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hey-august · 5 months

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Miles above, it’s so serene

A/N: This didn't win in the poll, but I just couldn't let the idea go! (See the smuttier fic here.)

Word count: ~1.4k Warnings: Pretty much SFW, buggy x GN!reader, no use of Y/N, partaking in the devil's lettuce 🍃, buggy is smitten, talks of sex but it doesn't happen, bit o fluff at the end

Title from "High as a Kite" by Weezer

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

Cheers, shouts, and laughter from the pub spilled into the night street every time the door opened. A soft breeze carried the chatter and echoing footsteps, picking up the smoke from your group on the way. The edge of the glowing pool of light from the pub was the perfect spot to stand in a circle and bullshit about nothing.

A lighter clicked, creating a red cherry that flared as one person inhaled. The roll passed to the next hand and the ember burned bright, before making its way to your hand. You took a shallow drag, pulling in just enough to maintain your comfortable buzz, before continuing the chain.

Raunchy jokes, lonely laments, agitated frustrations, and casual gossip bounced around the circle. Lobbies and spikes were unpredictable. New topics and responses overlapped to create a tightly bound weave between the crew. When one pirate beckoned a newcomer to join the pod, the rest of the group shuffled aside to make room. The empty space was filled by your captain.

While extremely common for Buggy to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his mates, he was usually found in the pub draining bottle after bottle. Periodically, in certain crowds, he could be found with a cigarette dangling from his lips. It was rare, nearly fable, for him to choose to bond in a hazy cloud. And yet, there he was, standing next to you and effortlessly sliding into conversations like he had been here the whole time.

Soon it was time for your next hit. The roll sat between your fingers as you finished sharing a heated thought about the recent meals. It was a complaint that nearly everyone onboard had said at some point, yet you felt an odd strain emanating from your side. From your captain.

“...it’s whatever, really. Doesn’t actually matter, I guess.”

You wrapped up the venting with a non-committal comment, hoping it might ease the subtle tension that only you seemed to sense. Maybe it was all in your head, so you set to work filling the space with smoke. You exhaled slowly and held out the roll for Buggy to take next, half expecting him to pass.

You were surprised when he nearly snatched his turn from your hand and took a hard drag, the unseen pressure finally relaxing. Watching the smoke drift from Buggy’s painted mouth as he spoke, you found a way to wheedle your way into his conversation. There was something intriguing and novel about seeing your captain like this, and you needed an excuse to stare.

It quickly became clear that this was not an activity Buggy participated in frequently. His comments became looser and his booming laughter had him bumping against you more frequently. Buggy’s personality was infectious. When one of his hands clasped your shoulder as he doubled over in laughter, it brought out your own fit of joy.

A new roll began its trip around the group. Still comfortable with your buzz, you took another shallow inhale. Buggy, on the other hand, pulled the ember ever closer and refilled his lungs with more unfiltered air than they were used to. Focused on himself, the captain missed the glances and suppressed smiles that flitted around the group.

You accepted the non-verbal remarks when your turn came around again. This time, you passed.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna head back. Captain, wanna walk back with me?”

“Heh, afraid of the dark?” he teased. “Sure, who better to protect you than the guy who ate the chop-chop fruit. No one will screw with us.”

You smiled, pleased that the plan worked. The warmth of the achievement flickered briefly when you realized that the roll hadn’t passed both of you yet. There was a possibility he’d take another hit, which is what you were hoping to avoid. The pirate standing on Buggy’s other side caught your eye and reached over to remove the obstacle. With the roll continuing it’s journey, you and Buggy left the group to start your own.

The walk to the ship was illuminated by the full moon. The ocean was calm, just barely rolling over the small stones on the shore. A soft wind followed you both, whispering through the palm trees and sea grass. With each step, you both continued talking and laughing.

Buggy’s comments started drifting more frequently. He’d end with trailing thoughts, repeat himself, and launch into conversations that started in his head. It was endearing. You were more than content to follow along, watching to see how high he’d float.

“Y’know, I wish we weren’t walking back together,” Buggy drawled, clearly saying the thought as it appeared in his head.

You stayed silent, waiting to see if he’d elaborate. Did he not want to head back yet? Or did he want to walk with someone else?

“Not tonight, you know? I wouldn’t be able to consent to anything. I want to, but I can’t.”

Despite his continued babbling, you still couldn’t follow the thread he was dangling in front of you.

“What do you mean?”

Buggy turned to face you, leaving his feet to continue walking forwards to the ship.

“If we were to do something back on the ship,” he said, with a tinge of annoyance that he had to explain something that was only obvious to him. “Something,” he repeated, raising his eyebrows.

You bit back a laugh and nodded along.

“You and me, having sex together. Something. But I couldn’t consent like this.” Buggy emphasized his point by spreading his arms wide. “I wish I could, though. With you. I like you.”

It was your turn to raise your eyebrows. This was not how you expected the walk back to go. You rubbed your face, massaging your cheeks which would not relax or let go of the ecstatic smile hidden under your hand.

Buggy continued to prattle on, sharing all the things he likes about you. Observations that you didn’t think he noticed. Compliments that fill your stomach with butterflies. You captured your captain’s attention long ago and his list was long. From your fiery temper to your soothing smile, the way your hair caught the sunlight, how you smelled like the ocean, the scratch in your voice when you sang sea shanties, the shape of your hands, and so much more.

The monologue wrapped with another repeated lament about his inability to safely agree to sex. Buggy’s shoulders drooped and he hung over in remorse as he reconnected with his feet and turned away from you. He was adorably pathetic. Truly a clown.

“I like you too, captain. I promise not to take advantage of you, though.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

The rest of the walk was uneventful after that moment. If anything, it was as if the confessions didn’t happen. Buggy grew quieter and retreated into himself as you two boarded the ship. You knew that he was losing his hold and becoming untethered. It can be scary to feel like you’d float away, so you continued to fill the silence as you guided the captain back to his quarters.

“Fuck, why is the ship swaying so much?” Buggy whined, flopping into his unmade bed.

You talked through the laughter that threatened to slip out. “It isn’t. The sea is calm, remember?”

Buggy groaned dramatically and pressed his palms against his eyes. “Everything keeps moving when I close my eyes.”

“Keep one leg off the bed.” You slapped one of his boot-clad feet, prompting him to let it fall to the ground with a thud. “Does that help?”

“I dunno. Maybe?” Buggy stayed silent for a moment, breathing deeply. “It helps a little.”

You were only going to hang around until Buggy fell asleep. With how quickly the smoke consumed him, it shouldn’t take long. However, the night had other plans.

You found yourself waking up in the captain’s bed, with the sounds of your own sleepy breathing fading from your head. Moonlight seeped into the room, but not as much as when you were last awake. Both of you were still wearing the clothes from earlier and laying on top of his sheets.

In your hand was Buggy’s own, fingers entwined. Flattered heartbeats returned to your chest, nearly aching with how hard they started. As the content feeling flooded through your body, you gave a tentative squeeze. This was real. This was all real. While part of you was eager to know what tomorrow would bring, you also wanted to stay like this for as long as possible.

A moment later, you felt the comforting hold on your hand squeeze back.

#buggy fluff #buggy x reader #buggy the clown #buggy the clown x reader #buggy x you #x reader #buggy op #opla buggy #one piece buggy #hey-august buggy fic

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wolfiafuntime · 1 year

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Hero of the Devildom | My Hero Academia X Quirkless! Teen! GN! Reader X Obey Me

Guess who's back on their bullcrap? I am.

Anyways, I started watching MHA again and this crossover has taken me hostage. I wrote a bit of it before realizing it's gonna take me a while to get to the parts I really want to. I'm currently contemplating deleting what I wrote and just skipping to the MHA storyline, or keeping this... 6 pages and continuing where I left off.

There'll be a poll at the end of this post for audience opinion (does that sound weird? I didn't know how else to word it...)

Where are you...? One moment, you're walking into Aldera Junior High to attend another boring day of hell with Izuku, and now you're... In a courtroom? With eight, tall, windows, seven long banners, and several men in judge's seats looking down on you. The man in the highest seat starts speaking.

"Welcome to the Devildom, (L/N)... Oh, pardon me. Feeling a bit shocked, are we? Well, that's understandable. You've only just arrived, after all. As a human, it will probably take a little while for you to adjust to things here in the Devildom." The maroon-haired man spoke, his deep voice kind. You took a second to blink, before speaking.

"Aw, crap. What crimes did I commit while sleep-walking to get taken to Hell early?"

"None," The maroon-haired man replies with a chuckle. "In fact, your soul is far brighter than any Human I've seen before. Let me introduce myself: My name is Diavolo. I am the ruler of all demons, and all here know of me. And someday soon, I will be crowned King of the Devildom. This," He gestures to the room. "Is the Royal Academy of Diavolo... Though we just call it RAD. You're standing inside of the assembly hall, the very heart of RAD. This is where we officers of the student council hold our meetings and conduct our business. I'm the president of said council." He monologues, his expression becoming stern as he brought up his title and responsibilities.

"That's cool. My name's (L/N) (Y/N), aspiring I'll-decide-when-I-do. I am the ruler of the things I own, and President of the Aldera Junior High Quirkless Club. It's secret, though, so you can't tell anybody or I'll beat you up about it." You say, holding out your hand, but not expecting it to be taken. Diavolo chuckles again.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." He says, and you put your arm back down.

"Good... So, why am I here, again?" You ask, eyebrows creasing in confusion.

"I will explain everything to you." The raven-haired man sitting in the chair below Diavolo spoke. He had a stern expression, and although his arms were crossed like the Prince's, his body was much stiffer.

"(L/N), this is Lucifer. He is a demon and the Avatar of Pride," Diavolo introduced, uncrossing his arms. Probably to make Lucifer seem more inviting. "He is also the vice president of the student council and my right-hand man... And not just in title, I assure you," Diavolo then crosses his arms again and laughs. "Beyond that, he's also my most trusted friend."

An almost disappointed expression comes across Lucifer's face, and he shakes his head.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Diavolo." He scolds, before turning to you with an empty smile. "Speaking on behalf of the entire student body and storied school of ours... I offer you a most heartfelt welcome, (L/N)-San."

"Yeah... No offense, but that doesn't explain anything." You say, and something lights in Lucifer's eyes.

"... Interesting. This one is different from Solomon," He says to no one, before his smile drops. "Diavolo believes that we demons should start strengthening our relationship with both the human world and the Celestial Realm. As a first step toward this goal, we've decided to institute an exchange program. We've sent two of our students to the human world and two to the Celestial Realm. And we're welcoming four to our school: Two from your world and two from the Celestial Realm," Lucifer then frowns, and shakes his head. "So, I take it you've probably put two and two together at this point, right?"

"Yeah, you don't need to be so condescending about it," You say with a sweatdrop, childishly refusing to make eye contact with him as you begin slouching. Although you can feel his glare. Before he can say anything, you straighten back up. "But wait, why'd you choose me? I'm Quirkless."

"You having a Quirk isn't necessary for this program. Even if you had a Quirk, it would be no match in a fight against a demon. It would, at most, buy you another half-hour of living," Lucifer explained. "Now, your period of stay is one year. You will have to work on the tasks you will receive from RAD. After one year, you will write a paper about your exchange here in the Devildom."

"I have to write a paper?!"

"I am not telling you to write a doctoral thesis. You can take it easy." Lucifer assured. You sighed a breath of relief.

"Oh, thank goodness, 'cause I don't even know what a doctoral thesis is...!"

"Don't worry. It's not like I will abandon you all by yourself here in the Devildom. You need someone to look after you, and I think that someone should be my brother Mammon," Lucifer said, smiling with a glint in his eye as he spoke. But his own mention of Mammon made him start glaring. "He's the Avatar of Greed and... How should I put it...? Oh well, you'll understand soon enough."

Lucifer then raised his hand, revealing that he was holding- or at the very least grabbed- a cell phone.

"Here, hold out your hand," Following his instruction, the device teleported from his hand to your palm. Looking at it, you found that it had a red screen, with a white crow silhouette, and '66:66' for the time. "This device is called a DDD. It's a lot like the cell phones of your world. This will be yours to use for as long as you're here. Now, go ahead and try calling Mammon with it."

Unlocking the device with a swipe, you soon found your way to contacts, and scrolled down to the 'M' section. There, you found a picture of a dark-skinned, white-haired man wearing yellow-tinted shades.

"Yoooo." You hear Mammon lazily answer.

"Yoooo." You parrotted, raising two of your freehand's fingers in a peace sign.

"Are ya foolin' around? Who the hell are ya?" Mammon asked, urgency still missing from his voice.

"I'm (L/N) (Y/N). Lucifer says that you'll be babysitting me for the next year?"

"'Babysitting you'...? AAH! I get it now, you're the other human-- the new exchange student! Pfft, whatever. Ya think THE Mammon would come and protect ya just 'cause Lucifer said I would? G'luck with--" Mammon, in the midst of his goodbye, was cut off by Lucifer.

"You've got ten seconds... Nine... Eight..." Lucifer said, his voice casual. He didn't raise it for a single second, but it seemed like he didn't need to.

"YESSIR!" Mammon shouted, before hanging up.

"Sounds like you had a nice chat." Lucifer said with a smile.

"Yeah, he sounds super reliable." You state, sarcasm dripping from your voice.

"You look even more worried now, huh." Lucifer chuckles.

"Well, if you were suddenly brought to a strange place and then get told that an unfamiliar face will now take care of you, you'd certainly feel anxious. However, Mammon won't be the only one to help you out. So will his and Lucifer's brothers. And it's probably better that you do that instead of me, wouldn't you say?" The Prince said, looking down at his right-hand man.

"Yes... As much as I dread the idea of doing so, you're right." Lucifer agreed, a look of pain on his face.

"Oh, come now. Really? You should be honored that you get to introduce such a sweet and charming little brother like me!" A tiny, strawberry blonde-haired man spoke with a smile.

"This one here's Asmodeus. He's the fifth eldest," Lucifer introduced, gesturing to his right. "He's the Avatar of Lust."

"Wh... I can't believe you just totally ignored what I said! And not only that, you referred to me as this one. How rude!" Asmodeus huffed, his eyebrows furrowing into a glare.

"Hmph. At least he didn't ignore you altogether. How do you think I feel?" The blonde beside him said with a sigh.

"That one there is Satan, the fourth eldest of us. At first glance, he may seem like a responsible demon with a good head on his shoulders, but looks can be deceiving."

"Aha, so I'm that one, am I?" Satan replied with a nod of his head. He then turned his attention to you, a smile on his face. "Nice to meet you, (L/N). I am Satan, the Avatar of Wrath."

"The Avatar of Wrath?" You parroted.

"It basically sums up what he's about. He may flash you a pretty smile like that, but you had better be careful because it's all an act." Lucifer explained.

"If you continue saying such nonsense, you'll just scare (L/N). Don't take him too seriously, (L/N). Lucifer enjoys speaking ill of his brothers. He is the Avatar of Pride, after all." Satan said, a weird aura surrounding him. You brushed it off as his wrath.

"Sure thing." You agreed. One of Satan's eyebrows twitches at your neutral expression.

"Are you done?" Lucifer asked in a sigh, and you turned your attention back to him. "Now, the one there with the very grumpy look on his face is Beelzebub. He's the sixth oldest." Following his hand, your eyes soon land on a large man with carrot-colored hair.

