Bow and Arrow to keep you company. The time away was certainly bittersweet, little by little you began to build walls around yourself. It felt like it was getting easier to distance yourself from the feelings you had for them. Although there were times when you missed them terribly and there are days when you still cry but overall you are beginning to move on.

In the last couple of weeks you’ve had Laura and Nat visit, but today you had Clint with you. He had promised to fix some things around the house for you and you could see him through the sliding doors sitting on the steps in the back, trying to do who knows what when the perimeter alarm went off. You had been in the kitchen getting lunch ready when you heard it. Your first instinct was to go to your room when you heard two car doors slam shut. Frozen to the spot you were standing in you can’t do anything else but listen, your breath hitches when there is a knock at the door. You look out into the backyard through the sliding door and don’t see Clint, knowing he has to be somewhere with his weapons so you make your way to the door. Opening it just enough so that you can see out while keeping your body behind it, ready to shut it just in case. Your heart drops into your stomach. Out of anything you expected this was not it.

“Steve?”

“Hi, sweetheart.” He says in that gentle way he reserved only for you and Bucky. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“We?”

He shifts to the side and the movement allows you to see Bucky leaning against the car they came in with his hands in his pockets and keeping his head down. He tilts his head up when he hears your voice, meeting your eyes for just a moment before looking away. He looks tired, they both do and there is a part of you that worries about them but you can’t allow yourself to give in to that side. You weren’t their priority and they aren’t yours anymore.

Steve looks out toward Bucky and as he turns around you notice him get tense.

“Barton?” He says incredulously as he stares at Clint with his bow and arrows at the ready. He lowers it when he realizes it’s just Steve.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He asks as he rushes and grabs the front of Clint’s shirt. “We’ve been looking for her for months. You’ve-“

“Steve.” Bucky yells trying to get the other man’s attention as you fully open the door fully and step outside. He looks at you and rushes over and jumps over the railing to get Steve to ease up.

“You could have said something.” He seethes.

Clint wraps his hands around Steve’s wrist.

“Steve.”

“We’ve spent months looking for Y/N worried that someone could have hurt her.”

“Steve, stop.”

“That’s enough, let him go.” You yell at him.

“No, you don’t get it. We were worried, we did nothing but try to find you for five months.” Steve says as he finally lets him go and turns to look at you.

Standing by the door you’re wearing one of Bucky’s henleys along with leggings and fluffy socks. He’s angry and hurt someone he trusted lied to him. You can see it in his face until his eyes travel down your body. His expression falters as his eyes land on your belly, making you wrap your arms around it protectively.

“You’re pregnant?” He can barely get the words out as a new wave of emotions hit him.

Bucky is the first one to move, he takes a step towards you. His eyes are glassy from unshed tears and a small smile begins to appear on his face.

“Don’t.” You tell him as you place a hand in the doorknob ready to go back inside. Away from this whole situation, you knew you would have to talk to them some day but not like this you weren’t ready.

“Darling please?” He doesn’t even know what he’s asking for. All he knows is that you're standing there in his shirt looking as beautiful as ever and you’re cradling your bump. He still can’t even fully process it, the three of you had discussed the possibility of starting a family in the future but never came to an agreement since it was still a new relationship.

“Whatever it is you want, the answer is no. I want you gone.” You begin to open the door but a hand wraps around your upper arm making you turn, damn them and their quick silent steps. Steve is looking down at you, his eyes scanning your face almost as if he still can’t believe you’re really standing in front of him.

“I know we don’t deserve a chance, but sweetheart please. It’s not just us anymore we have a baby on the way and we want to be here for you.” His eyes pleading for a chance.

You laughed, it was bitter and humorless but you laughed in his face. The anger you had tried to leave behind came crashing down.

“You want to be here for me? Fuck both of you. Where were you 6 months ago when I needed you? You don’t get to show up at my home and ask for a chance you don’t deserve. I trusted both of you and I took care of you even when you weren’t speaking to me and for what?” You began to cry, it was all too much too fast. Of course Steve tried to calm you but that only made you angrier as you slapped his hands away.

“Don’t, you don’t get to try and make me feel better. You’re the reason all of this happened in the first place.”

“I know, I know it’s my fault please I just want to apologize.”

“Well I don’t want to hear it. I’ve moved on. I picked up the broken pieces and I put them back together without you.”

“What about the baby?” His voice was small and he was now looking at the floor.

It was tiring trying to be the one to put you back together and you want them to hurt the same way you did so the lie slipped before it could be stopped.

“It’s not yours Steve and it’s not Bucky’s either.”

“No, I don’t believe that.” Bucky shakes his head coming up behind Steve. “Please don’t say that. That’s our baby Y/N I know it is.”

“Guys why don’t you give her some space. This is a lot for her and she needs to rest.”

“Why don’t you stay out of it Barton. You’ve done enough.” Bucky turns to glare at him still at the end of the porch.

“I don’t think I will because while the two of you were being selfish assholes I was the one looking out for her.” Both men stood toe to toe. “Now Y/N said she wants you gone so leave.”

Steve looks at Bucky and Clint then turns back to you and grabs both of your hands in his, like he used to do when he had to say something important. “Please we just want to talk.”

You shake your head while you pull away from him and open the door and as soon as you pass through you begin to close it but his hand stops it. Clint yells at them that they’re crossing a line while he pushes the door open. But Steve is desperate and even if you don’t forgive him, if you forgave Bucky that would be enough. So he starts to say something but a growl stops him. Arrow moves in between your legs, teeth bared growling at Steve while Bow stands to your left. Steve moves to stand upright and Bow snarls at him, taking a step forward. Both dogs are ready to attack if necessary.

Steve clears his throat as he looks down at both guard dogs. “They aren’t going to attack me right?”

“I don’t know Steven, are you going to come in uninvited?” You ask as you cross your arms over your chest.

“No, we aren’t.”

“Bow, Arrow sit.” You command. The dogs sit, with Arrow’s head pressed against your bump.

“Thank you.” Is the last thing you hear him say as you slam the door in his face.

You wipe the tears away as you head towards your bedroom and lay down. Arrow jumps on the bed and turns a couple of times before laying down with her head near your belly. Bow lays on the floor behind you preferring the rug to the bed. He huffs and lifts his head up when the sound of footsteps start to get closer. There is a knock on the doorframe and you look up seeing Clint leaning against the frame, sporting a bloody lip.

“There should be a first aid kit under the sink in the bathroom.”

“It’s ok kid, trust me when I say I’ve had worse.” He says as he pushes himself off the doorframe. “You should see the black eye Steve and Bucky are going to have.”

“S’not enough.”

He chuckles as he sits on the bed. “It isn’t but I'm pretty sure you hurt them worse by saying these babies aren’t theirs.”

“So what? it’s better that they think the twins aren’t theirs. Now they don’t have to feel obligated to stay for the kids.” You say as you sit up and begin to wipe your tears again. Arrow shifts and lays her head on your lap.

“They didn’t know you were pregnant when they were searching for you. That should count for something.” He says with a shrug.

It’s true they had no idea but you didn’t want to be rational. It seemed like they had fixed their relationship and you were happy for them. But that didn’t change that they decided to shut you out. And you couldn’t worry about your own feelings now, you had babies on the way that would need consistency and what if they decided to walk out again. You could handle it for sure but not them.

“I’m not going to make my decision on the sole fact that I’m pregnant. They can be in the twin’s lives without us being in a relationship.” You scoff “whose side are you on anyways?”

“Yours obviously. Always have always will be. I just want you to make the right decision for yourself. And the only way to do that is to look at all sides of the situation. I know you’re hurting and seeing them again must have been hard but at some point you’re going to have to face them and make a choice.”

You scowl at him, annoyed that he has a point. “When did you become so wise?”

“When I stopped crawling around in the vents at the tower.” He laughs.

“I’m not going to talk to them now, but do you know where they went?”

“Nope. But I bet they’re going to stay close by until they get the chance.”

“Figured as much. All I can say is that I’ll think about it.”

“Atta girl. I’m gonna finish up and Then I’m gone. I’ll be at the farm if you need anything.”

“Ok, thanks again Clint. I really don’t know where I’d be without you.”

He places a kiss on your head and heads out.

You spend the rest of the afternoon and the next day thinking about what to do. You love them, they were it for you. If they had asked you to follow them to the ends of the earth you would have done it no questions asked. It wasn’t a question of whether you would forgive them or not, it was a matter of if they did it again. So you thought of what you would say to them if you would consider giving them another chance.

A knock at the door woke you up from the nap you took on the couch. It was exhausting being in this situation but you get up and head to the door guard dogs walking behind you. It doesn’t surprise you to find Bucky standing there. Hair disheveled one hand in his pocket while the other held a bag. You look past him expecting to see Steve but he wasn’t there.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re ok.” He said. “I Um- there is this little Italian restaurant in town and I thought you’d like it so I brought your favorite.” He holds up the bag.

Standing there staring at each other you’re considering if you should let him in. His eyes are full of love and regret. In that moment you know it’s now or never. You’ll hear him out that way at least you have the whole story and can make your decision based on that although it’s hard to try and be level headed in a situation like this. You open the door and step aside.

“Would you like to come in?” You ask. His eyes widened at your question. It’s the last thing he expected to hear, it seemed he was ready to run just in case you made the dogs chase him.

“Uhm, are you sure? I mean I don’t have to if you don’t want me to. Really I just wanted to make sure you and the baby were ok. We shouldn’t have shown up like that it-“ You put your hand over his mouth to keep him from rambling any more.

“You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to but the offer stands.” You remove your hand and move so that he can walk in if he wants.

“And your dogs won’t attack me?” He asks as he takes a tentative step through the door.

“Are you afraid of dogs?” You tease.

“No,” he scoffs.

“They won’t do anything unless I tell them too.” Grabbing the bag from him you say loudly “You can come in too Steve.”

“How did you know?” He asks as he comes around the corner.

“I just did.” You shrug as you turn and head for the kitchen. Getting plates and cutlery both men grab the food and serve it before taking it to the table. The three of you sat in silence as you ate. It was slightly tense and a bit awkward. Your relationship had never been like this and it made you question whether it could be fixed or if you wanted to fix it.

“Did I do something wrong?” You asked after a while.

“No, sweetheart of course you didn’t do anything wrong.” Steve sighs and places a hand on the table for you to take, you hesitate for a moment but you place your hand on his. “I said things I never should have said and I certainly didn’t mean them. And I ruined the best thing in my life.”

“Then why did you leave? Neither of you would talk to me when I tried. It hurts that you did that, you know.” You look at both men as a frown forms on your lips.

“We know and there will never be enough words we could say or things we could do to show you how much we regret it.”

“Then why did you do it? Why shut me out.”

“I didn’t deserve you.” Bucky sighs. “That’s how I felt, after the argument with Steve I believed what he said. With everything I’ve done I felt like a burden. Then there you were in a flash right in front of me trying to make it better without even a second thought. You’re too good for me, for us.”

“No, I’m not.” You scoff. “You make it sound like I’m perfect.”

“I know but even when we were idiots and pushed you away, you were still taking care of us. I mean who does that? Who takes care of the person that hurt them. I don’t know if I could do that but you did. You’ve always been good to us and we let you down. I know you don’t trust us but we wanted to apologize for how we acted.” He gives you a sad smile.

“And you?” Looking at Steve, you give his hand a squeeze.

“I hurt both of you, so I thought that if I pushed you away and stepped back you and Bucky could be happy together. At first I didn’t know that Bucky left too. Out of the two of us I know I don’t deserve for you to even look in my direction. I just keep fucking up.”

“We really just wanted to make sure you’re ok. After what we put you through we’ll understand if you don’t want to see us anymore.”

“Well we can’t really be out of each other’s life if we really wanted to.”

“What do you mean?”

You place a hand on your belly. They both look at your movement and then back at you.

“But you said that neither of us was the father.” Bucky says, his voice shaky.

“I’m sorry, I was just so mad and I thought I could hurt you both just a fraction of how I felt. I’m just scared you’ll leave again. I would have to find a way to live with that, but how would I explain that to them?”

“Them?” Steve asks, confused before a look of realization crosses his features.

“Twins?” You nod as he moves from the seat across the table while Bucky, who was sitting next to you shifts closer. Bucky grabs the chair you're sitting in and turns it so that you can face them better. Steve kneels in front of you. They have tears in their eyes, both from the fact that they’re having kids and the fact that they haven’t been there for you. You grab their hands and place it on your belly waiting for movement. After a few seconds they feel a kick which earns a small gasp.

“I can’t wait to meet you.” Steve says under his breath before placing a kiss on your belly. Bucky moves his hand away as he sits back in his chair.

“Don’t do that, not right now.” You tell him.

“Do what?”

“Get in your head, shut down on us. I can practically hear your thoughts and before you say anything I know you’ll be a great dad.”

“That’s not what I was thinking. I was thinking about when you found out.”

“Oh. I um- I ended up on the medical floor because of the last mission I had been on, we got ambushed.”

“We know sweetheart, we spent all night outside that room. We only got a little bit of time before Tony and the others left to find the people that gave the order.”

“Yeah but I needed you.” You avert your eyes, remembering the heartbreak you felt when they weren’t there.

Bucky stood up and started pacing. “That’s why you left didn’t you, that was the last straw for you. You thought we didn’t care enough to check up on you while you were in the hospital.” He says to you before looking at Steve. “I knew one of us should have stayed.”

“Is this where it ends?” Bucky asks, sadness lacing the question.

The question caught you off guard, your breathe hitched in your throat as you avert your eyes. Your lower lip trembles because he knew you so well, really they both did and this was what made your choice so difficult. You had never thought of ending it really, they had become such an important part of your life it was difficult to distinguish who you really were and who you became for them. The last month at the tower had proved it.

He gives you a knowing look, he wants to say something but stops. Instead he gets closer and presses his forehead to yours

“I never deserved an ounce of love from you but you still gave me everything and you still are. I want you to know that you, Steve and these babies are the best things in my life. I am sorry that I turned my back on you. There is never a good reason but I was scared that you would realize you deserved someone that wasn’t broken like me.” He kisses your forehead then places a hand on Steve’s shoulder and pats it.

Steve is still kneeling in front of you, this time when he grabs your hands you let him. Tears start falling from both of you. He brings your hands up to his lips and kisses each one, then lowering his head he places another kiss on your swollen belly.

“I get it. We don’t even deserve your forgiveness, at least I don’t if it weren’t for me neither of you would be heartbroken right now.”

“I did forgive both of you, I love you both so much. I just can’t be with you not right now.”

“Hey it’s ok. You don’t have to feel bad about your choice, you have to do what’s best for you. We love you so much even though we messed up. We were fucking idiots but know that no matter what happens there is no one else for us but you. We want to be in these babies' lives if you’ll let us.”

You nod not trusting your voice.

“You have our numbers right?”

“Yeah.”

“We decided to stay close by in case you need us. Just call ok no matter the time and no matter what you need us for.”

“Ok.”

He stood up, pressed a kiss to your forehead and went to the door. You knew he was hesitating wanting to turn around and stay like he used to do when you were together and he had a mission. Then you heard the door open and close.

The following days were a bit of a blur, you were still surprised that you decided to be on your own. You needed time to find who you were without them and it felt like a weight was lifted off your shoulders. The love for them was still there that would never change but how you loved them did. With time maybe the three of you could start over again but for now you had two different Roger-Barnes to care for.

As a few weeks went by and your bump got bigger a new routine was set. Bucky, Steve, Nat and Clint all took turns coming to see you. Making sure you had what you needed. It was nice to have them around again, you could see that Steve and Bucky were trying their hardest to show you how important you were to them. Most of the time it was fine you accepted their help but there were days when the anger still showed up and you argued. They just stood there and took it, if it made you feel better at the end they could deal with you cursing at them for a few minutes. Before they left they always told you how much they loved you and that they couldn’t wait to hold the babies in their arms.

