#a person who rejects the idea of fate when her loved ones hurt her over and over again

[antirepurp]

brain's orbiting around the idea of pucci getting to know jolyne pre-stone ocean on neutral terms and through bonding with her has his whole fixation with reaching his personal heaven challenged because suddenly it involves hurting a kid he's grown to care about. unfortunately i have no original or interesting way to execute the concept so i remain in orbit

[armpirate]

Anti-romantic || JJk | Ch. 11

Pairings: Boxer!Jungkook x fem!reader || Enemies to lovers, neighbors

Genre: smut, angst, fluff, curse, illegal boxing, violence

Warnings: fuckboy!Jungkook x reader, smut, dirty talk, curse, mention of tarot and fate

Summary: Jungkook had always been carefree when it came to love. He always believed he was worth sharing himself with everyone, and thought it was selfish of him to ever think of keeping himself exclusive to just one person.

And maybe that was exactly what got him into the big problem he was in.

A curse that kept him away from love didn't seem an issue for him. The fact that his ex-girlfriend thought he'd be affected by the idea of the girls he slept with running away from him after sex was ridiculous. She actually did him a favor, and took a burden away from him.

At least that was what he thought at first.

He had never found himself thinking of the possibility of repeating with neither of his hook ups, because they disappeared before he was able to even think about it. But when he makes the mistake of sleeping with the sexy neighbor that lives in front of him, he finds himself hoping to get the chance for a second round every time their paths cross.

Y/n hated him the second he set foot inside the building by the way he started making her life a miserable mess for no reason. Sleeping with him was a big mistake she wasn't thinking of repeating. At least not until he came up with the excuse that she rejected him for a curse. Not only she thought he was annoying, but she was also convinced he was crazy. 

There was no way she could take him seriously.

Aprox. time of reading: 17 minutes

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Her eyes were on him while Jungkook looked around her apartment, noticing that nothing had changed -except for the pair of boxing gloves at the top of her dinner table, next to some old magazines and books.

—Are you boxing?

—What?

Jungkook didn't ask the question again. Instead, his index pointed to the red gloves.

—If you need help, I can teach you —he smirked.

—No, thank you —she faked a smile—. I'd rather stay a whole day punching a wall without protection than having to stand your ass by choice.

—Yikes, that'd hurt —he poked both of his hands inside the pockets of his jeans.

It was none of his business whether she learned how to box or not, or where she was doing it -and, even less, why she took the sudden choice of doing it. She had joined a random gym among the list of gyms involved in those fights, that Alan sent her after she insisted a little bit too much.

—Now... can you explain again why you're here?

—My date was completely fine —his eyes were back on her— and, after eating your brownie —he emphasized on the fact that she was the one who prepared it—, she closed herself up in the bathroom.

—Well, that's too bad —she sighed—. You ate two pieces, and you're here being a pain in the ass. Don't you think that maybe the fact that she's in the bathroom has more to do with her than with me?

—You're fooling no one —he peeped, momentarily pointing at her, before he started walking to her with slow steps—. A brownie? After you literally screamed you'd kill me if it wasn't illegal? —he scoffed— I bet if I looked around I'd find a tiny box with whatever you put in that brownie. It's alright. You overheard my conversation over the phone, about how I was going to meet someone, and got jealous. Did a 2x1.

Y/n stopped for a quick second, realizing that if she fooled him to be close enough to her, she'd manage to snatch his phone and close herself somewhere to delete the video he was blackmailing her for. She just needed to play along for a bit.

—Hmm —she thought out loud, tilting her head and piercing his eyes with hers—, what if I admit that I did something to the brownie?

—I think that's quite obvious —Jungkook shook his head—. You should admit you didn't want me to go on that date.

—You're so full of yourself —her tone was suggestive, low enough to appeal to his most guttural side—. Why don't you just think that I did it to piss you off?

—Because there are a billion other ways to piss me off, and you still tried the one that'd ruin my date.

And while, in fact, she did it to ruin his date, nowhere in her head she ever thought of doing it out of jealousy. She just wanted to attack where it hurted him the most.

—So what if I did it out of jealousy? —she purred, inviting him to step closer to her.

—You could've just admitted it —he smirked—. I never repeated with anyone, but I'd be able to do an exception with you.

Y/n held back from rolling her eyes at that comment, keeping up the act until his body was millimeters away from being glued to hers. Her fingers moved over the soft cotton fabric of his white t-shirt, lowering through his torso until she met with the edge of his jeans.

Just a little bit more.

Her fingers probed at the beginning of one of his pockets, almost sliding inside until his fingers trapped her wrist and moved it away on the top of her head.

—Ever been told you should've been an actress?

It was too good to be true.

She quickly moved her other hand, thinking of slapping his face as hard as possible to distract him enough with the pain to be able to reach to his pocket again, but he moved faster, blocking the move before she could hit his cheek.

She should've thought that he was a professional boxer. Of course his reflexes were perfect in those situations.

—You think I'd buy you did it out of jealousy? —Jungkook mocked her— I bet you did it so I'd feel sick, enough for you to offer to help me while I'm in the bathroom and snatch my phone away.

—Oh my god, what the fuck are you talking about?

Y/n managed to let go of his grip, stepping back a little as she tried to process the twisted plan he had deducted from what she did. And that, after hearing it, she thought that was definitely what she should've done.

—You're sick in the head —she accused him.

—Me? —Jungkook replied back, exaggeratedly pointing at himself— Says the one who put god knows what on somebody else's food?

—I should've definitely put arsenic in it —she spitted, leaning closer to him.

—You could only wish you'd be able to get rid of me that way —he challenged—. I'd haunt you every single day of your miserable life, since you wake up in the morning to the moment you fall asleep in that bed.

—Good for you, because that's the closest you'd be to being with me in a bed —she barked back.

Something clicked in their brains when they realized how close they were to each other again, heated up by the sudden argument. Her eyes momentarily flew to his pierced lips, and Jungkook caught on that way too fast for her to pretend that it didn't happen.

His hands cupped her cheeks, drawing her into a kiss that she picked up the pace of as soon as their lips were linked together. All the anger, all the held back fury was freed with every move of their mouths, but also every hidden desire, every small wish of living again what happened a few nights back was exposed whenever their tongues twirled around one another.

Jungkook ate up her gasp when he pinned her against the wall, feeling her hands move from his torso to his neck at the same time his hands moved down her body to hold her by the hips. A powerful throb in his crotch, that reached every corner in his body, appeared the second her teeth squeezed the soft skin around his lower lip, indirectly pulling from one of his piercings as well.

In an attempt to erase any possibility of that ending, Jungkook cupped her ass cheeks, lifting her body up until her legs were wrapped around him. Y/n was the one who kissed him again, sinking her fingers in the locks of his hair before he felt encouraged to move lower, hiding his face in the curve of her neck to suck and lick every bit of sensitive skin in there.

He just loved the way her fast pulse felt against his tongue whenever he sucked on that spot.

—See how it isn't that difficult to give in to what you want? —he teased her, biting her earlobe.

—Shut up.

Jungkook moved his head back, rubbing his lips against her again.

—Make me.

She was close to doing exactly what he asked her to do, but something made him move his head back. Under her confused look, Jungkook terrorized at the feeling he was getting.

He couldn't be that unlucky.

For a quick moment, he thought it was a false alarm and that he'd be able to ignore it, but another squeak of his stomach made him finally move back, letting go of her body carelessly. He tried to leave her back on the ground, but his body was in such an urge to run away from there that he didn't make sure her feet were on the solid floor, causing her to slip and fall in front of him.

—What...? —when she looked up through the locks of her messy hair, she could see Jungkook walking fast to the door of his bathroom— Jungkook, don't dare.

But he completely ignored her warning, locking himself inside the bathroom before she reached the door.

—Jungkook, get out of there —she hit the door—. Jungkook!

Her feet kicked the door one last time, surrendering to what was going on because there was nothing she could do to avoid it.

—Ouch —she whined, rubbing her ass check with the palm of her hand, only being aware of the pain of her fall then.

Y/n sat on the armrest of her couch, looking at the closed door he disappeared in, waiting for him to get out and kick him out of her house. But time went by, and there were no changes. Her eyelids eventually closed with the passage of time, and her body gave in to gravity every time she lost energy, recomposing before she could meet the ground again.

After thirty minutes, she tried to sit still to keep her position, but her body didn't take long to start giving in to tiredness, opting for heading to bed and dealing with Jungkook the next day when her batteries were charged again.

Jungkook felt so embarrassed when he finally felt good enough to leave the bathroom, that he stayed inside those four walls for another fifteen minutes as he tried to battle his shame. He had cleaned the mess, he had tried to make the smell disappear, but his body was frozen right at the door because he didn't want to see Y/n looking at him disgusted.

Although he realized that wasn't a problem way too late.

When he opened the door again, the living room was completely dark and there was no sight of Y/n. Confused, he silently walked to her bedroom, managing to see her with the small glimpses of light that came through her curtains from the lights in the street.

—Peacefully sleeping while I could've died inside the bathroom because of her —he clicked his tongue, offended by the situation.

Jungkook tried to be as careful and silent as possible as he half closed the door that she had left open, making his way to the couch to get some sleep after such a hectic day.

Y/n dragged her feet through the ground, making her way out of her room to meet up with a pair of feet hanging over the armrest of her couch, crossing one among the other. She was surprised by how little she cared about the fact that he was there. She was unbothered about it -probably because deep inside she knew she was the only responsible of him spending the night there.

But that didn't mean she'd let him sleep until he felt comfortable enough to wake up.

It was seven in the morning, she had things to do, and she for sure wouldn't invite him over to get something for breakfast.

Her hand patted the sole of one of his feet over his white socks, getting him to squirm and snuggle to one of the cushions he was hugging.

—Wake up. I bet your date has already left.

—What date? —he mumbled against the fabric of her couch— She already left last night.

—What?

—What —his voice lost power towards the end of the word.

When she checked again, his eyelids were completely closed again and his lips parted as he went back to sleep.

A lot of violent thoughts went through her head when she heard him admitting he just stayed at her place after tricking her, and only because he wanted to annoy her. Every bit of sympathy she could have for him was erased as soon as he opened his mouth.

She looked at him after returning from the kitchen, seeing how peacefully he was sleeping, with his right hand strangely folded to his chest, and only able to rejoice at the thought of interrupting all of that. She prepared herself, placing the pan as close to his head as possible before she started to hit it with one of her spoons.

Jungkook felt his heart squeezing on his chest at the sudden sound, moving by instinct and falling out of the couch to find Y/n looking down at him with the cause of his heartache.

—You almost killed me —his body relaxed slowly—. There's no need to be so aggressive.

—Get out.

—Like that? You won't offer me a coffee or something?

His sentence was almost left unfinished when she whined at the way she forced him to stand up by pulling from the hairs near his sideburns. It was as clear as day she didn't need as much strength as long as she knew where to touch and hit to actually cause pain.

She only let go of that short lock of hair when he was completely standing up, ready to push him towards the main door.

—So you couldn't sleep in your place because your date was there, huh?

—Wait, wait —he stopped her from closing the door.

Y/n looked at him, hopeful that he'd apologize and recognize his mistake. But that was hoping too much from him.

—My shoes are inside.

A heavy huff left her lungs, along with her tracks turning back to the couch to pick up the white sneakers and throw them on the common landing.

No words, no actions. Nothing else was needed for her to close the door behind her and completely forget about him.

Jungkook waited by the door, with his head looking from one way to the other. He had been there since he overheard Y/n ordering some food in her kitchen. She should've known better than to offer his revenge on a silver platter, after he was waiting for the best chance to get back at her the same way.

The plan was simple. He stayed outside of the building, although still hidden so Y/n wouldn't catch him in case she looked over her balcony. He was going to intercept the delivery man by telling him he made a mistake at giving his address, and get the food to his place to get back at her for the awful night he went through.

The breeze felt chilly as he blew the smoke out of his mouth and moved the cigarette away from his lips again. He remembered how much he disliked the taste and smell of tobacco when he first started, and how the thought of going a day without the taste of it on his tongue seemed weird. It was almost like those constant encounters with Y/n, or the excitement in the possibility of repeating with her again, when before he even hated the idea.

He quickly shook his head at his own thoughts, convinced that he was probably going insane.

He was bored. She was close.

That was it.

Although maybe paying a quick visit to the tarot reader wasn't a bad idea. He had gone way too long without getting a quick check.

Before he could dig any deeper in his thoughts, a man with a motorbike helmet half put on walked to him. He seemed young, probably he wasn't even of age yet, something that probably would make it easier for him to trick him.

—Excuse me, are you going to 3A by any chance?

—Yeah, why?

Jungkook sighed, faking relief before he spoke again.

—My girlfriend gave the wrong number. By mistake she gave the apartment number of the crazy lady, who goes around with sharpened knives, instead of giving ours.

—Hmm, can you tell me the name of the person who ordered?

—Y/n Y/s —he confidently said, spending too much time memorizing her full name as he looked at her mailbox for those fifteen minutes—. We live in the 3B, but she said 3A. I guess it's normal after she's called so many times to the cops because that lady kept threatening to stab her.

—Yeah... No problem, dude.

The delivery boy took the plastic box out of the box he was carrying on his back, stretching his hand in front of him to indirectly ask for a tip.

—Cool. Have a nice night —Jungkook said, high-fiving his hand before he left back to his place.

He sneaked inside his place quickly and carefully, cautious of Y/n not catching him with her food. Once he reached the kitchen, and aware that that awful thick plastic was still stuck on her window, he felt free to add his touch to her food.

He added a soup spoon of gochujang to one of the boxes that contained her fried rice, stirring it until the paste was completely invisible to the perception of the eye. After looking around, he also added some gochugaru as well, stirring the whole thing again before he closed it.

Jungkook moved silently towards her door, leaving her bag at the doorstep and hurrying to ring on her doorbell and run back to his place before she could even react to the sound.

She frowned when she opened the door and found no one but the white plastic bag on the floor, although she just shrugged it off. She wasn't exactly in the mood for any human contact, so the delivery person definitely did her a favor by leaving her food there.

Her spirits slowly went higher, and the melodic hum coming from her throat only made it obvious.

—It smells so good —she moaned, when the smell of Chinese food reached her nostrils after opening one of the boxes.

Her body was comfortable on the couch, a TV show she started to be obsessed with was playing, and tasty food was waiting for her to eat it. It was the best way to say goodbye to an awful week.

—Hmm?

Her head tilted to the side with the first spoon, not able to recognize the taste of her fried rice. Although it wasn't until she was filling her mouth with the second spoon that spice finally hit her, and forced her to spit the food that was there in her mouth.

She swore she could feel her tongue melting and the insides of her mouth burning, as her lips started to itch. Her first instinct was to give a long sip of the cold milk in her fridge, but even with that she could still feel she'd breath out flames at any given moment.

The itchy feeling was quickly followed by a dry cough and a runny nose that made her expect the worst.

—Shit, not again —she whined.

Annoyed, she picked up her phone, calling at the restaurant she ordered the food from.

