#(3) there is often no way to know in advance if something i order online will ship via FedEx

[chamerionwrites]

Would pay actual money to ensure that nothing is EVER shipped to me via FedEx

[xnchxntmxnt]

ok, got it! so, firstly, congratulations. 🎉🥳 you're such an underrated writer and you're unbelievably talented. i hope i get to see you grow even more!

now, for the event, may i have, a fluffy renga x reader + Million Days (Acoustic) feat. Hoang & Claire Ridgely?

thanks in advance, take your time and take care.

thank you so much for the love i really appreciate it <3 and this song is so beautiful!! i love it a lot its on my playlist <3

Million Days

Fandom: Sk8 The Infinity

Characters: Reki Kyan + Langa Hasegawa

Warnings: poly renga. lots of fluff n kisses

Notes: the self indulgence in this is insane ,,, guitarist reki my beloved

gn!reader

Reblogs > likes

You knew full well there were three things Reki Kyan loved more than life itself. 

1, skateboarding. 

2, you. 

3, your and his boyfriend, Langa Hasegawa. 

Not necessarily in that order. 

However, recently, he’d picked up a new hobby. For the last few months, whenever you visited, Koyomi sat and complained about how she was tired of hearing him slamming the strings of his guitar. 

As funny as it was listening to her complain, you were quite curious to hear how all this practice was coming along. Anytime you or Langa asked he brushed it off and changed the subject as fast as possible. You were sure he wasn’t hiding anything because he would talk about it once in a while, but he didn’t seem to want to play anything in front of either of you. You figured he was nervous—not many people could play in front of a crowd, even if it was only the two of you. 

Until today, at least. 

He invited you over a few days prior, saying he had some sort of surprise. So when you sat on his bed (Langa curled up and laying in your lap), you grinned as he pulled out his guitar. 

“You playing something, Reki?” Langa asked, picking up his head slightly. 

“Nah, im just gonna make you stare at me while i make no noise,” he said sarcastically, no real venom behind his words. 

You scoffed and blew him a kiss from across the room. “Whatcha playing, then? Anything we know?”

“Just something I found online a couple of weeks ago, nothing super special, I think it’s pretty.”

“Hey, don’t do that.” you cut in, shooting him a reassuring look. He had a nasty habit of playing down his interests, so you did all you could to make him feel as special as you and Langa both knew he was. “I’m sure it's great.”

He smiled but didn't say anything, fidgeting and tuning. “Koyomi hates when I do this too loud, it's funny. Gets all sorts of mad because she says it’s ‘the same boring crap over and over’.”

“I mean this in the nicest way possible: your sister is boring because i like your song.”

“Langa, im not playing anything. I’m just tuning.”

“Oh…” 

You laughed and kissed Langa’s head. “Idiot.”

He pouted at you, but you knew he wasn't upset. Hard to be upset when he looked so comfortable and you were playing with his hair. 

Reki fidgeted with his phone for a minute or so before turning back to the two of you. “You’re not allowed to judge, alright, because its not great.”

“Reki.”

“it’s not wonderful, but im proud og myself and i wanted to show you—”

“Reki.”

“What?”

You smiled at him. “I'm sure it’s amazing, babe.” Langa nodded, reaffirming your statement. “Just play. I won’t look right at you if that would make you less nervous.”

“That would help, actually.”

“Got it.”

You looked away, suddenly finding a very interesting pattern of glow-in-the-dark star stickers you’d seen a million times before. He fidgeted for a minute or two longer before he finally started playing. And then singing.

I don't do this often You caught me off guard All of my friends said you moved out west You tell me stories underneath sun sets Could it be more than just one night? Kiss in the cab ride Head turning left right Get a ticket for two To wherever you choose Drinking some red out of the blue

You weren’t sure if you’d ever heard him sing by himself. If he did, it was always with the radio, and he never cared how he sounded. Instead, now, he sounded nice. Not a perfect, angel-like voice but one that was warm and comforting. 

For only playing for a few months, he sounded good. And singing and playing at the same time was harder than doing one or the other, so you had to applaud him for that. 

Hey boy Trust my intuitions Always I'm not superstitious I got lucky Stole your heart And it was mine for the taking

He played through the end of the song, letting the strings ring out. Reki refused to look up at you—at first, at least. He set his guitar down and swiped out the app on his phone, before finally turning toward the two of you. 

“So…?’

You weren’t sure about Langa, but you knew you had a wide grin on his face. If you were smart before he started playing you would have recorded it and kept it for yourself (and maybe Langa) because the way he played it was a perfect song to fall asleep to. 

You held your hand out to him wordlessly, and when he sat next to the two of you on his bed, you grabbed his face and kissed him all over. “That was amazing, sweetheart! You're so talented.”

“Eh, i kinda screwed up my words in the—” 

Any other words were lost against your lips. When he started that, you found it was easier to shut him up and then reassure him. “It was wonderful. I mean it.”

He looked to langa for approval as well. He smiled at the two of you and kissed reki’s knuckles. “I really like your voice,” he said stretching upward for a kiss. 

He obliged, then laid his head on your shoulder. “I was so nervous to do that,” he sighed, burying his face in your arm. “You two are lucky i love you.”

“Yes, yes we are.”

“Love you too, red.”

“You guys are making me blush, stop it!”

taglist

@sirimirihiro @emswordss @b3tterth4nm3 @otaku-thingz @kodzukoi @tama-jam + @rudolphsboyfriend reki for u luv <3 /p

[melindawiley24]

What are best betting strategies in 12bet for beginners ?          

If you are looking for online sports betting, you will find various articles on the basics, line reading and betting. You can also find some sites for advanced betting strategies and systems. However, there are sites that can help you from beginners to advanced techniques.

This site aims to fill that void. You will learn 11 simple sports betting strategies that anyone can use. Each of them is an important step in the development of the whole system, which will ultimately lead to profitable results.

1 - Start with small bets

Ordering books takes time. Of course, some players pick up a winning strategy faster than others, but even the best players learn. You can only bet on a limited number of sports, so don't make the mistake of betting on every event as you learn to win.

I started my sports betting career with a $22 bet. Most bets are only between $5 and $11. Today I would bet up to $11. I played part-time for about 20 years with varying degrees of success until I had enough.

I have used many different strategies over the years to help solve this problem but have yet to make any money from them. I lowered the price. The biggest thing I did was place most of my bets on individuals rather than bookies and bookies.

This eliminates labor costs and is a good low-stakes strategy. It takes only half an hour to set up at no charge. This strategy gets harder when you start aiming higher because you can't find people willing to lift and limit you.

When you start betting on sports, you decide how much you want for your investment. Remove it and use it only for sports betting. Divide that amount by 100 and don't bet more than that amount until you know how to improve your results.

You can make mistakes and using a small amount of money won't cost you much. This method also allows you to make a series of bets before you run out of money. The longer you stay in the game, the more likely you are to find a winning system.

2 - Focus on a small area

I'll talk about betting on your favorite teams in another chapter, but one mistake sports bettors make when betting on big games is often betting on things they know very little about.

You have a better chance of picking a winner if you focus

instead of betting everything. Focus on one sport instead of betting on NFL, MLB, NBA and NCAA games.

By focusing on a small area, you can gain knowledge that will help you pick winners. To be a successful bettor, you need to know as much as possible about the teams and players you are betting on. If you can collect and analyze more data from people than just posting series, you've reached a point where you can earn a solid income.

Specialization is the way to start. I understand that one of the reasons you want to bet on sports is to make the games more interesting, but to make the game more interesting you have to decide if you are willing to pay to lose the bet. increase your chances of success.

3 - Money line bet

Most sporting events have at least two different lines. One of the rules is to bet against the spread. A spread bet has points where one team wins a point and the other team gives a point.

Another common type of betting line is the money line. With a money line bet, you pick the team to win the match to win the bet. For money line bets, the winning amount is usually different from spread bets.

Compared to spread bets, they usually pay 11-10 or 110-100 when betting on either side of the match. Money betting in 12bet is something else. The extra money you need to bet what you can win on the spread is called a draw and that's how the bookies make their money.

There is also a screen for money line bets, but it is harder to see as the lines are laid out differently. Here is an example of a money bet limit and how it works.

This game has Nebraska at Penn State. The team with the plus sign, in this case Nebraska, is the underdog. +150 means if you bet $100 on Nebraska and they win the game, you get $100 back and win $150.

The favorite, in this case Penn State, has a negative number. This number means you need to bet enough to win $100. So you need to bet $170 to win $100 at Penn State.

When you start betting on sports, the difference can be used to pick the winner. Bookmakers are good at placing lines close to the final score, so it's hard to know which team will win by a margin.

But it's much easier to pick the team to beat. As the example shows, it is more expensive to buy a favorite, but it is still easier to pick a winner.

You can also look for underdogs that have a high chance of winning. If you can win more than you risk, you don't need to pick multiple winners to make a profit.

4 - Understand local bias

In all sports, the home team wins more than the visitors. The exact percentages vary by sport and season, but you'll see it in all sports. Most people know this from watching games, but few understand the public's attitude towards sports betting. You need to understand what home bias is and how it can affect your sports betting results.

Since the home team wins more often than the away team, many bettors give too much credit to the home team when determining the best bet. This is called local bias. While you should consider the home team's chances of winning, you can't count on them sitting at home too much when trying to pick the best team to bet on.

5 - Online shopping is profitable

If you only have one choice when betting on a sporting event, you need to decide which side of the bet is more likely to win. But if you have more options where to bet, you can compare the tips offered in different places.

Today you can bet with local bookies, multi-city bookies and hundreds of online bookies. You can use 12bet to earn more money over time.

You rate the games equally, but once you figure out which team should win, you can look at different bookies to get the best line. This applies to both spread betting and money limits.

[official-amadoxjigen]

kara characters as my wendy’s shift

Jigen

General manager

Zero customer service. He doesn’t do it. If you call the store, he won’t answer.

If you come up to complain about an order, he says “i find that hard to believe” and kicks you out of the store.

No refunds

No flaps on the boxes

Does not care about requested time off, other priorities, school, emergencies, etc when writing the schedule.

It doesn’t matter how many weeks in advance you put it in. He will read it in front of you and proceed to ignore it.

Charges you if you lose your shirt or hat.

Manager meals are $10 or under. This is not company policy. It’s Jigen policy.

Despite this the store is still bleeding money.

Any position he does he is confusingly slow at.

Rarely puts himself online.

If he does he will only do orders and back reg.

Hobby is sitting in the office and walking around the store every hour or so to tell everyone what they’re doing wrong.

Always goes to the bank himself. Amado is not allowed to leave the store. He knows he may never return.

Amado

Opening manager

Who also closes, often back to back

He really wants to write the schedule, but Jigen won’t let him.

Always picking up the slack, doing 3 positions at once

Has been known to get frustrated and yell during a confusing lunch rush, but no one takes him seriously. Often seen being talked back to by teenagers.

Always carrying his clipboard with the schedule and losing it subsequently.

Actually good at his job

Boro

Grill

I’ve never seen an anime character who’s going to come in at 10:30 to do grill all day more than Boro

Definitely does not pay attention to hold times or clean anything behind himself.

Always grabs the wrong spatula

Always forgets to drop potatoes and gets mad when you suggest it to him because “we never sell potatoes”

Doesn’t use gloves when dropping chicken

If he has gloves, does not change them

Washes his hands when directly told to his face to do so

Can do fries in a pinch but will be slow and triggered

Code

Average teenager trained on orders, hand out, and front counter

Believes that not being able to legally drop fries prevents him from getting his own fries and nuggets

Other than that fully capable at all three positions, but will never go out of his way to help any other position

Even in a rush when he clearly has nothing to do, he will stand there silently with a disastrous handout station

Never pulls cars. Stands there like an NPC for seven minutes when waiting on something before asking whatever manager happens to wander into his line of sight what he should do

Best to put him on orders or front because of this even though he starts sassing customers after more than an hour of either position.

You can technically make him do post rush or various prep tasks but be prepared for this to take him way way longer than it ever should.

If you tell him to clean the lobby he’ll go get the trays and come back. If Jigen is there he will wipe down tables too.

Tells Amado when he’s going on his breaks and when he’s off and does not wait for response or acknowledgment.

Surprisingly, has never called off

When Jigen scolds him for something he will overcompensate for the rest of the day. Jigen says to pull more cars? He pulls every car and confuses himself. 

Jigen says to upcharge? Automatically makes every customer’s order a large without asking.

Delta

Thinks you have to kick the nonexistent motion sensor on the wall to open the window.

Can do most positions but will never volunteer herself.

Usually on handout or orders, but ideally fries. She’ll complain no matter what.

A boss at multitasking, but incapable of comprehending when the order gets changed on back reg or the tickets get switched.

If she’s at the window, whatever she’s doing, it is HER window. A total control freak.

Will interrupt you in the middle of taking an order to ask a question she believes needs to be asked.

Expects everyone else to restock for her somehow.

If you tell her to train a new person on handout, she’ll just do orders and handout and make the new person put napkins in the bags and hand out the drinks.