Steve and Bucky had tried to convince you to move back into the tower the closer you got to your due date but you were adamant that you wanted to stay in your new home. So they were concerned when you knocked on the apartment door at 3:00 am with Nat carrying your things, Bow and Arrow sitting at your feet. You were upset and when you saw them you launched yourself into their arms. While trying to soothe you they looked up at Nat waiting for an explanation.

“She had Braxton Hicks contractions and she freaked out that you weren’t close enough in case she went into actual labor. Then she started talking about the fact that the babies might have the super soldier serum in their blood and what if someone tried to kidnap them from the hospital. So we came home.” She whispered to Steve as she handed him your bags. She disappeared before Steve could say anything else.

Bucky had brought you into the shared room and helped you get comfortable, well as comfortable as you possibly could get. It was the first time the three of you were in the room that ended your relationship but you had been too tired from the trip to care. All you wanted was to rest and have them close and they couldn’t say no to you, not after everything.

It was a good thing that you came back when you did because just a few hours after you showed up you went into labor. It was painful and it felt like it took days. Bucky and Steve were at your side through all of it. The team was outside in the waiting room anxious to meet the new baby Avengers as they called the twins. They guessed names and who they would look like and at the end of all the waiting they got their answers.

Steve held your hand and wiped the sweat from your brow and when you finished pushing the doctor announced it was a girl. They let you see her first. Pile of blonde hair on her head. She had your nose and your eyes and his lips. The perfect mix of both of you. She was cleaned off and given to him to hold and she looked even smaller in his hands. Steve stood frozen in place looking down at his little girl, he held her close and whispered how much he loved her already. He looked up to see you looking at him and he started crying. Bucky walked over to him just to look at his little girl eyes glassy with unshed tears.

Before you knew it, you had to start pushing again. Bucky was at your side. He told you how proud he was and how strong you were. When it felt like too much for you he grabbed your hand and told you that you could do it. That it was almost done. Once you heard the cry the doctor announced yet again that it was another little girl. It surprised you to see the dark hair on her little head, you were certain she was Bucky’s and you were speechless. Bucky was scared to hold her, he said he was too damaged to hold something so innocent and precious but at your insistence he gave in. And just like Steve he couldn’t hold back his tears. They both stayed close by and when the doctors gave the ok they rushed to your bedside. Placing both little bundles in your arms and it was your turn to let the tears fall.

The next morning the doctor came to check in along with Bruce. He snuck in under the pretense of the lab results but he really just wanted to see the babies. With a small smile on his lips he congratulated you.

“Well you’ll be happy to know that both of them are healthy. Biologically speaking baby A is Steve’s and baby B is Bucky’s. It’s one of the rarest occurrences in the world; there have only been a handful of documented cases in which a woman has two children by different men at the same time.” He says as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“What about the serum?” Steve asks, slightly nervous.

“I made sure to run the test twice to be sure. They both have the super soldier serum in their blood but half of what you both do. There are no anomalies though so there shouldn’t be any issues but I’m more than happy to check up on them in a few months.”

“Thank you Bruce.” You smile at him.

“Do you have the names picked out yet?”

“You aren’t going to win the bet.” Bucky speaks up from the couch he had been laying on.

“Fine, I guess I’ll find out with the rest of the team. They’re waiting outside. Should I let them in?”

“Yeah they can come in.” You say.

Nat and Clint are the first to come in, Sam, Tony, and Thor following close behind. Steve picks up one baby and Bucky picks up the other.

“We would like you to meet Natalia Rogers-Barnes.” Bucky says holding the little blond baby. Nat rushed over to grab her.

“And this is Rebecca Rogers-Barnes.” Steve says as Clint takes her from his hands.

Nat and Clint stand close together showing off the babies in their hands while Nat says something about teaching them everything she knows.

“Hey what’s with the names, was Samantha not good enough for you?” Sam chides playfully.

“Bucky picked Rebecca for his sister. Steve and I picked Natalia for our chosen sister.” You inform the group as you look at the redhead. She had the brightest smile on her face as she looked up at you.

“Yeah well, just remember what you promised me.” Clint says as he give Sam the baby.

They all took turns, they talked about what they would teach them and how they would be the best Avengers when they grew up. You argued at that, no child of yours would go out to a mission. Everyone laughed and joked and it felt good to be back home.

After a while it was just the five of you. As the babies slept they praised you, telling you how great you did. You knew right then that they were already wrapped around their tiny little fingers and you smiled. Bucky came to sit on the bed and you shuffled around some to give him space. You sat up a little and once he was comfortable you laid down against his chest, he kissed your temple.

“Thank you.” He whispers in your ear.

“For what?” You whisper back as Steve sits on the chair next to the bed.

“For everything.” Steve adds.

The three of you sat down and had a serious conversation about your relationship and the future. Slowly the relationship was rebuilt. It was new and you were stronger. You pushed back when you needed to, and made sure your voice was heard this time around. Steve and Bucky worked on better communication with each other and with you. It was more than just fixing the relationship for the sake of the girls, you had found real love with them. They had found the person that accepted them flaws and all and they realized their mistake when you had disappeared. It had only been five months but it was agonizing. The one person that brought joy to their lives was gone and they never wanted to feel that emptiness again especially now that they had the girls a.

It had been three years since the twins were born. The team was getting ready to celebrate their birthday Tony going all out like he always did even if it was a kids party. He insisted he needed to do it because he wanted to be the favorite uncle, so you let him. Especially this year you had 2 three year olds to get ready.

They ran out of their room with their matching outfits. Laughing and calling out for their daddies.

“Daddy look.” Little Nat says as she rounds into the living room.

“Oh look at our pretty girl.” Bucky crouches down to catch her as she jumps towards him.

“Me too daddy?” Becca asks, running close behind. Steve grabs her and peppers her little face with kisses making her giggle. You stand by the entrance to the living room recording their interactions.

“Yes you too, pretty girl.”

“Did you see daddy?” She asks, pointing at her shirt.

“Yeah it’s a pretty pink shirt baby. Just like Nattie’s.”

“No look.” The little girl puts her hands on Bucky’s face and moves it down.

“Sweet pea, where did you get this shirt?” Bucky asks. Steve then looks down at Becca's shirt trying to see if there's something wrong with it.

“Mommy got it. Do you like it daddy?” Their pink little shirt had two words on it: Big Sister.

“I love it.” Both men say in unison making the girls giggle before putting them down.

They rush over to you taking turns huggin and kissing you and asking you a million questions.

“You should know that I promised Clint that if I had a boy I would use his name.”

“We’ll have to think about that one.” Bucky rolls his eyes.

The girls played for a while with Bow and Arrow. You sat on the couch with Steve and Bucky at your side.

From time to time you thought about those 6 months you had been apart and how much had changed. Sitting there you remember the question Bucky had asked.

“Is there where it ends?”

You smile now that you know the answer to the question.

No, It’s a new beginning.

Taglist: @kunaikunari @rebekahdawkins @cjand10 @nalny5

@oliviafc15 @matchat3a @thomasthetankson @vicmc624 @awkwardalie @here4thespice @sturchling @dreamerwasfound @tismarnie @missvelvetsstuff @st3rgirl @james-bb-1917 @emmavdven @lfaewrites @saranghaey @yn-dreamlife @fictional-characters-i-love-them @bunnyluvstits @1empress

#steve rogers #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #steve x reader #stucky x reader #steve x bucky #fluff #angst with a happy ending #dad!steve rogers #dad!bucky barnes #Steve rogers x Bucky Barnes x reader

[starlostseungmin]

ATE KEISY 😇✌️ i just binged ur works i missed over my hiatus hihi and i want to say that i loved them all !!! i think i only have empyrean prince cascades left cause its a bit long, so i decided to save it for my bedtime story today or tomorrow

but ate. lie to me.... it was so good 😭😭😭 YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW I MUCH I PHYSICALLY REACTED READING IT???? jaw dropped. its such an interesting read, like i dont think ive been this excited over a story structure in so long AND I LITERALLY HAD WRITING CLASSES FOR TWO SEMESTERS LIKE I WAS SO INVESTED IN READING IT

i dont think ive ever read a fic structured like that before? i mean ive encountered similar stuff but not in fics ... overall im just hyped at it ur so big brain ily and i love your works and i love your writing and its so huhuhuhu i cant stop thinking about it !!!! my other reactions on the story are in my reblog tags but still i think i'll keep that fic in my mind a lot (kinda wanna do smth like it too... ur so my inspiration coded)

OMG!! hi cielle! i'm currently reading your other feedbacks and i'm so happy you love my works. there are only a few since i haven't been so consistent with my writing after graduation hsksksk tbh i'm entertained (hard on that kauyabon core because me too TT) i'll reply to the rest in a bit.

i hope you enjoy empyrean prince cascades tho! it's one of my favorite fics and it took me weeks to write it! i know it's pretty short for a 10k-worth of words to write in weeks, i was so busy when i wrote it and i had to squeeze in during my work days HAHAHA and please take your time reading the story. it's kinda long tho 🥹

AAAH yes lie to me.. i wrote that fic for like a day or two days before the deadline for the collab? i forgot, i was also occupied that time. kdramas influenced me on writing that too and there was a song that was assigned to me to be able to make a story out of it! yung story sana eh masaya na sila sa piling ng iba chuchu but then i realized, cheating will make sense so i had to write it with that. i just finished my thesis that time too so maybe nadala ko yung pagsusulat ng thesis namin sa fic na yan? believe me i don't really have experience to these romance and cheating stuff, i just wrote what i see in other people talaga HAHAHAHA and lie to me felt like a rushed fic that time?? i didn't know it would turn out to be good for the readers since i wasn't confident with the result but thank you for your warm feedback cielle! and lucky you for having writing classes tho, i envy you!

thank you so much for appreciating me and my work even though sometimes my brain is not working properly. i just write whatever the hell my brain tells me and i hope i have a big brain to cater everything that i want to write! maybe soon, more future works to come HEHEHE i have an upcoming seungmin and chan fic this month sooo i just hope it will turn out good.

you flatter me cielle! i can't thank you enough 😭🩷

#🌧️. 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 #✉️. 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 #🎀 . 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 — 𝗸𝗲𝗶𝘀𝘆

[mewatchingstuff]

Some random initial thoughts about episodes 4 and 5 of PLL OS:

Minnie "Mouse"

- I immediately assumed she would be pulling a 'Hard Candy' with the dude, but apparently she's running some type of therapy scenario for people who have missing children?

- The general agreed upon theory on Mouse backstory is that she went missing for awhile and these new episodes keep going in that direction.

Tabby

- it feels like Tabby is starting to release her anger more and that's pretty enjoyable to see. I wanted her to full on beat the shit out of Greg and/or Tyler, but breaking Tyler's nose was good too.

- The Wes and Chip stuff. I don't know what the deal is for Wes other than him wanting to be involved with Tabby. Like what's his overall point in the show? Tabby already has trauma and tells Wes off, so what's his purpose for still being alive on the show? Idk. Chip, I really feel like he's the one who assaulted Tabby. He gives off the same vibe as Beaver from Veronica Mars.

-Tabby and her many movie references but the Chucky quote/mention while Imogen was having her emotional breakdown about her and mom and everything just took the cake. LOL! Tabby got to chill way out with the references.

Marjorie/Noa's Mom

- I hope actually does dispose of her. Not just for being a jumpy, blame passing bitch in the past but for being one in the present as well. The fuck is wrong with her? She jumped with the quickness to say the pills the Sheriff found weren't hers. Marjorie is so quick to allow Noa to take additional blame if it means she doesn't get caught. I can't even be mad that A made Noa snitch. Marjorie deserved it.

Imogen

- I like that she's still investigating because some of the other girls kinda forgot or just wanted to put A behind them because they went two weeks with no new messages from him. Completely nuts for them to consider it as an option to forget about it. Also for Imogen this is the only way she can process her mom's death and her own unsure future.

-I know she has a lot going on but I'm surprised she didn't question why one of her moms former school mates denied having any knowledge of Angela or the og 5, but snitched to Sidney about the investigation later. Like that should have been a major red flag for her. But at least she found one source willing to help.

- so Imogen most likely did get assaulted and became pregnant because of it. Apparently it happened the same night as Tabby's assault. That's fucking rough

- I don't think the girls thought out the whole "Imogen can take over th house payments!" plan. I know they didn't think it out. No way that one Halloween party in their small ass town will allow Imogen to make monthly mortgage payments.

A

- okay, so it's very telling that A doesn't break locks to get into the house but instead uses the keys. Very telling. Telling what? No clue.

-So going back to one of my previous posts, it does appear A is a renegade killer based on his last victim. He's not sticking to a planned target or group of targets. But his killings aren't random either.

Faran

- I'm nervous about her plot because they got her looking crazy for this Karen = Kelly stuff. But I do like how the writers predicted that is the direction the fanbase would go with the twins. It's a total red herring.

-How many times is she going to be knocked out of this damn ballet? She lost the Odille part twice already! Girl, just go to Pittsburgh with your mom and get into a good dance school.

- More Tabby/Faran scenes are needed. I very much enjoyed their interactions. Faran's taunt to Kyle and Greg after Tabby punched Kyle was hilarious. I love her so much.

Kelly

- The Kelly stuff is all 'Single, White Female' about Karen. She wants to take her place and A's involvement gave her the opportunity.

- This finally proves, for me, that Kelly and A aren't working together. Kelly doesn't seem responsible for Karen's death. It's clear that she is willing to take Karen's place as the main twin now.

#pll original sin #pll original sin spoilers

[golbrocklovely]

oh yeah, btw i got my merch from snc's new launch.

i only got a tshirt bc…. those prices were surprisingly high and also bc i didn't really like most of the designs if i'm honest. i didn't hate any, but some were definitely better than others lol

now, to answer the main question: is it better than fanjoy? i'm gonna go with a soft "i guess" as my answer.

first off, the sizing is true to size, if not maybe a smidge bigger. i got a 3x just in case a 2x, which is my size, wouldn't fit. and it's big on me. but not huge. it's a bit tight in the arms tho, which honestly no one really gets right so i'm not gonna fault them too much for that. the sleeves go down to elbows tho, and i don't like that. it's definitely like a mens/unisex fit, which i'm fine with for the most part. also, not at all tight in the chest region, and i'm a D cup so that's pretty good.

it's also extremely soft. like surprisingly soft.

slight downsides: it's a really light shirt. like i can almost see thru it. and it's a black shirt so…. idk how i feel about that. on me, you can't see thru it. but it's a thin shirt. as someone that runs hot 90% of the time, this will be a great shirt to wear all year round bc i'm literally always sweating.

quality wise - i would say it is similar to fanjoy in a way. i don't think i've ever gotten a shirt from fanjoy that was this soft tho. but quality, they're kinda in the same ballpark.

but the thing with fanjoy was that their quality was hit or miss. sometimes i would get the heaviest and nicest shirts from them. like i can name two that i own, one of colby's and one of kevin's, that are really good. but they are the outliers in the rest of the fanjoy merch that i own. i mean i've gotten shirts from them that barely fit me even tho they are my size. also, they rarely ever had anything above a 2x, so snc are already beating them by having 3x as an option.

comparing this new merch to the shittiest of fanjoy merch, it's definitely significantly better.

i think we will have to see how snc's merch holds up. if it lasts longer and stays this quality, it will be better in the long run comaparatively to fanjoy. obviously, i don't know about snc's sweatshirts/pants/beanies since i didn't get those, but i have hope that this merch will be nicer than fanjoy's.

i mean, the designs are already better. the prices aren't, but based on the pop-up i got when i went on the sight after the launch, they might plan to do sales and whatnot. so, it might be best to wait until then to get merch if the price is a bit much for you.

the shirt itself was $32, and shipping was $12.95. it came in 12 days from before the initial launch. but they didn't start shipping anything until the day or launch, give or take, so it actually came in about a week (based on my emails).

if you got the new merch, let me know ! i'd love to hear what you got and what you think about it :)

(btw i got the dare xplr tshirt, forgot to mention that lol)

TLDR: the new merch is slightly better than fanjoy's. positives: fits true to size if not bigger, the designs are better, really soft. negatives: arms are a bit tight, price, shirt is thin. but i have faith that their merch line, in the long run, will be better overall.