—I specifically asked for it to have no spice in it —a cough interrupted her loud yelling—. Can you take a simple order?

Jungkook, who had purposely opened his window to be able to hear her reaction, giggled at her hysterical rant, until she heard her giving the reason why to her complaint.

—I'm intolerant to spicy food, do you even understand what that means?

She moved nervously on the spot, scratching the arm holding the phone with her free hand as she hoped it wouldn't go to worse.

Her rants and annoyed complaints were only interrupted by the sound of her door bell, making her sigh before he chose to open it to whoever was bothering her at the worst time.

—You'll be hearing from me soon —she hung up the call.

Jungkook almost lost his balance when he saw her swollen red lips, and the pale pink rash on her forearm, that she kept scratching as she fought to breathe through her coughing.

—Let's go to the hospital.

—What?

—Let's go to the hospital —he insisted—. Pick up your shoes and go.

—Why?

—I heard your conversation. Let's go.

Jungkook stepped inside, picking up the pair of sneakers she always had at the left side of the door, and that he managed to find while he desperately looked around for something for her to wear. He dragged her outside of her apartment, and didn't even think of waiting for the elevator as he kept hearing her cough getting worse.

—It's not that serious.

Everything went back to normal after she struggled for a bit. At least, that was how it worked the other times she had a similar reaction.

—It's better if you don't wear a helmet —he mumbled, hopping on his motorbike—. Get on.

—I'm not going with you anywhere —she stepped back.

—I dislike you as much as you dislike me, but I don't want you to die if I can prevent it. So get your ass on the fucking motorbike.

She rolled her eyes at how extreme he was being. She certainly wasn't going to die because of that, but she also knew he'd be able to go on like that for a long while until she did what he asked her to do.

His pale skin as he worried for her, and his concerned look whenever he checked on her state every minute since he dragged her out of her house and while they waited at the hospital made her wonder if she had been way too harsh on him. She was regretting treating him so badly, and even putting those laxatives on the brownie to ruin his plans.

She was just projecting a lot of her negative thoughts onto him, and treated him unfairly since he arrived.

Her palm covered his knee, trying to calm him down and get his shaky moves to stop.

Jungkook was right when he told her to go to the hospital, and the doctor told them when he checked out her symptoms, making her feel relieved by Jungkook's insistence thirty minutes back.

—I'll pay for the hospital bill —he announced as he hopped on the motorbike.

—You don't have to —she mumbled, taking the seat at his back.

He just ignored her comment, starting the engine of the motorbike and making his way back to their place.

Her attitude was more receptive than he remembered, she even smiled at him when they were about to part ways to get to their respective places. Y/n stopped before she could even use her keys, turning to him to dedicate some words she didn't expect would ever be thrown in his direction.

—Thanks for today. I'm not sure what could've happened if it hadn't been for you —she sighed—. And that restaurant is going to get it.

—What do you mean?

—I specified I didn't want spice in my food, reasons are obvious. And they still put it on it.

—Y/n.

—What if you hadn't been here, huh? They're a danger for all of their clients. Imagine if it had been someone with a worse allergy.

—Y/n.

—You shouldn't be paying the hospital bill. They should. And they should be thankful if they have one single client after I write an article about...

—It was me.

Her rant suddenly stopped by his confession, frowning when she saw that guilty expression on his face. And it all clicked. It all made sense. How they didn't ring the first door bell, how they didn't even show up at her door to serve her the food, and how concerned and worried he looked on their way to the hospital...

—I got your food, and added spice to it. I didn't know you were intolerant.

Her nostrils widened, and her breathing became irregular the more she heard him speak. She was so close to losing her temper. And it wasn't like she cared anymore, she needed to get rid of him.

Jungkook quickly moved, stepping inside his apartment and closing the door behind him before Y/n could reach him, feeling the vibrations of her hits and kicks on his back.

—Jeon Jungkook, I'm going to kill you —she warned him, trying to open the door.

She was convinced Jungkook was the biggest of the curses in her life. 

Taglist: @jk97bam @ttanniett

[sweatertheman]

to me, a really emotionally effective suselle denial is worth more than 10 suselles, because itd do wonders for noelle's arc, pull the themes of rejecting fate into focus, and illustrate a great point about how we play matchmaker with these characters, and how everyone else does too.

literally everyone seems to be gunning for susie and noelle to end up together, but the one person whose feelings about this pairing we've been ignoring, and the one person whose feelings actually matter, is susie! no one gave her a choice here! noelle didn't give susie a choice, she's incredibly possessive of susie and feels like she is owed information about susie, which she can then use to get susie to like her. noelle won't stop until susie is hers. ralsei never asked susie if she enjoyed her ferris wheel ride, or how she felt about noelle, he just watched from a distance and assumed how she felt, because it suits his deterministic worldview. rudy never asked susie if she wanted to go out with noelle, iirc, he just assumed she would say yes, because he loves noelle, and wants noelle to be happy. everyone else is just imposing roles onto susie, the same as they always have!

and while in the real world, having a gay lover is an act of defiance against oppressive social norms, in the world of deltarune, its the opposite! no one is telling her she can't, and everyone wants her to (with the exception of catti, and the couple asshole classmates). even if susie DOES have feelings for noelle, those feelings are sullied by the fact that everyone is still removing her agency, STILL telling her who she is and isn't allowed to be! would you still like your partner if you learned they had done everything in their power to make sure you would end up with them? obsessively collecting information on you in order to seem more appealing, constructing situations for you to meet up in a way where it seems organic, trying to get closer to you by any means necessary? i don't think susie would.

the thing susie seems to value most out of anything is her own agency in choosing what she gets to do, and how she gets to do it. no societal norm, social convention, narrative trope or gameplay mechanic stands in her way of choosing what she wants to do. she won't let you take her armor off unless you give her something else. when you give her a more powerful weapon, she won't accept a weaker one. she's too good for that. susie can dance on her own if she wants, she isn't stupid. it's not fair that kris gets to make all the choices, so its her turn now. heal prayer is boring, so she makes up her own spell. she challenges the idea that darkners are a slave race because she wouldn't want to be complicit in such a system. she believes they should be free to make their own choices. in what world would a person who values freedom above all be happy knowing that their partner wasn't going to let them make their own choice? this isn't even a question of whether or not susie likes noelle, its a question of if susie would be okay knowing that noelle feels, however unconsciously, as if susie belongs to her in some way. and i believe the answer is no.

and this rejection would hurt regardless of if susie liked noelle back, because we do like noelle, flawed as she is. and that rejection forces noelle to change in some way. either she accepts that susie's freedom to choose means the freedom not to be with her, or she doubles down and tries to win her over. she doesn't get what she wants, so she has to choose to get better and start seeing susie as a person, and not merely an idol, or a fantasy, or she has to choose to get worse, and cling onto susie harder.

my rejection of suselle is only somewhat about susie's feelings towards noelle, and is mostly about susie's freedom to not have those feelings, a freedom which is being violated by the "narrative" she exists in, the "Legend of DELTA RUNE"

she deserves a choice, and when the person in question, noelle, doesn't seem to care about how she feels, and only wants susie to be hers, i think she'll choose no, even if she did really like noelle. maybe even especially if she really liked noelle. people talk about how betrayed susie will feel learning kris is possessed and darkners are objects, but what about when she learns noelle was willing to change herself to be whatever susie wants, was willing to treat friends poorly, to almost stalk her, just to make her hers? would she be able to trust her feelings for noelle learning that it was all out of her control, that she hadn't been given a choice?

this isn't even to say they won't end up together in the end. its just to say it can't be like this. it cant be with a noelle who doesn't really respect susie's personhood and sees her more as an object whose affection must be won, and it can't be by the will of a divine entity that orchestrated everything for susie to end up with her. it has to be susie's choice.

this is kind of why i like ralsusie. what better way to make a display of your agency than to reject literally everything others have coaxed you into? rejecting the prophecy, rejecting noelle's advances, rejecting the player's agency, rejecting the concept of darkners not being real people.

its not like she can only choose to be the bully no one likes or the hero protector who ends up with noelle. its a false dichotomy, where fate locks her up and offers an escape, but the "escape" is only another cell. true escape is carving your own path, playing by your own rules.

[agoldenluckycat]

ACOTAR IMAGINE

Full disclosure I haven’t read ACOTAR in over a year. So there may be some stuff wrong. This is purely self indulgent. I just love Lucien and think he deserved better. Not beta reader. We die like men. Sooo without further ado, here it is.

🔞Also minors DNI🔞

-OKAY but imagine Feyre’s childhood friend, who had ended serving as a personal maid for Nesta and Elain.

-When Hybern sent his goons to get Nesta and Elain, they grab her too. She gets dumped into the cauldron first, offering herself as a sacrifice instead of Nesta and Elain.

-But Hybern is a dick and puts them all in. When she emerges though, it’s not Elain that Lucien is mates with but her. She immediately falls for him.

-Everything that the book says Lucien did for Elain in this moment, he did for her.

-So you can imagine their distress when Mor shoved Lucien away from her and winnows them to the night court.

-In reality though, this works out, she can figure out what she is, how her new body is and this world she apart of.

-Surprise she’s got healing powers! She heals Cassian’s wings 10xs faster than Amren. However she faints afterward. Cassian becomes like a big brother to her and teaches her to fight, and with Rhysand, they work to control her powers.

-Then the fateful day when Feyre returns and low and behold, Lucien is with her.

-She wants to do nothing more than jump into his arms but the timing is awkward, she’s unsure if he even wants her, the thought never occurring to her until now.

-Suddenly the insecurities flood in. She feels stupid. She’s never once thought he may reject her and he would have every right to. She was…well…not born fae. Perhaps that’s a problem.

-Her insecurities take a back seat when she sees he’s hurt. Small wounds litter his arms and his cheek. (This all happens in like 3 seconds)

-Just as she is noticing Rhysand calls for his healer. Yes, she’s the night courts official healer. She tends to any wounds on Feyre and then turns to her mate.

-She realizes now he hasn’t stopped looking at her since he arrived. The gaze makes her happy but she doesn’t want to push him.

-Moving over she takes his hands and hovers over them as she did Feyre’s wounds. The light coming from her hands looks like fire almost. A healing fire.

-She works diligently on his hands and arms then it’s time for his face.

-His beautiful face that she’s dreamed about kissing, being between her legs or hovered over her….wait she has to focus.

-As she heals the spot on his cheek she can feel his gaze has not left her. It feels exposing but she would not want him to look away.

-At first she does not meet his eyes, instead focusing on healing the cut, but when she does meet his eyes….

-The floodgates open. She doesn’t realize it but she is pouring all of her desire for him through their bond. Rhysand had taught her a little about it but having her mate here, she’s not good at control.

-It’s more than he can take, far more than he expected, and he almost sobs in relief. She wants him. It’s a simple idea but one that makes life worth living.

-He lurches forward, his hand coming up to grasp her face and crashes his lips on her.

-The motion stuns her at first but soon she’s pressing herself closer to him, her hand coming to rest on the one holding her face. She hums contentedly as he deepens the kiss.

-Someone clears their throat (it’s Feyre) and the kiss breaks. A blush creeps on her face and Lucien turns to Feyre a bit annoyed.

-“Can I help you?” He snarls and pulls her into his arms almost protectively. As if Feyre may say something that would cause her to leave him.

-Feyre rolls her eyes, telling him that they need rest and advises you both to go home. Which means her home. The townhome she’d purchased for them with the money Rhysand had been paying her as their official healer.

-When they arrive, Lucien again grasps her face and kisses her once more, but she pulls away after a moment. She wants to do this properly.

-She cooks a bowl of soup, something simple and easy, presenting it to Lucien with shaking fingers.

-Why is she so nervous? He clearly wants her?

-But the idea that he would throw the bowl down in disgust runs through her mind. However she watches him bring the spoon to his lips. She envies the spoon.

-It’s not long before they are in each others arms again, stumbling toward her their bedroom.

-They’re mating is the most pleasure she’s ever felt in her life. Lucien doesn’t stop until she’s come undone under him at least 4 times and she knows had it not been their first time together he would have pushed her for more.

-But soon he’s spilling in her moaning her name, and it sounds so much better on his lips.

-They stay in her apartment for the next few weeks. He explains it’s the mating bond. Cassian came to deliver some provisions for their mating time and Lucien nearly ripped his throat out.

-And she was not immune to it as well. He had stepped out to grab them some more provisions, as Cassian ensured anyone else was forbidden and when he returned she pounced on him before he made it full through the door.

-They spent their days in each others arms, learning about one another, telling stories and talking. He listened and teased her every so often. However he worshipped the ground she walked on consistently.

-She in return adored him. They slept with his head on her chest as she stroked his hair and hummed a song.

-Finally, Lucien thought to himself, someone picked him first, he was someone’s first choice.

[luveline]

hiiii jade my love light of my life i hope it’s not too late for me to talk about a thread of time! i’ve been so excited to read it and share my thoughts with you cause you know better than anyone how much i love the red string of fate thing and i couldn’t wait to see how you’d write about that <3

"No! I have delusions to attend to. Need anything while I'm out?"

and

Eddie pretends to stab himself in the eye by the front door, over and over.

i love how boyish eddie is portrayed in that! his small arguments with wayne, him hanging out with his friends <333 i loveeee boyish menacing eddie as much as i love seeing him all mature and it’s a delight to see your take on both sides of him <3

i love the way you write about the string too! how only eddie can see it at first and he tries to show it to everyone and no one sees it, but also how it’s tricky to move and live around it cause it almost has it’s own personality. i thought this was probably my favourite thing about it!

You're stripped back in one way and more beautiful all the others, bare-skinned, no makeup or glitters to hide behind. Eddie loves when you're expressing yourself but he craves how you look now, a secret he's desperate to know.

first favourite quote <3 maybe one of my all time favourites from you <3

Sure. If I'm delusional, of course it's something to do with you.

ughhhh he likes her so muchhhhh 😭😭😭😭

but then his hand dropped down rather than up, looking for something to take rather than something to hold.

this is kind of heartbreaking and infuriating but also beautifully written

Come and meet my parents," Eddie says, shoulders jumping, hands up in jazz hands, "look at my baby photos."

you have no idea how hard im fighting the urge to do a ryan-evans-in-high-school-musical joke about his little jazz hands

Wayne used to say Eddie could wear whatever he wanted, paint his face a hundred different colours, so long as he got to take a picture.

and

"I still think you should ask her for dinner. Any sense about her and she'll say yes." Eddie smiles. It's one of those things your mom says to you when you're down on your luck. Handsomest guy in the world, how could anybody say no to that face?”

I LOVE WAYNE SO MUCH YOU DONT UNDERSTAND (you do)

He thinks he'd like that, to sit here and watch you, listening to one of your CDs, the string between you bouncing with each turn of a page.

can i please have that. im not above begging. such a comfortable and beautiful image and also one of my favourite scenes too.

