#you can’t even read the watermark in the other two but I do not care

[bonesblubs]

Genuinely requesting a watermarked version of just this so it can be used as a reaction image

I got u bro

#ask box #requests #heheheh #you can’t even read the watermark in the other two but I do not care

[accio-victuuri]

let’s talk about the “surge” of xz & wyb related hot searches…. and what they are both doing about it.

It’s usual for both of them to go on on hs as individuals even for the most random thing. what’s interesting is them being on one together, as in xz & wyb, considering it’s been some time since they have been on the same stage and the animosity between their so/o fans.

Turtles have been talking about the recent searches that link them being more frequent than before — starting from that infamous same phone case topic to last 5/28 with two ( or three ) hot searches tying them up like it’s 2019 :

even the the recent “same style” maison kitsune top made it there:

This is not the norm, having it on consecutive days is surprising. Having a topic on HS can either be paid ( promotion ) or something organic and all of theirs fall on the latter. because honestly, from both their sides, there is so much more to lose ( fan wars ) than gain from being associated with each other. They also have nothing to “promote” so that takes it out of the equation. The HS are mostly good-natured and if you read it, looks harmless, but I don’t think that means it won’t lead to something negative ( like the phone case ). They had a recent HS together too cause their passport was leaked so there’s that too.

this brings up a conversation on a couple of things:

1. Is this good or bad? We honestly can’t tell. It is definitely nice to see their names together like that for cpfs but it should mostly be about “safe” topics.

2. They are not “banned” from being together as some people are saying. You know what I mean, there are those who say it’s not allowed for their names to be associated because of 2/2/7. That’s not true. It never was. They continue to be tied to each other and mentioned together whether certain groups like it or not.

3. The melon / entertainment accounts who pick up the tags and increase views & interactions for topics to make it on HS. This one is a wildcard. These accounts can’t be trusted no matter how cpf-friendly they are. We don’t know their true motives for picking things up and it’s creepy how they get photos from cpf accounts — like for the same phone case & maison kitsune. It’s not hard to search something up about them, the bjyx supertopic is so active that you can easily pick up the latest news about them. I think they should be more careful and bring back the watermarks marking “fake” or something like that. I know that won’t stop them from replicating but it’s a start. I just don’t want a good natured cpn turned into something bad for them.

4. Even last night, there were these ones, the (p1) is cpn friendly and all that but even turtles were trying to cover it up. (p2) started as an edit of their characters but made into a tag about their acting skills — which we know will lead to fan wars. Why does it have to be compared right? One is a drama airing now. One is a film that just finished it’s run. So what’s the purpose? Other than try and invite their fans to fight why one is better. I think that’s also why turtles were trying to denounce the first tag because there is a sense that these recent associations are becoming shady.

5. So what do they do about it? I wanna say nothing drastic really but turtles have noticed that it depends on the topic. I say this all the time but for celebrities like them — they have staff who keep an eye out on what’s being said about them online. Not necessarily HS, because there’s this thing about WYB and people are saying he doesn’t pay to have negative HS be taken down. Way to go. Honestly. Sina weibo can go f*** themselves. If it’s defamatory, YH can always sue.

If you read comments on YH’s post, even YBO sometimes, the replies of fans are not exactly nice. A number of them are complaining that there are a lot of “black” hot searches about WYB and they are not doing anything. I think in this case doing “nothing” is the best. It can’t be helped. They can’t spend their money every time this happens. It’s in WYB’s character really — Wugan. It’s all noise. What matters is the work he puts out and he won’t be disheartened by black hot searches.

Same goes for XZ, who doesn’t take things down mostly and clarifies through that 🦐 fan account as needed. It’s like saying, this is not enough for me to spend money on. It’s not important and I don’t care.

Going back to their associated HS, turtles have observed the trend for some of those searches….

Let’s take the acting skills HS ( Xiao Chunsheng vs Ye Mi ) as an example. It was pulled out quickly. It is said that the hot search was withdrawn before 9 o'clock, and they should have withdrawn it. They were unwilling to have this kind of HS stay up too long. The same style of phone case, fans singing Wuji by the sea, and the same style of shirts were not gone so fast.

If you look at this table ( column 2 ) shows how long it lasted on the HS ranking. Acting skills was not even an hour. The topic comparing their “salute” ( Ace Troops vs Born to Fly ) was 1 hour and 11 minutes the rest you can see for yourself. The HS updates every minute and even then, knowing how large their fanbase is, even cpf related won’t go down and disappear that quickly. leading people to believe it was paid to be taken down.

The CPN speculation is, it’s okay for them to be associated with each other on HS. As long as it doesn’t pit them against e/o. The two examples I mentioned show what. You can say that this is preemptive, trying to stop a potential fan war but why this quick? In that short time — it’s not even enough for the fans to band in and quarrel. It’s like they have a condition of what topic to put out quickly when it comes to them. If they are “rivals” and loathe e/o as some people claim, then why not let that hang in there? Why do they make an effort to still keep their association neutral to somewhat positive?

Anyway, no matter what this all means, the mantra will always be bjyxszd. 🫶🏼😂

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here i’m just clowning like i always do #not necessarily full on cpn talk but something to ponder on….

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

My dearest bouncey! I have a prompt for you if you like: Witchers as a 90s/2000s boyband 😂🤷‍♀️💖💖💖

Ellie, darling, this started as 500 words and turned into like 3.2k words and also a piece of art so... thank you so much. also shout out to my amazing art pal @mawbwehownets for the little comic!!

this contains lots of 90′s/early 2000′s nostalgia so there is also that

tw: hornyish, smooching, perilous music video situations (corny)

---

“Do I have to?” Geralt groans, letting his forehead thud down against the linoleum surface of their tour bus’s shitty dining table.

“Yes,” Vesemir says. His tone leaves no room for argument or whining. “But what if I let you pick the winner personally?”

“There have to be like fifteen thousand letters to go through! How will I manage that in less than two days?”

“There were a few more than fifteen thousand applications, Geralt. There were probably closer to five hundred thousand.”

Lambert wolf whistles and Aiden claps.

Geralt grimaces and keeps his face hidden against the table, releasing a slightly muffled: “Fuck.”

“Language,” Vesemir frowns. He tugs gently at Geralt’s loose ponytail and the singer lifts his head up from the table again, looking at his manager with beseeching eyes. “Anyway, we’ve narrowed it down to about fifty. You can go through those and choose whichever person you’d like to play your love interest. But you have to give me an answer by Friday. The shoot is in three weeks and whoever wins this stupid competition will need time to make arrangements.”

“I thought we were footing the bill for their food and their hotel room,” Geralt raised an eyebrow. “What would they need to arrange?”

“Not everyone can board their pets at the flick of a wrist, dude,” Lambert scoffs from his seat on the couch. Aiden lies draped across his lap, as usual, and the two of them are halfheartedly watching The Lion King. They can only watch movies when the bus is stationary, otherwise the VHS player might move too much while running and damage the film inside the cassette. Even taking advantage of such a rare opportunity, Lambert and Aiden still seem more interested in each other than Jonathan Taylor Thomas’s voice acting. 

“Lambert has a point,” Vesemir sighs. He scrubs his hand over his lightly whiskered face like a tired grandparent and sighs again, more heavily. “It’ll be good for you boys to have a normal person around for a few days. Maybe they’ll be able to put some things into perspective.”

Geralt can only roll his eyes a little bit and thank his manager regardless of his own feelings; he and the rest of TW5 owe the seasoned musical expert their entire careers. Without Vesemir’s help and mentorship they would never have made it past their first disastrous record deal. They certainly wouldn’t have reached the heights they’re at now, enjoying international fame and recognition. 

The begrudging frontman accepts a heavy plastic bin of file folders from Vesemir and sets them down next to his bunk. “Are these organized in any particular way?”

“Nope.”

“Cool.”

Geralt digs his hand into the pile and pulls out a piece of pale-pink stationary, eager to get started and, by extension, get finished. He can already tell that it’s going to be a long couple of days.

---

“I want this one, please, Ves.”

“Huh?” Vesemir looks up from his palm-pilot. Geralt is standing in front of him and trying to hand him something. 

“I want this guy to be in the music video with me.” Geralt holds out the letter again, fingers trapping the accompanying polaroid headshot with great care. A pair of bright blue eyes stares up from the photo, highlighting the subject’s bright smile and unruly mop of messy brown hair. Vesemir tries to hide his amusement; totally Geralt’s type, if the big oaf could admit to having one.

“Alright. I’ll get everything in order. We start shooting in two and a half weeks so get your asses to the gym, please.”

“Yes, Ves,” all five young men chorus. 

“Tomorrow,” Coen mutters a moment later than everyone else, not glancing up from his composition notebook. Vesemir nods in understanding. Coen is the best lyricist of the lot and it’s easier to let him work when inspiration strikes than beg him to focus when he can’t get a solitary idea to stick.

“So why’d you pick that one, Ger-bear?” Lambert drawls. Aiden nods and leans against Lambert’s side. Geralt can’t help the mild jealousy that overtakes him every time he sees his bandmates touch each other with such casual affection. He wants that intimacy, that softness behind the veneer of famous indifference. He wants someone to hold. 

“Yeah. What drew your attention to that poor unfortunate soul. Was it the floppy hair, the big blue eyes, or the dopey grin?” Aiden smirks.

“Hmm.”

“Fuck you,” Eskel sighs, looking between the two troublemakers with the tired gaze of an eldest sibling, “Fuck you for even asking in the first place and expecting a straight answer.”

“Straight is the furthest thing from his answer,” Lambert chuckles. He is promptly smacked in the head with one of the couch’s hideous throw pillows. The youngest member of the band rubs the side of his face and chuckles, “Alright, I deserved that one.”

---

“Holy shit!” Jaskier practically screams. “Holy motherfucking shit!”

“What!?” Yennefer comes flying around the corner. “What’s wrong!?”

“Nothing is wrong, Yenna! Everything is awesome! Everything absolutely fucking rocks!”

“Did you get hit on the head by a falling branch between here and the mailbox or what? You were whining about your finals work not five min-”

“Look at this!” Jaskier shoves an open envelope into her hands and cuts her off. Yennefer reads the watermarked documents once. Twice. Her eyes almost pop out of her head when the words and their meanings finally sink in. 

“Are you fucking with me right now?”

“No, I am absolutely not!” her giddy roommate cheers, bouncing up and down in place. “I did it! I won!”

“Holy shit.”

“I know! I get to kiss Geralt deRiv!” he practically cackles. Then freezes. “Holy fuck I get to kiss Geralt deRiv.”

“You said that already,” Yen teases. She shoves the paperwork back into his hands and grabs a takeout menu from the junk drawer near her hip. “Since you won the makeout lottery, you get to buy lunch. Lucky bastard.”

---

“So this will be your dressing room,” someone’s underpaid PA says, ushering Jaskier into a small, bright room. “Priscilla will be here shortly to get you into hair and makeup.”

“Oh, uh- thanks!”

“Yup.”

And with that, the young man disappears back down the hallway toward the sound stage. Jaskier jogs his leg anxiously as he waits for Priscilla to arrive, nervous and otherwise totally alone in the huge grey building. As the minutes tick by and his heart rate rises, Jaskier’s intrusive thoughts make an unwanted appearance: What if they forget about me being here? What if there’s been a mistake and they accidentally hired two love interests and I just sit in here for hours all alone while-

“Hi!” a bright, peppy blonde woman flies through the door and startles him back to reality. “Nice to meet you, I’m Priscilla! You can call me Priss; I’ll be doing your hair and makeup for the video this week!”

“Oh… hi. I’m Julian, but I prefer Jaskier.”

“Lovely! Well, Jaskier, is your hair naturally this color?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Perfect! I don’t want to mess with such a lovely shade of natural brown, but do you mind if I give it a bit of a trim? I have a few ideas for styles right here in my book- How do you feel about some feathering back here? I think-” she fluffs a few of the hairs around the nape of Jaskier’s neck “-I could really bring out the curls if I adjusted the length a bit and used some product.”

“Just, uhm, go for it, then! Feel free to make me as pretty as possible!” Jaskier declares. He’s committing to this experience wholeheartedly, determined to allow himself every opportunity for positive change. He wants to really let himself enjoy it, and he needs a haircut anyway. Priscilla spends an hour washing, cutting, drying, and styling his hair into a lovely fringed sweep across his forehead. It ends just above his brows, giving his face a slightly softer shape than usual. He grins over his shoulder, “I love it! I’m going to miss you when I’m back at Oxenfurt. Good stylists are so hard to find.”

Priss blushes and nudges against his shoulder, “Oh, you little charmer.”

“I mean it,” he says, examining himself in the mirror. “I look like I could really be worthy of a heroic rescue! This is going to be such a fantastic memory, and I appreciate it. Thank you so much.”

Priss bites back a genuine tear and smiles, “Now that your natural prettiness has been mildly enhanced, let’s get you over to wardrobe, shall we?”

“Wardrobe? Do I have, like, a costume? What’s the music video even about?”

“They didn’t tell you any of this when you got here?”

“Not… not really.”

“Well, my darling, I think you’re really going to like it; they’ve got you in Versace for the first scene.”

“Versace!?” 

Then Jaskier is being ushered into a bright, colorful room full to bursting with grim-faced, middle-aged women and he loses track of his only braincell for the rest of the morning.

---

“You must be Julian!” Lambert declares, bounding up to him and grinning. It’s a feral, animalistic grin and Jaskier resists the sudden urge to take a step back.

“I prefer Jaskier, if you don’t mind too much,” Jaskier corrects him quietly. Lambert rolls his eyes in a long-suffering kind of way and throws a meaty arm around the shorter man’s shoulders, completely ignoring the wardrobe technician’s wincing as he wrinkles the expensive silk jacket. 

“No need to be quiet and polite around here, my dude. We’re just a bunch of rowdy idiots, aren’t we, guys?” 

“Hell yeah!” Aiden calls back. Eskel sighs like the put-upon nanny in a Victorian Redanian comedy. 

“Speak for yourself,” Coen barely lifts his frosted tips up from his book long enough to speak. Geralt is-

Holy motherfucking Britney Spears on toast.

Geralt is the hottest thing Jaskier has ever seen in his short, unfulfilled-until-right-now life. Forget Ralph Macchio. Forget Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet and Winona Ryder. This man is… Geralt deRiv is… he’s the picture of perfection. And he’s right there, standing in front of an elaborate party set with his thick, beautiful arms crossed over his chest and his eyes trained on the floor, as if willing it to swallow him whole. Jaskier realizes that he probably didn’t have any choice in the matter; maybe this was just as awkward and uncomfortable for Geralt as it was for Jaskier. 

“Ger-bear!” Lambert whoops, yanking Jaskier closer to the brooding frontman. If only he were brave enough to struggle for escape; alas. “This is your boy-toy for the week. Goes by Jaskier, apparently.”

“Nice to meet you,” Geralt manages to grunt. “How did you like the script?”

“I haven’t uh- I haven’t actually seen it?”

“Shit. Fuck. One second,” Geralt huffs, disappearing into the crowd of technicians and machinery operators and PAs. Jaskier loves him already, for real. Sure, he was pretty in the music videos and promo material, but the way he said fuck like it was the noblest word he could think of… Geralt interrupts his train of thought by coming back with a sheaf of papers clutched in his hand. He shuffle-shoves them into Jaskier’s arms immediately. “There you go.”

“Thank you!” Jaskier smiles. It’s genuine and shy, more tenuous than his usual goofy grin. He flips through the pages, glancing between the script to his expensive suit, “So I’m guessing we’re at a party for this scene? Or something?”

“This is… where we meet. This is where… you and I uh…”

Jaskier’s eyes scan the page as Geralt’s ability to speak slowly leaves him. 

Lover ENTERS LEFT, dressed to the nines. Lover adjusts their tie/boa and takes a look around the room. S/He looks sad and a little hopeful. PULL BACK to Geralt, who approaches slowly. Their eyes meet. HOLD SHOT. PULL BACK as they move towards each other. Geralt pulls Lover into his arms and they begin to dance.

“Oh, wow.”

“I hope it’s okay! If you’re not comfortable with that kind of thing we can-”

“I’ll be alright, thank you. I came here to put my acting chops to the test. Well, that and meet my favorite band, of course. Thank you again, by the way. It’s been wonderful so far and I really appreciate you allowing me to be here.”

“Allowing? Psh. Geralt ha-” Lambert is cut off by Aiden, who elbows him sharply in the side. “Ow! What the fuck, babe?”

“I knew it!” Jaskier crows, distracted. “I knew you two were an item!”

“They’re not exactly subtle.”

“They never confirm anything either,” Jaskier retorts. Geralt shrugs his acknowledgement and moves back towards the set. Jaskier follows after the taller man like a lost puppy, eyes flicking from one thing to the next, hungry for detail even in his anxiety ridden state. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and he doesn’t want to waste a solitary second of it. “This is incredible, really just...wow. You guys do this all the time? You get to make tiny little movies for already great songs that you get to perform for millions of adoring fans? And you get paid!?”

Geralt hadn’t ever really thought about it like that. He’d been raised in the industry. He’d signed to Kaer Morhen Records as an early teen because his mother was a member of the Board of Directors and he’d been making music ever since; an outsider’s perspective to things was… new. A little strange. “Yeah, I guess that is pretty much what we do.”

“Wow.”

“It’s not that exciting, I promise.”

“Have you ever written a fifteen page paper about the history of lute-string design and manufacturing?” 

“No.”

“Then kindly shut the fuck up about what I should consider exciting,” Jaskier grins. Geralt is immediately and irrevocably smitten. Fuck. It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes! “So, which door am I entering from?”

“Left,” Geralt points. Jaskier skips over and begins to introduce himself to the sound and lights crew. His smile seems to be as infectious as his cheer and soon the entire set crew is smiling at one another. There’s been a literal shift in the atmosphere; if he didn’t know any better, the TW5 frontman thinks Jaskier might be some kind of magical creature, because he can’t just be human. Geralt is well and truly fucked, and everyone in the band already knows.

---

“What do you think?” Jaskier asks, slipping anxiously from behind the changing screen. The Versace is gone and in its place are a pair of tight, high-waisted blue pleather pants and a billowing white shirt, which has been strategically ripped in several places to reveal slivers of the lightly tanned skin that lies beneath. He looks like he’s in desperate need of rescuing. He looks like every fantasy Geralt has ever had about the perfect guy. He looks like a fucking dream.

“Nice,” he says.

Lambert and Aiden wolf-whistle and cheer as they approach. Aiden claps twice, loudly, and shoots Jaskier a set of finger guns, “Hot damn, baby. You single? You lookin’ to mingle? Because I am bi and spoon like a Pringle.”

“First of all, babe, I love you but that was the most horrific combination of words yet known to man. Second of all, yeah, I’d dump Aiden for you for sure,” Lambert adds. Jaskier is at a total loss for words. His mouth hangs open and his breath comes in uneven little gasps for a moment.

“Uh… I- Thank you?”

“Oh god, Eskel! Eskel, he’s short circuiting, do something.”

“You absolute-” Eskel groans and makes his way over to the gathered group. He tugs Jaskier away and over to the other end of the set, where a comically huge rocket/bomb (Jaskier can’t tell) is standing at the center of a vaguely science-themed room. A laboratory, maybe? Or like, a really weird spacecraft? A hospital run by rocket scientists? It doesn’t matter, it’s the Evil Lair of the Villain and that’s where Jaskier is being held captive. “Here, Cameron and Elise will help you get set up for the next scene. I’m sorry about the boys they’re... gay?”

“I understand,” Jaskier nods sagely and Eskel relaxes. Then for comedy’s sake he adds an equally dramatic, “I too am... gay.”

The set dresser, an electrician, and a few specialists (likely a rope rigger among them) come over and tie Jaskier to the bomb/rocket/villainous mechanism, ending his conversation with Eskel, who is now in a much better mood than he was before. 

Jaskier is told to make sure his hands are crossed behind the small of his back and the director instructs him to wiggle back and forth “as convincingly as possible without actually getting loose or moving the ropes too much”. Which is manageable, he supposes. 