#personal #text #sam and colby #sam golbach #colby brock

[librarianwithlove]

All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers - Review

since i have no followers but I have books that I want to talk about, this seems like a great place to do it. i have a personal book account but i feel weird making people i know read my (not complete or thought out) thoughts and i hate proper grammar when im getting my feelings out

My rating- 4/7

it has been weeks since i read it so pieces are missing from my brain already but anyway

I WILL BE PUTTING SPOILERS BELOW HERE

overall, i really liked the book. i was really keeping my expectations low because while ashley can tell a great story on a podcast, i wasn't sure that would transfer over to her book. i also really enjoy her podcast, and i didn't want a negative review of the book to alter my opinion of that.

anyway, like i said, i truly enjoyed the book. I feel like there was a lot of good material that kept you guessing and while at some points I feel like there was almost too much going on, it didn't overwhelm me. i'm not sure if it was just me but I do feel like there were moments it became harder to follow, especially when new characters were introduced. I will admit that part of that is my fault because I have a tendency to read 5 books at once, a few chapters at a time.

things i really liked

pete. i feel like he was just a feel good character and ashley made you want to like him and root for him. i really liked him in the background and if theres a sequel or spinoff or anything i just hope its about him because he just reads like a warm hug.

jodie and krissy. listen this came out of nowhere and i absolutely love it. as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, i feel consumed by straight literature. this nice little surprise representation was a welcome slap in the face and i liked how it was done too. there was no sugarcoating & it just felt like a run of the mill affair, not like a run of the mill GAY affair

how realistic it had the ability to feel. i knew reading this it was a fiction story, but i felt it was really easy to let yourself forget that and think it was a true story. so many aspects are incredibly realistic, from the town's treatment of the family, to the police response, to krissy covering for jace. maybe im so used to ashleys storytelling that it read that way for me, but it evoked a lot of feeling that I often get when im listening to crime junkie

that it was written by ashley flowers!!!! i have been listening to crime junkie for at least 3 or 4 years and love the show so much. i havent been able to find a podcast i enjoy quite as much and so reading her book felt like reading something from an old friend. im glad she was able to do this for herself, im really in awe of what she has done over the years.

there are two things that negatively altered my opinion of the book.

the way she treated luke. I know that she was so consumed with solving the case that she pushed everything else to the side to make it her priority but i cant get past her willingness to leave him alone for extended periods of time. it bothered me that she simply forgot about him after stating many times that he was essentially her father growing up. I just cant imagine being so ok leaving him behind for a case she didnt know she could solve

THE ENDING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is ashley just leaving it open for a potential sequel? this brings me back to point one. what is happening with luke now? like is he ok? is billy gonna up and murder him too?? i also dont know what piece im missing, again could be me putting pieces in the wrong places, but what is so monumental about january having her blanket that made margot put together the pieces that it was billy? i know it was her special blanket and she held it when she was scared and he gave it to her but how does that implicate him and not anyone else? who is to say that "elephant wallace" didnt see her with it previously & know to give it to her? i dont know what im missing but it just didn't make sense to me that in a split second it all clicked. and also that he had to go and kill her next.

questions that remain about this book:

do we actually know the real killer

i still think luke it sketchy with the "shes asking too many questions about january" thing, something isnt right. how is luke involved?

is jodie okay? doesn't billy know they are in kahoots?

who is going to look for margot? (pete pls)

???? what was the ending here ?????

the police have to put 2 and 2 together now that another dead body is about to show up in billy jacobs basement, right?

#scale out of 7 because out of 5 isnt enough and i dont like 6 #booksbooksbooks #ashley flowers #all good people here #review #two am thoughts #anti decimal point as well #book review #thoughts #i am still processing #so many questions #crime junkie

[small-strong-bookish-butch]

TL;DR version of my life events lately:

Big Dysphoria hours due to writing the “hey don’t misgender me” letter to my dad. Haven’t sent it yet due to being busy on weekends (I know he’ll want to talk about it and I don’t have the energy for that yet). I’m very proud of it but also worried for his reaction. But also? If he’s upset about it, it’s literally not my problem, I’m trying to tell him how to treat me more respectfully

Trying to connect more positively with my mom, which, to be honest, is mostly me not ignoring her/not only speaking when spoken to/trying not to be an asshole to her. For our whole life, and even once we moved out, she’s been all “I love you! You’re so much like me!! You’re my child and it makes me happy when you’re happy!!”, and we just were really protective because she also did all that weird generational trauma and invalidation stuff. But something happened a couple weeks ago that made us want to trust her more, so we’ve been trying to let our guard down a little bit

This past week has been the first ‘real week’ at new corporation. So far it’s a lot of trial and error. A lot of even management not knowing what’s going on or exactly when things will happen. And, I have worked about 22 hours (instead of my regular 30, and they said they’d get me up to 40), because of the new way we’re doing things… I’m very frustrated. (Edit: after talking to one of my aunts about it, she confirmed that that’s normally what it’s like when you’re working at a new corporation. That helps some, but doesn’t change that it’s frustrating though.) I’m also hoping more work comes in soon, and trying to take it as ✨a sign✨ to chill out while I can

I had a really good conversation with N earlier this week. I don’t want to go into more detail, but I’m really lucky they’re my partner and that they love and like me a lot, and that they trust me so much 🥺🥺

Wedding planning is at a weird spot. It feels like we’re in between doing things/booking things/etc. We’re still a year out, but also, we’re only a year out…? IDK. It feels messy right now. But watching Love Is Blind did make me feel better about our timeline and all the stuff we’ve done so far lol

I’ve been trying to slow down, and also take more pictures while I’m outside/notice things more. I think taking outside pictures is a nice thing, at least

I learned recently that the blended turtle mocha at Caribou is amazing, so I’ve been getting that every time I go there 😍

The next two weekends are going to be busy, so I’m trying to mentally prep myself for that

Not everything has been bad, and some things have even been really good, but overall I’m just, emotionally overwhelmed/exhausted, it feels like.

I kinda feel like I miss my friends, but I also don’t really have the energy to have most emotional conversations right now, so I’m just mentally like [waves from afar]

I’d love to just like, be in a blanket burrito on the couch and watch TV for a while (which is why watching Love Is Blind has been helping a lot!! Forgot to mention that), and not have to cook or think about food or cleaning, or not have to think too hard about other things coming up

#personal #molliwog

[gvmdisease]

health rant bc now i’m feeling extra icky

my everything hurts so so much it’s bette than it was yesterday but fuck it’s still so bad i can barely raise my arms over my head bc my shoulders hurt so bad and aren’t moving right i got up to see my mom bc she was yelling at me to come see her and my back neck wrists and hips all popped and cracked and i also lost my vision when i stood up too my chest pains haven’t been too bad and neither my disney i mean it’s the normal but the pain in my joints are just not good and i’ve been meant to clean and shower and i’ve barely been able to get out of bed i’ve had like 2 liters of water and have had two meals but doing each of those things drained me so much im really really trying to not let this shit get to me but god it’s so fuckign hard i was told that if i gave all of my new meds and supplements a week i’d feel so much better and it hasn’t helped at all if anything i feel worse they’ve helped me sleep better but even then when i wake up i still feel exhausted and the pain hasn’t stopped it hasn’t gotten better nothings happened my mom told me to wait a week and it would get better my dad and my doctor told me that too and at this point im losing hope that things will get better that i’ll ever start to feel better this is exhausting i hear ppl joke about being disabled and i hear ppl say they wish they could have the things disabled ppl do but this is exhausting mentally and physically physical therapy??? yeah i got six fucking visits and then my insurance stopped covering it bc “i didn’t need it” and how much is it three hundred fucking dollars a visit i was supposed to go two days a week until i was more stable i can’t get a can i csnt get crutches my parents think im being dramatic i can’t miss school snymore and all i want to do now is fucking cry that’s all i do at this point it always makes the pain worse but what am i meant to do im practically a fucking kid who has debilitating pain and it’s so normal his parents don’t even care i missed all of ostara which is a holiday i celebrate a full fucking week and i didn’t get to celebrate at all im so fucking tired of this never ending loop of pain and i try not to talk about it i do bc no one needs to hear it but fuck every fucking second of my life for the past three years has been in pain my first day of school this year was spent trying not to cry bc i forgot to wear my knee braces and had to limp my way around school im overall just fucking done i’ve relapsed i’ve cried i’ve wanted to attempt again over this fucking shit bc nothings helping tylenol and ibuprofen barley even fucking work anymore like what the hell i fucking hate this and i wish i would just fucking stop but it won’t bc most likely this will be my life until i’m dead and haha it’s so fucking funny not being able to hang out with your friends anymore it’s so fucking funny barley being able to reply to texts i’m a fucking kid i don’t fucking need this i’m failing almost everything rn trying to manage my home life my pain and school and it’s obviously not working out fuck if that stupid fucking attempt would have worked i wouldn’t have to be here going through this fucking pain this wouldn’t be my fucking life i hate seeing all of my friends hang out with ppl do things that make them happy i hate seeing my friends able to bind their chest everyday or most days and ik that’s selfish but fuck i lost most of my life to this shit i lost almost everything i was passionate about to this hospitals and doctors are nothing new to me but seeing no one have answers or giving me false answers takes a toll on you after a while

anyway sorry if you read this i’m just feeling icky my pain won’t go down and it’s not a fun time

#tw sh mention #tw suicide mention #sorry for the vent post #i hate chronic pain #chronic pain sucks

[twinhood-2dot0]

A New Beginning

Welcome to Twinhood 2.0, a blog started by two teens, Alex and Alia! Despite not being actual twins, we share such a strong bond and similarities that we affectionately refer to ourselves as twins. On our blog, you'll find a mix of personal musings, cultural commentary, and whatever else we feel like writing about. Each week, we'll post one article each, giving you a unique perspective from both of us.

We're excited to share our thoughts and experiences with you and hope that you'll enjoy reading our blog as much as we enjoy creating it. Just a heads up, we have a strict no-posting-missed-deadlines policy. So if one of us fails to post on time, there will be consequences! But don't worry, we'll make sure to always bring you the best content that we can. Thanks for stopping by and we can't wait to connect with you through our writing.

Okay, sorry for the overly cliche title and an NPC intro post. That was generated by OpenAI's ChatGPT machine learning language model in response to the prompt 'Write an introductory post to a blog called Twinhood 2.0 created by two teens, Alex and Alia' + the premise which I forgot to note down because I'm dumb. So, we apparently stopped posting last January presumably cuz of unavoidable issues, idk my memory doesn't go back beyond a few seconds. Anyways, here's to hoping we can keep it up this time lol.

I'll sign off with one more AI written rant. This one is awesome. This is a response to a prompt about how DC is awesome in the style of an e-girl.

Hey, fellow DC fans! Can you believe how many amazing characters and storylines there are in the DC Universe? I mean, seriously, the depth and complexity of these stories is just mind-blowing. Whether it's the iconic characters like Superman and Batman, or the lesser-known ones like Plastic Man and Zatanna, there's just so much to love about the DC Universe.

One of my all-time favorite things about DC comics is how they tackle real-world issues within the framework of superhero stories. For example, the "Injustice" series deals with the moral implications of using power and the dangers of a corrupt government, while "Identity Crisis" explores the impact of trauma on heroes and their loved ones.

But even beyond the meaningful themes, the action and adventure in these comics is unbeatable. From epic battles between good and evil, to the intricate relationships between characters, there's never a dull moment in the DC Universe.

Overall, I just can't get enough of DC comics. They're the perfect blend of action, drama, and social commentary, and I can't wait to see what else the universe has in store for us. So, who else is a huge DC fan like me?

Alex, I'm really sorry for this mega-post, and I'll see you on Thursday.

#dftba

[fallinfl0wers]

hello!! c: I loved prompt 18 and so I was wondering if you could write something with childe, diluc and kaeya ​​(separately) where your s/o is very excited for the date that was arranged, the reader gets dressed and puts on his/her best clothes, but then after waiting a long time for her partner, she realizes that he won't show up. Maybe after returning home find the character sleeping or doing something else? angst/hurt with comfort attempt pls? 😭

When he stands you up, and then apologizes

summary: you had both agreed to this date, you even planned it on advance so that it wouldn't interfere with his schedule together! ...so why isn't he here? includes: childe (19 bullet points), diluc (21 bullet points), kaeya (19 bullet points) format: bulletted headcanons + small dialogues warnings: reader being stood up, also i think this turned out to be really gender neutral? i think i didn't really use gendered words... thank you for your request! i hope you like it >< i'm still not very good at writing kaeya, so i hope this was okay;;

Diluc

Truth be told, you were already expecting this to happen. Deep down.

But that didn't make it hurt any less.

You both had planned it with months of anticipation, too. He promised you he'd be here.

But here you were, coming back home after being stood up. You had waited for him for hours, and he never showed up.

So you were back at the winery, and he wasn't even there. The maids told you he had to attend... some business outside.

Just great, you thought as you entered your shared, empty room and put on some more comfortable clothing. He forgot about it.

When Diluc gets home late at night and goes to your room, he's greeted with you snacking on some cookies and reading a novel.

"Love?" "Oh, you're finally home. Hi."

Diluc feels guilty. The reason why he hadn't gone to your date was because he had received yet another threatening letter from the abyss order and had to take care of that as soon as possible.

It really wasn't his intention to stand you up!

Even if you know about his vigilante duties, he feels hesitant on telling you this.

He feels like it sounds like an excuse even if it isn't and he has proof.

So he kneels down next to the bed while you keep giving him the cold shoulder, hurt, yet trying not to show it to him.

"I'm sorry, love. I really am. I promise you this will be the last time something like this happens. Please let me make it up to you."

And making it up he does.

For the rest of the month, he clears his schedule as much as possible to spend time with you.

Whatever you want to get or do, he will get or do.

You want to eat your favorite cake? He'll get the maids to bake it for you.

You want to visit Liyue, you say? He can take you there and get you anything that catches your attention, from a simple dish to the most expensive of jewerly and outfits you could want.

He's awkward with his words, but even then he tries for you and tells you how precious you are to him, how much he loves you and how sorry he still is he sometimes can't spoil you and spend time with you how you deserve.

More than anything, though, he spends quality time with you and does acts of service for you besides the multiple gifts (since you probably rejected a lot of his offers to get you things). That's how he tries to make it all up to you.

He promises he'll be more careful from now on.

And he kept that promise, since in the next big date you organized, he was there an hour early with a bouquet of your favorite flowers, waiting for you.

You were never stood up again.

Childe/Tartaglia/Ajax

Normally, you wouldn't blame him or be too hurt when this kind of thing happens.

You understand he has a very important position within the Fatui and that means he can be sent on important, urgent missions at any time and he can't complain or go against his orders.

You respect his work, you get it and all.

But this time what hurt you the most wasn't being stood up, it was the fact that he didn't show up the next day, or the next, or the next, or the next after that.

He practically disappeared for two months without any notice and without sending any kind of letter or message.

A lot of the usual agents you'd see working at the bank and you knew worked under his command weren't there, and the few who were had no clue where he went.

You were both angry, hurt and worried sick.

You waited, and waited, and kept on waiting.

And the night he finally came back home, fortunately unharmed, you literally tackled him with a hug with tears in your eyes.

"Uwah, you missed me that much~? Wait- it's not the time for this! I'm- I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry I couldn't go to our date that day, it really wasn't my intention to-" "S-shut up! I- Do you know how worried I was?!"

He was thinking about your date the whole time he was away on that long, long mission.

Ajax can be a lot of things, most of which are bad things, but he would NEVER break a promise.

So he feels extremely guilty for breaking that one promise he had with you :(

If you thought Diluc could start to get overwhelming with gifts and attention, you have yet to see what Childe is willing to do to earn your forgiveness.