Banned from collecting money since her till is always short.

High ponytail does nothing to prevent hair-in-food accusations

On orders she will put everything in her pockets on the counter for no reason. Phone, wallet, keys, lip gloss, hair ties, drink she’s not supposed to have online.

Leaves twelve half full cups in the break room with her straws stabbed through receipts so no one takes them.

Kashin Koji

Amado’s super reliable friend he hired who calls off on 7/10 shifts

Capable of fries, grill, and sandwiches when he is here

Randomly disappears. When he returns it is discovered he was on his break. 

Why he gets 5 a day, no one knows

A complete non-entity

Was accidentally put on front counter once and actually did nothing.

A better line 2 sandwich maker than line 1

Announces all sandwiches as he gives them to you but he is wrong half the time and there’s no reason for it

“It’s a wait for nuggets” “How long?” “...” *is gone*

Won’t remake sandwiches or fries when asked, will instead engage in a long debate about where the one he made you already would have hypothetically ended up 

[masonsystem]

super long post of me complaining abt totk irt to my totk playthru bc I <3 Complaining ❤️❤️

maybe its cuz i played like a fuckton during the first week (tho i only have 65 hours total so idk how that compares to the average playerbase) or maybe its cuz ive been playing in an unconventional way, but totk is starting to feel boring to me... (or maybe the game design just sucks..?)

i play unconventionally in that i have disregarded the plot.. bc in botw it was so boring to me. and i watched all the totk cutscenes online anyways and it was as i suspected, i wouldve been disappointed and annoyed if i wasted time collecting all those memories just to get some half-baked story.

im on the fence for doing dungeons tho.. i see my sister doing one, and it does actually look kinda fun, but i worry how satisfying it will actually be, and if i finish the dungeon's boss, will this game's final boss(es) be too easy? (thats what happened in botw.. but maybe ill just do the dungeon and skip the boss? if i can do that?)

i did do the beginning of the gerudo main questline, and it was rly.. boring.... fighting the gibdos was rly boring.. i guess figuring out that mirror puzzle with little help was fun. but it was overall pretty (._.) have yet to enter the dungeon. again idk if i want to

but also another thing is that like its rly rly Really hard for me to gaf abt any npcs in this game LOL.. they just like. say a whole bunch of nothings..... bc like in older games, dialogue helps w worldbuilding since theyre so technologically limited. but in a game like this, you see the world that you get. theres not much that their dialogue adds on, and its only sometimes funny anyways. and i always find myself mashing thru it anyways, bc i just.. dont care.. and also, even if they are saying something supplemental to the world, a useful tip or whatever, its 1.) a teeny tiny tip that i probably could or wouldve learned online or 2.) a mini questline with the most eh reward ever.

i guess cuz in older games you Had to talk to people to figure out what to do next. theres no 'what to do next' in this game so i just.. yeah. im just often unmotivated to know what theyve got to say. of course theyve helped me here and there but its like.. in most games i play, i try to talk to as many npcs i can. but i never feel the need to do this in totk, from either how uninteresting they are, or bc the info they tell me tends to be something i already know.

and my apathy of npcs unfortunately extend to the main quest as well (gorons rito etc), and although i say i wish this game gave me more reasons to talk to npcs, i still end up disliking how totk/botw goes around w it in their main quests; cuz now theres like, a break in the gameplay, where i Must speak to NPCs to advance the 'plot'. my gameplay of exploration, engaging in combat whenever i please, and so on, has to be paused to do this quest. and arguably these quests do provide me the opportunity to explore and whatnot, but its no longer done by Myyyy pace. i have to follow whatever pace and order the game has set for me to do. which Sucks. it really sucks to have a game which im enjoying bc of the freedom, to restrict my freedom like that.

(and this is also why i disliked shrines in the first game.... my regular gameplay gets broken up in order for me to enter shrines (which all look the absolute same as every other one btw, so theres no motivator of 'ohhh i wonder what this shrine looks like?'). and i have to solve the shrine in whatever way its making me to. and obvs some shrines have multiple solutions but more often than not it tends to be limiting.... anyways this is why i deeply prefer shrine quests in the overworld over basic shrines. i much prefer solving puzzles as im exploring as opposed to having to essentially pause my gameplay just to earn hearts and stamina.

in terms of exploration + combat (bc the two go hand in hand).. after getting all the towers, i feel that theres little left for me to do. now that i have a decent amount of hearts and stamina (8 hearts + 1.75 stamina wheels), theres nothing tht really motivates me to do more shrines. the shrines in this game are a lot better than botw's (most of the time), but once ive lost the desire to do shrines as well its a bit.. (._.)

and ive explored most of the west side of the depths, i think roughly 30% overall, but that has gotten a bit boring as well. which is a shame, bc i think its a lot of fun to explore in pitch-black terrain. but as ive said before, it visually stays the same throughout the entire terrain which ends up making it feel very monotonous. same ol grey and purples forever and ever... i wish there was a variety of biomes and landscapes or something (itd be nice if the east looks drastically different but i sincerely doubt it). so far its just grey stretches of land and monster mine camps and maybe the occasional flux construct boss like :/

and combat... ergh... EH.... well just like botw its a blast in the beginning when everything is still hard. but like... all my weapons are pushing 40 atk power now. im like. Ripped. the monsters.. do not reflect this. like firstly u still get those annoying one hit monsters like chuchus, keese, and bokoblins. which is whatever i guess.. annoying but theyre there to spice it up. so whateves. but its when the monster camps still have red monsters like.. what?! even having blue monsters is pushing it honestly. the red ones dies in one hit, and the blues dies in 2-3 hits. black ones are starting to catch up in this regard, but are still a challenge. but there just isnt enough silver ones which ideally should be spawning at this point...

its come to a point where i just end up ignoring most monster camps, bc the reward drops just aren't very good either. like i do not explore in a conventional order, so im already stacked with royal gear. i do not need traveller sword #5. and the game has not adapted with that. i wish it did, bc man the game is getting boring 😮‍💨

there is more to say. maybe ill be more coherent after i get off my bed LOL. but yeah totk still has the same issues as totk which is... erm. not great

[survey--s]

321.

what is your favorite kind of ice cream? Our local ice-cream parlour does some great flavours - tiramisu, blueberry and panacotta, Jaffa Cakes and peanut butter. if people could read your mind, what would they usually find? A load of jumbled nonsense. who do you talk to on the phone most often? I only really talk to my mum on the phone. what's a song that makes you feel happy? Summertime by Bon Jovi. what celebrity would you like to meet? Johnny Depp.

what's the best concert you've ever been to? Plain White T’s were really good live. They had good support groups too. what is your favorite clothing store? Fat Face. how did you meet your best friend? We met via online dating. do you need money to be happy? I mean, money doesn’t equal happiness, but I’d much rather have food and shelter than not. what is something you do well? Tidy and organise things. what's a good idea you've had recently? To take Fridays off over the summer. It’s been lovely to have some three-day weekends for a change. what is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, smashed avocado on sourdough toast, a proper Full English or fresh croissants. how far in advance do you prefer to plan? With work, I like knowing my week by Sunday night, but for personal stuff I generally plan quite last minute as I never know how I’ll feel in advance. do you like to wear high heels? Nope. how many slices of pizza do you usually eat? I happily eat an entire pizza, lol. But pizzas here aren’t served as slices - you just order a whole one and the expectation is you eat the lot. Can you remember life without technology? what was it like? I mean, there’s always been technology, but it was pretty basic when I was young. I didn’t know any different so it was fine, but I’m glad it exists now.

what gift would you like to receive? Money is always good. what's the last thing you paid for? Toiletries. what's the last movie you watched? Gosford Park. do you remember your dreams? When I first wake up, but not really later on in the day. do you play any instruments? Not anymore. I can play some, though. do you always smile for pictures? No. what are you most excited about right now? Having a long weekend and then having two weeks off at the end of August. if you had $5 in your pocket what yould you spend it on? I have no idea, I have nothing I need to buy right now. how often do you buy things via the internet? Maybe 2-3 times a week. would you like to live in a different country? if so which one? Yeah, Canada or Australia. what animal would you see first if you went to the zoo? Penguins or tigers. if you could switch places with someone for a day, who would it be? Someone with a beach house and a swimming pool, please. do you prefer the aisle, middle, or window seat on a plane? Window or aisle. what's your favorite song from a movie? I have no idea, there are loads of amazing soundtracks out there. Lately, We are Not Alone by Karla DeVito. where would you like to volunteer? I don’t really like the idea of volunteering as I think people should be paid for the work they do, but maybe an animal sanctuary or something. would you rather go out for dinner or cook at home? Have a takeaway or go out. who sent the last text message you received? Jane, a client of mine re-arranging a visit as her cat needed to go to the vets. what's your favorite flower? Lilys. what's the last song you listened to? I don’t remember, whatever was playing in the car on my way home from work. do you like being alone? Yep, I need my alone time to function lol. what was the last thing you ate? Bacon flavoured crisps. how do you find new music? Spotify and YouTube, also the radio occasionally. what is your dream travel destination? Iceland, New Zealand, Japan. if you could play any instrument what would it be? I have no idea. what's the last youtube video you watched? An episode of some policing programme. where are you going on your next trip? We’re going to Broughton for a dog walk and lunch on Friday, if that counts? what are you currently addicted to? Without a Trace.

[morantanner37]

The Method To Spot Faux Louis Vuitton Luggage

So I wished to get your ideas earlier than I think about buying the identical one. Louis Vuitton’s hardware luggage can additionally be created from high-quality solid brass, which is sturdy and evenly colored. Many pretend bags will reduce corners with low cost, overly shiny gold plating. I had no issues and received all 7 bags good and neat and fairly quickly. I am contemplating ordering from DD and I’m questioning if any of the bags you received from them have an odor. Sometimes items coming from China odor like chemicals. Because the luggage are a bit costly and so they don’t have credit card for fee. One place you may get the replica purses is in Louis Vuitton. Replica bagmakers before typically misspell the brands on objective for worry of copyright infringement. Nowadays, due to the recent advancements in technology and manufacturing, the replica luggage of right now have totally changed. This is a common query in relation to the Louis Vuitton bags – the place are they made? louis vuitton replica Well, no need to worry about that, as this information is being mentioned even on their website, right here. Most of your questions, answered Reviews & Wall of Love Check out what folks have to say about us! If the luggage do not come well packaged, they're decently straightforward to scuff up. Luckily most of those scuffs may be cleaned/buffed off, but some cant. Other times you presumably can have marks from whatever printing they do for the color. Part of my white bag has some purple from the liner on the deal with. I must say six of the bags have been awesome with the ysl being the best. You’re not on the lookout for stuff that falls apart or gets faded actually rapidly. Before I knew it, my walk-in closet started to fill with brands like Louis Vuitton, MCM, Dior, Celine, St. Laurent, and of course, Gucci. They have money, however they don’t have that much cash. The problem was, I was paying with plastic. However, I did have to wait nearly per week to obtain the bag, which probably doesn’t seem that lengthy, however when you’re used to 2-3 day deliveries, this will really feel like eternally. Perhaps this is a very nitpicky con, however it’s just something I wish was slightly different. Unless the bag is very vintage, this code should always be current and make sense. If the numbers point out that the bag was made in say, 2050, you’ll know that you've a faux in your arms. This product code authenticator is an efficient way to rapidly determine the date and nation your bag was made in. While Louis Vuitton baggage don’t have correct a serial quantity, the code you can see is the date code. In the industry, these are the indications for an “AAA” quality. I can confidently go to the internet site of any high-end model and know in the back of my head that I will be ready to find a replica for it that prices a tiny fraction of its value. I’m a girl who just recently graduated from faculty. wikipedia handbags As you'll have the ability to well think about, since I just received out of college, I don’t have a lot of a price range for luxury fashions. My guide enables you to get off the radar as far as these people are involved. If you can faux these individuals out on a budget, there’s no telling who you can fake-out. Nowadays, girls can now buy replica luggage and get all of the top of the range options for a fraction of the price. It’s very sensible because girls can now highlight their impeccable style style with out worrying that anybody would know they’re using an imitation Louis Vuitton bag. With most of the replicas I purchased or seen online, I usually seen two main disparities between them and the true deal… namely, the stitching and quality of the leather. The leather-based often felt actually poor quality and the stitching typically wasn’t straight however instead slightly wonky. However, with this bag, I’m joyful to report that the leather not only seems and feels costly, however the stitching is neat and orderly. Bags made before the early 1980’s didn’t have a date code, however nearly each bag you’ll find in circulation right now ought to have this code printed somewhere on the bag. Even on an excellent replica of a Louis Vuitton bag, the hardware can typically be a great giveaway as to what’s pretend and what’s genuine. The LV monogram pattern will never be crooked or reduce off at a seam in the center of the bag. The basic LV emblem sample consists of the monogram and three distinctive quatrefoil designs. This constantly repeats in the identical order across the bag.