"Lucifer, I'm hungry." Is all he said.

"That's too bad. Now behave yourself."

"I'm Beelzebub, the Avatar of Gluttony." Beelzebub says, not really looking at you as he places his hand on his stomach. A second later, a nasty-sounding growl comes from it. You wince at the sound.

"So..." Lucifer says to get your attention again. "There are seven of us brothers in all, and I am the eldest. Mammon, the second oldest of us, will be here soon. My other brothers aren't here at the moment, but... Well, we can get to them later. All in good time."

"During your stay in the Devildom, six of the seven brothers will lend you their strength. To keep you safe, you are to stay with them at the House of Lamentation." Diavolo added.

"What's the 'House of Lamentation'?" You ask.

"It's where I live with my brothers. It is a rather spacious house, and it was originally a cursed house in the human world. So, I assume it won't be a problem for you- a human- to live there. Although we will all be living together, you should still have the means to reach us at any given time. All of our phone numbers are already in your DDD. And it already has a messaging app installed, but you'll have to add us."

"I'll go ahead and send you a message!" Diavolo said, pulling out his own DDD.

"Isn't that nice, (L/N). Now you will be friends with the future king of the Devildom!" Satan said.

"... Ugh, I don't believe this. Of all the rotten luck..." Mammon groans, hands in his pockets, and body slouched as he leads you to the HoL. It's been a couple of hours since you've been brought to Hell, and it's, admittedly, been pretty nice. After Diavolo messaged you, you were introduced to a tall, green-haired man named Barbatos, Diavolo's retainer. Just before Mammon arrived, he took your measurements for the RAD Uniform, and handed you a credit card with twenty-thousand dollars on it. Lucifer explained that it was your allowance for the year, and that if you wanted more, you'd have to work for it.

Lucifer also explained that the tasks you'd be doing for the next year were all dance battles. If you won, your soul got shinier, and that would help you resist the temptation of demons. It would, in turn, make you appear more tempting for demons, but you would be able to protect yourself using an app on your DDD called Nightmare. Which temporarily granted you the powers of the Avatars.

"Why should I have to look after some human? It's insulting, that's what it is!" Now, you were following a grumpy demon back to his house. "That rotten bastard... Does he really think he can scare me into doin' whatever he wants?" Mammon then turns to you. "Just so we're clear... It's not like I can't say no to Lucifer, okay?! I only agreed to babysit you because, um... Well you know, because... uh..."

"Because then he'd get sad and you can't bare to make your big brother sad?"

"Yeah, exactly! The Great Mammon can't stand to let anyone down, especially his family! Oh, hey, we're here." Looking ahead, your eyes land on a giant-two story house.

-=+=-

Also, a short list of pros and cons for keeping this:

Pros:

Those unfamiliar with Obey Me could stumble into the fandom (it's how I did!)

(apologies for how this'll contradict the first point) Some things will be added/changed to make it new for those familiar with Obey Me

It will set up some of the (Y/N)'s powers, and a little something interesting Obey Me's MC/(Y/N) that I'm planning on making a major moment story-wise

Cons:

We have to wait to get to the My Hero plot. A long time, too, because it took me a while to write those six pages

It'll give me less time to decide if (Y/N) gets class 1a as a reverse harem

Less set up for a slow-burn subplot regarding (Y/N) (it's not the story moment I mentioned earlier)

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acaplaya-musings · 2 months

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Voiceplay Visuals - Jingle Bell Rock

Voiceplay weren't originally planning to release any proper full-length video for December last year (2023), just a Mini or two, as they were busy in November due to a special performance with the band Chicago. They asked their Patrons for song suggestions for Minis, and then put the three most popular suggestions into a poll for people to vote on. Jingle Bell Rock won out with 55% of the votes, but then a Patron provided a suggestion of doing it "Mean Girls style". Initially the guys were confused, (as was I when I first read the video title when the Premiere appeared) - was there some different musical styling that they weren't aware of? But they soon realised that "Mean Girls style" was referring to the iconic dance scene from the 2004 movie. And so, on the 16th of December, 2023, we got a proper video, not just a Mini, with plenty of absurdity and "Voiceplay brand of dumb", courtesy of Layne! (Layne was in charge of both the arrangement and the video, and is also co-credited for creative direction along with Tony).

Now please don't kill me, but I've never actually watched Mean Girls (*GASP*). However, I know a fair bit about it just from it being popular on Tumblr and the internet in general, and I know this specific scene in the movie quite well, as my dad and I would watch the clip of it every year in December. I have also rewatched the original scene before starting this post, because I'm gonna be doing screenshot comparisons! For one thing, this isn't a super long video, so I'm not worried about image limit, and for another, VoicePlay put a lot of effort into recreating this scene as closely as possible (albeit with some, er, aesthetic alterations 😜), so I wanna prove it, because why not!

Anyway, that's a fair bit of introductory stuff already, so I'll leave my other notes/commentary/thoughts for during the actual video talk bit. Let's get into this!

Making a shot from this little opening bit as the thumbnail was one heck of a choice ngl. Maybe they couldn't be bothered finding a better shot from the video, or maybe they just wanted to keep most of the video as a surprise for viewers, idk, but I was so confused from the thumbnail-title combo when the premiere appeared!😂

Also if you don't already know from the video description, this was all filmed on Tony's iPhone! (Doesn't mean it was all handheld though - tripods/stands for phones exist!). It was because VoicePlay were without a cameraguy for like 2-3 months, because their old one moved states.

So instead of doing any sort of "sexy santa/santa's helper" costumes like in the original, Layne decided that he and the others would be dressing up as characters from Christmas movies! Cesar as Buddy The Elf (perfect casting and also gets off easiest in the outfit department, lol), Layne as The Grinch, Geoff as Oogie Boogie (duh), and Eli as Santa/Sandy

(Also fun fact: the Oogie Boogie costume is the same one that Tony wore for his very brief appearance in VoicePlay's Kidnap The Sandy Claws video! (Also it's pretty hot to wear apparently, and Geoff had to tie his hair back to get the head/hood fitted properly, before he ended up asking for a wig cap, rip))

Also if you don't know the original scene, the original line after "but I'm always on your left!" is "that was when there were three of us, and now the tallest go in the middle", but here, the tallest (Layne/Grinchy and Geoff/Oogie Boogie) already are in the middle, so it's switched out for "now the fat one goes in the middle" (also watch for Eli's/Santa's quick surprised reaction to that line, lol)

(Also not a visual thing, but if you haven't picked up on it already, the announcer doing the "please welcome to the stage" bit is also Layne)

I know I didn't mention it in all my rambling at the start, but yes, shoutout to Adriana Arellano who is also in this video! (And blonde now!). This is her fifth full-length collaboration with the group, and second for a Christmas video! (Third if you count the Frozen 2 Medley).

Also do you recognise the set? Again? I'll say more later, but those curtains were almost definitely added in post-production I'll tell ya that!

Can't recreate the OG scene without an audience, and so we haveone! That just happens to also include the VoicePlay guys themselves! (Geoff must've been sharing his cloning machine around! 😜😆

Huldra has a video on her channel I believe saying who's who in the audience here, but they're also all credited in the description, so I'll list them here for you!

Standing up at the back: Michelle Arellano (Adriana's mum)

Back row: Eli, Ashley Jacobson (Eli's wife), Asher Jacobson (the baby that Ashley is holding; Eli's new son who was born in November last year!), Eileen McCarthy (don't know who she is), and Gayle Stein (Layne's mum).

Middle row: Franchezca Buiser (in shadow behind Cesar) (production assistant for Kathy/VoicePlay), Cyndi Stein (the blonde one behind Layne) (Layne's wife), Christina Arellano (Adriana's sister), and Adriana

And of course in the front row: Cesar, Layne, Kathy, and Geoff!

(Oh and "The Grinch" waving to Layne and him waving back (in the O.G. scene it's Gretchen waving to Jason) was definitely a cute touch)

Cyndi absolutely killed it playing Amy Poehler's part in the scene here, but wow already the similarities are stronger than I realized!

Totally the same picture! 🤣

So long as everyone had a good time, amirite? 😁

Pfft, Geoff acting shocked/scandalised, as if he hasn't done more than that in his Way Down video! 😆

Cesar is having the best time, and we love that for him honestly <3

Cyndi also really got into it! Stan! (She and Layne really are perfect for each other huh - same energies!)

Not a recreation of any bit in the original, but I love the little moment of Eileen and Gayle looking at each other in what can at best be called "great shock/surprise" 😂

Firstly, I love how they managed to include Ariana as a lead singer while still keeping with the original "plotline", by having a 'reveal' that Adriana was just lip-syncing to the boombox track, (still her vocals of course), which is revealed when it gets kicked and starts glitching.

Second of all, I love Cesar's attitude of "when in doubt, Remain Cute". Iconic 😂👌

Lol rip, had to happen! (And in the BTS video, they actually kinda show how this bit was done!)

Somehow I feel like Cyndi had the most fun out of anyone in this video shoot 😝

At this point I might as well make note of something you'd be forgiven for not immediately realizing - or perhaps not at all! And that is the fact that they're not actually on a stage! They made it look like one with the use of clever directions and camera anglings for the audience shots, but yeah no that's the same set VoicePlay used in 2022 for Christmas Don't Be Late, and the same set Geoff used that same year for Way Down, and it's totally flat! No stage!

And that's about all I have to say for Jingle Bell Rock actually! (No I'm not including the end bit - I do have some standards! 😂). That brings us up to date with VoicePlay's Christmas videos, but we're not even halfway into my 12 Days of Christmas In July miniseries! Next up, a couple of bonus VoicePlay Visuals posts, and then we'll be jumping over to Geoff's solo stuff! See you again soon!

#voiceplay #voiceplay visuals #voiceplay visuals christmas #voiceplay jingle bell rock #geoff castellucci #layne stein #eli jacobson #cesar de la rosa #adriana arellano #acaplaya analysis

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linagram · 1 year

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a (very late) introduction to linagram!

hi! since the second trial is going to start soon i hope so and also i've noticed some new people following this blog, i thought that it would be a good idea to make a post like this! i think it will be useful for both new people who don't know much about my ocgram, but still want to learn more and people who are following this blog since the first trial, because i've actually never mentioned some of this information before!

(yes i know it would be better if i just added all of this to my pinned. i know. i will leave a link to this post there sjskslsl)

"Why Linagram?" Because this OCgram is named after me! :D And also because I'm bad at coming up with names and titles. Also [2], at first it was just a tag I used for my Milgram OCs before I created this blog, so yeah.

"What about the guards and the prisoners?" This OCgram actually has more than one guard (if you don't count Jackalope as another Canongram guard) and right now there's two guards (last name, first name order): Sanada Eiji and Andou Miki. There's also ten prisoners, just like in canon (same name order): Miyagawa Akio, Hanasaki Aimi, Ishizu Shun, Chiba Naomi, Sanada Kei, Yoshioka Eiko, Yano Asahi, Maruyama Yurika, Kuroki Riku and Himura Reina. After the first trial, all prisoners were forgiven except three of them: Akio, Kei and Yurika.

"Is this OCgram connected to Canongram?" It kinda is and it kinda isn't. It shares a lot of things with Canongram, like music videos, ten prisoners, also some prisoners share things like personality traits, backstory details, etc with the canon prisoners, but it's also very different from Canongram: more than one guard has to participate in the voting process, Jackalope almost never appears (though he will appear very soon) and doesn't really play an important role (he wasn't even there to explain how everything works) and also both guards are related to the prisoners. You have probably already noticed that Eiji shares a last name with one of the prisoners and that's his brother. Miki is related to one of the prisoners as well. I imagine that this OCgram takes place a few years before Canongram, but I'm not sure how many. Also, a lot of the MVs often have scenes that look like they're actually happening from someone else's POV, like a victim or a side character's and not just the prisoner's. Most of the time it's just done to make the MVs more interesting, but you can interpret it as the victims/side characters trying to help you/the guards figure out what actually happened, if you want! The victims play a big role here in general, since the guilty prisoners can not only hear the voices judging them, but they can hear their own victims' voices or even see them too. Maybe Milgram is the victims' new home too.

"Is this OCgram connected to the light novel?" I admit, I was kinda inspired to do the whole "haha what if the guards were actually the prisoners' siblings" thing because of the novel's plot twist (even though it wasn't the exact same thing) (and also because i just thought it would be a cool concept, like wow, your sibling is one of the prisoners now. what are you gonna do), but nope, this OCgram isn't really connected to it.

"How does the voting process work?" Both guards have to talk about everyone's crimes and watch the MVs together. After that, they have to decide if they will forgive them or not. However, Eiji and Miki's morals and personalities are very different: Eiji thinks all of them deserve to die for their sins and Miki wants to forgive them. So yeah, they have to somehow convince each other that their opinion is the only right one. After that, they both have to vote them innocent or guilty.

"How will the second trial go?" I will post both pre-T2 voice dramas first, then I will post the album covers (+ song titles and preview lyrics), everyone's T2 profiles and then I will start posting their voice dramas which will also include their MV descriptions and polls. You can vote them innocent or guilty based on literally anything: their crime, their personality, their design, etc. Metavoting is fine too though it doesn't mean that everything will go exactly as you planned, hehe. After each prisoner pair's voice dramas get posted, I will write their interrogations as well (for example, if Akio and Aimi's VDs were posted, that means I will also post their interrogation soon).

"Can we send questions for the interrogations?" Yes! And you can also simply ask them questions even if it's not for the interrogations, like, if you just want to learn more about them or talk to them, haha. You can interact with them too if you have Milgram OCs as well :] And yes, you can send questions and interactions for the guards too!

"Do you already know what you're gonna do for the third trial? Are all prisoners actually dead and we have to decide if they should go to Heaven or Hell? Is this all just an experiment? Do you have something completely different in mind?" I know that it's still only the second season of Canongram and it would probably be better for me to wait for the third season and maybe I will do that, but also I just kinda decided to go wild and do something original :D I already have some ideas for the third trial and the "big reveal", but don't be surprised if it turns out to be completely different from canon!

"Does your OCgram include any triggering topics?" Since this is Milgram, yeah, death and murder is like, the whole thing, but just to be safe, here are all the warnings (i suck at these, so i'm sorry if some of them sound like i'm not being serious or something, I JUST HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DESCRIBE THEM): bullying, self-harm, suicide, physical and emotional abuse, toxic relationships in general (platonic, romantic, etc), sexual themes (nothing too nsfw and nothing like that gets actually shown or described in detail, but it's there just so you know sjsjksks), characters get beaten up and injured in different ways (especially now that it's season 2), one of the guards is obsessed with punishing everyone so yeah, he's gonna say and do a lot of scary things, one of the murder victims was literally ten years old, derealization/depersonalization, hallucinations, literally all of them (including the guards) need therapy, like i'm sure all of them have at least one undiagnosed mental illness, stalking, harassment, some murders were very brutal, some future MVs will have elements of body horror and gore, but nothing too scary or detailed. If you find anything potentially triggering that I haven't mentioned here, please let me know!

Hopefully, this explains how this OCgram works! If you have any questions, feel free to send them!

