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seospicybin · 6 months

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TOO HOT TO HANDLE.

PART I

Han x reader. (s)

Too Hot To Handle masterlist

Synopsis: You and Han become contestants in a reality dating show, Too Hot To Handle. (12,9k words)

Author's note: I hope you like this one too. Don't be shy to add your feedback :)

If you were in paradise with good company and had to resist sex, could you?

We found the hottest, horniest, commitment-phobic singles and gave them what they think is the most exotic and erotic summer of their lives.

Only to reveal that one thing is off the menu is sex.

At stake is a prize of $200,000 which will plummet if they get naughty. The question is, in a world without sex, will they form deeper and more meaningful connections?

Or will the temptation be too hot to handle?

"I'm here!" Han announces his arrival and shouts it toward the beach.

Instead of feeling nervous, he feels good to be the first one to enter the villa. At least this way, he wouldn't feel intimidated when he sees people who are more good-looking than him.

There's not much to do with no one to interact with, he grabs one of the cocktails served on the small round table and takes a sip.

He turns the other way, sipping his cocktail while looking at the beautiful view of the sea that goes as far as his eyes can see.

"Oh, it's so gorgeous here," he says with a delightful sigh.

Little did he know, that's not the only gorgeous thing he'll see today.

HAN: I'm charming 24/7, that's for sure [laughs] Girls often say they like my smile [brightly smiles] and I won't disagree with that [chuckles] I'm all about a good chat, I'm good listener. I gather pieces of information, I use them at the right time, and [makes shooting gesture] That's part of the secret.

Han has to squint his eyes against the blinding sunlight and see two girls coming his way. He sips his drink to fuel his confidence and prepares himself to make a good first impression.

"Wow. You girls look amazing!" Han says out of wonder, not hesitating to let his thoughts out.

He hates to see women objectively but it's hard not to. Not when they're dressed in something that leaves so little to the imagination.

"We can say the same about you," The taller one says, talking as if she's half moaning.

"I'm Mikaela," she introduces herself, not hesitating to pull him into a hug.

Mikaela has shiny dark hair, plump lips, and a height he doesn't have, yet it's not going to stop him from pursuing her.

But it's too early to settle down yet. He turns to the other girl who's more his height and gives her a quick hug.

"I'm Han," he introduces his name first.

"I'm Nya," she replies.

Nya's brown skin glows under the sun and when she smiles, she shows her perfect white teeth.

"Can we drink this?" She asks in a thick British accent.

Stunned by how attractive the girls are, Han forgets about making a good, first impression. He hurriedly hands the drinks over to the girls and proposes a toast.

They're clinking their glasses against each other and take a sip at the same time.

"So, Han, what is your type?" Mikaela asks.

It may seem like a harmless question but it's actually not, she wants him to choose between the two of them. He needs to be careful with what he says if he wants to please them.

"I don't really have a type... but uh... I like eyes, gorgeous eyes," he says.

They nod at you, not quite figuring out what he says by that. He comes up with something to amuse them both, "I like a gorgeous smile too and you both have that."

That works wonderfully as they're smiling and laughing at his answer.

"Cheers to that!" Mikaela says, clinking her glass with his.

"I think the three of us can do something while we wait for the others," Nya suggests an idea.

An idea that gives Han a glimpse of what her personality is. Don't get him wrong, he likes girls who know how to have fun, he just doesn't expect it coming from Nya.

"Yeah? What do you have in mind?" Han playfully dares her.

Nya sips her drink to avoid answering his question then breaks into a series of giggles.

Sadly, the threesome must end as the second male guest enters the villa.

Han would be lying if he said he was not the slightest bit intimidated. Not only he doesn't have his height, but he also doesn't have that Greek God-like body and facial hair that enhances his masculinity.

"How are you doing, man?" He asks Han who's gobsmacked by how tall he is as he stands next to him.

"Good, good," he answers, exchanging a quick hug with him.

He can see honey dripping from Nya's eyes as she looks at the new guy, "What is your name?"

"Rio," he answers.

"Where are you from, Rio?" Mikaela asks, holding her glass close to her lips.

"I'm from Brazil," he answers, taking a drink for himself.

Mikaela giggles even though there's nothing funny about what he says. She fixes her hair as she says, "Rio, you are so gorgeous."

It feels like Han has become invisible to everyone. He quietly sips his drink and tries not to despair. There are more to come and who knows? He'll find someone more suitable to him, more of his type.

Han has to be patient as two more male guests enter the villa, successfully making his confidence shrink.

He bursts into laughter as he's standing between Peyton and Finn like two gorgeous, white pillars of a Greek temple.

And as if that's not enough, the female guest who just entered is also tall.

"Fuck. I'm so small, it's a joke," he says, trying to lighten up his mood by making a fool out of himself.

The boys around him laugh at his joke and almost miss out on the new girl's introduction.

"I'm Sawyer," she says with a cute smile.

"So, Sawyer, what is your type?" Nya asks, going straight to the point.

Han stands up straight and funnily, the other guys are lining up so Sawyer can take a good look at them. He stands on his tiptoes to match the other's heights, earning good laughs from the girls.

"Well, let's say I'm looking more into their personality..." her answer gets cut off as the last male guest enters the scene.

He looks like a textbook bad boy with long, brown hair and tattoos on his body, he has that smoldering eyes that certainly does thing to the girls as he takes all of their attention away.

Confidently, he walks around introducing himself to the girls, kissing them on the cheeks, and keeps his introduction short by only telling his name, "Asher."

So far, no one has caught his eyes or struck his fancy, he doesn't find the sparks he usually gets when he sees someone he likes.

He can only hold onto the hope that he'll find what he's looking for on the last two female guests.

On the other hand, he can't help but expect disappointment and...

"Oh, they're too fit!" Sawyer cutely gasps.

Han glances up from his drink to see what she's fussing about and the boys are howling in reaction to girls walking into the villa.

HAN: Oh, we're so spoiled for choice [laughs]

It's kind of unfair that they make you enter the villa with someone as gorgeous as Avery.

Except for the dark brown, she looks like the Malibu Barbie. She has perfect skin, that hourglass body figure, and a nice smile. Meanwhile, you look like a long-forgotten, doodled-on Barbie with tattoos scattered across your body.

"Are you nervous?" She asks with an Australian accent.

She looks so cute as she nervously giggles, "Not really," you answer.

It's everyone there who should be nervous because they haven't seen her. You're not jealous, if anything, you want to date her for yourself.

"Should we hold hands?" She offers her hand to you.

You look around at the staff preparing your entrance to the villa, "I'm not sure..."

Your words are trailing off as the staff gives the cute for both of you to start walking into the villa.

To your surprise, you don't feel nervous at all. You feel excited to meet a lot more attractive people and can't wait to know them.

You turn your head and see Avery, looking not as nervous as she seemed to be earlier.

She looks gorgeous with the sun hits her eyes, showing off her beautiful green eyes with a tint of brown in the middle.

It's kind of expected that she's catching all the attention and the boys seem to be curious about Avery that they just can't take their eyes off of her.

"I'm Avery, hi," she introduces herself.

She makes eyes with everyone and Han returns the eye contact with a wide smile on his face.

"Do you fancy anyone, Avery?" Nya asks, being the one that leads the conversation again.

Avery looks at the boys with a smile dancing on her face, Sligh nodding when her eyes hover between Han and Asher.

"Yeah..." she answers then looks away to sip her drink.

"And how about you?" Nya asks.

Everyone turns their attention to you as you quietly grab a drink for yourself. You hold your drink in your hand as you answer, "Honestly, I fancy everyone here."

You look at Nya and continue talking, "I go both ways so bring 'em all in, I guess?" you say with a sly smirk.

Nya seems amused by your answer, "I like that, girl!" She says, clinking her glass with you after.

"Please, save some for us," Rio playfully says.

You nonchalantly shrug and say, "I don't mind sharing."

You secretly steal a few glances at the guy who's been eyeing Avery the second she came into the villa. He looks so cute and cute guys are your weaknesses.

YOU: Hi, nice to meet you. I'm— [holds up hand] that sounds so lame, let me do it again! [Laughs] Hey, what's up? It's your girl [blows kisses] I like to keep a low profile. When I see someone I like, I just give them the eyes and they'll get it [Winks] I have standards, of course. But at the end of the day, I have the worst criteria [laughs]

The girls are cheering in excitement as they're the first to enter the bedroom.

There are five beds and ten people in here which means everyone has to pair up. The options are still wide open even though he sees Avery sitting on the bed with Asher.

He's half-heartedly listening to the conversation happening in the room as everyone is asking each other about their profession.

He sits on the bed to engage in the conversation as Peyton just told everyone that he works as a model which explains his perfect figure.

"What about you?" Peyton turns to Avery.

She tips her head to the side and it's so adorable of her "Why don't you guess?"

"I think you model too," Finn guesses.

She surprisingly shakes her head, "No, I'm a singer," she says.

Han finds the opportunity to inject himself into the conversation.

"Oh, me too!" He says with such enthusiasm.

"Yeah?" Avery asks.

Han eagerly nods, especially now he has her attention, "What's your sign?"

"I'm a Pisces," she answers.

It's obvious that he can't match his star sign with hers but he won't let it get in his way, "My moon is in Pisces!" He says with a gasp.

"We have a lot of commons," he says, holding both his hands up for a double high-five with her.

"I think we should kiss," Han shamelessly adds.

Avery bursts into laughter hearing Han's proposition but to his surprise, she says, "Just a peck then."

She gets up from the bed and meets Han in the middle, their lips meet for a mere second until Avery breaks the kiss. There are various reactions from everyone but Han notices a few jealous eyes in a few of them. His way of flirting may seem random and a bit silly but hey, it works!

HAN: I'm feeling two or three of them but Avery... [whistles] Great body, great smile.

It seems like Han is not the only one who has the hots for Avery.

As he chats with Rio with his legs dipped in the swimming pool, he sees that Asher pulls her aside, talking on the wooden chair that overlooks the sea.

He turns at Rio and playfully asks, "What do you think he's saying?"

Rio lets out a chuckle and shrugs, "He's probably saying 'you're the most beautiful girl' and stuff like that," he replies.

Han chuckles at that as he keeps watching the two of them talking. He must admit that Asher wins on visual but it's not a guarantee that he'll be able to win her over with just his look.

Also, he already bagged a peck from Avery.

"How about you? Mikaela, huh?" Han says, guessing that Rio has his eyes on the beautiful, dark-haired girl.

Rio leans with his hands propped behind him and softly laughs, "She's got a banging, banging body," he says the word twice to emphasize how hot she is.

"I think I'll give it a shot, you know, and see what she's saying," Rio concludes.

Well, if he were Rio, he wouldn't worry about not getting a girl. He could only wish to have his sculpted body and he is indeed envious of him for it.

"Finn is going for Avery too," Rio informs.

"Yeah?" He asks with a painful laugh.

Rio laughs while brushing his dark curls to the back, "All I can say to you is best of luck," he says with a sly smile.

Well, the fact that he has competitions only means that Avery is that girl.

HAN: There's a competition going on for Avery [laughs] Well, I say let the games begin [rubs hands together]

This show is called Party in Paradise for a reason.

Everyone is so revved up and ready for the first party in the villa. The boys are already gathered at the beach, taking a glass of cocktail and making a toast.

"I saw my boy Peyton made his move earlier with Nya," Asher says.

"What?" Han asks in disbelief, completely clueless about it.

Peyton sips his drink with a bragging smirk plastered on his face, "It was nice, it was nice," he coyly responds to that.

"Are you trying to one me up or what?" Han jokes.

He swallows his drink before replying, "Something is going to happen tonight," he cryptically says.

Everyone raises their glasses in the air for another toast and Han wants to keep his focus sharp so he's only taking little sips of it.

Not long after, the girls are coming and dressed stunningly, carefully walking down the steps that lead to the beach. All of them look beautiful in their own way but Avery is exceptionally gorgeous to him.

HAN: I need to make a move on Avery. I need to make a progress.

The first round of drinks has been drained and everyone moved on to the next round right away. Music is blasting, sending everyone to start moving their bodies to the upbeat music.

Everyone is having fun and getting to know each other with every sip of drink, dancing with each other, not caring that the cameras are filming everything.

You've been instructed to take the lead on the first quest since everyone will take their turn anyway, you've been briefed on everything about the first quest.

When the music abruptly stops, you take it as your cue to take control of the show.

"You guys, I've been tasked to lead the first quest and..." you look at them to build anticipation.

"Don't worry, it's a fun quest!" You assure them, allowing them to stay loosen up.

You grab an eye mask that has been prepared by the staff and show it to everyone, "Each one of you will take turns to stand here," you pointed to the marked spot with a foam mat.

"And you'll put this on," you show them the eye mask again.

You take a few seconds of pause before letting them know the most fun part of it, "And any of you can come to kiss, lick, taste, bite, anything..."

You look at them and emphasize the word again, "Anything!"

Everyone is cheering in reaction, given the chance to do whatever they want to the person they fancy. You can expect a lot of lips locking and fondling in a few minutes.

"Don't get excited yet!" You put a halt to the pheromones you're spreading through your words.

You slyly smile, enjoying the little piece of authority you have over the show.

"The quest is, you have to guess who does what to you and whoever with the most correct answers," you turn around to show them the mysterious box behind you.

You step aside so everyone can look, "You'll get to open the mystery box!"

That earns a wave of applause from them, gets them wondering what's inside the box, and is determined to win the quest.

"Sadly, I don't know what's inside the box," you hurriedly tell them before they get suspicious that you know more than them.

You look around to spot any exciting person to kickstart the game. You notice that Mikaela seems eager to get something out of Rio.

"Mikaela, will you do the honor to be the first?"

She smiles brightly and confidently steps forward, squealing in excitement. You help put the eye mask on without ruining her styled hair and take a step back.

"You ready?" You ask her.

She wriggles her body, "I'm ready!"

Don't want to waste the chance, you steal a quick peck on her lips and earn a surprise gasp from some people.

"That's you!" Mikaela easily guesses.

You walk back to your seat while laughing and see that Rio is also taking his turn after you.

YOU: I got my make-up on, I did my hair and I'm... going to get a kiss from everyone [laughs]

Peyton stirs a little chaos as he kisses Sawyer and it's not hard to see a displease look on Nya's face after, probably for the rest of the night too.

The time finally comes to Avery's turn. She carefully covers her eyes with the eye mask and with a smile, she makes gestures with her hands.

"Come and get it," she says, swinging her hips side to side.

Han wastes not another second to sprint to her and lands the first kiss on her lips. He gives everything he has to offer, kissing her with the skill he honed from years of experience and putting all of himself into this one kiss.

A kiss that he hoped would be enough to enchant her and put her under his spell.

Han slowly pulls away as his lungs burn from the lack of oxygen, gasping as he looks at Avery's face.

"We share another common thing," he says.

"Huh? What?" Avery asks, still disoriented from the kiss.

"We're both great kissers," he answers.

Avery covers her mouth as she breaks into laughter and as soon as Han leaves his spot, Finn takes his turn to kiss her and he has to watch it.

"Oh, this is mad!" Rio comments while elbowing his sides next to him.

And right after that, Asher takes the next turn and kisses Avery, getting mixed reactions from everyone. That's probably because she gets the most kisses so far.

Avery takes off her eye mask and wipes her lips, trying to clean her smudged lipstick.

"Can you guess, Avery baby?" Nya asks.

She looks in his direction to get any clues on the person who kissed her.

"The first kiss is you," she easily guesses, using both hands to point at him.

Han is inexplicably proud of her for guessing right, he believes the peck helped her to identify his kiss.

"The second one is... uhm..." she bites her finger as she thinks.

She then scrunches her nose and doing it so adorably, "I think it's Finn?"

"And the last one?" You ask.

"That's Asher," she shortly answers, not having the slightest doubt in it.

Han looks at Asher who is nodding along, feeling cocky that Avery recognized his kiss. It seems like the competition has started for real.

HAN: The competition is... real mad! [laughs]

It's his turn now.

Han drains his drink that he's been sipping little by little and he needs every drop of courage to ready himself for it. When he looks at the other boys, they seem to have it easy because they're undeniably attractive and he feels slightly scared that the other will treat him differently because he's less attractive than the other.

Well, he should mainly focus on the keyword: attractive.

Han is attractive nonetheless.

The layer of anxiety is safely hidden behind his playful smirk as he takes his stand and covers his eyes with the eye mask. He licks his lips and slyly smiles as he says, "Come on! Daddy's home!"

Even though the possibility is close to zero percent, he badly wishes that he could get a kiss from Avery. He laughs as he remembers that he shouldn't take this too seriously, he's here to have fun, it's Party in Paradise.

He can hear the girls giggling and the boys cooing, he takes that as a sign that someone is approaching him. He swallows air as his heart is pitter-pattering and his chest filled with anticipation.

He's seen the other boys take their turn and everyone at least gets a smooch so he stands there expecting one as well.

Instead of that, he feels a kiss on his neck. He shouldn't feel disappointed but he can't help it. He focuses on trying to guess who it is.

Before getting his answer, he hears everyone cooing again and a few light claps.

He anticipates it and this time he believes that he'll get a kiss on the lips.

He indeed gets a kiss but not from one. He feels two pairs of lips kissing him at once and he doesn't mind it at all. It surprises him that he can only let them kiss him.

It's incredibly soft and warm, a little wet. He feels a few licks in here and there.

Too bad that he can't see it but it makes him visualize it in his head, him making out with these two girls, and fuck, it's so hot it gets him so horny.

He doesn't want to guess anymore, he keeps wanting to kiss them because they're both good at it, they know how to use their tongues, and makes him feel a bit lightheaded.

Someone pulls away first and he can hear her softly gasping while the other is still kissing him, taking a bit of his lower lip before letting it go.