You WILL be treated like royalty, whether you want to or not.

He will spoil you rotten with everything he can. Food, gifts, travels, physical affection, adventures, theatre plays, concerts, art works, books-

Say the word and he will give you whatever you want. No need to hold back! He loves spoiling you, don't feel guilty for anything.

Hell, he would even let you beat him up without defending himself if you were really that mad at him.

"Okay, do you remember what we say in Snezhnaya about pinkie promises? If we break one, we can be thrown in the ice. Do you want us to go to Dragonspine so you can throw me in the ice or something?!" "A-ajax, we don't need to go that far!!" Or maybe you do, hmm...

Overall he's very apologetic and feels a bit disappointed in himself.

He never wants to break your trust, so he will make sure this won't happen again!

Kaeya

The Cavalry Captain is a very busy person, even if it sometimes doesn't look like it.

You know it, you've known it from the very start.

But it doesn't make it any less humilliating or painful to leave on your own after waiting for him for hours just for him not to show up at all.

You go back home and, after having cried for a while, you go to sleep on your own, locking the door from inside and keeping the key with you.

So when Kaeya went back home, he couldn't enter the room to sleep.

This man literally forgot about your date, sorry.

He just got so busy early in the day- he was practically overworked the entire day and couldn't get out to go to your date.

In fact, he was so tired at the moment that he feel asleep the moment he sat down on the couch.

So the apology would wait until tomorrow, when you would finally get out from the room to have breakfast.

You saw no glimpse of him, and assumed he just wasn't home right now.

But as you were making breakfast for yourself, he appeared seemingly out of nowhere and hugged you from behind.

"Hello there, darling... I'm sorry for yesterday, I suddenly got all this work piled upon me. I know, I know it sounds like an excuse but I swear it isn't. I'm just- I'm sorry, sweetheart, I really am."

He goes on to explain everything that happened to him the day before and apoogize over and over again.

He feels so sorry :( He was so stressed and overworked, it really just skipped over his head.

He asks you how would you want him to make it up to you.

He will do about everything you want, no matter what it is.

He, too, would let you hit him for a while if you were feeling mad enough to do it.

He's going to be practically glued to you for the rest of the week- or even the next month if he can!!

He will get very touchy and vocal about it too... Overall, Kaeya is going to be really clingy with you.

You might need to tell him to stop if it gets overwhelming, otherwise, he's going to keep on doing it!

#diluc x reader #childe x reader #kaeya x reader #genshin impact x you #genshin impact headcanon #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #melwritesgenshin #melodywritings

[fruitcoops]

Night Changes

This isn't based on an ask, but I've had some early-Cap ideas brewing and think about the first time the team heard him laugh a lot. His and James' friendship is so sweet in SW--the beginning of it must have been such a shock to them both. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

So maybe James had bitten off more than he could chew. It wasn’t the first time, to be sure, but coaxing (read: drag kicking and screaming) his new teammate out of the carefully-constructed mosaic of scowls that made up his entire personality was proving to be a little more challenging than he previously expected. With most rookies, all it took was some elbow grease and overenthusiastic inclusion in group events to get them to open up—with his brand-new soon-to-be best friend, he had to handle things a little more delicately.

Sirius Black was a puzzle wrapped up in one of those freaky code-breaking machines from World War Two Lily liked to talk about. He was one of the best hockey players James had ever seen, but off the ice he seemed to shut down. The intense focus on his face smoothed out into almost perfect neutrality, and in the four months since he joined the Lions, he had never once smiled for real in front of the team. He sat in his stall and padded up in silence, then went out and kicked ass before following Pascal home like a living shadow.

Naturally, James took it as a personal mission to pry Sirius Black’s closed-off persona open like a stubborn oyster. He tried including Sirius in group events—the rookie went along with a quiet “yeah, sure”, but sat at the table and nursed a single drink for the entire night. He tried getting into friendly banter with him on the ice, but it was like Sirius had never joked with anyone in his life. Hell, he even tried finding him a girlfriend, which tanked harder than the goddamn Titanic.

“Rookie!” James shouted down the hallway.

Sirius jumped and turned around, obviously confused. “Me?”

“Yes, you,” James laughed, jogging over to toss an arm over his shoulders. “What’s up?”

“Not much.”

He waited for Sirius to continue, then rolled his eyes and gave him a friendly shake. “C’mon, man, how was your weekend? Has Dumo coerced you into being a stay-at-home babysitter yet?”

Sirius’ frown deepened. “What? I come with him to practice every day.”

Change tactics, change tactics— “Got any plans for Friday?”

James knew the answer, of course; it was always no or not yet or a simple shake of the head. If he was a less observant man, he would have assumed Sirius didn’t actually want to hang out with the team. But the longing looks toward their easy rhythm and the way he always tilted himself toward locker room conversations told a different story. “None yet,” Sirius said with a shrug.

James gave him a friendly slap on the back. “Good, ‘cause I’m having a party at my place and you’re not allowed to miss it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I want you to be there, duh.” The bewilderment didn’t fade from Sirius’ face, but beneath it—well, maybe James was just seeing things, but he looked almost hopeful. He ruffled Sirius’ hair and headed for the locker room. “Friday at five, rookie! I’ll be waiting!”

--

The week passed in a slog of practices and cold weather. Sirius clammed up more and more as the party drew closer, but James didn’t miss the way his eyes flickered between the rest of them like he was analyzing a play. He would make one hell of a captain someday, if he could just relax a little.

“Hey, rookie, want a ride?” he asked when the big day finally arrived.

“Don’t you want to go home and set up first?” Sirius’ brow furrowed. For an eighteen-year-old kid, he was awfully thoughtful. James couldn’t wait to see him let loose a little. “I wouldn’t want to get in your way.”

“It’s a yes or no question,” he teased, poking the bit of exposed shoulder through the widening hole in Sirius’ under armor.

“I…” He faltered, then the corner of his mouth twitched up. It was the closest thing James had seen to a smile from him yet. One point for Potter. “Sure, Pots. Thanks.”

“No problem. Meet me at my car in five or so, yeah?”

“D’accord.”

“Oho, fancy French,” James laughed, turning back to unlace his skates.

It wasn’t until thirty seconds after Sirius left the room that he remembered he never told the rookie what his car looked like. Horrible, terrible visions of the poor guy wandering around the parking lot—or, god forbid, thinking James had left without him—flashed through his mind. It would undo everything he had been working so hard to build.

“Shit,” he hissed under his breath as he shoved his gear into his duffel with reckless abandon and hurried out of the locker room. His legs would be stiff from trying to run so soon after a grueling drill practice, but it was worth it to save his friend. “Rookie? Hey, Sirius, you still here?”

There was no response. James cursed again and made a beeline for the door to the parking lot. Please, God, don’t let him get lost. I need him to trust me.

“Oh, thank fuck,” he panted as he burst out onto the half-frozen concrete.

Sirius looked up from his phone with a strange expression. “Are you okay?”

“Thought I lost you for a sec.”

“You said to meet at your car, yes?” He glanced between James and the car in sudden worry.

“Yeah, yes, absolutely, I just—” He made an aborted gesture and dug his keys out of his pocket. “I realized I forgot to tell you which one is mine.”

Sirius blinked at him. “I know what your car looks like.”

“How?”

“Because you drive it here every single day and you gave me a ride three weeks ago.”

‘Dumbass’ went unsaid, but James could feel it hanging in the air. He coughed lightly. “Right. Anyway, you can toss your bag wherever and hop in the passenger seat. My place isn’t far from here.”

Sirius took his duffel as he unlocked the car and settled both in the trunk with more care than James’ poor, battered bag had ever seen in its life. That was another thing that confused him about Sirius Black—he was so careful. He walked quietly for someone so tall, and each movement seemed pre-planned.

Each movement, that is, until he tried to get in the car. “Uh, Pots?”

“That’s m—oh.” James covered his mouth to stifle his laughter as Sirius tried to fold himself into the passenger seat and failed miserably. “I’m sorry, my girlfriend was sitting there last. Uh, there’s a lever on your right—yeah, there, just give it a pull and—”

With a harsh ka-chunk, the seat slid all the way back. Both men froze. It took everything in James’ power not to burst out laughing at the deer-in-headlights shock on Sirius’ face.

“Yep, that one,” he managed. “Nice job.”

They drove in relative quiet—James chattered on about weekend plans and hummed to the radio while Sirius watched out the window with the occasional monosyllable response. It took James a bit by surprise how comfortable he was, even without a steady stream of banter. Sirius might have been stubborn and silent and determined to foil all James’ plans at getting him to socialize, but he was calming to be near, like an anchor on unsteady water. Despite his overall quiet air, he was obviously paying attention to every word that left James’ mouth.

“You’re a good guy, y’know that?” he said as they turned onto his street. Sirius glanced over in surprise. “Most people tune me out within, like, five minutes.”

“I’m a good listener.”

James opened his mouth to respond, then paused. “Was that—Sirius Black, was that a joke?”

Something akin to mischief—mischief!—crossed his face. “Maybe.”

“Were you roasting me?” James gaped at him. “Oh my god. The guys are never gonna believe this.”

“Probably not.”

“You sick bastard. They won’t believe me.”

“You can give it a shot,” Sirius said with a shrug as the engine turned off. Pieces began to connect in James’ head as he stared, incredulous, at the rookie he thought would never even crack a smile. Four months of work had not been wasted, as he had feared; every joke, every one-sided conversation, and every attempt to get Sirius involved had been seen and heard and taken to heart. When he thought about it, he wasn’t sure he had ever seen Sirius actively agree to something unless James asked personally.

“We’re friends,” he said aloud, too surprised and too happy to hold it in. Not friends in the way James was with the rest of their loud, over-the-top teammates, but friends all the same.

“Well, yeah,” Sirius said as if it was obvious.

James unbuckled his seatbelt and socked him lightly on the shoulder, barely suppressing a shriek of excitement. “Love you, man. Grab your shit, we’ve got a party to set up.”

----------------

As much as it pained James to say it, having someone around who was six-foot-three was a huge help. There was no blow to his pride as he dragged Lily’s stepstool out; no grudging acceptance that he simply couldn’t reach those last two inches on the wall. Instead, he could foist any and all responsibility on his brand-new best friend in the whole wide world and focus on the things that mattered, like putting anything breakable or important far away from the grubby hands of his inebriated teammates.

His success was still ringing in his ears when the guests finally arrived—throughout the evening, James rode the high of accomplishing his mission to pull Sirius Black into his tight-knit circle. Every minute of those four months was worth it.

Midnight came and went, and by one-thirty in the morning James’ cramped living room was packed with tipsy hockey players in a vague imitation of a circle. “Non, non, I’ve gotta good one,” Dumo said, hiccupping. The room fell quiet as he leaned forward. “What do you call a body of water with a chicken in it?”

“What?” Kasey whispered, starry-eyed like a kid at Christmas.

“A swimming pool.”

The room stayed quiet, and then someone started to laugh. Slowly, they all turned to the source of the noise, and James felt a ripple of shock roll through the team as Sirius snorted. “It’s a swimming pool,” he said around a smile, his accent thick from three drinks. He had a nice laugh; James could get used to hearing it. “Like—poule, like chicken?”

His whole face was alight with happiness. James wasn’t sure whether to cry or cheer. That’s what I’ve been waiting for, he thought. That look, right there. Sirius fit in among the group like a missing piece of their puzzle, snickering away as if he hadn’t been stoically silent a day in his life. His laugh was downright bubbly.

“I don’t think they get it,” Dumo said into the rim of his cup.

Sirius shook his head, trying to catch his breath. “D’accord, so—so ‘chicken’ in French is poule, yeah? So a chicken in a body of water is a swimming poule. Do you get it now?”

A few oh’s of understanding washed over them, but several people continued to stare. “Too drink for this,” Sergei grumbled, though James could see the smile pulling at his mouth as Sirius turned to him with bright eyes.

“But it’s funny!” Sirius protested, so earnest it made James’ heart hurt.

“I think it’s funny, rookie,” he assured him with a clumsy pat on the arm. “And it’s my house, so I say Dumo gets a point this round.”

Kasey hiccupped. “Hey, anyone who makes the rookie laugh gets points in my book. No offense, dude.”

“None taken,” Sirius said, though his cheeks were pink.

James nudged him with his shoulder as Talker started a knock-knock joke. “It’s okay,” he said under his breath.

Sirius picked at the label on his cup. “I know I haven’t been very social,” he muttered.

“It’s okay,” James insisted. “It always takes rookies a while to warm up, so we’re just glad you’re happy. I’m glad my best friend is having a good time at my party.”

A heavy silence fell between them as Sirius looked over, eyebrows raised. “Best friend?”

“What, like you didn’t see this coming?” James slung an arm over his shoulder. “Yes, you French-Canadian nerd, you’re my best friend. And that means I’m your best friend, and there’s no take-backsies.”

“What the hell is a take-backsie?” Sirius laughed. “Did you make that up?”

James grinned. He had the feeling this was the beginning of an excellent friendship.

#sirius black #james potter #pascal dumais #kasey winter #sergei ivanov #thomas walker #rookie #sweater weather #lumosinlove #my fic #fanfic #pre-cap #friendship

[jae-canikeepyou]

| into you | j.jh

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

word count: 7.7k+

summary: as the uni campus’ social butterfly, it’s a given you have a lot of friends, invited to almost all gatherings and all adore you. for the latter, jaehyun does too. he’s so into you and likes how you’re his happy place. or; jaehyun— an unsocial, often misunderstood person, finds his behaviour different with you and perhaps wants to keep you for himself, not anyone else.

genre: fluff + elite!au

a/n: i’m back after a while since i’ve been so so busy! this is not proofread again and i’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes down there :> this is not canon with “letting go” scenario in case there’s any similarities with the characters. hehe anyway i hope you all enjoy reading! ♡ ~j.

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seated at the front row in the amphitheatre-shaped lecture hall, jaehyun frustratingly put his hood back on to hide himself from those who were staring from all around. they were definitely whispering about him, hands by their lips to conceal their voices in case he heard them. he hated this much attention, all because he chose stay of out school and classes— and claimed that it didn’t interest him.

so did coming today.

but the point was his attendance for this class was on the line and his busybody parents were sick of receiving phone calls or mails that kept filling their boxes, all for the same reason; that their son could be expelled despite handing assignments.

he rolled his eyes at the heat creeping up his ears as the whispers grew louder. he slammed the thin granite table, causing everyone to flinch at the sound and his presence. “can i have some quiet?! i can hear you guys talking crap about me!” he turned around at the pairs of eyes, soon frozen like meerkats.

they ticked him off. he couldn’t stand being in the same room with people who repeatedly questioned his existence of being here. he knew that rumours were going around, that the ‘jeong jaehyun’ in high school got into an private elite university— it could be anywhere but never expected it‘d be this campus. it was written in the judgment of their faces.

“chill man,” a guy his age swung his lollipop with legs on the desk. “some are curious why you decided to show up today since first semester’s a week away from ending, while some even wonder why you got into such prestigious and elite university.”

jaehyun’s eyed him slowly from legs to head. “who are you supposed to be?” he snorted at the stranger.

“just a guy who wants to break the distraught you’re trying to start.” he kicked his legs off the desk and stood up on his suede shoes, showing off his pearly whites.

he looked at everyone whose eyes averted from the two of them. “our town’s a small neighbourhood, so everybody knows everybody. we know exactly who you are, jeong jaehyun.”