#i don't think miki is supposed to be a lot taller than eiji BUT IT'S SO FUNNY TO DRAW THEM THIS WAY #LIKE I WOULD MAKE EIJI MORE TINY IF I COULD #“lina what do you mean RIGHT NOW there's two guards” :) i am looking away #but yeah i actually do have ideas for season 3 already. i'm putting way too much effort into this i know #but hey at least i'm having fun :D #milgram #milgram oc #ocgram #milgram project

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guardian-angle22 · 1 year

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I just came across your Youtube poll tags. Who are your favorite vegan youtubers? I watch a bunch of them too!

[referencing my tags on this post]

Oooh thank you for asking! (and also please share any others if you follow some awesome ones I don't mention!)

Prefacing this with the fact that I am simply... not a good cook 🤣 Or maybe a better way to phrase that is I'm a lazy ass cook. So while I watch these, just know that if a recipe calls for more than about 5 ingredients or takes longer than 30 minutes, I probably haven't attempted to make it myself yet. I'm also not fully vegan at this point in my life, I'm just vegetarian but it's much easier to find vegan recipe blogs tbh.

Gonna put the rest under a cut. I got wordy cause I felt like I had to defend my answers for some reason lmao 😅

Caitlin Shoemaker is an absolute must for me. She has some of the best EASY recipes to follow imo.

Make It Dairy Free is also a go-to for me. For the recipes but also they post these fun product taste test videos that are very helpful for knowing how different vegan products actually taste and if they're worth the increased price tag.

Pick Up Limes has some great recipes but is also just aesthetically pretty to watch. Feels like a professional studio set up (probably is idk that much about these people lol)

Recently been getting very into Alexandra Andersson's videos. I know next to nothing about her but I already have a couple recipes of hers bookmarked to try out soon.

Vegan Richa has very short & sweet videos that are such a good resource for me. Many saved recipes from them.

BOSH is one that I follow but don't think I've managed to make a single recipe of theirs lol.

One of my faves used to be Sweet Potato Soul but she hasn't uploaded to youtube in over a year, but still highly recommend her videos/recipes.

The Chic Natural is another one that doesn't post too many recipe/food videos but I still follow her cause she's awesome in general.

Vegan But Lazy is another one that is no longer active but I mean... the title alone makes it obvious why I have so many of their videos bookmarked.

Edgy Veg feels like a staple. I honestly don't watch too many of her videos these days but I think this channel may have been the first I had ever followed back in my early vegetarian days.

#anon answered #this was fun! i don't usually get random asks like this unrelated to 911ls #but also if you follow a vegan/vegetarian person that posts EASY recipes that a lazy cook like me can do PLSS pass along the knowledge #also disclaimer that I am not an annoying vegetarian that shames other people for what they do so please dont @ me lmao

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karlajoyner · 4 years

Text

Stole My heart (Owen Patrick Joyner x Reader)

A/n: Hey guys so there’s this imagine let me know if I should make a part 2? Possibly a smut? I don’t know let me know! Also let me know if I should post these on wattpad too!!!

Warnings: None

————

"Owen seriously if someone catches us I'm gonna kill you"

"No ones gonna catch us. They're filming a scene" He mumbled leaving a trail of kisses down my neck.

"That's what you said last time"

"They didn't catch us" He said pushing my shirt down my shoulder.

"Yeah but they almost did- wait. Are you? Owen" I scolded pushing him away.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"What do you mean what? The makeup department will literally kill me if I show up with another hickey. Then their gonna interrogate me like they did last time since there are limited people I see daily" I groaned.

"They're not gonna kill you y/n. Relax"

"I can't relax. Now that we landed a season 2 the chances of us getting caught are much higher now. Plus my character has such a bigger part now" I spoke pacing back and forth in the dimly lit room. Julie's room set to be exact.

"I know. But you can't let that get to you now. You did amazing the first season and your gonna kill it this season. And if we get caught then oh well"

"Oh well? Oh well. Owen I already told you I don't want anyone to know about us until-"

"Until we're sure it's not gonna effect our worth ethic. I know" He muttered sitting down on the bed. I sighed realizing he was upset. It was never my intention to date my co-star. Let alone fall in love with him. But after spending countless of hours on set and off set with him there was no denying the chemistry. And what to everyone seemed like an amazing friendship was actually something more.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I wish things could be different but-"

"But this is your first big part. I get it" he said moving to sit me on his lap.

"I'll back off. We'll just have to keep sneaking around"

"Owen-"

"No harm. No foul. If this is what I have to do to be with you I'll do it" He said kissing the spot he had previously been sucking on.

"And I'd do it again" He whispered kissing my skin once more.

"And again" Another kiss.

"And again" He spoke finally meeting my lips. The kiss last longer than the ones shared previously. It was much more passionate on both ends. The risk of getting caught high.

"Owen" I giggled as he flipped us over on the bed.

"Yes?" He questioned as his fingers made their way up my shirt.

"Baby" I moaned as his hands cupped my left boob.

"Mmm" He muttered against my lips.

"We've got to get back on set soon. I have a scene with Jer" I panted pulling away.

"Don't do it"

"Owen" I warned.

"Fine" He groaned getting off me.

"But for the record if they did know we were dating I would not give my approval for the stupid kissing scene" He said kicking the ground like a little kid. Referring to the fact that my character became Reggies love interest this season.

"Be careful there babe the jealousy is peeking through. Just be lucky he's married and they cut it down from a whole make out scene" I teased checking myself in the full length mirror.

"Yeah yeah. God the unholy things I would've done to you in that bed" He whispered in my ear as his hands explored my body.

"Don't temp me Joyner" I said a smirk making it's way onto his face.

"I'm here!" I called running onto set.

"Finally! Where were you?" Charlie asked exasperatedly standing beside Kenny who was looking at script at hand.

"We don't have time to interrogate her Charlie we've got to get this scene filmed if we wanna stick to schedule. Y/n next time be on set 5 minutes before"

"Yes Kenny. Sorry I was um was distracted. Lost track of time" I said noticing Owen had walking onto set casually going to talk to Mads and Savannah.

"Okay so this scene your gonna walk in on cue to your mark. Find Luke sitting on the couch playing his guitar. Sentimental talk. Confess your undying love for Reggie. Then Jers gonna come in tell y/c/n he loves her too. But he can't be with her because he had this girlfriend back in 95 who he never officially broke up with. Then he says screw it. You kiss. End scene"

"Oh the kiss. That's this scene?" I asked finding Owen who was deeply in conversation.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

"No, no I'm ready" I said not expecting to have to do this in front of my secret boyfriend right now.

I sighed going to stand on my beginning mark. I watched as Charlie did the same.

The lights dimming in the studio to replicate nightfall.

"And action!" Kenny yelled.

I opened the barn like doors walking in slowly.

"Oh Luke. I didn't know you were here sorry I'll go-"

"No. No it's okay. I was just messing around. What's up?"

"I was looking for Reggie"

"Looking for Reggie? Oh he's with Alex and Willie. He should be back soon"

"Then I'll just go. Thanks I guess"

"Wait. Can I play you something?" Charlie questioned taking a hold of my wrist.

"Um sure. Why not?" I asked sitting down next to him. I listened as he began strumming his guitar to a familiar tune. A small smile forming on my lips.

"That was great Luke. Did you write that? Maybe about someone whose name rhymes with Judy" I spoke in a teasing matter.

"No. Actually Reggie wrote it. About someone who name rhymes with yours" He said a blush forming on my face.

"Okay. I get what your saying" I said playfully rolling my eyes.

"Good. I thought I'd have to follow up with home is where my horse is" He said making me giggle.

"How could I possibly tell a ghost who died 25 years ago that I'm completely head over heels for him?"

"Maybe the same way your telling a ghost who died 25 years ago right now" Charlie said jokingly bumping my shoulder.

"Right... I just- I don't want to get rejected by a ghost. It's one thing when they're alive but if the dead doesn't want me I think that's saying something"

"Y/n, Reggies in love with you. He'd be thrilled if you showed any romantic interest in him. At least more than you already do" He teased me once again.

"Thanks Luke. I just hope he doesn't freak out on me like last time"

"Last time?"

"Yeah last time I brought up relationships in a topic he got all weird and left. So I just never did it again"

"Oh. Look y/c/n back in 95 we had a decent following and a ton of girls following after us" A strange look forming on Charlie's face.

"Okayyy" I stretched out the word.

"And Reggie. You know him he uh well he's a fl-" Charlie words were cut off.

On cue Jeremy strolled into the studio set as Charlie and I sat facing each other stiffly.

I stifled a giggle knowing this would later be edited so it'd look like Jer flashed in out of nowhere.

"Y/c/n? Luke?"

"Oh Reggie. Hi" I stood up continuing the scene.

"Hey. What are you doing here? I thought you'd be home"

"I was. Julie invited me over for a bit and I thought I'd say hi before I uh left. I though maybe we could talk for a bit"

"Oh. Okay yeah" He slightly smiled before turning to the brunette beside me.

"And what are you still doing here?" Jeremy asked looking at Charlie.

"Hey, I was just leaving man. She's all yours" Charlie smirked at us before walking off set.

Jer and I paused until his footsteps could no longer be heard before continuing.

"So um what did you want to talk about?"

"Just um stuff" I said standing still in my spot.

"What stuff?" He asked coming to stand in front of me.

"Luke. He played me your song" I said picking up the piece of paper with chicken scratch from the coffe table.

"Lifer Girl?" I finally read the title before looking up into his brown eyes.

"Uh yeah. I'm still working on the name. Did you like it?"

"I loved it. This lifer girl. She's one lucky girl. Do I know her?"

"Of course you do. Your practically the same person" he said a piece of my hair falling to the front of my face. I nervously played with my fingers as he pushed the strand behind my ears.

"Oh. Can you tell me about her?"

"Well she's funny and makes me feel happy when I'm around her. She's really smart and her grades skyrocket compared to what mine use to be. And she's beautiful, drop dead gorgeous" He whispered tilting my head up with his fingers.

For a moment I looked up into his brown eyes wishing. Longing for them to be someone else's. I felt his finger leave my chin before he turned away dramatically.

"I shouldn't"

"Shouldn't?" I asked curiously.

"I can't"

"Can't? Why not?" I questioned once more.

"Y/c/n there's something I need to tell you"

"What is it Reg?"

"Back in 1995 you know before we died. I uh-"

"You what?" I asked urging him to continue.

"I had a girlfriend and well then we died. So we never officially broke up" Jer said.

"Oh" I mumbled backing away from him.

"I get it"

"No wait y/c/-"

"No Reggie it's okay. Your still in love with her. Of course you are. God how could I be so stupid to think that you'd actually love me. Let alone like m-" My eyes widened as I felt him crash his lips into mine completely going off script. Which wasn't uncommon. But it was supposed to be a short kiss. There were lines that were missing.

Slowly I pretended to sink into the kiss. Pulling away after a couple of seconds amongst hearing the word.

"Cut!" Kenny yelled Jeremy finally letting me go.

"That was amazing! Spectacular! Great improve Jer! We're done with this scene!" He called out to us. But all I could focus on was the look plastered on Owens face. He was hurt. But not because of the kiss. But because of the fact that he couldn't do that. Not out in public anyways.

"Yeah great going Jer" I commented to the boy in front of me.

"Thanks y/n. You did great too" He said getting near me.

"But if I were you I'd go talk to your boyfriend before he bursts" He whispered in my ear leaving me wide eyed.

"H-how'd you?"

"Know? Please everyone knows. I mean you guys aren't great at hiding things. There's actually a poll between Kenny and Charlie. Whichever one of you slips up firsts. My bets on Owen" He chuckled.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Seriously"

“Who was the first one to know"

"Sonya in makeup. The first hickey you showed up with only matched with the timeframe that you and Owen had been together. Clearly not getting lunch like you had said you were"

"That long?" I asked.

"Yup" He spoke popping his p.

"Just don't tell anyone I told you. Carolynn insisted I put you out of your misery"

"Thanks. I think" He smiled at me before walking away.

A grin began to form on my face as I made my way toward the blonde who was leaning against a wall twirling one of his drumsticks in his left hand.

"Hey. Great scene back there" He commented as I now stood in front of him.

"Thanks. You know Jers a good kisser and all but I think your better" I spoke aloud noticing Savannah's and Madison's head whipping towards us.

"What?" He asked making sure he heard right.

"You heard me Joyner" I spoke giggling at his shocked reaction.

"Now shut up and kiss me would you?" He tilted his head to be extra sure. Something I adored about him.

He always wanted to make sure I was certain about these things. I simply nodded feeling his arms wrap around me bringing his lips to meet mine.

I smiled into the kiss as he turned us around pushing me up against the wall. I giggled upon hearing clapping around us from the cast and crew.

"Finally!" I heard Savannah shout.

"Keep it PG kids!" Kenny shouted laughter following.

"You owe me 20 Gillespie!" He yelled again followed by a groan by presumably Charlie. I finally pulled away first leaving Owen in shock.

"I'm gonna need you to come back to reality lover boy" I said rubbing my thumb against his cheek.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked keeping a tight hold on my waist.

"Let's just say you have Carolynn to thank for that. Apparently everyone knew"

"What? How?"

"I guess we weren't as good at keeping a secret as we thought"

"How long?"

"First hickey"

“That long?"

"That's what I said" I laughed as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"You two are so cute"

"Thanks Mads" I smiled at the girl.

Finally able to wrap my arms around the boy who had stolen my heart without any warning.

#owen joyner #owen patrick joyner #julie and the phantoms #the other side of hollywood #Charlie Gillespie #Jeremy shada #alex jatp #reggie jatp #luke jatp #Luke Patterson #Julie Molina #Flynn JATP #Madison Reyes #jadah marie

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snarkwrites · 4 years

Text

17.12, kissing booth, sweetpea

Title: kissing booth

Theme: holiday carnival/fair

Fandom / Character(s):Riverdale, Sweetpea x OFC, Alyssa Andrews

Warnings: Swearing, Sweetpea being a smartass, Reggie being an antagonist, and floofy kisses.

Word Count: uhh.. 1k-ish?, roughly.

Look.. I blame my niece for getting sucked into this show and fandom to begin with. I guess I just have a connection and deep love for grouchy types, because when Sweetpea was first introduced I was instantly hooked on the character. This is my daily entry for @champbucks 12 days of Christmas. Hope you guys enjoy it. I had a blast writing it. I guess sometimes it’s just fun to write something that’s not purely related to a thirst I happen to have, who woulda thunk it, huh?

Also, again.. I made the banner for this. Don’t steal or repost.

TAGGING:

There’s actually nobody on my riverdale tag list. If you’d like to be on it, let me know on my main to add you or click the lil link below and add thyself.

[ about my writing | masterlist | multifandom tag doc ]

“Oh come on!” Cheryl pouted, tapping her foot impatiently because she knows full well that I’m the only person her demanding and bossing around doesn’t work on. In fact, it usually makes me dig my heels in even more.

“I said I’m not doing it. Why do you want me to take two hours at the booth anyway, Cheryl? We both know there’s probably no one in Riverdale who will line up to kiss me. Can’t Betty or Veronica take the extra hour?” I eyed her, a brow raised.