The string must be a manifestation or those seconds, threads of time tied together that join you forever, even if you can't see them. They're there. Eddie cares about you and it makes his throat hurt to hear your unhappy sounds; you have this morosity to you that he isn't stupid enough to ignore. Everybody had something weighing them down. He needs to find a way to hold yours for you. Just for a bit, however long you need.

“just for a bit” i love him so much. i really do

It's not other people I need to convince." You retreat behind your closet door again, your voice half as clear as you confess, "I think... I've always been like this. I look in the mirror and I don't even know who I'm looking at. She doesn't feel like me."

oh. felt

Is that rejection, or is he self-absorbed?

im not sure if you meant it to be funny but i thought this was so hilarious and i really loved that line

Seventeen year olds are stupid. I thought I knew everything at seventeen and now I'm twenty three and the only thing I know for sure is that I don't know anything.

that’s sooo nothing new - taylor swift ft phoebe bridgers coded

The string whips like a ribbon in the wind before falling into the shape of a heart again, clearly pleased to have you near.

and

In fact, all it takes is the idea of you, the slightest memory of your smile, your hands, the way you tell stories to the group with your shoulders turned to him like he's there alone, and the string flinches.

see what i mean about the string having a personality of its own!!! it’s so cool and fun and magical i really loved that <3

None of it was love, you aren't in love, but Eddie thinks he could've been. He was halfway there, falling, whatever the poets might say —Eddie wants you. Wants to do stupid shit with you. He can picture everything like he has before, that first bouquet of flowers, lilies with big white petals and purple sunspots. The cellophane would crinkle in trembling hands pressed to his chest, their stems leaking dew into his hardly worn button up. He'd pass them to you with more confidence than he feels and tell you that you look pretty. You always look pretty. He's not pretty, he's barely funny, he was stupid for thinking you'd like him too. […] There were times... Eddie clutches his chest. The nausea he's feeling can't be understated. There were times when you could've been in love with him, he thinks.

THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL AND HEARTBREAKING AND MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PART

Because he likes you. Because a string runs from his hand to yours that can't be severed. The latter feels as mythological as the former.

ouch…… felt

Eddie thinks that there's a string tied from his finger to yours to torture him as a link to something he wants, but can't have. It doesn't make much sense. Eddie Munson could have you if he asked nicely enough.

ahsbajsjenaj if he asked nicely enough!!!! same girlie

“Loser," he says, looking himself straight in the eye.

me !

Imagine buying a girl baked goods for her to reject you.

honestly? can’t even imagine rejecting someone who got me baked goods. they might be the way to my heart

Eddie wants to be cool like a rockstar who knows you want him and doesn't care, and he wants to be sweet and gentle and give you the respect you deserve, but mostly he wants to make it out of this conversation with you at his side. He's not sure how to do it, but holding your hand as you seem to want him to is a start.

i love him it’s not even funny

Eddie doesn't know if he believes in soulmates, but he believes in the hopeful colour to your voice as you say it, and the tacky skin of your cheek as he leans in for your fifth kiss, your sixth, each one better than the last. If his soulmate were going to be someone, he'd want nothing more than for it to be you.

jade. my love. i know you worked so hard on that fic and it paid off SO well. this is beautiful and young and lovely and fun and i love it and i love you. i genuinely adore how you write every character and how you write reader, i genuinely feel so seen through all of them. thank you thank you thank you for your dedication and your hard work and your beautiful writing. to read your work is a privilege and to be able to discuss it with you is an even bigger one. and being your friend is better than all of that combined. definitely something beyond privilege!! im glad fate brought us together too <3 love youuuuu 💌 - lu

hallo

first im not sure But I think some of your quotes are from the earlier versions I sent to you which is fine and doesn't matter but you're exposing me to the masses for my typos and rough draft hahaha

You know I love your commentary almost more than I love writing the fic in the first place 😭 thank you for taking the time to compile what you liked, it makes me so happy reading the stuff you picked out and your thoughts too. And we're always on the same wave!! I loved writing boyish Eddie, the string, Wayne being Wayne, so I love that you picked that stuff out 🥺 thank you for reading lu (like three whole times) I love youuuuj

[skloomdumpster]

Hey, hope you’re feeling better, and feel absolutely free to answer this whenever or never lol. I just saw some things you posted and wanted to share my opinion.

First, you’re absolutely right. I really love Rivusa, but not everything has to be about them. I was so upset when the teaser dropped and no one could care less about Flora (and after how much we fought to have her too), because they were all like “wHeRe’s RiVuSa?”

Because the producers are gonna show their cards just like that anyways.

Also, I’m in this weird position because Rivusa and Flora’s ship were my favorites in the cartoon and, while nothing has to happen in the show, I’m hoping it will. But honestly, if I have to say what’s better in Fate, Skloom wins without question. My complex relationship with them in the og aside, I love this version of them so damn much, and it’s gonna be very difficult to top.

And okay, they’re the only ones to have had any real relationship scenes up until now, but this doesn’t change how good the scenes were.

Last but not least, Flora. I saw the ask you answered about her and Terra but I don’t think they’re that alike? Sure, Flora was also shy and loved plants, but that’s it. She was always way insecure, much more than what we saw Terra being, and she was never bubbly in my opinion. Open to people (though she had difficulties admitting when she felt romantically involved and had problems with trying to put herself out there) yeah, but not enthusiastic. Also more afraid to be the one to approach people and be rejected\hurt. I also don’t really remember Flora being confrontational in any way, except when Nature was the topic or in really serious situations. Actually, when it comes to Nature, she was more touchy than Terra, and definitely didn’t take it well when people had problems with her plants in the suite. Overall, I think Terra and Flora come from similar ideas but are very different.

That’s why I can see Flora still being the Flora from the cartoon, and have Fate show that she and Terra have traits in common that take different forms. I’d avoid the insecurity and make Flora’s other traits work on a more open, at least apparently confident, and extrovert personality though. I got those vibes from the teaser and I dig that. I don’t see Flora having a bad relationship with Terra, but I hope they’re gonna have that kind of scene where Terra talks about Flora being perfect and she’s just puzzled. I feel like it could be a good introspective moment for both of them, where Flora opens up about her own insecurities and helps Terra be kinder to herself\see how amazing she is. Terra’s journey is her own, but that doesn’t mean she can’t or shouldn’t have help.

But the thing I’d dig the most, as other people have said, is having Flora know more stuff than she lets on, be further in her studies than others, and just use her personality to “fake innocence” while she’s there to undermine Rosalind\work against her in some way. It’d be cool, and I’d love this twist on her character. Plus, what happened to Dowling at the end of s1 immediately reminded me of something that her character went through in the cartoon, and it was Flora who saved her on that occasion. Just putting this out there, then we’ll see.

Anyways, sorry for the long ass ramble, I just love Flora, and I unfortunately have very high expectations.

First off thank you so much for this ask anon, it was super sweet and it warms my heart to think people not only care about what I think, but feel comfortable enough to share their own thoughts over this silly show that we're obsessing over. The later truly makes the experience of fandom all that enjoyable.

Secondly, thank you for not taking the fithings I say to the heart, seeing as Flora is your favorite and I've voiced my displeasure/lack of care about this character many times.

I think your ask truly helped me be more accepting of the character in general. I'm still firmly of the opinion Terra was supposed to be Flora, but that said, knowing the creators of the show ended up differentiating the two even before the name change happened makes me more secure in Terra's character as a stand alone, and thus much more accepting of this new addition, as I can see she's not a threat and/or a replacement to Ter.

I was never into the OG, so it's very intriguing to learn Flora was insecure! Knowing she's shy and non-confrontational, which are all traits that Terra has, makes me much more excited about their dynamic.

I do wonder if they're going to translate all of this, in their second attempt of the character. You mentioned your favorite ship in the cartoons was with Flora, so I'm guessing Helia, and I wanna know if - from the TV show's perspective, would you want Helia in it? Or would you rather they adapted the same relationship, but with the characters we already have at hand?

And yeah, I'm fully on your side on Flora knowing more than she lets on, that would be such a smart use for the character, that extends beyond just fanservice, so fingers crossed.

Nonny, what do you think of Flora's relationship with Sam? I know people have strong opinions on the Terra/Flora regard because of the initial polemic, but I never see people remembering that Sam is also her cousin and I'm curious!

On the topic of rivusa, we'll not go there. Water under the bridge and I'm taking a break from the ship in general.

Now Skloom... I'll be real, I know Skloom is not everyone's cup of tea. it's a love triangle OG fans did not want and they end season one in "good terms", where most watchers want a dramatic messy couple. That said, I'm obsessed with the depth of this couple and soo so happy you too enjoy them, specially in the live action!!

Thank you so much for the ask nonny! <3

[absolutedestinyrevolution]

1x02 | For Whom the Rose Smiles

Love how the book that Wakaba is reading (where a heroine has always loved a certain man, he rejects her, and another, better man instantly appears) both illustrates Wakaba’s immaturity in clinging to a story like that, and foreshadows Utena’s arc over the show—she’s always loved her Prince (or so she thinks), but it’s Akio who appears before her in his place, the prince turned devil…

The egg monologue never gets old. Also how it foreshadows the very end of the series, in Utena cracking the world’s shell to free Anthy stuck inside.

I’d forgotten about the “Utena moves into a new dorm w/ no one else” plot that starts the series, before she moves into Akio’s building. It frames Utena as different from the rest of the students w/ in the narrative, and it also isolates her in-universe, before Akio even starts directly manipulating and grooming her. And Anthy plays her role, as she has to… Interesting that when Utena asks why Anthy she is the Rose Bride, she responds w/ “Why do you always dress as a boy?” Utena says she likes it, with Anthy saying that’s why she’s the Rose Bride. Complexities here w/ how Anthy might be hurt by the Rose Bride role, but she knows how to play it and how it will hurt her; easier to deal w/ anticipated hurts than to risk something new and different, as we see play out in the finale (until everything works out).

Utena’s early naivete is so fascinating, because she’s both wrong and right: the duels are ultimately meaningless, used to trap students at Ohotri in an endlessly repeating cycle, but it was only by going thru the duels that Utena got to the place where she could free Anthy.

I’d been neutral on Chu-chu on previous watches but I’m finding him cuter this time around. The idea that he’s standing in for Anthy’s unexpressed feelings really adds a depth to his character: him uniquely warming to Utena, or him warning Utena that Saionji was after Anthy. In this light, the very end of the ep takes on even more resonance, in Utena saying she won the duel not for Anthy but for Chu-chu. Given Utena’s journey thru the show of learning more about Anthy the real person, not just the image she projects, and how that real love inspires Utena to keep moving towards Anthy in the finale.

Speaking of the Saionji – Anthy scene, there’s a great dissolve where the lamp light becomes Anthy’s face—because she was the light of the world all along, not Dios or the prince. There’s another dissolve between Saionji and a pillar when he says she devoted herself to him completely when they were engaged—phallic symbol, ahoy. (Also it foreshadows Akio’s tower and his and its prominence thru the rest of the show; if Saionji is an immature misogynist, then Akio is its mature form.) If Utena doesn’t get that the Rose Bride is forced to sleep w/ the people she’s engaged to, we as the audience do… which then anticipates Akio/Anthy later on. There’s also how Anthy is embodying both ‘the madonna and the whore’ in her role; Anthy plays the prim, sweet, sensitive bride, forced to clean and take care of the home, and she has to sleep w/ the person she’s engaged with, and theoretically that could be a lot of people, if she was passed back and forth thru duels. Or in the language of the show, the Rose Bride vs. the Witch.

Utena saying how she’ll just lose to Anthy must be a slap in the face for her… And of course Utena can’t do it when it comes down to it in the actual duel. As Saionji says, he “admires her courage” when Utena “put the rose above her own life,” which is again foreshadowing to the climax of the series in Utena saving Anthy by not avoiding the swords of humanity’s hatred, and not allowing Anthy to take them on in her place. “The one who loses their rose loses the duel.” Interesting too how Utena does ‘lose her rose’ in the finale, her Anthy sleeping from her grasp at the end. But isn’t that the ultimate fate of the Prince, to be faced w/ failure? Because one can’t live up the Prince ideal; what matters more is how one deals w/ that reality.

Utena doesn’t just get Saionji’s rose, she cuts his sword in two!! Another phallic symbol taken down.

[moonlightreal]

Fate season 2-3

In this third episode of Fate: Tales from Elemental Academy…

Bloom goes to the infirmary for some Plan B after her passionate encounter last episode!

Terra gives Flora the “Um, your life is in danger” rundown.

Musa rethinks her overuse of magic and talks with Sam about when she should de-anxiety him and when she should ask first in the moment.

Stella has a rush of common sense to the head and tells the gang she’s got a magic parasite to the gang can get together to remove it!  And she stops hangin’ with Beatrix because why is she even doing that in the first place?

...or maybe not.  I thought Stella’s arc was redemption: she’s awful → she’s abused →she makes friends and they help her heal→she triumphs over her abusive mother in some meaningful way.  But what if she makes friends→one friend ruins everything→Stella backs out of the idea of real friendship→Stella is seduced into villainy→Villain ending!  Could any of the Winx-named characters have a villain ending?

None of the things mentioned above will actually happen, of course.

This episode is called Your Newfound Popularity.  Whose?  These titles are somewhat opaque.

We jump right back in with Silva having just snuck into Sky’s room.  Sky tosses him the sword that didn’t really belong to Andreas.  After what Andreas pulled at the shop Silva knows he’s going to get caught sooner or later.  He plans to “go into exile” but wanted to see Sky first, to apologize and get things straight between them.  But Sky is having none of it1  he just says “Leave and never come back.”

What is up with Sky?  He seems to hate Andreas, be fully aware that Andreas is a bad person, but he doesn’t even have questions for the father figure who actually loves him? Well I guess this Sky matches animated Sky is having some very weird relationship blind-spots!

This rejection has to hurt, and I think that’s why Silva doesn’t sneak out again but heads deeper into the school.  Where he runs into Andreas!  Who has his crazy eyes dialed up to ten!  And here’s Rosalind and oh no, Ben let Silva in but has now betrayed him to Rosalind.  I know, protection of kids comes first, but was Ben this craven in the last episode?  Rosalind explains that Ben and Silva have the same weakness, “and that’s why I never had kids.”  The writers are having a great time with these cartoonishly evil quips of Rosalind’s aren’t they?

Silva has a sword but still lets himself be hauled off to the east wing to be experimented upon. Rosalind’s eyes glow silver so either she’s doing magic or she just wants to display her evilness.

But he’s not a fairy, what are magic eating Somethings going to do with him?

Opening!

More pop music BGM, which I do not like.  Personal preference, I don’t like it.  Aerial shot of the town of Blackbridge which does indeed have a bridge.  Bloom and Aisha are shopping for the Alfea alumnai banquet.  Every important Alfea grad from the past fifty years will be there.  Cool!  More magical adults!  

Aisha had a cunning plan, to do the centerpieces for the banquet, get noticed by the alumnai, intern for one of them come back to Alfea as a teacher, and eventually become headmistress.  Bloom gives her a not-terribly-incredulous look but Aisha says that look is why she doesn’t tell people about her plan. It’s a fine plan, Aisha, but getting noticed for flower centerpieces when you’re a water fairy seems a bit odd.  Why not small custom fountains as centerpieces?