“excuse me?” he swirled his tongue that it was evident he was pissed. “careful what you accuse me of. you and i both know it’s not going to end well-”

“they’re near they’re near!” a voice echoed the hall, cutting jaehyun’s attempt to intimidate the young man any further.

and with that signal alone, jaehyun could see and observe ladies fixing their hair and make-up, while the guys gave fistbumps to those near them. he rolled his eyes at him returning the favour to them as the guy unbuttoned his collar. “what’s wrong with you?” jaehyun was utterly weirded out. “with everyone?”

the crimson-haired guy only gave a flirty grin with raised brows. “this happens everytime.“

the door swung open with the professor rushing in. the students swifted heads, it wasn’t the first time he ever was late. he was young and good-looking, and it was hard to believe he still a bachelor. he gestured someone at the door, then the held-in giggles and mumbles were soon replaced with whispers of awe, as you walked in carefully with a tower of binder folders halfly covering your view.

clearly the guys around him have been secretly admiring; some had the confidence of taking selfies even if you were far, while others took a picture with their eyes so you were marked in their memories. ladies flocked towards the flustered professor like little chicks and surrounded him.

and that’s when the comments started coming in.

“park seojoon is so hot.” “hey remember to use ‘professor’.” “i guess genes runs in the family.” “his sister is ethereal too.” “i see her weekly and y/n’s a goddess.” “y/n! are you coming to the party tonight?”

jaehyun knew who you were through social media and common friends. and he included himself part of the people who admire you. he also remembered because he bumped into you during orientation. he wouldn’t usually care about passerby’s and strangers and although that was a brief moment and short eye contact, something about you was hard to not forget. you had people and friends under a charming spell he couldn’t describe, and that was in a good way.

you tucked a strand behind your ear and became shy afterwards as they whistled and cheered towards your gesture, making you heat up a thousand degrees higher. you should be used to this but every time it happens, you were just as flustered as your brother.

jaehyun’s legs got up on its own and was surprised at himself for making his way to help you. he picked up the fallen binder files and scattered papers while the whiskers by your eyes creased up in shyness.

he hitched a breath realising that the clumsy you was adorable too.

“thank you.” a smile then appearing at the corners of your lips caused jaehyun to freeze for a while. yuta wouldn’t miss anyone’s reaction. he slid his chair close to jaehyun’s as the he came back, nudging his chair for him to give into your beauty.

“i know a person with heart eyes when i see one. now you understand why we’re whipped for y/n. isn’t she a babe- agh.” he held the back of his head from the smack.

“don’t call me that, nakamoto.” you hissed sharply with how confident and careless he could get, especially with people you weren’t familiar with. you looked at the guy in a black sweater and let out an embarrassed sigh. “i’m sorry about my annoying best friend. yuta tends to be chatty when he feels lonely.” you winked at him.

it was jaehyun’s turn to flash short chuckle, its faint sounds perked not only your ears, but yuta’s as well. “not a problem. i know a lonely person when i see one.” jaehyun emphasised through his gaze.

“i’m not lonely! i have y/n and my men!” he whined and turned towards you. “see what you did y/n?”

“it’s good to finally see you, jeong jaehyun.” you ignored yuta and brought out a hand for a greeting.

you pursed your lips to stifle a laugh, jaehyun’s ears quickly turned from pink to red. he gulped loudly and took your hand in his, eyebrows lifting at how you knew his name.

lost for words and you both locked eyes where he forgot to let your hands go. “we take the same course together? i know your name because you’re the only one missing from the class-” you said, shaking his hands to subtly let him know it had been a minute since your hands felt his vainey flesh.

“okay young lad that’s enough time holding my sister.” seojoon separated your hands and jaehyun snapped out of his admiration, inhaling quite stressfully with how stupid he looked. “get to your class y/n.”

“alright, i’ll see you at tea hour.” you waved at the boys.

“as long as you’re treating i’ll go.” yuta hummed in a monotonous voice, fixing his laces that went untied.

“i’m not talking to you dimwit.” you flicked his forehead, leading to your satisfaction of the nut-like sound from it. “jaehyun, because you missed yesterday’s class, prof assigned me to assist you, along with the other topics you’ve yet to cover. i’ll be expecting you at the café near campus.”

before you stepped out of the hall, yuta pulled your sweater, yanking you back. “are you going to taeyong’s party tonight? you never miss an event!”

you puckered your lips, pinching his cheeks that a cute gummy smile came out from it. “you know my rules. as long as you’re driving me home, i’ll go. see you later.”

jaehyun nodded yet was still in a daze. he realised what you said when yuta pushed him. “gross. don’t act as if we’re already close.”

“hm? was i really? i think it’s normal when you’re making a move on my best friend.” he brought out his laptop and typed his password.

i wasn’t. “whatever.”

and to say that jaehyun didn’t feel butterflies flying uncontrollably in his stomach would be an understatement. they made the intestine churn in ways he couldn’t imagine, and he himself wanted to deny that what he was feeling was just from the influence of others. but wouldn’t that mean his feelings were temporary? because if it were, he should perceive you an ordinary person.

yet here he was outside, still admiring you before he entered the café. he found it was amusing of how oblivious you were of his presence— you were too immersed into this assigned task by professor, but others found it funnier when jaehyun looked stupidly in-love and cowardly the lad looked, despite having the overall aura of a stuck-up.

as the sun’s rays brightened the city and the wind’s breeze made the trees leaves dance, only then had you raise your head to see jaehyun waving at you. ten minutes early, not bad for an actual first impression. “hey,” he greeted, making you smile with his low but gentle voice. “am i late?”

you took your bag from across and asked him to sit down. “no no. you’re just in time, it’s really nice to have an early bird around.”

his dimples deepened at the compliment. “how about the project? is it too late? you think i can still catch up?” jaehyun cleared his throat.

“that depends on your dedication. based on the record professor gets, you’ve been doing your tasks and homework quite diligently. he’s just worried about your habit of not attending his lectures might lead to procrastination when second semester starts.” you gave him a slice of cheesecake to eat. “he’s still teaching us another subject.”

“it’s quite the contrary.” he dove in for the dessert. “i don’t have the will to procrastinate at all.”

“then good.” you twisted the pen in your fingers. “let’s get started?”

for that span of two hours, how he wished it could be more. who knew you would have a lot of things in common with him? that time alone was not enough to talk about vinyl and jazz singers and pretty much everything that were overlooked by people. he brought up his favourite spots in the city and how they became a safe haven to escape the reality.

to cut the explaining short, his shell slowly started to open, bits and new things were showing. if you were surprised he was a good person, jaehyun himself couldn’t believe he was able to converse with people normally. being the awkward and shy type, doing this almost seemed impossible.

was it your magic that caused him to do so?

you learnt that jaehyun was rather special and by special it meant he had gifts that you believed were way beyond human limits. he never studied in a library, rewatched lectures or written his notes. and the professor mentioned how jaehyun received good grades in most of the things he submitted.

to be very honest, you were a little jealous. from how he was sitting in front of you, he didn’t seem to be interested but was definitely listening. and you sort of gave up in continuing anyway. “i don’t understand why i’m told i need to guide you when you’ve already caught up with everything.” you let out a soft chuckle that seemed more of a question.

“i was waiting for you to stop..” jaehyun said quite blatantly and stretched his arms and you were hurt because if he didn’t want to, he could’ve said so. heck, even more so, he shouldn’t have come here and wasted time-

“..because it looked like you were forced to do this by prof.” his smile then faded seeing you mirror the same. “are you alright? you’re a little pale..”

your eyes widened. “oh uh, sorry, i assumed-” you sputtered and probably died inside with what he said. you cursed in your mind. dammit y/n.

jaehyun raised his brows, making you more flustered and panicky. you sighed and waved your ‘its-nothing’ hand. “assumed that i’m brusque and a stuck-up?”

he pierced his eyes at you and you weren’t going to lie, he scared you a bit. but that fear immediately disappeared when a gentle giggle and adorable dimples replaced it. “i get that a lot, but don’t worry. i’m different from what people think. they think i’m not friendly, a-and a loner too.”

“you’re not.” he heard you counter him, slightly slamming the fork down. “if you were, you wouldn’t be here with me. or even bothered to come.”

his heart became warm through your words, that act of kindness torn down his walls of inferiority and his perception towards people changed. “thanks.” he checked the time on his watch and twisted his wrist to show to you. “don’t you have a party to attend to?”

“lee taeyong’s?” you stood up to leave the café. “i feel like skipping it for tonight. i’m not in the mood for parties somehow.”

“because i’m a better company for you?” jaehyun teased and boy was he proud with his remark, you didn’t even deny it. “you don’t have to go if you really don’t want to. it’s better to have time for yourself sometimes.”

“you’re saying from experience?” you asked, putting pressure on your words about his claim of being alone.

“it’s more of an advice for you.” he winked.

you thought he was quite observant even though he barely socialised with others. he noticed the light in your eyes sparkling, in which he felt his chest squeeze. you twirled in your toes as you hugged your laptop. “say.. are you up for a movie marathon?”

—

including now, it’d be the fourth time you both have rewind the specific scene just for that certain song jaehyun kept singing nonstop. and although you loved his voice, having the song on replay would be a little too much and the purpose of the marathon might go in vain. it seemed jaehyun was way into it, so interrupting him would be mean of you so you sang along.

“the nostalgia still hits me ‘til this day.” jaehyun tossed a bag of chips from your kitchen island to you.

jaehyun kept saying it may sound stupid and corny coming from him, but as a child he liked the whole high school musical series; and he pretty much became one when breaking free started to play.

because you both couldn’t decide where to watch the beloved movies by everyone, the marathon ended up being at your apartment. it was subtle, yet quite obvious to you he didn’t want it to be held in his place. you thanked your psychology course for giving lessons to notice even the little things in behaviour.

“how many times do i have to keep telling you it’s okay to like it? not like anyone would tease you for it.” you giggled as you opened the bag and popped a couple of chips into your mouth.

“yeah sure, but i know you would.” he squinted his eyes for you to admit that that was your plan eventually.

“have i?” you singsonged, sipping on the large cola cup.

he pointed at the hairbrush you held and suddenly you bursted out in laughter since jaehyun was obviously— maybe a little— offended with how you mimicked him singing earlier. “okay you caught me.”

jaehyun felt his entire body heating up. still in denial about actually being into you, he took a challenge upon himself and scooted next to you. his arms slightly brushed and touched against yours. “you in for hsm 2?”

“well we are having a marathon, might as well go for camp rock later.” you shrugged and eyed him with a confirming gaze.

“uh-huh.. but i’m still a fan of the trilogy.” jaehyun stole the chips in your hands.

“now aren’t you cheeky.” you gasped at his playful behaviour, and you didn’t dislike it. perhaps you prefer this naught over yuta’s as it didn’t get into your nerves or have the urge to hit him because of the hyperness.

he sat deeper into the beanbag. “i’m comfortable in here. your house feels too homey.”

“so is it my fault that you’re in your comfort zone?” you stated, taking the bag of chips back into your arms.

“yes.” he protested with frequent waves of his palms. “you’re too kind and i might come here to visit often.”

“suit yourself.”

since he arrived here it had him wondering, why did he decide to show up today at campus when there was actually a pure human being like you? he just needed a person— just one— to knock onto his heart. yet with many people in his life trying to do the same thing, none held the correct key. and somehow,

it had to be you.

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you’ve lost count of the number of times jaehyun has been hanging at your crib since then. it became a normal routine but never have you been to his place. it was always yours and you didn’t mind that. though he did promise, you respected his decision.

you found out he could be little dorky and corny but that was the unique trait about him. like friends at kindergarten, you both were still at a get-to-know-each-other stage. so that day, he created a schedule where he would hang out with you on wednesdays and fridays, claiming that he didn’t want to be seen by others, e.g. mr. nobody with ms. golden girl.

however, since then, people close to you have been looking at you rather differently. it wasn’t because they sometimes see jaehyun following you around, they sensed a different aura from you. you could feel their piercing stares from all directions, as if you were the centerpiece of a watch. there was something a little different than usual.

and you tried to ignore this ominous feeling for now.

yuta shook his legs vigorously, in which was an unsightly act to see for someone on the soccer team. you could see him from afar with his hands by his lips, biting it as he waited for your arrival at the university’s sports ground. jaehyun jogged towards you with his bag slung diagonally across his torso. he poked your neck and as a person with severe tickle spots, that caught you off guard into a fight-me position to the doer.

“chill, it’s just me.” jaehyun had both of his hands up, whiskers appearing just by the sides of his nose.

“jaehyun!” you relaxed your limbs. “got a better way of greeting? i don’t like being surprised.” you pulled the hem of his sleeve, missing how he pursed his lips in glee when you both instantly became close, like it was overnight.

he let you grab him as you both walked towards where yuta was standing by the bleachers. “i’m sorry?” he giggled loud enough only for you to hear. “i thought i’d get a priceless reaction from you.”

you rolled your eyes that it almost hurt doing so. “be glad i have enough patience for you.”

“and i didn’t have enough patience last night!” yuta joined the conversation seeing you and jaehyun before him. “where have you been? you said you were coming to my place yesterda- why is he here?” he looked at him then at you. “with you? again?”

“ever thought that i want to have my own ‘me’ time for once?” you took off your cardigan and placed it on the bleachers. you could feel jaehyun chuckling softly when you made reference to his remark.

and boy was he proud. “you’re emphasising on that quite often nowadays.” he helped you carry your bag as you to settled down.

“that’s because i never realised how true it actually is until i say it out loud, since being in everyone’s eyes does pressure me.” you balled your fists to nudge him lightly on the arm, and for him to dramatically receive the attack did put yuta in an awkward position.

“uh hello? i’m still here!” in front of you and jaehyun, yuta snapped his fingers several times to divert attention. “what’s going on with you two? how are you both suddenly so close when you’ve just met for the first time two weeks ago?”

jaehyun swifted his head towards you, and the telepathic exchange of words between you and him had yuta clicking his tongue in disbelief. “you were right, he will react.” jaehyun’s voice prolonged while munching on a corn dog.

“told you so.” you flicked your hair and turned to yuta as you continued talking. “bestie, we’ve been seeing each other since then.”

what the hell? the way yuta’s face turn sour at your smile towards jaehyun, he could almost faint right then and there since he swore he saw mr. dimples smile subtly at you too. “and with just that i’ve been replaced-”

“no i would never replace my best friend.” you held his palms hoping he would calm down from his high emotions, but he immediately pulled his hand away from you, much to your dismay. “hey, i’m here to make amends-”

“yeah?” he clicked on a pen and wrote something on a tissue, soon grabbing your bag from the seat and fished out your wallet. “then you’re treating me my meals for a month. i have another order right now.”

now it was your turn whose face became sour. “a month?! i can’t do that- hey!”

yuta tossed your credit card up in the air and upon seeing his eyes darken— though that was all in your head—you gave in and sighed heavily. you stomped your way to the caféteria while yuta comfortably put one leg on the benches with a satisfied grin. “man she’s easy to tease.”

“is that so? then i know now who she gets it from.” jaehyun said through his chews on his food, making yuta’s ears perk up at the response.

the atmosphere lingering between the two of them invited dark clouds. both could sense the change in their moods, and they both weren’t liking it.

yuta spun and played the ball on his hands then forearms, later let out a scoff when jaehyun raised his brows. he didn’t like the vibe jaehyun was giving and so did the latter. “i do it for fun. it’s natural between us.” yuta said.

“hm? she told me she doesn’t like it when you do.” he saw you on your tiptoes as you struggled to tell the order to the person at the high-levelled counter. but another scoff came out from yuta. “you got a proble-?”

“yeah kinda.”

“i don’t think so. i can tell it really bothers you when y/n hangs out with me.” jaehyun sat up straight at yuta’s comment about him.

“i should be. because i’m her best friend and who knows what type of person you are.” he did a few tricks with his legs. “but if you really want to know then your attitude is what i have problems with.”

“i remember telling you it wouldn’t be good for you when accuse me wrongly.”

he let out a monotonous and rather mocking laugh, taking jaehyun aback but he anticipated this kind of response from him. “and what? you’ll go berserk like you did years ago? as a high school freshman? beating the innocent up or whoever comes your way?”

“look i don’t know where the hell that came from but it’s not what you or everyone else thinks.” jaehyun aggressively crumpled the hotdog wrapper in his palms.