“Then, when the chorus comes up, we’ll get a few shots of the boys dancing in front of you,” the director continues to explain. That’s… kind weird, but okay. I’ve seen weirder. “Then we’ll do the action shots, with Geralt rescuing you. Are you okay to do the kiss, or would you rather not? We have dynamic shots with or without, so it’s totally up to you.”

“I’m fine with that,” Jaskier smiles shyly. “I consent to be smooched.”

“Adorable,” Lambert calls. Jaskier blushes and the director shoots Lambert a glare. 

“He’s already pink enough, don’t make me change my gels you little shithead!”

“Sorry, Pierre!”

“Fucking sorry my ass,” Pierre grumbles beneath his breath. Then he smiles at Jaskier. “Do something nasty to him for me, will you? Not too nasty but… just a little?”

“I’ve got your back,” Jaskier winks. 

“No plotting! Not fair!” Aiden whines.

“You have a team,” Pierre retorts. “Now I have a team.”

“Rules are rules,” Eskel sighs. “Now can we please shoot this damn video?”

“Right,” Pierre claps, getting everyone’s attention. “Places!”

---

Geralt races up the stairs, trying to keep the long sleeves of his black mesh shirt from catching on any of the set pieces. The solid black t-shirt he’s wearing underneath makes his arms and back look bulkier than normal; it’s a visual technique to make him look larger than Jaskier, whose billowing white shirt will hide how wide his shoulders actually are. Fuck, those are some nice shoulders. And the smattering of dark chest hair that peeks from the front of the college student’s shirt? Geralt wants to bury his face in it.

Okay, focus. 

He reaches the top of the set and rushes towards Jaskier, ripping the ropes from around his torso and pulling him close. He cups the back of Jaskier’s head with his upstage hand, framing the slightly smaller man for the camera and making him seem even shorter, another trick of angles and body posturing. Geralt plays Jaskier like an instrument, bending him back by placing his downstage arm around Jaskier’s waist, pressing their mouths together and holding them still for as long as it takes the director to yell, “Cut!” with a satisfied tone of voice. 

Geralt’s suspicions are confirmed when Pierre laughs and claps some more and cries, “Print it, lads! That was a one-take wonder!”

He tries to ignore the way Jaskier’s shoulders slump as if disappointed. “Good job,” he manages to say.

“You, too.” Geralt wishes he could keep a picture of Jaskier smiling in his back pocket forever. No other sight could light up the world so effortlessly. “Thanks for being gentle.”

“I’m trying to sweep you off your feet,” the singer shrugs. Jaskier wiggles his eyebrows and follows Geralt down the narrow set stairs.

“Are you, really?”

“Is it working?” Geralt asks, turning to look up at Jaskier. The student pauses to look at him and his foot catches on an uneven board. He topples forward with a short cry of surprise and seems surprised when Geralt reaches out to catch him. “Jaskier!”

“Oh my god!” Lambert races over, Aiden hot on his heels. “Are you okay, dude?”

“I’m fine,”  Jaskier laughs, a little breathless. “Just a little shocked.”

“You should take him to get a snack or something,” Eskel says, nudging his shoulder against Geralt’s. “He’s been busy all day and hasn’t even been to craft services.”

“You haven’t eaten?” Geralt asks, honestly baffled. Jaskier shakes his head, face heating once again. He wishes he could stop blushing, but Geralt’s presence seems to make it impossible. He wraps one arm around the younger man’s temptingly slender waist and leads him towards the food carts. He shoves a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of punch into Jaskier’s hands, not giving him a chance to argue. “Here, I’ll have something, too.”

“Thanks,” Jaskier smiles, understanding that he is, in turn, being understood. They sit comfortable folding chairs off to the side, food spread across their laps. Jaskier laughs and chats around his mouthfuls, pulling things from Geralt like his favorite color and his least favorite nicknames. Songs he liked and dances he disliked. 

“You made it fun again, today,” the singer smiles. “Thank you for that. I wish you could be here for every video shoot.”

“Looking for another member of the band?” Jaskier jokes, doing some half-hearted jazz hands. Geralt shakes his head and laughs. 

“I wish we were,” he sighs. “But I guess five is the magic number.”

“Makes the dances look cooler,” Jaskier nods. “I agree with whoever made that decision. I wouldn’t dare ruin the aesthetic.”

Geralt laughs again and Vesemir turns to look, honestly shocked at the volume of the sound. 

“Plus, you can’t be the frontman if there’s no front.”

“Shut up,” Geralt chuckles, still grinning broadly. 

Vesemir makes a phone call.

---

2 Weeks Later, Backstage in Kaedwen

---

“He’s been sulking like this ever since Jaskier went back to Oxenfurt,” Lambert whines. “C’mon Vesemir, do something.”

“What do you want me to do, make Geralt’s boyfriend appear out of thin air?”

“Not my boyfriend,” Geralt growls, stomping past his bandmates and manager. He can’t help but feel grumpy. Jaskier had been like the sun, bringing light and wonder to everything he touched, and without that joy around it doesn’t seem worth the extra effort to smile. So he’s been moping. 

“Fucking hell,” Vesemir sighs. “Thank goodness I thought ahead.”

“What do you mean?” Eskel asks, joining the little group in the hallway outside the dressing room. “What did you think of?”

“Three,” Vesemir smiles, glancing at his watch. “Two… One…”

“Boooooys,” echoes a high tenor. “Where’s my welcome wagon, Vesemir?”

“Jaskier!” Aiden practically screams, leaping out of the dressing room and flying down the hall. Lambert follows at a sprint and Vesemir hears the resounding oof oh fuck of both giddy musicians hitting their mark. 

Geralt comes back down the hall at a jog, eyes searching frantically. “I thought I heard-”

“Geralt!”

Vesemir’s heart clenches in his chest at the way Geralt’s face lights up. At the end of the hallway, surrounded by spilled luggage and apologetic boyband members, is Jaskier. Geralt floats to him, it seems, like he’s dreaming the whole thing. Jaskier takes his hands and then releases them and wraps his arms low around Geralt’s hips instead. 

“I missed you the most,” he whispers, just for Geralt to hear. “Couldn’t sleep without listening to your CD. I know it’s silly but I really like you.”

“Jaskier,” Geralt whispers reverently into his shaggy brown hair. “What are you doing here?”

“I was going to do my thesis on pop culture’s relation to music history,” he says. “And then the manager of TW5 called Oxenfurt and offered me the opportunity to do some… first hand research while I worked on finishing the paper.”

“R-Really? You’re going to be here… every day?”

“Do you… do you not want me he-”

Geralt kisses him before he can even finish the question. It’s a stupid question anyway, of course Geralt wants him here. Wants him right here, kissing him silly. The singer presses his lips desperately, crushingly against Jaskier’s; he never wants to part from this man again. He never wants to be without that glorious laughter and contagious liveliness. Who knew that life could be so full of delight and happiness if he only let it? 

He kisses Jaskier for all he’s worth and more, pouring his heart and soul into it. When they pull apart, both gasping for air, Geralt asks, “Stay with me, Jaskier? You don’t have to do anything I just-”

“I’d love to be the big spoon,” Jaskier winks, whispering again. “Thank you, Geralt, for the rescue.”

#geraskier #bouncey's buddies #prompt fill #geraskier fic #geraskier ficlet #geraskier fluff #getting together #boyband au #geraskier boyband au #the witcher five and their hit song 'please lambert stop farting on the bus' #ellie has the braincell #thirsty jaskier #thirsty geralt #soft geralt #protective geralt #clumsy jaskier #soft boys content #bouncey's endless au collection #bouncey's endless getting together fics

[darter-blue]

And now for some stucky fluff...

Read it here on ao3

Or part one, two, three, four on tumblr

Bucky’s sense has left him. It left him somewhere back on the dance floor. Maybe even before then.

It’s entirely possible that in fact he’s never had any.

He spent too long talking at Steve about particles… about soulmates… about whatever it is that's happening between them. And by some miracle, Steve is still listening, still looking at Bucky like he’s interesting, like his words mean something. And Bucky needs to harness that. Needs to grab at it before it slips through his fingers.

So he quits his yapping. He grabs Steve and he pulls at him again, marvels at the complete lack of resistance there, at the way Steve just follows him. When he dares to look back over his shoulder, Steve is still there, still staring at Bucky as if he is something wondrous. Somehow not tripping, or faltering, despite not watching at all where he’s going and or paying any kind of attention to the people or the noise or the chaos of the casino around them.

Steve’s eyes are only for Bucky.

Even as Bucky pulls them through the garishly painted doors. Even as Bucky leads him into madness.

Bucky turns away from Steve to face forward, to push clear of the doors and let them swing closed behind them.

It’s much quieter in the chapel.

Bucky sweeps his eyes from right to left and takes in the pastel pink walls, the blue ribbons along the pews, the couple chatting at the top of the aisle. One dressed as Elvis - white jumpsuit and cape, big hair, sunglasses, guitar flung over one shoulder, not slim, but filling out that jumpsuit nicely all the same - the other wearing a hot pink t-shirt that reads ‘we will wed you’ in white lettering across the chest and a fifties retro polka dot skirt.

They both look up as Steve and Bucky enter.

‘He-ey,’ the man dressed as Elvis says, smile and eyes widening as he looks past Bucky and up and up to Steve, then back down and up again. One eyebrow raising in slight disbelief, no doubt, at the existence of such a perfect being.

Bucky can’t blame him.

‘Welcome, welcome!’ the woman in hot pink says, coming forward, arms outstretched, ‘hello boys!’

‘Hello,’ Bucky says, smiling at her exuberance, and her very excellent blond bee-hive up-do, and slows to a stop about halfway down the aisle.

‘Ma’am,’ Steve says, affability dripping from the buttery smooth tone in his voice, coming to a stop on Bucky’s right.

‘Oh, you two look like a match made in heaven!’ the woman says, stopping a few feet from them, she holds up her hands and makes a frame with her fingers, placing Bucky and Steve in it and looking through at them with one narrowed eye. ‘Oh yes. Beautiful, beautiful.’

‘Uh…’ Bucky starts, and falters. At a loss for exactly how to proceed.

He looks up at Steve and Steve looks down at him with an encouraging smile, slides an arm around Bucky’s waist and squeezes him closer.

‘We umm… do we have to make an appointment?’

‘You two?’ the woman says, eyeing them both up and down, ‘no appointments necessary, come come come.’ She spins around and starts heading towards Elvis, checking back to make sure Bucky and Steve are following her, ‘Come with me, I’m going to take care of everything.’

‘Okay,’ Bucky says, looking up and Steve and shrugging his shoulders.

Steve laughs and squeezes Bucky tighter, walking them down the aisle together. ‘How do you make everybody fall in love with you like this, Buck?’

‘Me?’ Bucky says, laughing and shaking his head at Steve. As if Steve has no idea of the kind of magnetism he’s exuding. The uncanny resemblance he has to a greek god.

‘Yes, definitely you,’ Steve says, ‘People are never this easy with me.’

‘I am,’ Bucky says truthfully. Everything about Steve screams home to Bucky. Screams safety and happiness. Bucky couldn’t be anything but easy with him.

‘Yes you are,’ Steve says softly. Squeezing Bucky again. He’s going to have to stop doing that, it's so warm, his arm is so strong, his hand is so big, Bucky feels encased by him. It’s dangerously addictive. Bucky wants to lean into it and let himself go.

But, actually, why can't he? This is a chapel, they are about to leap into the craziest decision Bucky has ever made in his life... So Bucky does lean into it. Lets his side press into Steve, lets them fit together like a solved puzzle.

‘Okay boys, we have some forms, we have some catalogues,’ the woman says, gesturing them into a room off to the side of the chapel, ‘I need you to put your decision making hats on, okay? We have about thirty minutes before the next couple comes in and I want to slot you right in, yes?’

‘Okay,’ Bucky and Steve say together, nodding their heads.

‘Good, good. So take a look over these, sign them, pick your rings and I’ll charge them all to your room. You’re staying in the casino right?’

‘Yes,’ Steve says, moving forward before Bucky can answer, ‘Charge it to my room, please.’

Steve starts pulling out his wallet, shows his identification and takes the pen the lady offers him, and Bucky watches with a sort of fascination, as Steve becomes completely in control.

‘Steve Rogers,’ the woman says with a smile Bucky doesn’t understand. Knowing, familiar. ‘I’m Mavis, it’s so lovely to meet you.’

‘And you,’ Steve says. He opens his arm out to Bucky to gesture him forward, and slides it around Bucky’s shoulder when he gets close enough. ‘This is Bucky.’

‘James Buchanan Barnes,’ Bucky says, holding out a hand for Mavis to shake, ‘pleasure to meet you, Mavis.’

‘Oh well you are just the sweetest thing,’ Mavis says with a chuckle, her cheeks blushing, ‘absolutely adorable.’ She pushes a catalogue towards Bucky, ‘Find your rings, darlin’ while Steve here fills out the paperwork. I just need some signatures from both of you and I’ll set up everything with Larry over there,’ she points to Elvis who waves back at them from the altar, ‘while you pop out and find yourselves a witness.’

‘Can’t you be our witness, Mavis?’ Bucky asks. He doesn’t want to unpack the kind of recklessness that it takes to be getting married in a seedy casino wedding chapel and needing to nab random strangers to be their witnesses.

‘Oh of course I will, darlin’ boy, but you need two. And Larry is the officiator, he can’t be a witness I’m afraid.’

‘It’s no problem,’ Steve says, looking up from the paperwork and handing Bucky the pen, ‘You sign these and pick out the rings, Buck, I’ll go grab somebody.’

‘Ahh... sure,’ Bucky takes the pen and watches as Steve takes off on a mission, ‘I’ll just… pick out my wedding ring from this plastic catalogue…’

‘Okay,��� Mavis says, bustling about in the small room and not watching Bucky at all, ‘Here are your complimentary t-shirts,’ she pulls some material from a storage box under the counter, ‘here is your album,’ Mavis plonks a hot pink vinyl photo album right next to Bucky’s ring catalogue, ’and here’s your notepad.’

‘Notepad?’ Bucky looks at Mavis and then down at the small notepad, blue and pink and with a vegas sign as a watermark in the background.

‘You might want to jot some quick vows down, honey.’

‘Oh.’

It occurs to Bucky, as he looks down at his coloured notepad, at the ring catalogue on laminated sheets of pink paper, at the t-shirts Mavis has put down for them on the counter, that this is perhaps a terrible mistake.

And then he looks a little closer at one of the rings on the last page… plain white gold (plated, he’s guessing) flat bands with an inscription on the inside that reads, ‘For we are but two halves, together whole’ and wonders if in fact it's the opposite of a mistake.

What if this is fate?

‘Bucky, I found somebody,’ Steve comes tearing back into the chapel followed by a dazed looking man, wide eyed and smiling, looking up at Steve as if he just met the messiah. ‘This is Scott.’

‘Hi Scott,’ Bucky says, dragging the man’s attention away from Steve, ‘thank you so much for doing this.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Scott says, beaming back up at Steve, ‘for this guy? Anything.’

He looks starstruck - Bucky can totally understand where he’s coming from.

Scott is absolutely bouncing on the balls of his feet, ‘You are a lucky guy, Bucky.’

Bucky looks at Steve, who is looking worriedly between Scott and Bucky, reminding Bucky momentarily of a confused puppy, and has to wholeheartedly agree.

‘You still sure about this, Buck?’ Steve asks, puppy dog eyes kicking into full gear.

Bucky can’t help but smile. ‘I um… found these I sort of like,’ Bucky says in lieu of an answer, pointing to the picture of the rings on the laminated page, ‘what do you think?’

Steve looks down at them, at the inscription decsribed underneath the picture and looks back up at Bucky with the softest, sweetest smile. ‘They look perfect.’

‘Yeah? You think so?’

‘I do.’

And Bucky’s heart melts. He feels the warmth of it spread right through his chest.

‘Perfect!’ Mavis cries, swooping in to grab the catalogue and disappear into the chapel, yelling back ‘get yourselves to the altar boys!’

‘I guess we ah… head out there?’ Bucky gestures over his shoulder with his thumb, to the altar, ‘let me just um…’ he jots down a few lines and then rips the page off and hands the notepad to Steve, ‘for your vows.’

‘Ahh…’ Steve looks adorably terrified at the notepad Bucky has just handed him and looks over at Scott who is smiling at both of them now.

‘You guys look good together,’ Scott says, grabbing them both around their biceps and pushing them together, ‘this is really special. Thanks for letting me be a part of this, Cap.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Steve says, calm but bemused as Scott’s hands keep squeezing.

Bucky looks up at Steve and then back at Scott who almost seems to be tearing up.

‘You guys know each other?’

‘I wish,’ Scott says, shaking his head with a laugh, ‘what a dream this night has turned out to be.’

And Bucky can’t help but laugh. It’s just crazy enough to be perfect for this evening. ‘For you and me both,’ Bucky says. And Scott squeezes his arm a little tighter. ‘We even have this t-shirt for you.’

Scott takes the t-shirt Bucky offers him reverently. ‘Viva las witness,’ he says with awe. ‘This is amazing.’

‘And for you, sir,’ Bucky says, handing one to Steve.

‘Thank you, Buck’ Steve says, standing back from them both to pull off the button down he’s wearing.

Bucky can’t stop the gasp that escapes as Steve’s shirt slides down his arms to reveal the wide expanse of chiseled porcelain perfection underneath.

Steve smiles at Bucky’s no doubt slack jawed expression but Bucky can’t look away. It’s… a lot. IKt’s more muscle than Bucky has ever seen on a real live person. Toned and smooth and carved out of marble.

What is Bucky getting himself into?

Steve is pulling the pink ‘groom’ shirt over his chest and down over his washboard abs and Bucky has to hold his hand back from reaching out to touch him, to slip his fingers under the soft material of the t-shirt.

‘Your turn, Buck,’ Steve says, staring at Bucky with one eyebrow raised, handing him the blue shirt.

‘Uh-uh.’ Bucky shakes his head. 'Nope, not after that,' he waves his hand in the direction of Steve's chest, 'no thank you.'

'Buck?'

'I don't look anything like that.'

'Nobody looks anything like that,' Scott says, his eyebrows still at his hairline.

'Scott, could you give us five minutes?'

'Yeah, I'll just…' Scott backs out of the room and towards the altar, 'let me choose you some music. Be right back.'

'Bucky,' Steve steps closer as Scott disappears, 'you don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with.'

Bucky lets him closer, but doesn't move.

'But this,' Steve puts his hands to his giant pecs, nearly breaking through the t-shirt, 'this is not what makes me, me.'

'I know,' Bucky tucks his hair behind his ear, nodding his head 'I know that.' He does know that. But it’s hard to not be intimidated by his perfection.

'And as beautiful as you are,' Steve says, reaching out to take Bucky's hand and hold it, put it up against Bucky’s chest, 'this isn't what makes you, you.' Steve presses the finger of his free hand against Bucky’s forehead. 'This is, Buck. This is you, yes?'

'Yes.' And it’s true. He forgets that sometimes but it’s true.

'And it's amazing, you're amazing.'

'I am?' Is he? Bucky doesn’t feel amazing. He feels like he’s just scraping by most of the time.

'You are.'

Steve is looking down at him with so much affection, Bucky knows it’s not a line. It’s what Steve really thinks.

'You are too,' Bucky lifts his own free hand to touch Steve's forehead, 'you're so lovely.'

Steve leans in as Bucky traces his hand down to his cheek and rests his forehead against Bucky's. 'You don't have to wear the t-shirt, Bucky,' Steve says softly, running his hand through Bucky’s hair, 'You don't ever have to do anything you don't want to do.'

Steve's hands on him are like a balm. They radiate care and calm, and they speak Steve's truth.

Bucky’s insecurity washes away. He wants to be part of this. He wants to be all in. 'I do want to wear the t-shirt,' Bucky whispers, 'It's cute.'

Steve laughs and almost snorts. 'It's perfect for you.' Steve nods. 'Want me to give you some privacy?'