Han hears another series of giggles but the sounds are fading, the girls are probably walking back to their seats. He takes a minute to compose himself, then takes off his eye mask.

The first thing he does to get his vision back is look at girls to scan any guilty faces. He can easily guess the one who kisses his neck.

"The one who kissed my neck is..." he points his finger at Sawyer and she reacts with blushed cheeks and a shy laugh, which proves that he's right.

This is where it gets tricky, he was enjoying every bit of that sexy makeout to try to guess who are they. He looks at the girls and they're giving him vague signs.

Sawyer is out of options and he knows Mikaela has no interest in him. That leaves you, Nya, and Avery.

As much as he wants to believe that it's Avery, he doesn't want to make it obvious to her. So he settles on you and Nya.

"Nah, you're wrong," Nya tells him.

His eyes widen in shock and he doesn't want to get over his head but is it possible that one of them is Avery?

He walks back to his seat with a dreading curiosity, "Who was it?"

Rio playfully punches his arm, "It's those girls!"

His eyes follow the direction of Rio's hand and he's even more surprised to know that he's right.

It's you and Avery.

HAN: I don't know what else to say [shrugs] I made out with the two hottest girls in the villa [smirks]

Not trying to compete with the other three boys but you're sure that the last person that kissed you is Avery.

"I know it's you," you point at her.

Avery may look like an angel, she walks and talks like an angel but she has the devil inside of her. You know that she's just like you, she's all about the vibe and having fun. You believe you would be good friends with her.

"I would be sad if you guessed it wrong," she says.

"I know," you coyly answer.

The game ends with you and it's time to announce the winner of the quest. It's an easy call because the one with the most correct guesses is none other than Avery.

"Come up here!" You order.

She gets up from her chair and walks up to you, leading her to the mystery box as she's the winner which earned her the chance to be the one opening it.

"I've been told that the content of this box will truly change this trip into an experience you won't forget," you inform everyone.

Avery gives you a nervous look as she grips the handle on the lid of the box.

"Are guys ready?" You ask everyone to keep the tension.

"Yeah!" They answer in unison.

You look at Avery and nod, "There's no turning back once you open it!"

You jokingly say that to scare her before walking back to your seat and joining everyone else as anticipation mounts in each passing second.

Avery looks at everyone and squints her eyes, "Count with me, please!"

Everyone agrees to start counting down together, "3..."

Avery decides to stand behind the box and holds the handle of the box again.

"2..."

You wonder what's inside the box, it looks small from where you're sitting but you have seen it up close, it could fit anything and it could be anything inside.

"1..."

Avery closes her eyes as she lifts the lid and the box unfolds on every side, exposing the content to everyone's watching.

You don't want to believe what you're seeing but then it chimes.

"Oh... fuck!" You curse out loud and you're not the only one doing so.

YOU: Are you joking?

"What is it?" Avery asks as she hasn't opened her eyes yet.

She then puts the lid away and sees what everyone is seeing, the cone that lights up in purple-hued colors.

"What is that?" She cluelessly asks.

"That's Lana!" Nya screams with a strained voice.

"That's fucking Lana!" She says again with a doomed expression.

Avery's eyes widen in horror and she drags herself back to sit, wedging herself between you and Mikaela.

You guess everyone is just in shock about the sudden turn of events and that everyone is trapped in her show. You hate that you know what's coming for you.

"This is Too Hot To Handle," Lana announces, telling everyone that she is running this show from the very beginning.

"You have been specially selected because you are all choosing meaningless sex over genuine relationships."

"Guilty!" Asher says with a hand raised like he's in a classroom.

"The purpose of this retreat is to help you gain deeper emotional connections in your personal relationships."

Avery drops her head on your shoulder and grumbles, "I don't want that, Lana."

You put your hand around her, feeling what she's feeling: betrayal and devastation.

"As always, there are conditions to your stay here. You must abstain from sexual practices for the entirety of your stay."

You close your eyes and try to take the first bitter pill, swallowing it dry, and pushing it as far down as you can.

"Are you jok—" Mikaela can't even finish her sentence.

"No kissing."

"What?" Avery gasps in disbelief.

"No heavy petting."

Mikaela sighs, running her hand to her hair and ruining her hairstyle altogether.

"And no sex of any kind."

That earns a lot of gasp from everyone and there goes down the biggest, most bitter pill you have to take.

"This also applies to self-gratification."

Mikaela sighs again while Nya squeals in both pain and amusement.

"What does it mean?" Sawyer innocently asks.

"You can't masturbate, babe," Avery answers her question with a pout.

"At all?" She asks again to confirm her fear.

So they threw a bunch of hot people into a villa and tricked them into thinking that they would be partying and having fun only to reveal that they're not allowed to have any physical contact? What in the 21st century way of torture is this?

YOU: There goes my plan to kiss everyone... I was planning to get a taste here and there and now it's like... No [sighs]

"As part of your social development, I have allocated a prize of $200,000."

Everyone's eyes turn green at the mention of money and the amount of it, also at the promise that they can win it.

"I'm a college student. I need that!" Finn comments from the end of the bench.

"Each time the rules are broken, money will be deducted from the prize fund."

Of course, it wouldn't be that easy to win that much money and now it looks like everyone would be leaving with nothing.

But with the rules are set and the prize is announced, the game gets serious now.

"Welcome to your long, hard, sexless summer," Lana finishes with the gloom casting on those words.

"Everyone gets ready now 'cause it's not Party in Paradise anymore," Nya reminds everyone with the harsh truth.

"It's hell now," Mikaela eggs in.

Han personally thinks this is worse than hell. Because at least in hell, he'd be allowed to get horny.

HAN: $200,000... That's a lot of money... to spend [smirks]

"Please, can we not?"

The last thing you want to hear is everyone complaining about the rules again and it's only dragging you down more than you allowed it to.

"I'm just upset..." Mikaela says as she takes off her earrings and puts them into a jewelry box.

"I know," you sigh, tossing your shoes into the bottom shelf of your closet.

It takes you a long time to get ready for bed but it's most likely because the girls are chatting and you can't help but join in. Trying to keep yourself away from sex is hard but being able to talk about it is what makes it bearable.

You and Avery walk to the bedroom with arms linked, you just know you'll be friends by how you identify a few traits of yours in her.

The boys are already taking their territory except for Finn, you know he's still in the dresser room. You're fine sharing a bed with anyone but you try not to make drama by getting on a bed with someone's person of interest.

Since Avery is the hot commodity, you make her choose where she'll sleep tonight.

"So, Avery, what's the bed situation?" You ask her.

A few pairs of ears perk up hearing the question and you notice that the three men competing are watching as Avery is making a decision.

She walks up to the bed in the middle, "I'll sleep here."

Asher triumphantly smiles as Avery climbs onto his bed and gets under the cover next to him.

Now that she has settled on a man, you can choose your bed partner at ease. Rio is off-limits unless you want to face Mikaela's wrath and Peyton is also out of the question, you don't want to mess with Nya.

You walk over to Han's bed and you kind of like the vibe he's giving you, you know he's into Avery but it's not like he has much of options, it's either you and Sawyer.

"Want to share a bed?" You ask.

Han glances at you and without answering, makes a space on the bed for you. He seems to take an interest in the tattoos inked your body and he notices that you're watching.

"How many tattoos do you have?" He asks.

You lean against the pillow stacked behind you, "Uhm... I never counted," you reply.

It's amusing to see the wonder in his eyes as he's looking at your tattoos, making you feel like teasing him.

"How about I get naked and you can count my tattoos for me?"

He blinks his eyes at you, "I can promise you I'll do well at that," he says.

You chuckle at his witty answer and outstretched your arms to showcase the small tattoos on both of your arms.

He turns on the bed to lay on his side facing you, "Which one is your favorite?"

You take a few seconds to think of an answer, "I think it's the one on my spine."

You take all of your hair to one shoulder before turning your back at him, to show him the tattoo you're talking about.

His finger pulls down the silk camisole you're wearing so he can take a better look at it.

"Yeah, that's nice," he agrees with you.

You lean back on your pillow again and look at him, "How about you? Do you have any favorite yet?" You playfully ask.

He slyly smiles even before he begins talking, "Well, I believe there are tattoos that I have not yet seen," he says with one eyebrow slightly raised higher than the other.

Han knows how to amuse you, he's attractive in a different way than the other guys. It makes you want to tease him more.

"You mean like this one?" You lift the front of your camisole to show him the tattoo you have under your left breast.

He almost chokes on air as he breaks into laughter, "That could be my favorite," he says.

You nod and laugh along with him, "I'll show you more but I'm afraid we have to wait for third base," you jokingly say.

That amuses him so much, he collapses on his side of the bed and covers his eyes as he laughs. He has that laugh that only enhances the hilarity and you can't help to laugh along.

YOU: Han is cute, yeah, I think we'll get on well.

The lights are on and Han would still be sleeping if you didn't shift on the bed to take your water tumbler from the bedside table.

As everyone is slowly getting up and dragging themselves out of slumber, Lana's chime startles everyone.

"Oh, it wasn't a dream," Nya groans from the next bed to his.

Yeah, right, Han forgot about the sex ban until that cone lights up on top of the small glass table in the middle of the room.

"Good morning, everyone!" Lana greets.

Han props a pillow behind his head and you take his arm out so you can rest your head on it.

"Morning, hon!" You sleepily reply.

"I'd like to remind you that you're in a retreat but I do hope you enjoy your summer of sun, sea, and no sex," Lana concludes her morning greeting, leaving everyone with the awakening truth that they're not allowed to touch each other.

Han looks over to Avery's bed and wonders how is he going to make a move on her with Lana cockblocking him?

"Right. I'm going back to sleep," you grumble, closing your eyes and nuzzling your head in his neck.

Han slips his hand in your hair, playing with it as he's listening to the talk happening in the room.

"Is anyone still pissed off?" Nya asks everyone how they feel.

Peyton is the first one to raise his hand and Mikaela adds her opinion on the matter, "I think it's impossible to connect with someone without touching them, don't you think?"

Han is too busy thinking of his game plan now that the competition is getting tough and Asher is a point ahead of him.

"I think we need to tell each other if someone is—" Sawyer's words got cut off by Asher.

"At the end of the day, just don't lie," Asher remarks.

Han turns his head to the side only to bury his nose in your hair, catching the scent of your shampoo.

"Your hair smells so good," he says to you.

You hum with your eyes still closed and splayed your hand on his chest, "And you have nice pecs."

You both softly laugh at the compliments you give each other.

Last night, you both fell asleep after having a chat about random things, getting to know each other with jokes slipped in between.

Han must say that he likes you, you're fun to be around and you don't take things seriously. But then again, his eyes are on Avery.

HAN: I woke up next to her and it was great, I like her but... I like Avery more.

After taking a quick dip in the beach, you're walking past the boys who are working out on the way back to the villa.

"Looking good wet," Asher teases you with a lopsided grin on his face.

Too bad you're immune to sweet nothings like that, you flash him a smile and keep climbing the stairs back to the villa.

The other girls are already done with their make-up and leaving the dressing room empty, allowing you to get ready in peace.

In the middle of doing your hair, Nya enters the room and takes a seat next to you.

"What's up, hottie?" You ask while looking in the mirror to make sure you don't burn your scalp with the straightening iron.

Nya grabs her make-up pouch from the other side of the vanity table and takes out a brush. She seems to have something to say to you but hesitates to tell you.

After a while, she finally confesses, "Peyton and I, we kissed last night."

You're more shocked by the fact that she shares this with you rather than the kiss itself. They're horny for each other, it's only about time that they rule break.

You softly chuckle and gently comb your hair with your fingers, "How many times?"

"Just once," she answers while applying makeup on her cheeks.

"I'm impressed!" You playfully respond.

Nya chuckles at that and swivels her chair to face you, "What do you think? Is it three grand? For a kiss?" She asks with a nervous smile.

You put down the straightening iron and lean back on your chair, "I think so, yeah."

Nya takes lipstick out of her pouch next, "I didn't give a fuck at that moment," she says.

From your observation, Nya indeed doesn't give a fuck about the rules. She broke them hours after Lana put on the sex ban and you believe she wouldn't stop there.

"You saw how he kissed me last night during the game and I was a bit horny that we're sharing the bed..." she stops talking as she breaks into breathless chuckles.

"So, Peyton, huh?"

"Well, yeah, once I set my eyes on someone, I will get them," Nya remarks, affirming her strong personality.

"Sorry not sorry, Sawyer," she adds and couldn't care less about anyone else.

Which reminds you to never get on her bad side. You continue styling your hair while keeping the conversation going.

"Yeah, I think you guys are so cute," you comment even though you're not sure that Peyton will make a loyal partner considering that he kissed another girl right in front of her.

"What about you? How are you feeling?" She asks.

This is a dating show and you're well aware that you should get a partner to make this work but no one really tugs at your heartstrings.

Well, there is Han but he's certainly not available to you.

"I came to meet people and have fun, that's what I'm here for," you settle on a simple answer because you have no idea what you can do without a partner in this show.

"Yeah, yeah," Nya half-heartedly responds, "but who are you feeling?"

You must take another pause on doing your hair, "I like Han, he's cute. I like cute guys," you honestly answer.

Nya smiles listening to you talking, "He is. He is cute."

"But I think he's into Avery," you add, not letting her encourage you to pursue him.

Nya nods, getting the gist of it since it's obvious that Avery is the most popular girl in the retreat. She swipes her full lips with nude-colored lipstick and smacks her lips together.

"Once they know about the kiss, we're going to get hated," Nya once again worries about what would happen when Lana announces the infraction they've done last night.

"I think you should just... own up to it," you suggest.

Honest is the best policy and also, you think people will be less upset if they admit their mistake right away.

YOU: Knowing that someone already broke the rules. It's only about time that someone else starts doing it too.

Han has just come out of the shower when Lana calls everyone to the cabana.

He combs his wet hair fast and walks with Finn to where everyone has gathered, sitting on the curved sofa facing the cone-shaped lady.

He squeezes himself between you and Sawyer, putting his arm on the headrest of the sofa as he waits for Lana to come online.

You look over your shoulder at him, "You smell nice."

"I showered," he simply answers with a sly grin on his face.

"That changes everything," you joke, then rest your head on his shoulder,

The cone lights up followed by the melodic chime that he should get used to hearing it. There must be a reason why everyone is called to the cabana, someone must have done something.

"Hello, everyone!" Lana begins.

"Hey, Lana," he replies, suddenly feeling nervous even though he hasn't done anything yet.

"The rules of my retreat have already been broken."

Everyone collectively gasps at that announcement and this is where they get suspicious of each other.

"Oh, no..." Sawyer sighs.

Finn sits on the edge of the sofa and clasps his hands together in front of him, "Anybody wants to come clean?" He asks.

Han gets the feeling that Finn would play the good cop here and he also senses that you know something, "Did we kiss in our sleep or what?"

"If that's the case, I wouldn't stop at kissing," you joke back at him with a gentle slap on his forearm.

Unexpectedly, what you said makes him flutter inside, he almost forgot that someone broke the rules and possibly, it involves Avery.

"I'm so confused," Sawyer says as if it's a math problem that she needs to solve.

No one wants to come forward and it creates animosity in the air. He doesn't like what this leads to, he hopes that someone comes forward so things won't get ugly.

"Who's guilty?" He throws the question in with his eyes uneasily glancing in Avery's direction.

"I thought we were going to be truthful with each other," Finn reminds everyone about the unwritten rules they made this morning.

The calm on Nya's face shatters as Rio says, "You're looking real guilty right now, Nya."

"Yeah, okay, it was me," she finally confesses.

Nya tips her head to the side then looks at Peyton, "Peyton and I kissed."

Han glares at Peyton, he expects that at least he would man up and own up to it. But Han feels a relief knowing that it wasn't Avery.

"This breach of rules has cost the group $3,000," Lana announces.

Oh? Three thousand dollars? For a kiss? That's a surprise but still, he would spend that much for a kiss with Avery.

"The prize fund now stands at $197,000," Lana updates.

"I'm so vexed, you know," Finn says, being the only one who is genuinely upset about losing money.

While the others... the others seem to have waited for someone to break the wave so they can start to rule break too.

And that includes him.

HAN: Best believe if anybody is going to rule break next, it's me [cackles]

"Hello, I'm Josh and I'm a professional tantric practitioner," the instructor for today's workshop introduces himself.

Your eyebrow raises in intrigue at the mention of the word 'tantric' and how it would help everyone to not think about sex.

"Tantric? What is that?" Sawyer naively asks next to you.

"Just listen to the instructor," you tell her with a pat on her shoulder.

"Usually, when we relate to other people, everything is fast, right?" Josh says.

You nod in agreement while shielding your eyes from the bright sun.

"Someone touches you, you touch them back. You kiss this person, they kiss you back but we don't feel it," he eloquently explains while walking around and making eye contact with everyone.

"That's what this workshop is for. For you to learn how to feel your body," he further explains.

He walks back to the middle and looks at everyone, "Pleasure is not in the other. Pleasure is in yourself."

Then Josh orders everyone to gather in the middle as he explains what we're going to do next. He holds a tray full of blindfolds for everyone.

"Usually, people relate tantra to sexuality. But that's just a really small part. Every aspect of you can benefit from increased awareness," Josh informs.

He then offers the tray to Asher who stands close to him, ordering him to get one.

"So we're going to broaden the awareness of our vision, of our breathing, our sounds, our movements..."

You put the blindfold on and tie it around your head, putting you in total blindness.

"We put the blindfolds on so the experience can just be your experience," he concludes before starting the session.

Josh instructs everyone to move their bodies, walk around, and eventually bump into each other's bodies. You get goosebumps when your body crashes with someone, you can feel their heat and feel them skin-to-skin.