“c’mon you don’t have to hold it all in,” yuta set his ball aside and rested his hands on his waist. jaehyun was getting uncomfortable the more he listened to him. “unleash that side-”

jaehyun rolled his tongue, nodding his head to test him. “alright, i guess i don’t have to when i have feelings for y/n. thanks for the advice.”

what the..? yuta stared at him when there wasn’t a change in his expression. jerk- “now you’re talking. you wanna fight? let’s do that-”

“tsk yuta! the bill’s too expensive!” you whined and gently put down the tray.

while yuta clicked his tongue at your sudden entry and with how quickly you came back, for a moment jaehyun wanted to hug you for being his saviour. he was so close to lose his temper towards your best friend. the relief seen in his tensed shoulders, but you interpreted it otherwise. “are you okay?” you asked while you sat down beside him.

he hummed, folding his arms and looking at the distance, clearly avoiding eye contact with yuta. “mhm, i just realised the deadline is coming up in three days.” he excused.

you managed to utter out a giggle as you finally ate, finding out how jaehyun’s ears always turned red when given attention to. “you’re stressed about it?”

“aren’t you?” jaehyun drank the remains of his soda.

“not really since i finished mine. but, if you’re worried about your progress, i can help you.” you swirled the fork in the air like a wand. jaehyun smiled to himself when yuta took his ball to throw a fit.

“i’m not worried about the project. but there’s an annoying bug i’m trying to hit so help me.” jaehyun’s dimples appeared deeply again and as the darkening ombré sunset shoned his side profile, there you witnessed how pure he actually was— and you missed out on yuta’s frown towards jaehyun.

you gulped and almost choked on your own saliva, eyes still locked in jaehyun’s. his hair caught in the wind, making it look fluffy and his entire demeanour softer than you usually see him. you hitched a breath since jaehyun seemed like he had no plans to avert his gaze too. both of you were definely mesmerised and hypnotised, and for jaehyun it was just like that time. he remembered the colour palette of your makeup while you recalled the perfume he wore.

in the recent marathons with him you’ve never been this close, physically speaking. so this close-up really debunked the impression you heard from people, especially from yuta.

however, as you were oblivious with the pressure behind jaehyun’s words and even smiled back at him, yuta flicked your temple. he was indeed a worry wart and sometimes he would like to flick you just this once for being too much of a social butterfly. he knew it was in your nature to be kind and always on the look out for others. he’s fine when you were with anyone except with this guy you befriended. not him.

he dodged your flying limbs in attempts to hit him. “oi, you’re not going to ask how i am? if i’m worried?”

the pain from the flick remained on your temple. “no? you look fine to me-” you stared at your phone. the message reminding you of the singles elite party a month from today at 8pm. “a party?”

“yeah if you attended the previous party you’d know that there’ll be another one after taeyong’s.” yuta took off his shoes in change for his casual.

“hm. i’m don’t feel like going.” you jumped off the bleachers to dust off your pants. “probably gonna be boring.”

“i’m the one who’s holding it this time!” yuta put you under a headlock in his arms. “you’re ditching your best friend?!”

you giggled and ticked his sides and followed it with a playful hug. “just kidding. i heard from momo! i’ll be there.” you brushed your hair up into a messy bun while spotting jaehyun starting to feel out of place. “oh! do you wanna come to the party, jae?”

yuta mentally facepalmed and it was given he didn’t like what you did. but your eyes were quick to see his reaction and you slapped his chest. he glared at you while his hands caressed it. why did you have to invite him? it was the whole purpose why he decided to hold a party; maybe you’d finally appreciate his hardwork, or perhaps, notice him as someone more and as not a best friend who only worries and teases you.

jaehyun nodded in response, no words needed. a smile crept your lips as if you were given chocolates on valentine’s. “cool.” you pulled him on the wrist after hearing the coach calling yuta, followed with a loud whistle. “ah yuta, we‘ll get going! see you.”

“mm yeah..” yuta hummed, seeing you both vanish in the distance. “see you..”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

your sulking self laid sideways by jaehyun’s lap, head rested on a pillow. it’s been too long since yuta avoided you, purposely ditched your hangouts, seenzoned your messages and ignored your calls. as if these weren’t obvious enough for you to know something was up. there definitely was but you couldn’t put a finger to it. so you forced jaehyun to let you stay at his place, being it your apartment was currently invaded by your brother’s friends from abroad.

but honestly it was also because you discovered jaehyun’s unit was blocks away from yours. fate was gladly on your side.

“y/n, you know i can’t work properly when you’re like this.” jaehyun sighed while he adjusted his sitting posture and lifting his laptop.

you slightly and lazily your body turned upright, seeing his dimples beginning to show themselves. “let me be.” you complained.

jaehyun put down his laptop. “i can’t. you’re in my way of cramming hours. plus, how long have you been coming here? it’s getting too frequent..” he paused when your eyes were no longer on him— rather they were on your phone, staring at the last conversation from yuta.

he couldn’t bring himself to say that he was reason why yuta acting the way he was to you. and for all honesty he would keep this matter to himself. “did i do something wrong?” you asked.

“of course not. he’s probably in his emo phase. guys have them a lot more than you think.” jaehyun typed on the keyboard for the remaining parts of the essay. “but he’ll get out of it eventually.”

“fine i’ll trust on that.” you sat up and scooted over to see his progress. you submitted your assignment hours ago. looking at jaehyun, it seemed he was struggling at some parts. were you unconsciously pressuring him? the beads of sweat began to roll down his temples and that made you giggle if it was the case. uh-huh. he was really feeling that way.

he gulped so loudly that it came out as a weird noise. he hoped you didn’t hear that. but the way you pursed your lips to hold the laughter in only had him discontinuing his report. “d-don’t do that.”

“do what?” you snicker.

jaehyun rolled his eyes and poked your forehead. “you’re too distracting.”

oh how the tables have turned. that comment flipped your head upside down, your heart in a frenzy and stomach churning. it wasn’t “so”, but “too”— that only meant he wasn’t concentrating on his work for a while.

even so, you waited for him to finish despite questionable feelings you’ve been feeling. his coffee cup already did seconds and thirds. and suddenly you remembered the happy hour the local café was promoting and there was a few minutes left until it ends for the day. you had to bring him there.

but you decided that because you wanted to be out of that suffocating air jaehyun caused.

—

the more you walked faster, the more jaehyun’s wrist reddened and hurt. but he let you be as he liked how you were comfortable with someone like him. your hair flowed with the wind, the remains of your shampoo left a sweet scent. was it lavender? and the wind blew stronger, making the scent clearer to the nose. his heart skipped beats, because it was indeed lavender. he swore in his head. scrap aside the frequent marathons and meet-ups. lavender’s all the more reason why fell for you quickly than ever.

and when the local café closed early for the day, you almost lost sight of the pedestrian signs. jaehyun pulled you in as the light emitted red. though you had your emotions get the best of you, you realised how childish you were for something so minor. you laughed in awkwardness, he did too. “i didn’t want anyone to see this side-”

warmth. that was all you thought of right there. you were in his embrace.

“..of me.” you soon mumbled in his chest, realising later of the action he just did. “jaehyun-”

“it’s okay. i don’t too.” his hand gently caressed the back of your head, treating it with care as if he held a newborn baby. “so can i keep you?”

that warmth became hotter, almost boiling that you weren’t able to breathe properly. “i’m sorry.” he said, that must’ve surprised you.” jaehyun chuckled.

surprised? of course you were. how was it natural for him to do skinship? and that smoothly? you both weren’t at that stage yet, let alone have a relationship with mutual feelings. even yuta couldn’t hug you because of how conscious you felt.

but then again, you looked up. you saw his ears. it was red, the usual reaction whenever you were with him. was it normal though? you were never aware of it up until now.

because it was so clear now.

“i’ll see you tomorrow? i have to help my mom with some things.” you lied as you scratched your neck.

jaehyun nodded and pulled away. “alright, go on ahead.”

you poked his dimples because he has been staring at you like he had questions to ask. “what is it?”

maybe he didn’t notice or maybe he did, but he was leaning closer, his head tilting to the side and eyes staring into your soul. you knew what he was about to do, you feel like letting him do so but at the same time you weren’t sure of your feelings.  

just a little more and you could’ve locked lips but..

your phone vibrated.

in panic you looked at your device and eyes widened that brought jaehyun aback.

“ah yuta!” you brought your phone so close to your face, not believing your best friend’s announcement on social media, in which he then followed up with a text message.

the light in your eyes was something jaehyun liked seeing, but didn’t so as well.

“oh! he said the concept for the elites’ party is live wardrobe. all singles will go through a ballot draw. it’s for the clothes to wear for the night..” you locked your phone. “tsk i wanted to wear my favourite dress.”

“i think you’ll look great in whatever gown is chosen for you.” jaehyun pat your head while you were immersed in your phone. “now go. it’s getting late.”

“i’ll expect the same for you.” you replied.

he laughed and that didn’t want to make you leave just yet. “nah don’t. i’m just ordinary in a suit.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

funny how he was so damn wrong.

fate let him draw red, and confidently chose a suit once it was his turn to change. it was as if he knew this attire would go well with him. a suede texture with a black outline on its collar accentuated his brushed up light brown hair, while his black under-shirt contrasted with his porcelain skin. gladly it wasn’t halloween, or else you would’ve mistaken him for a vampire.

he had you feeling all sorts of things, and you didn’t know why when you were nothing more than friends.

an hour ago he was in his usual casual wear. now he was surrounded with ladies who already seemed like they were friends with him for decades. you could see jaehyun was uncomfortable but he kept his cool with folded arms as he leaned against a column. the comments from them irritated you, because at one point they were badmouthing him— and the second he showed up they flooded him with compliments of his good looks and how they named him the “model elite”.

you swirled the wine glass in your hand, the other arm hugged your waist. you rolled your eyes at the falseness these people have towards him. “can’t believe it.” your fingers curled as irritation began to cover your sight. “look at them trying to make a move on him. erlgh too close. they weren’t like that before.”

sicheng rolled his tongue, hands in pockets and walked to be in front of you. “really? you weren’t like that before too.” he pointed out.

“i agree. recently you’re stuck like glue whenever you’re with him.” yuta gestured.

“am so not?” you gasped while your eyes trailed to jaehyun, who was still had patience for the ladies surrounding him. “i just like how he’s a good friend.”

“doubt it.” sicheng poked your cheek. “you wouldn’t feel like this when you have feeli-”

not this again. “i’m grabbing a drink.” yuta suddenly cut the conversation.

“get me one too!” the younger one yelled and after he was satisfied with the gesture, he winced as you pinched his sides from the remark he said earlier. “ow! y/n! it’s true though! i know what i’m seeing!”

truthfully, nothing about sicheng’s words or actions bothered you. but if there was anything that did, it was your own heart. as of tonight, you began to question your feelings towards jaehyun. when did it start? how was it possible to like someone so quickly? “i’m telling you i don’t.” your eyes trailed to him, not realising the rush of heat creeping your cheeks.

jaehyun was approached by yuta, who was giving him a glass of beer. the ladies fled after stealing pictures of the guy and he took the drink in his hands. then they headed towards the garden of the mansion. wonder what he’s here for?

“nice party you have here. concept’s cool.” jaehyun started to break the lingering silence because he knew how awkward this was going to be with your best friend.

“yeah, never knew you’d end up in red. it’s y/n’s favourite colour.” yuta’s voice lowered. there was an impact jaehyun could describe but assuming that would be too rude of him.

“really? i didn’t know.” he hummed. aren’t you a little too happy, jaehyun told himself. he shook it off, for he doesn’t expect him and you to go any further than this.

“now you do. so can you back up for a while? take a week off or something from y/n.” yuta raised his brows.

this was the same feeling from before. he knew this feeling because he felt the exact same way. he wanted to be selfish for once. not like he hated yuta, it was just.. he always had to appear whenever he didn’t want him to. then he would mess his mood. he interrupted his joy of admiring you. jaehyun licked his lips to dampen them. “i’m sorry, who are you to tell me what to do?”

yuta grinned and leaned against the column as he mirrored jaehyun. “don’t you get it?” he asked, his tone rising. “i love y/n. you entering the picture just ruins everything.”

my hunch’s correct. he does love y/n. “if you love her you wouldn’t ignore her.”

“it’s because you’re with her! and she does the same to me! it’s like she’s found someone else-”

“you’re being dramatic.” jaehyun pushed himself off the column and turned to him. “y/n’s sad and moping around because you treated her like she’s all alone. you have no idea how much she waited for you to contact her.”

“what do you know, smartass? you’re just another guy trying to fit in when you know you couldn’t. no matter how much you tried, everyone’s afraid of you. and now you’re telling me you have feelings for y/n? please.” his lips jutted with sounds of disbelief while his body posture challenged jaehyun. “y/n’s kind to everyone she meets. it’s who she is. but to think you have hope to be with someone like her? if you ask me, all i see is a greatest mismatch.”

jaehyun usually didn’t give a damn of the comments about him. he couldn’t care less of any of those. in fact he’d hear them through one ear and out they went. but when he said anything, it irked him.

you see, that was the thing— right now, he actually listened.

he turned a blind eye on yuta’s words and let it off for the night. he was given a drink and maybe the alcohol didn’t work its way on him than it did to guy. in the end, yuta was probably spilling tea even if he didn’t intend to.

“what i feel for y/n has nothing to do with you. just like people can’t control the tides,” jaehyun lightly knocked onto yuta’s chest. “i can’t control mine.”

the footsteps echoed in yuta’s ears, he could hear them despite the noisy hall. “rghhh!” he grabbed hold of his glass and threw it towards jaehyun.

sounds of shattering glass met the ground, as well as catching everyone’s attention. then there was silence. jaehyun began to lose his patience as he turned around. his smirk challenged him. ouch. this was the fight yuta was looking for, seeing jaehyun’s heavy breaths only made him stand on his toes.

jaehyun punched him in the jaw though he knew it wasn’t worth his time. but he wanted to give him a taste of stepping beyond boundaries. yuta punched him back too. he made sure the star of the night was the other— shone the brightest and reveal his true nature. he didn’t count the number of hits he received, as long as jaehyun stayed that way.

“i told you it wouldn’t be good if you provoked me!” jaehyun growled. “you’re asking for show? i’ll give you one!”

“huh..” yuta wiped his bleeding lip. “you sure about that, beast?”

jaehyun held himself for the next punch, feeling all of the pairs of eyes on him. yours included. that was what he feared. “aw. what impression does she have on you now?” yuta’s cooing words caused jaehyun’s eyes to soften.

all bleeding and bruised, jaehyun’s injuries have matched with his suit. he clenched his fists as he frustratingly left the hall.

in your peripheral, your eyes trailed his direction and your legs followed him by heart, without realising yuta calling out your name several times. everything went blank, not thinking things straight because while everyone watched, no one understood. you glared at yuta before heading outside, a more disappointed sigh was the only response he got from you.

yuta was then nudged by sicheng. the latter could see the change in his expression. “what did i tell you?”

“you don’t have to tell me.” yuta dusted his pants.

“i’m still gonna.” sicheng rolled his eyes and poked the lad’s temple. “that’s what you call ‘stupidity’. if only you confessed to her before maybe things would be different between you guys.”

“i don’t want things to be different dude.”

“i’m gonna state the obvious, you probably already know this but.. you lost this battle.”

“crap..” yuta’s voice changed from a nervous chuckle to a soft sob. “i liked her first.”

you spotted jaehyun sitting atop a metal barrier just in front of the carpark— head down to mend his injuries and scratches. he sniffed from the cool night breeze before hopping off. “you’ll hurt your feet.” he pointed at the heels you had dangling in your hands.

his gaze softened when you pointed at his face, especially the black eye. “touché.” he chuckled, later feeling your cold hands against his throbbing flesh. “it’s no big deal-”

“i’m sorry about yuta’s behaviour.” you sighed. “don’t let it get into you. he’s an airhead when he’s drunk-”

“you sure? he seemed pretty sober when he said- ah.” he pursed his lips to speak any further. “nevermind.”

now that gotten you curious. “what did he say? spill it!” you whined, causing jaehyun mouth to curve a little in amusement.

jaehyun prolonged the silence and grabbed your shoes, leading you towards his car. once he unlocked it and opened the door, he bursted out in a loud, healthy laugh. “he said he was head over heels for you.”

you pushed him to the driver’s seat and slammed the door, rolling your eyes at the pun. “that was so lame!” you sat on the other side. “but i know that already if you thought i didn’t. i subtly turned him down ages ago. guess he didn’t take the message.”