[leblancleblanc95]

6 Explanations Why You Should Outsource Your Online Card Design

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[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Portrait of a Dangerous Man🎨1

Warnings: (series) non-consent sex and rape; slow creep; cucking; (this chapter) nothing as yet.

This is dark!mob!Clark Kent x reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Synopsis: Your dream of having your work hung in an art show comes true but your first buyer is not all he seems to be.

Note: Yay, mob Clark. And I know what you’re saying right now, enough with Clark Kent! I get it haha. Promise, for a while, this will be the last I do of him. I have Lee fic in the work right now, the early development of medieval Peter, and I’m still sitting on some Loki ft. an exchange student... and then all my other series of course!

Thanks to everyone for reading and thanks in advance for all your feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 As usual, I’d appreciate if you let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

You stood against the wall, chewing your lip as you looked around the gallery. You should be ecstatic, you should be floating around on a cloud, but all you could feel was crushing anxiety. It was truly a dream come true; your art hanging on the wall. Only three pieces, but it was there, and your name was below it in print.

You tugged on the waist of your dress and teetered in your heels. It was a borrowed outfit, you couldn’t afford anything appropriate to the upscale venue. The classic starving artist, or almost. You slipped your phone from your purse and up your sleeve. You subtly checked the time and for the little chat icon in the corner. Still no message.

Marcus was almost an hour late. He texted just after the event opened to warn you he was caught up with work but you worried he wouldn’t show up at all. It wasn’t his fault his boss was a jackass but you weren’t prepared to face this alone. You dropped your phone back into your slender purse and snapped it shut.

Vanessa, the gallery owner, made you flinch as she appeared almost out of the air. You smiled at her shyly and stopped chewing your lip.

“You should mingle,” she said, “you have an interested buyer. You might have a few more if you come out from the corner.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so nervous,” you confessed, “I-- thank you so much for this opportunity.”

“You earned it,” she touched your arm daintily, “all those hard hours working the back room, I couldn’t not hang a few pieces.”

You fixed your posture and tried to seem as confident as her. Your income came solely from hours of at-home data entry as you volunteered at the gallery in your few hours between. It was all worth it and maybe if you sold something tonight, Vanessa would feature you work again and you wouldn’t need to spend the bulk of your days staring at tiny font.

“So, where’s this buyer?” you asked hopefully.

“That’s my girl,” Vanessa trilled, “he seems very interested.”

She led you across the room, stopping to greet other artists and old friends with a kiss on the cheek and deep laughter. You’d met them all before as you were often working at these events. It was your first time as one of them.

When at last you neared your little stretch of the wall, a man stood with his head slightly back as he stared at your proto-renaissance portraits. He was tall and his broad shoulders strained the rich fabric of his jacket. His dark hair was neatly parted and a slight curl marked the front above the shadow of scruff poking out along his jawline.

“Mr. Kent,” Vanessa chimed, “I found her.”

He turned to look at you and his deep blue eyes struck you. He smiled between you and the gallery owner, his chiseled jaw even more defined by the gesture.

“This is Mr. Kent,” she introduced you in turn, “I believe he was interested in the larger piece.”

“All three, if you don’t have another buyer lined up,” he intoned, “I think they belong together.”

“All of them?” you raised your brows, “well, I, yeah, I guess--”

“We can put something together for you,” Vanessa interrupted your awkward stuttering, “let me just mark them.”

She took the silver pen she kept on a chain around her wrist and scribbled in the corner of the tags to mark them as sold. You were slightly numb at your disbelief. You were a bit reluctant to part with your work but the check would ease your grief.

“The way you use colours,” he said as he faced the paintings again, “I’ve recently had some work done in my house and I hate the sight of naked walls.”

“Thank you,” you said as you stepped a little closer and looked at your delicate strokes.

“Pardon me,” Vanessa rushed away as she beckoned to one of her assistants and prattled orders.

“Vanessa tells me you’re a new artist,” he said.

“New in a sense,” you said, “I guess, I’m officially an artist now.”

“Oh? I’m flattered. Your first buyer?”

“Besides some online fanart, yeah,” you replied, “so, Mr. Kent, what do you do?”

“Clark,” he corrected, “and a little bit of everything.”

An awkward silence took over and was thankfully interrupted by your name. You turned as Marcus rushed over and his shoes slipped on the polished floor. He reached you and kissed your cheek as he caught his breath.

“I’m so sorry, I got caught in traffic on the way over and then my oil light started flashing,” he gasped out.

“Hey, you’re here,” you rubbed his shoulder and straightened his tie without thinking as it hung at an angle.

“So, you sell anything yet?” he asked.

“Yes, actually, um, Mr-- Clark,” you gestured to the man standing patiently to the side, “he just bought all three.”

“Damn,” Marcus said, “guess I can hold onto my savings.”

“Marc,” you nudged his arm with your knuckles, “you know we can’t afford your cheesiness.”

“Sorry, uh,” Marcus laughed at himself, “I’m Marcus.”

He held out his hand and Clark shook it. His eyes strayed to you as his features sharpened just a little.

“You two…?” he ventured.

“Five years,” Marcus announced, “guess we’re going steady.”

“Oh,” Clark nodded placidly, “are you an artist too?”

“God no, I can hardly write my own name legibly,” Marcus kidded, “I’m a developer.”

“Computers,” Clark mused.

“Yeah, computers,” Marcus scoffed, “and you?”

“Own a couple businesses,” Clark shrugged.

“Must be successful if you can hang around here,” Marcus said and you elbowed him in embarrassment.

“I guess,” Clark smoothed his dark purple jacket and checked his watch, “I’ll let you two be. Maybe I’ll find something to go with these fine pieces.”

“Thank you,” you said sweetly, “I’m happy to see my work go to a good home.”

“I hope to see more in future,” he returned kindly.

He turned and carried on to the statue constructed of can tabs and greeted another suited man. You looked at Marcus as he leaned in to read the tags beneath your paintings. He stood and looked at you with wide eyes.

“Holy shit, ten grand?” he hissed.

“Pretty good pay for one night,” you chirped, “glad you could make it.”

“Sorry again, I… I had to redo some code. Adam was in a mood so,” he shook his head and sighed, “let’s not talk about it. Let’s celebrate.” He peeked over at the server with a tray of stemmed flutes, “and you can decide what you’re going to buy me with that check.”

“Hush,” you chided as you took a glass of champagne, “now is not the time to go over bills.”

🎨

At the end of the night, you watched one of the assistants take down your canvas and you helped wrap them in paper and twine. As you finished a loopy knot, you were surprised by the figure beside you. You looked up and set the smallest piece atop the larger ones. Clark smiled as you moved to let him pick them up.

“All yours,” you said, almost mournful to see them go.

“Thanks,” he said as he tucked them easily under his thick arm, “I forgot earlier but do you have a card? Are you open for commissions?”

“You must have a lot of walls,” you looked down and opened your purse, “I have a card and I could try a commission.”

You slid out one of the cards that had lingered in your wallet for more than a year. You handed it to him and he read the flowery font before tucking it away in his jacket.

“I do… have a lot of walls,” he said with a smirk, “I’ll give you a call once these are hung.”

“O-okay,” you kept from wringing your hands and closed your purse, “thank you… again.”

“My pleasure,” assured, “have a good night.”

“Yeah, good night,” you said and watched him go.

You let out a breath and smiled to yourself. You would talk to Vanessa and get your cut of the check before you went. Then you could worry about getting Marcus home. He’d had a little too much champagne and you’d left him in the backroom so you could help with the clean-up.

Vanessa bid goodbye to one of her featured artists as you neared. She turned to you and threw up her hands in delight.

“Wonderful, darling,” she said, “you earned that wall.”

“Thanks,” you grinned bashfully.

“Really. That man has never bought a piece before,” she smirked, “I’ve been dying to get into his wallet for years.”

“I never saw him before…”

“Oh, well, yes, he has not been to many of these either. I often see him at other galleries,” she explained, “I hope you have some more for the next.”

“Um, yeah, I should be able to--”

“I’ll have the check for you tomorrow,” she patted your shoulder as her eye was caught by another, “go get your boyfriend out of my studio.”

You accepted your dismissal and turned on your heel. That was just Vanessa, steely but slightly flighty as well. Besides, you were exhausted and you would likely be dragging Marcus into a cab.

You found him slumped at the paint-splattered table. You shook him awake and smiled dopily as he opened his eyes.

“Babe,” he pushed his arm around you.

“Marcus,” you drawled in disappointment, “let’s get out of here.”

“Huh?” He looked around and hiccupped, “oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. You had a long day,” you assured him as you rubbed his back and let him lean on you as he stood, “I’m just happy you showed up after all that nonsense.”

“Of course, babe,” he slurred and you helped him through the door.

You kept your head down as you slowly sneaked out past Vanessa but you didn’t miss her side-eye. It was best to be as covert as possible. You came out through the door and nearly dropped Marcus.

“Jesus, can I get a little help?” you snipped as you looked around for a yellow cab.

“Sorry, baby, sorry,” he got his feet flat but it hardly helped take his weight off of you.

You raised your hand to hail a cab and he slipped down your arm. Your ankle bent as you turned to try to catch him before you dropped him entirely. He was saved from hitting the ground as he was caught by another. You looked over his head as he was pushed up to his feet again. 

Clark kept his arm behind Marcus as you stared at him, “oh my god, thank you.”

“No problem,” he said as he steadied your boyfriend, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” you lied as you lifted your foot and kept the weight off your ankle, “I just need to get a taxi.” You raised your hand again as you tried to see past the large man, “if you don’t mind getting him in--”

“You can ride with me,” he said brusquely as he turned with Marcus and peered back at you, “this way.”

“We can’t--”

“On that ankle,” he said as you began to limp after him, “you won’t get him out on your own.”

“Really, I’m fine--”

“I don’t mind,” he said coolly as he came to a silver sports car and balanced Marcus against him as he opened the door, “I’ll need an address.”

“Uh, oh,” you folded your hands, “thank you. Really, you’ve done too much.”

“It happens. I’ve had these nights,” he put Marcus across the seat and folded his legs up and shut the door, “you can take the front and tell me where I’m going.”

You hesitated and he opened the front door. You neared and hissed as you stumbled on your ankle. You caught yourself on his arm and quickly retracted your hand as you apologized. 

“It’s alright,” he said as you sat in the front seat. He knelt and gently took your ankle. His thumb rubbed the swollen joint, “you really banged yourself up.”

“I’ll be okay,” you assured him, “thanks.”

He let go and stood. He waited for you to turn your legs into the car and gently closed the door. He rounded to the other side and got in as he fished around for his keys. He turned the engine and gripped the wheel with one hand as he took out his phone. He placed it on the magnetic holder and his fingers flicked over the screen.

“Address?” he asked.

You recited it and winced as Siri responded, ‘calculating route’. You shrunk against the luxury leather and glanced at him. He let out a huff and steered into the mostly empty street.

“I’m sorry about all this--”

“No, don’t be,” he glanced in the rearview, “he must be happy for you.”

“Yeah, uh, I think he is,” you said as he followed the map directions, “I am too. I mean, it will go along way… uh, well, you know, things can be tough or--” you shrugged, “I mean, it’s not about the money.”

“Yeah, but it’s nice to be paid,” he said lightly, “and I don’t mind paying for good art.”

You looked out the window as your cheeks burned. You could smell his cologne, subtle but strong. You played with your purse as your nerves brewed in your chest. You watched the sidewalks and the street lights as your surroundings grew more familiar.

He pulled up to your building. It wasn’t the greatest area and the brick façade was faded and cracked. Before you could get out, he was at your door. He offered his hand and helped you out as you leaned on the car. He let you go and opened the back and lifted Marcus out. He hooked your boyfriend’s arm over his shoulder and offered his other arm.

“Come on,” he said.

“Look, you don’t-- there’s an elevator.”

“I’d feel better if I got you inside,” he insisted, “especially in this area.”

You relented and took his arm and limped beside him up the steps. You took out your keys and went ahead of him as he dragged Marcus in. You went to the elevator and hit the button. The doors glided open and you stepped inside. He stood close in the small metal box and Marcus murmured dumbly at his side.

The doors dinged and he let you out first. He followed you down the hall and you unlocked your apartment and waved him inside. He carried Marcus to the couch at your direction and you leaned against the armchair as you bent your leg to check your ankle.

“You should put some ice on that,” Clark said as he neared, “get some sleep yourself.”

“Yeah, I will,” you assured, “thank you, again.”

You felt embarrassed as you eyed his expensive suit and looked around your tiny apartment. It must have been laughable to him. He hardly seem bothered as he retreated to the door.

“I’ll let you then,” he said, “and thank you. I really do like your work.”

The door shut in his stead and you heard his footsteps down the long hall until the door at the end swung open. You glanced at Marcus and shook your head. You weren’t as happy to have had him at the show then.

[truthteller-lumen]

Nox (cynicallyinkless, fiveminutemeal, lorimer-no, etc) is an internet predator, a scammer, and a chronic liar. Here’s what you need to know.