Bloom says she hasn’t thought about life after alfea.  Back on earth she wanted to be an artist or an engineer, a hint that Bloom used to fix antique lamps and things as a hobby.  And that is a cool hobby for a female character, I gotta say. Unique.  Not like singing or fashion design or art, which yet she does say art but the real Bloom draws when the writers remember so I’ll give that a pass for being lore.

Buying flowers for centerpieces was also a ruse to get them, into town to check with Sebastian!  Whose shop counter and face are repaired after Andreas smashed him.  Bloom rolls out a map; they’re looking for a way into the east wing but every entrance is guarded.  Hang on, remember Sam can Kitty Pryde it through walls?  ‘cause he can.  

Sebastian suggests they break in tonight during the banquet when the guards are guarding all the VIPs. I guess it’s slightly more original than “secret tunnel.”  I like Sebastian, by the way.  He has a unique face and a nice accent. Anyway the alumnai will take a vote to swear Rosalind in as the new headmistress, though having Queen Luna’s approval is what really got her the job.  Sebastian and Aisha explain and Bloom thinks this is marvelous.  If they can expose Rosalind’s villainy in front of all these powerful fairies that’d be great!

Bloom has 4 piercings in each ear, by the way.

Sky told Bloom about Silva’s visit, but of course everyone thinks Silva just skipped town.  

Y’know, rule one of hiking is make sure someone knows where you’re going and when you expect to be back, so if something goes wrong rescuers will know to look for you.. There should be something similar for entering enemy territory.

Back at school Sky is helping his father unload many crates of wine.  Sky’s taking three boxes at once and Andreas says there’s no prize for finishing early.  Sky says getting to leave is a prize.

Sky’s nonsensical behavior is going to bug me just as much as the “why are changelings bad” thing last season.  Never got an answer to that, either!

Andreas asks if Sky heard what happened to Silva’s house and Sky says, “my house, you mean.” and Andreas does not bat an eye at having burned up all his son’s stuff.  He just says Sky and Riven have been in a bad mood and will have to deal with “pompous alums who never did a day’s work in their lives.”  He suggests Sky and Riven get sloshed to handle the evening!  Leaving his son with two bottles of booze, he walks off. Parenting!

Riven and the pretty specialist who was making eyes at Terra last episode and whose name is Kat are setting up tables.  And it looks like the threesome has broken up!  When did this happen?  Kat teases that a three-way was too much for him and Riven says it just ran its course.  Then Dane walks by and gives Riven a look of some sort.  What is going on?  Did I miss something? Oh right!  Riven was about to get tortured last episode!  Guess that happened offscreen.

Terra and Flora are growing plants for decoration.  Kat walks past and says, “you modeling that on me?” since the plant matches her poofy ponytail.  Terra giggles and her fern poofs out huge.  Now this is the kind of adorable relationship I prefer in my shows!

Ben Harvey is also helping set up, but he’s jumpy and shouty.  Terra says he’s different lately, and he was on the phone with “Malacoy academy” trying to get a job there.  Poor Ben, his conscience is getting to him!  He really is in a terrible predicament.  

Aisha brings some silverware to Musa and Sam and says she’ll help, but they already have help.  It’s Grey, of course.  They have an awkwardness over a chair and Aisha sits with her back very much to Grey, and he leaves.  Sam and Musa found this adorable.  But Aisha is no longer texting with Grey.

Rosalind walks past and Musa magics. Is she trying to read Rosalind’s mind or see how scared Sam is at the sight of her?  Or something else?  Then Sam heads off to get ready.  When they’re alone Musa beckons Aisha closer for privacy and says… oh my gosh, she did listen to reason, or at least listen to Aisha, and stop un-anxietying Sam.  But Sam is not ok, he’s full of rage at Rosalind and hiding it.  Musa thinks Sam is hiding something about Rosalind and “the sooner she’s gone, the better.” duh, she’s the baddie!  And I think Sam’s secret is that he knows his father is betraying people to Rosalind.  Oof, heavy on poor Sam!

Aisha is wearing a sweater with blue and teal diamonds and Musa is wearing a red shirt with a brown vest over it.  These clothes are not as dowdy as last season’s.

We jump over to Stella, wearing a powder-blue suit jacket.  She does love her suit jackets!  Her animated counterpart would cringe so hard.  She’s doing table maps it looks like, and has a clipboard.  Bloom (wearing a rather boring white sweater) is helping.  She asks if Stella is a VIP.

Queen Luna isn’t coming this year but Stella’s uncle is.  New family member!  (where’s Stella’s dad?) She says her uncle “sees people for who they truly are and he’s not afraid to say it” and he doesn’t like Rosalind so she is definitely going to murderize him.  He might as well lie down in his grave.

Rosalind is in her lab messing with syringes and vials of blood in an obviously villainous way.  She injects something into a rat and drops it into the chamber with the Somethings and a Something eats the rat.  Chomp! These are not large Somethings, by the way, the one we see lives in a big double fishtank full of mist that conceals it from view.  Can’t tell how many are in there.

Andreas comes in wearing a dark suit instead of his armored specialist gear and says the guests are arriving and the guards know what to do.  I wonder if they’re going to release a whole lot of Somethings and steal everybody’s magic. The camera goes to a book with a woodcut illustration of Somethings attacking people.  Rosalind: “Time for dinner and a show.”

Ok, these one-liners are starting to just be stupid.  Honestly, Beatrix pulls it off better than this!

Black cars arrive at the castle, and only black cars so my headcanon is now that the Otherworld learned to import cars back when black was the only color they came in, and never discovered the secrets of car paint.  Among the notables arriving is Duke Oscar Hammerstrom, who Stella calls the Solarian Jeff Bezos.  “He perfected thought-based purchasing.  You think it, you buy it.  A nightmare.”  Mind fairy, graduated ‘82, now has a monopoly on Otherworld products.  Really, show, would it have killed ya’ to say that about thought-based purchasing and have Bloom who is from Earth mention Bezos?  It does make sense that Stella’s mother would make her learn about rich successful heartless people from other realms though, so I’ll give it a pass.

Another fairy called Aimee Leroy made a breakthrough on elemental fluid mechanics.

Aisha made flashcards so she’d know what to chat about with each of the alums.

Bloom asks the important question: “are there no normal jobs in the Otherworld?  No accountants or-?” which you’d think she would know after a year of school.  Stella says of course there are other jobs, but most of them didn’t go to Alfea, the best school.

Bloom thinks she’s got a way into the east wing, she wants to go alone since being Rosalind’s protege gives her some protection.

There’s a knock on the door and it’s Beatrix with booze, inviting Stella to come get sloshed!  What would she have done if someone besides Stella had opened the door?  Stella says she’s busy and suggests Riven as a drinking buddy but B says Riven dumped her on account of last episode she got him tortured. She kinda tries to explain this but Stella says she’s sorry, she doesn’t have time right now and goes back into the suite with her friends.

I’m baffled by these interactions. Is Beatrix trying to seduce Stella to evil?  Is she trying to seduce Stella because teens making strange sexual decisions in part of the show?  Is Beatrix thinking of having a redemption arc?  Does Stella see something in Beatrix, abused kid to abused kid?  I don’t think we can say Beatrix was abused, but her childhood was certainly strange and she worships an awful parental figure, like Stella did before her redemption arc began.  Does Stella think she can redeem Beatrix?  Or spy on her?  B is a villain minion after all.  The tone of this scene was “real emotions are being felt” but that makes no sense.

Sky and Riven are drinking a whole bottle of champagne each in their room.  Sky mentions Riven burned his house down and Riven says it wasn’t that great of a house. Riven also knows what Sky and Bloom were getting up to and he’s jealous since the last time he “got screwed it was by Beatrix and Rosalind and not in a good way.”  He doesn’t even know what Rosalind was looking for in his mind, I guess you don’t remember being tortured by a mind fairy.  But he does remember Beatrix turning him in.  So he dumped her.

Dane turns up and wants to know what’s going on between B and Riven.  Wasn’t Dane there for the torture? Riven says it’s over and Dane makes clear that he’s still into Riven even if the trio is no more but Riven basically tells Dane he never cared and annoying modern music about “why do we love the wrong ones” plays.

Music keeps playing as we go to Musa and Grey, in Sam and Grey’s room I assume.  Grey has made alumni flashcards just like Aisha did.  Musa tells Grey that, and tells him not to give up because aisha is totally into him.  Grey smiles and goes off probably to find Aisha.  Sam must be in the shower and while waiting Musa snoops in his backpack and finds a vial of green wakeup potion.  And Sam comes out and catches her at it!  And freaks out! Quite understandably, he feels like his family is imploding and nobody is doing enough about Rosalind.

Aaaand Musa admits she was taking away his anger with magic, and she didn’t know while she was doing it but it seems like her taking it away just made the anger come back stronger.  Sam also quite understandably is upset that she’s been messing with his head and didn’t tell him.  He storms out to go murderize Rosalind right now!  

But murder later, fashion show first! The girls are all dolled up!  Bloom in a gorgeous dark blue dress slit all the way up one thigh, Stella in some kind of brocade with sequins over it and ruffles on the arms, Aisha in what looks like an olive green satin suit, and Flora in this hippie-looking but also country mustard yellow thing.  Terra is wearing… her normal clothes.  Flora’s outfit is neat and Bloom looks smashing and sexy and very older-than-sixteen.  Stella’s dress is super childish and is either a representation of how she’s still under her mother’s thumb or just a weird design choice.  One assumes there’s a good reason why the “fat representation” character is the only one that didn’t get a fancy party dress, and that the reason will be made clear to us soon.

Musa texts that there’s trouble with Sam.

Stella decides to blow this off and goes to see her uncle, whose name is Arthur and who is one of those men with too-long hair for the gray streaks in it.  He looks rich and weird.

Oh, and Rosalind grabbed Bloom from the scene for a chat.  She hates these fancy parties but she needs all these rich people to vote her in.  They pass a black person with buzzed hair and a stereotypical mad scientist lookin’ guy. Rosalind wants Bloom to sit by her at the banquet.  Bloom was the first fairy to transform in generations and that makes her a VIP! Bloom is sharp enough to realize Rosalind is using that fact for social clout and dumb enough to ask, ‘what if I don’t feel like being used?”

Rosalind points out “Field Marshal Bavani Selvarajah” the lady commander of the Solarian army. Rosalind could tell her that the girls busted Silva out.  Rosalind says “she might be angry..” and then does this girlish little hip-wiggle and singsongs “shall we find out?” and what even is this weird weird villain writing?  A Roald Dahl villain works in a Roald Dahl book, but plonked down in what’s supposed to be a grimdark YA fantasy it’s such a clash of styles.  Anyway the field marshal, who looks just as Indian as her name, comes over and Rosalind introduces her to Bloom.

Meanwhile Flora and Aisha are walking arm in arm and chatting.  Flora’s been to a lot of fundraisers in Linphea—so that name exists!  Aisha goes to talk to Aimee Leroy (who looks very Chinese) but Grey has chatted with him already!  As he passes, he gives Aisha his notecard.  Flora says, ‘Marry him!”

But here’s Sebastian, he was invited too since he’s an alumni.  He pulls the two girls away for a private talk.

Over with Stella, she immediately told her uncle about the magic thingy stuck on her, and I guess I’m wrong about it being a baby Something because Arthur calls it a tracking gem.  He says everyone back home knows Stella’s not a delinquent but Rosalind’s the only one Queen Luna listens to.  He vibes very suspicious.  I bet Stella’s memories are from when she was little and he was kind to her but he’s still humoring a child not helping a person with a problem.  If everybody at this party wasn’t about to get eaten I’d expect him to be in Rosalind’s pocket.

Stella hints that Rosalind could be out of the picture and says wouldn’t that be good for the royal family, having her influence off the queen, but Arthur says he can’t say anything about his opinion in so public a place.  And he wants to meet the fairy who transformed.

Bloom is up on the walkway telling the story of the Burned Ones’ attack to a circle of visiting dignitaries including Richard, the mayor of Blackbridge who wears a gold mayoral chain over his suit and tie.  She’s never going to be able to escape from rosalind to do spy stuff.

As Aiosha, Flora and Sebastian have figured out.  Someone else will have to sneak into the east wing and reveal Rosalind’s evil deeds.  And Sebastian says they need to do it now before Rosalind steals Bloom’s power.  Does he have any reason to think that’s Rosalind’s plan for tonight?  Rosalind has had months of chances to do that if she was going to.  More likely she’s going to eat all the VIPs.

Musa tells Terra about Sam, and Terra goes with the “I told you it was a bad idea” before getting to the “let’s find him.”

Sam is in the kitchens, getting himself a waiter outfit and a tray.  He hides the scary syringe of wake up juice in his pocket.  Uncapped, which makes me cringe.  Still, go Sam making a plan!  

And cut to Beatrix, who was not invited and is reaming her father out for it.  Andreas says the thought she didn’t want to come and B says she didn’t but if anyone’s sitting with Andreas it should be her, not “The Otherworld’s blandest water biscuit.”  That’s a lovely insult but bland is not how I would describe Rosalind.  Andreas just says don’t make a scene and Beatrix hints that she knows Rosalind has big plans for the evening.  Andreas just leaves, doesn’t even dignify that with an answer, and Beatrix spots Dane and goes to get him.

But Dane is talking with his friends. Beatrix unleashes a string of nasty quips.  And Dane says, “I used to think there was more to you than this, that the bravado was a disguise for a scared little girl, but really you’re just a nasty piece of work.” and he says nobody’s actually scared of her, they just don’t like her.  And he goes back to his friends.

Beatrix is officially down to no dudes! Also she’s wearing a bizarre shirt, it’s like a goth top with a boob window but is made of navy blue quilting fabric with small pink flowers.

But Beatrix grabs Dane and reminds him that Riven will never love him.  Proving that she is in fact a nasty piece of work.  

As Aisha and Flora get started sneaking, Bloom and Rosalind head into the cafeteria, which has been enchanted with trees growing inside.  It looks really cool, props to the special effects people!  I’m sure the trees are CG but it’s done well and it’s very pretty.  A three sectioned round table is set out with place settings and candles.  There’s Sky, Rosalind has selected him to sit with Bloom and keep her company.  They m,ention the failed sneaky plan and Bloom says they just have to make sure Rosalind doesn’t try anything else, and Sky stutters about how pretty Bloom is, and she is amazing in that dress.  Stella and her uncle come in and Stella looks upset to see Bloom with her ex at her fancy party.  Arthur says, ‘Finally, someone with something to say.” and wants to ask Bloom all about it.  He also keeps drinking. Arthur’s gonna be too sloshed to run away when the murder starts. Poor Sky looks awkward.  Yeah, the super-mature dress on Bloom and childish dress on Stella are definitely a Statement.  Good job, wardrobe people!

Musa and Terra look for Sam.