Then Josh orders everyone to take a step back and blindly, get a partner to do the next session.

You catch the person that you inexplicably guess is standing in front of you and holding him.

"Oh, I found one!" You reflexively say.

Your partner chuckles at that and from the laugh, you can tell who it is.

"Got you," you tell him with a grin.

"Okay, now, breathe..." Josh instructed, "Breathe her in. Breathe him in."

You slip your hands under and around his waist while he places his hands on your back, also holding you back.

You lean your head forward and meet his head in the middle, ending up putting our heads together. This way you can feel his breath on you and every subtle sound he makes.

"It's time to reveal who your partner was," Josh finally allows everyone to take their blindfolds off.

You untie it on the back of your head and burst into laughs the moment your eyes meet.

YOU: I just can tell who it is the moment we touch [laughs]

"These emotional processes happen but they can only be experienced if you're present."

Now that everyone has partnered up, each pair takes a seat on the mat and sits facing each other. As Han puts his legs on each side of you, you decide to put your legs over his.

"You can get back to your connection through the eyes," Josh continues.

You both can't stop laughing at each other and the longer you maintain eye contact with him, the more you can't stop yourself from laughing.

"Don't lose her. Don't lose him."

"I think it would be better if we close our eyes," you suggest, holding his hands in substitute of that and pressing your heads together.

"Tantra is a way of connecting with your essence. With your feelings."

And you focus on doing what Josh told you to do, focusing on your breathing to be able to intensely feel things with your senses.

"Deep breathe, not deep penetration," Han reminds you.

Once again, you fail to keep your composure and break into a wave of laughter.

"Now, lie down. It's time for you to feel your whole body vibration."

You both lie down facing against each other with your legs still around him and he places his hand on your shin, softly rubbing the skin with his thumb.

"One must learn to connect deeply with oneself. That's tantra. A way through which you can truly connect with yourself."

Maybe because you let yourself open to it, you can feel that connection, it's as if your body is one with earth. You can feel the ground beneath, you can hear the waves crashing and the warmth of the afternoon sun on your skin.

"Now you can sit up," Josh orders.

You slowly open your eyes and sit up, meeting Han's eyes again but this time, you smile at him.

"That was good," you mutter to him.

"Right?" He agrees with you.

You rest your head on his shoulder and continue to sit close facing each other, feeling each other's bodies in a whole new way.

Josh finishes the workshop with one last instruction: a group hug.

YOU: I think I learned how to get to know myself better and to not hold in what I really feel [smiles]

"You all look so sexy!"

You compliment everyone who's getting ready in the dressing room while searching for someone. Avery gleefully smiles at your compliment.

"You look good in those sexy jeans!"

It sounds like she's making fun of it and you look down to check if you look okay in what you're wearing, "Am I underdressed?"

"No. Your butt looks cute in it," Avery assures you with a playful slap on your clothed ass.

To make room for everyone else who hasn't gotten ready yet, you move to the bedroom and find the one you're looking for. Han is sitting on the bed already dressed in blue jeans and a white shirt with the top three buttons left open.

After the workshop, you feel somehow closer to him and you get along really well, you wonder if it could be more.

"Hiya, sexy!" You greet him.

Han glances up and pats the space on the bed, gesturing for you to sit next to him.

"How are you?" He asks.

"Good. You?" You ask back while sitting down and propping a hand against the bed.

"I'm good, thanks," he answers with a smile.

There's no one else in the bedroom and you take it as an opportunity to ask him about something.

"So, where's your head at?" You ask.

Han puts his hand under his head and simply says, "It's right here."

You chuckle and tip your head to the side, "I mean... who do you like in here?"

He takes a moment to take a deep breath and you guess picking his words carefully before answering you, "I think I get on really well with you," he begins.

And it's good to know that he feels the same way about it.

"But I'm more attracted to Avery," he adds, not even hesitating to tell you about it.

Well, it's also good to know that he can openly and comfortably share things with you.

"Yeah," you say, expecting that answer already.

Yet you can't quite hide your disappointment, you look away and pretend to fix your hair. That's just him basically saying that you have a great personality but that's not enough to attract him.

"As you know the three of us are pursuing Avery and we don't know which one she likes..." he says while rubbing his chin.

Instead of being salty about it, you decide to be a friend to him and give him your opinion.

"I think if you like someone, you go for it. There's no time to waste, just go and get it," you encourage while mindlessly running your hand on the bedsheet.

"Yeah," Han's head bobbing in agreement.

"You should talk to Avery and see how she feels about you," you add.

It is obvious that Han likes Avery but he's playing the cool guy trick by thinking that he'll win her over by acting like he doesn't care.

YOU: Oh, well... [awkwardly chuckles] I kind of expected that answer.

After the workshop, Han realizes that you and he bounce off each other, you're tuned in to the same wave and he agrees that it has the potential to be something more than that.

However, Han feels like he should keep pursuing Avery. Mostly because he's attracted to her, almost magnetic, and the fact that he has competition makes him want her more.

He gets out of the bedroom after knowing that Avery is no longer in the dressing room.

Turns out, Finn is already making his move on her. He sees them talking in the firepit and having a laugh, but he can't hear what they're talking about. Finn shortly leaves after kissing her on the hand.

So he's playing the romantic guy, Han reckons.

Avery once said that he likes bad boys and so he'll be it. Bad boys don't make it obvious that he likes her, they wait until they come around.

So Han decides that should be his game plan, sitting on the sofa and you know, waiting for Avery to come around.

HAN: I'm not worried about Asher so my game plan is to play it cool and see where it goes. She'll come to the right man... eventually [laughs]

After hours of no significant result, Han walks back inside to get a new place to hang out.

He decides to go to the bedroom, pushing the door with both hands only to walk into Asher and Avery cuddling on the bed.

Now he sees the flaw in his game plan, he slowly walks back out of the room as everything backfired to him.

When it's time for bed, he couldn't be happier.

Han dives into his pillow and takes a deep breath, blowing some steam off.

A moment later, he feels the bed quaking as you get on and playfully, put your body on top of him.

"We're like the twin bar ice cream," He grumbles as your body presses onto him.

His body shakes along with yours as you're laughing on top of him, then rolling yourself to the side and onto the bed next to him.

"How was your night?" You ask, playing with his dark hair.

"Average," he shortly answers.

"I'm asking about your night, not your genital size," you joke.

He chuckles before answering, "Then it's below average."

If there's anyone that makes this retreat bearable to him then it's you. He can share everything with you and what he likes the most about it is that he can seek comfort from you too.

Han scoots closer and puts his hand across your chest which you nicely welcomed. You're caressing his forearm with only your fingertips and it's relaxing him.

When the lights are out, you pull his arm and put it around you as you lie on your side with your back against his chest.

"Goodnight," you murmur.

He hesitates but with his mouth pressed close to you, he decides to kiss you on the top of your head.

"Goodnight," he murmurs back, snuggling his head on the crook of your neck.

HAN: I guess nice guys do finish last [laughs]

The bathroom is pretty much occupied by the two tall lovebirds, Rio and Mikaela.

You almost walk in on them applying sunblock on each other's bodies and slowly, walking back out of there. Stepping into the dressing room, you find Nya there with Avery who's busy putting her hair into a ponytail.

"Hello, babes," you greet them as you take a seat in your usual spot and decide to put on your sunscreen there when you usually put it on in the bathroom because it can get messy.

Mikaela joins in not long after and sits next to you, fixing her hair with a brush.

"Has anything been going on late at night?" Nya asks her since Mikaela and Rio turned up to their bed late last night.

"We held off pretty well, I guess," Mikaela answers with her half-moaning voice.

"Yeah, but has he been getting hard?" Nya asks again, being nosy as she is.

"We're pretty close," Mikaela answers with a cryptic smile.

You look at her with a dollop of sunscreen on your cheek, "Pretty close? What's that even mean?" You tease.

Before Mikaela can answer that, Lana butts in with her familiar chime, and everyone's heads turn to the cone sitting on the shelf.

"Uh-oh!" You gasp in surprise and awkwardly continue dabbing your cheeks with sunscreen.

"Girls," Lana calls out to everyone in the dressing room.

"Yeah?" Nya replies with a shocked smile.

"Please gather everyone in the bedroom," Lana orders.

You sense that Mikaela did something last night from the horror drawn on her face with her round eyes widening in slight shock.

Nya gets up from her chair but you haven't finished with your sunscreen yet.

"I'll catch up," you tell her.

You put on a sheer top over your bikini before heading to the bedroom and see that everyone is already there including Han.

He holds his hand out for you to take, gesturing for you to sit close to him at the end of your shared bed.

YOU: This can't be good news [scrunches nose]

Other than Mikaela, you notice another pair of guilty faces. No surprise if Nya broke another rule but also, you kind of guessed that Avery did something too, she keeps shaking her leg uncomfortably.

Lana chimes and the tension is already rising in the room.

"There have been breaches of the rules," Lana goes straight to business.

"Breaches?" Finn focuses on the plural terms that could tell how much money he'll be losing today.

As someone without a partner, you can relax since no one will be suspicious of you. You put your legs over Han's and rest your hand on his shoulder.

Heads are turning against each other but no one is saying anything.

"Mmh..." Avery lets out a low sigh.

You bet she did something and if yes, who did she do it with? You look at Han and wonder if he did what you told him to just go and get her.

"I'll be honest with you guys..." Asher speaks up.

There goes your answer. Avery did kiss but it's with Asher and you don't know why you feel some sort of relief on knowing it.

"I definitely lost some money last night," he pauses to scratch his head, "I pulled Avery aside and kissed her."

Avery shyly smiles and sputters her apology, "I'm–I am sorry, you guys."

Your eyes silently shift at Han and notice that he's not pleased to hear his love interest got kissed by someone else.

"This is what I wanted and I felt a genuine connection there," Asher adds.

What a way to prove that he wants to delve further into this relationship but Avery doesn't seem to be happy to hear his man declare that she is what he wanted.

"So sorry, guys," Asher concludes.

It would be stupid of you to hope that that's the only kiss that happened last night.

"There was another breach of the rules," Lana says again and she won't stop until everyone comes clean.

You look at Nya and she's not looking at anyone. Peyton seems to have decided to keep denying it and staying quiet about it.

Mikaela sighs then closes her eyes, "Why don't you tell them, Rio," she says to the man next to her.

Rio licks his lips and opens his mouth, but words do not come out of it until a minute later.

"We kissed a couple of times last night," Rio confesses and pinches the bridge of his nose after.

"A couple?" Finn asks for confirmation.

You guess what he needs to know is how many kisses in numbers.

"Five times," Rio answers.

"Oh, my gosh!" Avery sighs while rubbing her temple.

That makes you sweat a little and you take your hand off of Han's shoulder to fiddle with the strap of your bikini, also because you sense that Han gets tensed beside you.

"I mean, I can tolerate one or two kisses but five?" You confront them and keep your tone calm to not trigger anyone.

It's not a genuine connection if you needed five kisses to convince you that you're emotionally connected so yeah, you doubt that Rio and Mikaela have it.

"If you had that genuine connection, what would you do?" Rio says in his defense.

"I don't know, maybe try a bit harder?" Han finally lets out an opinion with an insinuating tone, driven by the slight anger he gets from Avery and Asher's kiss.

"That's just a waste of money," Finn mutters from his bed and a deep sigh.

"Is that all, Lana?" You ask, wanting to get it over with.

"There was another breach of the rules," Lana shares.

You don't even hold yourself back from groaning and rolling your eyes. You didn't plan to get this mad but hearing these people kissing and spending money recklessly ticked you off.

"We'll have no money," Finn mutters again and collapses onto the bed.

"Why are you smiling, Peyton?" Asher asks.

Peyton is indeed smiling and looking calm for a guilty man, "I kissed Nya last night."

Sawyer raises her hand like she's in a classroom but that works to get everyone's attention, "Wait, I'm a little confused about it because you said you were going to pursue things with me," she drops a truth bomb out of nowhere.

Nya turns Peyton around to force him to look at her, "You said to me that you wanted me, not her," she spoils more rotten truth.

This whole thing turns into a she said, he said situation and you can only watch them, going back and forth, pointing fingers at each other.

"I hate being lied to," Sawyer mutters.

Peyton rubs his chin and concludes, "I never lied to you," he says to Sawyer.

Then he turns to Nya and tells her the same thing, "And I never lied to you."

Can't help it, you let out a stifled laugh because Peyton not only digging his own grave but also putting nails on his coffin.

The ones that benefited from this are Rio and Mikaela, the love triangle mess is taking the heat off of them.

"It's obviously not working," Nya ends things for good.

Thankfully, Lana takes control of the situation to deliver the bills.

"All of these rule breaks have made me decide to implement a stricter regime. The fines will now be doubled starting with these rule breaks."

Your jaw drops at the announcement and get dizzy thinking of how much those five kisses cost alone.

"These multiple rule breaks have cost the group $42,000," Lana updates.

You scoff at the amount of money spent on a few silly kisses and have to take a few deep breaths to calm yourself.

"The prize fund now stands at $155,000."

Everyone is just as gobsmacked by how much money has been lost from the prize and if everyone keeps doing it, all of you would likely go home with nothing.

YOU: We might as well pack our things now and go home [shrugs]

A week has passed and you start to feel that you're merely wasting time here.

Not much happened around here especially after Peyton and Nya's ship sank right after that messy fight. In the end, Peyton doesn't get either Nya or Sawyer and he deserves every bit of it.

The retreat is not only about couple growth but still... If only you had someone to try to make a connection with, you would enjoy this whole experience more.

You wake up in the morning, have a few cuddles with Han, and then everyone is moving on with their day. There's not much you can do here but you try to participate as much by not breaking the rules.

As if you have someone to do it with.

Avery joins you as you walk down to the beach to swim at the beach. With the low tide, you can sit on the beach with her to cool down after swimming.

"Avery baby, tell me, how are things with Asher?" You ask out of curiosity.

What Asher did that day, defending her and openly telling everyone how he feels about her, you expect her to be swooned if not smitten.

But from what you've been seeing, it seems like things have cooled down between them.

"To be honest, I don't know..." she is just as confused as you.

"But out of all the three boys, you like him right?" You try to make it simple for her.

"Yeah, I like Asher because he's great, he made the first move and got an edge to him..." she explains.

You nod and support your chin with the back of your hand, "What he did that day, I think that's very endearing of him," you give her your honest opinion just in case she needs an assurance from someone outside that relationship.

"Yeah, he was like... expressed his feelings and telling everyone how he feels about me," Her facial expression gradually turns sour as you sense a 'but' coming from her small mouth.

"But I just don't like when people are like that to me," she says with a repulsed expression.

"I get really..." she ends the sentence with a groan.

The problem with Avery is that she doesn't know what she wants. Other than that, now you know why Asher flirted with you this morning but knowing that he initially likes Avery makes you feel like you're his backup plan.

Here's the thing about you, you don't like being a second choice.

YOU: You know what, Lana? I think we need more dicks in the villa [laughs]

Han feels like his breakfast is about to come up as he hears the sound of that melodic chime. He hears it often enough yet he feels even more anxious the more he hears it.

"Please be good news," Han mutters next to you.

You put your hand on his thigh, playing with a lint of his swimming trunk.

"Hello, everyone!" Lana greets.

He turns his head at the same time you look at him, sending both of you burst into laughter.

"Here we go," Asher mutters with a nervous sigh.

"To further aid your personal growth, you must learn to resist your urges."

That catches his interest but also makes his heart start to beat faster. Lana is unpredictable and Han hates that.

"I have arranged two dates."

That makes some people relax, at least, it's not about losing more money from the prize fund. Han, personally, has not yet recovered from losing a quarter of the prize money.

"Both with new arrivals," Lana finishes her sentence.

Other than Rio and Mikaela, everyone else seems to be excited about this. New guests mean new chances to make a connection.

"I have allowed the new arrivals to select who they want to ask out on their date."

Han is having mixed feelings about this. He knows that Avery is no longer with Asher but he's slowly losing his interest in her. Maybe the new arrivals can help him move on.

"The first new arrival is... Gwen."

So it's a girl, well, Han can do something about this Gwen. He feels hopeful once again and maybe this time, triumph will be his.

"Gwen has chosen... Rio to be her date."

All eyes are on Mikaela as she tries so hard to remain calm about this but everyone knows that she's fuming inside.

"You seem happy, Rio," Asher teases him which Rio coyly responds with a shrug.

"And date number two will be with Fabian."

His head turns as he hears hears you cooing in wonder, "He sounds exotic," you mutter.

Nya is the most excited one and it's probably because she needs to show Peyton that he's got nothing on her anymore.

"Fabian has chosen... Nya to be his date."

Han doesn't know why he feels glad knowing that this new guy didn't choose you but does that make him the bad guy? He doesn't think so.

"Rio and Nya, you may leave to get ready for the date," Lana orders.

He hasn't seen the new arrivals yet but he can imagine the amount of drama he'll witness later with Rio going on a date with the new girl.

HAN: The new arrivals, uh... they can't be ugly, right Lana? [Snickers]

The first one to return from the date is Nya and she's bringing a man who's taller than Rio and talks in a French accent.

Han can see that Nya is already all over him and he glances at Peyton who ends up with no one but his own player ass. He just knew that Peyton had it coming for him since that game night when he boldly kissed two girls.

He grabs his first drink of the day with the staff only allowed every contest to take three drinks max and when he gets back to the terrace, he sees a gorgeous girl with blond hair.

Rio is introducing the girl around while Mikaela is intensely watching him from the cabana with furrowed brows and eyes filled with fiery glints like a hawk.

When it comes to his turn, he doesn't bother making a good first impression.

"Han," he simply tells her his name.

"I'm Gwen, hi," she introduces herself.

With the few inches he doesn't have, Gwen can easily put her arm around him for a quick hug, "Nice to meet you!"