'No,’ Bucky doesn’t want Steve to go anywhere. ‘No I want you to help me.’

Bucky takes Steve’s hands in his own and places them gently at the hem of his t-shirt - faded and worn and washed too many times, all the more comfortable because of it.

Steve slides his hands up under the hem and over the bare skin above Bucky’s waistband, dragging the tips of his fingers across Bucky’s stomach. Bucky breaths in a sharp gasp of air as Steve’s thumb runs over his hip bone.

‘Gorgeous,’ Steve sighs the word, his breath on Bucky’s lips, he’s so close.

Bucky lifts his arms to let Steve run his fingers up further, taking the material of the shirt with him and lifting it slowly over Bucky’s head. He runs his hands back down Bucky’s chest, fingertips burning into Bucky’s skin, charged and electric.

They slow at Bucky’s stomach, sliding around the smooth, slightly rounded softness of Bucky’s waist to settle on his hips, rubbing circles over the bone with his thumbs.

‘Beautiful,’ Steve whispers, ‘you’re perfect, Bucky.’

‘Thank you,’ Bucky whispers back. Not because Steve has said it, but because he’s made Bucky believe it.

Steve’s nuzzles closer, reaching up to kiss his lips against Bucky’s forehead, Bucky settles his hands on Steve’s chest, up to Steve’s shoulders and around his neck-

‘Showtime boys!’ Mavis says, bursting into the room and then throwing a hand over her eyes as Steve and Bucky jump apart, ‘Oops! Sorry, but you need to get your sweet little butts out there, we’re running out of time.’

‘Yep, sorry, sorry,’ Bucky grabs for the blue t-shirt, ‘Elvis said we do’ plastered across the front in bright pink lettering, ‘coming right out.’

‘Better late than never,’ Mavis says with a wink to Steve and Bucky laughs at the blush that creeps into his cheeks.

‘Shit,’ Steve writes quickly in the notepad as they both hustle out to the altar, Scott off to the side pairing his phone with the sound system as ‘Fools rush in’ starts up over the speakers and Larry-Elvis smiles down at them as they move into position on either side of where he stands a step above them.

Steve tucks the notepad into his pocket and shuffles his feet. Bucky stands straight and reaches for his hands, pulls them into the space between them, holds them there, safe between Bucky’s own.

‘Welcome folks,’ Larry-Elvis drawls, ‘We’re gonna keep this short and sweet, I as a certified official in the state of Nevada, do preside over these two young men, to bring them together in holy matrimony-’

Steve catches Bucky’s eye and bites his lip. Bucky can only look back and try and keep from vibrating out of his skin.

‘-James Buchanan Barnes, did you have some words for Steve,’

‘Ah, yep…’ Bucky says, grabbing the torn out page from the pocket of his jeans, ‘Ah, Steven-’

‘-Grant,’ Steve says quietly.

‘Steven Grant Rogers, somehow it feels like I’ve known you forever. Somehow I feel like tonight I have met the kindest, most wonderful man in the world.’

‘It’s so true,’ Scott says quietly from behind them, and it makes Bucky smile.

‘Whatever brought us together, whatever force has drawn us to each other… It feels like fate, Steve. I think maybe you’re my person.’

Steve is nodding, smiling, he squeezes Bucky’s fingers.

‘And Steve?’ Larry-Elvis asks, ‘did you have words too, son?’

‘Yeah I…’ Steve doesn’t reach for his notepad, he looks at Bucky and squares his shoulders, lifts his chin, ‘James Buchanan Barnes, my heart knows you. However our particles have danced together through time, I found you here and now, and I’m going to hold on for as long as I can-’

‘Oh, god,’ Scott sobs behind them.

‘-I think you’re right about fate, Buck, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life, just being a part of yours.’

‘Beautiful!’ Mavis cries, running over with the rings, ‘Rings boys, time to wrap it up.’

Bucky has to smile at the chaos, at Steve’s face as he bites his cheek and tries not to laugh. He checks back at Scott to see him taking video of the ceremony and hopes that he can watch this in the morning, sober, and remember how light his heart is right now.

‘That was beautiful, Steve-Steve Rogers,’ Bucky says leaning in to whisper.

‘You’re beautiful,’ Steve says back and they smile at each other like idiots as Mavis hands them their rings and the song fades out on Elvis singing about falling in love. It couldn’t be more perfect.

‘You may kiss the groom, fellas,’ Larry says with a sweeping hand, ‘I now pronounce you husband and husband.’

And all of the noise fades away around them as Steve steps in, brings their joined hands up to their chests and reaches down to rest his lips against Bucky’s.

‘May I?’ he whispers against Bucky’s mouth.

‘Fuck yes,’ Bucky whispers back, and Steve laughs as he closes that last tiny distance, presses his warm lips softly to Bucky’s and opens them just enough to fit their mouths together.

The tenderness of it has Bucky in freefall.

He sighs into the taste of Steve’s lips, the luscious sweep of them against Bucky’s, and Steve has to let go of Bucky’s hands to reach around and grab him, take Bucky’s weight where he has dropped into Steve’s hold, pressing deeper into the kiss as he does, opening wider to it, gently nudging his tongue against Bucky’s and Bucky pushes back, licks softly into Steve’s mouth, sucks at the plumpness of his bottom lip, reaches his hands up around Steve’s neck and holds on.

The bang of the confetti canon has Steve snapping back up to standing, pulling Bucky with him and wrapping his arms around him, as if to shield him. Looking up and then back at Bucky as the coloured paper rains down on them.

Bucky can't help huffing a happy laugh at his husband. His husband.

‘Congratulations!’ Mavis and Larry-Elvis and Scott all cry from around them, but Bucky’s world is all and only Steve right now. The crystal clear blue of his eyes, the rose of his cheeks, the sharp nose and pink lips, and the look of absolute adoration on his face.

‘Wanna get out of here?’ Bucky asks.

Steve smiles even wider, ducks his head to kiss Bucky again, slow and soft and sweet and whispers into Bucky’s mouth, ‘I do.’

It’s perfect.

#stucky #stucky fluff #fluff #accidental husbands #stucky fic #steve/peggy #steve x darcy #bottom bucky #cap steve #shrunkyclunks #my writing

[crxwes]

Art thief!

Hello, earlier today I discovered a Instagram account that had stolen my art. Not long ago, it got taken down.

I’m not making this post to put them on blast but to warn other artists about them and people like them. They were commissioning me a lot (more than I usually get being a small account.) and rapidly, and I had suspicions but I chose to believe otherwise,

I believe they targeted me because I under price myself (so its easy to get art from me) and I often forget to put a watermark on my art and when I do, its easily croppable (which makes it EVEN EASIER to get art from me)

So be careful :-)! I’m not worried about myself, I’m more worried about other artists.... And especially younger ones :/ I was lucky to get a LOT of support from all my friends which i’m very grateful for! As I believe the amount of report is what got their account down. (Update on that at the end of the read more)

They go by lovegently on tumblr! So be careful if this person commissions you.

I found out about the account ONLY because they had a sponsored post on my timeline with my oc on it:

Which had me do a double take. At first, I thought it was just a glitch on insta or something, no way someone would steal my art right?

This is what I was greeted by when I went on their profile:

Sure enough, it was ALL my art. Some very old so they had to dig deep for it (The pink one in the middle of the second screenshot is from 2017) They claimed some my ocs as theirs (and some of my friends because I also drew them)

(Mine and @gaydemogorgon​ oc)

(On their facebook page, that my friend found)

They were ‘‘doing’‘‘ commissions too;

Modifying the CAD to USD quite obviously. They used two of my commission post and even used my giveaway post that I held not long ago. They had commissioned me for the first prize but , my tablet cable is causing me problems so I had to refund them but I believe they would have continued. I don’t know why they would offer commissions when they have to pay me to do it, but the fact remains that they were still selling my art to another party.

They even changed their name to match mine (which I changed recently)

And before this, on instagram they had change their name 25 times. I wondered if they had been caught for art theft before this?

So be on the look out for variations of those usernames! (Screenshot from my friend @kornyo​ )

They were wondering about selling other pieces of my art (using a piece I made for @cryingforthecryptids​ too.) :

It seems they didn’t go through with it though (which I’m really glad, I would have been livid otherwise)

They had 1563 followers on FB and as you can see on their profile screenshot, they had 2k followers on instagram. I don’t have a FB page as it is not a platform I enjoy being on, but on instagram, I have 400 followers. The difference is A LOT, which makes me sad, because I’ve read the comments of some of these people, and they genuinely seemed to enjoy MY content. It frustrates me that they could have this much reach piggy backing my art. So when artists tells you that reposting hurts them, yes it does. I could have had a lot more exposition and a lot more clients even!

All in all, be careful :-)! (And look out for artists! If you see someone do this, don’t ignore it, inform the artist!)

UPDATE : I wrote this post yesterday March 8th 2020, and today (March 9th) two of my friends have informed me that this person is still active, using my art.

I had messaged them on instagram to ask them to take my art down and I hadn’t reported their account because I wanted to give them a chance:

And they have since blocked me! So I can’t access their account anymore. I’ll try to find a way to report them now since they’ve chosen to ignore me.

This is their account now:

(Screenshot from @kornyo​)

If you could report it, I would really appreciate it!

#Mochi speaks #art theft #long post

[grayfullbustermybeloved]

@natsubeatsrock I was going through your posts from a while back and I came across this cool anti-gruvia prompt and thought I had to write it. I can’t find the post now (I accidentally closed the tab) but it was about how if Juvia played hard to get, Gray would ignore her. Anyway, here it is. 

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

Juvia didn't know what to do.

She had tried everything.

Baking treats in the shape of his face, following him around everywhere to convince him of her love- even dealing with potential love rivals!

And despite it all, she was no closer to Gray Fullbuster’s heart then the first time she had confessed her love to him. It was infuriating- no, more than that.

It was confusing.

What was she doing wrong here? What was she missing?

“Cana,” Juvia said suddenly, “What am I missing? Why is Gray-sama not moved by my love?”

Cana swore, startling loudly from where she had been reclining on her couch. She had probably been surprised by Juvia’s impulsive burst through the door, but there was no time to lose. Gray-sama was out there, attractive and single without her to scare love rivals off. This was important.

“Juvia!” Cana greeted with a slight grimace, swinging her legs around and twisting to face Juvia. Strange. She didn't seem to be that thrilled about Juvia’s presence, but Juvia was sure it was simply that she was trying to work on the best advice for Juvia.

When Juvia had first arrived at Fairy Hills, all the girls had made it abundantly clear that she could come and ask them anything.

Of course, Juvia had made quick work after this rule had been laid down, knowing the advantage many of them had with knowing Gray-sama’s likes and dislikes, and requiring some help in making up for lost time.

Cana knew this as well, but despite that, was a little slow on the uptake. The brown haired card mage frowned slightly. “You want advice on Gray? Why not go to Mira, or Lisanna, or… literally anyone else who isn't me?” 

It was a valid question. Juvia already knew the answer, of course.

“I’ve already tried!” She wailed in despair, coming in and sitting on a leg of the couch as Cana got up and hurriedly closed the door- perhaps trying to prevent watermarks from spreading around the building once more. 

“None of their advice worked! Mirajane suggested chocolate, which Juvia has already tried several times, although Gray-sama rarely accepts food from Juvia anymore-” 

“I wonder why,” Cana muttered, obviously remembering some of Juvia’s more famous failures with a love potion. Juvia carried on regardless. Now was not the time to ruminate on her failed attempts at love.

“And Lisanna suggested I knit him something personal, like a scarf, but Gray-sama lost it immediately!”

“Yeah,” Cana winced, snorting slightly. “Clothes are probably not the best way to get to Gray’s heart.”

Juvia nodded sagely. She knew all about Gray-sama’s little clothing habit. Some of his discarded shirts were hung in pride of place in her room. “So you see, you are my only hope at ever trying to find true happiness!”

Cana raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure there are plenty of other girls in Fairy Tail who have advice for you, though, apart from the Strauss siblings. So why don’t you hop on over to their rooms and leave me to drink- I mean relax in peace.”

“Ah,” Juvia said, because she had anticipated Cana saying something like that. “But you have what the others do not- you have known Gray-sama for the longest!” 

Juvia presented these words to Cana dramatically, watching her expectantly, if not a bit jealously. When she had first heard of it from Mirajane, she had immediately singled out Cana as the new number one love rival, replacing Lucy.

However, through much careful information gathering (read: stalking) Juvia had come to the unexpected but welcome conclusion that maybe, just maybe, Cana had no interest in Gray-sama romantically.

The idea was a confusing one, because Gray-sama was perfect, but Cana had proven herself to be quite content with her involvement with (and her Juvia blushed just thinking about) multiple guys. And some girls, as well.

Therefore, Juvia had done the unthinkable, and deemed her “safe”. 

“Wow,” said Cana, taken aback. “I guess, I have, huh? Damn, time flies bye. He was such a bitch when he was younger.”

Juvia ignored that comment, because she was sure Gray-sama had always been perfect, and smiled at Cana. 

“So you’ll help then?” Juvia said cheerfully, leaning in closer to the card mage and making her eyes wide. Gajeel always said that the expression made her look like a kicked puppy, and Juvia wanted to hurry this exchange along.

Cana sighed, glancing at the clock in her room sadly. Strange. Maybe she had an appointment to keep? “Aww, yeah, whatever. It’s not like I was gonna do anything important today anyway. So, what have you already tried?”

It took around two hours for Juvia to list every advance she had made on Gray-sama since she had joined Fairy Tail, which she had alphabetically categorized and listed onto a piece of paper, but Cana was an attentive listener. She had even put on dark shaded glasses to help her focus better on Juvia’s attempts for love, saying that the sun’s glare was giving her a headache. Truly, Cana was a good friend.

Just as Juvia hit the two hour mark, and the sun was getting lower in the sky (it had been early afternoon when she had come to see Cana) she finished listing everything and looked up at the dark haired girl sitting next to her, curled into the couch.

“Well!” Juvia said brightly, looking expectantly at her companion. “Do you have any ideas?” 

Strangely enough, Cana didn't respond. It took Juvia poking her several times for her to startle and take her glasses off. She must have been truly in deep thought. Juvia was shaking in excitement. 

“Right,” Cana said after she had blinked several times, running a hand through her hair. “All of that was, uh, good. But not what Gray needs, I think.”

Juvia frowned, surprised. “But I got most of the ideas from very credible sources!” She said anxiously. 

Cana picked up the list and scanned through it. “I’m pretty sure this one is the beginning of one of Lucy’s trash romance novels. You know, the ones she loves but pretends to hate at the guild?”

Juvia did in fact know, and flushed scarlet, sinking into the couch. She had been forced to look for inspiration in some unconventional places after the first couple of times of confessing her undying love to Gray-sama did not garner results.

Cana continued on without judgment, however. “You’ve tried basically everything under the sun. Bar one. ”

Juvia leaned in closer, eager to hear what she had been missing. She had a feeling, deep in her gut, that this was the moment. This was the moment that changed everything. No matter that she got that feeling everytime she started out on a new plan to woo Gray-sama.

Cana nodded, her face the picture of solemn wisdom. “You, my friend, need to play hard to get.”

“Hard to get?” Juvia questioned, puzzled. She had not heard the term before, but it sounded intriguing.

Cana did an awfully good impression of a witches laugh. “Oh, my young padawan, let the master tell you all…”

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

Juvia was slightly unsure about playing hard to get, but Cana was insistent. And persuasive. 

“This will work!” she insisted. “You’ve tried everything else, anyway!”

It was a good point, Juvia had to admit.

So Juvia nodded, and played hard to get.

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

Four months later, she was still playing hard to get.

Gray-sama would break soon, she just knew it.

#gray fullbuster #juvia lockstar #anti-gruvia #or well #not very gruvia leaning #humour #fairy tail #that prompt was probably very old but oh well #my writing

[jackalgirl]

Commissions

[ Image description: Commission sheet with four head and shoulder portraits with prices: B&W sketch and wash: $20.  Color sketch & wash: $25.  Ink and color: $25. Ink & Limited color: $20. Overall is the text “FULL”  End ID. ]

---=== UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE ===---

THANK YOU everyone from the bottom of my heart -- all slot are all full!  Let me knock out these commissions, and if all goes well, I’ll plan on doing another round.  THANK YOU!

Bottom Line Up Front: I’ve got unexpected veterinary expenses (see the story below the cut), so I’m opening up five (5) commission slots for digital oc portraits.  It’s fairly limited in scope (head & shoulder portrait of a single character, though I’m willing to negotiate within reason), as I’m a) horribly out of practice and b) trying to make sure I can ensure you’re happy with what I produce.

It’s most helpful if you can provide me with reference (e.g., you’ve got a faceclaim for your OC, you’ve got clothing references).  I’m willing to do research to help me help you reach the vision for your OC, again within reason (no fashion shows, please).

What I can’t do right now: mecha. NSFW. Furries (I need to get back to speed with animal anatomy first).  Complicated backgrounds (yet.  Once I get my feet under me, I’ll be able to expand my offerings).

Tweaking and changes: once you’ve approved the preliminary sketches and I’ve produced the final, you get three tweaks/changes for free -- beyond that, it’s $5 per change.  UNLESS it’s my fault -- if you told me something and I missed it, then I’ll fix the artwork at no charge to you.

Payment: through PayPal when I’m ready to send you the approved final (sketches and drafts will be thoroughly watermarked, please don’t take it personally, the final piece will have no watermarks beyond my signature).

The Story

Since I retired and moved into a fairly small country town, we’ve acquired a porch cat.  I think she’s feral -- failing that, she’s neglected -- because once I finally coaxed her to let me touch her, it was fairly clear that under all that soft, soft fur, she was too thin.  And it was fairly obvious that she was pregnant also.

The Better Half prepped some chicken for me to tear into strips so that I could make friends with her.  It worked.  She was (and still is) very enthusiastic about chicken, so I’ve named her Leeloo.

She basically set up house on my back porch, and I’ve been making sure she’s fed and has clean water.  I cannot bring her into the house because said Better Half is dangerously allergic to cats.

Sometime on the evening of July 4th or the morning of the 5th, Leeloo had her kittens -- two adorable little beans -- and I had no idea where they were, until I realized that she was nesting inside a large ceramic pot we’ve got on the back porch.  So she’s a smart kitty: it’s spacious, it’s cool, and it offers protection from other neighborhood wildlife (although the approach of other, larger, animals such as dogs is limited by the fact that our yard is fenced).

[ Image description: a medium-haired, sweet-faced calico cat with two little spotted kittens, all cuddled up in the bottom of a large ceramic pot. End ID. ]

So, I’ve got an appointment for her this week at the vet.  Goals: find out if she’s chipped (if she is, I don’t know what I’ll do, aside from lose my mind with rage), get her vaccinated, get her dewormed, all the other things you need to do with a brand new cat, so as to get her ready to be spayed.  Also, I’ll be picking the brains of the vet to find our local foster community (if there is one), and I’ve been reaching out on Facebook, as well -- ultimately, I would love to see her homed as an inside cat with a decent family, hopefully with the kittens, but also obviously I want to make sure they’re cared for and properly homed with people whose immune systems won’t eat them alive.  This means I will probably be setting up a spouse-free room in the basement to be a cat house temporarily, especially for when she’s had her operation and needs a safe place to recover and take care of the beans.

So there it is, dear reader: having recently retired and also having had a number of bills hit all at once, I am in need of some extra funds to offset the cost of taking care of Leeloo and the littles, and that is why I’m opening up my commissions.  

Thank you for reading my story, and I hope you’ll consider reaching out to me to help me get you a portrait for your OC!

#commissions #jackalgirl #illustration

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Revolution Theme, Part 2: War of 1812

READ PART 1 HERE

Wow! Thanks @wdway! Love all this!