Who’s about to add the potion to a drink for Rosalind.  But he gets caught by a guard.

Aisha and Flora go down some stairs outdoors, that I’m pretty sure are part of the real castle.  But there are Somethings down there!

Bloom does not know which fork to use and Rosalind magics the right one into her hand.  Rosalind sees Bloom glancing at Sebastian, who’s sitting at another part of the table, and Bloom says she’s just seen him around town.  Andreas jokes about how he tried to make a decent Specialist of sebastian but it was hopeless and Arthur says, “Andreas, you must come to the Capital sometime and let Stella’s old etiquette teacher give you a lesson.  Cute little My Fair Lady moment.”  Buuuurn!  But Arthur then goes into something about how Sky was lucky to be raised by Silva but if Sky and Stella had stayed a couple it would’ve been scandalous—wait, why scandalous?--but then he goes on to saying Sky “landed” the fairy who transformed.  Sky says he didn’t land anything and both Bloom and Stella look totally embarrassed.  Stella suggests her uncle maybe needs some water and arthur says, ‘don’t be that girl.”

Oh Stel, another family member letting you down horribly.  

Rosalind gets up and Bloom follows her out, explaining that she’s escaping the awkwardness.  

But we go back to the table where the awkward continues!  Stella asks her uncle to tone it down, he says they’re all so delicate, sky says firmly that no, you were being a dick.  Andreas approves.  Arthur launches into this villain rant at Sky, “You realize you’re nothing, right?  Less than nothing. I have household cleaning staff who are more important than you.” and Stella shuts him down!  Tells him not to disrespect her friends, and that he’s drunk and go get some water.  Go Stella!  Of course her uncle retaliates by mentioning the tracking gem out loud in front of Sky. And saying “your mother was right, you have changed.  Pity.” with total perv energy.  Gross.  

He passes Rosalind who says he’s a prick but they need him, “for the vote and… other things.” Bloom straight up asks, “Why are you so cryptic?’ which, because she’s the villain you bonehead! But Bloom has a point, Rosalind has been mixing the threats and the not-threats.

Rosalind: “You think I’m some kind of evil mastermind, don’t you?”

...that is literally your entire character.

“It’s my fault, I suppose.  It’s a persona I cultivate.” and Rosalind says she’d never turn the girls in, she doesn’t want to lose Bloom’s trust or look bad in front of all the VIPs.  “I’m cryptic because every move I make has to be bulletproof or they will pounce.”  Bloom says they all love Rosalind ans she says, ‘nobody ever really loves the powerful. Luckily, fear works too.” then she starts on the flattery, saying the real truth is that Bloom is her star pupil and will shape the Otherworld more than anybody here, and more than her friends.” Then Rosalind leaves to attend to more ”cryptic business.”  Bloom looks shaken.

Stella has watched all this.  And I gotta say, Stella’s actress, Hannah van der Westhusen is doing a great job portraying Stella, who thinks she’s a dignified princess but also is a teenager whose entire personality has been battered down by years of abuse.

Flora and Aisha wander through an underground dungeon on a soundstage somewhere, because of course the school has a maze of empty stone corridors under it.  Grey texts Aisha but she doesn’t reply and Flora decides now is the time to psychoanalyze why Aisha isn’t texting a boy while on a life and death mission.  Aisha goes along and admits she’s never had a boyfriend and doesn’t like doing things she’s not good at.  She doesn’t want to “make sacrifices” for something that might end up hurting her.

Flora goes into this “we are designed to fall in love, our bodies release hormones when our gut bacteria is compatible” which I guess is supposed to be a reference to Flora having scientist parents but she says it in a super sexy way that makes me think this actress could play “slutty” as well as the actress playing Beatrix.  The actress who plays Flora is absolutely gorgeous, I don’t think I mentioned that.  Big curly hair, visibly Hispanic of course.

Aisha is skeptical of this “embrace life” speech while they’re sneaking in a basement.  Maybe the writers were told “Flora is kind of a hippie” and that’s what spawned this scene?  I feel like all the animated Winx know when to put matchmaking aside for the mission better than this.  Yeah they did once do ballet right before a final battle, but that was product placement.

The two of them come to some bars and a door made of bars with a not-futuristic keypad to open it.  The door is unlocked.  They’ve found the lab!  Or have they?  It looks like the place we saw Rosalind working before, but it feels very empty and abandoned.  Flora smells something and sniffs a beaker.  The whole place has been sterilized with alcohol.

Of course Rosalind knew you were coming and cleaned up the evidence, and also there’s a Something going to burst in on you any second.  The girls hear it chittering and Flora says “I’m gonna close that just in case” and shuts the doors.

Aisha comments the obvious: this empty lab is not proof of anything.

The lights go out!  They won’t turn back on!  But, I can see what’s happening! This show is not too-dark-can’t-see!  Good for you, Fate!

I can even see a Something on the floor.  It’s a worm that holds its head up, with tentacles.  A fantasy cybermat.  Should I start calling them fantasy cybermats?

It attacks!  It’s very acrobatic, jumping from the wall, just missing Aisha, slithering between some crates.  Aisha grabs it with magic and blue magic light comes out of her eyes.  Flora says “Stop channeling, I don’t think your magic works” but it did seem like Aisha was holding the thing still, by manipulating the water in its body I assume.  Anyway they’ve lost sight of it, it’s very fast, and they only have Aisha’s cel phone light to see.

Then a cool scene, one descends from the ceiling behind Aisha.  It pounces!  She grabs it and it reaches for her face with tentacles with blue-glowing tips.  

Flora breaks the beaker of alcohol over it and when it hits the ground, adds a lit match.  “Magic may not work, but how about chemistry?”

So the Otherworld hit chemistry without passing through the bestiary… ok, ok, I’ll stop.

The critter burns up.  But all Aisha has as evidence is a phone video of a burned up thing and an empty lab.  Bloom and Stella are not impressed.  Stella wants to present the proof, now, while they have all the VIPs together but Bloom doesn’t think it’s enough evidence.  Bloom wants to wait.  She tells the others that Rosalind knows they rescued Silva and there is some panic, especially Aisha, but Bloom says Rosalind says she wouldn’t tell.  And Bloom believes her.  In a very heartfelt, “I know I shouldn’t but I… I believe her.  It’s complicated.”

Because that worked so well the last time!  

Stella titters.  “It’s actually simple.  Cliche even.  Outsider all your life, get a taste of the inner circle and can’t get enough.  You seem to forget, this was my life.  Your fifteen minutes are gonna get people killed.”

Love it!  Go, Stella!  Grab that idiot ball off your friend and throw it away!

Bloom makes shocked incredulous noises. Remember, to her the idiot ball feels like her heartfelt emotions. And of course, Stella’s plan to reveal the truth is going to backfire just as horribly as Bloom’s belief in Rosalind will;.  The girls do not seem to have grasped just how far ahead Rosalind is and how completely screwed they are.

Uncle Arthur is saying they should get the vote over with so they can keep drinking when Stella stalks into the middle ofv the circle table and begins in a very queenly voice, “Rosalind is not who she seems.”

Then we cut to Terra and Musa, still looking for Sam.  Terra is angry and Musa is trying to defend herself.  They go outside and see Professor Harvey and Sam walking in the garden.  Ben reassures them that Sam will be fine and leaves with Terra.  Musa sits with Sam on a bench.  Sam is lookin’ like a guy having a crisis, which he is.  He reminds Musa of when they met, how she said he “sounded like an absence of chaos” but now his life is full of chaos.  He isn’t angry at Musa for what she did, but he’s not ok.  He says he’s leaving Alfea.

Good! Go be safe!  Why Ben hasn’t hauled his family as far away as possible is beyond me.

But Musa freaks, says this is temporary, he’s just confused, they can fix this.But she can read his mind and knows they cannot fix this.

Turns out what happened in the kitchen: the soldier who caught Sam was Badass Marco, who probably recognized someone under extreme stress when he saw it and brought Sam to his dad instead of arresting him.  He’ll keep the secret if they get Sam some help.  Ben tells this to Terra, who’s angry and upset at the thought of her brother leaving.  And her father says he can’t keep teaching here.  But Terra wants to stay with her friends, and Ben says, “You belong here.”

Um, Rosalind has been threatening him with harm to his kids for months.  Why would he leave Terra with her? Maybe Rosalind already threatened something something hostage, something Bloom’s friend group.

Terra asks what if they take Rosalind down and Ben says it’s a nice thought but she’s tricky.

Back at the banquet Stella is doing a great job describing how Rosalind let Devin die.  Upright queenly posture, loud clear voice, no hesitation.  Stella must have had royal speech classes!  The guests murmur in concern!  The girls watching start to wonder if this will work!

Then Rosalind steps out… with Devin! Rosalind’s story is that Devin and Ivy were found catatonic and the mayor called on her for help and swore her to secrecy.  Then she borrowed a text from the royal archives, with Uncle Arthur's permission, and discovered “an ancient creature, called a scraper. A native of the Realm of Darkness.  They feed on magic.”  

At last they have a name, but it’s a dumb name.

Some soldiers roll out her fishtank o’ scrapers and they splat on the glass.  Rosalind says they captured one and she’s been studying it, all thanks to “Benjamin Harvey’s daughter” who discovered the amalgam that woke the fairies up. Then she says a Blood Witch summoned the scrapers.

Shock!  Horror!  A blood witch!  A… wait, we don’t know a single thing about what a blood witch is. Hope you remembered them from getting mentioned like once last season!  

So anyway “our old foes have discovered how to steal our magic, and if Blood Witches continue using scrapers fairies and their magic will cease to exist.”

Stella looks like she’s about to cry. She thinks she’s about to get killed, quite sensibly.  But Rosalind praises their courage and says it will be needed as they face their real enemy in the future.  She dismisses the students and Sky and the girls head out, then Rosalind calls Bloom back.

Outside Stella says she needs a minute and walks in the most ‘away’ direction she can find.  Sky hesitates like he’s thinking of going after her but not sure he should.  Flora is relieved her potion didn’t kill Devin after all, and Aisha is shocked that they were wrong about everything.  Flora says, ‘wonder what else you were wrong about” and nods at Grey, who’s hangin’ out with some friends.  Ye gods Flora, you’re as bad as the other Flora in season 8, knock it off already!

Aisha goes off to see Grey and Riven of all people walks up, calls Flora a ‘genuine fairy godmother’ and offers her a drink.

Is this how real teenagers behave? It’s not how my friends behaved.  It looks exhausting.

Because Riven is a charming hobbit when he wants to be, his attempts to flirt with Flora are kind of cute. She takes a drink not because she’s feeling seduced but because she just found out she’s not a murderer. Riven says, “Lucky for you ‘not a murderer’ is exactly what I’m looking for these days.” Heh.  Flora chuckles, not realizing that Riven has been dating Beatrix who literally is a murderer.

Grey and Aisha chat about the alums. They met Hammerstrom, though we didn’t see him.  He was apparently very drunk and talked at Grey for 45 minutes.  It’s a cute exchange, then Aisha invites Grey to come swim with her, in his new speedo.

Maybe near death made her interested?

Rosalind speechifies. we’ll eliminate the blood witches, no thanks on resources commander, I have everything I need at this school.  Significant glance at Bloom.  Then she tells everyone Bloom has “the magic of legend, the Dragon Flame.”

Gasp!  Shock!  The Dragon Flame!  The… wait, we don’t know a single thing about the Dragon Flame!

Rosalind says “Bloom is the key to saving our world” and Bloom, who I don’t think knows a single thing about the Dragon Flame either, looks stunned.  Also, the world doesn’t look particularly in danger.  Yeah there’s monsters and lots of nasty people, but that’s tot world danger.

Aisha and Grey splash happily in the river.

Musa and Sam walk silently in the garden.

Terra cries in the greenhouse and her father comforts her.

Stella tears her back bloody trying to get the tracking gem off.  She tries to hide the damage when Sky comes in, but he sees it.  Stella cries on his chest.

Bloom sits in the empty banquet hall.

Over these scenes meaningful pop music, chorus “everybody’s got their own idea of right and wrong”  It’s not bad music,

Rosalind comes up to Bloom and says, “I know.  It’s a lot.”

And Bloom asks for a full rundown on the Dragon Flame, which Rosalind gives her—no, that’s not what happens.  Instead Bloom reminds us that, per Rosalind, Blood Witches were the ones who kidnapped her as a baby and had her at Aster Dell. “Is that because of this thing inside me?  The Dragon Flame?” Bloom says it like she doesn’t know what it is, so Rosalind didn’t tell her offscreen sometime.

Rosalind says yep, that’s why.  Bloom asks if her birth parents had it too.  Sensible question, Bloom!  But Rosalind says she really doesn’t know where Bloom came from-- but the blood witches will.  We’ll find out by fighting them!

Bloom: “You’ve kept so much from me I don’t know if I can trust you.”

...Bloom, I hate to have to say this, I’ve been putting it off for episodes, trying to put a good face on things, but you are so stupid you deserve to get eaten by a monster.

Rosalind hopes to prove her trustworthyness with… a pardon!  Silva has been pardoned for the crime of almost murder!  He’s here!  Rosalind spent a whole week talking Uncle Arthur into granting that pardon.

Rosalind says it’s time to put aside our differences, common enemy, Blood Witches a scourge on the Otherworld!  Doing… scourgey things the show doesn’t bother to tell us anything about!

But they must be doing something because Silva, who is not insane, says Rosalind is right and this is a problem to take seriously!

We cut outside to Beatrix smoking alone on the grounds of the real castle.  Footsteps approach from the other side of the low wall she’s sitting against, and she asks with much profanity to be left in peace.  But it’s not Stella coming for an ill-advised heartfelt chat, it’s… scrapers!  The attack Beatrix! She gets grabbed!

So I guess the footsteps were someone directing the scrapers?

So that’s episode 3!  What do you think of Rosalind’s alibi?  Was she really doing good while spouting cartoonish villain lines at every opportunity?  Heck if I know; after this episode my brain is done with thinking for a while. I shall post and leave it to all of you to figure out.

[ilalos]

Worth it (Anthony Bridgerton x reader) Part 1/2

Summary: You’re Simon’s cousin and you are ready for your first social season, excited for the courting and dancing. Your plans are shattered when you find yourself in an arranged marriage to none other than Lord Anthony Bridgerton, the one man who avoided love like it was the plague.

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, arranged marriage, tiny bit of angst, Anthony is an idiot, if you think of anything else please let me know.

Word count: 2.5k

It was the second season the duke and duchess had the pleasure of enjoying together in their London home. The duke’s household had been rejoicing in the arrival of baby A for a year now and the family was also preparing themselves for the birth of their second child. One might think that they would rather spend these blissful moments away from the chaos that the social season brought, and one might be right.

Simon and Daphne had opted to miss this social season in view of the fact that Daphne would be heavily pregnant when the summer started and would be at risk of having the baby in London instead of the comfort of her home. They chose instead to visit the Bridgerton home before the season started so Daphne could be with her family for a couple weeks with no added stress.