He always made it seem like I had a choice and free will but... he manipulated me so bad that leaving wasn’t an option because I felt so bad for him. It’s so insidious. - one of Nox’s many ex-partners

Nox (Noximillian, Noxim Raven, Cynicallyinkless, @SirAlthair, @SirAlthairx,  fiveminutemeal, onehalfdime, lorimer-no) is an internet predator.

He has pursued teenagers and young women nearly 10 years his junior. He is 32 and his latest partner was 19.

He has emotionally abused his numerous partners via gaslighting, emotionally manipulative language, and negging, as well as other abusive tactics.

He has cheated on his partners with multiple other women_. _Though he claims to be in happily polyamorous relationships, many of the partners he was dating were not happy about the situation. He often kept the truth about his other partners from them.

He has lied about his entire identity to his partners, up to and including faking his own voice and sending pictures and nudes that were not of him. He also lied about other details of his life, such as his family structure (claiming his mother was dead and that he had adopted a daughter) and his educational status (claiming he had finished his degree), which leads to: 

He has accepted nearly $3500 from his friends in order to fund his education, then did not finish his degree. What the money was used for is unclear, but he took multiple expensive trips with his friends after receiving the cash.

Be aware. Know the facts. Protect yourself. If you’re in a relationship like this, seek help immediately. If you see the warning signs of a relationship like this, get out as fast as you can.

More information is below the cut.

Nox’s accounts and handles are listed at the bottom of the article. Want more details? Read on.

There was one girl, first. Then more, younger and younger. More trusting, more accepting, more susceptible to his abuse. He had them compete for his attention, let them fight among themselves. And he lied to them, over and over again. He let them throw their whole lives away, their finances, their hearts, for someone who didn’t really exist.

This is a story of abuse, lies, and manipulation. This is a story that we never want to see repeated again.

Names have been censored. Labels may not be consistent between conversations to protect the identities of those speaking.

---

Nox met us when we were all teenagers. Young adults. - one of Nox’s many ex-partners

Nox has pursued girls over 10 years his junior.

Over the years, the ages of the partners Nox has taken has trended downwards dramatically. When the people his age began to reject him for his behavior, he wandered until he found a group he was accepted by.

First, she was 28. Then, 22. Then, 19. And that’s not even the complete list. 

Though she was 13 years his junior, Nox would often talk to his youngest partner in disturbing ways, including the topic of pregnancy, to the point where she had already rewritten her entire life plan after college just to accommodate having a child with him.

Even those who were not romantically involved with him were subject to sexual talk, including minors:

He cased these girls. He approached the most vulnerable, easily isolated ones.

He went after me after prodding around and kinda guessing I wasn't too close with people that didn't like him. - one of Nox’s many ex-partners

These girls were not only subject to romantic advances, but gaslighting, abuse, and controlling behavior, as well.

---

If I did anything he didn’t like or if I offered that I didn’t like something, he would just stop communicating and talking to me for days on end. - one of Nox’s many ex-partners

Nox has emotionally abused his partners.

The common thread in the swathe of abuse he has cut over the past 10+ years is control. Don’t drink, he’d say. Don’t cut your hair. Don’t leave me, or I’ll kill myself. Every action he’d take - from punishing his partners with the silent treatment to ranting and raving at them when something didn’t go his way - was taken with the intent to control their actions.

Below is an account from his longest partner of 9 years.

After breaking up with this partner, he posted to Tumblr, implying that they were the one who had broken up with him:

But the breakup was anything but shitty. In fact, he was the one who had initiated it:

A benign breakup, initiated by him, over increasing distance.

His posts on Tumblr were no more than sharpened knives, directed at his ex of 9 years. Look at how much you’ve hurt me. Look, this is all your fault.

At the time he posted these posts, he had already been dating his 19-year-old partner for several months.

Not even his youngest partners were safe from his controlling behavior.

He used them against each other:

He isolated them from their real-world communities:

He isolated them from online friends whom he knew would expose his abuse for what it was:

And he tried to control what they did in their free time:

He would fly off the rails if he thought they disobeyed him, in this case for drinking when he didn’t want them to:

And if he didn’t get his way, he would threaten suicide:

---

He said he was poly... but he couldn’t tell his other girlfriends about me yet. Not until we were fully fully official... I didn’t know when he could say we were official, though. So I believed him about it. Only then I realized that he was hiding me from his other flings and partners. - one of Nox’s many ex-partners

Nox has cheated on his partners.

He justifies it under the guise of polyamory. The girls, a decade his junior, would often be led to believe that they were the most special girlfriend, and he made no attempt to communicate otherwise. Despite this, he would often claim that he was “single” while telling his younger flings that they were still dating.

His ex of 9 years didn’t know about any of these girls. He never told her.

---

The way he talks is so smooth and persuasive, it's so easy to be manipulated. I’m just crying so hard because it was a lie. I gave myself up to a liar and a fraud and my heart can't accept it yet. - one of Nox’s many ex-partners

Nox lied about his entire identity to his partners and friends. He is a chronic liar.

To his close friends, his mother was dead, and he’d adopted a daughter. His family had abandoned him, he was living alone, and he needed help financially. These were all things they were told, and they believed him.

His mother is alive. There is no daughter. He lives with his family.

Fake dead mom.

Fake adopted daughter.

To his partners, he portrayed himself as a charming, handsome man. He sent nudes that were not his own. The selfies he sent didn’t match up with his real life appearance. He used a voice modulator to fool them into thinking he was someone he wasn’t. His web of lies is so deep that no one is sure what the truth is.

He pretended to be a cis man to his partner, and made sexual advances on her without disclosing otherwise. He is not a cis man, and the terms of his partner’s consent were violated.

The explicit picture he sent to her to further the lie of being a cis man was pulled from PornHub.

No one is really sure who the person in his selfies is.

He used a voice modulator to pretend he was someone he was not. (Full disclosure: getting closer to being someone you’re comfortable with is totally fine, and if using a voice modulator does that for you, then go for it. The chronic lying to partners that deserved full disclosure before intimacy is the issue here.)

He kept everything from his partners.

---

He mostly came to me for money because I helped pay his tuition for 3 years on my own. Thinking that I was helping to support him when his family wouldn’t... But turns out I was just being used. - one of Nox’s ex-friends

Nox accepted a large sum of money from his friends in goodwill to pay for his tuition. It’s unclear where the money went.

He lied to them, saying that his family had abandoned him and that he was living alone, unable to pay for his tuition. Despite struggling financially themselves, his friend and ex contributed $3500 to his education.

First, his friend contributed nearly a grand to his education while living on minimum wage.

Then, his ex contributed a whopping 2.4 grand.

He accepted this money happily, and recently informed the first friend, who had not kept up with him in a while, that he had graduated medical school.

But other friends with more recent experience thought otherwise. Below is a quote from yet another ex who knew him closely and recently.

And very recently, he contacted his ex of 9 years - the one who had contributed 2.4 grand - to tell her that he had not, in fact, used the money towards his schooling, or finished his schooling at all. He lied.

A poor, ailing young brother who needed money for his future. He spun his use of their generous aid as a good deed.

But was it even used that way at all?

He would often go on lavish and expensive trips with one of his younger partners at the same time that he was receiving money from his friends. Below is a receipt from a trip he took together with that partner, correlated with the timing of the money he received.

This happened while he was still dating the first ex who had donated 2.4 grand to his tuition. 

If he was strapped for money, why was he taking expensive trips with his side flings? If he needed to fund his brother’s future, why was he paying for lavish accommodations for him and his friends?

And why was he buying expensive gifts for them, too? Below is a quote from another younger partner (different from the one above).

_

If even one more girl reads this and realizes she’s in danger, then it was worth it. - an anonymous contributor

Know what abuse looks like. It could happen to you.

If your relationship looks even remotely like this, heavily consider whether or not you feel happy being there. If you’re working to escape a relationship like this, we see you. We believe in you.

If you are in a relationship with Nox and want to seek help, or have an experience you want to share, our ask box is open. Your personal information will not be published.

The following are some resources on what abuse looks like and how to escape it:

What are the signs of emotional abuse?

5 signs of emotional abuse

5 ways to escape an abusive relationship

Be wary of who you speak to online. There are more people like this out there. It is not a crime to be loving, trustful and kind, but it is unforgivable for someone to abuse that trust, to lie and to manipulate their way into receiving kindness.

And all abusers get their due. Nox, this is yours.

Get some fucking help. Stop abusing young women.

---

Nox’s handles and accounts

Nox has been known as:

Nox, Noximillian, Noxim Raven, Cynicallyinkless, @SirAlthair, @SirAlthairx,  fiveminutemeal, onehalfdime, lorimer-no

On the online game Final Fantasy XIV, he is Balthier Strahll on Mateus at the time of writing. His character ID is 20282710. He is active in the RP community on Crystal datacenter and frequents player-run RP establishments such as “The Gilded Knob” on Malboro.

This blog will be updated with any other handles or accounts as they become known to us. Have an account that isn’t listed here? Send us a message.

[eliteprepsat]

1. BE RELIABLE

Many of the best teachers admire students who don’t necessarily follow the rules. But, it’s important to clarify that this only applies to being an intellectual rule-breaker and thinking outside of the box. What teachers don’t appreciate are students who deliberately disobey rules that are established for the sake of helping their classes run smoothly.

This may seem like it goes without saying. But one of the simplest ways to be a great student is just to be reliable. You can do this by always completing your work, arriving to class on time, and showing up every day prepared and ready to participate.

It’s not so much that students stand out for being reliable; it’s that students stand out for being unreliable—in other words, for all the wrong reasons. So, take the first best step toward securing a strong recommendation letter this way.

2. BE A TEAM PLAYER

Most of the best classrooms function like a sports team, where the teacher leads or guides (like a coach) and all of the students also have a role (like players). This stands in contrast to traditional (and largely outdated) classroom models where the teacher takes the only active role and the students are merely passive observers.

Good teachers relish students who are excellent team players—who listen actively, participate by making meaningful contributions to discussions, and generally exude a positive energy.

In my own experience, I’ve found that classes tend to function like the organic and often unpredictable flow of a basketball game. Some of the best moments in my classes have occurred when my game plan suddenly (and wonderfully) shifted because a student raised a compelling idea in discussion that we then pursued. I think of such students as my best teammates, giving me assists as I try to make a play.

But being a great team player in class doesn’t just involve your interactions with your teacher. It also involves how you interact with your other teammates, or classmates. Some of the strongest students I’ve worked with stand out in my memory not just because of how they treated their classmates, but also because of how their classmates responded to them.

Just as the best team players know when to lead and when not to hog the ball so as to let others on the team shine, so too do the best students know when to speak up and step in when their classmates need help, but also when not to dominate the conversation, actively listening instead so as to let their classmates also shine.

3. DEMONSTRATE CURIOSITY

Students often believe—incorrectly—that the best way to be a team player is simply to be the most “intelligent” student in the room. In reality, raw intelligence is typically not the attribute that good teachers appreciate most in their students. Instead, this attribute is curiosity.

What does it mean to “demonstrate curiosity” as a student? Generally speaking, it means having an open mind. If you encounter course material that is initially off-putting because it seems too difficult, for instance, don’t run the other way out of frustration. Instead, ask yourself: Why might this material be of interest? Why have people devoted their entire lives to its study? What could I learn from it?

With that said, another component of demonstrating curiosity is the ability (or at least the attempt) to draw connections between course material and your own interests or life. So, even if you are taking a class in a seemingly “foreign” subject (e.g. if you are in the sciences but taking a world literature course), again ask yourself what you might have to learn from this material. Perhaps you see parallels between the formal structures of storytelling and what you have been learning in one of your engineering classes. Bring this up in discussion! Not only will you find that the course is far more worth your time because it is applicable to something you care about, but your teachers will also appreciate your curiosity.

4. VISIT OFFICE HOURS

The best letters of recommendation are written by teachers who really know the student in question. Although there are exceptions to this rule, it’s typically not ideal, then, to request a letter from a teacher who you only studied with for a brief summer session, or who you never actually spoke to in person (say, from an online course).

In my own experience, the recommendation letters I write are better the more I know a student. So, if there is a teacher with whom you feel comfortable, don’t be afraid to open up to them a bit.

Why is this helpful for recommendation letters, exactly? If you are taking several AP courses while also juggling a heavy load of extracurriculars, a resume or transcript will show this at a glance. But if you are taking night classes while also raising a child or taking care of your ailing parents, for instance, the extent of your hard work will not likely appear anywhere on paper.

If you take the time to open up about the particulars of your life to a teacher, however, they can speak to your perseverance and grit in a meaningful recommendation letter to an admissions committee. That added understanding could very well mean the difference between a college acceptance or none.

You may or may not have opportunities to open up to your teachers during class. And you may or may not feel comfortable doing so. So, take advantage of your teachers’ office hours, when you can speak with them one-on-one and in person.