“clearly.”

as you tended to his wounds, one question still had your curiosity at its peak. jaehyun was quiet through-out, so it was hard to bring the topic up for a while. until your eyes and his met.

“what did you tell him before he threw the glass at you?” you dabbed the cotton onto the beaten area. “it must’ve pissed him.”

he dropped his car keys and let out a nervous hum. “uh..” he didn’t know what else to say. right when he was finally about to tell you, you suddenly giggled.

“unless you told him you like me and that made him angry, but i doubt that happened.” your lips shrank to a circle, cursing at yourself for assuming too much. girl the guts you have was incomparable—

jaehyun’s large hand held yours while you continued to apply medication. the warmth, the heat and the building tension of skinship made you weak. “you’re right.”

your smile and breaths changed in an instant when he fixed himself on the seat. he smirked a little, finding how cute you were. it drove him crazy.

“i like you, for the longest time, since the orientation. i’m so into you that i couldn’t help myself be selfish and have you to myself— i- i don’t know what i’m saying.” he sighed, pushing himself away in embarrassment with arms above his face.

“t-thanks.” you fiddled with your fingers.

“i’m not asking for an answer. i just wanted to let you know.” he said. “gosh this is a bad timing for confession.”

“then is it a bad timing if i said i’m into you too?” you looked away and out in the distance. you could see his reaction on the window’s reflection. he was shocked, but an uncontrollable smile was forcing itself on the surface. it was written in the dimples.

“no,” his husky voice called you to look back. “you’re just about right.”

#jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #nct jaehyun #jaehyun oneshot #jaehyun #jaehyun imagines #nct 127 #nct #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun nct #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun angst #jaehyun au #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun fanfic

[keanureevesisbae]

I was thinking abt sy with a lil idol gf and omg🥺🥺Bye he’d be so supportive🥰he would go to his gf’s shows and maybe even surprise his idol gf at a fansign and bring 20 albums for her to sign😭😭 the big bear definitely owns a bunch of merch and has a “secret” fan acc, He is overall just mushy for his girlie😩🤚(I’m so soft rn pls😭)

YOU JUST MADE ME THE SOFTEST HUMAN BEING ALIVE. OH MY GOSH, THIS IS ADORABLE, I LOVE THIS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PUTTING THIS IDEA IN MY MIND!! (side note: i used Jennie's Solo cover for the art and i also went out of my way to make insta edits - yes, i'm that type of person) also, thank you sweet anon for sending me this 💗hope you like it

Captain Syverson x petite!cutesy!fem!reader

Summary: Sy has a reputation: a strong and powerful captain, who is never afraid and will never turn into a pile of mush. However, there is only one woman who is able to turn him into the ultimate fanboy.

Wordcount: 1k

Warnings: none

Sy is more of a country music kinda man. Growing up in Texas, near a bar with a mechanic bull, he was obsessed as a young teen with the idea of just touring through the state with a cowboy hat on his head and a guitar.

It’s just the fact that he can’t sing what stood in the way of a very promising country career.

He joined the military and forgot about the idea all together, but when he came back from his final tour to Iraq, his friends took him on a little welcome home drive through the country. They visited all sorts of bars, listened to all sorts of music there. Sure, all sorts of music had its appeal, but it would never be like country.

The final destination of the little road trip was LA and they went to a bar for new sing and songwriters to perform.

And that’s where he first laid his eyes on you. He remembers you sitting on a bar stool, back straight as a ruler. You were adorable, he thought to himself. Wide eyes as you were watching the stage, clapping your hands along with the beat and squealing when someone sang something particularly well.

And then it was your turn to get on stage. A sweet pink dress, matched with white sneakers and socks with a lace border. Nothing about the song you wrote and sang was something he usually liked. Very happy, up beat and your high voice sang every note perfectly.

Despite not his taste, he adored every second of it.

You seemed shy off stage, with the way you sat by yourself, but on stage that demeanor completely changed.

You were born to be a singer.

When you sat down at your own barstool again, he grabbed his beer and decided to sit next to you, get to know you. Everything about you was different. Petite, long hair and your feet didn’t even touch the floor.

He was supposed to stay in LA for two weeks, but that changed into a month and then two months, because he couldn’t get enough of you. He left Texas (something he never thought he would do) and moved to LA, where he got a job as a constructor. You quit your own job, one you only took to be able to pay for the bills and musical equipments. He loved helping you out, driving you from bar to bar, hoping your dream of becoming an idol would come true.

And one day, it happened.

You got an offer of one of the biggest agencies in the US and after the two of you read the contract multiple times, you signed and were an official idol.

Life changed a lot after that. You were either in the studio, dance practice and back at the studio again, however Sy made sure that you were well hydrated and fed, just like your back up dancers.

The people at the agency loved Sy and they often joked that he was part of the family that was created at the agency.

It all happened fast. Your first single, music video, first appearance at multiple late night shows and finally you reached one million followers on Instagram.

And he was right by your side.

His friends knew about his love for country, but they also knew about his much bigger love for you. They often would catch the big captain sing to the cute, almost bubblegum pop music you produced.

He didn’t care.

Sy had all your merchandise, whether it would fit him or not. He had your albums (all signed of course) and listened to them when you weren’t around. Sometimes he’d travel with you as you were touring, sometimes he stayed behind, especially after the two of you adopted a two year old American Akita.

The world knew you weren’t single, but you always kept Sy out of the spotlight, something he’d greatly appreciated. While you were born to be famous, he was born to live a more anonymous.

But that didn’t stop you from boasting about him on Instagram.

It had been at least three months since you saw him in real life. Your manager and all your back up dancers knew about his plan. Heck, they even helped Sy with planning it. He watches from the back, the line at your meet and greet stand growing smaller and smaller, until everyone has left. You let out a content sigh and want to get up, but your manager says there is a special fan still waiting in the back.

‘Really?’ you ask him. ‘Who is it?’

‘Very special. Super fan.’

That gains your attention, as your eyebrows are raised. ‘Do I know them?’

‘You’ve met them before,’ your manager says.

‘Oh, I do hope I recognize them,’ you say. ‘I don’t want to come across as such a bitch, you know.’

Your manager starts to laugh. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it,’ he says. ‘Close your eyes.’

You place your hands over your eyes and smile in anticipation. Sy quietly walks over to your table and places his newly bought album in front of you. ‘I’d like this signed, please,’ he says.

Within lightening speed you pull your hands from your eyes. ‘Oh my,’ you say, ‘Sy?’ You jump up, your chair falling behind you. You run around the table and wrap your arms around his neck. He lifts you up in his arms and gives you a kiss on your cheek. ‘I missed you! What are you doing here? How is Kal?’

‘Kal is good. He is with your parents.’

‘But what are you doing here?’ you ask.

‘I want my autograph,’ he says with a chuckle.

You press a kiss on his lips. ‘How long are you gonna stay here with me?’

He shrugs. ‘I brought enough clothing for let’s say… a month?’

Your eyes enlarge. ‘That’s the end of my tour! Oh, Sy, you’re staying with me?’ You have tears in your eyes and whisper: ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too, little lady.’

#captain syverson #captain syverson drabble #captain syverson x reader #captain syverson x idol!reader #sy and his idol gf

[winterlovesong1]

Winter’s Nancy Drew Rewatch

Welcome to my first rewatch of my current favorite comfort show ❤️ Under the cut are my thoughts and a few insights I hope you enjoy - I’ll be going through each episode and posting these periodically with the tag winter rewatched Nancy Drew.

Episode 2x03 - The Secret of Solitary Scribe

such a great episode title - nerd for an alliteration that comes together...

Overall MVP

I’m giving it to Bess this episode - she really furthered the mystery along and we love to see the seeds planted early of her eventual fate, her digging into research and historical sightings throughout history.

Most Heartfelt Moment

End of the episode hands down. I forgot how poignant of a moment that was and everyone did such a great job in the montage - from Nancy going to Carson at the loft, to them walking in the woods, to him mentioning Ryan, and then the reveal that he’s actually there, the hand off of the shovel, and then Nancy finding the carving of initials on the tree.

You can’t not cry during that moment. For a girl who feels so lost, who is questioning who she is, to try and give some peace to that part of her that she’ll never know in the afterlife - it’s her being selfish and selfless at the same time - its her taking something back that was stolen from her, a goodbye (a hello) to her mom, while giving her mom the burial she deserves, honoring her in the best way she knows how.

Headcanon that Kate was there too, watching over them during that moment.

Special mention though goes to two moments with Ace and his dad - the first at the station when his dad mentions that Shabbot dinner happens every week and then the realization on Ace’s face that he doesn’t have a week, and this might be his last dinner with his dad, and no matter how distraught their relationship, he still loves his dad and so he says yes, he’ll be there. Second moment is at the end of the dinner after Tamura leaves and they have another one on one. I almost wished for a hug, but I get that they aren’t in that place (nor have they ever been I don’t think) but just the realization that he trusts his son and the momentary lightness that brings to Ace - breaks my heart.

Both instances show that when all the fights and the arguments are swept away, what remains are what is really important and valued between them - love and trust.

I hope they remember that going into season four.

Most Comedic Moment

The entire dinner scene between Ace, Thom, and Detective Tamura should be framed and hung in a gallery it’s that good.

Also watching it just made me miss how much fun it is to watch Alex flourish in comedy. I mean he got bits and pieces in season three and heaven knows season four is going to be ANGST, but it’s just a joy to watch him lean into that part of his skills.

Ok praise over...for now...lol

Special mention to MVP Bess for the term bone smuggler and Nick’s “ask for a three day lease with option for death”

Best Overall Line

These lines this episode felt like they could be placed right into season four and no one would blink - 

You can’t avoid the monster when it’s you 

All those years alone with your demons - it’s just another way of being dead

Scare Rating

Was this the creepiest episode? I really think it was. Especially the end...*shiver* 10/10

Nace Slow Burn Rating

This was an interesting episode because it was mostly the crew working together (which we LOVE to see) but even in the group scenes, Nancy and Ace seem to gravitate toward each other (more so?) and it’s so natural - the pairing of Nick and George, of Bess following close to Ace, but then Nancy following closer. It’s subtle but as an audience member it just a reminder that yeah, these two were friends first and foremost and that ease, that comradery, will never dissipate no matter what’s going on - death curses be damned (I’m looking at you too season four).

Solid eight.

Fashion Moment

Ace’s brown corduroy jacket is almost as iconic now as the rainbow jacket he’s worn it so often - almost. Also, I’ve been liking the jacket/hoodie combo. That’s a good look.

Missing Moment Drabble

Posted here

#nace #tv: nancy drew #winter rewatched nancy drew

[diary-of-an-onliner]

lifelines [g.w.]

hi! first fic, pls be nice!

word count: 2300

warnings: none

After Gryffindor turned the tides at the last second, winning the second most important game of the season after a massive setback in the first hour, the celebrations raged harder than ever. Since Hufflepuff had beaten Slytherin to the ground two days ago, the path towards the Cup was clear. Angelina was sitting on the couch, having passed the point of looking pleased long ago, and now seemed almost frazzled by the result. People came up to her periodically, clapping her shoulder or topping off her drink, directing the buzzing energy of the common room straight into her.

Truly, the atmosphere was phenomenal, the stolen food and drinks from the kitchens juicer and a little more spiked than usual. Or maybe it was the sunlight still streaming through the windows as strongly as ever despite the past gloomy week. Whatever it was that made the day so electrically happy for everyone, it showed no signs of stopping.

This type of unrestrained feeling you always imagined started from the back of your head as s little star-like scribble that cast a net over you and spread the intensity throughout. This week it was stronger than it has been in a while.

You felt electric in the stands as you yelled for your team, an invisible line ripping the words from your throat before you even knew you were saying them. You felt elated as your housemates put their hands around you in delight, screaming themselves sore when they announced the winner. And you were feeling the happiness in your hair now, in every single strand from root to end as it swayed along with the bottle in your hand.

This was happy. This was joyful. This was utterly buttery in your chest and electric in the air.

You idly looked around the red and orange common room, which burned with excitement, deciding how to best spend this time before it runs out on Umbridge's watch and she ruins it.

No. No wasting thoughts on her today. She sucked enough life out of you and your housemates this year, she won't be doing it off the clock too.

Your eyes settled on possibly one of the strongest sources of this warmth - George Weasley, sitting on the arm of the couch next to his brother. The window behind him silhouetted him in gold perfectly, like the sun offered him to you. It accented how attractive he was, even if he burned a little at the top.

You've connected eyes before, talked before, even bantered. One wittier than the other every odd day, you toed the line between acquaintances and friends perfectly. Seeing as he's very popular, catching him in-between conversations was a matter of luck.

You imagined a line going from the center of your chest to his as you approached him. He pensively looked to the side, observing some goings-on on the far end of the room as you interrupted him.

"That was a good game. You got some very nice shots in," you said.

He turned to you with a mild close-mouthed 'hm', a look, and then a grin.

"You sure it was me?" he cocked his eyebrow and look at Fred on the couch next to Angelina, bumping knees with her and accepting congratulations in both of their names.

"You wear different numbers, genius. I know how to count this time."

"And you have my number memorized," he said, his voice glad.

"That would've been a great line if you were a Muggle."

"Pity, I already chose a magical career." he took a sip of his butterbeer and eyed you up, "Maybe I should start using my magical lines on you. Would those work better?" his eyes widened and his tone turned innocent at the end.

"I think I know too much anti-jinxes for that."

He pursed his lips in amusement. "Alright. What would work on you then?"

"Oh, I find responsibility and appropriacy really hot." you shot back, twirling a piece of your happy, charged up hair.

"Contradiction too," he said, "since you're still here."

"I find contradiction a natural state of the human soul, thus if I wasn't contradicting myself, I wouldn't fully be here."

"Hm. Brainy." he chuckled.

"Judgy. If you need me to simplify you can just say so."

"I think I can handle your smart mouth just fine."

"Then why am I winning?"

"I didn't realize this was a competition."

"Rookie mistake." you shook your head dramatically.

"I'm pretty sure it's a rookier mistake to assume you're winning. Who's the judge?"

"My innate inner sense of whether I'm winning or not."

"If it's inside you, then how would one file a complaint concerning an unfair ruling?"

"They wouldn't. It's a noble and just system that decided I'm in the lead. You just need to accept the truth."

"Don't make me come in there," he said, smirking good-naturedly.

"In where?" you shot back.

"In you." his smirk held on for a second before he seemed to realize what he said and his face scrunched up in apologetic laughter.

Your mind slipped into the gutter the way new yorkers fall into sinkholes filled with rats - hilariously fast.

Albeit greatly amused, he started to correct himself, "I didn't mean-"

"No, of course not." you licked your lips, "I understood you the first time " Was karma going to bite you in the ass for that lie? Who knows, but you might even be into that. Everything seems possible when the sun is shining. So he shone.

He grinned with his happy mouth and you once again noted how the light from the window behind him silhouetted him in the golden lining that made him look like a cutout glued onto the scene of this funny collage. His hair was aflame and his face was darker from the shadows but just as loudly burning with laughter.

This was happy.

You drew the word in your mind, line by line. H, a smooth move from the bottom, a decorative loop, then a parallel stroke, and a transversal. A, a circle with a tail, sharp move upward, and an even sharper drop for the backbone of p. P's tummy? Bulge? Nope, your mind shouldn't slip there in the middle of Binns’ class, no matter how boring he was. Another p, as George's knee bumped into yours. He was moved from "Mr. Wester, Phillip." for being disruptive, so he engaged in an under-the-table kind of disruption with his new tablemate.