But their plans changed when Simon’s aunt, seeing that they were going to London, decided to ship you, her daughter, with them so you could be part of the social season and hopefully find yourself a husband. The couple had agreed to take you to London and also to chaperone you throughout the social season.

You were a good, polite, and well-prepared lady; your mother had sent you to the finest finishing school in the country to make sure you were molded into the perfect bride. Despite the extensive preparations your mother had subjugated you to, there was one thing they couldn’t take away from you and that was the desire to marry for love. Everyone told you that what mattered was how well you could marry, that you’d eventually grow to tolerate your husband and that your children would give you more than enough joy; but that just didn’t seem enough for you. It didn’t matter how you felt about a loveless marriage though, your mother had been clear when she told you that you had this one season to find a husband and if you didn’t she’d choose for you whomever she seemed fit.

On the day of your arrival you learned she didn’t intend to give you even one season and, with no previous notice to you or him, you were introduced to Anthony Bridgerton as his bride.

Violet Bridgerton had grown tired of her son’s refusal to marry and after pressing him about the matter he admitted he was looking for a wife this season; she didn’t trust him to choose well and when Daphne wrote to her mother about you, she decided it was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. And so, with your mother’s blessing, Lord Bridgerton was given your hand in marriage.

“I beg your pardon?” Anthony was shocked, to say the least.

“You heard me, son, this is Lady (y/l/n) and she is to be your bride”

You couldn’t think, move or do anything but stand there staring at the man you were supposed to marry. Your mouth opened and closed like a fish and Daphne had to guide you to take a seat because she feared you might faint. Anthony then excused himself and fled to his study with Simon hot on his heels.

“I’m deeply sorry for throwing this at you with no warning, your mother warned that if you were told before you got here you might have refused to come at all” Violet apologized taking a seat in front of you and taking one of your hands between hers.

“Anthony is a wonderful man and I’m certain you will learn to like him, maybe even love him” continued Daphne.

Meanwhile, in Anthony’s office, a similar conversation was being held.

“What excuse do you have now to reject her?” Asked Simon

“I don’t know her, that’s enough to not want this marriage”

“You said you didn’t wish to love the person you had to marry, so I don’t see the big deal in not knowing her” Simon served himself and Anthony a drink as he spoke.

“Even with that being true, I also said she had to be smart and at least interesting to talk to” he took a small sip of his drink “and also that it wouldn’t hurt if she happened to be beautiful”

“And isn’t she?” Simon raised a brow behind his cup before continuing “She is incredibly smart, kind and she also attended the best finishing school available in the London area, which means she is as proper as a lady can be”

“Well yes, but-”

“Your only problem with her is that your mother forced her upon you”

“My only problem is that I saw in her face she had no idea she was betrothed to me, it is not fair for her to be forced to a short and loveless marriage like ours will be” Anthony finished his drink and slammed the cup on his desk, he knew there was no way out of this.

“She, as any lady in the country, knows that her duty is to marry well” Simon placed his cup softly besides Anthony’s “You’re the most desirable bachelor this season, there’s no better man for her if we look at status, money, and age”

Anthony limited himself to roll his eyes and remained silent, he knew Simon was right but it still stung that because of him you were now forced to be married to a man you didn’t love.

“Well, she’ll be a young widow so she’ll eventually have a chance at finding love”

A knock on the door interrupted Simon’s answer and he was thankful because he was quite frankly tired of Anthony’s certainty that he would die young, he understood that Edmund’s death had been hard for him but it was still tiresome to hear him speak like that constantly.

“Yes?” Called Anthony from his desk, prompting Gregory to enter.

“Mother requests both your presences in the dining hall for supper, now”

The rest of the day was uneventful, Anthony refused to speak to you and you were too shocked to utter a single word to anyone. After supper you excused yourself and went to bed early, when you had laid down Daphne entered your room and gave you a letter from your mother before saying good night and wishing you sweet dreams. You sat up and decided to read the letter before bed, maybe it would bring you some comfort.

“My dearest daughter,

If you’ve received this letter it means that you know about your engagement to lord Bridgerton, we couldn’t find a way to tell you because we feared you might refuse to travel to London if you knew. I hope you understand that all I’m trying to do is securing your future, the viscount is a kind man and you’ll be safe with him. I sincerely wish for you to be happy by his side, and maybe even learn to love him.

I know your father is looking down at you proudly and I’m certain he’ll bless your union with happiness, you were his sunshine and he’ll always take care of you no matter where he is, as will I.

Love,

Your mother who loves you”

You couldn’t help but feel angry at your mother for lying to you like that as if you were a child with no control over your own emotions. It would’ve been nice to know about your fate before you got here, it would have saved you from daydreaming about balls and love matches that you now knew were never going to be possible. Still, you were grateful that they had chosen Anthony, they might as well had promised you to an ugly old man. So you fell asleep that night disappointed on the false expectations you were allowed to have, but grateful for having secured the best bachelor in the season without even trying; it might not have been a love match but at least it was a good one.

-this time jump is brought to you by Roma, my golden retriever-

“If we are to be married no matter what, shouldn’t you spare me the pain of courting her?” Anthony was straightening his tie as he spoke to his mother.

“Courting, in this case, isn’t meant to convince her to marry you, it’s so society can see your intentions are respectable” she took over his hands and settled the bow tie once and for all “this ball is the perfect opportunity for everyone to see you both as a couple”

“And you act as if you weren’t already attending for Eloise” Benedict entered the room also dressed for the ball.

“Chaperoning, not dancing” clarified Anthony.

“It’s only one dance, my lord, it will be over before we know it” you had entered the room without anyone noticing and Anthony was a little taken back by your beauty, but recovered quickly enough.

“The dance might be, but the ball will be unending” with that he left the room to go and rush Eloise, they were going to be late.

You frowned a little looking at his retreating form, he hadn’t said anything about the way you looked, not one single compliment for his future wife. Benedict must have noticed your disappointment because he swiftly stepped in to make you feel better.

“You look positively stunning (y/n)” he kissed your hand with a small wink “My brother sure is a lucky man”

“That he is” called Daphne from the door “Here you go darling” he placed a tiara on your head, “I told you it would look wonderful with your dress, now let’s go” she patted your back softly “Simon’s waiting for us in the carriage”

“We’ll see you at the ball, my dear” called Violet seeing her daughter to the door.

The ball was beautiful and you felt overwhelmed by the number of people in the room. Simon and Daphne guided you through the room and you felt everyone’s stares on you, you hadn’t presented before the queen because you were already in courtship with Lord Bridgerton so everyone was seeing you for the very first time.

Daphne had begun to feel tired and Simon had left to fetch her some lemonade while she found somewhere to sit down for a while, leaving you unchaperoned and praying no one would approach you while they were gone.

“Excuse me, miss?” So much for prayers.

“Yes?” Yo faked a smile as best as you could looking at the old man in front of you.

“I see you have so much space in your dancing card, perhaps I could book myself the next dance?” Your card was in fact empty because your darling fiancé had yet to appear.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible Mr. Wyatt, since she’s dancing with me,” said Anthony who had gotten to you just in time.

“Perhaps the next one, then?” Persisted Mr. Wyatt.

“That would be my dance” this time it was Benedict who saved you “Would you look at that? Her card is full, maybe you could try on the next ball” You hadn’t even noticed them scribbling all the Bridgerton’s names on your dancing card until it was full, but it now was and you were thankful for it.

“Thank you so much, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had had to dance with that man” you thanked Benedict.

“What are brothers for if not to protect future sisters-in-law from dancing with horrid men?” He joked back, making you giggle.

“Well then, let’s have our dance and get this over with” Anthony broke you from your fit of giggles.

“Remember you two, you have to look madly in love” at his brother's comment Anthony only managed to huff some curse words under his breath, dragging you to the dance floor by the wrist.

Once on the dance floor, you both got in position, and when the waltz started you began gliding through the dance floor gracefully.

“For someone who says he doesn’t like balls, you are an exceptional dancer,” you said in a playful tone.

“Mother made us take classes when we were little, any respectable man should be a decent dancer”

“They paid off, it’s a pleasure dancing with you” he didn’t respond to anything so you continued “Are there other talents you are hiding from me, Lord Bridgerton?”

“Not that I’m aware off, miss (y/l/n)” his answer was short and it was clear he didn’t care for conversation.

It had been like this since the two of you had been introduced, any attempt you made to get to know him better was quickly shut down by him. It was as if he wanted to remain a stranger to you, but you were to be married and you at least wanted to know a little about him besides his name and his clear lack of humor.

When the dance ended you left the dance floor and met with Colin by the beverages table.

“Why so sad, love?” The pet name caught you off guard but you assumed it had something to do with the alcohol you could smell on his breath.

“It’s nothing, Colin” you attempted to smile as you served yourself a small glass of lemonade “Have you seen my cousin?” You asked before he continued asking questions.

“He is by those tables with Daphne, a ball is no place for a pregnant lady” Colin pointed to the other corner of the room.

You thanked him and walked to where he had pointed, you were ready to leave, and also what Colin said was true, being in this ball was very stressful for Daphne so the earlier you left the better. Soon you spotted your cousin, his wife, and, to your horror, Anthony.

“Cousin! What are you doing here? I thought you’d be dancing with Benedict” said Simon.

“I was thirsty so I went to get some lemonade, here” you handed a glass to Daphne “I brought you some”

“How nice of you, thank you” she took a small sip “shouldn’t you be having fun? It’s your first ball dear”

“I think I’m quite tired already” you turned to look at Simon “Perhaps we could leave, cousin?”

“If you wish” he looked you up and down, making sure you were alright “Why don’t you and Anthony promenade around the room while I send for the carriage? Just to end the night right, at least in the eyes of the people”

You simply nodded and watched the way Anthony rolled his eyes as he offered you his arm. His plain rejection of you always hurt you, you knew he didn’t love you but never did you expect him to despise you. You walked by his side with a soft smile planted on your face but on the inside, you were hurting because with each day you saw your future clearer, and what the future held for you was being married to a man who could not stand you and would never love you. But then he lead you to your carriage and kissed your cheek when you were out of everyone's view, maybe he didn't find you so bad after all.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Hi! I hope you enjoyed reading this, if you like it let me know i love the feedback. I’m kind of in love with Anthony atm so that’s why this is the second story I’ve written of him. Thanks for reading! :)

[buckys-black-dress]

i don't care, i'm in love

a/n: alright sexies, part two! of my last thing you guys liked! idk if anyone's noticed just yet but the titles are from tame impala's song 'new person, same old mistakes' because the song is fire asf. anyways. enough talking, here it is! enjoy! (sorry this took so long lol, i had no idea where i was going w this plot after part 1.)

warnings: penetrative sex, oral sex (f receiving), choking, cursing. this story is 18+ !!! tap off if you're a minor. this is your warning.

wc: 4k words

[bucky barnes x fem!reader]

read part one here!

-

It's been a few days since your outburst with Bucky in the kitchen. While you haven't made eye contact with him whenever you've been in the same room, you've practically felt his looks from across the room.

The air had definitely shifted in any room where you were both present. Nobody still knows about your past relationship, and you don't intend on telling anyone about it.

You've decided to let Bucky stew in silence, not allowing any leeway. If he wanted to be stubborn, this is where it would land him. He chose his own fate in the end, and now he would have to suffer the consequences.

And it was pretty awkward, to say the least. It was currently movie night in the Avengers Tower, and you were all in the movie theater. Tony had selected a rom-com tonight, as superheroes do. You were sat with Natasha on a loveseat, your legs swung over hers as your shared snacks were laid on your lap for the both of you.

She had, of course, noticed your change in demeanor since your impromptu break-up. You hadn't divulged in the details with her, not wanting to out the relationship. Even though you wanted to be petty as ever, you decided you were going to be the mature one in this situation.

And then Bucky walks in.

With a... another girl?

Maybe you weren't taking the high road after all.

You instantly feel a heat wash over your body, making you want to scream and cry and laugh in incredulity all at the same time.

What the fuck?

"Hey guys, I brought a date to movie night, if that's alright..." His voice sounded like nails on a blackboard to you right now. "This is Sophia."

He says it so simply that no one knows what to say. Everyone spares a glance at you, and for a second, you wonder if he had told anyone.

But everyone had somewhat of an idea that Bucky likes you!

So now, everyone was a bit confused.

"Uhm, yeah, nice to meet ya. Take a seat anywhere." Steve's voice cuts the suffocating silence.

You make brief eye contact with Bucky, but you look away as fast as you had looked in the first place. You felt like there was a golf ball lodged in your throat, and if you didn't stop yourself, you think you would've strangled that motherfu-

You're led out of your train of thought by a light tap on your arm. Natasha gives you a look that's saying, you look like you're about to kill someone. Are you okay?

You shake your head, letting her know you're just fine. Everything's fine. Bucky's over there, with another girl, who's holding his hand. And you've been here wondering for the past two months what's been so wrong about you that he couldn't do the same with you. Let alone even tell people you were in a relationship.

And you're not going to lie. This stung. Really bad.

Although you wanted to sit here and act as unbothered as possible, it was hard. You wanted to enjoy your night, watch your movie, and go to bed. This was a turn of events that you weren't expecting in the least.

The tension in the room was too much, everyone exchanging glances back and forth between you, Bucky, and Sophia. They were all confused. There was an obvious tension between you and Bucky, and although it was never anything serious to them, they all thought he would man up soon enough and ask you out.

Now, sympathetic looks were being shot across the room between all the team members, and no one could say really say anything.

Suddenly, Steve sits up in his seat and glares at his friend.

"Buck, can ya help me bring some snacks from the kitchen?" The blond asks, not waiting for a reply from the brunet.

Once they're safely out of earshot from the movie room, Steve grasps Bucky's shoulder in a tight hold that has Bucky wincing.

"What the hell, man?" His voice comes out strained and laced with confusion.

"Buck, I think I should be asking you that question." Steve says. "Don't play fuckin' dumb with me. You know what I wanna talk about."

"Well, please do enlighten me-"

"Oh would ya drop it? Sophia? I'm sure she's a great gal, but for the past six months you've been bitchin' and moanin' about Y/N." Steve cuts his friend off, trying to gauge the situation.

"I just... things went south. I needed somethin' new... somethin' different." Bucky's voice was meek, almost like he was afraid to admit this to his best friend of 90 years.

"What... whaddaya mean things went... south? Did you tell her you liked her and she rejected you or somethin'?" The blond asks, brows pulled together in confusion.

"I just... I can't really explain to you what happened but... it was bad. I fucked up, Stevie." Bucky's head is still tilted downwards in guilt.

"Buck, you know you can tell me anything, right?" A hand is placed on his shoulder, and he wants to shrug it off, I don't deserve any comfort, he thinks. I did this all by myself.

"Can I just... I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone. Especially Tony or Nat. Or Wanda." Steve gives him a brief nod, motioning for Bucky to go on.

"Y/N and I had been... seeing each other for the past two months..." Bucky starts to explain, and Steve's eyes are jut about popping out of their sockets by the time he finishes explaining.