5. TURN IN AN IMPRESSIVE ASSIGNMENT

When writing recommendation letters, the best teachers will not write generally about the student in question. Rather, they will look for specifics to discuss. After all, specific examples are what help readers visualize and relate to what a writer is describing, ultimately becoming convinced of their claims.

In order to do this, teachers need to be supplied with specifics to write about you. So, if you’ve written an especially impressive paper, completed a particularly dynamic presentation, or organized a uniquely inspiring event, bring this to your teacher’s attention. It will give them something to focus portions of their recommendation letter around, and they can point to these specific examples as evidence of your mastery of a subject, your hard work, your passion, or any of your other exceptional traits.

Ultimately, your teacher’s reflections on these detailed examples will give admissions committees something to remember about you as a candidate, which is crucial considering how many applications colleges receive each year.

6. STAY IN TOUCH

Typically, students don’t require recommendation letters immediately upon completing a course. So, it can be difficult having to reach out to former teachers semesters—or even years—down the road. In this case, it can feel awkward asking them for the favor of writing a letter since you haven’t spoken in some time. You may wonder if they even remember you!

To avoid this, I suggest emailing your teachers not long after a course has ended just to say a friendly hello, to share that you enjoyed their class, and to ask if they might be open to writing you a recommendation letter in the future. Although you might not require the letter immediately, asking in advance in this way is a good idea for a few reasons. It demonstrates that you are taking initiative by being so forward thinking about your future success. It also helps to plant a seed in your teacher’s mind; they will be more likely to remember you when you reach out to officially request a letter one day.

Beyond this initial email, it is a good idea to simply stay in touch with your former teachers, especially if you believe you will request a recommendation letter from them eventually. Most teachers love to hear from their former students and get caught up on all of their wonderful achievements. So, don’t be shy about sharing yours. Again, if you do so, your teachers will be more eager to help when you contact them for recommendation letters.

SOME FINAL ADVICE FOR REQUESTING LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

When requesting a letter of recommendation, it’s always best to ask your teachers well in advance of the deadline so that they have plenty of time to complete the work. This means that you should usually aim for giving them at least 4 weeks and never less than 2 weeks. Remember that while they typically understand that writing such letters comes with the job and are happy to help out their students in this way, teachers are very busy people. So, do what you can to make the task as simple as possible for them.

Beyond giving them ample time to complete their letters, you can also simplify the task for your teachers by giving them a copy of your resume and a few of your strongest assignments as references. Finally, be sure to always ask at least one more individual than is required as a backup in case your original letter writer doesn’t come through or fails to get their letter in on time.

[ickle-ronniekins]

time to be sappy!

hi my lovelies! i’m wishing you all the happiest new year for 2021. without going into too much detail, we all know how much this past year has sucked. that’s honestly the only way to describe it. it’s absolutely sucked. but i know that one thing we’ve learned is to find the light in the darkness, and it’s something i’ve really been trying to focus on as we navigated and continue to navigate our way through this pandemic.

at the beginning of the year, i was in a writing slump. i was going through some personal stuff that honestly knocked the wind right out of me. i didn’t think i’d ever find the energy to write ever again (and it’s my favorite thing to do; it keeps me sane). i was so drained of energy and love of myself that i wanted to say “fuck it” and give up writing altogether. but then, by a miracle, i found some lovely individuals, and you guys re-sparked my love of the thing i need to do in order to make me who i am. write.

there are so many people i need to thank so here we goooooo

@theweasleysredhair chloe! i remember before the twins got insanely popular on here, you were always one of the writers that stuck out to me. we started chatting back and forth and commenting on one another’s fics. and then you’d decided to take a break from tumblr. i didn’t know if you were coming back (and not to be dramatic but i was heartbroken) and THEN YOU DID and we honestly picked up exactly where we’d left off. now we freak out about one another’s stories, cackle like actual idiots at the magic that is impractical jokers, but it goes much deeper than that. we share life stories, offer advice to one another, and you’re always there for me when i need someone. and good god, girl, you can make me laugh. i hope you know that whenever i hear the word “forty” i think of you and scream FOEH in my head. so grateful for you, i can’t even explain it. also SCOOPSKI POTAYTAHS lmao love you

@harrysweasleys alexa i don’t even know how to adequately express how much you mean to me. i can’t even pinpoint when exactly we started talking deeply about anything and everything, but now our friendship spans countries and dimensions and more and i’m just so fucking thankful that we’re friends. you’re one of the kindest people i’ve met on here and i’m just so blessed to know you, write with you, freak out about books with you (even when i bring them to the post office with me LOL) and everything in between. thank you for choosing me to write a collab with. you are wildly talented beyond your years and i hope you always keep writing, because you have a gift with your storytelling. i just adore you.

@wand3ringr0s3 HALEY. you little ball of fire, you. i can’t even begin to describe how much your sarcasm absolutely slays me in our daily chats. you always have me laughing like an absolute fool and i’m so grateful for it. i know that we’re nine years apart (ew) (pls i feel so old ugh) but i feel like we’re so close in age. thank you for always being honest, voicing your thoughts and opinions, sharing stories, encouraging us to share ours, and for always, always providing the greatest, hottest, highest quality photos of The Men in the GC for us to thirst over. thank you for being you, for being hilarious, for being kind. thank you for writing the stories that you do -- your creativity knows no bounds and that’s something that’s really freaking special about you as a writer (aside from your overall general talent to break my heart) i adore you. keep shining babe.

@diary-of-an-onliner okay thea, you are honestly an enigma and i mean that in the GREATEST way possible. i absolutely never know what you’re thinking or what you’re going to say, but i know it’s going to get me wracking my brain and thinking hard or absolutely losing my shit and laughing on the ground. you never fail to put a smile on my face with your quips. i absolutely freaking adore you. AND ALSO, YOUR WRITING IS FLAWLESS, so if you ever want to share more of it, you know i’ll absolutely read it and 110% freak the fuck out, because you’re a talented little bean. remember head in the clouds/feet on the ground? because i do, and i’m honestly still cracking up about it, and cannot wait for it (if it’s still a thing). I LOVE YOU

@harrypotter-and-the-onering LINDA. i don’t think i can express with enough words just how sweet and genuine you are. whenever i see you in the group chats, it puts a smile on my face, because you always slide in with the SWEETEST COMMENTS and my heart just melts at them. i know we don’t really chat outside of the GCs much, but i’d like to change that, because i really do adore you. you’re such a bright light in this community, to out friend group, and to everyone who has the pleasure of being in your presence. you’re a beyond talented writer and i hope you continue to write more in the new year! also, whenever i eat swiss chocolate, i’ll think of you LOL

@andromedaa-tonks okay mia, my girl, you’re a solid ten years younger than me but somehow we act like we’re twins, exactly the same age, and i’m here for it! we’ve ranted to one another a lot about heartbreak and love, how frustrating it can be, how difficult it is to find, how much we yearn for love that’s true and lasting. we’ve had our fair share of difficult conversations about it but it’s really helped me to realize exactly what i want, and i hope it’s helped you too. also thank you for always indulging me when i rant to you about hot lifeguards on the beach LMAO (it’s winter and they’re not here and i’m mad, don’t they know i want to stare at them??? smh) thank you for being you. i love you. and you’ll find that love babe.

@mycupoffanfiction ellie, my deary, you sweet girl, you. i think you’re just about the nicest freaking human being i’ve ever met. i cannot think of a time where you haven’t greeted me with anything less than exuberance and excitement. i hope you know how much it means to me! and the comments you leave on my stories? they honestly bring me to tears. i cannot express what that means to me; there have been so many times when i’ve felt that my writing isn’t good enough to be able to publish anything, but you’ve reminded me with your kind words that my writing just needs to find the right reader, and for that, i cannot thank you enough. thank you for sharing your stories and your friendship, i am beyond grateful for them both, and i adore you so very much!

and to those i might not talk too as often, a few things: 1) please let’s chat 2) i’m apologizing in advance because I SUCK (like actually suck) at answering messages and it’ll probably piss you off and i’m so sorry 3) i’m v nervous and shy so pls feel free to ~slide into my DMs~ anytime because i’m awkward and probably won’t do it first LOL 4) i adore you all 5) i see your comments on my writing and i CANNOT. CANNOT. cannot thank you enough. it brings me to tears every time i read them, so thank you x

@fopdoodledane @vogueweasley @pit-and-the-pen @thoseofgreatambition @izzytheninja @acciotwinz @starlightweasley @theweirdsideofstuff @pigwidgexn @whiz-bangs78 @thisismynerdyself @gcdric @thisismysketchbook @jenniweaslee @chaoticgirl04 @writesowhatnext @loony-loopy-lupinn @boxofbadaddiction @immobulusmalfoy @cappsikle @oh-for-merlins-sake @godricsswords @valwritesx i’m surely forgetting people omg i’m so sorry i really am

thank you, all of you, for all of the wonder and imagination and magic and kindness you’ve all brought me. ALSO IT’S LATE AND I’M TIRED AND IF I FORGET ANYONE I AM SO, SO, SO SORRY I JUST SUCK ok love y’all

[shinydelirium]

MLQC Season 2 Chapter 5 (Kiro) Part 3 [Game Initiation] & [Props and Points] Translation [CN]

***SPOILERS*** THIS POST CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR CONTENT NOT YET RELEASED ON EN SERVER!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!***

For the previous translations of Chapter 5: Part 1, Part 2

[Game Initiation]

When I woke up, it was already light out and Kiro wasn’t beside me.

During my rest, the metal collar sent out messages about players that have been out of the game from time to time.

I gently removed the leaves and found that Kiro was leaning on a tree trunk next to the hole, tapping away on the microcomputer.

Kiro: You’re awake!

MC: Sorry, I seem to have slept for a long time…

KIro: It's all right, you needed the rest after yesterday’s ordeal.

The sun slowly sunk. I called out the game map and found that the red dots on the screen were fewer than before, and the highest score in the ranking was nearly 100 points.

The red dot closest to us was moving to the southeast, as if not intending to get any closer to where Kiro and I were.

At this time, Kiro handed me a contact lens case. After I opened it, I found a pair of contact lenses inside.

Kiro: Put them in.

Although a little confused, I still followed his instructions and put on the contact lenses.

Kiro: Kilo, display location.

As Kiro’s voice fell, I instantly saw the same map screen as before, but it only seemed to appear in front of my eyes.

The difference is that in addition to the red dots, there are two pixelated bear heads on the map. One bear had a small golden flower on its head.

Kiro: I just analyzed the GPS system inside the metal collar and matched it.

While talking, he pointed to his eyes.

Kiro: Your lenses are matched with the ones I am wearing now. One of the bears is you and the other is me.

Kiro: Aren’t they cute?

MC: Yeah! But if the little bear wearing the little flower was you, I think it would be even cuter.

Kiro: I don’t have to be so cute!

Kiro simply rejected me and continued to explain the instructions to me.

Kiro: Kilo, show the connection.

Responding to his command, the two bears on the screen shook their heads, connecting a red line between them.

Kiro: Also, you can check the distance between us at any time.

Kiro: Kilo, display satellite signal, zoom in.

I saw the map in front of me being enlarged, showing a huge forest which looked familiar.

There are visible bushes all around and I can actually see a young man running in the distance.

Kiro: You can open it at any time in case you need it in the future!

Kiro: Kilo, close map.

MC: Amazing!

MC: But this forest looks familiar to me…

Kiro: Because this is the forest on the outskirts of Loveland City.

I looked around and felt a shiver go down my back.

Who would have thought that this game was so close to the city and all this was deeply hidden in the shadows?

MC: What exactly is this game?

Kiro glanced at me, hesitating for a moment, then turned on the microcomputer in his hand and motioned for me to come nearer.

Kiro: This game started three years ago. I heard that it was only a small-scale game, but little by little it gradually expanded. The organizer is unknown.

Kiro: There are two ways to participate in the game.

Kiro: One party is a player and points are earned by participating in the game.

Kiro: The top three can choose whether to advance to the next level of games to get more points in exchange for huge rewards. ***Sounds like the Box Office in the MLQC game XD***

Kiro: The game is divided into “zone” and “level”. Games of the same level will be played simultaneously in all corners of the world.

Kiro’s fingers tapped on the keyboard lightly and a world map was displayed in front of us on the screen and dense red dots were pinned on the map.

MC: Are all of these game locations…?

Kiro: This is just a suspicious point found based on the signal. In order to hide the existence of the game, the main messenger of the game often changes the IP address of the server.

Kiro: But the only thing that can be confirmed is that this game has a very wide range of influence and every continent has its own game zone.

I suddenly remembered the words introduced by the electronic voice when I first arrived in the forest.

MC: So we are now the first level in the ninth district…which means there is an eighth and seventh district…..even a tenth one?

Kiro: Mm-hm.

Kiro: The first level of the eighth zone started 5 days ago.

He quickly tapped the keyboard and rows of numbers flew across the screen.

Kiro: It ended about 4 hours ago.

I sucked in a cold breath.

All of this is like a thick, hidden black mist, lurking in a silent corner, quietly using people’s desires as bait.

Kiro: But this is only in Asia.

