#most of the time flirting with Mish

[feralssinbin]

Sometimes It's Worth The Risk

AO3 YN likes robots. Like. Really likes robots. A robotfucker if you will. Or at least they say they are. Honestly, all they know about robots, androids, and animatronics is what they've picked up from television and movies, anime and sci-fi, and their real world experience with them is... Lacking. That isn't enough to stop them from following the dream and applying for a job at Freddy Fazbears Mega Pizzaplex, though! And oh man do they have plans on woo-ing the fuck out of their new co-worker... That... Has about the same sentience, sass, and social anxiety inducing mannerisms as your average human. Oh no. This isn't what they signed up for. This isn't what they signed up for at all. Worst of all, he's an absolute sweet heart about everything too??? Wait. Did he just flirt back??? OH god. Someone send help. Did I mention he's basically shirtless all the time? How is YN supposed to work in these conditions? Casual info: Aaa Ok right off this is a fun as hell idea I keep trying to work on but it keeps getting backburnered for HOE, lol. YN in this is kind of a dumbass. They are not smooth or charming, unless a bumbling mess is charming to anyone (surprise, it kind of is to Sun at least). They've always been fascinated with robotic characters and have had many crushes over the years on different characters, idealizing the logical, pre-programed ease with which you can sort of anticipate how interactions. Makes it easy. Especially after dealing with so much flack and 'playful' ridicule from loose tangled friend groups forced through social closeness of school or college or work. They're more than a little nervous at such an on-the-fly change in jobs, but once they meet and really see Sun and Moon in action, well, they're back on board. Though with even less confidence than they started with, there's no time like the present to make an idiot of themself. Lucky enough, their friendly attitude is well received. Though the overhanging anxiety of being made fun of still lingers behind it all, they try not to let it get to them. Well, until they do. Sun and Moon are both pretty loose in this so far, cause I've only planned 'general ideas' of scenes and I'm writing details on the fly. I want to say there's no virus in this and moon is just 'like that'. He is STILL active as the naptime attendant, though his time out during the day is typically reserved just for that. The on-off of lights are more free. Sun is sassy and playful, but when he's not interacting directly with kids, he's happy to meet YN on an adult level. Moon rarely dulls down his interactions with kids, giving them benefit of the doubt to be smart enough to know what he's talking about and doesn't sugar coat things like Sun might. Moon is... a little chaotic? Dangerous in a mild way, but still dangerous. He play a little rough/mean with adults, and isn't afraid to haul naughty kids around, but MOSTLY never means to really hurt anyone. He handles the security of the daycare though, and if an incident does happen, it would either fall to him, or an Eclipsed Sun, the standard dual mish mash of both bots active at once, though I haven't decided on if they'd just be dual wielding, or if Eclipse for this would be his own AI, if/when he comes up at all. FOR THE MOST PART this is the unabashed flirting AU with soft cheeky flirting early, a bit of 'they're making fun of me' angst in the middle, and some more nervous, genuine, heavier flirting late game when an actual relationship is on the table instead of just casual infatuation. Will jealousy be a part of it between Sun and Moon? Maybe just enough for flavor. I don't wanna go angsty with this one beyond YNs own anxieties to overcome.

Heck i need to design the YN for this one still. shoot. UH, problem for tomorrows me.

#Sometimes It's Worth The Risk

[spnsmile]

The Jackles Initiative

funding it on his own, for his own

#lesson learned: keep trying #always different results #sometimes successful #sometimes fondle #most of the time flirting with Mish #cockles #the jackles initiative #jackles #misha collins

[lovemishjen]

I haven’t written cockles meta in ages, but the bunch of new followers I have got in the last year due to the post-finale during-pandemic shenanigans on tumblr made it feel like I should.

There are people who ask why can’t Jensen and Misha be just good friends? Why make everything sexual/romantic? tbh that’s something I have asked myself, especially in my early years in the fandom (around 10 years back! yup I’m still here). My answer is it’s always about body language and non-verbal cues.

Jen and Mish might be actors but they are also human beings, and when you spend long hours on stage, your true self shows. Add to it the behind the scene footage, gag reels and interviews and you get a real glimpse of these men and even their families. It’s tough to fake equations between people and while interpersonal relationships change and evolve over time, the basics often remain the same.

It’s obvious that Jensen and Misha started getting close towards the end of season 4, though they had a good professional camaraderie from the beginning. If they were not in a ‘romantic’ relationship, it still means they had and still have deep emotional intimacy. This could mean that one of them probably cried on the other’s shoulder during an emotional low, or they stayed up talking about deepest fears into the night. This shows in long eye contact and an easy, non-verbal understanding of each other.

But they also do have a physical comfort and familiarity with each other. Now this was my ‘tinhat opinion’ in the early years -That they were very good friends, who probably made out a few times, after having a drink or two, or as a fun dare. Misha seemed to have gone through a sexually experimental phase in the early years of his marriage and he would have been a trusted person with whom Jensen could do some ‘exploring’. Remember this was the time that Jensen was not on twitter and all we got were gag reels and Jibcon once a year. 

Once Jensen got on twitter, we got a bounty of flirting, especially during live tweeting.

Now this can be all in the spirit of fun and games, but this is where body language comes in. 

This is a normal reaction when a person from a non-romantic equation comes too close, even if it is your best friend or sibling, you jerk back.

Whereas, when Jenmish interact, it’s completely different. Now Misha is someone who does a lot of fake making out for fun with his colleagues like Sebastian Roche, Rob or Speight. But that’s not Jensen’s comfort zone, which makes this all the more remarkable.

Of course for me, the most telling confirmation were these posts by the Ackleses. 

Jensen is not someone who is very active on social media and for the last couple of years, Danneel has also been keeping a very low profile. And these posts are very different from their usual style. 

Jensen’s 10 year post could easily have been in a more humorous style, especially as he is aware of the popularity of destiel/cockles. Their post for Misha’s book is even more stunning, as Jensen has NEVER done such an almost seductive pose for a social media post. It reminded me of an old post of Danneel that was a lot more sedate comparatively. 

So this was a deliberate call by Jen and Danneel to express their love and support for Misha, and have fun with the harlequin style pose. No wonder Misha was so touched. 

 In conclusion, I don’t tinhat without reason.

As always, please remember to keep the tinhatting within fandom spaces and avoid commenting with speculation on their personal lives on their twitter and insta pages. Remember they have toned down their interactions, probably due to the intense speculation they have been facing in recent years. Let’s not deter them further in interacting publicly with each other.  Also if you're lucky enough to attend a con, always ask subtle questions

“Are you secretly in love with Misha?” ❌👎🏽

“What qualities do you admire about Misha?”  ✅👍🏽👍🏽

#cockles meta #cockles #jenmish #jenmisheel

[cooloddball]

Eyyy, I'm back on my 10x05 bullshit.

Thinking about all the fan statements that say how Jensen and Misha are on set/off camera. Osric saying that it isn't just for the screen, they look at eachother like that all the time. Mark mocking Jensen by shouting "Mish, Mish". Jar*d eluded to Cockles more times than I can even count. The whole situation with the mockumentary, I'm looking at you Jensen "I'm happy to do whatever he wants" Ackles, AND the photographer Chris "The trick is to ask Misha, because he can get Jensen to do anything."

Thinking about that cursed tree video of them all cuddly. The sweetheart and babe slip ups, pranks being used as an excuse to flirt on set, and the fact that throughout the gag reels their jokes almost always have a sexual undertone. The seeming gravitational pull they have toward eachother in bts pictures. It was constant.

Thinking about anon adding in the Robbie Thompson bombshell. All this leads me to the conclusion that it was, some kind of inside joke? Or a nod?

I just. I don't UNDERSTAND.

Is my brain fragile right now? Yes. Have I been thinking about this for far too long? Yes. Am I going to continue and barrage you with the inner rambling of my mind? Unfortunately, Yes.

Rightio, as ever:

You're fab. Ly. Xo 🦇

🦇 you make my days. Please come back any time, I'm so loving this.

Yes to everything you said add bonergate, anniversary post, that super gay jib10 selfie, jensen almost swallowing his tongue after seeing Misha's happy trail, Mish calling Jens 'sweetheart', March 1 baby, cabin boy, stud, flirting on Twitter, the 2016 FB(Meta) videos 👀, underbears, "come to Austin. We've got bats", "show off", "is that an angel covid test?", "i have the most fun with you", "you know what i haven't told you today, that i love you", Mark S. going on a rant about how Cas and Dean are in love and something something Misha being in love with Jensen or vice versa (i need to ho back and listen to refer to that again), jensen describing Misha's face during scoobynatural, that time Alaina huffmann used the gay couple emoji in response to Jensen and Misha and so many more.

Stay fab 🦇

ILY

#asks #anon #cockles #your asks make my day #barrage me as much as you want

[lesvegas]

The Rat Pack Lexicon, or Frankenspeak

In the 1960's the Rat Pack created their own language. It was a mixture of slang and cool terms that helped make them undisputably the ‘kings of cool’ in their heyday in Las Vegas.

Decided to paste the whole glossary from here just so we can have it on tumblr. Under a readmore because it’s long as hell. Original post (some definitions were cut off).

18 Karat All the way, full-out: "An 18 karat idiot."

Baby Used as an exclamation as well as a term of endearment.

Bag A person's particular interest; as in "singing's my bag"  

Barn Burner A very stylish, classy woman  

Beard A male friend who acts as a "cover"; usually for extramarital affairs  

Beetle A girl who dresses in flashy clothes  

Big-Leaguer A resourceful man who can handle any situation

  Big Casino Death  

Bird The male or female genitalia; standard greeting: "How's your bird"?

  Bombsville Any kind of failure in life; see ville

Broad Affectionate term for a girl or woman with sex appeal

Bum A person who is despised, most frequently linked to people in the media

Bunter A man who fails in almost everything he does; the opposite of gasser

Cash Out Leave, as in "Cash me out of this party" = "I'm leaving."

Charley What the rat-packers called one another  

Charlies Admiring word for a woman's breasts

Chick A young and invariably pretty girl

Clam-Bake A party or get-together.

Clyde A word used to cover a multitude of personal observations; e.g., "I don't like her clyde" means "I don't like her voice", etc.  

Coo-Coo! See crazy  

Cool A term of admiration for a person or place. An alternative word meaning the same thing is crazy.

Crazy A term of admiration for a personal, place, or thing; similar to cool.

Creep A man who is disliked for any reason

Croaker A derogatory term for a doctor.

Crumb A person it is impossible to respect

Dame A generally derogatory term for a probably unattractive woman

Dig A term of appreciation; e.g., "I dig that broad."