A few moments pass, and silence soaks the air surrounding them.

"You... you two were dating... in secret? You didn't tell me?" The look Steve gave Bucky made the latter's insides twist in the worst way possible. He should've told his best friend.

"Steve, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. We agreed to keep it between us until... "

"Until she decided she'd had enough."

"Yeah."

A pregnant pause and flat face followed, and flat face followed, and Bucky's now realizing how much he's fucked up. Not in the first place, per se, but by bringing Sophia here.

"So can you tell me why you've dragged that poor girl here?" Steve breaks the silence first.

"I-I... I met her at a bar a couple nights ago. Needed to get out, have a drink. She came up to me and asked me for my number, and... yeah."

What Bucky didn't explain is that as soon as she started talking to him, she had immediately realized he was painfully in love with someone else. She had been kind, understanding of his situation. Instead of trying to get in bed with him, she sat down with him while he explained to her how he got himself in this mess.

"You know... I can help you..." Sophia tells him with innocent eyes.

"Really? How?" Bucky's tone was incredulous, like the mere idea of doing something about this whole thing was possible.

"Well, she seems to care about you a lot. But maybe you just need to get a... reaction out of her. She's unbothered now, she says she 'moved on.' Show her she hasn't." She explains.

"But...how?"

And thus... this situation was born.

"So... Sophia has absolutely no interest in you, and you brought her here to make Y/N jealous?" Steve looks at his friend like he has three heads, and Bucky now realizes just how dumb this all looks.

"Well... yeah. This was a bad idea, wasn't it? I should just go take Sophia home-"

"No! You already got this far, and if you do that it might give Y/N the wrong idea. Just- just go with it for the rest of the night and see what happens." Steve says. "Now, let's get the snacks."

Bucky helps him, and they head back into the movie room. He notices your tense form against Natasha. Sophia's making conversation with Sam, and if you were in a cartoon, you're sure there would be steam coming out of your ears.

The movie goes by in a blur, and even though your eyes were glued to the screen, you feel like you didn't even watch the movie. You were too busy being hyperaware of the way Sophia held onto Bucky's arm like if was her lifeline, and quite frankly, you wanted to punch the living daylights out of the both of them.

Once the movie's finished and the lights turn on, you waste no time in heading to your room after a quick goodnight to everyone.

You're getting ready for bed with slams of closet doors and dresser drawers, absolutely enraged with everything. Why was this bothering you so much? But more importantly, how was Bucky so quick to move on? Like you were nothing to him? Like you were the dirt under his shoe?

And although you were too proud to say it, it stung like a motherfucker.

Before you could get ahead of yourself, a knock is coming from your door.

You're sure it's Natasha trying to make sure you're alright, but after months of acting unaffected, all you wanted to do was get under your covers and cry.

"Nat, I'm sorry but I'm really not in the mood-" But when you swung the door open, it was none other than your ex-boyfriend."What the hell are you doing here?"

Your tone was venomous, and all Bucky could see was the tiredness and rage behind your irises.

"I- Can I talk to you?" His voice is timid, like he's afraid to even ask for your time.

"About what? Don't you have someone to tend to?" You wonder out loud, and you can't help the way your heart twists at the thought of Bucky and Sophia. The way he had no problem holding her, touching her, loving her.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, Y/N."

It even hurt to think that.

"What do you want, Barnes?" You query in an indifferent tone.

"I-I waned to talk to you, alone." He responds, and his palms are sliding down his thighs to wipe off the sweat.

"Don't you have to take your date home?"

He was quiet for a moment, trying to gauge how to handle you right now. One wrong word or move, and he was out.

"Y/N, can I please just talk to you? One night we're sleeping in each others' beds, and the next we're strangers? How- how does that even make sense?" He's trying to make sense of the past few weeks and the events that led up to the demise of your relationship.

He knows, but he doesn't want to say it out loud.

"Well, I wonder who's fault that was?" You ask snarkily.

Apparently, you weren't afraid to say it.

"You were the one that did this. I get it. This was new for you, but at some point, enough was enough! I- I was basically dirt under your shoe, James! I- I couldn't fucking take it anymore! I just- you were so easy with Steve and Natasha. And then you would shake me off like I was some pest, some bug." You choked on your words, tears pricking behind your eyes. You turned away before Bucky could see them, not wanting to let him see you like this.

You've put on a tough front, because you didn't want anyone to think that you'd get so hung up over some boy, but it was hard to do so when you were giving your all into a relationship while you got the bare minimum back.

Bucky watches you from your doorway, and as you turn away, he takes this as a sign to come in and shut the door behind him.

"Y/N, please, let me talk. I-I just need to talk. To get it all out. I'm begging you, please." And beg he did. He was on the floor, quite literally on his knees. You couldn't even comprehend how not even an hour ago, he brought a new girl in.

And now he was on his knees before you. Begging.

"Get up."

Your voice cracked, but it was still strong. You weren't in the mood to have a man beg at your feet, and you felt it was quite pathetic that he was on his knees right now when he's the reason you two had ended up like this.

Whatever this was.

"O-Okay. Does that mean I can talk?" He asks tentatively, rising to his feet slowly.

"You have five minutes."

He was quiet at first, and you wondered if he even had anything to say. If he was just here to waste your time, to cause even more heartache-

"I- Can I just start off by saying, in the almost three months we were together, I never, ever, wanted to make you feel anything less than what you really are. You're kind, caring, beautiful, the smartest person I've ever met. But above all those things, you were patient with me. And that was never something I had before with someone else. No one was as patient and as attentive as you were, and I need you to know." He pauses, catching his breath from his rambling.

"Know what?" Your tone was venomous, trying to hold back the tears prickling behind your eyes.

"That I have dreamt of a girl like you for decades. You are everything-" he chokes on his words, eyes glossing over, "everything I've ever wanted, and more. And I can't tell you how sorry I am for the way I treated you. How I made you feel, and how I felt the need to hide us. I should've just been honest with everyone from the start, and it cost me everything in the end. So I'll spend the rest of my days making it up to you, in any way possible. Because you deserve it. You deserve so much better than someone who- who doesn't know how to love. How to hold your hand and not want to cry because he feels like he doesn't deserve it. You deserve the entire universe, Y/N."

Bucky finishes speaking, looking so deeply into your eyes that you can't help but let the facade crack.

Tears are leaking out of the corners of your eyes. You sniffle, trying to take a deep breath.

"Wh-what about... Sophia?" You struggle to ask through your emotions, trying to hold yourself back from flinging yourself into his arms.

"I- She's... not relevant. I met her at a bar the day we... ended things, and she said 'it was clear I was going through a heartbreak,' and that she wanted to help me get you back." Bucky laughs a bit at the whole situation now, and how fucking badly he had fucked up.

"But if you don't want to get back together, I understand. Just know, I still feel the same. But if you give me another chance, I promise you it'll be different. I promise to spend all my time making it up to you, and I don't want to hide anything about us. To anyone." He affirms, moving to hold your hands in his.

And surprisingly, you didn't pull away.

No matter how much your brain was screaming, yelling to pull away!

But you couldn't. You wanted to believe every word that came out of his mouth, and you didn't care if anyone thought you were being naive or stupid. You just wanted to hold him again, to call him James again, and to have him whisper sweet nothings in your ears.

And as all these thoughts were running through your head, you see Bucky slowly backing away, assuming your silence meant you were telling him to leave.

"I-Wait. Wait. We have a- a lot to talk about, but I'm not giving up on us yet. But I want a full explanation, top to bottom about everything. And- you have to promise me things will be different between us. We can't have things like they were before, and-"

And before you could continue your rambles, you were stopped by the feeling of his lips on yours.

You could feel his rough ones moulding against your soft, cherry-flavoured ones from your lip balm. His eyes were closed, and so were yours. Any thoughts you had were thrown out the window, and all you could focus on right now was him.

He was invading all your senses in the best way possible. In this moment, you realized he was being completely honest and truthful in what he'd said earlier. Of course, you wouldn't let him forget about all this so easily, but right now, all that mattered were his hands running all over your waist and neck.

"J-James," you breathed out, disconnecting from him.

His eyes search yours, wondering if this is where you give him the boot, and tell him to leave it at this.

But oh, was he wrong.

"Lock the door for me?"

His mouth is akin to that of a fish out of water, wondering to himself if his brain was conjuring this image in his head after weeks of not having you.

"A-Are you sure? If you don't want to we don't have to-" And now he's the one getting cut off with your lips.

It had been enough suffering for the both of you these past few weeks.

"James, I'm sure. Help a girl out?" You smile coyly, slowly walking backwards until you reach your bed and sit down. Your eyes stay on James' blue ones while he rushes to lock to door.

He's hovering over you, waiting to see if you'll make a move.

"Well, aren't you gonna fuck me?"

At those words, the man above you snaps out of his stupor, and lets out an animalistic growl, lunging at you and making both your bodies fall back onto the fluffy white duvet of your bed.

"Can I take this off of you?" James hands are pinching at the fabric of your t-shirt, and you fervently nod in response.

"Words, honey." He coaxes and receives a meek but clear 'yes' from you.

He wastes no time slipping it off your form, only breaking apart from you for air to do so.

Soon enough, your panting forms were both almost bare, left down to just underwear. James slowly moves to settle himself between your thighs, but your hand catches onto his wrist before he could move any further.

"You don't have to, James. I want you inside me already." Although you usually never complained about getting head, you were aching to feel him inside you.

"C'mon angel, I've missed how your sweet lil' pussy tastes." The words coming out of his mouth combined with the feeling of the small pecks he's placing against your inner thighs have you practically shaking.

Along with his scruff giving the sensitive skin a delicious burn, you couldn't bring yourself to say no to James.

He guides your soaked panties down your legs, placing your calves against his shoulders to hold them open.

"Mmm, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to have my mouth between these legs again, sugar. Missed ya so much." He mumbles to you, licking a broad stripe up your core.

A gasp leaves your mouth, and you scramble to find something to grab onto.

With one hand in his brunet locks, Bucky continues his ministrations. He alternates between using his tongue and sucking on your sensitive button, building up your climax.

James listens to your small gasps and whimpers, paying attention to what brought you the most pleasure.

"Oh!" You let out a whimper at the feeling of Bucky's fingers hitting your sweet spot inside you.

Before you knew it, the throbbing in your heat was spreading all through your body, causing your first earth-shattering orgasm of the night.

You're chanting James over and over again, like a prayer.

"That's it, sweetheart, give it all t'me." He coaxes you through your high, allowing for you to come down.

Your eyes are bleary and you barely sense James coming back up over you. His fingers are opening your mouth, allowing you to taste them.

"Taste yourself, honey. So sweet, missed havin' you." He leaves pecks on your forehead, nose, and cheek, before circling back to your mouth when he pulls his fingers back out.

When he pulls away again, his nose is brushing against yours. You still feel like you're floating, but you open your eyes slowly to be met with his bright cerulean ones.

"You have a condom?" James' voice is gravelly as he speaks against your lips.

"No, I'm clean and still on the pill. Wanna feel all of you." You whisper while your fingers roam through his locks.

"A-Are you sure?" He asks, trying to ignore the involuntary twitch of his cock at your words.

"I'm sure, James. I've never been more sure of doing anything with anyone." You say, letting your hand move down to his boxers.

Your hand dips into the waistband, grasping him with your palm.

"Wanna feel all of this." You barely speak, but he understands every word you say.

Before you know it, his underwear is off and thrown somewhere across the room.

James sits back, running his cock through your juices for lubrication, eliciting a sigh from the both of you.

"Fuck, I missed you so much, doll." He grits out while he pushes into you slowly. "Can't believe I was so stupid and almost lost ya for good."

"I-I'm right here, baby. You won't ever lose me." You reassure him, letting him fill you to the brim.

"God, can't get enough of this tight pussy, baby." James is thrusting at an even pace now, and you can feel every inch of him inside you.

You release moans of ecstacy and pleasure in his ear as he stays above you, and while you're only half-conscious of what you're doing, you grab his metal arm and bring it to your throat.

His eyes shoot open but his pace never falters, looking at you for silent reassurance.

The white-hot feeling in your core builds at the feeling, not wanting it to stop.

"You sure?"

"Yes, please." All he needed was your whimper to moan at the sight of his hand around your throat.

"H-Holy shit. I- Come with me baby, c'mon." His voice is strained, like it's paining him to speak.

"I'm- I'm coming James. Come with me, baby." You gasp out, feeling the stirring in your belly reach its' peak.

Soon enough, you're both coming undone, breathing into each others' mouths while working through your highs together.

You feel him spurting inside you, painting your walls white. His rocking slowly comes to a stop, allowing him to open his eyes and focus on you. Your thumbs are brushing over his cheekbones, soaking in him just being here, with you.

"C'mon, let me get you cleaned up, angel." James slowly pulls out of you, being careful to not hurt you.

You see the light flicker on in your bathroom and hear the sink running. He returns with a rag and brushes it gently between your legs, feeling you shiver at how sensitive you are.

"Sorry, honey." James' whisper comes from below, and you smile down with soft eyes.

You were completely besotted for this man.

Once the rag is thrown into your laundry hamper, Bucky retrieves his boxers and pulls them on.

For a moment, you feel a flash through your body, your heart seizing at the thought of him leaving now.

"A-Are you leaving?" You barely recognize your own voice, feeling pathetic for feeling so vulnerable.

Bucky just looks at you. He's dumbfounded at you right now. How could you think that after everything, especially after what had just happened, that he would leave you. How he could ever let you go again.

And again, the question is just another painful reminder of how much he's hurt you.

"No, sweetheart. Just wanted to grab a shirt for you to sleep in." He gives you a soft smile, quenching the ache of your heart.

Once he sits you up and slips the large shirt over your frame, he slips back into his spot next to you under the duvet. Your legs immediately tangle with his, head on his shoulder and arm thrown across his torso.

"Never gonna let you go again, honey." He tells you, placing a kiss to the crown of your head.

"Love you, James." You mumble in a half-asleep response into his chest, the words reverberating into his skin.

Bucky hopes you don't feel his heart racing, but replies with the same words that you hear before slipping into a deep slumber. And the last thing you hear before you slip under are the sweetest words to ever be spoken.

"I love you more, Y/N."

[yanderememes]

So I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole of watching Samba dancing and I got an au idea. So Giorno and darling were dance partners when he was Haruno. Then VA happened and he vanished off the face of the earth. Darling is really worried but he’s gone there’s no trace of him anywhere (1/?).

I'll leave this under the cut!

Darling keeps looking as she gets older and never forgets him. However, she does have a new dance partner and she and her partner even made the national championship. Aside from a missing childhood best friend her life is pretty much everything she wanted (2/?)

Darling begins to become paranoid, feeling that something is out to get anyone who she dances with. Once was a horrible fluke, twice can’t be anything other than some sort of malicious presence. She resolves herself to find whatever this thing that haunts her is— and to destroy it (4/?).