You’re right that that the Crossing of the Delaware painting makes a lot more sense, now. It also made me think of the more recent pilgrim paintings we’ve seen the past few years. I think we can work those in as well. The pilgrims were somewhat revolutionary in their actions. Not so much in a massive war or battle sort of way, but they left England (yes, Britain) to find freedoms their mother country wasn’t willing to give them. Which is revolutionary in its way.

But more to the point, that was the first step that would eventually lead to a war for freedom between Britain and the American colonies. So, you could see them as the precursor to the revolution. So, it makes sense to use that painting for TF and TWD right now, because what’s been happening the last season or 2 is the precursor to the final, big revolution.

When you got into talking about 2 revolutions, that makes tons of sense as well, and I totally agree.

When you talked about the white house and library of congress being burnt in 1812, about six things came to mind, lol.

When Eugene was at the Sanctuary (which I 100% believe foreshadows the final revolution, Beth, and what Eugene’s role will be in it) he played the 1812 Overture when he did the science experiment for Negan’s wives. (Including Amber, who looked like Beth and Tanya, who had a lot of Beth’s dialogue with Eugene). I’ve kind of low-key obsessed over that song and why they used it, but other than foreshadowing a final battle with Eugene as I’ve already said, it was hard to connect anything more specific.

The 1812 Overture was not actually written about the War of 1812. It was written in celebration of Napoleon’s retreat from Russia. Basically, he tried to invade Moscow early in 1812 but failed miserably and eventually had to retreat. Not so much because of being out-fought, but more because of weather, illness, lack of supplies for the army, etc.

Now, that’s not the same thing you mentioned in the British fighting Napoleon before turning their attention to the American colonists, but the link is still there. Napoleon/Russia>1812 Overture>Napolean/Britain>Britain/American Colonies. See what I mean? So, the idea of two wars or a war on two fronts really makes sense.

I’ve been trying to find out if the 1812 Overture has a d.c. al coda in it. I don’t think it does, but I’m having a hard time finding the sheet music online. You can find it, of course, but often it’s blurry or watermarked in such a way that it’s hard to read, and that’s because they want you to buy it to remove the watermark. I’ll keep looking.

But I do know it has a coda. Maybe not a d.c. al coda, but a coda of some kind. In fact, while I’m still not sure until I can clearly see the sheet music, from what I’ve read others saying, the final, super-loud, exuberant part of the song that’s often used in U.S. Independence Day celebrations IS the coda. And it represents Russia winning the war over Napoleon. Coincidence?

So, Napoleon fought many wars on many fronts. There’s that. But as you said, the British first fought Napoleon (perhaps that will be the Commonwealth) and then turned to the American colonists. And given what was said in 5x09 about a rebel group fighting against the “republic” using what amounts to guerilla tactics, that does line up with how the American colonists fought the British during the revolution. So clearly that’s the one that will involve Beth and TF (though of course they will probably be involved, at least to some extent, in the Commonwealth bit as well).

Also, also. You talked about the LIBRARY of congress being burned. I’m not sure how, but suddenly I feel sure all the books and librarian stuff must be connected to this. To the revolution theme. I still remember watching the beginning of 6x16 and thinking it was SO significant, but I had no idea why. It’s where we see Carl lock Enid in the closet to keep her safe, and she’s yelling at him things like, “what if you don’t come back?” And he tells her, “just survive somehow.”

Meanwhile, that scene is intercut with Negan’s guys chasing the librarian they end up hanging over the bridge with an X spray painted on his chest. And then he gets…burned?

I remember thinking that just FELT like a big war that was coming, but back then, I really didn’t know how to interpret it. Of course, AOW started soon after, but the librarian group wasn’t a big part of that. If we’re honest, they really were just random side characters, which was odd because that sequence FELT so important. So, I’m betting we ought to be connecting them to this as well.

The Native American Symbols

For the record, a couple of things I’ve been trying to look into and haven’t found much (mostly because I haven’t had much time to do so yet) include what role Native American tribes played in the American revolution. Some were loyal to the British, others to colonists. As I said, I need to do more research, but little tidbits like this one are interesting:

“Their biggest contribution was as spies going to Canada and returning with news of the English plans, and attacking English coastal shipping. The Indians played a leading role in preventing an English attack on Machias by sea from being successful. “

(AL’s voice coming out of the radio in 5x09: “At least 68 citizens of the Republic have been killed in four deadly attacks along the main coastal district. The group has continued their campaign of random violence, moving across the countryside unfettered, with the Republic’s military forces in disarray.” Just saying.)

The other thing I’ve looked into is Francis Marion’s (Swamp Fox’s) connection to Native Americans of the time. During the revolution itself, I’m not finding much. But we do know that he learned a lot of his battle prowess from fighting the Cherokee Indians as a young man.

What he learned there is what made him so effective against the British. So, I’m wondering if that will translate with Beth in that she’ll fight the CRM or perhaps even in battles with the Commonwealth early on and that will give her what she needs to triumph much later in bigger battles. Or maybe they’ll connect it even earlier back to early battles with TF and what Daryl taught her. The possibilities are endless. ;D

@wdway:

If you do a search, it's quite fascinating and well worth the time to do two searches. One on the burning of the White House and then the other one on Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans.

There are things that I just did not go into like the connection with Napoleon that we've seen hints of in the past couple of seasons and didn't know why. The Cherokee Rose, which has been a symbol for so long and I do not think it was their intention in the beginning but what most people do not understand is that the Cherokee Rose has a strong connection to Andrew Jackson.

Andrew Jackson had a singular focus on driving the Native Americans (mostly the Cherokee Nation) to the West. Lightbulb moment here, but maybe that might be same of the meaning of Indian symbolism.

Jackson had a major part in the Trail of Tears, which is basically the story that Daryl tells Carol after walker Sophia was discovered. Jackson was a brilliant military soldier, but he was not known as a compassionate person. His nickname was Old Hickory (a tree reference) because the hickory tree's wood is known for its hardness.

A few years back, tptb did a promotion showing nuts that had a hard outer shell. People didn't understand what that was, but I knew because it was a hickory nut. A very hard outer shell and then inside is the actual nut. Hickory wood was the favored source for making baseball bats back in the day because they would not easily break.

The other interesting fact about Andrew Jackson was his love for his wife, Rachel. It was a legendary love. He might have been an asshole to the entire world, but Rachel was the love of his life. When she died, he did not simply bury her. He entombed her in her own little Mausoleum at his home, The Hermitage, just outside of Nashville.

Jackson fought both in the Revolutionary War and the 1812 war, in the Battle of New Orleans. He apparently had been imprisoned by the British for a time during the Revolutionary War, which fired his hatred for them.

Am I the only one thinking about the connections between him and Negan? I'm thinking of the two wars, the Commonwealth and the war against the CRM. I want to think that the Commonwealth conflict is represented by the War of 1812. The larger, more overall important conflict with a CRM will be the American Revolutionary War, with Rick replacing Washington as the leader.

I was freaking out when you mentioned the Overture of 1812. I don't care if it was written for the war led by Napoleon with Russia. If anything, that makes it even as stronger clue that we're on the right track because of the Russian satellite and Russian dictionary that little Judith got from (wait for it) the library, for Eugene.

One other thing, @twdmusicboxmystery. I thought about this earlier today when I was reading about the 1812 Overture, but I wanted to do a check before I mentioned it to you. 

Two very famous pieces of music came out of the 1812 wars. The 1812 Overture about Napoleon and Russia, and The Star-Spangled Banner, our U.S. national anthem written by Francis Scott Key about The Battle of Fort Henry. Both Fort Henry and The Battle of New Orleans were fought in 1814 but were known as being part of the War of 1812.

Can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Definitely very interesting! Thanks for all this research @wdway! 

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethy

[thedetectivessay]

Highlights from the Fan Meeting

(took longer than planned. sorry..)

So, there were definitely A LOT of people watching during the event. At one point, it reached 26k viewers - but it could have been higher than that. They were also broadcasting through VLive so there were more. 

There was an earlier interview thing that was reposted later on on Instagram. I’m not sure if that was something exclusive to SK viewers or if it really was just a private interview (saw a news outlet’s watermark somewhere; Yonhap News’, I think). 

Either way, in that interview, Cho PD participated. He wasn’t there for the international fan meet, though.

Anyway, here are the highlights in a (mostly) chronological order:

• During the opening, the cast were introduced. Jaesuk or the MC did mention straight off the bat that this will be the final season. 

• Sejeong roasted Kwangsoo because of his hair 😂 It’s currently very long because he and Sehun had been filming for Pirates 2; Sehun’s hair was long-ish as well. But yeah - he got the most teasing because his hair is as long as Sejeong’s now lol

•  Okay, I gotta mention this: Jongmin was DRESSED TO THE T. He looked so nice, but it was so cute! He was just so determined to impress the international fans present. It just showed how much he cared about us and about how we felt about him. 

So yes: if you haven’t yet, give Jongmin some love. 

He was also asked at one point who he felt the closest to among the cast members, and y’all - he hesitated 😭😭 It was obvious he wanted to say he felt the closest to Sejeong, but he got scared because he thought the fans who were there might get mad at him 😭

But Sejeong, being the sweetheart that she is, kept encouraging him to pick her anyway by throwing hearts at him 🥰

Y’all, what are we gonna do once this show is over? This brOTP is the best when it came to roasting people! And they act like fr siblings 😭😭

• On the same question, after Jongmin did pick Sejeong, Kwangsoo made a remark, saying that he thought Jongmin was going to choose him. He looked hurt 😂

Side note: are we finally getting more Jongmin and Kwangsoo scenes this season?? 😃

• Not that long after, they played a game. Three of the cast members were chosen prior to the meet to draw a picture summarizing an episode. The rest had to guess where it was from. 

Kwangsoo was the first to go, and his clue - drawn nicely - pointed to S1EP5, The Last Vampire. Jaesuk was the first one to solve it, mentioning that it was the episode Park Hae-jin was in.

Seunggi was next, and it took the cast a while to figure out which episode it is. Can’t remember who solved it or if Seunggi just gave them the answer, but it was depicting one of the final scenes in S2EP10, The Flower of Death. It was that part where they were in Flower Killer’s hideout, when he finally told them who he really was while standing over Minjae. 

Kwangsoo afterwards said he was surprised by how terrible(?) Seunggi’s drawing skills were. Seunggi just laughed. 

Sejeong was next. She drew the detective team (beautifully, btw), and underneath the picture were the words versus + seven silhouettes with question marks on their faces. 

Kwangsoo praised Sejeong for her great drawing skills, and the cast agreed. 

The cast eventually figured out which episode, but they were hesitant to really speak of it.

It was then revealed that it’s an episode/case where the detective team faces off with a copycat team. We will see this and find out who the copycat seven are in S3. 

• Afterwards, they did this thing where a roulette chooses one of the members, the MC reads the messages written to them by fellow cast members, and they guess who they think it’s from. 

I’ll probably make another post later for this if you guys want since I can’t remember everything that was said, but basically...

> Jaesuk received messages from Sehun and Seunggi. Can’t remember what Seunggi said, but Sehun pretty much just thanked Jaesuk for teaching him 10% of what he needed to know about variety (he said the other 90% he learned himself lol) 

> Seunggi received messages from Sehun and Minyoung.

> Kwangsoo received messages from Jaesuk and Sejeong. Jaesuk said in his message that he highly valued him and Jongmin - and he asked them to stay with him forever (😭)

Meanwhile, Sejeong said that she’s thankful and sorry to Kwangsoo. When asked what she was sorry about, she said it was because she knew there were moments when it needed to be funny, and Kwangsoo would make a fool of himself to make that happen. 

(Side note: she interacted a lot with Kwangsoo this fan meet, too, so I have hope that I will also get the Kwangsoo and Sejeong brOTP scenes I’ve been asking for 🙌🏼)

> Minyoung received messages from Jaesuk and Jongmin.

> Jongmin received messages from Kwangsoo and Sejeong (my other brOT3 😭❤️)

> Sehun received messages from Jongmin and Minyoung. Jongmin said in his message that he was sorry to Sehun because he didn’t (couldn’t?) take care of him better. 

> Sejeong received messages from Jaesuk and Minyoung. Minyoung asked somewhere in her message for them to have a drink together some time, while Jaesuk asked Sejeong if she could help Kwangsoo land a role in her current drama 😂

Kwangsoo then revealed that Jaesuk always does that: whenever he meets with his friends and other celebrities, he always asks them to cast Kwangsoo in their drama or movie. The cast laughed. 

Seunggi then mentioned afterwards that he’s currently working on a new drama or movie (not sure which one), and he offered Kwangsoo the role of a mouse lol

• That was then followed by the Thank You messages from the fans. Some of you may be aware of this, but about a week and a half ago, on IG, the Busted Netflix official account asked fans to submit a 10 second video of themselves saying “Thank you, Team Busted!” in their native language. 

It was so cute, you guys! It just showed how much the cast and crew were loved by many all over the world. 

Although: there was one fan from Sweden or Norway who had a whole PROJECT D MARK HANGING ON HIS WALL. THE SAME ONE HANGING OUTSIDE THE MAZE IN C’S LAIR IN THE SERIES PREMIERE.

Where did he get that?? I want one, I’m so jealous!! ☹️

•  The fan meeting closed with messages from the cast. Most of them seemed so tired at this point, but Jaesuk proved to be the best leader the cast/team could ask for even in the end. 

I mentioned this on the first update, but he said he felt sad that the series was coming to an end especially since the cast had such great chemistry. It was heartwarming to hear because it personally gave me a sense of closure. 

To hear a cast member address the feelings a number of us feel is comforting, you know?

• The fan meet ended with bouquets of flowers (non-threatening kind 😏😉) and gift bags for the cast! They were all so pleasantly surprised, and it was so cute. 

Netflix seemed to be aware that the awards season just finished in SK, so they gave each of the members their own trophies bearing personalized awards! It was a weighty trophy, too; the cast commented on it.

I don’t know what the other members received, but Sejeong, I think, got the Bright Future Award. 

Myuk PD later posted on his IG pictures of this big gift bag that Netflix apparently gave him and the other PDs. One of the gifts they received contained a pair of wine glasses with an electric bottle opener in the middle. It was so classy and nice.

Bro - no one can say that Netflix didn’t love the detective team and the creators of the show. They threw all kind of love and attention on them, and they didn’t skimp on the gifts and ads either. 

There are other points from that earlier interview I was talking about, but I’ll put that on a separate post if you’re interested :) 

Detective Fam! There’s literally only two days before the final season drops! For those of you who live on the Eastern hemisphere, it’s just one day and some change! 

Season 3!! Are you guys excited??!

#update #Busted Netflix fan meet #Yoo Jae Suk #Kim Jong Min #Lee Kwang Soo #Lee Seung Gi #Park Min Young #Oh Sehun #Kim Sejeong #Busted Netflix

[thgfanficinspo]

Fear of the Water - Ch 18

Finnick deals with the fallout from Annie’s breakdown (some sexy Capitol Finnick) (Henry Cavill was my fancast for Finnick before the movie came out)

My AO3 - Chapter 1 - Jonsa - Coryo - Discovery of Witches

(ANNIE)

When I wake up, I’m in a white tube. It’s small so small and I’m strapped down – arms, legs, body, even head. There’s a whirring, buzzing sound coming from within the walls. Then there are voices.

“Aw, shit, she’s awake.”

“Should we put her back down?”

I struggle against my bonds. Are they going to kill me? Why am I here? What are they doing to me?

“Yeah, she’s gonna fuss.”

There are footsteps now – coming toward me. I try to tear my arms out of their bonds but nothing happens. I scream. The voices yell to one another and I scream and I scream and I scream. I don’t want this. Finnick and Mags said it was over now and I was safe and I don’t think they’d lie to me but maybe they did or maybe they never said it at all I don’t want to die.

There’s a sharp pain in my right thigh. Then it goes dark.

(FINNICK)

We’re supposed to go back to that damn waiting room with the grey walls and floor-length windows and fake orchid.

I skulk around in the hallway after the others have gone inside, hoping to catch a moment alone with the female doctor who flirted with me. She comes out through a doorway which she locks behind her. She’s too distracted by the papers in her hand to notice me. I clear my throat and she looks up.

“Mr. Odair. Shouldn’t you be in the waiting room?”

“It’s a bit stuffy in their for my taste,” I say. “Especially after all that drama.” I straighten up and close the space between us.

“Yes, that was really something,” she agrees. Her eyes rake my body up and down. She has to turn away.

“Have you ever seen anything like that before?”

“I haven’t personally.”

“No?” I’m not nearly as smooth as I usually am. I’m too anxious to be charming. “Annie’s something special then.” I step up behind her and move her hair away from the side of her neck. “Like you.” I press my lips to the side of her neck and she nearly collapses. I keep my arms tight around her waist and pull her against me.

She gasps my name.

“Will you tell me something?”

“What?” she asks breathlessly.

I flick the tip of my tongue over the pulse-point of her throat. “What are you planning to do with Annie Cresta?”

“Anthea!” We both look up. Her male colleague is standing at the other end of the hallway. He’s a good ten years younger than she is, but he has an air of superiority about him. And he looks pissed.

The woman – Anthea, I guess – goes ramrod straight and tosses off my arms. “It’s not –”

“We need to talk,” he says simply, his glaring eyes locked on mine. Anthea hustles down the hall and through the door the male doctor came through. He and I maintain eye contact as long as possible, until the door shuts behind him.

I growl under my breath. “Fuck.”

I’ve definitely made things worse. If that other damn doctor hadn’t come in . . .

Mags is pacing around the room with one of her hands over her mouth when I come in. Proteus stands a few feet away from me, apparently deep in thought. Eefa has made a surprise visit, which she clearly regrets. No sign of Broadsea, but that’s no surprise. He’s probably passed out in his own puke by now. I normally wouldn’t care but I feel that since Eefa made it here, he should’ve at least tried.

Proteus raises an eyebrow at me, silently asking what I found out. I shake my head.

The same two doctors as before come out to speak to us after about twenty minutes of waiting. They’re much more serious. “She did suffer trauma to the head while in the Arena,” the man says.

“But you don’t think that’s what’s causing her issues,” Proteus says.

Anthea nods. Gone is the quivering woman in the hall, replaced with someone cold and angry. She’s going out of her way to not look at me. “The tasks we had her do when she first woke up didn’t indicate any neurological or physiological issues. We did scans, too, after her tantrum at the recap, and they didn’t show anything out of the ordinary.”

“Tantrum?” I repeat.

“Then what’s wrong?” Proteus asks over me.

“We believe it’s mental illness,” the male doctor says.

None of us know what that means. We don’t have mental illness in the districts, at least not the words to describe it, but the Capitol has words for everything. They have enough leisure time to think about things like that, to come up with ailments to explain their every mood.

Our faces must betray our inability to understand because they take a different route.

The female doctor is the one to speak. “We are going to have Annie Cresta declared mentally insane.”

“What?” I spit.

Proteus speaks over me again. “Isn’t that a bit premature? She hasn’t been out of the arena for long.”

“We believe a swift announcement is in her best interest at this time,” the male doctor says.

“Her closing interview with Caesar Flickerman has been canceled,” the female says, totally ignoring our reactions. She may have succumb to my charms and looks before, but now she seems immune. “President Snow will make the announcement during that time slot instead.”

I don’t know what to say.

“What would you like us to do in the meantime?” Proteus asks after a moment, voice totally neutral. The crease between his eyebrows is the only sign that he’s troubled by all of this. The only sign.

I could kill him.

“She’s currently under anesthesia, but I recommend you board the train back to your district soon,” the woman continues. “Before anyone gets wind of this.”

“Why?” Eefa asks, brows creased.

“What do you mean, Why?” I ask.

“Why are you declaring her insane? What exactly is wrong with her?”

“Why do you think?” I snap. The first thing I hear her say in a week and she asks something stupid like that?

“I’d like to hear the diagnosis,” Eefa says.

The woman doctor sighs and looks down at her clip board. She knows we won’t understand any of it. “She shows symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention def –”

Proteus holds up his hand. “That’s enough.” He has no idea what any of it means, either. “Eefa?” he asks, turning to her. She nods, satisfied with what she’s heard. Maybe she was making sure they covered their bases; we generally accept that mad people are mad, but you need real proof to declare a victor mentally insane before the whole country.