Dimmer Eyes (as in "I gotta see the croaker about my bad dimmers.")

"Drop it, charley" Change the conversation; see "good night, all”

Duke Tip  

  Dying An exaggerated term to mean slightly upset; e.g. "I'm dying"

End A word to signify that someone or something is the very best; "the living end"

Endsville Total failure; similar to bombsville; see ville

Fink A person who cannot be relied upon or trusted, especially someone in the media; a crumb  

First Base The start of something, usually applied in terms of failure when someone has failed to reach it.

Fracture To make laugh; as in "that fractures me"

Gas A great situation; as in "that set was a gas"

Gasoline Alcohol

Gasser A highly admired person; the end!

Gofer Someone who performs menial jobs and tasks; "go for drinks"

Good Night All A term of invective used to change the subject of conversation

Groove A term of admiration or approval; as in "in the groove"

Harvey A person who acts in a stupid or naive fashion; sometimes shortened to "Harv"

Hacked Angry; as in "he's hacked off"

Hello! A cry of surprise to no one in particular when a beautiful woman is seen

Hey-Hey Indulging in anything of a sexual nature with a woman.

Hunker A jack-of-all-trades; see gopher

Jokes An actor's lines in a screenplay

Let's Lose Charley A term used among intimates who want to get rid of a bore in their company  

Little Hey-Hey Romance; a little action with a broad

Locked-up As in "all locked-up," a term for a forthcoming date or engagement, private or public  

Loser Anyone who has made a mess of their life, drinks too much, makes the wrong enemies, etc.

Mish-Mash Similar to loser, but refers specifically to a woman who is messed up

Mothery Terrific; wild and wicked

Mouse Usually a small, very feminine girl who invites being cuddled

Nowhere A term of failure as in "he's nowhere."

  Odds Used in connection with important decisions, as in "the odds aren't right," meaning it's a no go

Original Loser A person without talent; sometimes more fully expressed as "He is the original Major Bowes Amateur Hour loser  

Pallie Dean's nickname for everyone, whether a lifelong friend or a bellhop  

Platinum Having a big heart, generous. "You're platinum, pussycat!"

Player A man who is a gambler by nature, makes friends easily, and never gives up trying

Punks Any undesirables, in particular criminals, gangsters, or mobsters

Quin Derisive term for a woman who is an easy pick-up

  Rain As in "I think it's going to rain" indicating that it is time to leave a dull gathering or party  

Ring-a-Ding A term of approval, as in "What a ring-a-ding broad!"

Sam Used in the same way as Charley for a person whose name has been forgotten, most often applied to females

Scam To cheat at gambling, as in "Hey, what's the scam?"

Scramsville To run off

Sharp A person who dresses well and with style

Smashed A word used to describe someone who is drunk. On occasions it has been replaced with "pissed."

Solid Definite, reliable. (Note: this was also used by Linc in "The Mod Squad.")

Square A person of limited character, not unlike a harvey.

Swing v. To hang out and drink, smoke, sing, generally get real loose.

Ta-Ta Goodbye

Tomato As in "a ripe tomato" a woman ready for seduction or even marriage.

Twirl A girl who loves dancing

Ville A suffix used to indicate changes in any given situation; see endsville, splitsville, etc

Witchdoctor Member of the clergy.

Wow-ee Wow Wow Figured importantly in the Rat Pack lexicon for a while in the late 50s and early 60s. It was an expression of glee, joyful anticipation and a euphemism for lubricious fun.

The following examples are a fictitious sample of Frank in conversation using his infamous lexicon:

The English version

The bartender gives me another drink. The gathering is dull, with a surfeit of ugly women and men unworthy of respect and an insufficient number of attractive ladies and easy-going fellows. I spot an untrustworthy-looking man over by the jukebox making overtures to a woman. He fancies himself an impressive fellow, flirting with this woman who is more than just another sweet thing to cuddle with. In fact, she is extraordinary. I am awestruck by her beauty.

Now the would-be Romeo is leaning closer, pressing his romantic attack. So I cast my gaze in her direction. She gazes back: A confident connection is made. She crosses the room, stands beside me, orders a drink, tells a joke that I find quite amusing, then says she found her previous companion uninteresting. I like her and believe the reverse is also true. I sense the party is on its last legs and say so. We leave.

The Frank version

The barkeep fills me up with gas. The joint ain't hopping; it's no clambake, brother - too many dames and crumbs, not enough broads and players. I spot a fink over by the jukebox making the moves. He thinks he's a big-leaguer, scamming on a chick who - hello! - is more than a mouse. An 18-karat barn-burner, boy- the end. Ring a ding!

Now the big-leaguer's leaning closer, feeding her a line, but she's not biting. It's bombsville. He's nowhere; he knows it, and so do I. So I shoot the broad a come-hither look, and she shoots back: Solid. She crosses the room, sidles up next to me, gasses up, tells a joke that fractures me and says the big-leaguer was a Harve. I dig her, and she digs me. "I think it's going to rain," I say. And just like that, we're scramsville.

#the ratpack lexicon #fnv #the chairmen #tops casino #benny gecko #fonv #fallout new vegas

[green-blue-heller]

hey, can you explain the cockles breakup? i saw u just posted about it and s7 and ive seen speculations but i dont think i really understand what happened lol

Hi Anon!

Thanks for your question!!

First off - DISCLAIMER: I do not know Jensen or Misha, or anyone they know. I do not have any direct information or confirmation of any information in this post. This information may or may not be correct (if anyone has any further clarification, feel free to add it - just please know that this same disclaimer will extend to such comments). None of this should ever be discussed with Jensen or Misha. Their lives are theirs, and while the fandom may discuss and speculate, it’s not okay to do so with the actual people.

Ok... now that we have that out of the way!

I will find the post that gave me the most of the information that I have about it, and reblog with it.

But it’s after 1 am, so I’ll give you the quickish answer now lol.

So, in 2011 Misha was essentially fired from SPN as Sera Gamble was killing off Cas (he’s in S7 ep 1-2, and then doesn’t come back until ep 17, I think it is). He wasn’t supposed to come back, at all. He was supposed to be dead dead.

Summer 2009 is where the earliest flirting is seen with JenMish. I think it was AHBL 1. It is on YT. They’re doing a signing, and Jensen and Misha are going back and forth saying about how they couldn’t see each other and they were worried. Jared pipes up and says that he’ll keep an eye on them and let them know the other is still there.

Vicki and Dee are behind Jared and there is definitely giggling going on.

Then Dec 14 2019 is when Jensen posted what’s referred to as the 10 year anniversary pic and it’s assumed that the original was taken around the same date (if anyone has any links to the pic being talked about, can you please share?)

So, if you assume Dec 2009 is when cockles officially became cockles, then it wasn’t very long after when word would have trickled down that Cas was being killed off. I’d say maybe late 2010 to early 2011.

As far as I can tell, no one knows who ended it. Speculation is probably Jensen, saying it would be too difficult now that Misha wasn’t part of the cast, even though he only lives like an hour and a half from Vancouver.

It also has to be taken into consideration that Jensen and Dee got engaged in 2009 and married in 2010. Then 2011, Misha is written off the show.

It’s fair to assume Jensen wouldn’t have wanted to rock the boat at home for something that he wasn’t sure could be sustained.

So, during the 2011 con panels (I think starting around the time of the Asylum convention) Misha is totally different and a little sarcastic/meanish. The matching rings and bracelets also disappear during this time (but different matching/coordinating jewelry shows up later though).

At Rising Con 2011, Mish and Seb have a panel, and Seb says his favorite sound is when he’s laying next to someone he loves and listening to her sleep.

Misha buts in and says “or him” and looks really sad. He’s off the entire panel.

This continues for a while with panels.

I don’t know what con it is, but at one of them, Jensen does talk about how he is glad that Misha is back on the show. I don’t know if they’ve made up yet at this point, since I don’t know when it is from.

I haven’t watched all the 2012 panels (hardly any) but by JIB, they seemed to have maybe made up.

Jensen jokes about their panel being sort of like a blind date. And apologizes that it might be a bit awkward, sort of like working together. Then Misha says that he rather enjoyed working together.

Jensen assures him then that it was great, and that he had a great time. Then tells Misha it was not him (Misha), that it was him (Jensen).

Then Misha says he thought it was really special. And Jensen makes a comment about how maybe they can give it another shot and Misha kinda shakes his head.

This is either Jensen still in the groveling phase, or the trying to be cute and apologize and say he’s happy they worked things out.

Jensen is a little extra flirty.

But it’s obvious after this that things are fine. Since by JIB10, they ran outta fucks to give and Misha literally straddles Jensen on stage and Jen gets a boner and has to adjust himself. Lol.

Though it’s obvious they’re sad about the show ending. I’m sure the breakup (if there had actually been one) over them not being on the same show anymore from 10 years ago is coming back to them. And I’m sure it’s especially not easy with covid.

But they still seem to be bringing up each other when talking, when it’s not really necessary. And Jensen still gets his stupid (in the most loving meaning) smile when he talks about Misha.

And they were obviously texting each other during the panel on Tuesday.

So, hopefully, cockles is still going strong. It’s been 11 years now, not like 1. So hopefully they have learned how to deal with things.

If only The Boys was shot in Vancouver and not in Ontario. Then he wouldn’t be far from Misha, to be able to see him once there aren’t mandatory 2 week quarantines when arriving in Canada.

But I know during JIB10, Misha made several remarks about moving to Austin.

This would be amazing, though idk of him and Vicki would actually want to uproot the kids. So it may be a more wishful thinking. Even if not, I’m sure covid is making that impossible at the moment.

So... I hope I answered your question, nonnie. Lol.

Like I said, I’ll reblog it tomorrow with links to the post I found on it, as well any other links to the panels in question (if I can find them again).

Though all the ones I talked about are on YT.

Let me know if you have further questions, either in the comments or via another ask! 💕

Edit: the post now has additional pieces, with links to other posts and references. So I suggest checking the comments to get the latest version!

#anon ask #cockles #cockles breakup theory #jenmish #jensen ackles #misha collins #team dumpster mansion

[bidean-byedean]

I was thinking about Jen/Mish because what else do I have to do with my life? And I’d be very interested to see the reaction to misha being with another woman. There seems to be an (probably very recent for most people) acceptance that Jen/Mish isn’t covert or extra-marital in the sense that their wives are beards/unknowing, but that they all participate in the relationship to some degree. although there isn’t much to go on when speculating about Mish/Dan/Vicki/Jen, would people think it’s so cute if we saw Vicki and Jensen flirting? Dan and Misha are clearly good friends, but they would definitely have been vilified for being sexual towards each other? I’ve also seen lots of stuff about Misha and Darius and like great, I’m not saying that misha can’t pursue extra-marital relationships with just men if that’s what he wants, it’s just the fan reaction that I’m intrigued by.