“Actually, that’s where you’d be wrong, Alyssa. I have proof that you’re the one they’d rather have in the booth for an extra hour.” Cheryl dug around in her backpack and produced a piece of paper. I eyed her and then it, taking it with an amused laugh. “Right. You totally just fabricated this. I’m not doing it, Cheryl. Nope.”

From nearby, Toni spoke up.

“Doing what? What’d I miss?”

Cheryl beamed and went into Toni’s arms, hugging her, taking the paper back from me to show Toni and the two shared a laugh.

And then both of their gazes settled on me expectantly.

“Ah fuck. Look, I said I’d do an hour. That’s absolutely it. I’m already going to spend most of that kissing freshmen or something, shit. That paper proves absolutely nothing, by the way.” I nodded to the paper that Toni was now holding in her hands.

“We don’t have time to argue this. Jughead took Betty home and your brother’s spirited Veronica away. Everyone else has gone.”

“So have I. And I’m still not over that sophomore with the Hoover suction. Do you know that little shit tried to cop a feel?”

“Waaaa.” Cheryl mimicked. Toni leaned in, whispering into her ear and then Cheryl muttered “Interesting.” as her gaze fixed on me again. As Toni walked off, I pinched the bridge of my nose and eyed the empty chair. The booth was on a break right now. The line was pretty small.

Riverdale High needed the money. Taking on a whole other student body recently had pretty much depleted the school’s funds. Everyone else on my team had already gone. I eyed Cheryl as I mulled it over. “Is anyone else going twice?”

“Actually, both Toni and I are. Cheek kisses only, of course.” Cheryl gave me a pleading grin as her words fell away.

I felt a little better knowing that I wouldn’t be the only one being offered up for sacrifice twice. I tapped my foot and dragged my fingers through long red hair, giving it a tug. “Fine.”

Cheryl hugged me and I laughed, letting her. Even hugging back just slightly. “I’ll go take my seat I guess. But I’m telling you, my second turn is going to be a total bust.”

I caught sight of Toni talking to Fangs and Sweetpea over by the hot chocolate booth and I bit my lip, my gaze lingering on Sweetpea for just a few seconds longer than it should’ve.

,, My fantasy kiss is not gonna happen. I can hang it up.”

That was my last thought before flopping into the chair positioned behind our booth. And nearly as soon as the few people waiting realized that the line was opening up again, they started to push to the front slowly. One or two walked away.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Three times. Then a fourth. But I wanted to just get my second turn in the kissing booth over with because I’d pretty much resigned myself to the fact that like my first turn, I’d have mostly underclassmen in my line. Or friends of my brother Archie. Luckily my brothers friends seemed okay with just a hug and a peck on the cheek. I hadn’t had to actually… Lock actual lips with anyone.

XXX

Sweetpea watched as Alyssa took her seat at the kissing booth a second time. Toni wandered over, tapping her best friend’s shoulder and nodding towards the booth. “Are you gonna stare all afternoon or grow a pair and get in line, Pea?”

“I’m not taking part in… that shit.” Sweetpea nodded his head in the direction of the booth. Toni reached into her back pocket and smirked to herself while Sweetpea was busy watching Alyssa Andrews get settled into the booth for her second go. “Yeah? Well if you won’t.. I have a long list of guys that Cheryl has spoken to who all seem to say that they’re more than happy to.”

She unfolded the paper right as Sweetpea heard her and focused. He reached for the paper, snatching it from her hands. His eyes darted over the poll and sign up sheet and then settled back on the red-head currently manning the kissing booth.

When his eyes got to Reggie’s name on the list at least three times, his fists clenched tight. He tugged at the collar of his tee shirt. It wasn’t a secret that Alyssa and Reggie liked to flirt back and forth and frankly, it was something that annoyed Sweetpea continuously. To a point where lately, it caused him to stay constantly irritated.

Especially when she’d blow off their little gang of friends to go on drives with Reggie.. Or study. Or grab a milkshake at Pop’s.

“She’s only doing this because she’s part of that stupid cheer thing.” he said it to himself, mostly to keep himself from doing something stupid and crazy and marching over, dragging her away from that booth and telling her that the only guy she needed to kiss was right in front of her. And had been for months now.

“Actually, she volunteered. And she’s the only one people have specifically asked for twice.” Toni shrugged as she tried to stop the laughter. Sure it was a small fabrication in details, but Sweetpea didn’t know that, nor did he need to. What he did need right now was a nudge. Because for one thing, Toni was beyond done with seeing him mope over Josie and their little fling ending. For another, the tension in the room between Sweetpea and Alyssa lately when they were all hanging out was almost unbearable. And rather than stand back and watch her grumpy idiot of a best guy friend let a chance at actual happiness pass him by, she was determined that today was the day. She was going to give him that loving but firm little nudge in the right direction.

Because lately, Alyssa was starting to think that Sweetpea didn’t feel the same way about her as she did about him, hence all the dates with Reggie Mantle. Toni was also sick of watching Alyssa try to feign happiness when lately, she’d been down. Because every attempt she’d made thus far to tell Sweetpea how she felt wound up Sweetpea, bringing up Josie in conversation.. Or lately, with Alyssa just talking herself right out of it altogether.

Something needed to happen, otherwise someone was going to explode.

Reggie Mantle wandered over, getting into the line for the kissing booth. Sweetpea looked as if it were taking literally every single shred of willpower he possessed not to storm over and make a scene, especially when Reggie smooth-talked his way right to the front of the line almost.

“You know she’s only going out with him a lot more lately because the guy she really wants ahs made himself so hard to be around that we all wanna strangle him most of the time now.. Right?”

“You’re lying.”

“Yeah? Let me show you something.” Toni grabbed her phone and held it out. “Have a read at our text history, Pea. See for yourself.”

Sweetpea took the phone reluctantly. At first, he was skeptical. By the middle of the most recent conversation, about Alyssa blowing them off to hang at the quarry in favor of going to watch Reggie at football practice because he asked and Alyssa admitting that maybe it was time she… Moved on. Got over her huge crush on Sweetpea… He wanted to kick himself.

His eyes fixed on the booth and his jaw set firm.

He knew her well enough to know that she’d never own up to anything she’d admitted to Toni in the texts. And he knew that lately, he’d made it almost unbearable to be around him. Picking fights with her, grilling her about pretty much everything. Just purposely being an ass.

His pride was going to cost him a shot with her if he didn’t swallow it soon. And the thought was not a pleasant one when it settled in his mind.

“Nothing to say, Pea?” Toni teased, flashing him a smirk as soon as she managed to break through his thoughts and gain his attention for a second or two. Sweetpea dragged his hand over his hair, taking a breath or two. Reggie was just about to the front of the line. His gaze fixed on Alyssa, almost as if he were willing her to look at him. Catch him staring.

“If you really want her to know how you feel and not have any doubts, you know what to do.”

Toni’s statement had Sweetpea wandering over to the line for the kissing booth. What Reggie Mantle had in charm, Sweetpea made up for in sheer intimidation skill and a second or two later, Reggie scowled as Sweetpea wound up right behind him in line.

“The hell are you doing, Serpent?”

“I know what you’re not gonna do, Mantle.”

Reggie whirled around, staring Sweetpea up and down. “You think so, huh? Watch and see.”

“I don’t fucking think so.” Sweetpea towered over Reggie, his fists shoved safely inside his leather jacket.

From the front, Alyssa cleared her throat. “It’s,uhh.. It’s your turn, Reggie.” she bit her lip as she looked back and forth between Reggie and Sweetpea. Sweetpea caught her gaze and held it, biting his lip.

After a little digging, he found a badly wadded twenty dollar bill.

Reggie sauntered up to the booth and slipped a five dollar bill down, giving Alyssa a playful gaze as he leaned in for the kill.

And Sweetpea’s fists clenched even tighter in his pocket. He barely managed to bite back a growl. And after about five seconds, he cleared his throat and spoke up, addressing Reggie.

“You’re holding up the damn line, Mantle.”

“I paid, Sweetpea. What are you even doing in the line to begin with, huh? Didn’t we have a talk about this Friday afternoon?” Reggie was body to body with him until Cheryl hurried over.

“Break it up you two!”

XXX

I think when I saw Sweetpea wandering over, my heart fluttered a little and I tensed up all in the same breath. I honestly thought he was coming over just to start something. To heckle me for offering myself up to do this. He looked mad.

Or I thought he did, at least.

When he didn’t start with the heckling and instead, intimidated about ten of the guys waiting in line to let him go before them, I found myself having a harder time focusing on the task at hand. A guy named Ben who played basketball with Archie every few weekends came up and put a dollar into the basket, chuckling as I rose to tiptoe and gave him a friendly and slightly awkward cheek kiss. He pulled me into a hug and muttered into my ear, “The rowdier guys are still waitin, red.. If you want me to hang around… Hell, maybe I should. Archie would kick my ass if somebody got out of line with his kid sister.”

“Ben, I’ll be fine. I’m perfectly capable of handling things.” I explained, giving him a gentle smile and thanking him for the offer because his heart was in the right place. Reggie was next and I took a deep breath.

Truth be told, I was a little irritated because Reggie doing this made it kind of clear that Reggie was just going to try and find ways to skirt around any boundary I set. I got that this was in good fun, but there was a perfectly good reason I hadn’t really… Kissed him yet. Even when he’s tried to initiate at least two or three times now and each time, I’ve politely declined.

If this were a few months ago, I’d have jumped at the chance. I was shocked at myself when we were sitting in front of my dad’s house and he tried to kiss me the first time and I didn’t go for it then, if I’m being perfectly honest.

Because I’ve always had a soft spot for my brother’s friend Reggie. I guess that’s when it really hit me… After I met Sweetpea, a lot of things changed. And my feelings for Reggie just kind of slowly died.

The argument between Reggie and Sweetpea caught my attention and if I had any actual hope left of Sweetpea being into me like that, it would’ve grown as I listened to the words being exchanged back and forth before clearing my throat.

As I got their attention and for a few seconds, they glared one another down, I found myself kind of wondering what Sweetpea was up to. I honestly hadn’t even thought he’d show up at the carnival. I mean yeah, Toni most likely dragged him, but… He’s in line… For the kissing booth. And not just any line, my line.

My brain seemed to start working then and it hit me that in a few seconds, I was going to have to kiss Sweetpea.

,, I’ll give him a peck on the cheek. Because if I had my way and gave him a real kiss, things would get so awkward between us, holy shit..” the decision was made and I felt a little better.

Reggie finally approached the table and I bit my lip, eyeing him. I could feel Sweetpea’s intent stare burning a hole right through me, even as I pretended to be happy and interested in the kiss I was about to give Reggie.

Maybe knowing Sweetpea was watching was what made me decide to settle with a clumsy corner of the mouth kiss. Reggie muttered quietly against my mouth, “Red?”

“Sorry, I just.. I thought I could but I can’t.” I muttered so that Reggie could hear me.

Reggie gave an understanding nod and smiled, shrugging “It’s cool. Do you wanna meet up later?”. I shrugged and told him I’d text him when I left the carnival if I felt up to hanging out or going to Pops and he walked away from the kissing booth, leaving me frustrated at myself and panicking a little because naturally, Sweetpea was next.

For a few seconds, I felt bad about the half hearted attempt. Especially when I thought back on just how wrapped up in Josie Sweetpea had been and just how little I’d given him hell for it in comparison to how much hell he’s put me through for going on a date or two with Reggie lately.

I zoned out a little, mostly just trying to pull myself together and in that time, Sweetpea stepped up and smacked a 20 dollar bill down on top of the table, gazing down at me expectantly as he swallowed hard and dragged his hand over his hair.

I eyed the 20 dollar bill and eyed him. “I,uhh.. A kiss on the cheek is only a dollar.”

,, you seriously open your mouth and say that?”

“Obviously, that’s not what I got in line for, princess.” Sweetpea muttered quietly, licking his lips as his gaze settled on mine. I gulped and I swear, it felt as if all the air got sucked right out of the space between us. I dragged my hand through my hair and raised a brow as his eyes left my lips and settled on mine, locking me in a gaze.

“Is this a joke?” I muttered quietly, dazed.

“I believe somebody once told me I have zero sense of humor, so no. No it’s not, doll. You gonna kiss me or not? I paid.” Sweetpea’s tone took on a hint of teasing and I felt my stomach starting to flop lazily, just like it always does when he’s in the rare mood to tease and make it hard for me to tell whether he’s flirting or just being a teasing ass.

I usually play safe and put my money in him simply being a teasing ass, but right now, I wasn’t sure what he was up to at all.

The way he was looking at me right now did not feel like Sweetpea teasing. The look in his eyes was downright hungry.

“I..”

From the back, Reggie heckled. “What the hell makes you think she wants your disgusting Serpent mouth on her, man?”

I grumbled to myself quietly, frustrated because apparently, I was going to freeze up. “You don’t have to..” I trailed off. Sweetpea chuckled to himself and leaned across the booth, his hand tangling in the hair at the back of my neck, tugging at a handful as he pulled my mouth against his. His tongue trailed slowly over the outline of my lips and I whimpered quietly. The palm I had resting flat against his leather jacket wound up curling in it instead. His hand settled on my hip, guiding me partially over the table and halfway out the opening of the booth that we’d been leaning through.

I could feel my face heating up as people started to catcall and whistle and slow clap. When somebody said “Oh shit. Listen man, I don’t wanna die, I think I’ll just.. Wait for Cheryl to take over in a little bit.” I barely heard it, but I couldn’t help smiling into the kiss.

The kiss broke and I slowly raised my hand to my mouth, wiping the back of it across. I was beyond stunned at the moment. At a total and complete loss for words. But when Sweetpea leaned back in and pecked my cheek before whispering with a laugh, “Go on.. Finish working your kissing booth, princess.” and copped a feel, I bit my lip before pouting at him.

“What’s that mean?”

“It means, I’m gonna stick around. Keep these fuckin knuckleheads left in line from getting too much enjoyment, princess.”

“Oh, it does, hm?”

“I mean.. Unless you have a different idea as to why I kissed you like that, Red.” Sweetpea teased, smirking at me for a few seconds.

I eyed him and he muttered quietly, “Later.. We’ll talk, doll. The kiss was just something to think about.”

And somehow, god help me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get it off my mind for the rest of my time left to go in this booth...

#12 days of christmas #12daysofchristmas #sweetpea #sweetpea fanfiction #sweetpea fanfic #sweetpea imagine #sweetpea imagines #sweetpea oneshot #my writing; sweetpea #my fics; sweetpea #my oneshots; sweetpea #// gahhh. i hope this isn't wildly out of character for the guy #// i feel like it isn't but i have been wrong about a character before..

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jenniferdiazisatransgirl · 4 years

Text

My Journey

Hey everyone, As you will likely know by now I am a trans woman and I live in the UK where lately trans people have been under significant scrutiny by the press, government and groups claiming to be acting in the name of feminism.

One of the arguments used when not directly attacking trans people, is that the medical institutions that help us in the UK fast track us through transition, even the NHS and I know so many trans people in this country that I can say without a shadow of a doubt this is not true. This includes a significant number who have been under the care of Tavistock and Portman, the under 18s service which was recently banned from giving its patients hormone blockers without the approval of the courts.

But anyway, I’m gonna share my story and how lengthy the process actually is and I will warn ahead of time this deals with suicidal ideation, gatekeeping, mental health, etc. So proceed with caution. This will also be a long post.