Gwen is undeniably beautiful, anyone who looks at her would agree with him. Surprisingly, he's not as excited as he imagined he would be.

Well, the last thing he wants to do is compete to win a girl over and he doesn't want to entertain the idea that Gwen would take a liking to him.

Despite all that, Rio and Mikaela remain strong. Everyone is staying on the same bed and because Nya and Sawyer refuse to sleep with Peyton, he has to share the bed with Finn.

Han feels good knowing that he doesn't have to deal with such drama, he walks to his bed and does not hesitate to cuddle you.

"Hi, sexy bunny," he mutters close to your ear.

The two of you have this inside joke of calling each other silly, childish pet names and yesterday, you called him

'tater tot' and he laughs whenever he recalls it.

"Hi, bubble butt," you reply.

He laughs at that and playfully bites at your shoulder to get back at you. Somehow, the only one he can comfortably share his space with is you and he realizes how grateful he should be for your presence.

"Goodnight, everyone," Avery says while blowing kisses to everyone.

Han tickles your neck with his nose and purposely, breathes into your ear, "Goodnight!"

You giggle in reaction to his tickling breath, "Night!"

He presses a soft, lingering kiss on your head and that's how he ends his day on a sweet note.

HAN: I wasn't attracted to her but now I feel bad for not giving her any attention.

"It's like working out with Zeus, bro!" Han says, watching Rio working out non-stop while he's sitting on the mat, drenched in sweat for doing not even half of the workout Rio is doing.

Rio carefully lowers down the heavy dumbbells and reorganizes his breath as he takes a break.

"So, are you still chasing Avery?" Rio asks.

Han sucks water out of the bottle, then licks his lips before answering him, "Honestly speaking, I'm losing interest," he answers.

He knows that it'll be different to everyone but seeing what happened to her and Asher, there's a chance that things would likely end up the same.

He's tired of chasing and she keeps hanging up on him, "I think Avery enjoys the thrill, the chase..." he adds while running out of breath.

"Yeah, I think so too," Rio agrees with him.

He then lies down on his back and starts doing sit-ups as if his abs aren't as hard as rock already.

"What about that new girl then?"

"Gwen?"

"Yep, she's pretty," Rio says, being the one who went on a date with her.

"Are you going to make a move on her?"

Han caught Asher making the eyes with Gwen last night and he's not that interested to even try.

Looking at Rio tirelessly working out, he feels motivated to continue and picks up dumbbells.

"You know, I'm feeling it more with my bed partner," Han honestly says.

"I know you like her," Rio says with a glare at him.

He stops doing sit-ups and points at Han, "You just don't want to admit it."

Han has to pause on lifting his dumbbells to continue talking. He suddenly gets flustered because that's true, he keeps denying that there's something more between him and you.

"You two vibe really well," Rio says and he has never seen him being this earnest.

Han stops working out altogether and drops the dumbbells on the floor, "it's because Avery is so my type," he simply defends himself.

"But uh..." he pauses to catch a breath.

"But when I spend time with her, it's... natural," he explains and he doesn't care if that doesn't make sense to Rio, "It's so much fun."

Han breaks down on the floor and wipes the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, "I overlooked her because she doesn't look like my type."

Rio nods and intently listens to him speak.

"As soon as I saw Gwen last night, I was like... I still prefer her," he admits.

Han doesn't know why he can easily share his feelings with Rio, probably because he feels like a brother to him. Rio taps his shoulder hard enough that it launches him forward.

"You guys are cute together, and get along well, I don't see why you shouldn't try it, man!" He looks so annoyed and eager to see it happen.

Han laughs at that but he wishes he could easily share his feelings like this to you.

HAN: Maybe I should open up and accept how I'm feeling rather than keep seeking what's not there.

The mud is drying as you're walking back to the villa after having a girls-only workshop at the beach.

You share the shower with Sawyer to wash off the dried mud and waste no time getting ready for a party Lana throws to welcome the new arrivals.

The dressing room is crowded so you grab your make-up pouch to do it in the bathroom and you can do the hair later when it's less crowded in there.

For now, you're brushing your wet hair to the back while looking at your reflection in the mirror.

As you're about to apply moisturizer, you see Han walking into the bathroom and the first thing you see is that gummy smile of his.

"Hi, stud muffin," you playfully call him.

He would usually laugh at the pet names you called him but he only smiles in response, the kind that you've never seen on him.

"What's up?" You ask in wonder.

He doesn't say anything but leans against the sink facing you, looking at you with a cryptic smile dancing on his face.

He finally does something, walking up to you and placing his hands on each side of your waist. Slowly, he brings his mouth to your ear and whispers, "I missed you."

You reflexively burst into waves of laughter and think that he's just playing with you.

"I'm getting concerned," you tell him with a nervous laugh.

Han is also laughing and then he leans in to whisper again, "I miss you when you're not around."

You're giggling because the last thing you expect is to hear him saying that he missed you even though you've only been apart from each other for about three hours.

"Aww..." you coo at him, laughing the second your eyes meet in a gaze.

He cups your jaw then tilts your head, and you close your eyes in reflex. Instead of what you thought it would be, he softly whispers.

"I think I like you."

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oneatlatime · 7 months

Text

The Blind Bandit

I had honestly forgotten that the Gaang were trying to find an earthbending teacher, so the 'previously on' segment was actually useful instead of spoilery.

Nobody's face is having a good time.

Look at this sweetheart. You go ahead and treat yourself honey. You've single-handedly escorted a pair of earth-shatteringly overpowered tweens around the world for months; the least you deserve is a shopping trip.

"You kids like earthbending?" Has the same energy as "wanna buy a sun dial?" from that animated Hercules movie.

This guy is one of those strip mall karate types.

I take back everything I ever said about Zuko's season 1 haircut. This guy has a dust bunny poop on his head.

Momo's bag now.

My absolute favourite girl power: incredible violence!

The acoustics at this earth rumble place must be great. I don't see any microphones.

"That's what I paid for." Sokka is a simple creature at heart. Likes food and violence.

Something very strange about this guy's face. I think his mouth moves but his eyes don't.

So apparently earthbending gets you mad air.

Oh! I get it. This is a WWE parody. Somebody on the writing team did their homework too. Don't ask me how I know, but this is a very accurate parody.

Sokka thinks listening to big muscles is a very good idea actually.

And here's the heel. Complete with russian accent. And oddly homoerotic anthem. And cowardice when challenged! Yep, total heel.

I LOLed at the zamboni badgermoles and hockey organ.

She's like two feet tall!

I'm. in love.

I could watch little girls beat up grown men all day.

Earthbending sonar?

Omigod it predicts. She can see moves before they happen.

Well it's a good thing Bumi said to look for someone who Waited and Listened rather than Watched.

"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you." Says the guy who just volunteered, in front of a full stadium, to FIGHT her. Time and place, Aang.

Get back on the ground you flighty airbender. She sees with that ground. No fair.

This is about the face I made when Aang pulled that move. Does this boy think at all? I love him, but what part of stealing her well-earned title is supposed to convince her to talk to him?

You messed up.

I love sartorially inclined Sokka. It's a tiny an innocuous little trait, but it rounds out his character so well.

I get to watch two different girls terrorise idiots this episode. I am blessed.

So I'm guessing the two idiots at the earthbending academy are doing that excercise where kung fu people stick their hands in sand (I've seen videos of it) but it really looked like they were in the 'beat back the dough' phase of making bread.

In this universe of plot-convenient clothing blindness, how do Dumb and Dumber recognise Aang as the one who beat the Blind Bandit?

I think the voice actor for the dumb kid with actual hair did a bunch of voices in season 1. The soldier who gives Aang Bato's map comes to mind.

Have I said recently how much I love Sokka and Katara?

These wrestling guys keep switching between first and third person. Too many rocks to the head.

This could be a board for a murder mystery board game. Or a map for a DND dungeon.

It's her hair. I thought the Blind Bandit had a cap type thing with a little brim for her costume, but it's just a pile of her hair? Like a beehive?

A lesson in character writing: if you want to make someone look super dumb, have them earnestly believe in the credentials and authenticity of a guy you have previously set up as a borderline con artist. Lookin at you, Blind Bandit's dad.

"Basic forms and breathing exercises only." That line is just so funny. And they're all so stupid. She snapped like half a dozen spines last night and this guy is preaching breathing exercises.

Wow! I hate her dad!

I hate him more!

Sokka going ham on some rice rather than listen to the idiots. Good priorities.

This passive aggressive fight between the girl and Aang at the dinner table is so fun.

Looking for somewhere to store your meal after you've face planted into it? Try the top of your head!

I need to get a hold of some of those magic napkins. Wiped up a whole multicourse meal in like 5 seconds.

That is indeed the appropriate reaction to this pint sized badass. Glad Aang is learning. (Also this episode needs more Appa. The last couple have been sadly bereft.)

Called it. Earthdending sonar. Or is it more like echolocation? No! Whiskers!

How does this pint sized badass - who if I am understanding correctly, is not known to exist outside the walls of her house - have more emotional intelligence than the entirety of the Gaang put together?

So much for the guards in the garden. They'd actually be useful now.

Sokka. Priorities. Although given how many times Aang has escaped custody/kidnapping he's probably ok to take a minute to fangirl over an autograph.

These idiot parents don't know their daughter at all. That chafes.

"I'm not smiling." I LOLed at that too. Perfect delivery.

Hippo man having a snack before he gets down to business. No wonder he's missing teeth.

All this blind and tiny and helpless and fragile talk is really making me hope someone smacks the crap out of the dad. What an awful thing to say, nevermind saying it where your daughter can hear.

SMACKDOWN INCOMING

This is gonna be good.

If this girl does join the Gaang the writers are going to have to nerf her in every major conflict. She's too powerful. I bet she could take on the firelord now.

And that's why you don't announce sneak attacks.

So remember how Sokka was absolutely losing his shit over the Boulder? That's me right now.

She waits. All these idiots are losing because they're getting impatient and attacking first. Which means that, to her senses, they're telegraphing their moves. That is so cool. And so is this visual.

Here's your chance Dad. Are you going to mess it up?

"I love fighting. I love being an Earthbender. And I'm really really good at it." me:

I don't have words for how much I LOVE when little girls STAND UP for THEMSELVES and THEIR INTERESTS. This would have had me HOLLERING if I'd seen it as a kid. It was a message I needed to hear too.

Wow I want to kill her parents.

OH FUCK OFF

COME ON

You made my girl cry.

Get wrecked belt stealer. I LOLed at this too.

Sokka just beaned a blind girl on the head. Not a good look. I laughed though.

Fun fact: everyone in this picture is a piece of shit.

I haven't been this steamed since Zuko's dad burned half his face off.

Final Thoughts

IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, this episode feels like it's movie quality. This show is usually excellent, but this feels like a cut above. I feel like I could sense the love the writers, animators, voice actors, everyone had for this episode. They had a good time making it and were enthusiastic about it. And there were lots of tiny background details in this episode too. I'm sure I missed quite a few. Oh No! I'll have to rewatch it!

New team member! That hasn't happened since Momo. Actually, no wonder the episode was so good. Introducing the first new team member in at least a season's worth of episodes is a delicate operation. I bet they were workshopping this episode since early in the first season.

And Toph! (thank you credits for how to spell that - I was really hoping it wasn't Toff). Be still my heart I love Toph. She may well take Sokka's spot as my favourite character. Strength of character, self-assurance, emotional intelligence, badassery, mastery of violence, what's not to love!!!

How did she get so emotionally intelligent and articulate if her parents have kept her caged her whole life? I don't know but I'm not complaining!

How did her parents get away with caging her for her whole life? I do know (money) and I am complaining. Very much so. And yet Toph can still find it within herself to have an honest conversation with them, including apologising for leaving said cage. I never would have had the maturity to do that in a similar situation. I would have gone the Katara explosive rage route.

A little girl who stands up for herself. Against HER PARENTS. I just. Do you know how amazing that is? Especially in a kids' show? I was ROBBED by not being able to see this show when I was Toph's age.

Does bending work like a muscle, in that you build up stamina? Because if so, then Toph is the strongest human earthbender in the world by default. If she's using it in place of seeing, then she's using it 100% of the time that she's awake, all day every day. By the time she was like 5 years old she'd probably used her bending more than the average earthbender does in their whole lifetime.

My one complaint is Toph's voice. Nothing wrong with it; this is a me thing. It fits her perfectly, but my ears do not play well with nasal voices, which hers is. I had to rewind quite a few times and resorted to subtitles by the end. Hopefully I'll get used to it like I did Zuko's.

Sokka! My soon to be demoted beloved! He shone in this episode. I love that he has fashion sense and is not afraid to show it. I'm thinking, what with how hung up he was on masculinity at the start of the show, that the water tribes have a different conception of masculinity: one that classes fashionability as a masculine or gender neutral trait. Even back in season one it didn't take much to get Sokka into the Kyoshi warrior uniform, and he's shockingly good at applying face paint symmetrically. Which I still cannot do with winged eyeliner.

Katara! Not headed for a career in diplomacy but so satisfying to watch. I would love to have a Katara in my pocket that I could unleash on people. And her and Sokka bouncing off each other this episode was great. Every one was at peak performance this episode, except Aang. Not at his brightest this episode.

Checking for typos before I post this and I realise I'd already forgotten that Toph is blind! Just like in the Northern Air Temple, this is how you do disability right: as just a part of who they are, rather than an entire personality. This show is so good.

In sum, Toph:

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #the blind bandit #avatar the last airbender

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crimsonji · 1 year

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Hi!!

I would like to request a Wanderer x reader fic please!! Where reader is someone who trusts people way too easily :0

Im just kinda curious on how that will go- Since yk- Wanderer's past experiences TwT

I hope this request is fine!! If it isnt, you can ignore this!!

Either way, i hope you have a great day/night! :D

୨୧ trust

ft. wanderer x gn!reader

cw: fluff, reader is kind but naive, not proofread

>> 🍁 kazuha’s musings : i love this concept!!! i can imagine wanderer seeing a lot of himself in the reader and being very harsh on them just bcus he doesn't want his partner to go through the same life he did. i kinda relate positive + easily trusting ppl together?? i hope that makes sense to anyone besides me so that's what i went for

Wanderer's always took note of your light-hearted attitude, your caring nature providing a strange... comfort to his mind and soul. Keep in mind, it was difficult to get to this point, the Wanderer's gone through such turmoil that it seems he had desperately tried to pretend like he didn't have a heart at all. But it seems that you brought him inklings of that old feeling long ago when you crossed paths.

He couldn't help the grimace on his face, seeing you smile through practically any situation and looking out for anyone and everyone you met, even if you had no personal interest to help them. It was shocking, Wanderer saw the world as cruel and unforgiving, and the only way you could survive was to give into the inherent darkness of humanity. He tried to justify it in his mind, that he isn't human, to begin with, just another heartless puppet controlled by the strings of fate--and his fate was to forever wander with no true identity.

At first, he hated you for this, he hated that you always looked on the bright side, hated that you could be so blissfully unaware yet ever-so alluring and enchanting in his eyes--something that once Wanderer had he could never let go, no matter how much he despised it. He hates you, but is that how he really feels, or is it the trauma of his past blinding him from the true wisdom of love and beauty you held under your surface? It was short-sighted of him, to reject you so instantaneously, yet no matter how cold and cruel he was--you had seen right past him as if he were glass.

No, you were different, not yet subjected to that reality and living in blissful ignorance, going as far as to fall in love with him--a puppet designed to be nothing more than a prototype. You reminded Wanderer of him, the persona of Kunikuzushi, a bright-eyed boy travelling Inazuma. You and Kunikuzushi would have gotten along well, he thinks, both so wonderfully living in a gentle dream where the sun always shone brightly. Wanderer tries to forget, but he still remembers that sensation, something that bubbled in clear waters and reflected colour and light, so soft and airy that it felt nearly suffocating at times. That feeling only grew stronger the longer he knew you, traces of even a smile on Wanderer's lips when navy eyes met yours.

He's smitten, fallen and can't shake you off his mind. It's scary, so long since Wanderer's felt this way. He wants to prove his use to you, to know that he's no longer the sensitive boy that was Kunikuzushi, but Wanderer--a blank slate that's carried the memories of many and uses them to become whoever Teyvat needs him to be. And to the Wanderer, he's your omnipotent god but also, your protector.

You're the only one he trusts, but you seem so willing to give it to others like it's nothing. Trust is foreign and such a beautifully fragile thing to Wanderer, and he's not scared to put any lowly human in place if they decide to take advantage of your ever-lasting kindness.

It's almost humorous, the Wanderer prides himself on being the near equivalent of a celestial being yet practically worshipping the ground you walk on, never taking every second of love and care you offer him for granted. He can instantly call someone out if they're being dishonest, the Wanderer protectively drawing himself nearer to you as he watches your eyes sparkle or saddens with empathy listening to a fool's tale.

He can see the person's facade crack under the pressure of Wanderer's harsh glare, he's already mastered the art and then some. Before you can open your mouth to happily agree to whatever master plan is brewing in their mind, Wanderer's already begun speaking with that bored and sarcastic tone like he's silently telling the individual that he's wasting his precious time with you.

Wanderer's almost grinning by the end of it, flawlessly breaking down every lie until the jig was up--watching them try to double-down before finally accepting utter defeat. When he turns to look at you, his smile falters slightly seeing your expression mixed with surprise but also... empathy, even still that this person was attempting to toy with your feelings.

"Why do you look so upset? He was just trying to swindle your mora."

"There must be a reason why... maybe he's in a tough spot right now and this was the only way he could get mora!" is what you say, he quirks an eyebrow before sighing, shooing his hand dismissively at you.

"Fine, if you want to give him some, but don't say I didn't warn you."