Idk I was thinking about how readily the fandom accepts misha’s polyamory but only with other men. We know Misha and Vicki are poly because of their relationship with another woman but whenever I’ve heard about misha possibly having extra-marital sex with women it’s always framed as him doing something inappropriate (usually by anti-misha fans so I’m super interested in hearing other perspectives on his apparent abuses of power). Maybe it’s the same as with fictional ships and we only see Misha in very male dominated circumstances so when would we be privy to his relationships with women? We get a lot of stories about Vicki but she’s done a fantastic job of keeping out of sight (crazy good, I literally can’t remember the last time I saw a pic of her??) so it’s hard to be a “fan” of her and them in the same way.

Does anyone else get this? Am I insane? I just think a lot of people treat Jen/Mish as cute and acceptable because it’s essentially a bisexual-fantasy-monogamy: you can be in a deeply committed relationship with one man and one woman so you’re not “choosing” or “missing out”. (This would also apply to Dan/Vicki) Maybe this is the case, but it could definitely not be and I can’t take the ~shippers~ losing their shit if we ever find out the relationship structure and it’s not the Monogamy Plus™️ that everyone on here has romanticised.

#I cannot believe I’m posting this as if I think actual misha Collins and actual Jensen ackles are in a polygamorous relationship #BUT #if misha (we’ll stick with the Collins’ marriage being most likely to be open) #has been sleeping with other people as is agreed to within his relationship #cockles fans cannot turn around and criticise him??? #i can just imagine the fall out of misha admitting to being open/poly this whole time #but if it’s not just tacking on a monogamous homosexual relationship with Jensen #then he’s a monster #especially if he’s been sleeping with other women!! #please someone tell me to shut up #if you have thoughts !!! #if you know More than I do!!! #personal #cockles #jenmish #polycule #I’m very interested in different expressions of polyamory #absolute crack

[toomanytuesdays]

Literally every Cockles panel I watch, I always have thoughts, so here are my thoughts from the 2018 JIB 9 Sunday panel that Jared crashes:

Literally 30 seconds in and they’re getting all close to each other

Jensen being done with his husband for whistling in his ear then saying “that’s super loud, dude” and Misha being all cutesy when he says “thank you, I’m compensating” and then smirking at Jensen

Them sitting on the two closest chairs ever like there couldn’t be any more room between them

Jensen not being too smiley or laugh-ey but Misha being all cute and smiley and laughing at everything Jensen says

Them talking like all casual just like they were married at the dinner table

“You know how many times I’ve seen you do that?” and then both of them grinning like idiots as if they know something we don’t and Jensen has those damn heart eyes

The whole “I thought the exact opposite about Misha wanting to stay and now he’s been around for the best 10 damn years of my life” bit where Misha thanked Jensen and Jensen puts his hand on Misha’s leg then pretends to shudder and Misha smells his leg and you can see Jensen watching him out of the corner of his eye

Jensen’s soft “how ya doin’, bud?”

The bit where they’re like “Jensen knew that Misha was gonna need another shirt so he brought one for him”

Then Jared interrupts and Jensen is mad aF

His face just dropped and went stone cold and then he smiled but you could see it was such a fake smile and that it was literally saying “go away I was enjoying my time with my husband and then you had to come and ruin it”

ESPECIALLY WHEN HE POPS THE BALLOON

He’s literally saying to Jared with his eyes “go away”

Misha watching Jensen tie the balloons to the chair. No, admiring him

Jared: “Ackles, can I have a balloon please?” Jensen: “I literally just tied them up” in the most unamused, annoyed voice ever

Misha: “how good of a knot did you tie?” Jensen: “you know what? I tied the kinda knot tha a professional knows how to tie” in the most flirty voice ever

“Did he have to join us?”

Jensen not letting Misha have the balloons aka flirting so Misha could jump all over him. Then them fighting over the balloon like they’re 10 year-olds. Literally, that’s how I flirted with my crush when I was younger, play fighting

Literally Jensen’s all about Misha and is completely ignoring Jared

Misha sitting back down and his and Jensen’s legs are milimeters away from touching yet Jared is off to the side, I mean look:

LOOK AT ALL THAT SPACE

Jensen laughing at Misha trying to pop the balloon

Jensen’s liteRALLY deliberately not looking in Jared’s direction, he’s got his right shoulder slightly forward, as if he wants to block Jared out but still wants to be with Misha so he’s hesitant

Jensen being all jealous when Misha and Jared touch each other, pursing his lips and looking away, playing with his sleeve

Jared: “oh, see ya later then!” *gets up to leave* Jensen: “yep” with no hesitation

Jensen arguing with Jared about who reads faster

I just get the whole “Jensen’s pissed off” vibe the second Jared gets there and it stays the whole time, no matter how “funny” he is

Jensen said “if we’re talking about the end of Supernatural, then dying is not the finality” so I hope that he expressed that to the writers so no one dies at the end of Supernatural! (hopefully)

Every time Misha touches Jared, Jensen gets slightly more pissed off

Fan: “it’s a pleasure to see all three of you together” *Jared and Misha clap, Jensen nods and you can see his brain say “Wish it was just Mish and I”*

When Misha stands, Jensen’s eyes flick down to his ass and then back up

Misha making a Destiel joke and Jensen smiling and laughing and clapping for the first time since Jared joined

Misha saying if Cas had a Cas Cave it would just be a bunch of cat nip and Jensen doing the face palm laugh and then adding “and kitty litter” and him and Misha laughing so hard and Jared’s smile looks like he doesn’t know what the f they’re talking about

Misha touching Jared again and Jensen’s smile immediately dropping

“He has that poster in his trailer” how do you know Jensen lmao

Jensen manhandling Misha

Jensen giving Jared snarky comments about Limbo after Misha slapped Jared’s ass and looking so unamused then yelling at the fan when she defended Jared lmao he’s so pissed Jared’s there I bet he had all these thoughts in his mind about how the panel was gonna go and then Jared came and ruined them all and he’s maD

A fan asking what Sam and Dean would do if they met alternative universe Castiel and Jensen smirking like a little shit and then trying to hide it

Jensen jumping at the opportunity to role play and hear Misha’s alt!Cas accent and then Misha and Jensen unicorn laughing after Misha does it and then Jensen and Jared turning it into Sam and Dean laughing at alt!Cas

Jensen unicorn laughing at Misha saying “In my head they were meeting at a club” vs. Jensen going stome cold when Jared said “to this day that’s the best acting I’ve ever seen Misha do” seconds later

Jensen going completely still and emotionless when Misha says his wife is his rock then saying that Danneel is his rock, and adding that he has an amazing “pebble” in his life and putting his hand on Misha’s shoulder and rubbing his back - I screamed

And then Misha did it back to Jensen and he had the softest smile for a milisecond like “yeah I love you too”

Jensen casually putting his hand on Misha’s knee, rubbing it, then leaning on it and keeping it there, even when Misha stands up

Their knees finALLY TOUCHING

AND THIS IS JUST PART ONE BABEY

#i’m probs not gonna do part 2 bc that was long af #cockles #jensen ackles #misha collins #jared padalecki #j2m

[faejilly]

I was tagged by @la-muerta​ & @facialteeth​ & @thedivinemissema​ for the WIP/Title Game

rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and interests you and i’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

AND THEN  by @shadoedseptmbr​ @msviolacea​ & @ravenclawnerd​ for the “stories you want to write... but for some reason haven’t yet”

so this will be a mish-mash of both? The WIPs will mostly have blurbs in this case (to fit the second meme) but you are still welcome to ask follow-up questions, if you’d like ;) Assuming you make it through the list, it is uh. Not Short.

Anyone who would like to play with their WIPs, please consider yourself tagged in either or both of these. :D

Misc Fic Folder:

“untitled document” - where I’m working on fictober fills so I have word-counts for my GYWO tracker. I am not working on these because Brains Are Dumb and also Going Back To Work Is Exhausting

I made a file called “YULETIDE!” which has nothing in it but I’m determined to finish this year so that is definitely technically a thing in the Unending WIP List of Doom worth mentioning. (Tho obviously that’s all I could say even if I had started, because anonymous.)

“coda-fics, rewatch!” -yes, that exclamation mark is important! it’s to keep me motivated! (it didn’t work). Much like untitled, this is for putting stuff so I can do word count tracking even if I don’t know what I’m doing. Currently I think it just says “MARYSE” because I was working on my SH 1x6 coda-fic and then got distracted and haven’t typed anything up yet. (Yay notebooks? Boo notebooks? Not even sure at this point.)

WNIP (works not in progress) Folder:

“TOG” - I had one vivid mental image of how Nicky & Joe met (blood-stained evil smiles?) but then no idea for a follow-up story and also the fandom is insane and I’m not sure I want to deal with all of *gestures vaguely* all that

“Shan Xia Notes” -for a TTRPG that never quite got off the ground; she was a semi-tragic selkie who was still in love with the evil queen/lady who stole her skin and I got to play her for like one session and she was surprisingly chaotic neutral, which wasn’t at all what I’d been expecting. But the game never really got off the ground, so I never had enough info to really delve into writing backstory fic

“post-Kruschev” -Kruschev’s List was the last episode of Scarecrow & Mrs King, and I was debating writing an epilogue in place of the s5 we never got, to try and tie up some loose ends, but the fandom’s three old-ladies in trench coats and I never quite worked up the gumption to get it anywhere

“Code Realize warm as silk sequel” -there is literally nothing in this file except “SEX! Only a little angst” because I wanted to write some “we can’t actually touch each other” smut but never actually did. 🤷‍♀️

BioWare (also all Not-In-Progress Anymore)

“seb/adelaide”, “Theia” & “DAI Erana” -these WIP folders were cannibalized for ficlets for the last few times I did fictober, and while originally I had ideas for longer epilogues for all three of them, at this point I don’t think any of the remaining bits could support a story any longer.

”whispers in the dark” -Maia Ryder never really got much fic at all; the cancellation of any further Andromeda stuff was really disheartening, and at this point I’d have to play the game again, and I don’t think I’m gonna manage that any time soon

”TSP” -a Mass Effect 3 Shepard AU collab project that kind of went off the rails, and our mutual brains/lives never quite seem to line up so we can try and rebuild it ”Ngaio & Tane” -my one truly ruthless Shepard (Alliance background, who romanced Traynor) whose father Tane Shepard was, I think, in PsyOps, and I wanted to figure out their complicated relationship but never really did know where I was going with it

”JE Zu & Yaling” -so I’ve rambled about my Tragic Sagacious Zu Romance Thoughts regarding Jade Empire more than once (#Icy Yaling should have most of it) but apparently I want to yell about it more than I want to actually write it? Whoops.