Kiro: If my guess is correct, right now in the United States, Africa, and Oceania…there should also be a first-level game in the ninth district going on at the same time.

According to Kiro’s prediction, I slightly raised my head and thought about it carefully.

MC: So in simple terms….

MC: The same can be said for the first-level game, the eight-zone level and the nine-zone level in which they may be played sequentially according to the date.

MC: Then, games of the same level in the same area on different continents will be played at the same time?

Kiro: Bingo! You got it.

MC: Can those players who have not been promoted still leave here?

Kiro: Yes, but…

Kiro: You need to be able to get out of here alive.

His tone was faint, but my fingers slowly went numb.

Kiro: In this game, the only way to earn points is to attack others.

Kiro: According to the degree and result of the attack, the system will make a judgment and give the corresponding points.

MC: If you…kill someone, the score will be the highest…right?

Kiro looked at me with some uneasiness and hesitation on his face.

Kiro: MC, even if you don’t know this, it also doesn’t matter.

Kiro: I will protect you so that you can leave here safely.

Kiro’s soft words are like a feather and his beautiful eyebrows were also slightly creased.

I took a deep breath.

MC: No.

MC: I want to know.

He looked at me seriously, as if he was still unsure whether to continue speaking.

MC: And it’s not “I”, but “we”. We are leaving here together safely.

Kiro looked at me, but then chuckled. He didn’t respond to what I just said but lowered his head and tapped on the keyboard.

Kiro: You guessed correctly. If you kill someone, you get the highest score.

Kiro: In order to get a higher score, the participates of the game will naturally choose to directly kill each other.

Kiro: And the messenger has a way to keep such killings undetected.

MC: ….Why would this person do such a thing?

Kiro: This involves the second way of participating in this game: betting.

MC: Could it be…

Kiro: All game participants will be photographed by a camera hidden in the metal collar, and then displayed on the screen for different people to watch and place bets.

Kiro: After the punter obtains the authority through a special method, he can watch the game on the monitor and bet on the participants. If the bet is successful, he can win money.

Kiro: It’s the same as betting on horses.

I inhaled sharply, and suddenly thought of something.

MC: Is this game specifically designed for Evolvers?

Kiro: Mm. At the very beginning, it was just a game for the existence of Evolvers.

Kiro: Probably many people want to see this kind of supernatural beings kill each other like watching a movie.

Kiro’s tone gradually calmed down, and the light from the screen was very solemn in his eyes.

Kiro: For Evolvers, there are still many people who do not acknowledge their existence and the huge rewards of this game are undoubtedly a huge attraction.

Kiro: Later, in order to increase the enjoyment of the game, a few ordinary people with superb physical abilities, were added to the game.

Kiro: In most cases, an Evolver has a greater chance of winning, but I heard….that the hunter with the highest score in this game is an ordinary person.

MC: How did you find out about all this?

Kiro: Well, I also saw a player who survived.

Kiro: His experience was also added to my survey results.

Kiro: But he quickly disappeared.

His brows were tightly knitted into a knot, and his eyes were full of guilt.

Kiro: Because this game has a rule that even after leaving, you are not allowed to disclose any information about the game.

MC: Then, he…

Kiro: The other party is sent to KEY through encrypted mail, and the transmission path and address were destroyed instantly at the same time the mail was sent.

Kiro: In the email, he wrote the online address of the game and the server address that he queried, and he also attached the server change rule he tested.

Kiro: Although there is some deviation from the correct result, it is precisely because of his calculation that I could find the real server address faster.

Kiro: But the next day, he vanished.

He lowered his head, like a self-blaming child. Kiro probably has been continuously blaming himself for this incident.

MC: He knew what the result would be, but he still sent you that email.

MC: I think he must believe that KEY can help more people to end this sinful game.

MC: He believes in you, and so do I.

Kiro touched his hair and smiled helplessly.

Kiro: Damn, I want to be more handsome in front of you, but I didn’t expect you to see me so useless.

MC: No, you are still the most handsome superhero!

He showed that bright smile again. Lu Kang’s memory suddenly flashed across my mind, which seemed to be similar to what Kiro said just now.

So I briefly described the scenes about the youth I saw before to Kiro.

Kiro: It’s not just this young man.

He tapped the Enter key softly, and the faces of six people immediately appeared on the screen.

Kiro: These are the six victims in the Evolver assassination.

Kiro: In fact, the second one was also a game player. He talked about the game in the post bar and disappeared in the afternoon.

MC: Is it possible that the so-called Evolver assassination is somehow related to this hunter game?

Kiro shook his head.

Kiro: The remaining dead have nothing to do with this game, so these two things exist simultaneously.

Kiro: Although they have different goals, both sides seemed to want to dilute themselves to the other side.

MC: How did you find so many…

Kiro: As long as electronic information is used, it will definitely leave traces in the world.

Kiro: I only happened to find out just now.

He turned off the computer screen and there seemed to be a progress bar on the side of the screen flashing by showing 35%.

MC: Then what did you do…

I wanted to ask what method Kiro used to break in and why he was investigating the hunter game when the metal collar around my neck suddenly vibrated.

The chilling mechanical interface was cast in front of us. The difference is that several green dots have been added to the map, and one happened to be near us.

Electronic voice: Ding dong.

Electronic voice: Now is the time for the supply of items for a limited time. Please obtain them according to the map if you need them. Don’t miss it.

[Props and Points]

Supply of limited-time items? What is that?

I looked at Kiro. He also seemed puzzled, but we looked at each other and decided to head towards the nearest green dot first.

It was a relatively spacious clearing in the forest, and there seemed to be a medicine box on a slab of rock in the center.

Kiro and I stayed to the side for now. Because of the virtual positioning set by Kiro, our location will not be discovered for the time being.

Soon a figure appeared in the clearing. He looked like a young man in his 20s with dark red blood stains on his clothes.

??: Open….

*popping sound*

He didn’t finish speaking. A bubble gum-like object floated to his ear at some point and immediately exploded!

The young man fell to the ground in pain, his ears bleeding, and another man emerged in the clearing while blowing bubble gum.

There were more and more bubbles. Kiro suddenly pounced on my body and held my head, covering my ears and the metal collar on my neck all at once.

*more popping sounds*

Nevertheless, the young man’s endless and painful wailing and explosions still pierced my head.

The world returned to silence after a few minutes.

Electronic voice: Hunter No. 19 attacked effectively, earned 30 points.

From the clearing, a cold electronic sound came from the man’s metal collar.

Kiro’s somber expression was reflected in my eyes. Someone died so tragically in front of us, but we were helpless.

The man blowing bubble gum didn’t seem to feel this. He even whistled happily and stepped forward to open the medicine cabinet.

He picked up a syringe and inserted it into the vein of his arm without hesitation.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the man’s arm was already covered with traces of injections.

He bent over slightly. His hands were shaking incessantly, and his nose kept pouring out blood. But he didn’t seem to mind and swiped the blood with the back of his hand.

Ferocious and chilling.

A tree rustled, and the man keenly glanced forward diagonally, revealing his blood-stained teeth. He smoothly spit out a bubble which seemed to be several times larger than before.

MC: His Evol has been enhanced….

The bubble floated leisurely in the direction where the sound came from and a huge explosion was heard the moment it touched the tree trunk!

Man: Huh, an illusion.

He smacked his lips, took a few steps, holding the metal collar with his hand.

Man: Display map.

The man continued to chew bubble gum and his eyes were full of bloodthirsty light. I didn’t know what button he had pushed, but then a call status appeared on the interface.

Man: I got the supplies. This thing can be increased by half an hour which is too useless.

The person on the other end of the call gave a little laugh.

??: I also got it. Indeed, it was a good idea to form an alliance. This game is not that difficult.

??: I heard that there has been a new improvement recently and it can last up to forty minutes.

Man: Forget it. I’ll try it out, see you later.

He turned off the screen, and started walking farther and farther away.

At the moment he left, Kiro lowered the brim of his hat and rushed to the side of the fallen young man.

As he approached him, he covered the metal collar on the young man’s neck with his clothes.

He silently watched the young man take his last breath, and then kindly covered the young man’s horrified eyes.

Electronic voice: Hunter No. 12  has died and his points were cleared.

Electronic voice: Out.

My metal collar said these cold words mercilessly.

Kiro’s body was trembling from anger and he clenched his fists and slammed his fist heavily onto the ground.

I walked forward quietly and lightly dropped my hand on his head. He raised his head and looked at me dejectedly.

Kiro: “I must put an end to the game.”

As soon as his spoke the words, I understood immediately, and nodded fiercely.

I looked in the direction where the man just left, and then at the thick tree trunk that was blown up by the huge bubble.

The syringe inside the medicine box instantly increased the Evolver’s ability. According to the content of the call, the increase time was only half an hour.

I picked up the needle that had just been randomly discarded and found that it was the same packaging as the “Small Syringes.”

….But the effect is obviously different.

Goosebumps stood up on my skin.

The medicine in the test tube is at least ten times or even a hundred times….it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s an enhanced version, and it really improves capabilities….

Could it be said that the “small syringes” circulating around the black market is actually just a cover, and its biggest role to play is in the game?!

The other player on the call said that it has recently been improved…

MC: The potions in this game….are constantly being tested.

Perhaps what’s going around in the black market is only a large number of defective products after testing and the main messenger behind the scenes has proved that it does contain a special “existence” through medicine.

Next, he can find the special variable through countless experiments and investigations to find the answer--

The manipulator behind this game is also looking for CORE.

All prizes are bait, enticing those Evolvers and powerful ordinary people to become natural guinea pigs.

Kiro: Miss Chips…

Kiro: MC!

MC: !!

Kiro’s face suddenly appeared in front of me and I was relieved. He took my hand.

Kiro: Let’s leave here first.

As if deliberately against us, the metal collar vibrated again, but this time I saw my face appear on the screen.

Electronic voice: Ding dong.

Electronic voice: Now is the time for special missions.

Electronic voice: This time, Hunter No. 29 has been selected. All players who execute an effective attack on this player can get ten times the points.

His voice is sharp and cruel and my photo at the top of the screen is especially clear.

Electronic voice: The time limit is 30 minutes, please don’t miss it.

-End of Part 3-

Continue to Part 4

[imagineclaireandjamie]

Shielded. Chapter Four

Happy Sunday all, back to the usually scheduling this week. I hope you enjoy the next week of lockdown with Jamie and Claire <3 Mod MBD.

Anonymous said to imagineclaireandjamie: 

It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it. [Seneca]

CHAPTER FOUR: WEEK TWO - Home and Away.

As Monday rolled around again, the weekend having passed by in a blur, Claire sat at the breakfast table with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands. Having ventured down during the day on both Saturday and Sunday, she had hoped to bump into Jamie and pass on her thanks to his generosity but he had been out before sunrise each day and she had been asleep before he’d returned home.

Resolute, however, she chose to spend her day downstairs and hopefully get something on for dinner before he came back so she could at least start the week off right.

Fate, however, wasn’t on her side. By 10pm, with the lasagne tucked away, wrapped in foil, in the fridge, she covered her mouth with a yawn and pulled herself up the stairs to bed.

The crash and smashing of a glass bought her out of her sleep as the clock beside her bed clicked over to 3am. Pulling herself from beneath the sheets, she crept downstairs, eager not to scare him as she approached the kitchen.

“Couldn’t sleep?” She asked, knowing full well he had only just returned home.

He was stood by the sink, cold lasagna on the countertop and his mucky boots still on his feet. With the fork held to his mouth, he smiled as he took another bite of the pasta, chewed and then shook his head. “I havena ever been the best sleeper but it’s lambing season, aye? One of them got into bother and I couldna leave her until I knew she was safe.”

“And she made it?”

“Aye. I was luckier tonight than I was at the weekend.”

“Oh, dear...that doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s the job, I’m afraid. If I didna lose at least a handful a year I’d be shocked.”

It was the first real (and longest) conversation they’d had since she’d arrived and she was suddenly grateful for the company. He was calm, grounded and relaxed in the way a lot of city dwellers weren’t. She could tell in the slump of his shoulders that it didn’t matter how long and awkward his day was, how messy or how little sleep he had gotten the night before, he was still weightless almost, free of the constraint modern living brought to most.

“I wanted to say thank you,” she broke in, remembering the reason she’d half-blindly stumbled down in the middle of the night, “you’ve been so amazing - to get me materials for a garden, that’s...above and beyond the call of duty.”

“Ach,” shaking his head, he finished the last of his supper, balled the tin foil up and placed it in the bin, “dinna fash yersel’ about that. It’s no’ a problem.”

He was embarrassed, she could tell. Abashed, his accent had become incredibly thick and almost impossible to understand. But it was quiet enough here that there was no background noise to blot out his sentence and luckily she didn’t have to ask him to repeat himself.

“Well, nonetheless,” ignoring the slight reddening of his cheeks she continued, “I am very grateful to you. For everything.”