“There is one piece of permanent physical damage I ought to mention,” the female doctor says. “Due to the stab wound in her abdomen, she won’t be able to conceive or carry children. There’s too much tissue damage.” No one really cares about that right now. What we care about – what I care about – is getting Annie out of here without adding to the damage that’s already been done. “I thought one of you ought to tell her once you’re back in your district and she’s had a chance to calm down.”

“I think you should get ready to leave,” the male doctor says. “She’ll be up in –” he checks his wristwatch and bobbles his head as he does the math in his head “– ninety minutes, give or take.”

“Yes,” Mags says distractedly. “Yes, of course.” She blinks several times.  “I’ll start preparing. And have Brae send for the train. Proteus, please get Annie’s stylist so we can get her ready to go.” The others go – Eefa practically sprints out – and I want to move, too, but my muscles won’t let me. Mags’s hand finds my shoulder. “She’s alive, Finnick. That’s what matters.”

I nod again because I can’t think of anything to say.

“Go. Clean up. Clear your head. I’ll be along in a few minutes. I just want to check in on her.”

When I get upstairs to our rooms, Greer rushes towards me and starts making a lot of gestures. I’m not sure what she’s asking until she runs her hand down her hair in a smooth, wavy motion. Like the way Annie’s hair falls.

“Annie?” I guess.

She nods.

I’m too tired to explain it all. “She’ll be all right.”

I start undressing before I make it all the way into my room, discarding my clothes as I go. Somes picks them up as he follows behind me.

I blast the water in the shower to its highest setting and make the temperature as cold as I can bear. I only take hot showers in the Capitol when I’ve just seen a patron. Different temperatures for different problems. It helps me compartmentalize. Keep my head straight.

I’m good at that. Compartmentalizing, keeping my mind focused on the task at hand. I always have been. A lot of victors simply can’t do that – it’s why they turn to drink or drugs. But I haven’t. And I won’t.

I don’t notice the slip of paper folded on my pillow until I start dressing. The paper is off-white and thick – the sort of expensive, heavy stuff they only use in the Capitol. I open it up, and the custom watermark at the top of the page informs me that this is from C.X.S.

President Snow has left me a handwritten note of congratulations.

The others have all gotten them, too.

Mags says he always does for the victors of the winning district. Etiquette, she says, is the most important thing to Coriolanus. Not for the first time, I wonder how well Mags knew him when they were young.

Broadsea whips a lighter out of his pocket and sets the note on fire before dropping it in an empty metal bin. He hasn’t even opened it. Eefa drops her own note into the bin; Mags gives Broadsea her letter to burn, too. I don’t know if she’s read it. Proteus tucks his away in his jacket pocket and tells me to do the same if I want to be smart. I don’t have a reason to save it; I’ve already memorized every word. But I decide to keep it anyway. In case I ever need a reminder.

Mr. Odair,

Congratulations on your very first victor. This is an exciting time for your fellow victors and all of District 4. It is an especially important time for you, as this is your first time mentoring a victor.

Of course he adds a little statement of regret at the end of my note containing a veiled threat:

I hope that you will not be bogged down by the weight of responsibility. It would be unfair for anyone to expect a young man such as  you to take on the burden of Miss Cresta’s care.

It seems innocuous enough, but it’s another little reminder to stand back and just let things unfold. Men like Finnick Odair don’t get involved with that sort of thing, and girls like Annie Cresta never really go home.

My best regards to you and your new victor,

President Coriolanus X. Snow

#finnick odair #finnick x annie #finnick imagine #Annie Cresta #odesta #The Hunger Games #Hunger Games #catching fire #mockingjay #ballad of Songbirds and Snakes #bosas #henry cavill #fancast #fluff #story #fic #Prequel #ao3 #ao3fic #angst #District 12 #District 13 #district 4 #the capitol #katniss everdeen #Peeta Mellark #haymitch abernathy #Coriolanus Snow #Panem #Suzanne Collins

[hwallout]

our little secret (iii) - csy

summary: as a CEO of one of the country’s most powerful companies, you had your secrets to success. no one ever gained power without ruthless, filthy and unfair play, it’s all okay if no one knows right? well, what happens when your little secrets fall into the hands of someone you can’t get rid of that easily?

words: 7,6k

genre: angst, drama, future smut

warnings: language

early an: feedback really appreciated! please let me know what you think of this! THERE IS A READ MORE BUTTON

[part one]

 [part two]

[part four]

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

How could speculations like that arise so fast? How could someone write such a scandalous article without knowing the truth? Shouldn’t they know it’s harmful to both sides, including their own agencies?

There were so many questions that you weren’t sure anyone had the time nor bothered enough to answer. What you were sure about though, was that money can and will once again shut all of this down.

Without any more thought and effort to check the picture sources, you turned to Eunha in a panicked manner. The female still had her head hanging low, hands nervously shuffling and pinching the material of a tight black skirt. You frowned, dissatisfied with seeing the assistant like this. Eunha had a name, high position, and pride to withhold, so it wasn’t exactly clear as to why she was so affected by a pitiful heir.

“Eunha, make sure all of-” Your voice was loud and clear, with no hints of doubt or hesitance. Seungyoun still stood towering over your sitting form, but his broad frame didn’t succeed to daunt this time. Maybe it was because you’ve been so shocked by the news or determined to get rid of them, that the existence of the other didn’t quite matter at given moment.

Although, you somehow forgot something just then. Seungyoun was Mr.Cho’s descendant. He learned how to be a step ahead of the opponent.

“Eunha?” Seungyoun’s authoritative voice echoed through the room. It managed to overpower yours and the male smirked upon realizing that. With a scoff you leaned back slightly, watching the male avert his gaze on the assistant. Eunha immediately turned to face the heir, flinching slightly after hearing her name called in such a tone. Seungyoun continued.

“Out. Leave” He pointed towards the door and you weren’t quick enough to stand up and stop the female from leaving. It was as if Eunha waited for that exact command, already up and storming out of your office. The tablet fell out of her shaking hands, but she didn’t dare turn around to pick it up and just left it laying in place. The door closed with a loud thud.

“That’s not a way to talk to my employees!” Finally alone, you suddenly yelled at Seungyoun. You stood up and mirrored his pose, arms straight and palms outstretched on the expensive desk. There were evident anger and annoyance on your face, but the other seemed not to care. No, Seungyoun turned around, his hooded eyes locking with yours, eliciting a burning fire.

Without a word, the heir held your gaze intently and walked around the desk, coming over to where you were standing. He leaned against the strong object, crossing his legs. Seungyoun’s composed and calculated demeanor once again reeked of dominance and situational control. You felt pressured to listen to what he had to say next.  

“You’re not shutting any of those down, darling” Seungyoun said, never once looking away from the target. His breath was calm, chest rising and falling in an even rhythm. Same couldn’t be said for the female, irregular heartbeat causing shorter and inconsistent breaths. If human ears could produce smoke, yours probably would.

“We’re going to do this properly” As if Seungyoun expected the upcoming burst, his hands silently intertwined with each other, resting on his thighs. With head slightly cocked to the side, the male took a deep breath as you moved.

“Oh, we are” You insisted, walking just two steps so your feet were almost touching his. The tension was thick but with a reason. It was unusual; having Seungyoun so calm next to a fuming figure, his cool and composed self, next to a hot and bothered female. “We’re going to do this the best possible way”

“But first off, let me repeat myself. That was not the way to talk to my employee. My assistant at that. As much as I’m informed, she could be more qualified than you” You began. At that point, it was possible to feel burns of the poisonous words. Seungyoun’s lips twitched something that almost resembled a frown before they were back to their previous position.

“I have never once been involved in a scandal of any kind, let alone one that concerns my love life. I’d like it if stayed that way, or at least if I had your name wiped off my record” Continuing, you watched Seungyoun’s cool demeanor slowly break down, especially through the way his jaw clenched.

“This” You turned around and finally picked the little device up, scrolling down where the three pictures were displayed. Tapping a nail on the screen as if to gain his attention, the speech resumed. “This right here...wait”  

Your eye managed to catch onto the little watermark in the bottom left corner. With white and navy-blue stylized letters, it showcased the initials of StarLight. You looked at Seungyoun in pure disbelief.

“I should’ve known! How fucking dare you!” Although wanting to throw the phone away to the other side of the office, you controlled the overwhelming wave of emotions. Putting it down on the desk slowly, you breathed steadily, eyes closing for a few seconds. It was too much to take at once, all while having too little time to think.

StarLight, one of the main press photo agencies of the country. In fact, StarLight was the 2nd on the list and estimated to move to the 1st spot in the next couple of months. It hired only the best of people, those flexible enough and even able to sneak into dangerous situations to get enough content for the press/news articles. It wasn’t surprising that they paid extremely well, considering the circumstances they put their employees in.  

StarLight, also one of the most powerful agencies that Cho enterprise managed to acquire a year ago.

“Listen” Seungyoun interrupted the silence, along with your calm state of mind. Your eyes opened and there was another, new fire burning inside. You felt defeated but still had the awakening willpower to continue fighting.

“What’s there to listen to? You just keep wanting to ruin me, don’t you? Then go on. Go show everyone what a good boy you are and-”

In the middle of your blabbering, Seungyoun distanced himself from the desk and in one swift motion pulled you in for a kiss. One of his hands latched onto your waist, while the other moved to the back of your head. Holding on lightly, he didn't put on much pressure. Just like before, the male was allowing freedom and control of movement. Seungyoun smirked when he felt you kissing back.  

The feeling of his lips on yours was intoxicating, the touch of his hands burning even through thick pieces of cloth. Seungyoun’s smell of expensive Gucci perfume filled the small bubble of air around you, probably sticking to the material of your blazer too. You wouldn’t mind, but never admit wanting to smell like the heir.

Just when your hands were starting to move up, Seungyoun took a step back, effectively breaking the kiss. He turned around and strolled towards the leather couch not so far away. That way, the other spared you from witnessing the confident and cocky smirk on his lips.  

With thoughts all over the place, the sensation from before was still present. A hand instinctively came up to brush at the soft skin of your lips, trying to cool away the burning patches. Silence.

“If I knew that’s all it takes to shut you up, I would’ve done it sooner” Seungyoun’s tone was monotone, without any specific emotion lingering on his words. He sat down on the couch, legs immediately crossing and hands neatly placed on his lap.  

“Now be a good girl and listen, okay?” His commands, although said without much authority, set something off in your head. Nodding obediently and approaching to sit across from him, you watched the heir with utmost attention.  

“This isn’t a joke. In fact, it’s an important chance I’ve made for you to take. I’m a calculated and precise man. Although it’s hard to admit, I’m sure you’re aware of that” Seungyoun started, slowly introducing the whole topic in a way that many businessmen did. He attempted to make the whole ordeal sound trustful, while also trying to label it as a one-of-a-kind situation.  

“Cho enterprise and INVICTA have their shared, as well as own partners. By those, I mean experienced, powerful and well-known agencies that both establishments seek for. I’m sure that your company, as well as mine, strives towards increasing the number of associates day by day. Am I right?”

Seungyoun spoke carefully and slowly, aware of the fact that your mind might still be a little cloudy. Receiving a nod, he continued talking.

“A lot of eyes are following our steps meticulously, watching over the development of our project. Once it’s done and our companies prove their power for the nth time, we will be swarmed. I’m speaking hundreds of possible partners knocking on our doors”

“They’re always trying to find a way to contact and work with one of us, most are scared to be caught in a crossfire. Imagine if that crossfire didn’t exist, just imagine what we could do together”

The male shifted and leaned in, elbows now resting on top of his knees. With such posture, Seungyoun seemed much more serious. His breathing quickened and words seemed much lighter.

“Think about how many agencies we could have a chance to work with through this. You’d get to meet new people through the somewhat open meetings Cho enterprise organizes, I’d take you there, and you could bring me to the parties INVICTA throws. That way we show them that both of us are open for cooperation at any time”

Throughout the whole speech, you nodded along, agreeing with everything said. Alas, there was always that slightest bit of hesitance in your being that you weren’t able to get rid of. And maybe you really shouldn’t. The whole deal was too sudden, yet it seemed that the heir was expecting an immediate answer. Was there even an option to think about it? Or to deny? Acting impulsively was never the right thing. You needed time.

“Now, of course, there’s the gossip media and people wanting to constantly invade privacy. They’ll only help make this whole thing more believable” That only rang another alarm in your head, one more point that had to be argumented to the other.

“That means we have to show in public together...”

“Not for long. Let’s make a deal. We’ll go out occasionally, to Halo Garden or Angel Den, we own those don’t we? We’ll choose a secluded corner and from there you’ll be able to focus on your work, I won’t bother you. I can even leave to another table, they won’t see” Seungyoun’s voice sounded different at the last part. Almost as if having to say that somehow affected him. You thought it wasn’t a big deal – one could always use some work time in a relaxing environment with indie music and a caramel latte.

“You could also visit my home” The heir blurted out, once again capturing full attention. Gulping, you looked at the other hesitantly, not sure how to react. Seungyoun’s lips pulled into a smile.

“Don’t think too much of it, you’ll only make it awkward for yourself”  

Silence. You relaxed into the leather seat and threw your head back. With eyes locked on the white ceiling, you sighed out loud. The other wasn’t saying anything, probably because there wasn’t anything more to say. He patiently waited for an answer.

The door of the office opened but shut only a second later. Eunha’s heels sounded over the tiles outside.

“I need time to think”

“No”

“Then I can only refuse your offer” Tired eyes met with another expectant pair. It was only the beginning of a workday, yet you felt exhausted way over the limit. It was impossible how one person can drain so much energy from someone.

“That’s not going to happen” Seungyoun replied, annoyance bidding its hello through an undertone. It appeared that the male was easily worked up, which of course, you’ve been proven many times in the past.

“I planned this whole thing out perfectly? Why do you need to think about it?” He questioned. You stood up, cracking your fingers one by one while walking around the broad office. When right in front of the window, you overlooked the whole territory, allowing the beautiful view of a waking city to relax you. Seungyoun’s questions finally processed properly and for whatever reason, they happened to hit a certain spot.

“Because unlike you, I run my own company. I’m the CEO. I’m the head that has to think about the consequences. There’s no one behind me, or let alone above me. Someone who can pat me on the head and say ‘Don’t worry darling, daddy will take care of it’”  

You moved to face him, but your legs didn’t take a step away from the previous position.

“Seungyoun, everything needs time to be thought about. Many ideas were believed to be great before they were put into action. World war one is a great example. I’m sure your education is high enough for you to understand that”

Seungyoun laughed with a pitiful face. From the moment he entered, maybe even from the day he hired a reporter to follow your interactions, Seungyoun knew how his plan would end. Just as mentioned, the male was a step ahead, purely because he was the one controlling the game. Sometimes, you’d be allowed the benefit of doubt, but all this time, Seungyoun was the one moving the pawns.  

That thought was always forced in the back of your mind.  

“It’s silly of you to think I came here to be rejected, sweetheart” Seungyoun stood up and approached you in three quick strides. With low voice, almost a whisper, his finger once again came up to hold your chin. Seungyoun hadn’t moved at all afterward, just watched your cheeks turn a bright shade of red. It was exceedingly hard for both to stay calm and composed, not lean in and feel the special sensation just once more.  

The two faces started moving towards each other at an extremely slow pace. Then, as if hit by electricity, when only a breath away, Seungyoun stepped back, sighing and running a hand through his back hair. The movement effectively ruined his hairstyle, a few strands falling over the man’s forehead and making him just a tad bit more attractive.

Seungyoun took hold of a random paper from your desk, not caring that it just so happened to be an important list of your monthly profit, and scribbled something on it with a pen.  

“I thought we’d come to an agreement easily, guess I was wrong” He tsked, already backing away from the desk and heading towards the exit. “Expect my call, or better, call me yourself. Don’t make me turn the media’s focus on Kang Byungho again”  

Seungyoun didn’t leave any time for replies, for he was already out of the office, slamming the door behind with a wicked grin on his face. You approached the desk, throwing a peek at the scribbled set of numbers, immediately labeling them as a phone number.  

Sitting down on the comfortable chair, you leaned forward, elbows resting on the desk and fingers gently massaging aching temples. With closed eyes and furrowed eyebrows, you tried to think about everything that led to this point in time. Everything that you managed to fuck up to end up being controlled by a pathetic heir.

This was actually the first time you’ve been threatened. Seungyoun wasn’t dumb, for he knew how to play and which information to use against you. If things weren’t going as planned, Seungyoun would unleash a piece by piece, never the whole story. He would want to see you break down slowly, to watch the country’s most powerful woman on her knees, trying to put a shattered glass back together. At least, that how you envisioned it.

Exactly why the male mentioned Kang Byungho was because he knew how much hassle you had taking care of the second theft. How much money went into hitmen and associates that were of high positions in courts, as well as police. Seungyoun saw it all, from the hidden receipts of money transferred between the source and the recipient, to the documents of illegally manipulated trials saved for possible blackmail.  

As much as everyone in the industry, he was aware of Byungho’s importance as the main assistant of RELAY enterprise. The company had great potential and was doing astonishing work, slowly but surely climbing the chart. They were expected to someday reach first place – well, at least until that happened.  

Byungho’s unexpected and clean murder that was thrown under the mat, managed to horribly disturb Lee Yuna – RELAY's CEO and also Kang Byungho’s long term best friend. The woman stepped down in a matter of two days, reasoning it by feeling unsafe and not mentally stable enough to continue her job.  

It was morally correct to feel bad for her and the enterprise that crumbled down, but somehow you just didn’t care. As long as your own empire was safe.

Seungyoun knew that it only took two hours for you to locate the man, organize and execute his murder, call all the associates with authority and have the case closed before it was even opened. Still, that information was just one tiny piece of everything you held secure in the hidden database.

That’s how much potential the young man had. That’s how much his father owed him. Seungyoun would prove that all the degrading words thrown his way were never genuine. Seungyoun had raw power even over the most powerful.  

Although there really wasn’t any reason, except for maybe extreme pity, the young man was up for negotiations.

And that’s exactly why there was no other choice than to save the numbers on the paper as a new contact.

As the day passed by, bits and pieces of free time allowed the mind to think about everything. At least, that’s what you thought.

The probability of Seungyoun expecting a call the moment he left your office was high, although that never happened. He probably envisioned you following his orders like a ‘good little girl’, but was unfortunately left disappointed. The heir didn’t insist though. There was no more pressure added to the already existing one, for he was well aware that you’d eventually follow his commands. If because of nothing else, then out of pure fear.

Somewhere around an hour before the work was completely done, you stood up and paced around the office, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable ache in your feet. The varnished heels were becoming a problem and you looked down, not quite understanding why they were still on.  

Taking one, then the other off, you enjoyed walking barefoot on the cold floor. Pleasant change in temperature had you skipping around, seeking for new colder patches of the ground. Still, that wasn’t what intoxicated one’s mind the most, rather the still lingering scent of a Gucci perfume. Although it had been hours since the male left, Seungyoun still managed to overtake your senses and occupy your mind.

Looking out of the window seemed to only arise more worry. Seemingly under your feet, down on the street, formed a crowd of about fifty people. There were three black SUVs and loads of rushed humans chasing after the ones coming out of your company. Squinting, you managed to catch onto men carrying heavy cameras.  

A huge gulp echoed throughout the room.

After hurriedly walking over to the desk, you picked the little phone up and dialed the recently saved number. It only rung twice before the person on the other side answered.

“Well hello th-”  

“Seungyoun there are reporters outside and I don’t know how to engage them” You spat out quick, and in fear that the male hadn’t caught onto a single word, you were about to repeat. The heir suddenly spoke up.  

“Okay, calm down. I can come pick you up” He seemed to have understood everything, which made you sigh in relief. There was shuffling on the other side, a chair squeaking and fingers working on a keyboard in an even rhythm. It took just a moment too long to process his words.