”CI sequel: 5 times fic?” -Cruel Intentions is a kinkmeme fill that I started and then it sat for like five years before I actually finished it, and I liked the ending, but it does leave a giant fucking question mark in terms of how those people got from there to where they are after the game, and I kind of wanted to write a proper h/c fic rather than just... leaving them wallowing in all that trauma?

But I didn’t. I don’t even remember for sure how I wanted to frame the 5/1 of it all, besides it being something sad about allowing people to see you or touch you in some way. (Prayers maybe, since I think there was definitely some Sebastian & Fenris & faith stuff going on in there.)

“candles” -Merribela prompt fill that I never was happy with? Not sure what I might do with it at this point, so it’s just sitting there all sad and lonely and neglected-like.

Shadowhunters

pt1: WIP LIST ONLY

“Persuasion” -so I keep trying to write Persuasion AUs in many fandoms because it’s my favorite Austen, but I think I like it too much, I have no real solid concept of how I’d transform it, and if I don’t have anything else to say about different characters within that framework, I have no push to actually write anything? Also this SH version of it suffered from MASSIVE scope creep when I started outlining and it got too big for me to handle so I like, killed it twice? Whoops. This one is really probably never gonna happen.

“oosdt sequel” -I wanted to write more about the Forest That Eats People and Magnus & Alec as Guardians Between Worlds, and also some background Magnus’ Found Family & Lightwood Family Feels (maybe some clizzy?) and I left a Madzie plot-thread dangling from the first one on purpose even but I think this one had too many ideas and not enough focus so it’s sort of sprawling all over a doc with a lot of “???” in it

“procedural-ish” -this was originally going to be a sex-farce. and then it turned more serious. and then maybe kind of copaganda which was uncomfortable in terms of the Everything That Is The News in 2020, and then maybe it was more a Mafia AU and at that point I had self-inflicted tone whiplash and I wished the voices in my head were a little more forthcoming about their plans so I stopped before I brained myself on my computer monitor in frustration.

“I had rather a rose than live forever” -I started a reverse!verse Malec (Shadowhunter!Magnus, High Warlock!Alec) for bingo last year, and I couldn’t quite get it together in time, so I made a moodboard inspired by the bits I’d started instead. I may see if one of my prompts from Bingo this year help me finish it?

“fall fright fest (practical magic  au)” -exactly what it says on the tin! almost exactly a year old & neglected! IDEK ANYMORE (I talked about this one with the WIP meme last time tho: here)

“priest!kink theology?” -I thought it was gonna be smut? I like priest!kink. I have made other people like it and yell at me even! But then I kept diverging into demon!Magnus thinking about Priest!Alec’s faith and as usual, IDEK ANYMORE *laughs*

(If they’re remotely canon-adjacent or divergent, a bunch of these are in here because I need to rewatch the show to get the pacing/timing/tone right and I haven’t, and I don’t know why, because I enjoy the show, but BRAINS! Are Dumb! So I guess that’s it?)

“I do” -I have tried to write this damnable Malec arranged marriage fic like six different times. I have signed up for fic exchanges and bangs with it, I have rewritten massive sections, trying to change tone or structure or POV or whatever, and it basically comes down to they like each other too fast and I keep not gutting it enough to get back to a useful pace, but by the time I realized that I was on take six and kind of sick of it. I may get back to it eventually

“wing!fic” -canon divergent in early s1, trying to deal with the consequences of Simon’s kidnapping as the Truly Serious Event that it should have been. It uh. Got heavier than I expected with those consequences (considering it was originally just supposed to be Alec’s wings flirting with Magnus) and also see above re: rewatching for pacing.

“2x20 aftermath/date night/pandemonium porn“ -yes that is the actual wip title. It used to be “spite fic” because I was originally inspired by fighting against a lot of fic!Alec characterization that was clearly based more on the books and ATG syndrome than the Alec in the show, which is the Alec I know and like and want to read about. BUT, pacing and etc. again, I think. Also I have somehow entirely lost my knack for writing porn, which makes it difficult to finish something originally intended to be smut!fic. Or even teasing almost!smut.

“rubbish heap” -so this is about three different fics that I realized complemented each other really well so they’re now all in the same file as I try to turn them into the sequel of “with an if in its soul”. It includes amnesia, parabatai lore shenanigans, a s3 rewrite, and some truly awful Owl adjustments that make me wince in horrified authorly delight and pain. BUT, as with the other ones in this file, the scope is large and I normally write short-fic and I kind of just threw up my hands in exasperation. I may have to break it back up into the three different fics instead, if I ever actually want to write it. Them? But also I need to take better notes on s3 to make sure I have what I need in here.

SH Pt 2: Started posting or not yet in hiatus because it’s actually almost ready to be a thing in the real world! maybe!?

“kisses (firsts)” -I actually started publishing this one, a “series of firsts” that was supposed to be kind of relationship milestones and kind of an excuse for smut, and then there wasn’t that much smut and I lost momentum and also dear lords & ladies the timeline is stupid, wtf. I may not ever add to this one, tbqh. It doesn’t stop in a terrible place, and they’re all ficlets so they stand alone all right.

“clizzy epilogue” -this is blank atm, it’s more a reminder for me to keep poking away at my “girls who can’t breathe air, only fire” collection BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO ACTUALLY GET TO THE CLIZZY AT SOME POINT

"mer!alec" -pts 2-4 of a series, but apparently having an actual plan gets in the way of me *writing* the thing, and I haven't managed to throw the half an outline far enough away from my brain to be able to write again. Or something like that.

"ibhww" -if broken hearts were whole is a soulmate fic I started a million years ago, and purposefully set aside to finish some other WIPs because I thought they'd be quick, and now it's just buried under two and a half years of regret and shame so it's hard to get back to it

"iafy" -i am for you is a delightful & frothy semi-epistolary fluff piece that also just lost momentum because Life & 2020 & etc. It's far and away the most popular thing I've ever posted on AO3, which also makes me feel weird sometimes, and I feel like the fact that there's no grand conclusion planned, just a bit more fluff and settling in, might end up being disappointing? Basically, it's the first time I think I've psyched myself out about reader expectations, and until I get over that I'm going to have trouble finishing the last couple chapters. (There really are probably only two more chapters though. IT’S SO CLOSE, I wish I could just... write it. And yet?)

“fake-hating” -I do not like fake dating as a trope that much, I just do not get it, but I love outside POVs and arranged marriages and there’s this delighful tumblr post about how they wished there was more fic about people who were together but had to pretend they werent’, and uh. This may be that? Eventually? I’m not exhausted by my failure to finish it yet, so it’s still in the regular folder rather than the hiatus folder, even though nothing’s been posted for it.

AND I THINK THAT’S IT?

Not as terrible as it could be, but still. MANY WORDS THAT MAY NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. Posting the equivalent of one’s old ratty sketchbook is always a weird feeling. :D

#on writing #writing memery #unending WIP List Of Doom

[spnsmile]

I dunno if I am comfortable enough to ask this but if I made you uncomfortable in anyway by asking this, I am sorry. Yet here goes..

S15 gag reel.. The fart joke..

When Jensen and Misha approved it, they should have known what they were giving permission to, Right? I mean they laughed at it, so they know how it is gonna look for us. Do you think he thought of it as a gift to heart broken fans? And Do you think he was probably implying it happened between Jensen and Misha or Castiel and Dean? I know it was off camera but still..he might have thought of it as " Aww Destiel fandom is heart broken, may be they can have this"? Or.. more of a " Me and Mish innuendo.. I don't care who sees it"..?

Im nonethewiser, darling~

all I know is the gagreel is always in their heads whenever they are shooting scenes so it's hard to say it was "for heartbrokens", but more on "me and my mish gonna continue fuck*ng around cuz it's with Mish"😆 and because that's what Jackles does daily. He knows exactly the message he's sending 😂 they've been doing word plays of tops and bottoms during cons right? This too seems natural and with intent to blow minds. But you know... It's the most natural thing for Cockles to get their screen time. It's been there from s5 🙌

The Flirting

The Desire

The Offer

The Cowboy

The Fondles

The Rest his Case

The Shameless lol

from the beginning it was innuendos :> did they actually do it? Why not? 😆

#cockles #jackles #misha collins #idjits #fucking around lol #so much love #it's always jackles that starts it haha

[timeforelfnonsense]

Apprentice April 2

(sprite by Jilljoycearts )

LONG POST

1. What does your character feel when they see their LI for the first time each day?

Fable has such a tender adoration for Julian. She’s been very guarded and private about her authentic feelings for most of her life so having someone she can be soft with means a lot to her.  She loves waking up and knowing he’ll still be there no matter what.

2. What things does your character love about their LI?

She loves how thoughtful and selfless he his. Fable is a little self centered at times and she admires how willing to care for others and put their needs before his own.

She loves how emotionally intelligent he is.

She loves his wit and sense of humor .

She loves his kindred sense of adventure and wanderlust

She loves his sharp features, lushes hair, his absurd tallness, his shoulders and hands.

3. What things about their LI annoy them?

When he crosses the line from selfless to babying. Fable is very independent and sometimes Julian can smother her a bit. Sometimes his devotion to her can make her feel a little claustrophobic due to her childhood trauma but she’s working on it.  

Julian has a habit of talking about his work with a bit too much enthusiasm and it grosses her out.

Julian: “You should have seen this guy’s leg today Fable! The bone was all the wa-”

Fable: “JULIIIIANNN”

4. Who does what chores?

They are both a little messy but share chores around the shop. They both grew up on ships so they have plenty of experience swabbing the deck lol

5. Do they prefer to stay at home, or do they like to go out?

The both love to go out! Drinking and dancing are always favorites. They go and see plays pretty often as well!  

6. What are some little things they do for each other throughout the day?

Fable is a pretty good cook actually so she often brings Julian lunch and coffee when he’s at the clinic.

Julian leaves her little lovey-dovey notes around the shop. 

7. What are some private jokes they share?

If you’ve read the first few chapter’s of For Lovers and Fools, you’ll know that they met when Fable asked Julian to walk her home while pretending to be her betrothed. They joked about being engaged all the time before the plunge/when they weren’t really dating and would sometimes put on the act for strangers.

Julian lost his v card to Fable like 7 years before the events of the route and their is some occasional teasing over how Julian was “cuntstruck” by her for almost a decade. 