A small part of him feels his heart flutter when he sees your eyes light up at him in awe, letting you fish out a small bag of mora and greeting the now dejected man. Wanderer's eyeing you two intensely, carefully watching the swindler's face for any signs of malice... but he doesn't see it this time, genuine tears forming glossy in that man's eyes before bowing and thanking you profusely. Wanderer couldn't make out the exact words you exchanged, but he could tell at least that the person was acting truthfully now.

You sent off the man with a smile before turning your head to Wanderer, smiling cheekily at him that made his eyes widen and heart skips a beat--it's that feeling again. He scoffs, ushering you to keep up with him as he's already setting off again. That smile you always carry when you're with him is intoxicating, contagious enough that unexpectedly, Wanderer finds himself smiling with you, too, not something faked to gain something, it's real.

Perhaps, maybe he could get used to this feeling from long ago once more, with you.

trust doesn't even look like a real word anymore

#[🍁] kazuha's haiku collection #[💌] letters of songbird #scaramouche #scaramouche genshin #genshin fanfic #scaramouche x reader #wanderer genshin #wanderer x reader #scaramouche x you #scara x reader #scaramouche fluff

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burst-of-iridescent · 2 months

Text

atla live action thoughts: episode 1

SPOILERS AHEAD

tw: opinions

things i liked:

love that we're starting from a hundred years ago and seeing exactly how everything played out. iirc in the original, sozin's first move was to colonize earth kingdom territory so the show expanding upon it in sozin making it seem as though he was about to attack the earth kingdom as a red herring so he could wipe out the air nomads instead was a good change

sozin being able to wipe out the nomads because they were all gathered in one place for a festival makes a ton of sense, and i really like that they let us have time with the air nomads before wiping them out. gyatso and aang's scene almost brought me to tears, it was so beautifully sincere and touching

whoever casted gordon cormier needs a medal because THIS. FUCKING. KID. i nearly lost it when he started crying like what do you mean this baby has to save the world???

i am so thankful that they didn't shy away from the savagery and brutality of the air nomad genocide. seeing the fire nation cut them down so ruthlessly was absolutely horrific, but it was the perfect way to start this darker iteration of the story and those ten minutes alone made me feel more for the air nomads than the entire three seasons of the original. and having the scene cut between aang lost in the storm and his people being wiped out???? insane.

the visuals are absolutely beautiful. i think they shot this on a volume stage and holy shit did they make use of it because every establishing shot was gorgeous, especially the one for the southern air temple

ian ousley, questionable heritage aside, is actually doing a great job as sokka. his comedic timing is excellent

the bending actually looks... really good. i love how they're doing the airbending in particular, it definitely feels as though aang is entirely untethered to the earth

katara's arc is... interesting. i'll reserve judgement on it till the end of the season but right now i don't hate what they're doing with the changes to her relationship with waterbending. we'll see where they're going with this.

initially i wasn't a fan of them changing katara pulling aang out of the avatar state, but after reflecting i love that it was the memory of gyatso that brings aang back to himself. the idea that even though gyatso is gone, his love for aang still lives on within him, protecting him, is remarkably powerful and moving. and i think at this point, this version of katara and aang don't have enough of a relationship for her pulling him out of the avatar state to have the same impact it did in the original

THE MUSIC IS TOP-NOTCH. ngl i teared up when the credits were the iconic sun warrior soundtrack mixed with the atla theme

things i disliked/am conflicted about:

aang running away... doesn't feel like it's aang running away. i know he had the scene where he's crying and upset, but it feels more as though he just wanted to clear his head for a little bit rather than fleeing in terror because he was afraid of the responsibility of being the avatar. his guilt over abandoning his people and the world is fairly important to his character, so i didn't love the way they did this scene because it doesn't really feel like an active choice that aang made

gran-gran being turned into into an exposition machine to tell the audience - and aang - everything. really wasn't a fan of her being the one to reveal that aang is the avatar, or that they info-dumped everything about the fire nation and the war in one scene. it also sort of took away the gut punch of aang finding gyatso's skeleton because he already knows what's happened, whereas in the show it hits so much harder because of his blind optimism and naivete leading up to that moment

RIP katara breaking aang from the iceberg because of her righteous fury scene, you will always be famous. live action katara feels a little too passive so far but i hope that'll change in upcoming episodes as we get further into her arc

dallas liu as zuko... mmm, something about it is not working for me so far but i can't put my finger on why. i wouldn't say i disliked it, but i'm not loving it either. his performance feels a little too theatrical, somehow? but it's only the first episode so again i won't be too harsh till i finish the season

the southern water tribe should look far emptier and more isolated to get a real sense of how the war has affected them, imo. here the impact of their parents and most of the adults in the village being gone doesn't seem as apparent as it does in the original when it's literally just a few women and children

overall, premiere rating: 7.5/10

#atla live action #atla

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celestialholz · 1 year

Text

The P(aldea)-Solariser and the P-Lunariser (or 'you're really gonna give me sun and moon men outside of Alola, huh')

... Oh, @prince-kallisto, buddy. Look what you've done. xD (/j, been meaning to talk about this for MONTHS.)

My good pal spoke recently on the subject of Hassel's eyes and the significance of Baxcalibur, and it's reminded me yet again how Hassel is painted in the Paldean narrative as the sun, and how Brassius is painted as the moon - and the fact that that's deeply, deeply gay. Now, I've already discussed the fact that Hassel is a Sunflora, and further how one of The Harvests is both Dragon-coloured and features small suns, but let's go more in-depth, shall we? :D

What follows is every example I can find of sun and moon symbolism within these husbands. (They can't keep getting away with this shit. It's just unhinged.)

Let's begin with... well, eyes.

You know what this is based off? It's a parhelic circle, also known as this thing:

This is defined in scientific terms as following:

'A luminous halo, each side of the sun parallel to the horizon, caused by refraction of sunlight through ice crystals.'

... Huh. Ice crystals. Almost like the man owns an Ice type, and shows off a literal ice crystal in his classroom!

And just in case, for a singular half-moment of your day, you thought that there wasn't absolute equality in this marriage...

... Here's the lunar version, also known as a paraselenic circle. And I think, guys, I've seen this somewhere before...

You know that thing, of looking at someone like they hung the moon because they're the most important person in the world to you?

... Bit like this, in fact? Yeah. Look at these men, stood here with their fucking sun and moon eyes. I hate both of you intensely. <333

Next, the Sunny Day TM is in Artazon... next to a Surrendering Sunflora.

(Forgive my jank screenshot here - it's an old one.)

I happen to know from my five-hour meta on these bad boys that this Sunflora also faces solar south, or the part of the day where the sun is highest on the horizon. So, you've put the Sunny Day TM on a cliff that's nearer the sun, facing the sun, beside the sun. Okay Game Freak, very cool, I see you... Brassius' life has been brightened to blinding degrees, yes...

Whilst this isn't the only TM in this game that's in a hilariously appropriate location - TM92 Trick Room being on the roof of the professor's lab, directly above the time machine, springs to mind - it is the only one that's this gay, so... notable.

Next... Brassie is a dragon fruit. Look at this man.

Because, y'know, half-dragon, half-plant. Like Flapple.

Why is this relevant in a sun and moon meta? Well, the dragon fruit comes from a cacti, and its flowers?

Which again, seems really familiar...

... Sweet fucking Arceus. And it gets even better, because dragon fruit also comes in yellow!

And as with its flowers, yellow dragon fruit really likes the sun.

... The flower that blossoms only under moonlight, and the fruit that only flourishes in sunlight.

There is an entire world of spiritual symbolism surrounding Hassius and dragon fruits by the way, which would be going hugely off-topic here, but I'll leave you to chew on these two:

Mm...

... Mmmmm.

And just in case this all hasn't killed you off as much as it's killed me, pals, let me stick the final knife in for you.

Flapple's portrait in the Paldea dex is at dusk.

... Halfway between the day and the night.

Halfway between the sun and the fucking moon.

#ephemeralartshipping #hassel x brassius #hassius #hassel #brassius #pokemon scarlet and violet #... this game is a circus and I am its primary clown #paldea is like onions - keeps giving you layers and keeps making you cry #... just fuck both of you honestly lmao #/j I adore you both #pokemon sun and moon #... except not really #pokemon meta

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notthestarwar · 11 months

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Fox

Fox is a fun one! So Fox obviously is barely in canon, so he's a blank slate really. But here's some of how I see him.

Cody

Boba

Kix

Obi Wan

Anakin (1 2 3 4 5)

Jango (1 2 3 4 5 6)

Clones

Is Jango a father to the clones

I have a hc that Fox really hates himself, he's convinced that Jango had to be some kind of evil to do what he did, and he's sure that exists in him too. He's terrified of himself. He doesn't want to become Jango but he's sure he will and there's nothing he can do to prevent that. He's completely wrong of course, you can't be born evil and besides he's nothing like Jango but it's a case of if you look for something, you'll find it. He loves his brothers intensely and his only reason for living is to save them from his life. I think he doesn't really show that love though. His self hatred just results in this utter apathy for everything.

He wants to be loved pretty intensely but he doesn't think he deserves it, so he's disgusted in himself for wanting it. I've seen other ppl who also think he hates himself but is aware of it, but personally I don't think of him as someone who is aware of this. He doesn't come across as someone with no self confidence, rather he comes across as someone who's a bit of a dick, and is always willing to see the worst in a situation. He's kind of cold and he's determined that the galaxy is evil and there's no doing anything about it. There's no point to it pretty much. He comes across as pretty arrogant if anything. The idea of him being vulnerable is disgusting to him, so he is just living a lie pretty much.

I like to think of Fox and Cody as two sides of the same coin.

They both are driven by this deep deep love of their brothers. They are each ultra competent. They are both willing to die for their duty to their brothers.

But where Cody is the blinding brightness of the midday sun, Fox is the sickly neon of the Coruscant underlevels, where its always night.

If Cody is the sun, burning himself up for his duty

Fox is withering away as he denies himself light, so he can spare it for his brothers

Cody feels too greatly, Fox does not allow himself to feel at all. He's apathetic

They are both scared they'll end up like Jango but they both think very different things went wrong with Jango. Cody thinks Jango had the potential to do better, but didn't try, because he'd convinced himself it wasn't necessary. He'd convinced himself he was doing the best. But Fox thinks Jango was just rotten, an evil person. There was no fixing him.

To Cody, a person's ability to change the world they live in is their greatest weakness. He is afraid of warping the world around him in his denial.

To Fox, you can not change your nature. There are some that are born bad. Jango was one of these people, Fox is one of these people. The galaxy can't be fixed. It's bad because its full of bad people in positions of power and always will be

Cody is scared of what he isn't, that he won't be enough to save them.

Fox is afraid of what he is

Again sources are from Google/ other webs so let me know if they're wrong

#fox #commander fox #character web #sw webweave #star wars web weave

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naffeclipse · 11 months

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Question because I can't stop thinking about Mer style SJ au!

So, I'm terribly curious about how the final confrontation would go in this version! Since they are all organic, I imagine it wouldn't be possible to have an equivalent of the Celestial Wire, right?

It occurred to me that perhaps something with the poisonous spikes could happen, but I think you said their poison cannot harm those related to them, so that would likely not be it. Because in the main verse, in order for Sun to live, Eclipse would have to die so that he can get the celestial wire instead. But a mortal wound inflicted by his older brother would probably not be cured by Eclipse having (or being forced to) give up a crucial part of himself. So would Sun or Moon end up physically harmed by Eclipse in his blind rage? Or maybe something in their environment happens?

Oh, oh! That makes me think that while there is no way to set a building on fire, there certainly are hydrothermal vents that can reach dangerous temperatures! So maybe there could be some volcanic activity about to happen near where they are and Eclipse would be forced to realize that by dragging y/n down with him, and in consequence make his brothers chase after them, that they indeed are all now in danger because of his refusal to leave the darkness behind?

Ahhh, I don't know! Just rambling about possibilities at this point haha XD

Heya, babe!

That's right, no Celestial Wire to be given up here, but I do want to make use of the venomous spikes in one way or another, so I figured that the vigilante might get pricked by Eclipse and end up in dire need of an antidote. There was also a scene I had in mind of Eclipse finally stealing Y/N away and throwing them into a bowl-like rocky outcropping (coincidentally shaped in a manner of a clam) on land to dry them out for a while and see if they change their tune. That would spur Sun and Moon into a frenzy looking for them while they endure that torment.

As for a possible final confrontation, I love the thought of underwater hydrothermal vents being a destination for the final confrontation! Lowkey, I was messing around with ideas for an aquatic equivalent of a cigar for Eclipse and fiddling with him having some sort of magma stick that bubbled. But, I ended up scrapping it because Eclipes's hands were otherwise occupied with the vigilante alsdfjasld

Dragging Y/N down into the dark, only lit by the occasional bursts of boiling hot water and flashes of magma low on the ocean floor, would be an Eclipse move—and somewhere Sun and Moon would know to look. They see the twilight zone just as well as their brother. It would be pretty dramatic in the heated water.

As for the damage done, I see Eclipse giving into a moment of rage and incidentally spearing Sun with his trident. It's a moment of shock, of 'mom said I could never hurt my family but look at what I've just done' and both a flurry of panic for Y/N and total devastation for Moon.

Eclipse, in this AU, would have the chance to save his brother by quickly helping him back to the Reef alongside the vigilante and Moon. When they call for help, they're met with assistance and aquatic plants and special bindings to stop the blood flow and keep Sun stable. It's world-tilting for Eclipse and Moon is terrified for Sun while Y/N is desperately trying to see that Sun is taken care of and that Eclipse doesn't do any more harm.

Sun survives, but he was dangerously close to never waking up again, and Eclipse is shocked to his core. No matter what, he always did everything he could to make sure his brothers would survive, but he didn't. Not at that moment. Not right now. He hates being in the sunlight but he loathes not being near Sun. Moon refuses to let him close. Sun is still barely pushing through. The vigilante is ready to kill Eclipse if he so much as flicks a tentacle wrong, but can't risk upsetting Sun while he's healing.

It's a lot. It's confusing. Eclipse doesn't know what to do but watch Sun recover from the three teeth of his trident that almost stopped his little brother's heart.

#octo eclipse can have a little redemption in the form of complete confusion and lost and grief and guilt #as a treat #sleuth jesters mermay style #pearl eye #chaotikanvas

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dirty-bosmer · 9 months

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The very talented @sheirukitriesfandom came up with this writing game. Thank you so much for the tag! I'm finally recovered enough from my trip to take a stab at all the tag-games I've missed. It was both nice and a bit challenging to revisit my old works. Forgot a lot of what I had written, honestly 😅

Tagging: @atypicalacademic @justafoxhound @elavoria @kookaburra1701 @nuwanders @thequeenofthewinter @skyrim-forever @gilgamish @chennnington @throughtrialbyfire @thana-topsy @mareenavee @paraparadigm @ladytanithia @nine-blessed-hero @wispstalk @sylvienerevarine @expended-sleeper

And as always no pressure if you're not feeling it. Also consider yourself tagged if you see this and are interested in joining in :D

The rules are to share:

A line from your fic that makes you laugh

lmao I don't think humor is a strength of mine, so I combed through very briefly and pulled at the first thing I saw that made me snort.

Mathieu swore he'd had conversations of more substance with mudcrabs while five brandies deep, and yet it always fascinated him how little his Speaker could say in so many words.

(from The Illusionist Part 2)

A line from your fic that makes you sad

If she could hold the quill steady, she would write it ten times over. She’d say, I miss doing nothing with you, being nothing but with you. If nothing were as blissful as those hours spent beside you, perhaps I wouldn’t fear it so.

(from The Illusionist Part 2)

A line from your fic you're proud of

The Midyear sun blazed high and proud above Kvatch. Below, the city scrambled on. Another Midyear, another Middas. Magnus rose, its ascent resolute.

(it's actually the first line of The Illusionist Part 1, and it has surprisingly remained unchanged since my first iteration of the fic??? Unfathomable to me lol)

A line from your fic you think could have been better

Only one? 😅 Truth is, I'm perpetually editing old chapters, so I could pretty much insert the entire series of The Illusionist here.

A line from your fic that makes you want to punch a character

Lucien gurgled or perhaps chortled, then spat out a mouthful of blood. “I thought you preferred silence, dear Sister.”

(Lucien sucks so baaaaddd and I get progressively meaner to him, sorry. Kinda hate what I've done to him, but he is a loser and someone has to bully him, and the burden so happened to fall upon me 🤷‍♀️)

A line from your fic that makes you go 'aww'

Nim's hair draped around his face, shielding him from the dancing flames of the brazier, and when Raminus closed his eyes, she was the only light that existed in all of Mundus, brilliant and blinding.

(Crying about my nerd Raminus Polus, what's new.)

A line from your fic that's full of symbolism

The shop windows taunt him from his periphery, but he will pass one hundred more if that’s what it takes to prove his presence. His footfalls are heavy. He persists, learns how to walk again, how to exert his body upon the world if only to feel it press up against his feet.

(From Treacle)

A line from your fic that contains an Easter egg

“If we’re such pious servants, then why does Nana always speak of the Daedra as though she drinks with them every Fredas?”

From Slither and Writhe. It is referencing an OC of mine so idk if its really an easter egg, but I just think it's funny how the protagonists in TES games go about collecting daedric artifacts like they're halloween candy.

A line from your fic that's shocking

And if her mother had only been more inquisitive about her work, she’d know the difference between the stench of decay and fouled wounds and that of flesh mending itself together beneath fresh stitches and salves that Sylawen lathered on diligently with deft fingers everyday.

(from Slither and Writhe. A lot of lines in that fic are kind of er... gross 😅 It is about a necromancer, after all)

A line from your fic you want to talk about more

Abrim is gilded in the torch flame. Every part of him is a different shade of brown such that Scar-Tail needs only look at him in flickering light to feel he’s travelled all of Tamriel’s woods, seen every kind of tree there is.