September/October 2008

I can’t remember which month but it was just before my 16th birthday, my Dad encouraged me to go to my GP regarding my gender dysphoria. I lived with my transphobic Mum at the time and had to go behind her back which was terrifying to say the least. I saw a doctor called Dr Moulsher and explained everything I was going through and his response was, “I don’t think the NHS funds any of this.” He was very ignorant on trans issues but it actually fortunately worked out in my favour, I got lucky, I know, but he just wanted me off of his hands.

I explained in Sheffield there was a GIC (gender identity clinic) operated by the NHS known as Porterbrook and he was just like, “Oh right. Well I’m more than happy to refer you but they likely won’t see you till you are 18.”

He asked me some questions, wrote up a detailed report and put in the referral to “get the ball rolling” as he worded it.

I was terrified at the time of the referral letter going to my home address though and he was like, “Well it needs to be sent somewhere.” So he agreed to send it to my grandparents address.

Later That Year

About a month or so later a letter arrived at my grandparents saying I had been accepted onto Porterbrook’s waiting list, explaining it is substantially long, that they wouldn’t be able to see me till I’m 18, etc. Your typical boiler plate stuff. Also as I understand it they don’t typical accept referrals for under 18s so I got lucky there. I remember getting so excited when I got my letter though, that I took it into school to show all of my friends.

Back then it was a requirement that I have a mental health assessment while on the waiting list though. So I returned to Dr Moulsher who I had become rather comfortable with and had made him my regular GP. He made a referral to the local mental health clinic and that was that.

January/February 2009

A letter came in the post asking me to ring to book at appointment at the local mental health clinic. I couldn’t ring from home cos my Mum would overhear and she was spying on me a lot at the time due to really being against the fact I’m trans. My school - which was a Catholic school shockingly enough - had already decided my home environment had become so toxic that I needed removing from my Mum’s care. They would be a process that wouldn’t be completed till June 2010 but yeah, it had got that bad. Anyway, I ended up asking the school receptionist if I could ring on their phone to book the appointment. That was booked for February.

The appointment was a weird one to say the least. The doctor asked me a quite a lot of questions but these are the ones that stuck out.

So with this first one, I am going to preface with that as far as I am aware, I am white and of white ancestry for all the generations I know of. However I do have remarkably curly hair that left to its own devices grows into an afro (or at least what looks like an afro). So the first set of questions that stood out; Dr: What’s your mother’s ethnicity? Me: White British.

Dr: Sorry, did you say Afro-Caribbean? Me: No. White British. Dr: And your father’s ethnicity? Me: White British. Dr: Sorry, was that Afro-Caribbean?

Me: Nope. White British.

Not really sure how you can get Afro-Caribbean and White British verbally mixed up but he seemed very adamant at least one of my parents must be Afro-Caribbean.

He then later goes;

Dr: Do you have a partner?

Me: Yes.

Dr: Are they male or female?

Me: I have a girlfriend.

Dr: Then you can’t be trans. You can’t be trans if you like girls.

Me: What about lesbians?

Dr: That’s beside the point.

Shockingly, in the end he agreed with my GP’s assessment that I am trans but Jesus, as you can probably guess from above that mental health assessment was a minefield of weird.

24th October 2010

In June 2010, I was finally removed from my Mum’s care at the age of 17 and placed in supported housing and on the date about I got a phone call from Porterbrook GIC on my 18th birthday no less, inviting me to my first appointment in November.

22nd June 2012

I legally changed my name and title by deed poll to Miss Lily Nichole Robinson.

22nd October 2012

I’d now been at Porterbrook for almost 2 years, had lots of appointments, most of which repeated the same mundane questions and it had started to feel like nothing was ever going to change. I had become increasingly depressed and suicidal and I had decided that if nothing had changed by my 20th birthday I was going to take my own life. I did not want to enter my 20s still living my life as a man. I didn’t want to lose another year of my life.

I remember this date exactly, not because I marked it in my calendar but because Taylor Swift’s album “Red” came out that morning. Despite everything, I was dancing along to 22 that morning while ironing some clothes, before I headed off to Porterbrook. I didn’t really feel like it mattered, I was going to kill myself 2 days later but I figured what is the harm in going through the motions one last time.

I sat there, trying not to let on how miserable I was, didn’t see the point in letting them in on how I was feeling. Nothing would change.

I remember being asked some really gross questions that day though. I got asked if I masturbated and I just declined answering. When challenged I was just like, “I maybe trans and I may hate that equipment but I’m a human being. I still have sexual urges. What do you think the answer is.”

The appointment though, shockingly ended with them telling me they were going to put me on hormones. I was gonna get my estrogen. It was enough to give me a reason to keep on living.

But just bare in mind how close I got to taking my own life there. 2 days away from my 20th birthday. Also it took almost 2 years for them to say they’d be placing me on hormones.

January/February 2013

In January, I had my bloods taken to get a baseline and I was told about options for storing gametes. I did decide to consider this but in the end it ended up being too costly for me at the time. So in February, on a day it was snowing I got the train and was adamant the snow was not stopping me getting to Porterbrook and I had an appointment with the head clinician, Dr Kevin Wylie.

He oddly listed all the testosterone blocker options to me with side effects and risks and all the estradiol options to me with side effects and risks. In the end I chose Cyproterone Acetate for my blocker and Estradiol Valerate pills for my hormones.

50mg per day of Cyproterone Acetate and 2mg per day of Estradiol Valerate. I was ecstatic and took them both the second I got on the bus 😊

May 2013

Slightly unrelated to the medical process but just 3 months in and my mental health had improved drastically. Since I was removed from my Mum’s care I had become a bit of a shut in. I didn’t have any friends, my anxiety was through the roof, I was insanely depressed and I just avoided everything and everyone, only leaving my house for work. Hormones changed that though, I just felt so much happier and I also remember that Spring just being like really vividly aware of the colours of all the flowers and plant life for like the first time in my life. I actually wanted to go out and social and make friends and there was a local LGBT youth group for 18-25 year olds that I decided to join and I started to have and social life again. And by September 2013 I started university and soon came getting drunk with the LGBT Liberation Group at the various socials. I was happy and finally starting to feel like myself.

2013 - 2016

Porterbrook became very gatekeepy in the final stage of my transition. They didn’t like how I dressed. Apparently girls wear dresses while I preferred jeans, t-shirts and hoodies. I didn’t like wearing make-up. I wasn’t the 1950s image of a girl that Porterbrook seemed to expect. I actually have a trans guy friend who around the same time had been told he couldn’t start on testosterone unless he cut his hair short, cos apparently men don’t have long hair.

It pissed me off to no end because I transitioned to be me, not to be a performance of how the world thinks a woman should be. I refused to give ground on how I dressed, etc but in the end I ended up telling a few white lies to get past the final level of gatekeeping. And I can’t remember most of this dates as they happened while uni was going on in the background. But eventually Porterbrook gave me the go ahead for surgery, about 6 months later I had my second opinion and then I was referred for surgery.

January 2016

I had my pre-surgery assessment at Nuffield Health Brighton and I was told if I wanted I could have my surgery as early as March 2016. Due to university though, this proved a bit too soon and the date was pushed to June 2016.

22nd June 2016

The day before the EU Referendum I had my gender reassignment surgery. I don’t actually remember feeling all that ecstatic after the surgery. There was lot of pain and I was on a lot of drugs. But a friend, Rosie, who I hadn’t seen since high school lived in the area and she was at my bedside when I woke up. I was in hospital a week and had 3 months of recovery ahead of me.

Post Surgery 2016

Having surgery had been great, things finally felt right. My entire body felt right for once but I had tunnel visioned my life towards surgery and put a lot of stuff on the back burner and had some major post-surgery depression so I sort counselling at my university to get through these issues and once that was sorted I felt a lot more stable in myself and like nothing was in my way.

October 2016

I put in my application for my Gender Recognition Certificate only for it to get rejected because they did not like the assessment from Porterbrook GIC and Dr Wylie who wrote the assessments was off on leave. Me and a nurse had to sit down and look through my medical record to find a medical report they might accept and we finally found one. However they wouldn’t say what was wrong with the original which made Porterbrook kinda stumped on what was wrong.

February 2017

I received my Gender Recognition Certificate and my new Birth Certificate.

March 2017

I was discharged from Porterbrook GIC.

For those who are under the impression gender reassignment is a fast process it isn’t, it took me 8 years and 6 months start to finish, from initially seeing my GP at 15 to finally being discharged from Porterbrook GIC at the age of 24. It is a long ass process with a shit tone of gatekeeping and honestly going through the process as it stands isn’t something I’d wish on my worst enemy. When I was discharged from Porterbrook GIC in 2017 my first thought was, “I’m free. I’m finally in control of my own life.” As up until that point, I felt I had no autonomy and that my life and happiness was in the hands of doctors. It was miserable.

But there it is.

#trans woman #transgender #my life #uk #trigger warning #long post #miscellaneous

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kaitycole · 4 years

Text

Once Upon an Us

Summary: Riley wants Liam, but Liam wants Drake.

Pairings: Liam x Riley, Drake x Liam, Riley x ???

Word Count: 4254

Warnings: (16+) Mentions of cheating and arguing. Vague mentions of sexual relations. Angst. Fluff.

A/N: The wonderful, beautiful, talented @dcbbw requested either Liam x MC angst to Driam fluff. While trying to figure out which one to do, my brain said ‘why not both?’ Here we are. Enjoy!

Note: In my series ‘A Royal Mess’ I mentioned another empty duchy (similar to Valtoria) as being Mirandola and Leo was tilted the Duke of it, so we’re just gonna reuse it for this one too! This is NOT an extension of that series, btw.

Note 2: I have no idea what this is. A mess, that’s what. But here we go.

It has been three years since Riley Brooks took Cordonia by storm, quickly becoming the one who won the polls for who the country felt would best serve by Liam’s side. While it didn’t take long the citizens to be smitten with her, a few others around the palace weren’t so captured by her and there was one who remained as icy towards her as he had been from day one.

* * The Palace

Liam is sitting at the head of the table, sipping his coffee while reading the various newspapers in front of him. It still surprised him just how different one paper was from another, reporting the same story but from opposite viewpoints, so certain their points were more factual than the others. But as King, it was important to be thoroughly informed.

“Liam.” Riley smiles at him, sitting to his left as a server brings her a plate of breakfast.

“Mm.” He hums in response, not taking a moment to even look from his paper.

She nods slightly before dropping any expectations they might share a meal with playful banter or exchanges common between married couples. Riley smiles when her and Liam’s assistants join them to go over their schedules and upcoming engagements.

Riley just nods as he chews on her bottom lip. She knew what she was getting into, at least she knew to an extent that Liam’s heart belonged to another and she simply made the best stand-in. She knew when she accepted his proposal that she was just playing a role for the Crown, for the citizens of the country, but even with knowing that, it didn’t help the gaping hole in her chest.

“Is the paperwork for Valtoria complete?” Liam asks his assistant who has been jotting down a few notes.

“Almost, Sir. We just need the Crown’s seal and your signature.” His assistant Andrew tells him, an uneasy expression on his face. “Does this weekend still work?”

“Yes. Please make sure my schedule is cleared starting Thursday and leave it open until Sun- no, until Monday.”

“What’s the weekend?” Riley asks innocently, looking at her husband for clarification, who doesn’t bother to look her way.

“It’s when Valtoria is scheduled to have a new Duke placed in power, Ma’am.” Juliet, Riley’s assistant, answers.

“I wasn’t aware that we had picked someone this soon.” “The deci-“ Andrew is cut off when Riley raises her hand.

“I’d like to hear this from my husband. Liam?”

He sighs, annoyed. “I didn’t think you needed to know the details. It’s not like it honestly concerns you.”

Juliet and Andrew share a quick glance before standing up, excusing themselves and bowing as they leave the royal couple alone.

“Is it not enough that you treat me like a burden rather than a wife, but you really have to parade him around?”

“You knew exactly what you were getting into.”

“Don’t pull that card with me, Liam. If I knew it was going to be like this, I would’ve never agreed.”

“You’re the Queen of Cordonia. You have endless funds, endless resources, anything you could ever want or need, but somehow you are still miserable. I don’t understand you, Riley.”

“And a husband who wouldn’t notice if I wasn’t there.” She tries to steady her voice, anger lacing her words, “you promised that you would try!”

Shaking his head, Liam stands up, pushing his chair in with more force than necessary. Riley stands up slamming her hands on the table, letting her anger out as he starts walking out of the room, ignoring her.

“I did, Riley. The results just weren’t for your liking.”

She rushes up behind him, grabbing his suit jacket to stop him which causes him to whip around, anger plastered on both of their faces. He’s leaning down just enough for the two of them to stay nose to nose.

“Do NOT grab me, I am the King!” “And I Queen!” Despite his attempt to shut her down with his aggressive tone, she remains firm. “I won’t be ignored!”

“What do you have to say? I have things to do.”

“You can give him as many fancy titles as you want, Liam. It doesn’t change how the citizens will view him, it won’t change who you’re married to or who will be the one to give the throne heirs.”

As her words are processed, his anger dissipates changing into remorse. This façade cracking as each word sinks deeper into his chest, the realization of just how right she is becoming added weight in his chest. He’s been selfish, not only with his proposal to Riley, but to the man who owns his heart, but what could he have done? One can’t live without a heart, he couldn’t let him go, right?

She stops, knowing she’s wounded him, looking slightly over her shoulder as she adds salt to cut she’s left. “If you’re going to Valtoria this weekend, I’ll be heading to Mirandola.”

He snaps his head and turns to speak, but she’s gone. He knows he has no right to get mad, to demand that she stay home in the palace while he’s away. He feels like he might have had the right had he tried, had he actually upheld his end of the botched proposal he gave her, but he didn’t. He never intended to try with her because if he was being honest, he knew if he had he might’ve ended up regretting dragging her into this mess in the first place. He’d spend every night in his lover’s arms instead of across the hall from the woman he was all but forced to marry, who he forced to marry him under false expectations.

* * Valtoria

Liam falls to his side, panting next to his lover as he props himself up on his right side, facing him. Drake pushes his chest off the sheets, a smile on his face as he meets Liam’s eyes. Liam feels his heart melt at the pure adoration in Drake’s eyes because he didn’t care how miserable things were at the palace, in moments like this, the look in Drake’s eyes made up for all of that if only for a few days a month.

Drake places his hand on Liam’s cheek, his thumb caressing the thin layer of stubble on the King’s face. He wrinkles his nose when Liam leans forward, kissing his forehead. “What’s bothering you?”

Liam cocks his head to the side, his fingers running through the brunette’s damp hair. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t shave, that usually means something’s on your mind.”

“Riley said something to me a few days ago, just been on my mind I guess.”

The brunette stiffens at her name, of all the people he remains the only one who refuses to accept her, to try to warm up to her. He bites his bottom lip just enough for it to bleed because he needs to feel something other than this sinking feeling in his stomach. He pushes himself off the bed, grabbing his boxers off the floor, putting them on before gathering the other articles of abandoned clothing.

“Drake, talk to me.” He tries to stop Drake, but he’s just pushed out of the way. “Drake.”

Tears are in his eyes when they look up to Liam’s, his heart already in shattered pieces, “she’s pregnant, isn’t she?”