8. What are some embarrassing couple stories?

oooo as previously mentioned Julian lost his virginity to Fable when h e was 21 and she was 19. She said something a little too dirty for him and he ended up being kind of a two pump chump. Fable is a sex positive icon though and made sure he knew she still had fun but oh boy he was embarrassed about it for a long time.

Fable likes to get Julian riled up and flustered around other people. Countless awkward erections...  

They both like to drink a little too much and have gotten in hot water with the guard for rowdy behavior. 

9. Is their relationship open or exclusive?

Ok. This is a really big and hard question. Fable has a lot of commitment issues and is really afraid of letting people close enough to hurt her because of some abandonment issues. She is also very independent and values freedom. She has a lot of fears about being “owned”. She is really up front about this with her partners. The majority of her relationships have been friends with benefits or one nightstands. She’s only ever been in love with one person other than Julian and they were very on again off again. 

 Moreover, her father is a wood elf and for the most part they are non-monogamous and her mother’s people don’t have a persuasion for it either (monogamy is common but just as much as non monogamy). So She has never been in an exclusive relationship. She just didn’t grow up worrying about finding someone to be with long term.

I’ve added a little passage from a WIP that encapsulates her feelings. 

“So,” Julian’s voice was pitched a bit higher than normal. His brows knit together, thinking of the right thing to say, “We should probably talk about what happened in the library… ” 

“It was a bit of debauchery, not a big deal, Julian. Fun is fun, no strings attached.” 

He put his hand on her slender shoulders, “ When I told you I wanted you that night on the docks, I meant it.” 

She turned away from him her arms tight across her chest, “Look Julian, I really like you. But, I don’t really do commitment.”

Julian looked at her blinking, “So, you don’t want to be with me?” 

She looked back at him over her shoulder rolling her eyes, “Never said that.” 

“You said-” 

“I said I didn’t do commitment, not that I didn’t want you. Not the same thing at all.” Fable shrugged, “I’m just not the kind of woman who wants to belong to someone else. And besides you hardly know me. How do you know that I’m the kind of person you want to be attached to.” 

“Fable I don’t want to own you. That, that isn’t what relationships are. Not that I’m proposing a relationship. That is, we did just meet and-” 

She cocked her head curls tumbling over her shoulder. Her cherry lips curled into a blithe smile that could stop a man’s heart. She let out an amused laugh, strengthening the lapel of his jacket. 

“Oh, you are a sweet one doctor. That’s exactly what relationships are.” She took his hands into her own drawing them to her lips, “ I will give you my affection, my body, my company, but my independence is something I will surrender to no one.” 

He followed a few paces behind her  the rest of the way. Remaining silent whilst mulling over their conversation. He’d only known her for a short time. He had no reason to feel so disappointed in her disdain towards commitment. Yet, her words had put a pit in his stomach, Still, he’d take as much of herself as she was willing to share without complaint. There was something strangely familiar about her words. A bittersweet deja vu that caused his temples to ache. 

That being said she and Julian are exclusive. He is the first person to want to be exclusive with her. Post game she and Julian are in a really good place and they have a really long and good talk about what they are. He would have been willing to keep things open but she could tell he was only offering for her sake. Julian gives her a sense of security and genuine love she has only had with one other person and she hasn’t wanted to be with anyone else sense they got together. 

10. How often do they need to be intimate?

They hump like rabbits. They both have pretty high sex drives and physical touch is a shared love language. 

11. Have they ever fought?

 They don’t fight too much. Julian is emotionally intelligent enough to tell when she’s upset and Fable is pretty diplomatic so things normally work out before an argument happens. They have a bit of a Fenris/Isabella vibe and normally settle things with a bit of hummor:  

Fable: (Sighs) This is silly. I don't want to argue.

Julian: Do you want to guess what color my underclothes are again?

Fable: Oh, yes, that's much more fun.

I think their biggest argument is a lot like the argument from eternal sunshine of a spotless mind, both pre and post respawn.

Pre respawn: "Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive. But I'm just a fucked-up girl who's lookin' for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours."

Post respawn:

https://youtu.be/_q0ZZKbzITI

It is much of the same argument but this time around Julian is able to understand and acknowledge her fears much better than the first time around. He was young and still had a lot of his own growth to do when he first met her her but they’ve both grown up a lot in the time between their first kinda relationship and now.

12. Describe their perfect date

A night at the Raven or a little trip on the harbor with the slope!

13. Do they have an evening routine?

They take a bath together.

Julian Brushes her hair 

She rubs his back.

14. Describe a “paid scene” with your character and their LI

It would be fable just teasing and flirting with Julian at the Raven!

“I can feel my cheeks blushing from just thinking about what I could say to you”

15. Would they go on a double date?

Totally! They are both extroverts and people-people! They would be that couple that is a little too all over each other during a double date though! 

16. Who pops the question?

Fable is a known  Gamophobia.

This is a major charter trait for her in both my arcana and dnd cannons. It has a lot to do with her parents and how she was treated by the elf side of her family. That being said I think Julian is about the only person who could get her to settle down. They are well suited for each other being similar in a lot of ways but really different in others. Julian is quick to fall and very open with his feeling and that offers her a security she isn’t used to.

Julian is the one to propose.

He does it on a trip to Nevivon.

He takes her out to the dock at sunset.

There is a big gushy speech

The ring is a ruby from a temple of Sune:  associated with love, especially faithful passionate commitment and closeness. As well as being on of Fable’s favorite colors and a call back to the “wedding” ring she gave him when they first met. 

She PANICS. But does say yes.

17. Describe the wedding

They get married at sea as its a shared passion

It’s a big mish mash of their cultures.

Fable is half wood elf and her mother is fantasy Celtic and Julian is fantasy Russian Jewish.

A hand fasting & blood oath

“ Blood of my Blood, and Bone of my Bone, I give ye my Body, that we Two might be One. I give ye my Spirit, 'til our Life shall be Done.” (I like outlander sue me)

A pebble toss

Couples in ancient times were often married near some sort of water source such as a lake, river or holy well, believed to be favored by the Celtic gods. Wedding guests were each given small stones to cast into the water while making a wish for the couple's future happiness.

A chuppah

A glass breaking

Lots of dancing and rowdy partying

Her family sails out for the wedding as well as all of their friends and family from Nevivon and Vesuvia.

Fables dress:

I’ve included a cute little mood board.

A big Celtic gown made mostly by her aunt and mother but also worked on by herself and Portia. It’s an important custom in her culture that all the women of the clan make the wedding dress.

She wears Julian’s mother’s pearls given to her at the masquerade

A  kokoshnik that belonged to Lilinka

18. Any babies?

I’m not sure I want to make this 100% cannon but, eventually they have at least daughter named Keava! She has Fable’s eyes and Julian’s hair. She was very much unplanned but it all worked out! I kind of like the idea of them being like fergus and marsali from outlander though and keeping the population up.

19. Do they stay in Vesuvia, or eventually move somewhere else?

They travel a lot! Right after they go back to piracy for a bit  but keep the shop and clinic as a home base.

20. Talk about that family life.  What’s it’ like?

Julian is the best dad ever.

They are both open door policy parents 

They both have strong family ties and have a  multi-culti home for their kid(s).

#julian x apprentice #apprentice april #julian devorak #fable Amastacia #fan aprentice #arcanaverse

[cooloddball]

I woke up to see a lot of people saying that they no longer believe in cockles because of the Gish zoom reunion and a very long ask on the same. I was skeptical to watch it at first but some very nice people @green-blue-heller and @thegandy told me it was an amazing panel. Well, ladies, the peer pressure worked and I watched it. I have to say, that panel was the most adorable zoom panel they've had together. It was 20 minutes of pure joy and serotonin boost on my pant. So thank you.

Now back to the panel. I watched this video from the official Gish YouTube account so that's what I'll be referring to. I don't know if there are any other videos but well, let's go.

Let me be honest, waiting for the ceremony to begin, I was nervous. These two are total chaos together so I was already suffering from second-hand embarrassment way before it began.

Jensen being an old man who doesn’t understand technology will never not be funny to me because this guy has been in Hollywood since he was 18 and you would think he would know how to operate a camera.

What’s happening with your face, ‘I can’t.” who taught you that lingo, Jensen? It’s very hip.

Misha pretending not to know that he had that filter on, yeah sure Jan.

Jensen’s excitement when he saw Misha’s face. Can someone please look at me like that? I mean I don’t have big beautiful blue eyes like Misha but still—c’mon.

Is it just me or was it more like they were flirting while talking about the whole "how’s filming going?"

Mish saying, “Early on you were worried that you gonna have to act professional.” Is it just me or does this sound like pillow talk?

They look so happy to be together again even if it's not in person.

Misha knows Jensen won’t go back to the States until June. How do you know Misha?

Misha calling Jensen Buddy?Man?Dude? Is it just me or is Misha trying way too hard to call Jensen all the dude-bro names that he can come up with?

The look Jensen has on his face when talking about JJ’s birthday

Jensen is so handsome.

Why was the conversation about Jensen technically being a Canadian so funny? is it an inside joke that we missed or? Misha is literally just saying that Jensen is technically a Canadian having lived there for almost 20 years.

Their conversation flows very naturally. It’s not forced or anything.

Jensen hulking out. Yum. I'm looking respectively, please.

"It's like hat head on your face."

The hat head comment is followed by Misha saying, "jensen, I miss you so much, man"

And Jensen saying, "you too brother" then immediately segues to talking about texting Jared and how they all can’t all wait to be together. Not weird at all. Also, is it just me or does Misha look kinda ‘not happy about that? Not in a bad way but maybe he wanted Jensen to say he misses him too?

Misha knows Jensen stoic about showing emotion. Yeah, they know each other well. Misha calling out Jensen for not showing emotion- performing masculinity and Jensen agreeing.

The silent disco moment was lit.

Are they moving closer to the camera?

Also, Misha showing a sliver of skin. Yes show your man your titties on main Misha why don’t you?

Also, Jensen pretending not to know who Jewel is when they clearly know each other. He was even and has even been on her show with Dee. See, this is how he acts. This is to all the people who say he and Misha are not friends because he doesn't know anything about his organizations. That's just how he is. He likes playing coy and grumpy.

Why did Misha specifically ask if his [Jensen's] family was still Colorado?

In regard to Jewel? He could’ve just said “she’s from Colorado too” It’s either,

he wanted people to know where Jensen’s family was which doesn’t make sense, or

he wanted us to know that he didn’t know where they are which is also weird like guys you don't have to try so hard to prove you don't know each other's whereabouts.

They are so in sync even on a zoom call. What do they say about old habits? Keep moving closer why don't you?