Ramble time. While trying to describe this character, I was thinking of my uncles, how dark their complexion, how different the shades of brown are in their skin, their eyes, their hair. Growing up as a latina I used to find brown so boring and so common because I was preoccupied with a set of beauty standards that women in my community paraded about, only to realize they were full of internalized colorism :D Anyway, that was a decade ago, and there's this line I remember reading, and I have no idea where from— somos el color de la tierra, we are the color of the earth, and I think more people should be romanticizing brown because it's so diverse and so beautiful 💕

#tag games

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ay-chuu · 2 years

Note

hii can you do fyodor+3 but they're already married thnx <3

Prompt 3: "I love stars" " And i love you."

A/N: I hate school. AND FINALLY I FINISHED THIS GOD

SUN AND STARS

The stars begin to shine when they see the Sun for the first time.

Fyodor was the most different person you could get to know in this constantly evolving human world. He was mystical, difficult to predict.

But there was one thing you could never figure out about him. Was he the devil pretending to be an angel? Or is it an angel pretending to be the devil? Who knows… Only God understands the person he created, right?

Nevertheless, you liked the comfort and warmth that Fyodor offered you more than anything. When you first met, that's what attracted you to him. Two people standing in the classic books section in a cute, tiny and private library.

You have never been a very picky reader. You preferred to read only what interests you, which, perhaps, is why your information culture was so extensive, Fyodor thinks.

You could hardly perceive the magnificence of the man you saw in front of you. He was such a person that as he got closer, he turned to someone who belonged to older centuries, and as he got further away, he was more like a person who belonged to today.

He was a contrast to his own being. You knew that at the first sight. After a brief glance at the interesting man, you took the book you wanted, moved to a comfortable reading place and started reading. about 5 minutes later, until I saw that man coming to you.

"Hello, may I sit next to you? I'm Fyodor Dostoevsky."

Just like love ignites when it see lovers.

The stars remain under its influence so much when there is a sun that they are not even visible.

Fyodor has admired you since the first day he saw you. Because you have always loved the beautiful beings in this world, alive or dead, and you have become one of them.

Fyodor fell in love with you after the third cafe date he went with you. Because in this world where crime and punishment are pursued as chastity, you are innocent enough to be a crime, committed by someone. You are one of the rare angels that Fyodor strives for this world.

When he realizes that he is looking at you more than the book you are reading, he slowly closes his book and sees that sweet sullen face of yours towards him.

"I'm sorry, my angel, today was tiring for me, and right now I'd rather cuddle with you than read a book together." he said, before he spread you out well in his arms and hugged you.

You blushed slightly at the sudden closeness of contact and hugged him back without saying anything. You were too excited to read it because the book you are reading is about stars and space. But when you had your real star right in front of you, books didn't matter.

"Always stay like this with me, mishka."

It's like two people in love being blind to everything around them when they see each other.

The stars always shine brightly after the sun has gone, indicating their devotion to them.

Fyodor has always found a way to impress you. The simplest example is that he knows you in the most intimate way since he met you.

It'll feel weird… Because Fyodor can always read your thoughts. He can think about what you want, what you expect. But maybe that's why you were in love with Fyodor. Because it makes you feel more incomplete than anything.

"Do you like the rings?" He said, looking into the eyes of his fiancée. "Fyodor…" you murmured, still looking at your ring in astonishment. Fyodor has always known about your interest in the stars. That's why he made your rings special to just the two of you by buying a star and having it designed in the shape of that star. "I love them, but baby, you didn't have to work so hard…"

Fyodor just wrapped his hands around her waist with an innocent smile and a proud face. "If I don't, what is the special meaning of our marriage, my dear? These rings symbolize the fact that I want to be with you until every star goes out in this dirty and vile World, until the apocalypse breaks out and God takes our lives." he said, and slowly bent to your lips.

You didn't realize you were crying until you two kissed. Fyodor did nothing. He just put his hands over your face and said, "I love you," while wiping away tears.

Fyodor was a different person. He was unique to himself. And he would always prove it to you. Fyodor had always been the person you wanted, and he knew it.

Just like the rings worn by two fiancés.

You and Fyodor were like two universes constantly trying to stay connected to each other.

After 4 years of marriage with you, Fyodor realized that you were no longer his star.

You were his sun..

You were the light that inspire he and your surroundings.

He thought its impossible fall in love, but with you the impossible was not to fall in love.

"I love stars"

You muttered as you stared at the sky with admiration. Fyodor, who brought you two to the observatory for your 4th anniversary, smiled happily.

"And I love you." He murmured with love. You blushed and looked at him and replied simply by kissing his cheek.

Same as the energy exchange of the same sun and stars against each other, even though they don't appear at the same time.

#bungo stray dogs #bsd fanfic #bsd x reader #bsd x you #bsd fyodor dostoevsky #fyodor x reader #bsd fluff #bsd fyodor x reader #bsd imagines #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungou stray dogs x reader #bsd headcanons #fyodor #fyodor dostoevsky #fyodor dostoyevsky x reader #fyodor fluff

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angel-eyes05 · 10 months

Text

bite the hand (chapter 8)

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

pairing: spider-woman!oc x miguel o’hara

summary: lorena's whole world was taken away from her in the blink of an eye, after she accidentally broke a canon event. lucky for her though, she was able to find a portal watch in her dimension and used it to get out before she glitched out of existence. unfortunately though, running from dimension to dimension, she's been named as an anomaly by the spider society. now, she's constantly on the run from them, their leader in particular. when she eventually gets caught though, she's recruited onto a mission to catch another anomaly who might be from her past. to her dismay though, her partner on this mission is her very captor. will she be able to stop arguing with him for long enough to get the job done?

info: enemies to lovers, maybe a slow burn depending on chapter count, oc is 24 and miguel is 27, both oc and miguel are super sad lmao, they're also both super violent so, they also hate each other what a slay, in regards to my oc you can read her character sheet right here

warnings: there might be spoilers for atsv in this so watch the movie before reading this, i made up some weird rules for miguel's suit and idk if theyre entirely accurate to canon so just go with it, tension lol, cursing, drinking

word count: 3.4k

notes: i gotta start repeating the banners at the top cause i ran out LMAO. also, expect less frequent uploads cause 1) i kinda have low motivation rn and 2) im pretty busy rn (going out, vacations, and doing job applications). writing also gets a little draining for me after a while and i gotta put me first😔✊ ill keep uploading though dw i just gotta do it at my own speed to make sure i dont drop the series cause if i try to push stuff out too fast, im gonna end up dropping it so just bear with me lol. also i didn't proofread this before posting cause its 3:30 when im dropping this, and im so tired lmao

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

It was the sun that slithered into the room through the cracks in the blinds that woke her up. Lorena preferred that to the normal wakeup call from a nightmare, or the sounds of honking cars next to her on the street. The way the bed had molded itself to her shape made it impossible for her to move. Almost like it was trapping her in its comfort. Even if the mattress was old, the fact that this had been her first time sleeping in an actual bed, and not a bench, sidewalk, or cot, in months was enough to provide her ease.

She turned to face the other side of the bed, surprised when no one was in sight. Miguel was probably in the bathroom or something. She was more focused on a different fact: this had been the first sleep in weeks without a nightmare.

Huh. Weird.

She sat up in bed, noticing she was still in her robe from the bathroom. She rubbed the drowsiness off her face as the click of the door lock called her attention. Letting in a stream of early sunlight with him, Miguel walked through the door, pitch black sunglasses covering his eyes, a box in one hand, and a cup tray in the other. “Figured you’d be hungry when you woke up,” he said once he noticed she was awake. He softly kicked the door closed behind him, setting the tray on the desk near the door and the box on the bed.

Pulled by curiosity, she moved her hands towards the box and opened it to see what was inside. Her mouth immediately started watering when she opened it to see assorted treats such as conchas, bigotes, and mantecadas. “I was in the mood,” Miguel said, pulling the drinks out of the tray. “I didn’t know how much cream or sugar you liked so I just got you black cause that's what I get,” he said, handing the hot cup of coffee to her.

The smell of the pastries mixed with the coffee was enough to make her want to cry. It reminded of the smells of her aunt’s kitchen in the morning. The bitterness of the coffee stung at her throat, but it was overshadowed by the comfort it brought her. She picked up one of the bigotes, and had to hold back her tears of joy when she took a bite. “Gracias por todo,” she said, mouth full of food and covered in sugar. Miguel smiled at the sight of her. “De nada, cariño,” he said sweetly, taking one of the conchas for himself.

As he walked away with his food, towards the bathroom, Lorena noticed something about him. “Where’d you get the clothes?” she asked, mouth still filled with food. He was now wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. “It’s part of my suit,” he responded, fixing his hair in the bathroom mirror. “¿Cómo?” He sighed. “Remember what I said about the whole nanotech thing last night?” “Yeah, what about it?” Suddenly, the shirt and sweatpants shifted into his blue and red suit just before her eyes. “Woah…” she exclaimed in awe. “I can change its appearance as long as the outfit is downloaded to my suit’s database.” “Oh,” Lorena expressed, even if she still didn’t fully understand what he was talking about.

“Why’d you get to be born in the crazy, futuristic dimension with all the fancy tech,” she complained to herself, just loud enough for Miguel to hear. “Why, do you want one?” he asked, in between a small chuckle. “I mean it would be nice to wear something other than a tight spandex suit for once,” Lorena joked, getting an actual laugh out of Miguel for once. Lorena blushed and smiled at his reaction. “Well lucky for you, you’re gonna need one for tonight,” he responded. “What do you mean?” she asked, after taking a sip from her coffee.

He tossed her a small, golden chain. “The outfit should form around that chain. I had Lyla upload different outfits for the day, since she probably knows better than I do. When you’re ready, put it on.” Lorena admired the golden material. She was lucky she wasn’t a silver jewelry girl. “So what’s on the to-do list for today,” she said, still looking at the chain. “Stay undercover for the majority of the day, then head over to the Moonlit River club at night. Lyla should have that outfit uploaded by now,” he responded, brushing his teeth with the provided amenities in the motel.

“Why, are you finally deciding to take me out dancing to pay me for my troubles,” she joked, taking a sip of coffee after. Miguel spit out his toothpaste and sighed. “Brock meets up there on Thursday nights to trade weapons.”

Silence filled the space between them.

She knew this day had to come. She just wasn’t expecting it to be so soon.

“I see,” was all she could manage to say, before taking another sip of her coffee.

Miguel could feel the turmoil radiating off of her from the bathroom. He washed out his mouth, and splashed a bit of water on his face before walking over to her. He pushed the box of pastries to the side, and took a seat in front of her on the sheets.

“Mirarme,” he softly spoke, using his pointer finger to guide her eyes to his. She looked up at him, trying her best not to get lost in the crimson shade of his eyes. “I-” He cut himself off before he could continue. He melded her hand into his before speaking again. “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I want you to know that if this becomes too much for you…you can back out.” His inflection was weird. As if he didn’t want her to, but still wanted to keep her comfortable. A wrestling match between what he wanted and what was best for her.

“And I’ve said it before too. I’m not running away from this,” Lorena said back, voice strong. “Ok. Just know if things get bad for you in there, I’ve got your back,” he said, concern in his voice. He had also found his eyes roaming her face, not realizing they had both subconsciously moved closer to each other. “And I’ve got yours too,” she said back. Once he had realized Lorena’s robe was loose enough to see inside to her chest, Miguel cleared his throat and got up from the bed quickly.

“I’m gonna go into town, see if I can pick up any information on the street. You can do whatever you want until its time, but make sure to-” “Yeah, yeah, lay low. Relax big guy, I’ve got this,” she cut him off, reassuringly. He exited the room quickly, like he was in a rush to get away from her. He was gone for almost the rest of the day.

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

About 8pm that night.

Miguel was outside in the main room of the motel while Lorena was getting herself ready in the bathroom. Miguel had gone out earlier and bought her some cheap makeup and perfume from a local drugstore, a sweet gesture.

Once she finished with her makeup and straightening up her hair, she tapped on the middle part of her gold chain, causing a menu to pop up. She scrolled through the options until she came across the last one, labeled by Lyla as “night time😉”. She clicked on the option, as she watched in awe as her casual t-shirt and sweatpants shifted into her outfit for the night. A tight black dress, cut asymmetrically to show one of her thighs, and a turtle neck part detached from the rest of the dress, with glove-like sleeves. This feature allowed for the perfect peephole towards her chest. Lorena had a feeling Lyla would try to do some matchmaking with her outfit.

With a quick spritz of perfume, a double check of her face in the mirror, and quickly putting on a black headband for her hair, Lorena quickly exited the bathroom. Miguel was standing there, waiting by the door and checking his portal watch. He was sporting a black, silk, button up shirt, tucked into black dress pants. The fact that the shirt was way too tight for him was accentuated by his muscles sculpted by the fabric and the fact that the first two buttons were open. His eye was caught by Lorena when she stepped out of the bathroom, his mouth slightly agape in awe and his eyes almost stuck to her.

“It’s flashy, I know. But it’s better that I fit in,” she said, trying to divide the tension in the room as she walked closer to him. “I-...um,” he stammered. “At a loss for words for once O’Hara?” she teased. Noticing a stray hair on the top of his head, she reached up to him to push it back. “Quédate quieto,” she commanded softly, while she stuck the piece back into the gel, trying to ignore how he was admiring her.

“There you go. Ahora te ves guapo,” she teased, patting his chest with her hand. Miguel still had that stupid smile on his face. “Y te ves hermosa,” he said softly, and with utter sincerity.

She couldn’t tell if she was caught more off guard with his words of affirmation, or the fact that the blush quickly forming on her cheeks was confirming her secret love of it.

Clearing her throat, she unlocked the door, opened it, and gestured her hand to outside. “Lead the way big guy.” He smirked at her as he walked outside. He even got the courage to offer her his hand. This confidence was quickly deflated when she smacked away his hand, giggling to herself as she took the lead down the stairs.

The night life of the city was bustling on the streets. Couples together, arm in arm, surely walking to a fancy restaurant for a night out. Lines forming outside of nightclubs, patrons with an urgency to get in. Everyone walking down the street with their own story to tell, just like Lorena.

After walking for a couple of miles, the bright, neon blue sign shone in front of the entrance. The door was a mahogany red, with three stairs leading down to the entrance. But opposite to Miguel’s eagerness to get inside by opening the door, Lorena slightly froze, eyes blank.

This was it. It was going to happen. Whether she was ready or not.

“Hey.” Miguel’s calm voice pulled her back to reality. “Stay with me. Okay?” He held out his large hand for her. This time, she decided to take it. “And remember to try and fit in,” he added. Her smile quickly turned sour and annoyed.

The atmosphere was loud, a mixture of people talking and the bass of the music filling the room. The fact that the lights were out didn’t seem to matter much with the amount of strobe and neon lights flashing within the bar. Lorena noticed Miguel quickly putting on a pair of sunglasses hidden in his jacket pocket. “I thought you said we needed to fit in,” Lorena stated as the two walked towards a high top near the bar. “I did. And?” “You really think you’re blending in with a pair of sunglasses on indoors? At night? In a club?” Lorena joked. “The lights hurt my eyes,” Miguel said, puppy dog hurt. Lorena had to fight to contain the laughter rising in her chest.

Once they sat down, and the reality of events settled down on Lorena, she began to look around the club. People sprayed out on couches, drunkenly conversing or making out. People out on the dance floor. Men walking into booths in the back, shielded by curtains. Eddie was probably in one of those. “I’m heading to the bar. You want anything?” Miguel asked, snapping her out of her daze. “Uhhhh, just get me something strong,” she brushed off, still not entirely paying attention. He shrugged and walked off to the bar.

Lorena continued to inspect the area, her thoughts bouncing all over the place. What did this Eddie look like? Did he have black hair instead? Was his voice higher? Her Eddie always had a particularly deep tone. Smooth like silk as well. She would spend days on end focusing on the way he would say a single sentence back when she was first crushing on him. Would he act like her Eddie? She realized quickly she probably wouldn’t get the opportunity to find out. She didn’t necessarily want to find out anyways.

…

Would she have to kill him again? Would Miguel make her?

The smack of the glass on the table brought her back to reality. “You weren’t really specific, so I just got you a negroni,” Miguel said, open bottle of beer in his hand. Without a second thought, Lorena downed half the glass just then, proven to be a mistake with how strong the drink actually was. Her mouth curled inwards as her eyes shut closed, letting out a few coughs quickly after.

Miguel laughed slightly, and slammed his hand against her back to help her cough. “What the fuck was that?” “Hey, you told me to get you something strong!” Miguel defended. “I thought you were gonna get me a margarita or something,” Lorena said, rubbing her chest with her hand. “Haven’t had alcohol in more than a year and you hit me with that straight away,” she said to herself. Subconsciously, he handed her his bottle. “Take a sip of that then.” She smiled to herself as she put her lips to the bottle and took a good sip of the beer. “Better?” he asked, like she was a child. “Yes, thank you for your charity sir, you’re so kind,” she responded sarcastically.

“Find anything interesting yet?” Miguel asked, taking back the bottle. Lorena’s eyes went back to the curtains. “Those booths back there look promising. Are we sure he’s here yet though?” Lorena asked. “I have a hunch.” Lorena looked up at Miguel, annoyance on her face. “We’re going…off of a hunch?” “Just trust me on this okay.” Lorena sighed and took another sip of her own drink, wincing again when she put it back down.

Her eyes were drawn away from the drapes and over to the lit up dance floor. She had always been the first one to bring her friends to dance with her when she was younger. Seeing it again brought feelings flooding back to her heart. Spontaneously, she jumped up from her chair and held out her hand to Miguel. “...What are you doing?” he asked, incredibly confused.