Now it was time for Liam’s heart to break, to become a mess of jagged edges piercing into his chest. He wanted to be hurt, to question why Drake would doubt his love for him, but he can’t be because it’s only natural. Neither he nor Riley had ever brought it up, but it was something that always lingered in the air, something that eventually would start to be expected from the royal couple. Leo and Liam had both, in their own ways, shook the foundation of the throne, an heir would help stabilize it once more.

Liam pulls the other into an embrace, tightly wrapping his arms around him. He places both hands, one on each side of Drake’s face, pulling his face up to look at him. Drake’s eyes are red and puffy, but he still looks handsome to the King. Liam presses a chaste kiss to his lover’s lips, deepening it with hopes his love could be translated through the gesture.

Their actions are desperate as sloppy, wet kisses trail each other’s necks, Liam’s fingers toying with the waistband of Drake’s boxers as they attempted to make their way to the bed. Their steps get tangled together causing them to fall to the floor, small laughter coming from both of them. Drake shakes his head when Liam tries to get up, pinning the raven-haired man’s arms above his head as he straddles him. Liam smirks, both noting this will be the second day they fail to leave the grand suite of Valtoria.

* * Mirandola

“You could always just get an annulment.”

“And go back to waiting tables in New York?” She shakes her head, “how do I go back to black and white when I’ve seen color?” Leo offers a small smile, looking at her over his reading glasses. “I’m sure you could talk him into gifting you one of these lovely duchies. Valtoria is lovely this time of year.” She tosses him an annoyed look which gets her a chuckle from the abdicated prince. She knows that she’d be able to get something if all of this ended, the façade, the sham of a marriage, but part of that feels wrong. She just wanted to be happy, that’s why she left New York to begin with, she thought this would be a magical adventure. Something should’ve clued her in when Drake never let up his annoyed glances at her or how he tried to interfere with every secret meeting Liam would ask Riley to attend.

At first, Riley flattered herself, thinking that Drake had feelings for her, but then a drunken Maxwell let it slip that Drake and Liam had a relationship deeper than just best friends. That the social season might’ve been traditional protocol in the public’s eye for a Crown Prince, but that his father was using it as an alternative method to separate them.

“Did you hear? Drake now owns Valtoria.” She smiles as Leo chokes on his tea, coughing as he tries to breathe. “Liam is up there now.”

“I didn’t know he had it in him.”

“To parade his lover around as if he doesn’t have a wife?”

Leo walks behind her, leaning close to her ear, his hot breath dances around her bare neck, “aren’t you doing something similar? You are here after all.”

Riley watches as he walks out, tossing her a wink before he leaves the dining room. Her shoulders drop, knowing that he’s right. She doesn’t have any moral high ground to stand on, while she didn’t make it a hobby to think about whatever her husband did at Valtoria, she knew what she was doing here was no better.

Falling into Leo’s bed wasn’t something she thought she would ever do. She really did love Liam, she wanted things to work, why else would she agree to the fucked-up arrangement? It broke her heart to watch him turn colder and colder towards her when all she wanted was the chance to win him over. But she allowed herself to believe that one Rhys was just as good as the other, not that Leo cared whose name she called out anyways.

* * Valtoria

“Pout all you want. I can’t stay babe.” Liam laughs, pulling Drake into a kiss.

“But we never finished our talk from Friday?” Drake once again pokes out his bottom lip at the King who has been trying to leave for the last hour.

Liam had been hoping that Drake would’ve dropped the subject over the weekend, he figured between the strenuous workouts and the ceremony making him the newest Duke of Valtoria would keep him occupied, but he was wrong.

“She said it didn’t matter how many fancy titles I gave you, it wouldn’t change anything.” Liam shakes his head, “that at the end of the day it was her with me and not you.”

He turns his head, looking at Liam with the same adoration he always had, since they were kids, “she’s with you on paper, so what? I get the side of you no one else does.”

“But don’t you feel cheated?” Liam sighs, “or like I’m just being too selfish? Maybe I should’ve fought my father more.”

Drake kisses Liam, rendering him speechless which makes both of them smirk. “Hush. If you’re being selfish, I’m being just as selfish. I just want you, Liam.”

“One day, it won’t be like this anymore.” Liam promises, pressing one more kiss to Drake’s lips before letting him go.

“I know.” Drake waves, finally letting Liam leave to go back to the palace, back to her.

* * The Palace

It’s late when Riley stumbles back into the palace, getting a few not so nice looks from the maids who are getting ready to head home. She gives them an ‘I’m sorry’ smile as she tiptoes up the stairs up to the right wing of the palace.

Within that wing, was the traditional royal suite where most royal couples stay together, sharing the bed chamber. However, in their situation, Liam opted to take a room just down the hall while Riley kept the original set up. Just few apart from one another, but it felt like miles worth of distance.

“Enjoy your weekend?”

Riley jumps, her heart beating against her ribcage, if she was a cat she’d have lost a life or two for sure. Typically, Liam was either in his room or office, they didn’t have many run ins this late at night.

“Did you?” She bit back, regretting it once she realized his words were sincere. Although she wasn’t shy about the way her eyes lingered on the purple marks accompanied by bite marks that covered his chest and shoulders which caused Liam to regret his decision to not wear a shirt.

“I did a lot of thinking.” He crosses his arms, feeling embarrassed under her gaze, trying to cover up as much as he could.

“I did as well.” She sits down on the edge of the bed, sighing.

“I think we should start the annulment process.” Liam says as Riley says, “I want us to give it one more try.”

Both quickly respond with, “what?”

“If we try and things don’t work out, I won’t ask for another try. I just don’t want to have any regrets.”

“Riley, I can’t do that. You know that.” He shakes his head.

To Riley, Liam is being stingy and selfish. He’s been an asshole to her because she’s fairly convinced that if he gave her a chance, she could win him over. She knows that they could be happy, that she’s the best thing for the throne and that’s what hurts the most. The fact that she knows she’s found her true love, the one she should be with, but he just won’t open his eyes and accept that.

To Liam, Riley is being irrational. He knows that giving her a chance would be leading her on because he can’t give her what she’s looking for. Not just that he can’t, but he won’t. What people don’t seem to realize, Riley included, is that he’s loved Drake for as love as he can remember, that with Drake it’s the kind of love that starts wars, breaks family ties, it’s the kind of love people write sonnets about. It may seem like he’s fine with the arrangement, but he’s not because if Leo is different that all the other Rhys before him, it’s that he actually hurts when he causes other’s harm.

“Why can’t you?” She yells, her anger turning into tears as they stream down her face.

“I can’t hurt him like that. I can’t hurt him anymore than I already have.”

“But you can hurt me? You asked me to do this!”

“I told you how things would be. I never lied.”

“But you never said it would be this bad!” Her voice cracks, the sobs breaking apart her words.

“Riley.” He squats down in from of her, taking her hand in his. “I never meant for you to get this hurt. I’ll do whatever it takes to try to make this up to you.”

“All I ever wanted was you, Li.” She throws her arms around his neck, pulling him into her chest. He stumbles at the force of her action, sighing in defeat as he wraps his arms back around her.

* * Valtoria

Drake walks through the duchy, other than a few servants and maids, he was the only one there. It’s empty and lonely, the opposite of how he spent his life growing up by the palace and he hates it. There’s the buzz of construction outside, Liam was having a stable put up or remodeled, honestly Drake lost track of everything lately.

He’s walking through the foyer when he sees a few black SVUs pull up, a smile spreads across his face because he knows Liam’s there. Drake’s surprised because Liam usually waited a few weeks before making another visit, but he surely wouldn’t complain.

Rushing to the door, he opens it, running down most of the walkway before throwing his arms around the King, the hell with whoever saw, he really didn’t care. But Liam doesn’t return the embrace, he doesn’t pat his back or anything. Instead he pulls away, slowly meeting Drake’s eyes with a solemn look on his face.

“We need to talk.”

* * Mirandola

Leo walks into his study and looks panicked when he sees his brother sitting behind the desk. He knows the look on Liam’s face, the same one he got a lot growing up by his father and Bastien, one that just radiates disappointment. A chill runs down his spine as he tries to keep up a poker face, pacing out each step slowly as he creeps closer to the desk.

The blonde eventually gets to the chair in front of Liam and he sits, wondering if this dread he’s feeling is felt by those who sit here when he’s on the other side of the desk. It’s been a very long time since he’s felt this way, since a King has made him feel so, so small.

Liam shuffles the papers that are in front of him, tapping them on the desk to straighten them out before finally making eye contact with his brother.

“I didn’t do it!” Leo quickly blurts out until he realizes that he’s a grown ass man and that what a child would say.

“Oh, but you did.” Liam smiles a smile that’s closer to the Cheshire Cat rather than a caring brother. “I guess congratulations are in order.”

Leo has always hated riddles, always hated people beating around the bush when it came to what they needed to say. It’s the same reason he hates the cringy small talk before one asked for a favor, he finds it all pointless and Liam knows this which makes Leo’s stomach drop. Whatever it is, it’s bad enough for Liam to toy with him.

“Don’t look so grim, brother. A child is always something to celebrate.”

C-c-child? Leo suddenly can’t breathe. His thoughts are becoming a jumbled mess.

“Don’t fret. I already have things in order.” Liam holds the stack of paperwork out for Leo, who is shaking as he grabs it.

“In order?”

“Yes.” Liam clears his throat. “Riley couldn’t take the stresses of being queen which lead her to seek comfort with you. Since regardless of which Rhys is the father is, it’s still an heir which means she’ll be moving into Mirandola after a quick marriage ceremony.”

“Guess you get everything you want.”

“No, actually I don’t.” He shakes his head, “I didn’t want her name drug in my mud, Leo. I may not have loved her, but I care for her and I was working out a way that would be easiest for her to still show her face at royal events without whispers.” Leo bites back any further comments knowing that he’s been thinking poorly of his brother for no reason. He should’ve guessed Liam would look out for her, he wasn’t joking when he said Riley wouldn’t be left empty-handed, but it was his doing, the abdicated prince once again tarnishing the very things he wants to keep precious.

“Chin up, brother.” He turns to walk out of Leo’s office. “Oh, don’t worry, hopefully you’ll make a better father than brother.”

* * Valtoria

“Duke Walker!” A reporter calls out trying to grab the attention of the man who just wants to disappear.

“Your Grace! Your Grace!”

He turns to the sea of cameras and flashing lights, briefly wondering if this overwhelming feeling was something Liam got used to or if he still wants to shrink under this uncomfortable pressure.

It had been a few months since Liam told him about Riley’s pregnancy, how they’d be handling things on that end and Drake was told to wait which he has been. He’s been waiting since they were 8 years old, blinding following Liam around like a pup without a home. At 28, you’d think he’d stop following so blindly, try to step out from the sidelines, but it’s where he felt most comfortable.

“Duke Walker, what’s next for you and the King?” “Your Grace, will you be leaving Valtoria for the palace?”

“What do you have to say about the pictures of you and King Liam holding hands, Your Grace?”

Drake takes a deep breath, wanting to just turn around and leave, but his feet feel frozen in place. This wasn’t his thing, Liam always stood front and center. If Liam was north then Drake was south, if Liam was day then Drake was night and for their whole lives he liked it that way.

“The Duke of Valtoria won’t be answering any questions today.”

A few wide eyes and gasps from the reporters have Drake turning around to see Liam walking up behind him, a smile on his face. It takes everything in him to not run up to his lover, beg him to get rid of the press so he can kiss him, but he can’t. He gives Liam a small smile as he walks up, stopping at Drake side.

“Your Majesty.” The reporters take a moment to bow slightly as he throws up a wave.

“I think we have time to answer two questions.” He looks over at Drake who gives him a slight nod.

“Your Majesty, what brings you to Valtoria today?” De Luca asks, looking over her sunglasses.

“That’s simple, I have to ask Duke Walker a question.”

He wouldn’t? Drake’s eyes widen as he looks at Liam, who is completely calm whereas the Duke’s heart is beating out of his chest.

“King Liam, are the Duke and you the newest royal couple?” A newer reporter asks, getting a few looks from his veteran colleagues.

“That would depend on his answer to this question.”

Drake closes his eyes, nerves completely shot at this point, trying his hardest to breathe in and out at a steady rate. When he opens them, he sees Liam down on one knee in front of him, the presses snapping pictures rapidly.

“Li…”

“Are you gonna let me speak first?”

“No.” “Drake.”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this. In front of everyone.” “Quickest way to get the word out.” “I could say no.” Drake crosses his arms, momentarily forgetting they aren’t alone. The press having an absolute field day with the playful banter between the King and his oldest friend.

“You wouldn’t dare.” He feigns shocks, a hand on his chest, biting back a smirk, “you’d embarrass me in front of the whole country? The whole world?” “Isn’t that what you’re doing to me by asking me this right now?”

Liam shakes his head, “I haven’t asked you anything yet, you haven’t let me.” “Fine. Ask me.”

“Will you attend the royal masquerade with me tonight?” “I wi-wait, what?” Drake’s jaw drops which is quickly followed by the press having the same reaction.

“What did you think I was going to ask?” He stands up, whipping on the knees of his pants. “Drake, did you think I was going to propose?”

Drake’s face turns red with embarrassment, “well you did get down on one knee.” “My shoe lace was undone. I didn’t want to trip.” Liam smirks, “that could’ve ended embarrassing, what if you said no?”

“My point exactly.” Drake’s grumpy demeanor surfacing from a mixture of embarrassment and slight disappointment.

“But would you?”

“Would I what?”

Liam smiles, pulling a small box out of his box, remaining on his feet this time. The flash of the cameras once again all but blinding the pair. There’s a silver band inside the box when Liam opens it.

“Would you marry me?”

Drake buries his beet red face into the crook of Liam’s neck as he’s pulled into a hug. He mumbles something just loud enough for Liam to be the only one who hears it which makes the king laugh. Liam whispers something back which brings a sigh from Drake’s lips as he lifts his head up.

“Yeah, I’ll marry you.”

#choices #the royal heir #liam x riley #liam x drake #the royal romance

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yourkimjaejin · 4 years

Text

Beyond Live - NCT: Resonace [Global Wave]

This post has been a long time coming but so much happened during this concert!

Sometimes I can’t believe I began to stan NCT just this year when it feels like five years already. I just wanna take the chance to thank the boys for their hard work during the holiday. For me, NCT really brightened up my holiday season so thank you

Now that the sappy stuff is over, Enjoy the post AGzen’s ~ Love, Author Izzy

First off let me say, Moxy and Juno were almost about to box SM’s management for their setlist. SM’s original list for AG had SLAP, WTTJ and Breakout. Moxy and Juno were not having it!!

“I thought we promised fans never before seen stages!! We want to perform more of the B-Sides fans never got to see. Unless you’re suddenly gonna announce that AG will be holding a Beyond Live, We’re gonna need this setlist to change, NOW!” ~ Juno

So the compromise the company came up with was this, Two b-sides chosen by fans and one title track that they girls decide on.

NCT AG’s twitter put up a post asking AGzen’s for their favorite AG b-sides. From that, AG’s twitter put up another tweet. This time it was a poll. The top four AG b-sides were listed. The two songs with the highest votes would be the songs the girls would perform.