That hand sign Jensen did. Did Misha teach him that? Misha does that sign a lot.

Beard grooming regimen. Yes, Jensen come through for the beard growers. Thank you Misha for that question btw.

When Charlie said Jensen uses a horse brush on his beard.

Misha is so cute guys. Wtf? Also his eyes. Misha’s nose crinkles when he laughs and Jensen’s eye crinkles when he laughs.

Jensen talking about his beard was freaking hilarious.

When Misha is showing his greys Jensen keeps moving closer to the screen as if he will see better or touch it the closer he gets to the screen.

"See this is what happens when I don't see you for the better part of the year." So it means you have seen him between May last year and May this year, right? Tell us more.

What does for the better part of a year mean?

It means more than half. The better part of a year could be used to describe a period of seven to eleven months. It's typically used to give emphasis to how long something took. Like many idioms (keep an eye on something, face me, smell a rat) it isn't literal.

Misha saying he’s going grey because he is incredibly stressed out for not seeing Jensen for a while. That laugh and the awkward pause after Misha said that. And Jensen agreeing

Misha, you know about the album. This is just marketing for your husband’s album. We saw you liked that post of the album post so don't play coy now.

Jensen asking Misha where he is? Okay, hear me out. This is weird because when they organized the zoom, they had to talk about Time zones, right? So, why wouldn’t he know where Misha is?- performing masculinity, again.

Jensen camped in Ojai and calls it a special place. Reminds me of how they talked about the Vatican being magical when a priest conducted a mass for just the two of them under the Lucifer and Micahel mural.

Misha wants to go to Marfa really badly. Did your husband share those gorgeous photos with you? Jensen please put them up. We wanna see. And take your husband to Marfa once you are back home.

Love you, my friend. Misha finally said he loves him back, live on video.

Wait, Misha is trying to end the conversation but Jensen keeps on interrupting so he can linger on. Hmm..

I swear Jensen said okay babe. The way his lips moved to form the /b/ sound. He said it people.

Jensen stop lingering.

Why did Jensen say he’s going to sit on the couch for the rest of the day? Did he want Misha to tell him to join them for the hunt?

Misha is texting Jensen right? Because his whole demeanor changed when Jensen left and got this serious look on his face. You can clearly see it's like he received a text right after Jensen logged off and he had to respond.

Charlie is so cute.

Overall, I think this panel was sweet and flirty, and fun. Jensen calling Misha brother had the same effect as Misha calling him man/dude/my friend. Did people expect Jensen to call him sweetheart throughout the panel when clearly this was an event that people who are not even in the spn fandom are watching from all over the world? C'mon. But in the end, he called him babe so there's that.

I'm also happy that they didn't talk about the show because it shows their friendship is more than just about that shit show (affectionate) that was spn.

#cockles #cockles gish reunion 2021 #i think this panel was neat and wonderful #i couldn't stop smiling #i don't know what people were expecting ti happen but i was not disappointed #gish fest

[theyarebothgunshot]

(1) anon again! thanks a lot for your answer. :) multi-ask incoming! i suppose i took his tone of 'and there are people who think this is real' as a pretty forward implication of it... well, not being real. this, and the explanation of the clothes. (if you find the receipts, i'd love to see them! it's very cute either way.) i suppose you are entirely right about the fact that they have pointedly never denied this outright, but i also feel like that's some classic trolling by misha? (...)

this got kind of long so i am putting the rest of your asks and my answers under the cut! 

(2) like sooo many people i see in this fandom, i have never shipped rpf - and honestly, with cockles, still don't? i just watch some of their interactions and my brain goes ding-ding-ding-ding and i go - what? what is it??? and i can't figure out if i am projecting or seeing things i WANT to see. equally... they are real people and i don't want to be a creep about this. my problem with a lot that i've seen is that some gifs take interactions out of context (...)

(3) i would say probably the biggest problem i have with it is that while some things i genuinely cannot find a het/platonic explanation for, but there are a lot of gifs which have slowed down movements/cherry-picked moments/taken things out of contexts, and feels less flirty when you watch the actual full video(s). so what, out of all this, would you say is the most damning evidence that cockles is an Actual True thing, if you had to pick some select things? :)

(4) okay, last ask! sorry for rambling. on your point of waking up together - i'm not sure of the context, and i don't want to speculate too much on information that we don't have, but if they are staying at a hotel in a city abroad/elsewhere, i figure it wouldn't be too far-fetched for them to share a room with cast mates? so waking up together doesn't necessarily have Those implications? i don't know. thanks for bearing with me!

so first things first: i kind of feel like in the end, if you have seen and read everything there is to see and read when it comes to cockles, and still are not sure about any of it or are inclined to think that it’s not something more than a close friendship, then i’m probably not going to be able to ‘sway’ you. sometimes it is just a matter of difference of perspectives, and that’s fine! however, seeing as you asked this in a way that makes it clear that you are genuinely curious, i obviously will respond. 

you are right that what misha said could be implying that it’s not real, but then again: he never outright denied it. neither of them have. i think that a lot of the time misha is very tongue in cheek about it. that doesn’t mean that it’s not real, though. 

i understand never shipping real people, and not wanting to feel like a creep. the thing is though: this goes for about 90% of the cockles fandom, too. most of us never shipped irl people before, and we certainly don’t wanna be creeps about it. being creeps about it would be going up to jensen and misha or their loved ones and confronting them with anything cockles related. but the decent people in this corner of the fandom know not to do that, and we merely talk about it with each other online. i personally don’t feel like a creep (not saying that you are implying this btw!) for observing what they put in front of us, time and time again, which they do with the full knowledge that people do in fact ship them.

i see what you mean about some things getting taken out of context, and i’ve seen that too. i agree with you that sometimes people can read into things a bit too much. as to the slowed down gifs, for me personally the faster versions don’t take away what i see in those gifs: it’s intimate body language, whatever way i look at it. 

you asked me to pick some moments or facts that make me think that they are actually together, and honestly that is very hard to do. for me, what it comes down to is that, if you take any of these things as a standalone fact, you might be able to explain it away. but when you combine all of it together - and trust me, it’s a lot. just ask my best friend who has had to listen to me talk about them for two full nights - i can’t see the picture that it paints as anything other than: they have (or at the very least have had in the past) an intimate relationship with each other. 

that being said, these are the things that stand out the most for me: 

the way they look at each other, but especially the way jensen looks at misha at any given time. that is the look of a man who adores the person he is looking at. the way that nobody else can make him laugh like misha, for the stupidest fucking shit. when they think about each other/talk about each other, they get this soft look on their faces that honestly is nothing like how i talk about any of my close friends. i once saw a comparison vid of jensen talking about danneel and jensen talking about misha and he had the same look on his face. the fact that jensen flirted with danneel by making her laugh on set, making kissy faces, which is something that he also did with misha. the fact that jensen gave him his ring. i literally for the life of me cannot think of a platonic reasoning for this. 

the fact that they remembered and went back to a restaurant they were at 10 years ago, sat at the exact same table, and took selfies both of those times, and then posted it at a random date as a throwback to ‘10 years ago’ even though at the moment the first picture was taken, they had already known each other for a year and a half. so clearly, that night was special for them. special enough to remember the exact same table, special enough that they felt the need to go back there, and to share it with us. the background of those pictures is the same background as the picture jensen posted of him and danneel on their first holiday together. clearly both of those occasions were very important to him. important enough to post about. 

something that i know might seem kinda shady and not totally trustworthy, is the fact that i’ve seen multiple people mention that they have information that they would never share online (because they don’t want to put jensen and misha in a compromising position) but the information in question confirmed it for them. obviously people could be lying or could be jumping to conclusions, without said information we can never know for sure, but i can’t help but feel like there probably is a truth to it. 

and i know this is a very recent one, but: ‘mish. dee.’ the two most important people in his life, who i am sure he would have addressed as mish & dee if he could have. obviously i could mention a lot more things, but i think these are some of the things that stand out to me the most. 

as for the hotel situation at cons: i honestly have no clue, but i kind of feel like they are big enough stars to have their own hotel rooms. but like i said, i do not know at all. i guess it’s possible that they have to share. who knows! 

sorry this got so long lmao but i hope that it made some sense. i don’t have any receipts unfortunately because i kept deleting things i already shared with my best friend in order not to get confused sjdfhs but you’ll have to believe me that i found all of this information on tumblr. anyways feel free to drop by any time! 

#cockles #cockles meta #Anonymous

[coeurvrai]

Anyways, we cut to Serefin at the dinner and he’s been relegated to sit with Nadya-as-Józefina and Żaneta, presumably away from his father. Ouch.

“What is this?” he questioned. “Please tell me it will help numb the drudgery of this evening.”

“Krój, Your Highness,” the servant replied.

Mead was good enough, he supposed. “I apologize, I’m certain present company will be sufficiently charming.”

Keep the alcohol away from Serefin, damn it! Also, Serefin, stop using alcohol as a crutch for every little thing. That’s not healthy, or quirky. That’s just yet another sign that you have an addiction, that you can’t make it through a simple dinner without having to resort to drinking as a coping mechanism.

Also the word Krój is another word in the confusing mish mash of real and Fantasy Polish terms because Krój means “cut”, as in both “to cut something” and “the cut (of something)” in terms of style or fashion, like the cut of a suit.

Serefin has Ostyia flirt with Żaneta, while he runs interference on Nadya-as- Józefina. We get a little bit of a description of Nadya’s disguise.

Without her mask on he could actually see her soft features. Her skin was lightly dusted with freckles, her eyes long-lashed and dark.

What I don’t understand is that if Malachiasz can change her appearance with blood magic, then why did she need to dye her hair in the first place? Couldn’t he just had that covered with the magic as well? Or does the spell only cover her facial features and skin? Cause it’s not like Malachiasz has to constantly reapply the spell - Nadya will continue to look that way until Malachiasz dispels the spell.

Nadya-as-Józefina states that she doesn’t like wearing the masks and Serefin and Żaneta tell her she can choose not to wear it, but it will be a weakness that the other girls in the Rawalyk will pick her apart over.

She smiled. “Your duel was excellent. Though, next time, I would recommend setting a barrier down when the fight begins so you aren’t caught off guard by a spell that works your blood.”

Józefina looked puzzled for a split second, but the expression was gone so fast Serefin questioned if he’d even seen it. Had she not noticed Felicíja’s spell? Unlikely.

“That didn’t even occur to me.”

“No, it wouldn’t in the heat of the moment,” Żaneta said, pulling a dinner roll apart with her fingers. “Many mages use internal spells because they’re quick and dirty ways to take out an opponent.”