With nothing more to say between them, she waved, smiled and backed off, feeling strangely pleased with herself for breaking the silence between them. Hopefully, she thought as she climbed the stairs back to her room, there would be some evenings in the future when they could eat together and she could show her appreciation by making him something warm and fresh.

-- --

By mid-week, she had yet to see Jamie again. His work was intense, and yet, despite that, he had still managed to begin construction of her tiny garden.

In her haste she had forgotten that she wasn’t allowed outside the house and, as she’d watched the greenhouse foundations being laid, she had become almost inconsolable about the fact that she probably wouldn’t get the chance to tend to any of the produce grown in it.

She knew, however, that safety was more important than new hobbies and she chose, instead, to make detailed lists of the daily needs of each of the seeds and plants Jamie had procured for her.

She started with the tomatoes and grapes, which needed to be contained within the glass walls in order to collect enough light and heat to survive. She noted water levels, soil PH and balance and daily rituals which would need to be abided by in order for the best crop to be formed. It filled most of her days and when the sun went down, she’d swap her notepad for the computer as she researched all the differences she might see in her fruit and veg determined all by the way they were treated as they grew.

Though she had never been an artist, she started to search for youtube videos on how botanical art could be created. Having no coloured pencil crayons or watercolours, she stuck to pencil sketches and began to leave more post-it’s, this time with future predictions on what the garden might produce for the household.

Once again Jamie enjoyed coming home. There had only been a few days lapse in her communications but when he didn’t see her for days, it was the one thing he could rely on to buoy his spirits.

They were different, in so many ways, but on a subconscious level, he pondered to himself at night as he held the drawing of some rare cabbage in his hands, Jamie felt as if they had very many similar quirks. He’d been pleased that his idea to leave her be for as long as she needed had been a success and was grateful she felt at home enough to reform her life around his. Her asking for the garden made him realise how easy it might be for someone else to fit into his own life without causing him much grief.

It was only a small thing, but to him it had made a huge difference. Having lived alone for so long, he had almost forgotten how malleable people could be. Though, he thought as he rifled around in the fridge for more pre-made meals, he had probably just gotten lucky with Claire.

The thought also occurred to him that she had been inadvertently raised more suited to this life than her old one, but he didn’t know enough about her to advance on the notion.

It wasn’t until late on Thursday when they came face to face together. After another heavy day and late night, Jamie finally toe-ed off his work boots at nearly midnight and made his way, quietly, through to the kitchen.

He had not expected to nearly bump straight into Claire has she dished up what looked like a very tasty stir fry.

“I thought you might be sick of reheating pasta dishes, so I thought I’d try and wait for you this time.”

“Ye didna have to, it’s very late.” He scratched the back of his neck bashfully, even she couldn;t find the truth in his words and she smiled as she placed a fresh bottle of soy sauce in the centre of the table. “But this does smell delicious.”

“It’s taken me a few attempts to hone it, but I’ve been practicing most evenings this week to try and get it perfect, flavour as well as how long I need to cook the veg for.”

“What’s the meat?” He asked, watching as his stomach rumbled audibly.”

“I used the duck, I hope you don’t mind. I used chicken earlier in the week but I couldn’t seem to get it as tender as I wanted it and a few forums online suggested that duck might be a better substitute if I wanted meat with a bit more moisture.”

“Perfect. Use any meat you want from the freeze, for anything. Honestly, I forget most of the time what I’ve got in there.”

Placing several bowls filled with various meats, vegetables and sides, she went back to the sink to wash the remaining stickiness of her hands before beckoning him to start without her. “I had hoped you weren’t saving anything for a special occasion.”

“Ach, I think the virus has put pay to anything like that for a while,” he began, filling his plate with noodles, duck and beansprouts, “my sister - she lives in Canada now - had planned a summer visit, but we’re no’ sure of anything at the moment.”

“Is she the one in the photo,” Claire enquired, taking a mouthful of her own concoction and swallowing back the relief when it tasted nice - a mixture of sweet and savory that wasn’t as overpowering or as dry as it had been earlier on in the day when she’d made the first of the final tests. “The one with brown hair?”

“Aye, she is. Her partner, Ian, got a job out there a few years ago and they emigrated. We talk as often as we can on Skype and FaceTime but it’s become sporadic recently wi’ my erratic work hours. She’s a nurse, ya see, and works odd shift patterns too. But we try and keep in touch at least once a month.”

“Do you miss her?”

“I didna really think about it, we were close....until we werena. Then they moved away and I fell into a new routine.”

He had begun to speak without thinking, filling up the silence with answers to her questions as they ate in between conversation. He had, though, had the forethought to stop before giving too much away. The thought hurt his heart and he had to inhale between a bite of his dinner to gather himself back up. He knew, given time, that he would be alright with sharing his past (as he hoped she would be with hers) but tonight wasn’t the night for revelations.

Sensing his reluctance to continue, she moved on, understanding that she herself wasn’t in a place to open up about her own family life.

“I can imagine Skype is about the only way most are communicating at the moment.” Sighing, she started to collect the empty dishes and load the dishwasher. “I’m quite grateful, actually, that I don’t have anyone to keep in touch with. It’s all...quite scary.”

It was the first time Jamie had consciously thought about the pandemic, being cut off from the outside world had its benefits and he felt relieved that he could separate himself from the constant barrage of news that he supposed others would be exposed to. He realised that both he and Claire were unique now, part of a smaller section of society where being remote was almost a blessing rather than a curse.

“If you ever need to talk, lass,” standing, he helped to clean up the remaining mess from dinner, his hand almost brushing against hers as he wiped the countertop down, breaking only to hover for a second before returning to his job, “ye know where I am. Please dinna think you have nobody...if yer concerned, aye?”

“Thank you Jamie.” Pulling her fleece cardigan across her chest she walked slowly to the kitchen door, pausing for a second in the doorway just to make sure she’d left nothing out to go cold and mouldy overnight. “The same to you. I’m a good listener, I promise, if you ever need to talk, or if you need any help.”

She’d been thinking about his life on the farm for a few days now, watching the rolling hills out of her window, seeing the sheep and cattle on the horizon and -very occasionally- seeing the silhouette of him roaming his land. There was little she could do from indoors, she knew, but there had been chores around the house that she could potentially complete. Putting herself to task, she had learned new basic kitchen skills but only this morning she’d noticed the beginnings of a hole on the seam of his trousers as they dried on the rail in the courtyard and she thought it might be something she could tend to...should he be alright with it.

Leaving with the quiet settling calmly between them, she noted the relaxing of the muscles in his face as he smiled and nodded as she turned and carried herself to bed.

Resting against the faux-marble worktop, Jamie closed his eyes as he waited for the soft slam of her bedroom door before he followed her up. She just might, he thought to himself as he undressed himself, taking a towel from his radiator and making his way to the shower, be better equipped for this life than I am.

[sondepoch]

Chapter 4

Written in the Stars (Lucifer x Angel!Reader)

Four thousand years is a long time. In the absence of your most cherished friend, it feels even longer. But when a certain student exchange program in the Devildom reunites you and Lucifer, things aren't the same. Because four thousand years of separation is a long time. And the love you once felt for Lucifer has changed into something different—something forbidden. But that might not even be your biggest problem, because with each passing day, your holy wings are turning blacker and blacker.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | ✔

MASTERLIST

Your D.D.D has an awful battery life.

That, or you're using it too much.

In fact, the latter is much more likely—given that, over this past weekend, you haven't gone over two hours without video calling one of the brothers—but that's hardly your fault.

The entire Devildom is in a frenzy right now, every demon going wild with anticipation.

The time has finally come for people to properly prepare for school, either mentally or physically, and the countdown has officially begun: not even twenty-four full hours remain before the first bell will ring, and everyone you know is buzzing about doing last-minute shopping. Neither the House of Lamentation nor Purgatory Hall are exempt from that, and the only reason you're not out of the dorm right now is because Simeon took pity on you and sent you home ahead of him, agreeing to buy the last of the items on the school supply list himself.

Such an angel, you think with a giggle, entering your room.

You waste no time in flopping onto your bed and plugging your D.D.D into its charger, flitting to Lucifer's number.

You don't even bother to take your Celestial cloak off, too preoccupied with the device's ringing to do anything other than use the garment as a blanket while you roll onto your stomach and place the device on your pillow.

This isn't quite your best angle, but Lucifer won't mind, right?

A smile blossoms on your face when you see the video call go through.

"MC, how many times have I asked you to text me in advance if you need me?" Lucifer sighs, acting stoic as he speaks. You can tell he doesn't mean the words, though.

"Aw, what kind of best friends are we if I need to set up an appointment to see you?" You laugh, biting back the sick feeling you get when you say that. Best friends. You still haven't forgotten how Lucifer almost kissed you two days ago when you came to him, crying. And you're certain you'll always remember how he chose not to.

Perhaps, if you hadn't been so focused on your own sorrow, you might have noticed the way Lucifer's eyebrows furrowed momentarily at the words, the demon disliking the label as much as you.

"Very well, then. What need have you of me this time, MC?" Lucifer leans back in his chair, angling his own D.D.D on his desk such that he doesn't need to hold it up.

"Um, just wanted to chat?"

Lucifer groans. "You said the same thing this morning, MC. And at four in the morning, when you called me saying you couldn't sleep—"

"Hey!" You protest. "It's not my fault that the Celestial Realm and the Devildom are in different time zones—"

"And the night before that," Lucifer continues, ignoring you entirely. "And in the afternoon before that, when you called me asking if I thought chairs had feelings."

"It's just such a tragic life, you know?" You ask, heart heavy at the thoughts that had run through your head yesterday afternoon. "They spend their entire lives serving, and people just sit on them. No one even says thank you!"

Lucifer massages his temple with one hand, closing his eyes in frustration. "We are not getting into this again."

"Fine, fine," You agree, pouting. "I just wanted to talk. What's up, Luci? Has Mammon caused any trouble for you since we last spoke?"

"Surprisingly, it's been Levi who's been an issue. Apparently, he ordered all his school supplies online, and they've still yet to come, so he's dragged the entire household out with him to buy the required goods in-person."

You laugh lightly. Even in the Celestial Realm, Levi had always preferred the indoors; imagining him braving the demon crowds of last-minute shoppers is quite the picture.

"Moreover, no one has seen Belphie awake since the last time you came over, so we're not sure if he even has everything he needs, but…"

"They'll manage," You say, interrupting Lucifer with a smile. "Don't stress—your brothers can handle themselves better than you think."

"Maybe so," Lucifer murmurs. "But what about you? How are you faring in all of this?"

You sigh.

Every single time you've called Lucifer these past two days, that's been the one question he's never failed to ask. He does it out of love, you know. He cares, and he simply wants to make sure that things haven't gotten worse.

But in truth…

"I haven't even looked at my wings, Luci." You laugh drily, staring at your pillow instead of Lucifer. You can already see the crestfallen look on his face. "I've been bathing in the dark and switching to my human form as often as I can so that I don't need to see them."

"MC…" He murmurs. You know that if he were here right now, he wouldn't hesitate to wrap you in a warm embrace and kiss your forehead between soft whispers that everything is going to be alright.

"No, you don't need to tell me. I know it's not the right thing to do." You put a hand up, halting him from starting whatever lecture is flitting around through his mind. "It's just...easier, this way."

Lucifer sighs.

"Let me see them," He murmurs. "We have to know if it's gotten worse."

"That's…" That's the reason why you don't want to look at them.

You swallow, suddenly acutely aware of how readily your tears had sprung forth the last time you stared at your reflection. The sight of your wings turning black at the root was too much to bear, and you doubt it's gotten any easier. At the same time, though, you don't want to cry to Lucifer. Not again.

"MC," The demon begins, voice gentle. "You don't have to look. But I need to know if it's gotten worse. Satan had some...theories, but I can't be sure about any of them until I look at the pattern of the growth."

It's a moment before you respond, but his words finally win you over in the end. You release some of your magical power, shifting back into the form you were born in. Burying your head face-down into the bed, you don't watch as your wings spread on your back, so great and majestic that they even push your Celestial cloak away as they rise to their full form.

You feel them flap once, then twice, as they stretch.

Staying silent yourself, you wait for Lucifer to make a comment, for him to say something about them. You just want him to look at them, take whatever notes he needs to, and then tell you you're good to shift back into your human form. You don't even care what they look like at this point; you just don't want to see them.

But when the demon continues to remain quiet, you can't deny that your curiosity is piqued.

"Lucifer?" You ask, peeking up with one eye. You avoid looking at the bottom left circle where your own reflection is, opting instead to stare at the shell-shocked expression on Lucifer's face. "What's wrong, Lucifer? Luci?"

You shift, moving your face up so that you can stare at him entirely, fear beginning to set in as you wonder what your wings could look like to have shocked him into such silence. "Are they…" Your voice trembles as you speak, terrified that you might have the truth of it. "Are they completely black?"

Your question startles Lucifer into alertness, and he blinks before a bewildered smile appears on his face. "No!" He responds, almost too quickly. He double taps on the screen, zooming in on your image. "MC, your…" He hesitates, as if he himself doesn't believe what he's seeing. "Your wings are completely white."