The fans chose and the songs were Circle Game and Give It Up

The general consensus on why the fans chose those songs was they wanted to see the girls flex their vocal talents. AGzens knew that the had dance and rap in the bag. AG’s b-sides truly revealed how much vocal talent lies in AG

AG, themselves, decided to perform Breakout as their title track song. The girls adore the song and figured it had been awhile since they last performed it

I’ll reveal more about the new performances when we get to their placement in the show itself but for now, let’s move ahead to showday!! ~ Author Izzy

When Taeyong and SM finally announced that he would take a break to heal, SM let Taeyong pick who would fill in for his parts at the Beyond Live

Moxy arrived with the rest of AG and Jisung. On the way there, Moxy got a text from Shotaro while they were on the way to the venue

Noona, when you get here, You need to check in with Channie....I think he’s freaking out a little...

As soon as they parked, Moxy ran inside to find Doyoung pointing her to an empty dressing room. Sungchan was walking in circles, frown lines looking permanently etched on his face

SC - I don’t think I can do this noona. I can’t take Taeyong’s place. What if the fans hate me for this!

M - *Pulls Sungchan down to sit next to her* Channie....You are not taking Taeyong’s place. You’re covering for him so he can finally get some rest and the fans know that. They are gonna be so proud you because I already am *Kisses his cheek*. And so is Taeyong. You are gonna do great, Channie!!!

Moxy hugs him tight causes a smile to bloom on his face

M - Now lets get in one more practice in before the pre-record. I wanna make sure that second verse is flawless ok?

SC - Ok, Noona.

Moxy watched Sungchan run over Boss choreo with Mark and Juno one last time. Sungchan visibly relaxing and finally starting to have fun. Juno kept an eye on her dongsaeng during the recording

AG had a run through of one of their performances after The Boss unit+ Sungchan finished their pre-record

All of the girls had sparkles in their hair and graphic eyeliner around their eyes for makeup.

For the 90′s love performance, Hannah was once again rocking her ICONIC black outfit. This time her hair was in a ponytail, certain strands with crimped for volume. AGzens posted a ton of pictures of Hannah’s abs

“How did we not notice Hannah’s abs before!!!”

Aurora was looking every bit of the queen she is during the Work It performance. Her costume was a new short two piece dress with lace on the skirt. Aurora’s hair was down and curled on the ends.

Aurora rocked her lines as usual. She got real sassy when her rap line came up.

“Sass master Aurora reporting for duty!!”

During the first mnet, Haechan pointed out that technically this is AG’s first concert and asked Hannah and Aurora how they felt

H: I think we put a a lot of pressure on ourselves to put our best foot forward since this is the first time czennies will see us in a concert setting.

A: Yeah, I while this is cool we really hope things will open up soon so we can have our own concert

The rest of the members began ‘ooo’ing at Aurora’s comment

Next Stage: Nectar

Hannah was the definition of do it like a dude in this performance. All of her fans were drooling over her.

The next stage was Give It Up by AG. The song has been rearranged to include Hannah. Hannah did a quick change into her costume while Juno, Moxy and Aurora started the stage

They actually performed from the backstage area to the main stage. By the time that got close to the stage doors, Hannah was finished changing. Hannah entered just as her part started. The girls were all wearing skinny jeans, cropped basketball jerseys with black t-shirts underneath and platform vans.

LORD HAVE MERCY!!! DID THESE GIRLS SING THEIR BUTTS OFF!!

MTM (Musical Theater Moxy) came out to play with her best friend Queen Juno. These two vocals were on another level.

And don’t sleep on Aurora and Hannah, they held their parts down!

The members of AG were strutting like they were filming their own version of Strut by the Cheetah Girls.

And at the end they nailed their final note, harmonies on point and no loss of breath

“Ok I knew AG had pipes....but DAMN THEY HAVE PIPES!!!!”

“Why is literally everyone a main vocal in AG. It’s truly unfair...”

Once the girls finished, Aurora took off her basketball jersey and handed off to Juno. The three older AG members walked off the stage, leaving Aurora. The Dream members joined her. Jaemin handed off her leather jacket to put on for the Ridin’ performance

Next we have the Make A Wish performance........................WITH MOXY COVERING TAEYONG’S PART!!!!

Taeyong had picked her to cover his parts. SM wanted one of the guys members to do it but Taeyong stopped them

Taeyong: Moxy’s got this! Trust me. (And got this she did)

Moxy’s swag level on stage is normally around a 8 or 9. For this MAW performance she somehow turned it up to 15. Moxy went into this performance wanting to make Taeyong proud but also show him that he had nothing to worry about. That the 22 members of NCT could manage with out him

Moxy literally runs off stage to get ready for the All About You performance. Jaehyun tells the fans that Moxy isn’t doing this Mnet because she is getting ready for the next performance

During the All About You performance, If you were watching Mark or Moxy’s face cam, you would have seen the two of them upstairs on the bed messing with each other (That sentence sounds bad doesn’t it??? I promise it was clean fun ok?).

At one point, Moxy was kneeling behind a seated mark, dancing and hold her camera out in front of them

After All About You, Moxy runs backstage again to change into her dress for Circle Game

After the Without You performance, Juno walked on the stage behind them towards the door Jaehyun used. When Juno appeared on the other side of the door, AG’s performance of Circle Game started.

The home stage was lit with somber lighting, The girl were all wearing white dresses and were standing on the bottom level of the set, each in front of a microphone.

The loud, boisterous voice from their last performance were replaced with soft and somber tones. The melodies and harmonies were beautiful. After the first chorus, the girls move the microphone stands out of the way

Once they get to the bridge the girls do some small choreography that they made up themselves an hour before the show started.

When the girls finished Circle Game, Juno left through the door again to join Taeil, Renjun and Xiaojun for My Everything.

After Dream performed Go and Deja Vu. You could see how happy Aurora was to perform with all the members of Dream. She even missed Mark messing with her hair and calling her mean mug.

From there, AG performed Breakout. The stylists for this concert had to carefully plan the girls costumes. The stylist left the prison costumes a went with a more simple costume. Choosing clothes that still Incorporated the bright orange jumpsuits

Moxy’s costume was particularly soft because after Breakout was a performance of Touch for 127. Fans rejoice at the chance to see soft Moxy on stage again. Next is Hannah in her all denim outfit for Bad Alive.

Lastly, 127 did a performance of Kick It where Moxy covered Taeyong verse two rap

During the fourth mnet, Aurora almost cried like Sungchan when she got her chance to talk to the fans.

Aurora: AG has been a group for two years and we haven’t been able to tour or do a concert yet. So to be here, performing for the fan’s in front of us and across the world, words can’t describe to feeling. My mom.......S-she took time off of work.....*she sniffles, Hannah and Mark put an arm around her* to see me and my sisters perform live. Eomma, I hope I made you proud tonight. I love you and I’ll see you soon.

Juno joining in on the clownery of Mark’s beginning line from Resonance

Moxy, once again covered Taeyong’s part during the Maw section of Resonance.

During the surprise live with the maknae line, Haechan was making fun of Moxy literally running around backstage to change costumes. Moxy made to attack him but Haechan ran off

AG revealing that their favorite stage tonight was Nectar!!(I mean whose favorite stage wasn’t Nectar.)

Juno, Moxy and Hannah all saying hello to Aurora’s mom during the surprise live.

#nct #NCT AG #NCT AG.Schedule #nct female member #nct female unit #nct female addition #kpop addition #kpop!au #kpop!fakegroup #kpop!addition #kpop!oc

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etraytin · 5 years

Note

west wing gang on day 14 of self quarantine?

(Okay, assume for the purposes of this fic that the US election schedule is based on reality and not the show’s weird two-year offset, okay? So everything is happening in 2020 instead of 2018 or 2022.)

“Does my face look flushed to you?” Josh demanded.

“Well, you’ve been yelling for the past ten minutes, so...” Donna pointed out.

Josh frowned, leaning closer to his laptop. “No, I’m being serious. Do I look flushed to you? I feel hot.”

Donna flicked her eyes down, studying him through the screen. “Nope,” she decided. “Just normally enraged by politics. Did you take your temperature?”

“Well yeah, of course I took my temperature,” he replied, grimacing. “I took it three times.”

“And what did it say?” she asked patiently.

“98.9,” he admitted. “But I normally run cool! That’s high for me!”

“Are you coughing?”

“No, but my throat feels scratchy.”

She smiled faintly. “Did I mention the part where you’ve been yelling for ten minutes?”

“Well I can’t help it!” he insisted. “We’re less than four months from the convention, we haven’t sewn up the nomination, we can’t hold a single goddamn rally or let the candidate shake anybody’s hand, we lose every news cycle to a new report about how sneezing is bad for you, I’m four hundred miles away from you and the kids and I can’t come home, the SATs are cancelled so god knows what that’ll do for Jo’s college search-”

“Josh,” Donna began gently, then more insistently. “Josh! JOSHUA! Calm down, take a breath!” She smiled when he subsided, for all he was still glaring at the screen. “I know it’s frustrating, and I miss you too, but it’s going to be okay,” she promised. “Sam's the prohibitive favorite atthis point, and the virtual Q&As have been very well-received.I've got data here showing a solid fifteen point lead in primarystates that have yet to vote, and twenty-five points against theRepublican candidate. Everything we're doing is working,” shereminded him.

“Not well enough!” Josh insisted. “I mean, how do we know?Maybe people aren't answering their phones. The only in-personpolling they can do is from people too stupid to stay home, so that'sgotta be skewed, right?”

“I think it's a pretty good indicator still,” Donna told himpatiently. “And yes, the SAT was canceled, but that just puts us inthe same boat as thousands of other families. Jo has a 4.0 GPA andgreat extracurriculars, plus a letter of recommendation from JosiahBartlet. I think she's going to be just fine.”

“Maybe,” Josh had to assent. “I feel like I have body aches.Body aches are a symptom, right?”

Donna's eyes sharpened. “Where are they at?”

“My lower back is killing me,” he informed her, “and myshoulders.”

She eased back. “Have you been using the lumbar cushion?” sheasked archly. “And how many hours have you been hunched over thatscreen?”

“What else is there to do?” Josh demanded, skirting the pillowquestion entirely.

“How about some exercise? You guys are in a three bedroom suite,right? There's room to at least do stretching. Oh, CJ's pinging me,I'll patch her in.”

Donna tapped a few keys and the screen split, now showing both herand a somewhat disheveled CJ. “Christ,” CJ muttered, brushing herhair flat, “I didn't realize we were video calling.”

Josh grinned at her, happy to see at least one person less puttogether than himself. “Hey CJ, long time no see! Are those yourpajamas?”

CJ glared at him. “I'm in quarantine, what do I have to getdressed up for?”

“Are you back in the States now?” Donna asked. “Did you haveany trouble?”

“Not much, all the restrictions are on Europe, but we're stillsupposed to quarantine for fourteen more days.” CJ adjusted thecamera up so only her head and neck were showing. In the background,Danny was wandering around the kitchen in a pair of University ofCalifornia boxer shorts, apparently unaware of the webcam. “How'sthe campaign?”

“Stalled,” Josh groused. “Dead in the water. Momentumless.”

“That's the spirit!” Sam told him cheerfully, coming from hisbedroom and fastening his cuffs as he leaned over Josh's shoulders.“Josh has been talking to Toby,” he confided to the womenonscreen. “I think we'll have to stop him.”

“Sounds like a good idea, Mr. Senator,” Donna agreed,grinning.

“You'll probably have to tie them both down in separate rooms,”CJ advised. “Long time no see, by the way. You're lookingremarkably happy for a man in quarantine with his campaign staff.”

“That's because I have America in my heart,” Sam told her withmock gravity. “Hi, Danny!” CJ glanced down at her own screen and abruptly yanked the webcamfocus back onto herself.

“Hi Sam!” Danny's voice echoed over theline. “You should be nicer to the press pool.”

“They're never nice to me back!” Sam pointed out. “I'mhaving a lot more luck with the women's magazines.”

“I bet you are,” CJ cackled. “Hey, have any of you heardfrom Abbey and Jed?”

“They're all right,” Donna reported. “Zoey, Charlie andtheir kids are out with them, and that farm is so remote it's aboutthe safest place they could be. Abbey says they've got enough cannedgoods in the basement for a year , if you don't mind a lot ofapple-based dishes.”

“And apple based trivia, I'm sure,” Josh put in. “How aboutyou, you're not going out, are you?”

“I'm being very safe,” Donna assured him. “I'm fromWisconsin, we stock up when there's a storm coming. Hey, Garret!”she called, snagging a fast-moving blur behind her chair. “Say hito Dad and everybody!”

Garret leaned down into the frame, all lanky body and light brownhair and a dimple just like his dad when he grinned. “Hi Dad andeverybody! Hey Dad, I can use your car while you're gone, right? Ipromise not to go where there are people.”

“What?” Josh squawked. “My car? No!”

“We'll talk about it later, kiddo,” Donna told Garret, shooinghim away.

“Donna!” Josh protested.

“Listen, mister, you haven't been stuck in the house forfourteen days with two bored teenagers,” Donna reminded him.“Even the internet has stopped being enough. It's your own damnfault for buying that middle-age crisis testosterone-mobile.” Josh frowned and tried to ignore the fact that CJ was alreadylaughing. “Fine, but when our insurance rates skyrocket, I'm goingto be the one saying I told you so.”

“That's a price I'm willing to let you pay,” Donna replied,serene once again. “You guys have another Q&A in a couple ofhours, right?”

“It's on healthcare in America, so it should be a barn-burner,”Sam agreed. “Are you going to watch?”

“Oh, I have a list of questions,” CJ assured him smoothly.

Sam's eyes widened. “That sounds a little terrifying.”

“I like to think of it as getting you prepared for the bigchair,” CJ told him. “You'll do fine. Josh, don't let him haveany more coffee.”

“I'll drink it all myself,” Josh promised.

“Josh!” Donna protested.

“Good man. Good luck!” CJ called cheerfully. “We're rootingfor you!”

“Just make sure you vote for me!” Sam called back as CJ'swindow blinked out. “I'm gonna go make some coffee,” he muttered,wandering off into the kitchen.

“Still feeling warm?” Donna asked when it was just the two ofthem again.

“Not as much,” Josh admitted rolling his shoulders. “Stillpretty stiff, though. I miss your backrubs.”

“As soon as you can get home, I'll make sure you get one,” shepromised. “Go take a long shower and some Advil, it'll help.”

“I miss you, too,” he told her seriously. “This sucks.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, slumping visibly. “But it's not forever.Take care of yourself, okay? Come home soon.”

“Doing my best,” he promised. “But next time we getquarantined, I'm bringing you with me. Love you.”

“Sounds like fun,” she laughed. “Love you too. Go do a job.”The picture winked out. Josh took his temperature again. 98.9. Stillokay for now. How long was this thing going to last?

This fic can also be found at Archive Of Our Own, username Etraytin, under the title Isolated Cases.

#the west wing #fanfiction #josh x donna #self-isolation #for me and my fictional characters #Anonymous

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uglifish · 4 years

Text

Another Q&A summary!