“They were written specifically for torture,” Serefin mused.

“Serefin, you are, as ever, the most charming of dinner companions,” Żaneta said.

Oh, our darling awful asshole incompetent prince, never change. Actually, change a lot, but continue to be the tolerable one out of the lot.

Also that has me wondering, is there any lasting damage when cast a spell that does things to your insides? Like the spell that makes a person’s blood boil. Cause I imagine having magic like that inflicted on you isn’t pretty, if the torture scene with Kostya is an indication to go by. Although not really an indication at all, since we haven’t seen or heard of Kostya since.

The king enters the hall and he makes eye contact with Serefin, and oh boy, he ain’t happy with his son rn. 

He knows. He knows. He knows. A Vulture trailed behind the king. Serefin didn’t recognize the mask. They were too late. It was all moving too fast out of his control—not that he had ever been in control—and now his father knew Serefin suspected and would not be complacent.

He was going to die.

Nah, Serefin mate, you aren’t going to die! You’re a main character and one of two POVs in this book, you can’t die! Besides, I know you’re not going to die because I’ve seen the excerpts of Ruthless Gods on ED’s twitter! I have to check because what’s the point in reading the sequel if your tolerable ass ain’t in it to literally keep me sane?

Serefin notices Nadya-as-Józefina glaring at the king, before she notices that he saw her glaring, and apologises.

His eyes narrowed. She didn’t need to apologize. Why did a girl from an out of the way city in Tranavia look at the king like that? Perhaps it didn’t matter.

Or perhaps he had just found another ally.

Oh, Serefin, you don’t know what kind of absolute nightmare you’re getting yourself into if you ally yourself with Nadya. I mean, she is marginally more bearable as Józefina, but definitely only in your chapters, where I don’t have to read her inner dialogue and all the contradictions that come with it.

Speaking of which, that’s the end of the chapter. You know what that means.

#sarah reads ws

[letscuttothefeeling]

season three episode one

Okay everyone, Siesta Key just ended and I must say – I’m overall VERY pleased with the premiere of Season 3. Even though I know everything that’s happening in this season because I created a reddit account specifically for access to a thread dedicated to all things SK, and because they posted everything that happens on the Siesta Key Instagram, I was still shocked by one thing: how much I enjoyed the episode. Let’s cut to the feeling.

Fade in. There he is – the mystery man I’ve been dying to meet – SCOTT. That’s right, Fabienne’s husband. You may know him as Juliette’s Father. Chic French queen Fabienne and confused husband Scott congratulate Juliette on her graduation from FSU and suggest she become an attorney. Juliette has plans of her own – retail. They look elated. After making a weird sex joke to her Dad, and having visible difficulty adjusting to her new veneers, Juliette has graduated, the scene is over, and I am feeling great about the season.

If you’ve ever watched SK, you know three things for sure. 1. Juliette is a hideous crier. 2. Canvas’ Mother has a complete lack of understanding when it comes to parenting. 3. Kelsey and Juliette do NOT get along. UNTIL NOW! It’s very exciting to see their first scene as not only friends – but also roomies! Even though Kelsey’s bizarrely shaped eyebrows, over plumped fake lips and orange spray tan make me feel like she must have NO real friends, because certainly, they wouldn’t let her butcher her appearance so thoroughly, she and Juliette seem to get along swimmingly by talking mad shit about Chloe. We love to see women supporting women by talking shit about other women.

Chloe, you minx! Chloe pulls up to Alex’s mansion in a Bentley toting about ten designer bags and a serious attitude. After she explains to his mother that she’s taken it upon herself to pickuppe some “luxury” clothing items for Alex in Sarasota, Florida, even though he’s quite literally in EUROPE, she also *subtly!* drops that he’s left behind his personal credit card for her own use. Weird brag, but more importantly: cha-ching! After talking shit about Juliette to a grown woman, they switch the conversation to Madisson’s new man. Queue Malibu by Miley Cyrus. Ma-jor props to whoever created the playlist for this epi.

After a stunning underwater montage from Florida to Cali, we see aspiring model/actress Maddison walking into a dinner date. Even though Chloe’s just gabbed to Alex’s mother that Braddison is no more, I still half expect BG to pop up and hold the door open for Madi. Just kidding, I don’t, because the producers of this show spilled quite literally every twist before it aired. Wait, speaking of producers – who is Madisson on a date with? Oh, it’s “ISH”, the FORTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD, BALD, AND OVERWEIGHT FORMER PRODUCER OF SIESTA KEY. Unlike Juliette’s father, Scott, I’ve met Madisson’s Dad before, so it’s not immediately apparent to me as to why she has serious Daddy issues. I’m hoping the root of this unfolds during the season. Ish, or “baby” as Madisson calls him, (again, he’s 46, so I’m not sure “baby” is the most fitting nickname, but to each her own) decides it will be totally normal to jet back to the key and surprise the children he used to exploit the cast with the announcement of his new relationship. I can’t wait.

Okay, we’re back at a dinner date – but a much more age-appropriate one between Juliette and her new man, former bachelorette contestant, Robby. I’m not a bachelor franchise fan and unfortunately for Robby, I’m NOT a Robby fan either. He’s not hot and he’s not cool. That’s literally it. Discussing this further would be a waste. Oh, it’s worth noting that new roomies Chloe and Madisson also meetuppe during this time to discuss Madisson and Ish. (Mish, if you will. Some prefer Dadisson.) Thank you, Chloe, for reacting to the news in a very relatable way by chugging alcohol and hiding in your clothing.

Um, who is this hottie emerging from a PJ? It’s the fabulous Cara, with a new nose! Normally I love to hate her - she has that je ne sais quoi – but right now, I just love her. Removing your nose job bandages on film is the kind of 2020 realness I need in my life. Enter G BABY! We’ve missed you and your utter lack of awareness, Garrett! But the love birds aren’t exactly happily reuniting – there’s def some tension in the air. Uh oh! Cara immediately becomes annoyed that Garrett both broke her heart AND kept his lips shut about her new nose. Poll – would you rather your boyfriend intentionally squeeze your fat as fuck thighs, or neglect to comment on your surgically enhanced face? The choice is yours.

While Juliette’s graduation party is great, if Alex doesn’t throw a start-of-the-summer rager, I’m suing MTV. More specifically, I’m suing YOU, Gary. Anyways, as Juliette and de ghurls are getting ready for the party, Juliette’s asked who she likes boning more – Boring Robby or shrek Alex. She hesitates for a moment but then says Robby. I take that pregnant pause as a confirmation of what I’ve known all along – Alex is great in bed and that’s the only reason Juliette was obsessed with him. (Edit – this has been confirmed on her Instagram story.)

Cut to: Cara, G baby, and Cara’s new androgynous and likely lesbian friend, Victoria, getting drinks. I don’t know what’s more confusing – the fact that Cara claims Victoria is her best friend or the fact that Garrett continues to piss Cara off by defending Kelsey while she incessantly brings her up.

Party time! But it wouldn’t be a party without Chloe intervening in something that has nothing to do with her in an attempt to destroy Juliette’s happiness. While wearing a Kentucky derby inspired hat/headband, nonetheless! Chloe and Amanda sit down with Boring Robby the second he arrives to grill him with some genual questions about his “intentions” with Juliette. And I can’t help but immediately think of that scene in Twilight when Police Chief Charlie Swan pulls out his shotgunné to intimidate his daughter’s 108-year-old vampire soul mate. Thank you, Catherine Hardwicke/ Stephanie Meyers, for this image.

At this point, I have to question Chloe’s sexuality because I can’t think of a single other reason as to why she would be so invested in Juliette’s relaysh with Robby. Is he a “phony”, simply using Juliette for fame? Maybe! But aren’t they all kind of doing that anyway? It’s like, they’re on a reality show for God’s sake. After Boring Robby says absolutely nothing of interest, (read: BORING Robby,) something actually exciting happens. Kelsey slithers over to publicly flirt with G baby in an attempt to piss off Cara, and it totally WORKS! Nice!

The second Cara sees Kelsey and G baby talking, her eyes fill with fire and she almost burns her new nose off. It’s funny that she portrays herself as such a sophisticated, cosmopolitan gal, yet she’s so blatantly insecure about trashy Kelsey and Garrett, the braindead body of meat, talking about absolutely nothing. Stop slumming it and start dating Zaddies like Madisson!

After Garrett tells Kelsey that Cara has banned him from talking to her, Kelsey marches up to Cara, grabs her by the hand, and you just KNOW the rumors are true – World War III is HAPPENING! Kelsey and Cara immediately establish that they’re not each other’s “kind of person”, and then Kelsey tells Cara that she can’t wait for Cara’s “life to explode.” Cara fires back with the ULTIMATE diss, claiming that Kelsey doesn’t even have her GED! We find out this is, in fact, not true via Instagram, thanks to Kelsey’s iconic photo of none other than GARRETT holding her on her graduation day. Okay, high school level educated kween! Go off!

Pls note caption

Here’s the thing: I dislike Cara and Kelsey, both for entirely different reasons, but IMO, Kelsey won this round. Cara came off as insecure, psychotic, and just plain mean! Cara, a word of advice? Stop gallivanting around tacky Florida and return home to America’s Kingdom – New Jersey.

 Pay close attention everyone - we’re almost done and you’re about to witness reality show television HISTORY. And it is a BAG. OF. WEIRD. After Boring Robby buys Juliette a trip to Greece, Madisson and her new Dad man walk in, and EVERYONE IS SHOOK. Seriously. The cast is genuinely shocked. Please note their faces when Madisson and Ish waltz into Juliette’s grad party hand in hand. Arguably the most thrown off person of all, of course, is BG. He hastily confronts his former producer, and refers to Ish’s relationship with his ex as a “bag of weird.” Honestly, Brandon, I have to agree with you. And so does literally everyone else in the world.

After Brandon huffs, puffs, and exits, everyone gets over the initial shock of Madisson’s upsettingly old “boy”friend and the episode winds down. But there’s one twist. We learn via Chloe’s texts that Alex is on his way back from Europe. Probably wearing all the luxe clothes Chloe shipped him from Siesta Key. Because who trusts European clothes, am I right? Anyways, something tells me that Boring Robby doesn’t stand a chance once Alex touches down on the Key. But we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

Fin

[thenovelartist]

Battle between Bachelors

Inspired by @ceejles FANTASTIC regency era piece!!! I said I needed to write a fanfiction for it, and I just couldn’t resist. It’s so freaking fabulous!!!!