You smiled. A long diagonal line, and another shorter one that cut into it. Y.

Happy.

You were, truly, right now. It sounded upside down to be happy though, both overall and when stuck in a soul-suckingly draining class, but you were.

George read over your shoulder, then audaciously engaged in over-the-table elbow-bumping-disruption and a cocked eyebrow. You straightened up, feeling a warm line unfold from the back of your head to the core of your brain, through the center of your chest, and straight to your stomach. Your happy line.

I'm happy, you mouthed.

Really? He mouthed back sarcastically yet good-naturedly. I can definitely see why. His eyes darted toward the professor. I say go for it, he's a catch. You might even be his type.

You burst out laughing, then immediately bit your lip. A few students, including Philip, looked at you as you shook with laughter, but professor Binns carried on.

George, on the other hand, shrugged with his shit-eating grin, pretending he has no idea why you were laughing, thus letting everyone know why you were laughing.

You scribbled, I don't know. What if it goes badly. I'd hate to be ghosted.

George raised his eyebrows at the Muggle slang you explained before. His hand slipped next to yours on the table and you felt your happy line thrum in approval. His hand was warm as he gently pressed it to yours, slowly took your quill, and scribbled back: Need someone more physical, huh? And I thought you were the romantic type.

Strong words for someone who never bought me dinner, you replied.

Mhm, as soon as I find a good line get you to agree to it.

Keep writing like that and I'll start thinking you fancy me.

Keep your mind in the gutter and I'll start thinking you don't fancy me back. He accented that line with a wink and an overdramatic lip bite.

You pouted sarcastically at him. Of course not, I only want you for your knobby knees.

He chuckled, reminded of the short line of warmth that connected your knees under the table. He pressed his into yours a little stronger, then pulled away.

That's a funny way of flirting. I'd know, I'm an expert at funny.

Self-proclaimed.

Untrue.

And I'm not flirting. If I was, you'd know it.

Would you? your breath hitched. For reasons you very well knew but refused to sound out to yourself, this short sentence drove the air around you two from joking to serious at breakneck speed.

Know if you were flirting with me? your happy line felt jumbled up in your stomach. He smiled at you.

Would you know if you were flirting with me?

The following week was arduous.

Gryffindors had a record amount of detentions, and Snape tore into them any and every chance he could. Even McGonagall was one edge, meaning lousy or missed homework was a death sentence. You forgot how to read from tiredness, submitting essays patchworked of other people's thoughts without ever having any information pass through your head. Everything was dull, gray, and dragged out.

Despite that, outside the castle the sky was blue and sunlight streamed through the soft clouds and a sweet breeze would blow around aimlessly. It was both comforting and a little mocking. The sky should be as exhausted and as beaten down as you. Good to know stress made you compare yourself to a literal sky. But maybe that's a little cruel. Nevertheless, it sounded like nature itself was turning its nose up at you, saying you're selfish for wanting grey skies, she doesn't care, she's above puny human affairs. The world turns and you have to turn with it or stop, then spend the rest of the time catching up.

You haven't stopped yet, but by all that is holy, you wanted to sleep. As the sun finally descended on a Friday after dinner, you finished your essays in hope that the next week might be kinder if you do everything quickly. The common room was dark, most of the light coming from the fire in the fireplace. It was also oddly empty for nine-thirty in the evening. Apparently, everyone had the same week as you.

Your almost finished essay laid on the table as you dozed, swinging your legs back and forth over the edge of your armchair.

The creak of the portrait opening caught your attention, and George Weasley walked in a second later, rubbing his sore hand and cussing.

Truly everyone had a shitty week.

"Love?" you said teasingly.

He looked up at you with a tired grin.

"It's late."

"Not really. You okay?"

"Nothing I can't handle, love." he sighed, leaning against the wall next to the fireplace.

"Can I see?" you crossed the room to stand in front of him. Again, the firelight licked at the lines of his face, clear and sharp. He had circles under his eyes and a heavily nibbled lip.

"It's nothing." still, George raised his hand. "Love." he added, distantly. He seemed to be staring right above your head. You looked at the middle line of his lips again. You imagined him biting it.

Was it him that bit it? That one hurt. You hoped it was him.

You took his hand in your and rubbed circles into his knuckles. His eye winced.

"I'm sorry."

"S'not your fault."

"What happened?" he closed his eyes.

"Two ickle firsties almost brought the wrath of Umbridge into themselves with some dungbombs. You know how it goes," he said, a corner of his lip tugging upwards. Your chest expanded looking at him being satisfied with himself. As he should be.

"How... responsible of you," you said.

His eyes snapped downwards to yours.

"Keep looking at me like that and I might also start being appropriate too, darling."

You stepped closer, your happy line thrumming against your chest like a quivering violin string.

"What if being responsible is enough?"

"Enough for what?" he breathed out before you pressed yourself against him.

At first, that's was it was - a press of two warm lips. Then he started to move slowly, almost gentlemanly. How appropriate.

As he touched you, you felt the daze of last week lift. The little star scribble on the back of your head lit up, pulsing with brightness rather than fogging your thought. This was clear, you felt his every stroke that made up his face and chest and hands. The scribble of happiness extended itself into a web, overtaking your brain - you could feel it and you wondered if he saw it too when he looked at you. You pulled away and lifted your head to check. Probably not, but his eyes were glassy and he gave you a dopey smile. He was glad you were there. You pressed your lips against his again. You were glad he was there too.

The web continued down your neck, arms and chest, into your legs until your toes buzzed with light coursing through you. You were more awake than you have been in a long time.

Your hands were the brightest of all, and as you touched his hands, connecting them fingertip to fingertip, things made sense. The web buzzed and his breath was warm against yours, hands pulsing with energy as your every lifeline connected into his.

#george weasely #fanfic #hp fanfic #george weasley x reader

[whentheynameyoujoy]

Yup, Sure Was a Finale

I had an epiphany. The reason why I never re-watched the final two parts of Sozin’s Comet even though I’ve popped in episodes at random many times over the years isn’t that I can’t bear the sadness of seeing one of the best, most engaging narratives out there come to an end.

It’s simply that the finale isn’t all that good.

Some honorable mentions of what was enjoyable.

(+) This

Just this.

(+) The Church of Zutara has another convert

“Are you sure they don’t get together?” Hubster, 2020

(+) The tragedy of Azula

And the fact that it’s acknowledged as such. I hope Zuko will do his best to get her help and have a relationship with her…

(+) Sokka being a big bro

And the whole airship sequence in general. It’s wonderfully paced and plotted, with moments of humor, real stakes, Toph being both badass and a scared crying kid, Sokka strategizing and protecting, Suki saving the day, and non-benders being instrumental in thwarting the bad guy firebender’s plans. Would be shame if Bryke never portrayed them this capable ever again…

And now for the main course.

(-) Blink and its over

The wrap-up feels too quick (hashtag Needs More ROtK-style False Endings). A part of this is due to how fast the story goes from the thick of the action to hastily tying up a bunch of loose ends, but the larger issue is how Book 3’s uneven pacing comes home to roost. After spending half a season on filler episodes that at best subtly flesh out established characters while dancing around a huge lionturtle-shaped hole, and at worst contradict the theme of “no one is born bad” with “you’re a hot mess because your great-grandfathers didn’t get along too well”, the frantic “go go go” rush of the second half screeches to a halt with “they won and everyone was happy because now the right people have power and it will be all good from now on yup nothing more to deal with baiiiii”.

Yes, I know, it’s a kids’ show. But goddamn, this particular kids’ show has proven so many times it can do better than the expected tropiness. Showing the characters in their roles as builders of a new world was the least that could have been done.

Oh well!

(-) Ursa

We’ll never know. There will never be a story that delves into this. Yup. Shall forever remain but an intriguing mystery. Is good, though. Mystery is better than a story where Ursa shares her son’s penchant for forgetfulness. Imagine how embarrassing that would be. Speaking of which…

(-) What does Mai see in this jerkbender?

Look, I like to harp a lot on the mess of inconsistent writing that’s Mai but let’s unpack this scene from her perspective, shall we?

Zuko forgot about her! It totally slipped his mind that the one person who prioritized the safety of his dumb ass was rotting in the worst prison in the Fire Nation—because of him! And she was rotting there long enough after the final Agni Kai for the news of Zuko’s upcoming coronation to spread and her uncle to feel sufficiently secure to release her. But then the coronation scene is attended by every single member of Gaang & Friends that was imprisoned?

So what this tells me is that either a) the invasion force had the ability to break themselves out the whole time and for some reason decided not to exercise it until after the war was over, b) Zuko forgot about them as well and no one thought to remind him there were prisons full of POWs until Mai arrived, or, and that’s even better, c) Zuko took care to free every single resistance fighter while making sure Mai would be the one to stay behind bars.

Never thought I’d say this but Mai? Honey? You deserve so much better.

(-) “What does Katara want?”

Asked no one in the writers’ room ever, apparently.

This is not so much anti Cataang as anti romance stories that pay attention to the needs, opinions, and wants of only one partner in general. Over the previous 60 episodes, Katara actively expressed romantic interest in Aang exactly, wait for it,

Once.

And it got retconned out of relevance by the following two interactions where the possibility of a romantic relationship came up, making the Headband dance pretty easy to reclassify as just one of those examples where Aang “teaches” Katara to have fun (as if one of the main obstacles to her having fun wasn’t him constantly fooling around and offloading his duties). And because the writers not only didn’t succeed in portraying Katara’s internal state of mind, but also failed to root her reluctance to pursue a relationship in outside circumstances that could change, her sudden state of unconfused once Aang steps into the spotlight has a single canonical explanation that as much as approaches coherency.

The fact is, though, that trying to interpret canon Cataang from a Watsonian perspective is an exercise in foolishness. Because there is no Watsonian justification for the ship and never has been. Bryke simply conceived of Katara as nothing but a tropey prize for Aang, never saw her as anything beyond that, and were perfectly happy to go on and immortalize her as a passive broodmare for the rest of her life.

And I fully intend to die mad about it.

(-) Iroh dips

OK, it’s been long apparent that the show doesn’t intend to do anything about Iroh’s complicity in AzulOzai’s regime in any meaningful way, and that his sole motivation for doing anything whatsoever is Zuko whom he views as a replacement son which is supposed to be good for some reason. But the finale has him abandon even that, and instead turns him full-on YOLO, idgaf anymore. It really throws Iroh’s supposed love for Zuko into doubt when his last act in the entire show is to take a half-educated 16-year old with no political savvy or an heir to secure a dynastic continuity and plomp him on the throne of a war-mongering imperialist regime where the entirety of the militarist and ruling class is guaranteed to fight him tooth and nail for power.

(I sure hope Mai’s ready to start popping out babies by tea-time otherwise the whole country is fukd in about a week)

Christ, how hard would it be to have Iroh keep the throne warm for a few years while Zuko is getting ready to succeed him? Not only would it make the whole FN reformation bit quite likelier to occur, it would require Iroh’s hedonistic ass to actually sacrifice something for once. And not having Zuko ascend to power, instead spending some time bettering and educating himself first, would be a wonderful message that no matter what you endured and overcame, you never stop growing. A kids’ show, remember?

(-) The conquering of Ba Sing Se

Gee, I feel so blessed to have my attention diverted from battlefields which actually matter to an old dude vanity project I would have been perfectly happy to assume resolved itself off-screen.

The White Lotus in general just bugs me. I was fine with the individual characters and their overall passivity when they were portrayed as lone dissenters living under circumstances where it wasn’t really possible for any single person to mount a meaningful resistance. But as members of a far-reaching shadowy organization that’s left the real fight to a bunch of kids for 59 episodes straight and didn’t turn up until a perfect opportunity presented itself to take control of the largest city in the world and bask in the spotlight?

Yeah, no.

Similarly to the lionturtle-ex-machina, the White Lotus represents a huge missed opportunity for a season-long storytelling. Here’s just a brief list of what they could have been doing throughout Book 3:

orchestrating a Fire Nation uprising;

gathering those directly persecuted by AzulOzai’s regime to help Zuko keep his hold on power once he’s crowned;

establishing themselves as a viable alternative to Ozai;

sabotaging Fire Nation’s war efforts from the inside;

countering Fire Nation propaganda (Asha Greyjoy’s pinecones, anyone?);

running a supply network to alleviate the suffering of Earth Kingdom citizens.

Instead, they sit on their asses until the time comes to claim personal glory.

You know what, good on Bryke for making me conclude that in comparison, the Freedom Fighters were perfectly unproblematic, actually.

(-) Fire Lord Dead-by-Dawn

Yes, a kids’ show, I know! But ffs, this is the same kids’ show that came up with Long Feng and portrayed courtly intrigue, kingly puppets, secret police, spy networks, and information wars. Was it really too much of me to expect something other than “enlightened despot solves everything”? Especially if said enlightened despot has persisting anger issues, no personal support system, no base of followers, and no political experience whatsoever?

If Zuko’s actually serious about regaining the Fire Nation’s honor (i.e. by dismantling the country’s military machine, decolonizing the Earth Kingdom, paying reparations to everyone and their lemur, and funding any and all cultural restoration projects Aang and the SWT come up with), then there is no way, no way in the universe that he doesn’t face a civil war, deposing, and execution within a month.

One reason why his future as a Fire Lord seems rather bleak is that little’s been shown about the actual subjects of AzulOzai’s regime. While we get a vague reassurance that “no Toph, they’re not born bad” (le shockings), they largely remain a voiceless uniform mass of brainwashed clapping seals. What is their view on the Fire Nation’s crimes? Do they associate their condition with their country’s war-mongering? How will they react when Zuko starts dismantling the country piece by piece to rebuild it, bringing it to economic ruin? What will they do when noble Ozai loyalists come out of the woodwork and begin rounding them up under the banner of “Make the Fire Nation Great Again?”

I have no idea, and Zuko doesn’t either because he’s unironically more qualified to rule the Earth Kingdom than his own people.

You know what would have been better? Fire Lord Iroh, White Lotus pulling the strings to maintain the regime, and Crown Prince/People’s Champion Zuko travelling the Fire Nation with Aang and an army of tutors to promote the new boss, only to realize that absolute monarchy is kinda crap for the people he’s one day supposed to rule and gaining their support by ceding some power to them.

I’d laser holes into my TV due to how much I’d enjoy watching that.

(-) All hail Avatar Rock

Literally and metaphorically. Aang doesn’t sacrifice anything, gets everything, and the clever solution of going about getting said everything is handed to him on a silver platter, requiring no active participation on his part whatsoever.

He doesn’t work to unblock his chakras, spiritually or physically.

He only speaks to his past lives to get a pat on the back and a bow-tied solution he could mindlessly follow.

Energy-bending doesn’t require any sacrifice from him, leaves no lasting marks, and only serves for the narrative to praise him as the rare individual that’s unbendable and thus so very very special.

The most infuriating thing is, however, that Aang is clearly shown as being able to beat Ozai without either the Avatar state, or energy-bending.

And he chooses not to. From this moment on, Aang no longer fights to save the world. He fights to preserve his beliefs, going directly against the instructions of his past lives and effectively reneging on his duties as the Avatar.

Again.

It’s not like you can’t portray Aang’s faithfulness to his spiritual beliefs as the key to beating Ozai and saving the world. But that’s not what the show did. There is no link between Aang sparing Ozai and securing a better future, quite to the contrary—Ozai’s survival ends up being a massive problem for the continuation of Zuko’s rule, and consequently a threat to the world at large. His survival benefits Aang and no one else.

Aang’s spiritual purity and his status as a savior of the world are allowed to coexist only due to a deliberate stroke of a writer’s pen.

And I hate it.

Welp, nothing to do about it now except to bury myself up to my tits in fix-it fics I guess.

#atla #atla rewatch #meta #zutara #anti bryke #anti-kataang #anti-aang #anti-maiko