“You said we had to blend in, right? We’ll do that better if we’re out there dancing,” she said. “Oh, no way. I don’t dance, chiquita,” he said, almost embarrassed. “Oh come on, for someone with your build? You’ve definitely danced before. Don’t be a debby downer Miggy,” she encouraged, both of them caught slightly off guard by the nickname slip. He rolled his head back, wiped his hands over his face, and let out a deep, annoyed groan. Once he stood up though and took her hand, it was impossible for Lorena to lose the smile growing on her face. “You’re taking the lead though, Loré,” he said, having come up with a nickname for her as well. She hoped the sunglasses he had on would keep him from seeing the blush on her face.

…

They didn’t.

Hand in hand, Lorena led Miguel over to the brightly lit floor, music blasting in the speakers next to them. Miguel stook out like a sore thumb, his huge build making him extremely identifiable among the other strangers on the floor. Lorena fit right in though, immediately beginning to dance to the blasting music. Miguel tried his best to copy her moves, but ended up looking like a fool. “You were right, you really aren’t that good at this,” Lorena teased. “Ha ha, very funny,” Miguel said monotonically. As the music changed slowly to a slower pace, they noticed the people around them grouping to dance into a pairs. She looked up to Miguel. He raised his eyebrow at her, asking her without words. Her smile was confirmation, as they inched towards each other.

Almost as if they were pre-programmed to do so, Lorena wrapped her arms around Miguel’s neck, and his wrapped around her hips. They swayed together slowly to the music, melting into each others touch. He rested his head on her shoulder, his hot breath leaving goosebumps on her skin.

“This isn’t my wheelhouse,” he quietly whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. “Why, better when other music is playing?” she whispered back sarcastically. “Everyone here’s lucky they aren’t playing salsa right now, or I’d be stealing the show.” Lorena let out a laugh. “Is that so?” He nodded, a huge smirk on his face. “I’m more of mambo person myself,” she responded. He smiled at her remark. “You’ll have to teach me some day.”

She struggled to keep the smile on her face as those words entered her head. You’ll have to teach me some day. She hadn’t even begun to think about it. What she would do after this mission was over. The whole point of doing this was so she could be granted her freedom. She wanted it so badly a couple of days ago. But now. She hadn’t even thought of staying as a possibility. Because to her, it wasn’t. She couldn’t invade Miguel’s life like that. She wasn’t even 100% sure how she felt about him, much less on how he felt about her. Besides, no matter how much she just wanted to settle down with someone. To live an actual life. She didn’t deserve it.

Pulling away from him was like separating herself from her source of life, but she did it anyways. “You okay?” Miguel asked concerned. “Yeah, I just gotta freshen up for a second,” she said, wiping her nose. She turned around quickly to get away. Too quickly though, bumping into someone’s back on her way to the bathroom.

Knocked off her balance, and her headband knocked out of her hair, she fell to the floor on her ass. “Sorry about that,” she said, slightly dissociated, reaching out for her headband. The stranger also reached down to help with her headband. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it gorgeous.”

Her heart dropped to her stomach.

That voice.

“Don’t lose your heart.”

She desperately wanted to keep her eyes glued to the floor. She didn’t want to look at him. But she had to keep her cover up. So she did, as slowly as she could though. And it was the worst possibly outcome.

He looked just like him. Strawberry blonde hair. Deep blue eyes. Small scar just above right eyebrow. His bottom two teeth fighting for room on the bottom row of his mouth. There was only one difference though. One of her favorite parts about him. This Eddie was missing his freckles. His beautiful light brown freckles.

She gave the stranger with her dead boyfriend’s face a strained smile while she grabbed her headband and rushed behind to the door. Her own brain pounding in her head was too loud for her to hear Miguel as she nearly ran passed him. She slammed the door to the outside open as she took in the air like it was her first breath ever. Even if she was outside now, she kept running. She sprinted down the streets, not taking any of her surroundings into account. She saw him in everyone’s face. His ghost had always been haunting her, but she wasn’t ready for him to move from behind her back to in front of her face. She ran so far and so fast until her legs ached, and even after that. She didn’t even know where she was going. She didn’t care. She just needed to get away from him as quickly as possible. Even if that meant leaving Miguel behind too.

Her sprint was interrupted when her foot was caught in a change in the elevation on the sidewalk. Her face slammed into the concrete sidewalk, scraping her cheek and her knees. She used the rest of her strength, all drained out from her bolting, to crawl into a nearby alley. She made her way to the back and slunk down into the corner, hoping to meld into the brick behind her. Especially if it meant she never had to see him again.

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

a/n: THIS TOOK ME SO LONG OH MY GOD. sorry if i messed some stuff up with the drinks, i dont drink so i really have no idea (im just a stoner instead lmao). UGH BUT I THINK THIS WAS MY FAVORITE CHAPTER TO WRITE I LOVED IT AND I HOPE YOU GUYS DID TOO

taglist: @the-ikran-man @jenniferdixon05207 @yuuuumii @elwyn7 @waniesss @lust-for-pan @natthernandez @pix-stuff @ang3lf4c3 @artfulthoughtswp @notwildlyfamous

#miguel o'hara x oc #bite the hand #spidersona #across the spiderverse #spiderman 2099 #miguel o’hara #into the spider verse #fanfic #spiderman across the spiderverse #fanfiction #spiderverse #oc x miguel o'hara #spiderman oc #spiderverse oc #spiderman

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thirdtidemouse · 3 months

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my (official and real) sketchbook playlist!! descriptions underneath! i have put the songs in a specific order and tried to make sure all the songs fit their vibe too outside (or disregarding) lyrics. also the types of music i think theyd enjoy lol.

1.. don't believe - vashti bunyan

oh, don't believe that love brings happiness gone tomorrow, here today love involves so much unhappiness don't believe what they say

lets kick it off with some folksy bittersweet 🤟this is both kaisa and johanna separately, before they meet. and their mirrored loneliness

2. apple pie - the scary jokes

i'll always be too shy to say what's on my mind i'm fantasizing all the time

the scary jokes are on this playlist. kaisa music. magic shygirl type of stuff

3. walking all day - graham coxon

walking all day with my mind on fire tryin' to get talkin' to you

this one's johanna vibes. ohh the days she'd spend walking round town, visiting the library, daydreaming about running into her and pretending it was an accident. she can't sit still, always restless, a teenager again

4. beautiful brain - mabel ye

i think you're beautiful i think you've got a beautiful brain i think you're beautiful i check up on it every day and while we sit just four feet across separated by a wall that is both white and moss i feel distance from you i feel closer to you

real ones know this came up in sketchbook week.. watch the music video for this!! (its sketchbook af)

5. super crush - tiger trap

i've got a supercrush on you because i think about you night and day

i'm not explaining this

6. the too much song - lemon demon

you're too much or am i not enough? you're (too much) and i feel this way much too much the longer that i wait the more you are much to my dismay

kaisa's perspective..

7. pink smoke - the scary jokes

you walk through walls set off the smoke alarms i feel your arms wrapping around me your aura almost drowns me pink smoke gets stuck in my throat when i say your name my heart goes up in flames

aaah johanna is crushing on a being of magic!

8. trees and flowers - strawberry switchblade

and i hate the buildings and the way they tower over me can't you see? i get so frightened no-one else seems frightened

strawberry switchblade is such kaisa music! goth & sweet! this song is definitely her but i think johanna's general anxieties about the city & the wilderness really show up in this song. they connect over these anxieties

9. i wanna be the moon - the scary jokes

it's scary to see you falling for me i wish that i could be i wanna be, i wanna be the moon i can't make you cry from way up in the sky and that's the reason why i wanna be, i wanna be the moon

kaisa's perspective. she doesn't like to get too close to people

10. it must be love - madness

i never thought i'd miss you half as much as i do

cmaaan johanna would love madness. london gerl. also one of the actual best love songs ever written ever

11. i have the moon - lush

you have to fly around the world all day to keep the sun upon your face i'd like to come and comfort you but i'd be blinded by the blue you have the sun, i have the moon

another sketchbook week song OOPS... literally sun/moon couple.

12. m'lover - kishi bashi

i wanna do what lovers do with you i wanna walk the edge of the earth with you

ripped STRAIGHT off the hilda soundtrack shamelessly. lovely magical sound. this plays when they're going on a very long expedition together

13. soho square - kirsty maccoll

one day you'll be waiting there no empty bench in soho square and we'll dance around like we don't care and i'll be much too old to cry and you'll kiss me quick in case i die before my birthday one day you'll be waiting there come summertime in soho square and i'll be painting stars up in the sky before i get too old to cry before my birthday

one of kaisa's first crushes was kirsty maccoll i'll say it. this song is so emotional the strings her vooiice!! this is a city love song. this is johanna leaving trolberg within the hc that they were childhood friends.

14. let's do everything for the first time forever - of montreal

may we dance again so i can pretend we're dancing for the first time? because when we danced for the first time i was so nervous!

it's been so long for both of them they're like teenagers again.. every time they talk its like talking to a school crush. embarrassing af. we both are out of practice with romance. let's do it together!!

15. black magic - little mix

take a sip of my secret potion i'll make you fall in love for a spell that can't be broken one drop should be enough

hehehehe!!!

16. my girlfriend is a witch - october country

spells fill the air i think i hear footsteps on my stair coming near her thoughts are telling me that she's here

quintessential hilda fandom song. how could i not?

17. she's got a new spell - billy bragg

one minute she says, she's gone to get the cat in next thing i know, she's mumbling in latin she cut the stars out of the sky and baked them in a pie, that's how i know she stole the scene and the scenery the script and the machinery, that's how i know that she's got a new spell

another witch's lover's song.. all that magic in one household can't be good.

18. lovers rock - tv girl

are you sick of me? would you like to be?

this song is just so chilled and lovely like a quiet night in. but captures the nerves and uncertainty of dating as well

19. riches and wonders - the mountain goats

we write letters to each other, invent secrets to confess to i learn foreign and exotic terms of endearment by which to address you we feed fresh fruit to one another we stay up all night and i am healthy, i am whole, but i have poor impulse control and i want to go home but i am home we are strong, we are faithful we are guardians of a rare thing we are filled with riches and wonders our love keeps the things it finds

domesticity and true love at its greatest. i love tmg!!

20. settin' the woods on fire - hank williams

you're my gal and i'm your feller dress up in your frock of yeller i'll look swell, but you'll look sweller! tonight we're settin' the woods on fire

off some country records johanna would 'co-own' with woodman. so fun. this gets put on in the pearson household when they have a family evening in

21. acolyte - slaughter beach, dog

annie, i want you to marry me we'll wait a few years i don't mean to frighten you i just want to be clear. man, it cuts like a dull knife when you're young and you're told 'makes sense when you're older,' darling, let's get old

not much to say on this one. i luv this song :-)

22. all i want is you - barry louis polisar

if you were a river in the mountains tall the rumble of your water would be my call if you were the winter i know i'd be the snow just as long as you were with me when the cold winds blow

juno soundtrack to finish it off :-) the core of sketchbook to me is joy & comfort & nature & magic

i hope u guys enjoyed this! lmk what you think of these interpretations! show me some lyrics you think about!

#hilda the series #hilda netflix #sketchbook #johanna #kaisa #sketchbook ship #playlists

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yurayuramiharin · 10 months

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Ruthari #7 for the prompt? 👀

Ship + kiss writing challenge

7: A kiss to shut up

When the two elves were heading back to their sleepy village, the horizon was glowing with pinks and violets of the incoming sunrise. They’d been out all night, watching Moonstriders on a secluded clearing by the waterfall and strolling through the Moonshadow Forest trembling with the magic of the Spring Equinox.

Ever since they’d left the clearing, Ethari was silent, so silent that Runaan, the least talkative elf in Silvergrove, was starting to panic and making up the worst scenarios. He’d asked the young metalsmith for a hangout a few days ago when Lain had literally pushed him inside the forge and demanded that he finally asked Ethari out and quit his endless pining. Runaan would never dare to call it a date, let alone say it out loud. And certainly, he would never expect that Ethari would agree to hang out with him.

In his head, Runaan thought that Ethari hated their hangout and would rather keep quiet about it than make Runaan sad. He should’ve planned this hangout better. Shadows, he didn’t even know if Ethari liked Moonstriders in the first place! Runaan should’ve known that not everyone was obsessed with Moonstriders as much as he was because regular elves were not necessarily interested in details of their behavior, when and where they migrated during the year, or how their age could be estimated by the slight differences in the color of their feathers–

“Runaan?” Ethari’s gentle voice struck him out of his thoughts. He rapidly turned his head towards the metalsmith, afraid that on top of everything, he'd upset Ethari by ignoring him. Instead, he saw Ethari smiling at him in a way that made his heart skip a beat every time.

"I was asking if you think they're going to be there next week too?" Ethari asked, continuing to walk leisurely next to Runaan.

"Y-yes, they should be there until mid-May," Runaan mumbled in response.

"I see," Ethari nodded before the silence fell between them again. Runaan couldn't bear it. He stopped and so did the other elf.

"Ethari, I… Please don't have to pretend you're enjoying this," Runaan stuttered. "I know you agreed to come only because you're too kind to refuse,"

"Runaan, I'm not pretending!" Ethari instantly protested but Runaan was too caught up in spilling his thoughts.

"I know that I can be annoying, t-that I don't usually talk, and when I do I mostly talk about Moonstriders or combat. And I know I don't always get the jokes you and Lain tell me,"

"Runaan…"

"A-and even though I know you're the kindest elf in Silvergrove, I didn't expect you to agree to come to hang out with me like that, a-and you asked me if I know someplace special and this was the only— mmh!" Runaan was not allowed to finish his sentence when Ethari cradled his face in his hands and pressed their lips together.

Just like that, the whole world around them went still. Runaan froze, too stunned to react when Ethari's soft lips kept moving against his own, and it felt nowhere near the way Runaan had pictured it in countless of his dreams. It felt even better, warmer, and sweeter than Moonberry Surprise and Runaan wished their kiss would never end.

In the end, Ethari pulled away from him but didn't let go of Runaan's face. He was looking at him with those deep brown orbs and Runaan had to remind himself how to breathe again when Ethari chuckled and shook his head with eyes closed.

"Now that you finally shut up, listen to me," Ethari laughed, slowly stroking Runaan's cheekbones with his thumbs. "I loved our hangout, every second of it. I love when you tell me about Moonstriders, how your eyes light up whenever you do," Ethari spoke and Runaan could swear that if it wasn't for the rising sun blinding him from behind the trees, he would think that he'd eaten poisonous berries and was now hallucinating.

"You're not annoying in the slightest. Even when you're not talking, you're a wonderful listener and it made me so happy when you invited me to come with you tonight. It was amazing and I was hoping we could do that again."

"E-eee…" Runaan tried to say something but it seemed like Ethari had temporarily taken away his ability to form coherent sentences. Ethari was practically grinning with delight now, his smile brighter than the sun before his eyes.

"I take it as a 'yes' " Ethari whispered before he pulled Runaan's face closer once again, sealing their arrangement with a kiss.

#ruthari #neurodivergent runaan #miharin writes

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infinitydivine · 5 months

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i have to say this somewhere because it's so adorable, but i was checking the compatibility between namjoon’s and the members' based on their charts and when i say each one was so strong, just felt so overpowered with joy because it's clear why they trusted him enough to take the lead, but more importantly, because it only serves to emphasize that he has that jen ne sais quoi that makes you fall in love, which is something that is uncommon in today's male culture (they're either taken or gay, and nobody can convince me differently lmao.)

while a lot of tarot readers think that he’s a scorpio rising, i firmly believe that he is a cancer rising, or at least that his rising is at a cancer degree. i only think that the scorpio rising theory is strong likely due to his scorpio stellium, thus making him a pluto dominant and why people just categorize him as a polarizing figure. but anyways, he has mentioned that he tends to gain weight easily in his face the most when he eats but what really stands out is his empathy and articulation of his emotions — to me, he’s like a poet because of the way he can express his emotions and put that shit on paper. like, i find it so inspiring because not many people these days are able to express themselves in such a gentle yet firm way (his way with words makes my mercury and venus placements fucking swoon like pls don’t get me started on that man’s voice oh my gosh).

in any case, it makes me feel better since i believe he has endured a bit more bullying than the others. if he is a cancer rising, his lilith would be in the eleventh house, which makes sense because eleventh house liliths are frequently portrayed as the scapegoat in any group context —exactly what we see consistently happening to him in the kpop twitter sphere. anywho, i am so sorry the lengthy post but i was just really moved to share my thoughts because i think it’s so unfair and unkind when people pick on others without any reason. this brings me to my next point: i also want to add that i hope you’re okay and i am sending you so much love. i sincerely hope you get the chance to learn more about your birth chart —truly makes a difference! also you being a virgo rising 🤤 my affinity for virgo placements clearly still going strong because i love creeping on your page lol (and you’re a leo sun 🥹 i absolutely adore you because same). anywho, thank you for reading! 🫂🫧

(i guess i could ask to do a check in on him? and how’s feeling if you don’t mind but please do not feel any pressure to do so!)

Hey there! Since you started about namjoon I have been so overjoyed because I see nothing about him in the BTS community most of the time and I don't receive any ask for him but you asked and reminded me I will do a reading on his current energy checking. Maybe even his personality..but thanks for reminding me.