“Seungyoun I have my own car. I just don’t know what to say to them while I’m making my way towards it. They’ll fucking swarm me like wasps”  

“Doesn’t INVICTA have an underground parking lot?” The male continued, now with decent amounts of surprise and confusion in his tone. It was true, this building, like many others in the area, had an underground parking lot serving its employees only. It was free, which the workers greatly appreciated, and it meant that public parking wouldn't be occupied all the time. Everyone used it, well, everyone except for you. Money wasn’t a problem and you didn’t want to lose time getting out of the underground, therefore you usually parked outside.

“I’m glad you know the blueprint of my company better than I do. I don’t park my car there, kind of disappointed you didn’t notice” Although it probably wasn’t the greatest time for it, you joked. Still, the man on the other side laughed, obviously entertained by the little remark.  

“Oh, so the white Porsche was yours...” Seungyoun trailed off, hands once again back to working on the keyboard. He let the silence drag on for a few moments; unintentionally or not, you wouldn’t be sure. Tapping on the hard keys stopped; he resumed speaking. “Just rush through them. Get the security to follow you out and just don’t say anything. They’ll get their answers soon enough”  

With a brief okay and goodbye, the call ended. Numerous papers on the desk suddenly became too much work and you sighed, turning around in the chair and looking out at the clear sky. A huge advantage of this office was that one of the walls was just pure glass. At every moment of the day, it offered a beautiful overlook one could really get lost in.  

There was half an hour more to spend and your mind once again wandered off towards a certain tall and broad, black-haired man.

The next day, Eunha seemed reserved and shy, only talking when being spoken to or ordered around. She was hesitant with staying around for a longer period of time and even excused herself a couple of times for unknown reasons. Her behavior was completely different than before and it wasn’t a hard thing to notice. You expected the assistant to speak up alone, but when that didn’t happen, you decided to take the matter in your own hands.

“Eunha sit down” The voice you used wasn’t the one usually used on the smaller. The female stood up to leave for the nth time that day without saying anything and you had to do something. Upon hearing the command, Eunha stayed seated, hands immediately intertwining and gaze falling onto her lap.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, and the sudden change to a much more adoring tone seemed to surprise the other. She looked up to find you leaning forwards, soft gaze not meaning to intimidate.  

Eunha has always been one of your most appreciated and hardworking employees, someone who you had deep respect and huge amounts of love for. Throughout these few years, she grew to be a close friend before everything else. Therefore, seeing her face full of discomfort deeply worried you.  

The assistant took her time gathering every single thought before saying anything. She looked around the office, at all the decorations, the huge TV no one ever used, then papers on the table. Everywhere but the eyes of her boss.

“Eunha is it about yesterday?” You questioned again and that’s when she looked at you and nodded. Eunha sighed out loud as if a huge weight was taken off her chest, and the words were able to finally freely flow.

“I feel as if I’ve let you down. I should’ve known about the visit, and I should’ve warned you, I shouldn’t have been quiet about the news and I shouldn’t have been so easily controlled by your respective boyfriend an-”

Through the sudden clench of her jaw, it appeared as if the smaller was about to cry. It wasn’t often that the female became so self-critical and it had you jumping up and crouching right in front of her.

“Eunha! You didn’t disappoint me! Nothing is your fault. Really, everything is okay, none of us could’ve predicted any of this. It was all unexpected so please don’t blame yourself, you’ll never be able to disappoint me, okay?” You reassured the other, hands coming up to take hers. They were clammy and you only frowned at that. All of this really affected her. To lighten up the atmosphere, you laughed before continuing.

“And he isn’t my boyfriend”  

Eunha looked shocked after hearing that. Her eyes reached the size of avocado seeds, while her rosy lips were left parted. The sight amused you quite a bit.

“But the visit, the news-”

“It’s all fake. Media and business play. Clout. Call it however you want” Although given a clear and simple clarification, the assistant still seemed taken aback. She blinked a couple of times, leaning back into the chair and furrowing her brows. You stood up and returned back to your own seat, expecting Eunha to ask for a better explanation. Of course, that happened not even three seconds later.

“How did that come to be?”

So instead of returning to work that was left to pile up yesterday, you leaned back and started the telltale from the exact beginning. The assistant listened with utmost attention, making sure to suck in every piece of information, every little detail you offered, growing more dumbfounded as seconds passed. Minutes fled by fast when such an interesting story was being shared and soon enough it was time to leave. Still, the other stayed seated until the very last word left your lips, apparently not caring about the time.  

You appreciated that, it felt nice being able to talk about the whole situation with someone who wasn’t labeled a fake boyfriend. Then, even if you wanted to talk with him, Seungyoun probably wouldn’t be so invested in understanding your emotions and viewpoints like Eunha was. At the last point, the assistant gasped.

“And that’s exactly why I have to go and meet with him at Angel Den in approximately half an hour”

The white Porsche came to a stop right outside the big café in center of the city. It happened to be just in the right time because an expensive black Maserati was also pulling up right beside. When the door lifted up and opened, dressed in casual attire, Cho Seungyoun stepped out. You thanked his outfit choice, for you too weren’t dressed formally at all. The heir wore a caramel long-sleeved button-up and black pants with black vans. He seemed to unexpectedly match with your outfit. It consisted of a beige cardigan and loose shirt of the same color tucked in black ripped jeans – truly something the media weren’t used to.

There was a genuine smile on Seungyoun’s face as he approached you, completely ignoring all of the flashing lights around him. For whatever reason, the reporters were already there, with set up cameras and annoying interviewers, ready to capture every possible move of the new couple.

Honestly, why the fuck were they so bothered? The two of you weren’t celebrities, only successful business people; when did the lives of those become gossip-worthy?

Seungyoun offered a hand, which you took without any evident hesitation. His palm was warm as he took you inside, not trying to hide the admiration that danced around his irises. The sudden amount of emotion was surprising, cheeks immediately flushing as the two of you walked upstairs - to the secured designated spot.  

A couple of reporters tried following but weren’t allowed on the second floor by the staff. This was a café Cho enterprise owned, therefore ordering to keep the upper floor off-limits for an hour or two wasn’t hard at all. They were given a bonus anyway.

The reserved seat was all the way in the back, hidden from outside view and decorated in most beautiful ways. Your eyes immediately caught onto the black wall, one that was (almost) completely filled with different drawings and words. There were numerous jokes, pick-up lines, and cheeky caricatures, all of them bribing a smile out on your face. Suddenly, Seungyoun took your hand, turned it around and put a white stick in the opened palm.

“Go on” The male cocked his head to the side, motioning towards the black wall. You were taken aback, needing a moment to cherish the privilege of writing something down yourself.

“They wipe them off every three days so don’t be too happy about it” Of course, Seungyoun always had to ruin the moment. Instead of the lovely look he gave you just a few minutes ago, there was an assured smirk on his face. It only served as a reminder that all of his ‘obvious’ emotions were a play and a façade put on for the media.  

For whichever reason, it hurt.

The chalk felt soft against your fingers and hard against the surface. With elegant moves, your name was written down, a beautiful heart just above the last letter. Although unoriginal, it was the thought that mattered and you laughed, finally having left a trace of INVICTA in Angel Den.

It wasn’t long after the waitress took the orders, that your drinks arrived. Seungyoun went all out, ordering their fanciest (and at the same time most expensive) drink that you remembered the name of - Flash. It ended up being a black cocktail with red streaks that changed shapes every time the little umbrella was swirled in it. Seungyoun’s drink greatly contrasted yours, a simple oreo milkshake.

For the first few minutes, you expected the other to begin some kind of a topic, yet unfortunately, that never happened. Seungyoun’s gaze was locked outside, on his phone, the black liquid in a fancy glass, but never on you. The male didn’t look happy though, there was a slight frown on his lips, and his brows looked slightly furrowed. You pondered asking about it, but decided not do. It’s for the better to keep to your own work.

With laptop opened, you slowly worked on important paperwork, fingers swiftly moving over the keyboard and eyes carefully scanning all text. In such a concentrated state, you missed the way Seungyoun’s eyes stopped observing the outside world and switched to you. He was relaxed in the seat, taking slow sips of his beverage while watching the female on the other side. Something inside his chest ached upon not being noticed.

Then he remembered.

Turning on the little device resting on the table, Seungyoun tapped a few times on its screen and opened the newest gossip article. Of course, it featured the two of you.

“You look so ugly here” Seungyoun mocked, expecting a large reaction in return. You looked up from the bigger screen, taking a quick glance at the picture, before returning to work. Truthfully, there was nothing wrong with the picture; maybe taken from an unusual angle, but you for sure didn’t look ugly.  

Without any verbal answer, Seungyoun felt defeated, but he wasn’t going to give up so easy. Annoying, that was probably one of Seungyoun’s main personality traits.

“I hope that not all of the articles feature that shot because damn, I’d want that taken down” He continued, hoping that another one of those stupid remarks will have you answering. Fortunately for him, it did.

“I literally couldn’t care less. But if it affects you so much, go and cry to them about how ugly your girlfriend is, boohoo” You didn’t look up from the screen, but smiled. It wasn’t genuine, almost a show of teeth and a warning to the other. Really, you didn’t care and you didn’t understand why he was so bothered about it. None of the two agreed to media being all up in their face, so was it really important how they looked like in those shots? Hilarious.

“Damn, thought you have some pride to keep” Seungyoun answered, hands raised in the air in defense mode. Still, his heart didn’t fail to miss a beat at your mention of being his girlfriend.  

“Just being with you here destroyed even the smallest pieces of pride I had left”  

Seungyoun’s pride was probably what should’ve taken the biggest hit there, but it turned out to be his heart. It stopped for almost two whole beats, allowing the mind to become fuzzy, thoughts flying all over the place. The male felt, but didn’t understand and refused to show.

Seungyoun was well aware of the fact that you were slowly getting under his skin, but it wasn’t clear as to why. What was it about you that had him wanting to be in your company? To be around? What was it that made his stone heart quicken its pace when you're around?  

And did he really need to play like this? If he gave up on using knowledge to his advantage, were you going to turn your back on him? Probably. If he didn’t set up this dumb ultimatum, would you still be up for getting to know him? Probably not.  

But that’s exactly where Seungyoun’s thoughts clashed together and contradicted each other. Was all of this an ongoing process used to show his father that he wasn’t a failure? Because Seungyoun wanted to back up his parent in succeeding as an even bigger businessman? Or because without it, would you ever think of him as worthy enough?

From the beginning, there was a much simpler way to do all of this. Alas, the heir was greedy and wanted to kill two flies with one hit.

Seungyoun looked away and refused to let his hurt be shown.

Second meeting was scheduled on the weekend; Sunday to be exact. You were the one who proposed a walk through the park, which Seungyoun needed a minute to think about. In the end, an agreement was settled.

Both thought that Sunday night was the best option for a date of an open kind. There wouldn’t be as many reporters (if any), which meant you’d be able to walk around more freely. Also, many real couples chose said day and time for their own outings, so that way you’ll be able to camouflage with them.

Once again, although this time planned, Seungyoun and you managed to match outfits. Both were dressed in black comfortable outfits with masks covering generous amounts of the face. There was a suggestion to pair up caps or beanies with the overall look, but the heir was quick to shut the offer down. He said that you looked like an idol couple already as it is, and adding hats to raise more suspicion wasn’t at all needed.

The park was crowded. Kids ran around, screaming and playing, while their parents carefully watched over their little devils. Young couples were crowding the place, holding hands, laughing, goofing around and enjoying the presence of their partner. Some were sitting on the wooden benches, arms thrown over shoulders and heads resting against each other.

For a moment, you felt like one of them. Walking hand in hand with someone who others would label as your boyfriend. Others. But would you?

Unexpectedly, your mind crossed that point out and allowed itself to just enjoy the moment. Relish the feeling of having someone right beside.  

It was too long since you’ve engaged in a relationship. Work proved to be way too big of a fuss, never allowing enough time to focus on someone the way a girlfriend should.

What ended up ruining the perfect picture and warm feeling bubbling inside of your chest was a sudden realization. Seungyoun’s hand felt cold in yours, although the grip was strong. There was no warmth you expected to find and the sadness bid its hello. You sighed.

From behind one of the trees in the distance, there was a flash. That little action made you freeze in place and look around. The hold on your hand tightened and Seungyoun was quick to address the situation. When the heir turned around, he saw the surprise in your eyes.

“StarLight”

Disappointment overtook your features and your shoulders slumped forward. Then again, there was another bright light, coming from a completely different direction. Your eyes tracked the position.

“Cascade”  

At the mention of another gossip agency, your head snapped in his direction. Seungyoun caught onto the dismay in your irises and immediately stepped back, letting go of your hand. It suddenly felt as if he wasn’t qualified enough to hold it anymore. But was he ever?

“How many of them know about this meeting?” You whispered, hurt almost dripping from said words. Inside of your chest, the heart was beating with a delay, blood pumping slowly through veins. Seungyoun looked back, chest tightening in a certain indescribable way.  

“Just them” Seungyoun answered, trying to control his voice, scared that it might just break if he said more. You nodded and your gaze lowered, focusing on a small rock on the ground. Kicking it away and watching it reach the grass, you picked Seungyoun’s hand, feeling once again just how cold it was.

“Let’s go home. It’s enough for tonight” The conversation was cut short there, no one saying a word until the very farewell. Throughout the whole walk home, Seungyoun’s head was a mess, thoughts incoherent for god knows which time that week.  

He thought that there was no way out of this. At least a way that would end up positively for both of you. Whatever Seungyoun tried; one wouldn’t be satisfied. He was in a crossfire, feeling guilty.  

The warmth from your own hand was slowly disappearing in his.

As per usual, you were on time.  

Once a big iron gate opened, a beautiful property came into view. The tall and fancy building Seungyoun lived in, shone bright, illuminating a broad territory around it. Outside, on the parking lot, there weren’t many cars, despite the building’s housing potential. Every single vehicle turned out to an expensive brand - from Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley to Rolls-Royce and Bugatti. All those fancy cars were secured by tens of cameras and laser control, making you completely dumbfounded and intimidated.  

Indirectly, you got the answer to why it wasn’t completely inhabited – money probably became too big of a problem.

If the counting was done right, it had twelve floors and an open balcony on the top. Thankfully, it appeared to have a set of elevators that would be taking you to the last floor – just exactly where the heir lived.  

The entrance was locked, it operated through an intercom that took some time to figure out. Seungyoun seemed to be expecting your visit just then, for he immediately opened the door.

Walking inside felt like entering an expensive hotel. There was a reception in the middle of the wide hallway, a cute girl with a surprised face working behind the counter. Two guards were positioned at the different sides of it, their eyes suspiciously tracking your every movement.

Well, this is something you’ve never experienced before.

Walking towards the female felt strange, the looks of the other two only an added pressure. Fortunately, upon noticing your nervous appearance, she smiled and appeared more cheerful than a few seconds ago. This was a casual building people casually lived in, but for whatever reason, you felt like the visit had to be reasoned.

Thankfully, the conversation didn’t last long, for she happened to recognize you ‘from the news’ and carelessly allowed a free pass. The ride to the twelfth floor didn’t last long. A familiar song that played made time pass by quicker. The elevator opened with a barely audible ding. Your eyes immediately caught onto the fact that there was only one door.  

The guard that appeared out of nowhere startled you, but only for a blink of time, for you were already used to the area to feel as intimidating as ever.  

Knocking onto the hard surface, you waited for Seungyoun to come and open, but that never happened. Trying the second time, you feared looking like a burglar to the man beside the elevator. Suddenly, something that barely sounded like ‘come in’ was heard from the other side. That was the only que to come in.  

“It’s me” You chirped, taking the heavy coat off and looking around, searching for a hanger. Finding it in the corner of the hallway, you hung the clothing piece on it. It was expected to find a thousand pairs of shoes on the floor, but there were only two – a pair of dress shoes and black vans. Your own pair of white Converse seemed to perfectly break the melancholy.

From the hallway, which appeared to be the center of the apartment, it was possible to go four different ways through four different doors. You contemplated which ones to open first, scared to barge in uninvited to whatever was on the other side. It didn’t have to be a form of unexpected activity, rather something Seungyoun wouldn’t want others to see. Like his untidy bedroom, for example.

Therefore, choosing not to move just yet, you anticipated the host to appear soon – seeing as someone has entered his apartment. Minutes passed and no one came out.

Suddenly, your ears picked up on a quiet and calm melody. It was coming from behind the door on your left. With slow and careful movements, you pushed the door, opening them without any effort.  

The room was rectangular but divided into something that looked like an upside-down letter U. It was huge, almost like a suite all by itself. The aesthetics were something similar to your own apartment – white coffee, beige and white with a few black decorations here and there. From the entrance, you were met with expensive furniture and a huge TV screen that resembled a dark void on a bright wall. There were shelves filled with books of different genres and authors; the most worn-out ones were related to music. Family portraits filled the walls, making you stop and observe for a few moments.  

Most of them were when Seungyoun was little. They looked happy.

On the other side of the wall, Seungyoun seemed to have a built-in home-cinema, for there was a huge projector on the ceiling and a screen that could be pulled down from above. Many squishy beanbags were thrown around in front of it, offering maximum comfort while watching movies. Behind, but placed to almost kiss the wall, was a long bar. On the wall, there were bottles of random, colorful drinks you supposed only the upper class could afford. Glasses hung from above while bowls with fresh fruit were placed all around. Right beside was a football board Seungyoun probably loved playing with his friends.  

Apart from any basic furniture you’d expect in a living room, there was a small place filled with cat stuff. Scratchers, food bowls, a huge circular bed and all kinds of toys. You never knew the male had a pet and for some reason, you felt happy to see it.

The door to the balcony was open, and that’s where the quiet melody was coming from. Deciding to check it out next after (not so secretly) observing the whole room in detail, you stepped outside.

“Seungyoun?” You questioned, startled and surprised to see him. Seungyoun was sitting in a comfortable black chair, one arm leaning against a glass table. On it was a glass full of wine and a black bottle that appeared half empty. His breathing was calm, almost too calm, while his eyes were focused on an invisible dot, irises dark, but emotionless. Seungyoun heard your voice but reacted with a bit of delay.

“Heh, didn’t expect you to come here” The heir replied, words slurred, but not due to alcohol. No, Seungyoun looked tired, exhausted. Maybe you’d even dare say he looked numb.  

His eyes only moved to make sure you really were there, but he made no effort to tease or bite a remark as per usual. Soon enough, Seungyoun's hand reached out to grab the glass and lift it to his lips. With three quick and audible gulps, it was almost empty.

You walked around and took a seat on the other side of the table. Naturally, you felt worried, anxious, confused. Still, there was that unexplainable amount of hesitance you always felt when the other was in question. Therefore, you approached the subject in a certain, nonchalant manner, not wanting to show too much emotion in fear of being misunderstood.

“Uh... is there something wrong?”

Seungyoun’s head turned slowly, eyes appearing glassier due to the light that reflected off them. His head then shook, a frown painting his features. It took Seungyoun a few moments to gather his thoughts and allowed it, ready to hear whatever whenever. Then, the male spoke, with a small and almost broken voice.

“You know...I have no clue what I’m doing this for”

A/N: hello! if you’ve made it this far and are reading this, thank you so much from the deepest depths of my heart! i love you! 

i’m so sorry i wasn’t able to get this out earlier, a lot has happened and affected me lately, the biggest problem being the death of my uncle and my mental health not being good. i hope you can understand.

thank you and see you soon hopefully!

#well here it is #out little game #part three #damn #seungyoun #cho seungyoun #cho seungyoun x1 #seungyoun x1 #seungyoun fanfic #seungyoun scenario #seungyoun angst #seungyoun drama #seungyoun smut #seungyoun imagine #seungyoun fanfiction #x1 fanfic #x1 fanfiction #x1 angst #x1 drama #x1 smut #x1 imagine #x1 scenario #x1 #kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction #kpop angst #kpop drama #kpop smut #kpop imagine #kpop scenario

[acefrogmonarch]

Hi There! one-shot

Ao3

Not the update you wanted. Maybe I continue one-shots that are similar to my universe, maybe not.