It was hot, and the layers upon layers of fabric that draped from her waist only made the heat more miserable. Her fan flailed wildly, blowing hot air at her face and neck as she struggled to catch her breath from her corset being just a touch too tight. She was of age, barely, and her first season was now upon her. She had been told because of her semi-exotic look that came from her mother, she was certain to catch the eye of a man. But then again, there were many girls just as beautiful who had been out for sereval seasons yet still hadn’t managed to catch a husband.

The house was large and overcrowded. The first ball of the season, and it had to be a masquerade. Despite so many people wanting attention, everyone’s face was covered. Too many men were dressed in the same black and white tuxedo, each donning a domino mask. Each the same, and all seeking attention from her. She was quite a sight in her red dress that squeezed what little assets she had into something that looked fuller while her skirt could take up half the ballroom. Of course, she was getting attention. Her grandmother had made certain of it.

“My, you seem to be the belle of the ball this evening.”

Marinette turned to yet another young man. He, however, had a blue mask to go with the blue of his suit. She placed on a smile she’d been practicing for ages now. “Quite.”

He smiled. “That is the answer of a woman overwhelmed by her first season.”

Her eyes widened and her smile vanished. He grinned, one that was sympathetic and kind. “Worry not. It is completely understandable. If you wish for a bit of reprieve, I’ll happily stand by you and pretend to conserve. You must be exhausted from all the fronts and shallow pleasantry.”

Her fan was slowing, and she felt a blush on her cheeks. “I thank you.”

He smiled. “I’m not here to woo you,” he said, and somehow, she believed him. “I am here to shadow my sister. This will be her second season. Staying true to the essence of the masquerade, I’ll simply say she’s over there in the purple gown.”

Marinette looked across the way to see the woman he was referring to. Her hair was dark, interwoven with feathers that matched the white highlights of her purple gown.

“She’s lovely,” Marinette commented, the fact that purple was uncommon and very costly not being lost on her. Whoever she was conversing with clearly had ample funds.

“I believe so. But I am partial, since I am her brother,” he teased.

Marinette giggled. “My best regards to her during the season.”

The man hummed. “Thank you. I wish her the best of luck, as well. But once again, as her brother, I want nothing more than to see her happily settled. It’s the only reason I am here for the season.”

His words surprised her. “You are not looking for a wife?”

He shook his head. “No. I say this modestly when I say I understand that I’m quite the catch. However, the façades of the women I’m bombarded with during these seasons only serves to disappoint. I tired of their acts after a single season.”

Guilt started to accumulate in her gut, settling heavily in her stomach. “I’m sorry, would you prefer I leave you alone?”

He instantly shook his head. “No. You are no bother.”

Still, she bowed her head in embarrassment. “Should you change your mind, I’ll understand.”

“My lady, please look at me.”

She turned to face him.

“I assure you, you are no bother,” he repeated. “I see very clearly that you are overwhelmed and uncomfortable gathering so much attention. I’ve seen enough women acting to know what is an act and what is not. And you have given me no reason to believe you are acting. Therefore, I find your company for the evening a pleasant change to the usual.”

Her smile was shy. “Thank you. That’s quite kind.”

“Brother.” The woman in the purple gown came up beside him. “I’m finished for the evening.”

“No man catches your fancy?” he teased.

She bowed her head shyly behind her lacy fan. “One possibly does, but he was rather shy.”

Though his mask covered his face, his surprise was clear. “Oh?”

“And he may have left early.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. We will head for home. Mother will be pleased for us to be home early.” He then turned to Marinette. “I beg your pardon, but I’m afraid I must be off for the evening.”

“I understand,” she assured. “Thank you for your company.”

He smiled. “Maybe our paths will cross again.” With that, he turned to take his leave.

Marinette watched him disappear and suddenly felt the presence of another man at her side.

“I haven’t had the chance to say hello to you tonight,” he said. “You are quite the popular one.”

She smiled. Yet another domino mask. Yet another man who simply wanted her attention. She was feeling suffocated. “Forgive me,” she said, “But I see someone I’ve been meaning to talk with.”

She hurried off into the throng of people, slipping away from his sight and out the door to the gardens. The cool night was a wonderful contrast to the stuffiness of the ballroom. Slowly, she wandered out towards the white marble bridge that led over the rushing river to the furthest gardens where she could hide away. She sniffed before the first tear could fall. To think she’d been excited for this. It was far more overwhelming than she’d thought it would be.

Her legs were shaking, and it was growing hard to breathe again. Her corset felt like it was tightening around her chest, and a wave of dizziness was coming over her. The marble railing was just at the right level to sit, otherwise she was afraid she wouldn’t make it over the bridge. She turned to sit on the railing, expecting to stay there a good length of time. She didn’t expect the crack that resulted nor the suddenness of cold river water that she landed into.

She struggled to swim against the current, but her legs were trapped within the layers upon layers of fabric. Her heart was pounding. She was going to drown.

Something grabbed her waist, and suddenly she was going up, up, up until she burst through the surface and took a large gasp of air. She sputtered. She flailed. She grabbed onto whatever was keeping her above the surface and clung tight.

Soon, she felt herself land on dry ground, and she was quick to scramble towards it while heaving and coughing up all the water that had seeped into her lungs. Slowly, her breathing regulated and her mind started to recognize that something was holding her up by the waist.

“You are one lucky ladybug,” a voice by her side said. “The river is unusually high, and in your dress, I’m surprised you didn’t get swept away in a heartbeat.”

She looked up towards the voice, only to see a man as equally as soaked as she. Yet, somehow, his mask still remained on his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, unable to say a word.

He smiled. “I’m glad.”

They stayed like that a moment longer, Marinette catching her breath.

“You are Marinette Dupain, are you not?”

In that moment, she realized her mask was long gone. She nodded. “I am.”

“It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”

“I cannot be an acquaintance when I do not know your name,” she easily countered, falling back on all the lessons she’d been taught on the concept of flirting.

His smile grew, and she absently wondered if his eyes, whatever color they were, would light up with it or not. “Let’s just say my name is Chat Noir.”

As she looked him over, she realized it was an appropriate name. The mask he wore had sharper eye cut-outs than most, giving an almost cattish appearance, and then the two little sections on the top that stuck up like cat ears completed the look. “Then it is a pleasure to meet you,” she said.

His smile grew as he took her hand and kissed it. “The pleasure is mine. Though I would have been perfectly happy for our first meeting to not be in the river.”

She felt her cheeks warm despite the cool water that dripped from her hair down her face.

“I think,” he said, “your night has been eventful enough. Maybe it would be for the best for you to return home.”

Marinette couldn’t agree more.

“Are you here with anyone? Your father? A beau?”

“My father,” she said. “Only him.”

“Then let’s go.”

He helped her stand then assisted her walking back to the house. He led her around the back of the mansion to the servant’s quarters where a handful of women immediately gasped upon seeing her.

“Ladies,” he addressed. “Please watch after Lady Marinette. She had quite an unfortunate tumble into the river when the bridge crumbled out from under her.”

She marveled at his ease of his words, giving both a simple explanation while also expressing sympathy.

He led her over to a chair. “Here. This seat should be a bit sturdier.”

His teasing grin caused her cheeks to warm, but she still took the seat.

He knelt down before her. “I’ll go find your father and bring him down here. Then he can take you home, all right?”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

His smile was bright. After he stood, he took her hands in his and bowed over them. “My pleasure, my lady.”

With that, he disappeared.

One of the maids offered her a dress to wear so she could shed her waterlogged skirts. Another brought over a towel to dry her off before she dressed in the simple gown. Only then did Marinette realize how heavy her waterlogged skirts were.

When her father saw her, he was less then pleased. He was quick to lead her away from the party and back home.

“Are you all right?” he asked, concern pouring out in his tone. “The man who found me said he watched the bridge you were walking on fall apart. The Bourgeois are far more reputable than this. Had I known they let their house fall into such a state of disrepair that my only daughter could have drowned from their negligence, I certainly would have boycotted the entire evening.”

Her immediate thought was how she wished the evening could have been boycotted. The night had been stressful even before the unfortunate mishap. However, upon remembering the two men she’d met, she wasn’t certain she could call the entire night a failure. In fact, she might just believe the opposite. Maybe, just maybe, she would only be out a single season.

…

“You have no shortage of notes,” her father commented.

Reluctantly, she took them, knowing that she was raised to be polite and therefore would read all of them and respond to the ones that required a response.

She weeded out those that wished to see her again, then placed those that required some sort of response in another pile. Then she came to a letter that surprised her.

I heard about your unfortunate accident, it said. And I am terribly sorry that your first season had to have started with such an event. However, I am relieved to hear you are all right and well. I wish you far better nights than that one, and may your next gathering for the season redeem any poor thoughts or uncertainty you hold regarding your first season. And if not, then I would gladly keep you company until your thoughts changed. I look forward to when our paths cross again.

Sincerely, Luka Couffaine, Duke of Médiator

She nearly fell out of her chair. The way he referenced her first season… he had to be the man in the blue mask.

She had to hold the letter to her chest as she collected herself and begged her heart to slow. The most elusive bachelor in all of Paris, one infamous for turning down many a lady, had written to her. And he wished to see her again.

To say the least, she was positively flattered.

With care, she placed his letter aside, intending on giving far more thought into his response than any of the others.

She weeded through the letters until she got to the last one. And once again, the words took her by surprise.

I hope you are well after your misfortunate meeting with the river. Don’t you know Ladybugs are supposed to fly? I have yet to hear of one swimming.

Truly, I do wish you are well, that sickness stays far from you, and that no more misfortune will fall upon you. I wish the rest of your season is eventful only from the standpoint of garnering the attention you deserve, and not from disaster or tragedy. And lastly, I wish to meet you again, and this time, give you a proper name to call me by. At a masquerade, acquaintances are allowed to have stage names, but in real life, they are not.

Sincerely, Adrien Agreste, Earl of Camembert

She had to steady herself, her head suddenly growing light. There was no doubt he was the man who rescued her from the river. Chat Noir.

Who was Adrien Agreste.

Easily known as the most eligible of bachelors, one who was rumored to be searching diligently for a wife. Never mind his title or estate, it was his looks and charm that caught the attention of many women.

And he seemed to be giving his attention to her.

She placed Adrien’s letter to the side, where Luka’s letter was. She stared at them for the longest time, slowly coming to the realization that not only had the two most sought-after bachelors in the entirety of Paris sent her letters wishing her well, but both had also expressed interest in seeing her again.

She placed a hand over her pounding heart. Heaven have mercy; this season would be very interesting indeed.

#miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #Fan-fanfiction? I think #au yeah august #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #luka couffaine #Regency AU #We all know how much I love those #budding romance #but with who? #Possibly to be continued