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the love in my inbox, anon or otherwise! If you’re wondering why i haven’t replied to your ask, its because i’ve seen many of the same question(s), so I’ve decided to round them all up here instead of answering them individually and spamming your feed :O HERE are all the other asks from earlier in the year/month just in case you wanna read more! +++++ OK START! +++++ Q: regarding your current stories, why are you updating UNDERWATER CHRYSALIS weekly instead of bi-weekly? Is the vampire story abandoned? A: no, please don’t worry! I’ll never abandon a fic unless i explicitly say so (and the word “abandoned” will be in the summary, or even the title!) The vampire story is still very much alive, but there has just been more interest in the mermaid story because of where we are in the plot. Lots of readers have been sending me private messages or anon asks (or heck, just comments under the story) asking for it to be updated weekly, and i hear you, so i do!

Q: i can’t stand that in your mermaid fic, those two are never gonna meet. are they ever gonna meet? A: yes of course they are! im gunning for a happy ending where they do end up together, so dont worry, no matter how bleak or desperate things seem to get, those two WILL be together! as for when, the answer is “soon, please keep reading to find out!! ;D” Q: how is your rabbit? is your bunny ok? A: HE’S DOING GREAT! He had a surgery (again) recently, and is recovering from it! here’s a pic of him being cool:

nat geo should consider hiring me as their new wildlife photographer because i sure can take cool, crisp, beautiful action shots of nature just like above. award worthy. medal pleeease

Q: what are your plans for new stories? please please i wanna know!

A: thank you for the interest! As usual, at the end of every story, I will put out a poll with summaries and you will get to vote on what you wanna read next, so just keep an eye out for that! I’ll post it here too, dont worry! Q: when are you gonna update? ?? i hit refresh all day waiting?!? Q: what time do you plan on updating?!? A: every Wednesday, PST, between 9PM and 11PM Q: are you dating anyone heh

A: ok i get a few of these every couple weeks or so, which makes me think its only been 1 person spam-asking me this? the answer is no? come out of anon pls and just PM me, but im not looking to date anyone rn cuz i’ve ✌️ got🥺 issues ✨ (and a husband) (he looks like this⬇️)

oops, i took a pic of him while he was off guard, aww isnt he cuute, boys are so soft when no ones lookingg uwuwuw OK those are all the questions i usually get in my inbox, im not gonna pub any of the other ones that ask about my kinks ||hand kink. i have a hand kink|| OH shit it didnt do the spoilers like it usually does on discord!!!! jkdshfjkhds anyway, yea im on discord #ugli7509 BYE ILU thanks for reading and asking stuff makes me feel like someone out there cares :> xo Ugli (ask box link in case i missed anything)

#q: answer #askugli #yugioh #q and a #ugliwrites

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boyslaughplus · 5 years

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//TODO: today - Bestest Cupcake Poll Results Part #1

Hey, hey! It's been some time since the //TODO: today Bestest Cupcake Poll ended, but we're finally ready to announce the results!

To make things a little more exciting, we decided to split up the announcement into three parts and today we'll start with the third place. It was a pretty close race and even with 77 total votes, a single vote could have made the difference between who's third and who's second.

It was so close that we actually have two third place winners! The two of them are even acquainted and probably don't mind sharing this title. But without further ado, with 11 votes each the Third Bestest Cupcakes are:

Zen and Snow!

We will announce the second place winner later this week so we hope you're excited to find out who it is!

Many of you also took the opportunity to ask questions to the characters (as well as some kind words here and there, thanks for that!) and we really enjoyed reading them all! With each of these announcement posts we will also post the answer to one of the questions before releasing all of them at a later date.

So to start things off, here is one question that caught our eye because it is very much in the spirit of this contest:

"Speaking of cupcakes... if you could invent your own cupcake (flavor, name, design, etc.) what would it look like and what flavor/name would it be?"

Read on and see the picture above for what our cast came up with!

Joyce: Ooh, that sounds fun! I wouldn't be able to eat it but I want my cupcake to be something that makes lots of people happy. Like a party! Cotton candy colors sound fun and I want to add some sprinkles on top so it looks like it's covered in confetti! But every good party needs a surprise, so let's also fill it with pudding. I think vanilla pudding would be a good fit and it would make for a nice texture inside, too! As for the name... I'm going to call it the Cotton Candy Pudding Party!

Teal: I want to make a cupcake with dark chocolate. And strawberries. But just that sounds pretty plain, so I thought: "Why not add a cute animal face on top?" It's gonna look so fancy, like the perfect treat to end an exhausting day! I'll call it the Chocolate Self Care Bear.

Phoenix: Mine should be fruity, so I think an orange filling would be nice. And some white chocolate chips in the dough as well. Pistachios would make for a nice color contrast, too, so lets add them as topping. There's a bird that fits this look almost perfectly so I'll call it the Orange Fruit Dove!

Zen: Oh man, my roommate was in Japan recently and brought back a bunch of sweets that I can't stop thinking about. I never knew bean paste could taste so good! So I think my cupcake should be matcha flavored and filled with anko. And maybe some lime frosting for a fruity twist~ I think I could put Pac-Man to shame eating those... Oh yeah, I wanna call it the Paku Paku Green Bean!

Snow: Hm, I want mine to be simple and classy. I've been reading a lot of historical novels lately and it really made me think about how to get the most out of limited settings. So I thought, mint and dark chocolate is a classic combination but adding some ground nuts as topping should make it a lot more interesting. Same character, but more crunchy. I'll call it A Break After Eight.

Ms. Cardhover: Cupcakes always remind me of my husband. He has such a sweet tooth, during our honeymoon he drank so much Piña Colada I thought he'd grow sick of it before the first week was over! But he sure didn't, haha. I think a tropical cupcake would actually be nice. One that's coconut flavored with some pineapple pieces on top. And some rum inside~ Like the daytime version of my sweetie's favorite drink. I think I want to call it the Día Tropical!

Well, and that's it for today's post, but we'll be back soon with the second place winner and the answer to another question!

PECTIN + eZombo

The core team of BL+

todo-today

#indie #game #development #indiedev #indiegame #visual novel #illustration #cute #kawaii #pastel #sweets #cupcakes #food #design #todo today #todotoday #otome game #ocs

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frozenfallenuniverse · 6 years

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Cracks in the Wall

Its ya boy, tired child looking for job. Its been a while since I posted a story but Lavi won the last poll (landslide even). Next story will be about the first time samger and Meiyo meet but I hope you enjoy this one!

Most planeswalkers would have servants, assistants or little creatures to help them with work. Not me, the most overworked walker that I know off. Now, I could spawn a large amount of spotters to try to help but without any form of appendages to write with or mouths to speak with, they wouldn’t get far. You would think I’d have some sort of plan for this but it seems as though my forward thinking is complete and utter-

“Lavi? I can never tell if you can hear me on this. The job is done. What’s next?” The voice came through one of the many spotters that floated about my room like palm-sized dust mites. Based on both the feminine, almost siren like, voice and the spotter’s form being extremely similar to a goldfish, it seemed to be Nozari. Thank god. I sat at my desk and the fish spotter floated atop the desk to eye level. It bounded in front of my face as I rested it inside of my hands.

“Well, step one is getting off the plane but if you’ve already done that, I’ll send you a bit of money within a few days. Your next job is finding a certain planeswalker. His title is the Immortal and he was last spotted on Tarkir. Quite tall, probably missing some skin at this point, hard to miss.”

“Tarkir? Can’t say I’ve heard of that…”

“Wonderful. It's a terrible plane. Tons of dragons, lots of fire, lightning, poison and many things that don’t like merfolk or would assume you are an overgrown bass that has learned to walk on two feet.”

“Why am I being sent there exactly?”A sigh followed her question and her voice was full of disdainful annoyance. Not that out of the ordinary for her to be entirely honest.

“I can send Alexander if you prefer.” She made a gagging sound, presumably nodded and signed off. Not a second too soon, if you ask me. Her and Alexander were some of my assistants. Well, I say assistants but they are more like mercenaries. I pay them coin, they find concerning planeswalkers and deal with them. Nozari is non-lethal and Alexander is… Alexander. Now I can hopefully make some headway on these papers-

“Lavi~ Guess who’s here to do some fun stuff today!” A masculine yet flamboyant voice that sounded like wet paint being thrown across a canvas came from the main hall. Another spotter, this one with the same colors as bird who live in paradise, came close and it seemed to be one of my least favorite generals. I tossed on robes that seemed ill-suited to the current heat and stepped out of my mess of a study.

The window blinds were half-closed, letting fragments of the sunrise come through. Songbird calls mixed with footsteps filled the wide hallway as I trotted to the main hall. The man, who has already decided to redecorate one of the walls of the room, was wearing fluorescent clothing, that had the closest description as a rainbow that vomited on a tailor’s workshop, and hair the color of dying fall leaves. The painting, if you could really call his art style ‘painting’, was a horrendous rendition of two merfolk and a high-class woman messing about in his latest experiment. The closest thing to a greeting that we exchanged was a half-nod and a sigh from myself.

“To what do I owe the pleasure today, Rotek?” I only just realized that I sounded like a sick frog that cannibalized a smaller one. Hopefully, he doesn’t mind if a spotter ran about to fetch a glass of water for me. Without even turning to face me, he spoke like I was an audience of twenty.

“The experiment went wonderfully! There were no major deaths. Three walkers came in and they all left. Two seemed quite normal and the third seemed a bit…” He dabbed his brush on the regal looking doodle, that was partially on my artwork. My new artwork. It cost close to three weeks of work. Wonderful. The sound of shattering glass from the direction of where I sent the spotter made this conversation all the better. My hand was reaching for the bridge of my nose as I spoke.

“Did you get names or are you here to showboat?” I could feel my eyes rolling into the back of my skull as I spoke. Rotek might be useful for his knowledge and magic but his… artistic freedoms made things like diplomacy, discussions and basic talking like pulling teeth. He spun on his heels, tossing a letter from his breast pocket at my flailing arms. Barely caught it as well. Why do people throw so many things at me. They know I can’t catch.

“I know your whole deal is peace and the prevention of disasters so think of this as an invitation to my next art piece.” His voice was much more somber now, almost sad to speak of the thing that gave him the most passion. I tore open the note and flipped it out, skimming across it. In large bolded letters, it said ‘The Destruction of Ravnica. Performed by an elder dragon. Watch as I paint the final moments of the most populated plane of the multiverse.’ Several of the spotters floated around the note, desperate to get so much as a glance at it. With a soft breath, the note became blank and wasted away in my grasp.

“You’re helping someone destroy a plane!” I spoke with the anger of a dragon that was woken by a farmer after sleeping for millennia. The heat on my face most likely made me look like a tomato, or a pyromancer. Same thing really.

“Capitalising on what will happen, really. I can’t stop it nor can any of the others. I’d suggest you get your friends to help evacuate or, more likely, work with some of the walkers there. No reason for that many sparks to be extinguished.” He had no enjoyment in his voice. His brush was thrown to the floor, spilling paint across the tiles. His artwork was melting off as well. I need to control my temper better.

“Fine. Keep this a secret from the other generals then. No reason to get Ice or Shadow excited about a plane dying.” My hand was glued to my nose bridge and a thumping sensation was deepening in my temples. Rotek patted me on the shoulder and disappeared with a rainbow light following his exit. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is now ruined, suffice to say.

The normal rhythm I kept with my steps become erratic and the space around me shifted, warped and fragments came out of focus. I heard stories that something like this would happen but I was hoping, no, praying they were just rumors. What used to be a wall became a time-worn veranda with ivy growths burgeoning beneath the posts. Several spotters floated towards me with concerned visages. The goldfish led the pack and I dragged it by the tail to my desk. A haze came over the eye that took up most of its body and I decided to speak first.

“Nozari, forget the other mission. Find Alexander. I need to talk to you both.” My words were rushed. Something was welling up in my throat and a sickness flooded my stomach. The floater I sent, what felt like years ago, returned with a bottle of sparkling cherry juice. It took hardly any seconds to drink several fingers worth.

“What? What about the immortal? I’m not gonna abandon this mission!”

“The Immortal can wait. It's not like he’ll die anytime soon!” Some papers became dotted with droplets from the neck of the bottle. I cursed under my breath. That’s even more things to fix.

“Shouldn’t I just come there? Why can’t you say it now? I have plans later you know! I finally found a cute dress that fit!” She did mention something about a cute girl earlier. Explains why she’s been more relaxed recently. Or anxious. I think both is the answer. She’s a bit more of a mess than me.

“You bring yourself and Alexander here after your plans then. I won’t force you to do your job but keep in mind: you swore to help me protect planes and right now, I think your possible lover would understand a canceling.” The strangest thing about Nozari’s knowledge of languages was that she could be annoyed in all of them and curse like a sailor in most of them. They all sound beautiful as well. Perhaps merfolk have- Introspection into the different races of the multiverse can wait after the problem is fixed.

“Fine! I’ll be there tomorrow with the problem child! You owe me something other than money for canceling this date though!”

“Would a pearl necklace suffice? An associate got fresh batch of chocolate ones during a trip to Ixalan.”

“Oh dear Kosi. Its that bad?”

“Horrendous is a better term in my opinion.” The faked joyfulness I spoke with seemed like a different flavor of sarcasm and she noticed.

“Any idea where he is?” My silence was more than enough of an answer. With a groan, she hung up. Well, hung up is the wrong word. She smacked the spotter on her end which ended its transmission. They are small but quite durable. I think that’s her favorite way to end our little talks. Fifty times ended in that way now. Anyway.

My hands were already massaging my skull. The droning in the back of my mind was a voracious woodpecker that just ended a fast. A growling came from the sick that slept in my stomach. This is the worst day of my life. And I almost died! To be fair, who hasn’t really. Planeswalkers are strange. The drink helped to an extent so, I couldn’t blame the situation on a lack of caffeine or sugar. Sleep was always an excuse but I don’t wish to sound like a broken record. I need food. A distraction. Something.

Knocking came from the door. A rarity would be an understatement. Something that no one has ever done before would be more fitting. I creaked open the door, whose rusted screeching made the throbbing of my skull even worse, and saw the chubby, blonde hair-framed face of Lisbeth greeting me.

“You alright, hun? Rotek said to leave you alone but you’re a bit looking pale.” Her smile was the only warm part about her. Her clothing and personality were normally cold but around me and some of the other generals, she acted like a concerned mother. Why did Rotek even talk to her? I thought fire and ice don’t mix. I fake coughed a bit to make it seem I was stable.

“Everything is fine. If you bought anything, leave it at the door. I’m busy.” I said with clear irritation in my voice. It seems the frog in my throat became an annoyed toad at this point. She chuckled a bit and dropped a basket of what smelled like mouth watering baked bread. She said something along the lines of ‘call me when you’re better’ but the migraine become worse from the scent of the bread. Why does she always bring me food?

It did not take long for me to drag the basket into my room and for me to greedily devour every baked snack she provided. My stomach seemed to be resting but the migraine and anxiety continued to fester. The walls around me slowly began to dissipate, turning into white gold light before me. I finally got off my floor, tightened some heavy duty boots on and began walking to the door. If a plane was to be destroyed, I wanted to learn all I could about it before then. Perhaps. I’ll even find a distraction while I’m there.

#lavi #mtg #fanwalker #nozari #rotek #lisbeth #alexander #my writing #stories #this one took a while #next one I might do a poll for word count #i'm trying to work closer to 2k now

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