What else is new, we are thriving in this fandom.

When you're late to the Maribat fluff week but you don't really care so

I used this to help me with https://www.talkinfrench.com/how-to-read-a-french-menu/ the dinner scene. Because I'm going to be as accurate as god damn possible! Every single meal I have stated is real and can be eaten. These characters aren't mine!

Mariette couldn't wait for tonight! It's been months since she and Adrien got to catch up. Looking through her closet, she couldn't decide between her cardigan and favorite blazer. Both were in the same navy blue that matched well with her outfit.

Placing both jackets on her bed, Marinette compensated which would look best for the white tank top, watermarked with "I survived Gotham." Walked around her old room, Marinette looked back at the tan shorts under the tank top.

Making her way back to bed, Marinette grabbed her phone from the end table. Sending a text to Adrien if they could color coordinate together.

Mari-Bear <3: I don't know what to pick for my outfit, whats your main color?

Adrikins: uhhhhh

Adrikins: I think it's blue???

The last time Adrien questioned what color it was, he wore hot pink shorts to a stakeout. "But Mari, I said it was red!" Marinette didn't trust his wardrobe again. Never again. If he dressed in hot pink shorts with a yellow shirt again, Marinette was going to have words with him. Maybe throw hands. Both.

Mari-Bear <3: Photo.

Adrikins sent a photo.

It was a relatively nice outfit. On the model figure, it complimented all his looks, even brought out the colors of his eyes. "A bluish-green?" Talking out loud, or mumbling help her spin ideas out even if it annoyed Damian to no end. "A mesh, with green and blues."

Marinette kept mumbling to her self, then suddenly an idea hit her. She threw her phone at her bed and went straight to her closet. Pulling out an old jacket full of meshed blues.

Marinette didn't like how it never went with any of her other clothes, often forgetting it in the back of the closet. With the chilly night and perfect color combo, it was the clear winner from her other choices.

Hoping in the shower, she cleaned herself up. Humming lightly to "Ugly heart by G.R.L". That song was still stuck in her head after so many years. It meant so much to both of them. It was the first time since the defeat of Hawkmoth that they enjoyed being teens again.

Granted they were 18, but that didn't put a damper on their mood one bit. After Chloe moved to New York with her mother, she sent the lastest pop songs that circulated the radio. That song immediately caught Adrien's attention. "We should dance to this Mari!"

Marinette was video calling from Gotham, on a visit to spend time with Damian and his family. "What? Why?" Searching up the lyrics to the song, Marinette let Adrien beg. "And before you say 'Let's put it on youtube.' Let me remind you, that last time, I got recognized all over Paris."

The first-ever dance/singing video they did it to was Indila love story. Marinette had a black mesh on with Ladybug inspired shirt that went to her upper thighs. Adrien had a leather jacket and black pants on.

They didn't even notice they were being recorded by Alya. It blew up once people recognized who were dancing, a lot of theories started popping up if it was their love story. Dancing had been an outlet for both of them.

That 1) wasn't dangerous.

2) helped the itch of staying still for too long.

Adrien was the one to answer questions via Instagram live. Saying it was the love story of Ladybug and Chat Noir. True but no one knew that they were the real Ladybug and Chat Noir. Giving back the Miraculous and Kwami's to Master Fu was the hardest decision for either party.

Stepping out of the shower, Marinette dried off her body and patted her hair down. "You're not my sunshine anymore!" Singing off-key and spinning around in a circle, striking a pose. Marinette giggled and wrapped the towel around her body.

Taking her hairbrush with her, she stepped out of the bathroom. Marinette went to her dresser and took out undergarments. Damian shifted in his place on Marinette's bed next to her laid out Clothes.

Marinette looked at her... Well, she didn't know what Damian was to her. At first, he was insufferable to be around, but then he let her in and they've changed since. Her patience growing and his temper lowering.

They started to balance each other out. Marinette hoped that she wouldn't have to be the one to confess first. It was hard enough on Luka and Adrien, but then again. They weren't Damian, not by a landslide.

Checking her phone, Marinette checked the time. "22:30 Perfect timing." Putting it back down, Marinette grabbed her clothes and undergarment and headed back to the bathroom to leave her partner in crime in peace.

Humming the tone of Indila in the bathroom as she dressed. Putting her hair into a messy fishtail braid, Marinette opened the door to find Damian on the other side. Moving out of the way, Marinette noticed how Damian shuffled to the toilet.

"No no no no" Quietly whispering in embarrassment. Quickly closing the door behind her and getting her mind out of the gutter, she quickly found her socks and flats, making her escape. "I'm leaving, bye Damian!"

As she went downstairs, her parents were already in bed. Sneaking out of the bakery she closed the door with her key and checked herself in the mirror. Nodding in satisfaction at her attire, she briskly walked to the designated restaurant. Adrien was outside in a coat, looking at his phone.

"Adrien!" Turning to the familiar sound, Adrien began waving wildly, they hugged each other as they got closer. Adrien squealed a little. "I'm so happy to catch up tonight." Marinette looped her arm around Adrien's. "Me too." Adrien already making his way inside the restaurant.

"I have so much to tell you." Adrien took off his coat as they entered the building. "You always pick the grandest of places, Mon Chaton." Adrien couldn't help but blush slightly, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

"Ever since I took time off of modeling to get my teaching degree, I rarely treated myself and I thought that since it's been a while since we've last talked, why not do it now." Marinette hummed skeptically at Adrien.

"Or maybe." Marinette stopped in front of the door, effectively stopping Adrien from walking in any further. "Hiding from a couple of someones?" Raising in eyebrow as Adrien looks everywhere except her face. "We gotta work on your 'What are you talking about' face." Marinette snorted at the oblivious man in front of her.

Adrien sighed in relieve at the lack of interrogation by his companion. "Please don't tease me so much Mari, I can only take so much." Marinette laughed and Adrien couldn't help but give a little chuckle.

"Let's enjoy the evening, M'Lady." Adrien slightly bowed and Marinette, in turn, curtsied with her 'dress'. "Of course, silly tomcat." Folding the coat in his hands, Adrien puts it over his arm, letting it hand. While Marinette went and asked for the reservations. "Dupain-Cheng."

As the waiter sizes their outfits, Marinette looks over to Adrien to check his outfit. "That damn coat always gets in the way of your outfit." Adrien chuckles softly. "Well, It was from a thrift store." Marinette patted his arm and laughed.

"From all those years ago?" Adrien nods as the waiter clears his throat. "Right this way Ma'dam." With the waiter in front, Marinette followed with Adrien right on her tail. As they reach a clearing near the middle, Adrien rounded around another table to Marinette's chair.

"Allow me." Bumping the waiter out of the way, Adrien bowed, letting him pull the chair out for Marinette. Marinette let out a snort and curtsied again and sat down. "Oh thank, kind sir." Adrien let out a huge grin and made his way to his chair, hanging his coat on the back of his chair. "But of course madam." They laughed as the waiter set down their menus.

The waiter looked at Marinette. "What is for your Apéritifs and Digestifs?" Looking up, Marinette smiled. "Le pâté de mouton artisanal and Cointreau for me-." Adrien looked up from his carte. Even if they both knew what he would order, he still wanted to act clueless. "Fino and Cognac for me."

Marinette's stomach couldn't help but growl thinking about dinner. "For entrée, we'll get a salad." Marinette started listing off, while Adrien put down the menu. Adding in little things for himself, Marinette took care of the le plat principal.

"I'll have a Boeuf Bourguignon while he'll take Foie gras." Adrien leaned over and stopped Marinette from talking. "With assiette of Fromage." Marinette raised an unimpressive eyebrow and glared at him.

"Really? What else would you like Le dessert." Adrien was practically bouncing in his seat. "Can we!" Marinette's sass is replaced with sorrow, smiling softly. "Yeah. Yeah, we can."

"Two Crème Brûlée for later into the evening." The waiter nodded and took away la carte. "You know." Marinette started as Adrien had taken out his phone, looking up at Marinette. Adrien stared at Marinette.

"You know I can't do the eyebrow thing, Mari, What's up." Putting his phone back down on the table, he brought his hands up to rest on the table. "You know the rules."

Humming, Marinette kept looking at them. The drinks and pâté quickly arriving after a beat of silence between the two. Digging in, Marinette continued. "You better be careful Agreste or you might charm two reptiles." She pointed at him with her spoon.

Adrien blushes at the implication and scrambles to shush her. "I told you in that confidence, Mari!" Marinette couldn't help but laugh at her friend's sudden shyness. "How's everything else." Adrien beamed. "Oh gosh, Mari, I have so much to tell you!"

Getting back in the rhythm of having each other's presence. was one of the most basic things to do. Easier then coping with anxiety, easier than dealing with people, easier than being Ladybug. They still completed each other in every way except romantic. And that was okay.

"I'm getting ready to be a TA. Helping in the classroom and seeing how teachers interact with their students. But I'd rather work at a college level. Not many people enjoy Physics at 16." Marinette smiled at her partner. "I sure didn't."

Adrien grinned and sipped his Cognac. "No, you were horrible." Marinette grabbed her napkin and swatted at him. "Don't let me relive that." Adrien jumped away from the harmless napkin and tittered. "You're gonna get us to kick out of another restaurant again," Adrien warned Marinette. Offended Marinette dug in her Pâté.

"That was you and you know it." Laughing together this time, they hardly noticed the waiter. "Your food, Ma'dam." Moving the finished pâté, the waiter places sliced ficelle in a basket in the middle, time for the next course!

The waiter places their meals in front of them. "Thank you garcon." Digging in, Marinette hummed in delight. Looking at the meat, Marinette couldn't help but feel a little guilty. After discovering that Damian was vegan. She made the time to learn and make homemade vegan meals for Damian.

Marinette asked for Alfred's opinion on what meals Damian liked the most and what she'd seen him eat on the few dates they've had together. Mari spends many nights on perfecting numerous deserts. Damian caught her several times making a dinner menu and tried some.

Marinette just assumed that it was Jason or Dick. Many turned out great, while others... Let's just say she wasn't allowed to make something the boys couldn't stomach.

Marinette turned to her dinner and scarfed it down. Taking a sip of her drink she turns to Adrien. "You know that Kagami and Luka are right behind us." Adrien dropped her head then looked up at her and smirked.

"And Damian is right behind me." Marinette whipped to turn behind her. Lo and behold, there he is. "Dami?" Adrien couldn't help but tease it. "It's not Dove?" Marinette couldn't help but flush red at the nickname she accidentally gave him.

"Adrien!" Marinette swatted at her with her hand. "That wasn't true Dami." Damian turned and smirked. Marinette couldn't help but flush brighter. 'O-oh god. Why do I like you again?" Damian raised an eyebrow. "You like me?" Marinette's eyes widen at her slip. Abruptly standing up, she walked out of the building. "Nope, nope, nope."

Damian followed after her, catching her arm and looking at her eyes. "Dami, let go." Damian didn't. 'Of course, you didn't even listen to me half the time." Damian grinned slightly. "You should watch your mouth, Malak." Groaning, Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. "Really that's what you're addressing right now?"

"If you wanted my opinion on how I feel about you, you could have asked." Marinette stared at him, no smirks, no grins, serious Damian wasn't a Damian she could handle. It was too much! "Ugh, curse your genes." Damian let out a small chuckle. "Whatever you say ya qamar barid**."

Looking away, Mari sighed and noticed his loosened grip on her arm. "我的爱人* you know, there is only so much you can do that doesn't effect me." Damian picked her up and Marinette giggled at the strength her deepest friend had. "And you should know that it's the same for me habi alghali***."

They walked over, leaving Adrien to clean up the mess with Kagami, Luka, and the restaurant bill. "Just one night Mari, why couldn't you enjoy dinner instead of running off with Damian." Picking up her coat, Adrien continued onto Luka's and Kagami's table. "Room for one more?" The hidden meaning saying so much more than anything that night.

"Of course. Hime." Adrien blushed at the nickname. "Just because my preferred pronouns are she/her doesn't mean you can keep doing that Kagami." The blush on Adrien's pale face says otherwise. Luka went in to kiss her cheek, Kagami did the same on the other.

"我的爱人" is my lover.

"Habi Alghali" Is my precious love.

"Ya Qamar Barid" is Oh cold moon.

#fluff week #fluff #maribat fluff week #late to the party #maribat #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #marinette dupain cheng #marinette

[atelophobicity]

Top 10 Things You Shouldn’t Do If You Want to Finish Your Thesis On Time

It’s my entry for September! I’ve been busy in consuming new music, films, and kvariety episodes in my effort to catch up on everything. So, I decided to post monthly to fulfill my oversharing Tumblr needs and to exercise my skills in writing in English and putting thoughts into coherent words.

TL;DR of this: things I’ve done instead of doing my thesis for the past year and a half. I’m not romanticizing my not doing thesis self for the past 21 months, but I’m also not dissuading you from doing other stuff besides thesis because god knows, you will need something.

1. Got a part-time job. This was the first new thing I’ve done that really took my time and effectively gave me no time to do thesis. And yet, this was the most rewarding thing as I learned how to get my TIN, accomplish my deliverables, answer to my superiors etc. Looking back, I wasn’t the best employee and I deserved no job offers on the same company after. But still, it was a stepping stone in the right direction. Adulting-wise, anyway.

2.  Discover the art of creating.

Journal spreads. I bought a 2019 planner and I couldn’t fill it up, so I decided to turn it into a journal-planner. The art materials I used for to design pages are from old supplies bought back when I was in high school or stickers from the fandom-related events I attended. I didn’t spend money and I was given a chance to be creative.

Sew doll clothes. In K-pop, dolls that look like your idol exists. It usually comes with one set of clothes to dress it. As a “doll mother”, I wanted to dress them with new clothes but buying clothes was expensive. So, I just sewed clothes for them. I made clothes from scrap fabrics or clothes no one wears in our household. I’ve been barely successful, but it’s one of the things that keep me happy and make me feel like I’ve succeeded in one measly part of my life.

3. Purged my online files.

From my high school files. Nostalgia has been one of my coping mechanisms. I was able to be provided by lots of it when I discovered that I didn’t lose my high school files and it was on my mom’s laptop all along. Being able to relive memories while organizing my files was the best hours of that day.

To my external hard drives. Since 2016, I have been a hoarder of online files for so long that I have two EHDs to prove it. This time though, I was able to delete content that was either repetitive or uninteresting anymore. I was able to shave off some of my data bytes and am now able to save new interesting content available online (if I ever find one).

4. Realigned my priorities and consumption of K-pop as a stan and as a person by:

Selling 3/4 of my merch. Unlearning the pride that comes with owning K-pop merch was difficult, but overtime, I have been proud of myself for not falling to the traps of capitalism—at least in K-pop. Also! I was able to buy my own concert tickets with the stuff I sold so it is a win!

Joining giveaways instead. No matter how I can avoid the urge to buy K-pop merch, I still can’t help but want to own them. This is where I discovered how joining giveaways was my next best option. It takes a lot of effort and screenshots to win these things. However, if and when you win, it really feels like winning against the odds. You get free merch too!

Actually spent hours to vote and stream. In relation to the last point, since the main requirement in giveaways I’ve joined are voting/streaming proofs, I have been one of those people who collects points on voting apps or has a playlist of music videos that should be streamed. After collecting and/or streaming, I take screenshots, put watermarks there, and tags mutuals if needed. It’s relatively hard work but there’s a feeling of pride when your idol wins the poll or an MV reaches a certain amount of views and you know you participated in making that happen.

5. Rediscover Youtube. Channels like the vlogbrothers and their associates (Crash Course, Pemberley Digital among others), Buzzfeed’s shows (The Try Guys, Ladylike, Buzzfeed Unsolved) were a delight to watch after being out of the Youtube loop for so long. The platform also offered new niches of content and I allowed myself to be sucked in it. From Simply Nailogical to Ask A Mortician to amazing pop culture video essays like Lindsay Ellis and Jenny Nicholson, Youtube has all it for you! Learning something new every day is one of my favorite things and I get to do it with this website.

6. Rediscover my love of writing. (As if I’ve written anything for my thesis but here.)

Made drabbles. There is a weekly activity on my fandom where we write < 500 word drabbles on any pairings. I have been joining when I can, and through the support of the (small) community (back then), I gained confidence to write one. I’ve written at least four now and I’ve not done yet because I’ve been on a slump lately. But I’ll get back to it soon!

Short story. The same account that brought the drabble challenge created a festival where we write a pairing and write a short story with it. I decided to join the event! Not going to lie, my entry was shit, It was the first draft, it needed a lot of revisions and more constructive criticism and yet, I am still proud of it. It was the first creative fiction I wrote since 2019 and I did it in a day. And, I believe it has potential, so I’m going to review and revise the hell out of it someday.

7. Reclaim my college days.

Reconnected with orgmates. Visiting Elbi for registration and consultation purposes are brightened up by the fact that I get to do this. My first four years of college were not kind to me. I’ve forgotten a lot of things because of trauma and deep sadness that I still have until this day, and when I remember good things, they’re few and far in between. The numbered days I was in Elbi during 2019 were also few and far in between, but they were infinitely better than my academic years from 2015 to 2017. I was able to do the things I wasn’t able to do before (mostly attending Happy Ts and eating in newly-opened food places there) and I get to do it with people I love.

Made friends. One of the drawbacks of being a slot-driven student with no care of my coursemates’ schedules: I didn’t get to establish a friend group. So I didn’t get to make friends. During this time, I’ve accepted that I didn’t have any friends outside my organizations. But this time, instead of a feeling of dread of being that cliché orgmate, I feel relief and happiness because now, I realize that I do have friends from college, unlike the 2015-2017 who didn’t have anyone in college to rely on her darkest times.

8. Appreciated my friends more. For the past few years, I was the shitty friend. I agreed to go on hangouts only to message them that I’m backing out the last minute—sometimes I even straight up ghosted them. I really took my friends for granted. I have been slowly making it up to them by always attending when there’s an invite! I sometimes initiate the invite and it’s always a fun and healing time for me (it was a literal healing time for me as I was depressed during that time). I love them and I’m always thankful for them—and more so now than before.

 9. Unlearning things like:

Realizing that a priv (a private account meant to be seen by your mutuals you trust; usually contains unpopular opinions and hot takes on stan twitter) only encourages negative emotions and I must not do it again.

No matter how I tried rationalizing my hate for Jennie when the JenKai dating news happened, I was one of those K-pop stans who hated her because she dated my idol. (I have moved on past that and have started liking her and Rose.)

Knowing that attacking people for what they say won’t make them unlearn their wrong opinions. Not talking down at them and educating with patience is the key, always.

There are still so much more I unlearned and learned where those came from. My main takeaway is: it’s complicated.  Sometimes our opinion needs a more nuanced perspective and sometimes it needs to scrapped entirely because it was just wrong. But it is essential so we, as people, won’t be stuck with outdated views of the world.

10.   Learning something new like:

Practicing how to do Tzuyu’s helicopter hands until I realized it wasn’t meant for me.

Utilizing Omegle to look for potential quaranflings.

Installing Telegram and uninstalling to ghost quaranflings.

How to do laundry in compliance with my mother’s preferences.

Doing two things at once.

Enough patience to take time and read the laws our government makes every day to know what I’m fighting against.

Optimizing my Twitter lists and now I can keep up with current affairs (that takes a toll on my mental health) then scroll through a fic fest-centric list the next (that helps me forget the stress from reading news).

Learning something new every day has become one of my life goals. Knowing that the world always has something new to offer to me, a speck in this universe, warms me up and keeps me going. And you’ll never know where the new tidbits will lead you. Maybe it’ll help you reconnect with something you’ve known before, maybe it’ll change how you see things, or maybe it’s something new that once explored, it will contribute something new to the community. It may seem small and unimportant but with a tweak in perspective, it might be something worth doing and pursuing.