Your eyes widen, darting down to the small bubble where your own camera mirrors yourself back at you and, sure enough, the feathers on your back have turned snowy once more—all the places that were once pitch-black now looking as fluffy and pristine as the clouds of your homeland's sky.

"Let me…Let me check," You murmur to Lucifer, stumbling out of bed to your full-length mirror. It's uncomfortable, because your Celestial cloak is still awkwardly bunched around your shoulders, but there's no doubting it: your wings are white.

You hear a relieved sound come from your phone, bordering on laughter as a wide smile spreads across Lucifer's face. And that same smile comes to your own lips as you twist your body around, even the feathers closest to your back turned whiter than the pearls of your teeth: divine, holy, and angelic.

"We have to celebrate," You say, turning to Lucifer with a beaming grin. "I'm coming over, and don't tell me not to! This is amazing!"

Lucifer chuckles, folding his arms in contentment. "I wouldn't dream of it. My brothers will be delighted to hear this news," He taps on the screen, checking the time. "Meet you in ten minutes?"

"Perfect! I'll see you soon!" You exclaim, practically pouncing on the bed to end the call so that you can run over to the House of Lamentation.

Instantly, you revert to your human form, knowing that it'll offend the demons passing by if you leave the house with your holy wings on display, but you don't waste a moment in yanking your D.D.D from its charger and darting out of the doors, giddy with excitement.

All the pain you felt at learning your wings had turned black is converted to excitement, and you feel like you're floating on the clouds as you skip to where you know Lucifer is. You feel like this is what it must be like to be high, to be so unabashedly happy that nothing feels like it can ever compare—as if nothing can turn your mood sour.

But the universe has never been kind, has it?

Rather, the world loves to give you happiness and then steal it; just like it gave you the Morningstar and then banished him, casting your one source of joy out of reach.

You should have known when your D.D.D began ringing that it wouldn't be good news. Heck, if the fact that someone is calling isn't enough to let you know something is up, you should be doubly on edge when you realize that it's Lucifer's contact who's lighting up your screen.

But in the end, it's the utterly defeated voice of Lucifer that brings you down from your high, halting you in your tracks as he tells you to stop.

"What?" You ask, suddenly concerned.

"Stop, MC." His words come out slow, as if it brings him pain each time he speaks. "Don't come over."

"W-why?" You stammer out, not understanding. The House of Lamentation is within eyesight, you can literally see it in the distance. "Lucifer, what's wrong?"

"You can't come over," He mumbles, and you hear a light clanging over the phone—as if the demon kicked something and it came crashing down. "Just…" He almost chokes, voice thick with emotion. With anger. With sadness. And with something else you can't quite place. "Just don't come."

With that, he hangs up the phone, probably expecting that you'll heed his words and return to Purgatory Hall. But when have you been one to mindlessly follow the orders of others, when your heart is screaming to disobey?

Your footsteps as they bring you to the House of Lamentation are a lot of things: slow, concerned, distressed. But they're not hesitant. There's not a single flicker of indecision in your feet as they move forward, growing faster and faster as Lucifer's drained voice replays in your head.

Never have you heard the demon sound so miserable, so upset, so frustrated.

And you're not going to leave him alone.

It takes nearly a minute of banging on the front door before he finally opens it, trying his hardest to maintain a frown as he looks down at you.

"I told you not to come," He mutters, stepping back. It's not an invitation inside, though. You can't help but feel like it's a strange attempt to create distance between the two of you, but enter regardless.

"Well?"

You remain silent, your lack of words a very question in itself. Rather, it's an inquiry that demands a response, and you won't say a thing until Lucifer explains what has caused his sudden mood shift.

It must be an entire minute before he finally speaks, voice low as he stares at the ground.

"It's me."

You gaze at Lucifer in confusion, not quite understanding. "What?"

"It's me," He repeats, crossing his arms. "I'm…" He hesitates, dark red eyes flitting up to yours, two rubies that never fail to leave you entranced. "I'm the reason your wings are turning black."

"What are you talking about, Lucifer? That's nonsense." The words leave your mouth as soon as you process his words, not even waiting a second to contemplate the truth of them. At your blatant denial, Lucifer chuckles, but it's a sad sound.

"MC." He says your name slowly, as if he's holding onto it. "Your wings turned black for the first time when you came to me, and they've returned to being white after a weekend of separation."

You scoff at his words. "That's so circumstantial, Lucifer. You, of all people, should know that—"

"No." Lucifer's voice is firm. Dejected, despondent, and melancholic, but firm. "MC, this is how it's always been. You're the only angel in all the realms who absorbs light instead of giving it off. You're...you're the child of light. Light nurtures you."

Lucifer pauses, waiting for you to say something, but he continues when you're silent. "My light used to be positive. I could always feel you pulling at it in the Celestial Realm—absorbing it, equalizing it. I forgot what it felt like, but you've been doing it here as well. But I'm…" He clenches his fist. "I'm a demon, now. The light I give off is dark, and it's been corrupting you."

"No," You murmur, the same pain painted on Lucifer's face spreading across your own. "You're wrong, Lucifer. You're wrong!"

With a trembling lip, you let your angel form manifest, trying to show him that your wings are white, but he won't even look at you.

"Leave," He whispers, gesturing to the door that's still open. "Leave now, MC. Before I turn your wings black a second time."

"No!" You exclaim, slamming the door with your foot, moving forward. "It's not true. It's not!"

"Stop," Lucifer warns, a flicker of anger lighting in his dark red eyes. Every footstep you take forward is met by himself retreating, desperate to maintain the distance between you two. "Do not come closer," He cautions you, and you can feel the rage building up as you blatantly ignore his words, dead set on marching forward until he's forced to acknowledge you. "This is for your own good—leave me!"

But you keep walking forward, trying to get closer to him, drawing nearer and nearer to his figure until the deep red eyes are lit aflame with wrath and the man has turned into his own true form, wings and horns sprouting in an attempt to intimidate you.

"Get out," He seethes, hands clenched into fists.

But all you do is reach forward for his hand.

"Stop!" He shouts, angling his body away in a desperate attempt to stop you from touching. "Don't you see?" He roars. "Your wings—they're already turning black!"

But you don't care about that anymore. With that single comment, you remember—you have wings—and all it takes is one flap for them to send you flying forward, wrapping your arms tightly around Lucifer as he breaks your fall.

The two of you collapse on the ground on in a tangle of limbs and feathers, Lucifer continuing to try to push you off of him when all your efforts are directed towards holding onto the demon as tight as you can.

"Your wings," He chokes out, watching as the feathers change colors before his very eyes. It was different before, when one of you were always masking your true appearance with your human form. But now that you're both in your natural states?

There's nothing to obstruct the flow of magic as it flows through your bodies, out of your bodies and into each other. You can feel Lucifer's darkness pumping through your veins, tainting everything from your wings to your halo black with his aura.

"I'm ruining you," He hisses, still trying to shrink away.

"I don't care," You whisper, burying your neck in his shoulder. You hold him tighter when he finally gives up on pushing you off, allowing you to cling to him as closely as you want. "I...I thought my wings were turning black because I was turning into a monster. But if I'm not changing, if this is just my body absorbing your light—then I don't care, Lucifer. I don't want to leave you."

"You're a fool," He spits, ignoring the way you laugh his words off. "You're an angel. You—you don't belong here. Go back to Simeon and Luke. Their light is still pure."

"And then what?" You ask, pulling back so that you can look Lucifer in the eye. You hate the troubled gaze, the raw anguish that spreads across his face as he glances behind you to stare at your wings. From your peripheral vision, you can already see the blackness spreading, but you're true to your words.

You don't care.

"I'm surrounded by demons. If I don't absorb your light, then my wings will turn black because of them, all the same."

"MC," Lucifer chuckles mirthlessly. "None of these other demons were born to be harbingers of light. You forget, I'm the Morningstar. The energy I give off is enough to throw an entire realm out of balance. Other demons can't sully your purity, but I...I defile you with my mere presence."

You're quiet, still holding Lucifer tightly as you remain collapsed on top of him. His hands still rest on the floor, unwilling to taint you with his touch any more than is necessary, but you can see the way his fingers twitch.

He wants to hold you the way you're holding him.

"What if I'm okay with that?" You whisper, gazing hesitantly into Lucifer's eyes. They widen briefly before he masks the surprise.

"You're too much of an angel, MC." He glances away, and this time, you notice the way his throat bobs as he swallows thickly. "You do not understand the meaning of your words. A demon hears them differently."

"What if I do?" You repeat, gently cupping Lucifer's cheek and bringing his gaze back to you. "What if I do understand what I'm saying?"

"You do not." You cannot, he means. Lucifer hasn't been in the Celestial Realm for four thousand years. He doesn't know that angels are no longer the sort of beings to innocently go about, unaware of the effect they have on others. Eons ago, you may not have understood the loaded connotation behind everything you're telling the man. But now?

You know exactly what your words mean.

"You're wrong, Lucifer. I know what I'm saying." You let your head lower, bowing low until your lips are mere inches away from Lucifer. You gaze at his lips, making sure he can see the way you're looking at them before you finally lift your eyes to his own. "I'm okay with being corrupted, Lucifer. As long as it's you."

"You…" His voice shifts, the demonic urges he's been trying so long to resist finally surfacing at your words. You can't be any clearer than that, and the demon finally understands that his feelings aren't one-sided. That you don't look at him as a mere brother. That you want this as much as he does. "You don't know what you're asking for," He whispers, but now his own eyes are locked onto the plumpness of your lips, unable to look away.

"Then show me," You whisper.

That's all it takes for the last of his restraint to vanish, the palms that were once pressed against the floor lifting to hold you close as he captures your lips with his own, connecting your bodies in the most intimate way either of you have ever known.

You can feel everything in him, as your lips meet.

The beating of his heart, growing faster when you wrap your arms around his neck.

The tensing of his shoulders as he shifts upward, sitting up and pulling you onto his lap, ever closer to him.

The rhythmic pulse of his light as it floods into you—and despite having your eyes closed, you know that the edges of your wings have turned fully black, filled to the brim with the essence of the Lucifer.

As your body continues to absorb the waves of light and power radiating off his body, you feel your back burst with power, the Celestial cloak you had on breaking and being ripped off your shoulders as your wings spread even wider, shining the richest shade of black you've ever seen.

"Your wings," He mutters against your lips, leaning his forehead against yours as he slides a hand onto your cheek, rubbing soft circles into the skin. "I've corrupted them."

"No," You murmur, smiling softly. For the first time, you don't hate the ebony color of the feathers, smiling as you gaze upon them. "They're beautiful." You let them flap, entranced. Your eyes dart between your wings and his, pulling his body closer until your wings are touching. "They match with yours."

They match with yours.

Those had been your first words of surprise when Lucifer showed you your reflection in a mirror, on your second day alive in the Celestial Realm. You'd spent nearly every waking moment gazing at the six glorious wings on Lucifer's back, vaguely aware that you had feathers to match but never realizing that yours were just as beautiful.

You slide your hand down to Lucifer's, beaming at him as you intertwine your fingers in his. At last, the two of you are matching once more—no longer separated by the visual differences of angel and demon.

"Are you certain you want this, MC?" He asks. He brings a hand to your hair, a gesture of comfort that he doesn't forget even in the heat of this passion. "I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything with me. It's not too late to take back what you've said."

But you shake your head, an assured smile appearing on your lips.

"I told you, didn't I?" You ask, a light giggle slipping out. "I'm okay with being corrupted, as long as it's you."

And this time, you don't just mean your wings. You're truly okay with every demonic thought flitting through Lucifer's mind as he stares at you, mouth agape in awe of your sweet confidence. 

He chuckles, wrapping his arms around your waist, pressing a kiss to your jaw.

For the moment, he doesn't even need any of that. You've given him permission, but all he wants is to continue locking your lips with his own, kissing you over and over again until you're both lost in the sensation of each other.

He can feel you pulling on his light, reveling in it the way he's basking in your affection. It's a feeling so blissful only an angel as perfect as you could ever give him such a sensation, and Lucifer feels that there's nothing he needs from the world but you.

Perfection.

For the first time, you're both perfectly in sync, giving in to the emotions that have been hidden in your heart for millennia. It matters not that your wings are black, that your halo is shrouded in shadow, that you're both making out on the floor, of all places.

If anything, it feels like all those little things are what has made this moment so infinitely perfect: like the stars have finally aligned, and nothing can pull you apart now.

MASTERLIST

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | ✔

Word count: 4.0k

Notes: I was on my run this morning and i saw a deer and i just casually glanced behind me and it was just like. really ominously walking in my direction >.> i screamed and began sprinting away (like holy SHIT i did not know i still had that energy in me, i had already run like 2 miles and i was p tired but that was wild). anyway, looking back, i dont think the deer was actually walking toward me i think it just happened to be vaguely coming in my direction, but still that gave me heart palpitations wow im still a mess over it

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Next Update: 6/02/20

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