Now about him, I absolutely adore him. If I were to ask if I will ever have a crush on any BTS member it would definitely be him. He is totally my type. I just adore adore adore him. When I first saw him in the Dynamite song which I believe was my first time seeing any song by Bts I was immediately drawn to him. He has this strong authoritative aura that you can not ignore. He is a softie from the inside. Every time I see him I see a small child looking here and there for something...finding something. I really don't understand the amount of hate he gets just for being him. Recently i saw a post of him being at an event with Karina i guess and the comments from other K-pop fans were wild....I mean it is ridiculous. Some even went so far as to say he is the ugliest person to walk on the red carpet that night...hello???? are you guys blind or what? He is Kim Namjoon...the leader of the biggest boyband in the world, he is the Main Event. But I am happy for him because with time he has learned to get go and is healing himself. Antis just wait for him after his Military discharge. You will see who he is lol.

And I am doing absolutely okay, thanks for asking. It made me feel like a celebrity lol for some time and I enjoyed it. I have never heard saying anything about my chart before that they love it lol before I told you guys. I am trying to learn about my chart but Astrology is not my cup of tea egven though I have been interested in it ever since I was a child but couldn't learn it..guess I am just dumb?

#bts tarot #celebrity asks #celebrity tarot #kpop asks #kpop tarot #kpop tarot reading

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divinemare · 1 year

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✧*̥₊˚‧☆ﾐ 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝖙𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖘!¡ •ଓ.°

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ azrielxfem!oc

part seven

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six

𓆝 𓆜 ––––———–––––———–┊⁀➷

Kallistrade rested her temple on her hand, bored out of her mind at the 4 pirates fighting in front of her, it was hard being the only female in the room, with all that testosterone rising to its highest capacity of incredible futility.

"Gentlemen," she tried to shout, but they were so immersed in their fight that they paid no attention to her. "Gentlemen," she repeated again, her voice a little louder.

When Kallistrade realized there was no point in trying to get their attention with words, she pulled out one of her knives and threw it at the centre of the table, causing a thunderous sound to halt all conversation.

"As much fun as it is to watch four adult males bicker like babies, we have important business on our hands."

Ronald, the eldest of the five, a male so grotesque looking he fit perfectly into every pirate expectation, looked at her through one eye completely white and blind and another brown and glazed with age. Kallistrade would never understand why the male refused to wear a patch, it would certainly be the best for everyone else around him.

"And where were ye while yer city was under attack?" His thick accent was hoarse and almost too difficult to understand. He had three gold teeth, and Kallistrade suspected that if he didn't start taking care of of his deplorable teeth health, he would soon need more.

"I got a letter from some friends from Prythian, they're the ones fighting Hybern."

"See, that's what got us in trouble! You were plotting against one of the most powerful males in the world!"

"I wasn't plotting against anyone, when I arrived Hybern had already started a war."

"Why were you called, Kallistrade?" Cassius, the youngest after her, asked. Now he was very much more appealing than Ronald, as ugly as the other one was, Cassius was a very good looking male, with curly dark hair that reached his neck, beautiful green eyes and tanned skin from a life under the sun, broad shoulders and a muscled framed that indicated he had not always been the captain, but had to work very hard from the bottom to the top, that was in big part why they got along much better than she did whit the rest of them. He spoke much calmer than Ronald, his eyes deeply troubled but full of anger, after all, he is the one in charge of the south side of the island, and unfortunately the one who had suffered the most from the attack.

"They asked for aid in the war, they wanted the help of my crew."

Everyone fell silent, except Ronald, who spat out an unfunny laugh and looked at her as if she had been the one to shout out the order to attack Skull Island.

"See, ye put us all in danger by playing hero with those High Fae."

"And what did you say?" Asked Filius, a big male with a beer belly and fire red hair that was starting to fall off. The kindest of them all, and arguably her favorite member of the brethren, if she had to choose.

"I said yes. My crew will be of help against Hybern."

"And ye didn't think to consult us?" Cyrus' voice rang with utter disbelief. He was the one Kallistrade liked least of them all, even above Ronald. the sneakiest, most backstabbing, treacherous, false and filthiest bastard she had ever met, he had fought the day she became High Pirate Lady and had had several attempts on her life even before that happened.

He was positively the male Kallistrade hated the most, even more than that misogynistic old bastard of Ronald, at least he knew his boundaries, and the fact that he would be safer as long as he didn't cross her own boundaries. Cyrus didn't know, or simply didn't care about such things.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know I had to consult you for everything I do, did I miss it or when did you become High Pirate Lord? Because the last time I checked I was High Pirate Lady."

The room fell into a horrible silence as Kallistrade and Cyrus glared at each other, neither of them backing down at first, but then, when the male realized he was about to cross a very delicate line he had no advantage on, he averted his eyes from her.

"We should fight back! Those bastards came because they know we're a big threat! Let's show them how big we can be!" Spat Ronald, Kallistrade was thankful she wasn't near him, or else the saliva would constantly land on her face just as it was doing on poor Filius'.

"Well, Ronald, I think yer wish is ‘bout to come true ‘cause I have no doubt that our dear Captain Devilsbane is already sending us into a death trap," Cyrus' voice was once again coated with venom.

"No, not really, though I admire your desire for vengeance, Ronald, and your cowardice, Cyrus, I am giving you all a choice. Join the fight or stay here and empty your chests in booze and whores, I couldn't care less."

Ronald licked his filthy teeth with his tongue and gave her such a sadistic smile that she already knew what his response would be. The male would not waste a single opportunity to stain his sword red. Cyrus, on the other hand, gritted his teeth at being called a coward.

"I agree, those bastards destroyed ma favorite tavern," Ronald nodded, as expected.

"They cost me many of my men," Cassius' voice held the edge of vengeance and grief and anger she knew all too well, Kallistrade looked at the male, with her eyes alone telling him how sorry she was for his losses. He nodded, agreeing to participate and thanking her for the silent condolences.

"Do you believe in this cause, Captain Devilsbane?" Filius asked her, his chubby pink cheeks flushed from the humid heat of the island.

It was a question that got everyone's attention. She sighed and straightened her back a little more.

"I do. They won't stop here, even if we don't join their cause. Ronald said it: we are a threat to them, to all their allies, and if the King gets the immense power of the Cauldron, he would be unstoppable, he would displace us from our ocean and take away our freedoms. And if not him, then any other of his allies."

The male nodded, thinking it over for a second, then lifted his face again, looking at her with soft but determined eyes.

"Then I will join you as well."

Then they all looked at Cyrus, the male snorted, rolled his eyes and glared daggers at Kallistrade. She waited nonchalantly, arms folded across her chest, her back against the chair.

"I will enjoy watching ye all die while I take yer place, Kallistrade," the male said as he rose from his seat and headed out of the room.

The female laughed in amusement, her unbothered smile pulling one from Cassius' lips as well.

"Yes, I don't doubt that at all, Cyrus," the door slammed as the male left the room. "How many ships do we have?" She stared at Cassius, returning to what was important.

"Fully operational? About a fifteen," Kallistrade almost sighed.

Before the attack, they had twenty three ships operational, but a dozen seemed sufficient.

"Ok. You two," she pointed to Filius and Ronald. "Go choose which ones will stay to protect the island and which ones will come with us. And you," she now looked at Cassius. "See who wants to come and who wants to stay. Give them all a choice, but promise them all the booty* from all the ships we destroy.”

Without another word, they stood up with a nod and left the room. Maddox came in right away, as he had been outside waiting with the other first mates and her commanders.

"It went well. Cyrus seemed as eager and charming as ever," he sat down next to her, Kallistrade smiled, tiredly.

"Yeah, well, it went a lot better than I expected, Cyrus is a lost cause, someday he's going to get blown up by a canon, but for now I got to let him be."

The male laughed and shook his head, rising to offer her a hand.

"Alright then, come on Captain, I think we need to get ready for war."

"Oh Mother," the female sighed dramatically, taking her first mate's hand and standing up. "When will my soul take a break?"

"Fancy a drink to soothe your poor restless soul?"

"I'd need at least a dozen barrels for that," Maddox laughed again, and the two of them headed out of the Meeting Room and back into the chaos of the city.

𓆉｡˚ ✧

Night had settled in and her desk was already full of paperwork. Kallistrade had two days to get ten ships with 500 people ready for battle.

It was a lot of work.

She dropped into her chair with a sigh, she had been working all day and desperately needed a break. She opened a drawer in her desk, ready to pull out the bottle of bourbon and a glass she remained hidden there, but, next to the bottle, she found something she didn't remember having there at all.

A beautiful silver chain with a whale pendant made her heart stop and her breath catch. Kallistrade took the chain gently in her hands, as if it were the most fragile thing she had to care for or else it would crumble in her hands.

When she held the chain closer to her face, it felt like a punch in the gut. That had been the last gift she had received from Azriel.

Cassian had made such a fuss about it, assuring her that it was Azriel's way of telling her he was going to propose soon. Kallistrade had felt so terribly bad at the time, that if Azriel had proposed she could never have left him, and probably would have died for it. So she gathered her things, left a note for everyone in the house, and set sail on the Bright Nightmare and its former captain.

The beautiful little whale now looked at her with mockery and shame. Oh, how ashamed she felt now.

There were so many things she had not told Azriel before she left, so many things she had not had the chance to tell him and now she did not know if she would ever have the chance to tell him.

But no, she could not allow those kinds of thoughts to invade her mind until breathing became difficult, for Azriel was not a weak male, he was the Shadowsinger, the Spymaster of the Night Court, and she was no longer a weak female, she was the High Pirate Lady, Captain Devilsbane of the Bright Nightmare, the Dark Dream and the Shadowed Star, and they would come out of this on their feet, they had already survived wars, and this time, Kallistrade had a greater motivation to do so.

The brief window of Azriel's pleading eyes the last time they met was tattooed in her mind until the day she would see him again.

She clenched the necklace in her hand and closed her eyes to imagine for a second if she could remember his touch, the smell of his hair, the texture of his lips. She could, surprisingly, remember each and every detail of the male in her mind so perfectly that it could have happened just yesterday and not three hundred years ago.

When she opened her palm and looked at the necklace again, it was not sorrow or shame or mockery that stared back, but hope. And she clung to that hope as she fastened the necklace around her neck and hid it among the others just as a knock at the door brought her attention back to the present.

"Come in."

The door opened, showing the medium-sized frame of Cyrus and two other tall, muscular males. She had never seen the two mysterious males before, surely new members of Cyrus' crew.

"Cyrus, what an unpleasant surprise, have you come to apologise for your tantrum this afternoon and join us?" She smiled without a trace of warmth, the male did too.

"Oh come on, Kallistrade, ye know me better than that," at his words, she shot a quick glance back to his companions, they were standing with the presence of assassins. Kallistrade didn't move from her seat.

"Then don't bother taking a seat, you can go now, I'm quite tired for tonight and really wouldn’t find enjoyable getting into conversation with you.”

What a perfect timing for him. She was all alone in her study, Maddox was in the Bright Nightmare counting their supplies, Elijah and Zena were doing the same on the other two ships. Her guards had been sent home or to help load weaponry and heavy cargo onto the ships.

Kallistrade took a close look at the men behind the other captain, they were tall and broad, their arms were bare, probably from the heat, and on their wrists was a tattoo of two crossed swords. The mark of the mercenaries.

"Oh, but I have so much I wanted to discuss!" The male took a seat anyway, and Kallistrade leaned back in hers keeping a close eye on the two mercenaries.

"Then speak your mind, but make it quick."

"I will, don't worry."

She reached for the dagger in her boot, then to Dark Wilder, both hands now holding the daggers, she summoned an unbothered and somewhat bored look to her face as Cyrus spoke.

"Ye see, I was remembering the day ye became High Pirate," she grinned devilishly, what a bloody day, quite literally. "The only reason the Brethren made ye High Pirate Lady was because of Seesnyer."

"And because I killed the previous High Pirate Lord," she corrected, earning the slightest reaction from Cyrus. The previous Lord had been his friend, predictably, two horrible males who deserved to have their heads rolled off their bodies. Luckily, she'd already cut one off, though she was still working on the other one.

"The point is, no one questioned it because ye had Seesnyer."

"I'm not getting your point, all I'm hearing is the claim that I have the best sword in our history."

"Really?"

Kallistrade drew her eyebrows together, confused.

"You're, what, suggesting it's false?"

"I don't know, what I do know is that there hasn't been a single person in over a millennium who has been able to go after the Sword of the God and come back alive, and yet here ye are. But I ‘spose I'll find out if it's real or not when I snatch it from yer rotting corpse."

Kallistrade laughed, and as she did so, one of the two males who had so far remained silent suddenly rushed to her side, grabbed her by the neck and slammed her head against the table, a searing pain shoot from her head to the side of her cheek. The male raised her head to look at Cyrus. He was fast, she’ll give him that.

"Oh, you poor dead souls," she laughed again, blood rolling from her nose to her mouth. The male in front of her merely smiled as if looking at a naïve child, and rose from his seat to walk to a corner of the room. What a fucking coward.

Kallistrade used the momentum of her body to push the chair up and then down again onto the male's feet. He hissed in pain and eased the pressure on her neck enough for her to grab his hand and twist to the side as she stood up. The other male was at her side within seconds, but she used one of the daggers she had been holding to slash him across the cheek.

They both turned away from her, not to flee, but to prepare to fight. She wiped the blood from her nose and looked at them.

"Gentlemen, contrary to what my reputation may imply, I actually like to solve problems with diplomacy before resorting to violence. Do you want to take the opportunity to get out of this alive, or shall we get to the bloody part?” The two didn't say a word, just drew their swords. Kallistrade smiled with the anticipation of blood on her hands, and put away her two daggers to draw her own blade. Seesnyer seemed viciously excited to slit the throat of the one who had declared her false, it gave her wielder a tug of excitement for the hunt. "Fine by me," Kallistrade grinned so mischievously that there was a visible shudder in Cyrus' bearing.

She was fighting both blades with the grace of a killer, each strike she deflected was a swift and graceful move on her part, while the males began to pant rapidly from the effort and brute force they were putting into their attacks.

She was thoroughly enjoying the show, but once she got bored, she finally started to make her own attacking moves. The first was to cut off the left male's sword hand. A scream of pain filled the room.

"You... bitch!" The other male attacked quickly and brutally, causing Kallistrade to slowly back away.

The male without a hand, as he cried, pulled out a knife and came at her as well, tears streaming down his furious red face.

Kallistrade allowed herself to be cornered, both males positioned themselves close to her as she stood with her back to the wall, and just as they smiled at her, thinking they had her, she moved her sword with such swift grace and precision that now they were the ones who had to back up a few steps.

"Gentlemen, this has been quite... amusing, entertaining, if I must say, but I'm bored enough as it is, are we done playing?"

The males looked at each other, then back at her when they heard the clatter of her sword on the ground, stared at her in disbelief, but then lunged towards her at the same time. Kallistrade struck one in the stomach with the force of her foot, the other in the nose.

So fast they couldn't register her movements as one cried out in pain and the other let out a moan without air, she drew her two daggers again and rushed towards them, they recoiled, but then she slid across the ground right between them, ending up at their back.

When she stood up, blood dripping from her daggers, she sighed, wiping them with her sleeves. The two males behind her screamed in extreme pain, covering their bloodied dicks with both hands in hopes of stopping the intense bleeding. Kallistrade had sliced their favourite parts in two so quickly that they hadn't noticed until they felt the searing pain.

Across the room, Cyrus stared at her with a clenched jaw and murderous eyes.

Kallistrade looked at him and simply smiled with her mouth closed as she finished cleaning her knives, once she was done, she pulled out her two black powder pistols and shot the males right in their heads, their screams and cries ceased immediately, not taking her eyes off the ugly pirate on the other side.

She put away her pistols again, and with easy, unbothered steps, stepped over the two corpses that now made pools of blood on the ground to where her sword rested. The blade was slightly covered in blood from the severed hand of one of the mercenaries, so she wiped it with her clothes until the metal was shiny and admired her handiwork.

"You know, since you're so keen to know if my sword is real or not, I thought of the perfect way to show you its powers. How about that, huh, shall we give it a try?"

The door burst open then, and a panting, worried-looking Maddox came rushing into the room.

"I heard gunshots," he said, looking relieved to see an alive Kallistrade, not even bothering to look at the corpses.

"Yes, mines," she nodded to the mercenaries.

Zena and Elijah were there too, she realised when the female pushed Maddox aside to see if her captain was alright. Once the three sailors noticed the dead mercenaries, and the now cornered and shaky-legged Pirate Lord, their jaws clenched and their knuckles turned white as they understood the situation.

"Elijah, could you go and notify the Brethren that we are going to make some... changes?”

“Aye, Captain,” the male nodded, then left the room with a smile of pride.

"Guys, will you wait for me outside?"

"Aye, I'll come when the screaming stops," Zena laughed, and with the ease with which they hadn't entered before, both she and Maddox exited and closed the door behind them.

"Well, it's just you and me again."

"Kallistrade..."

"Uh-" she interrupted his cowardly cries. "It's Captain Devilsbane to you."

She raised her sword high, the light dimmed from the moon and lantern-lit room. The dark power that lived in the blade devoured the light of Cyrus' life from his dull, frightened eyes.

𓆉｡˚ ✧

The shouting stopped just as the door opened and Maddox walked back in.

"Sorry to interrupt, Captain."

Kallistrade turned around, her face covered in blood and the still blood dripping sword didn't startle her first mate at all.

"Don't worry, I was just finishing up, is something wrong?"

"There's someone looking for you," the female knitted her eyebrows together, waiting for further explanation, but none came.

"Someone I know?" The male shook his head, holding out a handkerchief to her as she approached him.

"Then who?"

"He's a mortal, calls himself Prince of Merchants. He says he has business he wants to talk to the High Pirate Lord."

The female laughed, Zena was out as well, and whistled at the sight of Kallistrade covered in blood.

"Then let's go surprise this so called merchant prince, shall we?" Both companions laughed, and still covered in Cyrus' blood, she walked towards said mortal who would be surprised by the Lord he was about to meet.

*booty: ‘treasure’ in pirate slang

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