Looking back at my list, I can finally see how if I didn’t do all these things, I would have probably finished my thesis by now and probably working a full-time job, able to provide the financial needs for my family. There will always be regret that I am still not done until now. But stressing over my current predicament in this time when the world is in its most stressful state yet won’t help me. So, we soldier on and hopefully, hopefully get back to the thesis I’ve been meaning to do.

 Let’s get it.

#2020 diary

[thisisutl]

My Doujin Collection is finally up

So, after a lot of setbacks and delays, my doujin collection is finally up.

Now... a few things...

 In this public post, I am only going to post the covers and a brief description of what each doujin’s story is. The download links are on my private tumblr.  You know how to get there...

Only doujin that I have personally scanned are up. I am not posting doujin given to me by others, since I don’t want to betray their trust.

All the doujin are low quality and watermarked. This is to prevent people printing and selling them without the artist’s permission.

I do, in fact, have high quality clean scans, but there are... conditions. Or exchanges. One or the other.

Due to Tumblr blocking adult content, I can’t post the adult ones, sorry. But I can give you a link if you message me privately.

All doujin are in Japanese. If a story is translated somewhere, anywhere, I will give you the link on where to find the translation. But other than that, don’t expect to understand anything if you don’t read Japanese.

Since this is a looooooooong post, I am going to cut after the first doujin

Aoi Rukawa - Uzumaki Sanchi No Hinata San

Description: Being a housewife is not easy, especially when you are married to someone like Uzumaki Naruto. You might be interested to know that you can read a clean typesetted translation of this over at TLAnon’s Patreon!

Aoi Rukawa - Uzumaki Sanchi No Hinata San 2

Description: More SD NaruHina Housewife hijinx. Now with ramen!

Aoi Rukawa - Milky Time R(18)

Description: Hinata is breastfeeding Boruto, and Naruto is... well... curious. It’s actually much more sentimental than it sounds.

Aoi Rukawa - Nounai Orekaigi

Description: Naruto is going on a date with Hinata and the various parts of his personality are having a meeting. Think of Pixar’s Inside Out, except crazier.

Aoi Rukawa - The End of the Beginning

Description: Various side stories taking place before, during and after The Last movie. Feels galore!

Aoi Rukawa - The Hidden Leaf's Blooming Flowers

Description: Sai, Shikamaru and Choji are asking their respective love interests to join them during Naruto’s wedding as their mate. It’s not as easy as it sounds

Aoi Rukawa - Welcome to the Hyuga Clan

Description: Naruto is heading towards the Hyuga Clan’s house to ask for Hinata’s hand in marriage. Will he come out of this alive?

Enda Chisya - First Love Days

Description: Naruto makes Hinata wait a date and then has to wait back.

Enda Chisya - The Hyuga clan is Konoha's strongest, dattebayo!

Description: A collcetion of stories about Naruto living and interacting with the Hyuga clan

Fuesu - Holding Hands

Description: Naruto and Hinata go on a date. They have a great time, but Naruto just can’t seem to be able to find a chance to hold Hinata’s hand.

HonoHono - My Dear Husband (R15)

Description: Konoha’s housewives are trying to properly take care of the husbands. The key word being “trying”

HonoHono - MenmaHima meets NaruHina

Description:It’s what it says on the tin. I’ve got nothing to add here.

IchiUme - Summer, Dreams, Fireworks

Description: It’s the Summer Festival and there’s a fireworks display. Naruto and Hinata find a chance to go on a much-deserved date a few months after their wedding. But being intimate with your wife is not easy when you are Konoha’s greatest hero.

Itoshiki Mahoroba - Konoha's Big Family

Description: Three stories involving the couples shown here.

Izumi - I want to talk to you

Description: Hinata starts working at Ichiraku’s after Ayumi is temporarily incapacitated. How is Naruto going to deal with the fact that Hinata is getting lots of male attention?

Izumi - Please notice soon

Description: Naruto promises to be Hinata’s brother at Neji’s funeral. Hinata is touched but this is not quite what she wants from him,

Kamoto Moto - P

Description: High School AU. Naruto and Naruko are twin brother and sister. And they both love Hinata. Who is going to prevail?

Meguo - Dressing up Hinata 

Description: Naruto dresses up his wife. And he enjoys the view.

Meguo - Future Prospective View (R18)

Description: Naruto has always loved Hinata. But she is still feeling insecure about their relationship. How is he going to convince her of his love?

Minamo - Hero VS Team Eight

Description: A collection of various stories about Naruto interacting with Team Eight.

Minamo - Mission Mafia

Description: Mafia AU. Naruto is a self-made mob-boss that has fallen for one of the town oldest mob gangs. This short story chronicles his attempt to infiltrate the Hyuga Mansion and spend some “sexy time” with Hinata.

Miurin - In the bathhouse with Hinata

Description: Naruto and Hinata are on a mission to inspect a bathhouse. What could possibly go wrong?

Murig - Magical Girl's Club

Description: Naruto infiltrates a magic school and becomes a sexy witch. And, yes, Hinata still falls for him/her.

Nabe Tsukami - I'll see you in the light

Description: Minato and Kushina meet in the afterlife, and they find to their chagrin that they are not alone.

Nawa Luco - Happy Love to you

Description: Naruto catches Hinata smelling his Hokage robe and decides to have some fun with her.

Nearly Equal - Thank you

Description: A collection of stories from Konoha’s favorite families.

Rino & Uta - Shinobi are those who love deeply

Description: Two stories set in the “Unawareness Period” where Naruto and Hinata bond with each other.

Sami - 16Dream 

Description: Naruto gets drunk and Hinata changes back to her 16-year-old self to placate him. And... Things get out of control.

Sorry guys, it’s R18, can’t post it here, you have to message me for the raws. But you can find a clean translated version of this over at TLAnon’s Patreon.

Sami - Distance to the first bite

Description: Hinata feeds Naruto and reminisces about the past. A really cute story. You might be interested to know that it’s already translated and posted over at TL Anon’s Patreon.

Soda - All Right in the End

Description: A collection of short stories where the common theme is Naruto and Hinata growing closer and more comfortable with each other. You might be interested to know that it’s already translated and posted over at TL Anon’s Patreon.

Quail Egg - The Sky is just like

Description: A collection of cute short stories about Naruto and Hinata before The Last.

TOM - Naruto Bowl

Description: A collection of short stories focusing on all the canon couples, where the common theme is food and sharing. Some stories are funny, some are sad, some are sweet, some are bitter, but they are all pretty damn fullfilling. You might be interested to know that it’s already translated and posted over at TL Anon’s Patreon.

Veritas - A Bouquet of Flowers

Description: Temari decides to break up with Shikamaru in order to get back on the sand village and focus on her own brothers. But is this really what she wants? You might be interested to know that it’s already translated and posted over at TL Anon’s Patreon.

WankoHime - Nonchinochiato

Description: A collection of random stories set in the Boruto era,

Various Anthology- Happily Ever After

Description: A collection of stories focusing on various aspects and the NaruHina wedding.

Various Anthology- Shinobi Love World

Description: An anthology of short stories focusing on ALL the couples. Yes, even the most obscure ones.

#NaruHina #Doujin hunt #Doujin Preview #doujins

[fangirlinsweden]

Never Mess with Voodoo Part 2

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: Voodoo, magical things, money problems, angst                        

Word Count:                                                                    

Square Filled: Fairytale AU for @star-spangled-bingo        

Summary:  Prince Steven visits New Orleans and gets tangled with a Voodoo Curse and running for his life. Y/N gets messed up in his curse and together they try to find a way to break the course and free their new friends they made during the journey.

A/N: New series for the @star-spangled-bingo. I think it will be about 5 parts. It is based on the Disney movie The Princess and the frog. But it is my twist of things.

Also today it’s been a year since Stan Lee past away and I wrote this series him in mind. So I have written him into the story, as a cameo.

I would like to thank @allaboutthebooz​ for her support and motivation. And I would also like to thank @kaunis-sielu​ and @banditthewriter​ for there insight in how they write and deal with things. If you have not read any of there work, you really should check it out!!

You had spent the last couple of days baking a thousand Beignets and now you feel exhausted, but you had promised Virginia to be at her masquerade and you kept your promises. Virginia had been so giddy when you met her the other day and so sure that Prince Steven would fall madly in love with her. You were not so sure. Not that Virginia was not lovely, but did love at first sight really happen? Maybe Prince Steven would become Virginia's husband in the future or her friend might make an ass out of herself as she goes after her dreams at becoming a real princess. You hoped for the first and if you could you would try and make sure that the last one did not happen. Your costume was one of a simple farm girl because it was a costume you found in your closet. No need to spend money on a new costume. The money needed to go to your dream and nothing else. You knew Virginia would not be happy with your costume, but that she would get over it.   

You packed everything together and walked out to the car that Virginia's father, Robert, had sent to pick you up. Robert was a sweetheart and you knew that he was worried about you living in your neighbourhood, but you had refused to accept his help at living somewhere else. You needed to take care of yourself. It was a thing about pride for you. He had even offered you move in with him and Virginia at the mansion, but it was too far to your jobs from there. You greeted the driver and he helped you put everything in the car and then you were off to the party. 

  When you arrived at the mansion the preparations for the party was in full swing. Virginia was walking around all the servers in a beautiful pale pink ball gown and she had a tiara on her head that glistered in the light. It didn't surprise you that she was dressed as a princess.  “Oh, Y/N,” Virginia said as she hurried over to you. “I am so glad that you are here.” She gave you a big hug.  “Where else would I be,” You hugged her back.  “I am just so nervous,” she admits and drags you towards the snack table where servers are plating your Beignets.  “You have nothing to be nervous about,” You say and squeeze her hand. “You look beautiful, the part looks fantastic and you are going to meet a prince. What more can you ask for?” Virginia looks away and it sounded like she sobbed.  “What is wrong?” you ask and she turns around. You can see the tears in her eyes.  “I need to tell you something…” Virginia starts saying when her father comes over and interrupts. Virginia looks away from her father and blinks away her tears.  “Y/N, you came,” He laughs and pulls you into a hug.  “Hey, there Robert,” you laugh. “Or should I call you King Robert?” He laughs and realises you from his arms. “I am not the King until tomorrow,” Robert winks at you. “Then I will just wait until tomorrow,” You smile at him. Virginia is quiet, just standing there which was not like her.  “Still nervous, my dear?” Robert asks his daughter. She smiles at her father and shakes her head.  “Not now that Y/N is here,” she answers and lay her arm around your shoulders. “Although I wish she would have a more eye-catching costume on.”  “You know the reason behind my clothes,” you look down at your feet, feeling your face heat up. You hated this.  “I know,” Virginia pulls you a bit closer. “I just wish you would let me spoil you sometimes.” You make a waving gesture with your hand and they drop it. They know you well enough to know what you have said if you had continued talking. You wanted to be independent and not live on your friends. Yes, you could probably ask Robert for a loan for the restaurant, but it just felt wrong not to earn your own money. Robert and his family had worked hard for generations to have the riches they had now. You wanted to do that as well, without shortcuts.  The band that was going to play at the party arrived and Virginia says she needs to deal with them, but that she would be back soon. “I think it is time that you change before Virginia comes back and scolds at you,” you smirk at Robert. He laughs a big belly laugh.  “You are so right, my dear Y/N,” Robert looks around. “Save me a dance later on.” You promise and he walks up the stairs. You twirl around looking at all the pretty lights and feel better than you had in a while. Being with your friends always helped get your spirit up. 

The party was in full swing around you. People were dressed as pirates, mermaids, ghosts and famous people. Robert was dressed as Julius Caesar. You were looking for Virginia because you had not seen her for a while. During the party, men had asked her to dance the whole night, but she had still not accepted a single one, that wasn't her father. She was no were to be seen as you walked around the party. Just as you were about to go ask Robert if he had seen his daughter you saw her standing away from people in the shadows. You hurried over. “Virginia, I been looking for you,” You say as you come closer to her. Her eyes were watery and there were watermarks down her cheeks. In her hand she had a paper tissue that has been torn and twisted. It was clenched in her hand. “Are you all right?” you whisper out. You knew Virginia would not want anyone to see her like this.  “No. I am not. I can’t believe this. I am stood up by a man I never even met. I am stood up again,” Virginia brings the hand with the tissue up to her chest, not looking at you. “Maybe he will be here soon,” you try and make her feel better.  Trying to figure out who could have stood her up in the past. It was not something you had heard about before. Virginia shifts her eyes up to the sky. “Please, please,” she whispers out as a tear falls down her cheek. You quietly dry it with your thumb. It did not feel like she was wishing for Prince Steven.   “Virginia, I am sorry,” you say and take her hand. “I don’t think that will work.” “It always worked before,” Virginia said. “Or almost always.” She looks away from your eyes. The heartbroken look on her face over the wish that had not come true, that you wondered what it could have been? There goes a whisper through the party and someone announces that Prince Steven of Maldonia has arrived at the party. Virginia’s whip around with wide-open eyes. You can see her father walks over to the prince. She dries away her tears with her hand and looks at you. “How do I look?” she asks you and you give her a smile. “Beautiful as always,” you answer honestly.  She gives you a big smile, but it does not really reach her eyes. She walks through the crowd and to her father and Prince Steven. You stand in the sidelines and look on as she bows to him and he kisses her hand. You had to admit he was gorgeous. You were not surprised when he walks out on the dancefloor with Virginia. They looked beautiful together. There is a small tug in your chest. You wanted to find someone to share your life with, but you wanted to be a successful first. Because who would want you as you were? A waiter with hardly any money that worked all the time. You did not have time for dating and falling in love not now.  

Virginia was still dancing around with Prince Steven an hour later. They looked beautiful together and you would believe that Virginia would have a big smile on her face, and she had a smile on, but it seemed fake. To think of it, Virginia had not been herself the whole night and if she thought back to her friend had been acting kind of different for a long time now. It was as she was putting on a happy front for everyone to see. Her smile did not reach her eyes and her laugh was just a tone of.  You turn around to walk over to the snack table. A group of men are talking loudly to the right of you and one of the men are eyeing you. It makes a cold shiver go through your body. It was as if he thought you were a part of the snacks served at the party. You take one of your Beignets and take a bit. It melted on your tongue, which made you really happy. It was a recipe from your father and it was going to be on the menu on your restaurant. You decide to take a glass of punch so you make your way over to the bar, but the men that been talking loudly start walking towards you, so you step to your side, but still one of the men walk right into you and you can feel a cold wet sensation over your upper body. It felt sticky as well.  “Look where you are going,” you mutter at the partygoer that just dumped a whole glass of punch over you.  “Sorry, I did not see you,” the man smirks and looks down at you. “Go along and give me a new glass of punch.” You ball your hands into fists. “I am not here as a server, I am a guest.” you grit your teeth, “Could have fooled me with that outfit,” the man snicker at you. You take a step forward. You hated when people looked down on you. Virginia hurried up to you and the man.  “Y/N, come along with me now,” Virginia says and drags you away from the man. You don't see but she makes a gesture to two of your friends to escort the man from the party.  “Let’s get you out of these wet clothes. I have the perfect dress for you in my room,” Virginia guides you into the mansion and up the stairs. You don’t fight her.  “I am so sorry for that moron down there,” Virginia says as you walk into Virginia's bedroom.  “It’s okay Virginia,” you look down at the floor. “Maybe I should just go home.” “Absolutely not,” Virginia says determinedly. “I need my best friend here with me tonight.” You nod and smile at her. “I saw you dance with Prince Steven,” you say and she looks down at the floor. “He is really something else,” Virginia mutters.  “Not what you had thought?” you tilt your head to the side. “I.. I just..,” Virginia starts and walks over to one of her wardrobes.  “You know you can tell me anything,” You say and walk over to her. “Please tell me what it was you wanted to tell me earlier.” Virginia shakes her head.  “Not tonight,” she says and starts going through her closet. “I just can’t tonight. Can we talk about it after Mardi Gras?” “Of course,” You say and she hands you a beautiful light blue shimmering dress. “Just know I am here for you.” She nods hands you a tiara and begs you to get changed and come down to the party. You agree and she leaves you alone.

30 minutes later you stood dressed in the shimmering light blue dressed and a tiara that hat looked like it was made out of diamonds and silver. If you knew your friend it probably was. You were ready to join the party again, but something was holding you back. You look at your reflection in the mirror. Had you ever been dressed in something so beautiful before? You sigh and walked over to the balcony doors and opened them and stepped out in the moonlight. Maybe Virginia was right? Maybe all she needed to do was wish upon the brightest star in the sky and all her dreams would come true. It couldn't hurt to try, could it?  You found the brightest star and closed your eyes and wished for your restaurant. After a while, you opened your eyes and nothing was different. How long until you knew if it worked? “Excuse me,” you heard a tiny voice. You looked around but saw nobody. “Down here,” the voice said and you looked down at the floor. You let out a yelp. On the floor sat a green frog. Was it the frog that had talked? Can frogs talk or am I going insane? I really must be tired, hallucinating. But then it happens again. The frog opens his mouth and says:  “I am Prince Steven of Maldonia, but you can call me Steve,” the frog bows to you. You let out a scream and run into Virginia’s room. The frog hops after you so you take up the closest thing to you, which is Virginia’s favourite book when they grew up. A book full of fairy tales. “Wait, don’t hit me,” the frog screams out. You stop with the book above your head.  “Give me one good reason why I should not.” The book is still over your head and you are ready to toss it at the frog. “I will not hurt you,” Steve said with his hands raised up in the air.  “I don’t believe you,” you narrow your eyes on the frog. “And how can you be Prince Steven? Virginia is dancing with him right now.” “I don’t know who that is, I am the real Prince Steven,” Steve says still with his hands in the air. “Please, I just want to be a human again. I am not going to hurt you, I promise.”  “Well, that is not something I can help you with,” you slowly lower the book and place it on a table. Because what could a frog do to you? Steve jumps up on the table. He looks down at the book. “Maybe you can,” he says and stamps on the book. “What do you mean?” you raise an eyebrow to him. “Kiss me and I will be human again,” Steve winks at you. “No, never!” You take a step back, scrunching up your face. “Oh, come on, Princess” Steve begs. “Just one little kiss, it won’t kill you.” “I won’t kiss a frog,” you cross your arms over your chest. “If you kiss me I will marry you,” the frog Steve told you looking up at you. “I don’t need a prince or a knight in shining armour.” You say and raises your chin in the air.  “Then what do you need?” Steve asks and takes a slow hop closer to you. A sigh is heard in the room. Should you really tell a frog your problems?  “What I need is money to open my own restaurant.” You look down at the floor, feeling defeated. “If you kiss me, I can get you all the money you want,” the frog answered, with what looked like a grin. “I am rich.” He looked almost proud if a frog could look proud. “So all I need to do is to kiss you,” you muttered. “Kiss a frog and get all the money I need.” The frog nodded. “This sounds almost too good to be true, but what do I get to lose?” You crutch down and pick up the frog. The frog is slimy and kind of gross. Are you really going to kiss a frog? Yes, you are. There was always soap and water to wash your mouth after. After placing Steve on the dresser you close your eyes and inches your mouth closer to the frog. Just as your lips are going to touch you open your eyes and see the frog up and close, so you jump back.  “Juck, juck, juck,” you get out and when you look at Steve, he looks almost hurt. Can a frog look hurt? You don’t say a word, just steady yourself for the kiss. You close your eyes and promise yourself that you will keep them closed this time. You go down for the kiss and when your lips meet there is a light and then everything becomes black. 

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

Taglist:

@kaithezaftig

@lumar014

#Never mess with Voodoo #Never Mess with Voodoo Part 2 #Never Mess with Voodoo Series #Steve Rogers x reader #Steve Rogers #Steve #Steve x reader #Captain America x reader #Captain America #AU Serie #AU #Steve AU #Steve Rogers AU #Captain America AU #Marvel #MCU #Avengers #Marvel AU #Avengers AU #Marvel Fanfiction #Avengers Fanfiction #Steve Rogers Fanfiction #Steve Fanfiction #Captain America Fanfiction #Steve Series #Steve Rogers Series #Captain America series #star spangled bingo #Star-spangled-bingo #Starspangledbingo