Now quite paranoid, Darling begins to delve deep into places she never dared look before. After several false starts she meets someone who offers to help her. She’s suspicious of the offer. This man, with his odd clothing and unnaturally golden hair, set off all of her alarms; yet… his eyes remind her so much of Haruno (5/?)

The man, who introduces himself as Giorno Giovanna, is the only person who has been willing to aid her, however much he sets her teeth on edge, is the only one willing to help Darling so she agrees. She’s not stupid though. If they’re meeting it’s in a public space with people around, and she’s come far enough, legality be damned, she’s carrying a taser (6/?).

With Giorno’s help, Darling begins to find leads. Someone was sloppy. She begins to warm up to him after a few months. He’s helpful, he can protect himself his knowledge of the underworld is useful, if disconcerting. Maybe with his help she really will break her curse (7/?).

Nothing lasts forever though. Darling thinks they’re finally about to catch the guy who did it. Little does she know that the true culprit has been by her side since the beginning. After a scuffle where she gets injured, Giorno brings her home. Finally this dance can end. (8/?).

When Darling comes too Giorno admits everything. She can’t leave him now, so there’s no point in hiding his status or the fact that he’s Haruno. The architect behind Darling’s partner getting injured. Her REAL partner. Darling obviously freaks out and is devastated by the betrayal and the fact that she fell for his conniving. He pulls her in for a dance. They’re together now, forever just like he had always dreamed And Giorno Giovanna always achieves his dreams(9/?).

Dancer Darling is super feisty. She’s going to spew vitriol at Giorno the entire time. There are a lot of escape attempts and more than a attacked guards. She can tell it cuts him deep. Darling is muddled though, by over a decade of emotional attachment to Giorno. She knows exactly how much she’s hurting him and she’s torn between twisting the knife or pulling him close and running her fingers through his hair until he stopes shaking, just like when they were kids (10/11).

Thank you for listening to my inane rambling. Sorry if this is way too long. It got much longer than I thought it would. I dunno, I guess I’m a sucker for childhood friend darlings, even if I have to make up ridiculous au’s for them (11/11).

***

Thanks for sharing this, anon! I love all yan!Giorno content and it's so hard to come by so I appreciate any writings for him lol

I like the idea of darling knowing Haruno before Giorno! It does give the story more of the 'red string of fate' vibes to it~ destined to be together after knowing each other for so long

Apart of me feels like Giorno rejects Haruno. To him, Haruno Shiobana is dead and what's left is only Giorno Giovanna. I think he rejects his old self because he sees Haruno as weak and holds a childhood past he wants to forget. The only good thing that came out from Haruno was being able to meet darling who accepted and loved him when his own parents wouldn't.

Darling opened the gates for him to become a better person, who is now Giorno Giovanna. Which is why they hold so much significance for him. He captures darling because he wants them to see the new and improved him. Not the weak and pathetic Haruno who was abused daily. But of course, darling will always prefer Haruno > Giorno, the sweet and innocent boy before the mafia tainted him.

No, Giorno is much better for darling. He's the strongest, is rich, has all the power in the world, and most importantly, can protect his darling.

[all-you-need-is-paul-mccartney]

This Boy (George Harrison x Female!Reader)

A/N: Hey y'all! welcome to my first oneshot! a lot of my stories are very plot-driven and they end up becoming these long chapter fics but I'm gonna see if I can make a handful of oneshots in the next little bit to kind of give yous something to read while waiting for the longer fics to finish up. this is my first one, and it's for Georgie!

Summary: It's date night, and you're more than ready to meet your mystery date; George, however, is not.

WARNINGS: Swearing is in almost all my fics, so this one isn't safe either probably, hints of suggestive behaviour, slow burn, friends to lovers, lack of self-editing probably, etc. *This fic is also LONG AF so I would advise y'all to start reading this when you have nothing else to do*

I'll rate this one as a T. Enjoy, folks!

George checked the clock on the wall again and sighed gently.

You were still getting ready.

As much as it disappointed him, George agreed-- well, more like offered-- to drive you to your blind date one of your girlfriends set you up on.

It's not that he wasn't excited or proud of you for getting yourself out there. He knew you'd been meaning to do that since graduating school.

He was just frustrated at the fact that whichever lucky man was going on a date with you that night wasn't him.

When he found out about the date, he immediately vocalized his distrust for the mystery person, despite knowing absolutely zero about him. You seemed heartbroken at that, and to make it up to you, he offered to drive you to the date.

So there he was, sitting on the sofa in the living area of your flat, waiting for you to finish getting ready.

George had taken you to school dances in the past, and while your mother let you wear makeup to them, it never took you this long to apply it.

You were definitely dressing to impress tonight.

"Lucky man," he just mumbled under his breath at the thought of that boy.

You and George had been friends since you were children, and he deemed you his Best Friend Forever only an hour into your first playtime.

You spent your days as children riding your bikes to the park to play, and helping each other with homework at each other's houses every night.

However, that sort of platonic "buddy-buddy" dynamic changed when the both of you hit puberty.

It wasn't until a boy at George's school questioned him if you were his girlfriend, that George realized he had a crush on you. Some of his friends had girl friends, and they were always teased about whether or not they were dating, but this was the first time anyone had put you and George together.

After this discovery, (which he would endlessly thank the young boy who opened his eyes to the truth in the first place) George began to notice lots of little things about you that he hadn't before.

You would run your fingers through the hair on the back of his head during hugs, you never took your eyes away from him when he was speaking; there hadn't been one time to name that you'd ever made him upset or angry, but more or less excited, and free, and joyous.

And not to mention, the way you called him "Georgie" made his heart pound so loud and hard in his chest that he might as well have just completed a marathon...

He was in love with everything only when you were around.

Actually, as awkward as George thinks it is, Paul helped him realize he was physically attracted to you.

The boys were on their way to George's after school, a few years after George realized he had a little crush on you, and the teenagers both caught sight of you watering the front garden of your home at the request of your mother.

George stopped in his tracks when he saw you, his mouth hanging open as he watched you do your thing. After being enrolled in his boy's school, you never had much time to see one another, as much as it hurt him; so he cherished every moment he could see you.

"If her ma catches you out the window starin' at her daughter's arse the way you're doin' right now Harrison, they'll rip your tongue right out."

George's face went bright red, and he turned to look at Paul in horror, slapping him on the arm for saying such a thing. "I wasn't staring at her like that!" But he couldn't help but steal a glance at your behind since it was now the topic of discussion, though he really didn't want it to be.

Paul knew George felt compelled to say something to you, and he smirked as George awkwardly raised his hand to wave as he called to you from the other side of the street.

"H-hey, Y/n!"

You turned around, and grinned at who you'd seen.

"Hey Georgie! Hi Paulie!" You twiddled your fingers at them, and George's stomach churned in jealousy at the fact you had a nickname for Paul, as well.

"Your garden looks beautiful, Ms. Y/l/n!"

Paul stole George's line. He fucking stole his line!

"A-and you look just as lovely as ever!" George added to one-up his friend.

You put a hand to your heart. "You boys make my heart sing." George took pride in your words despite them partially being for Paul as well.

"We need to see each other more, yeah?" George never expected his question to really get him anywhere, but he was wrong.

"Why not tonight? I don't have any homework and my parents are leaving town 'round five for the weekend to visit my auntie and uncle."

George's answer came quick, and effortlessly. "I'll be 'round for six. Sound good?"

"Perfect! I'll see you tonight then." You waved to the boys again, and then went back to watering the garden after bidding farewell.

The rest of the walk home was just Paul making fun of how lovestruck George was with you, and by the time they got to his house, just down the road from yours, Paul looked over at his buddy and smiled.

"No wonder you value your time with your darlin' over there so much, Magpie. Looks like she would definitely be a fine birdie in bed."

George looked over at Paul, eyes wide, and his voice broke. "... What?!" The thought of going to bed with you never crossed his mind-- well, until that moment.

"Hey, her folks'll be gone by the time you go over! You can make your move then! It's perfect!" Paul's words laced with excitement made George feel panicked, and the boy shook his head worriedly after a moment. "M-maybe it's not the best idea to go tonight..."

"Why not? All you ever wanna do is be alone with her!" Paul set a hand on the other boy's shoulder when he didn't answer. "What's up, George?"

"Paul, I've never even kissed her. She doesn't even know I like her like that! What if she likes someone else?! What do I even do?!" Paul was the biggest heartbreaker George knew. He'd had like... ten girlfriends since they met, and he kissed a whole three of them. They didn't last long, much like the fate of other young relationships, but George took Paul's advice as serious guidance; he needed to in a time like this.

"You just need to be calm. Take some deep breaths. You'll know what to do when the time comes. I know you will."

That night, George had many opportunities to dive in for a kiss, or mention his feelings for you; some of those opportunities he even believed you encouraged, but he didn't budge out of utter fear of rejection. George knew for a fact that Paul was going to facepalm when he asks him for details on the visit to your place.

Instead, the night only consisted of talking, and the only contact you made were a couple of hugs and a kiss on the cheek (which left George a stumbling mess again), though you did agree to spend more time together, which is how your friendship lasted so long.

He was so close to having you, and because he was too scared to make the move Paul (and maybe you) were encouraging him to make so long ago, you slipped through his fingers; and since, the thought of not being able to have you that way never left his mind.

Especially not when you were now a gorgeous young lady, blindly torturing poor George, who beat himself up every day because he lost his chance.

You were like a piece of artwork to George. You could be loved, admired, and looked at by him, but he could never hold you or touch you.

And George hated that.

George wanted you to be his girl.

And you were his girl-- well, in a twisted way. You were always with him, smiling and laughing about nothing and everything, holding onto each other in your darkest nights and guiding one another through personal struggles...

But when other boys started to want you too, George wanted to make it a point to keep the majority of them away.

Some didn't heed George's threats and went on to pursue you anyways, only to be turned down on your front steps by yourself. George never understood why you never reciprocated anybody's feelings, but it's not like he was verbally complaining.

And that's what lead up to tonight. George had wanted you for so long, and the sudden knowledge of a blind date had him in shock, especially since this was your very first time giving in and agreeing to go.

It killed him to know some rando was going to appear out of thin air to whisk you away, whisper sweet nothings in your ear and eventually put his hands on you, thinking his love for you is stronger than any other despite knowing absolutely nothing about how you should be loved, and treated...

But George hid his fury from you because you were excited about this date.

And he would do anything for you.

George's rage-inducing, mind-racing thoughts were interrupted by the sound of your bedroom door clicking shut from behind him. He turned his head, heart in his throat, and you stepped into the room.

You wore a lovely high-waisted navy dress, and a pair of black flats. Your hair was half down, the rest coming together at the back of your head by a matching clip-on bow.

As expected, your makeup was quite noticeable. The burgundy colour of your lips and dark brown eyeshadow had George's head spinning, and he couldn't resist ogling at the way that dress fit you so well...

"So… How do I look? Like, if we were about to go on a date..."

A date? Us? We?!

George's palms began to sweat, and his heart did somersaults. If only.

It was only then that he realized his mouth was hanging slightly ajar, and after snapping it shut, he swallowed in embarrassment, not daring to look anywhere but your eyes again in fear of falling victim to your appearance again.

Imagine not being able to trust your eyes?

"... What would you think?"

George squeaked, his lips moving hesitantly though he didn't make a sound. His face was surely an embarrassing shade of red, and the longer he waited into answer, the more anticipated you looked for a response.

George rose to his feet and approached you, bravely deciding to give you another good onceover after a deep breath, though he kind of lost all sense of feeling in his legs when you smiled at him with that perfect mouth of yours...

"Wow." George sighed, eyelids falling heavy over his brown irises as he admired you.

"I just... you... wow, Y/n." He couldn't come up with a coherent sentence with the way you were staring at him like that.

God, he was absolutely smitten with you.

Your eyes shone joyously as you placed your hand on your heart, and George, as impossible to him as it seemed, fell so much more in love with you than he was just moments before. Your presence rendered him speechless, and the thought inflated your ego a lot more than you would have expected it to.

George remained silent, but his gaze was still glued to you. He'd looked at you for long enough in his life to probably draw you perfectly by memory, but he still took his time to drink in what he was given; because who knew if he'd ever be able to see more of you than this?

"I... I'm-- I'm speechless, is what I am." He cleared his throat after a moment and said, "I... honestly hope my eyes are doing all the talking for me."

"Aw, you're just a sweetiepie, aren't you?"

You beamed at George, blushing as you took another step toward him. "Well Georgie... if you keep looking at me and sweet-talking the way you are..." your warm words were carefully chosen, and it was obvious that George was hanging into every single word you were saying.

"I may just have to pass on this date and spend tonight with you." Your eyelids fell heavy over your eyes, and you offered George a smile that was suggesting something maybe not so innocent.

"Wh-what?!"

"... I said I'm ready to go." You raised your eyebrow in a little confusion at George's flustered state.

Oh my fucking God she didn't even say that?!

Idiot.

Idiot, idiot, idiot.

"... R-right, yes, of course." George shook his head as if to rid his brain of the idea of tricking him like that again. He offered his arm out to you, and you linked yours with his before walking to the door together.

You passed a mirror on the way out, and George caught a glimpse of the both of your reflections, and his chest felt like it was on fire.

He looked so happy to be with you in that moment.

And you looked so happy to be leaving to spend time with another man.

George just hoped at least the reflection of him and you were going on this date together, and both of those smiles were meant for each other.

George pulled up to whatever restaurant this guy wanted to meet you at, which was on the other side of town. George did not approve of this and even reminded you of this on the way there, though you insisted you'd be fine, like you had the couple of times he mentioned this before.

You looked at him after he threw his car into park, and he gave you a little smile after a moment, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"You do look beautiful, Y/n. This guy... he's very lucky."

"I... I don't know what to say."

"Say you believe me."

You didn't say anything. Instead, you smiled sadly, and leaned in to kiss George's cheek. His skin darkened to pink beneath your lips before you could pull away and leave the car with another goodbye, though his ears were ringing and he missed your final farewell.

She doesn't believe me...

George waited until he saw you were seated in the restaurant to put his car back into drive, but something kept him from lifting his foot off the brake. He watched you adjust your silverware at your table, and clasp your hands together in wait.

... Maybe George wanted to wait for this guy to show up.

But would he really want to kill himself by spying on you and watching you fall for someone who wasn't him over the course of one night?

That was the question that made him decide to look back, and pull out of his parking space before he could spot anyone even go near the building. He was in drive and speeding home moments later.

The car ride back to his flat was a quiet one. George kept the radio off, and his fingers drummed against the steering wheel the whole time as if he were almost impatient to get home and do nothing.

Every time he looked in the rear view mirror and saw his eyes stare back at him, it just reminded him that his reflection left that restaurant alone and just as disappointed as his real counterpart.

It wasn't long before George pulled into his building's parking space and sulked out of his car, slamming the door shut. His eyes and nose were burning from the assault of unfallen tears.

He dropped you off to meet this guy. This was all on him this time.

George loved you. He loved you with all his heart, enough to swallow his pride-- sacrifice his happiness for your own.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, dropping you off that night felt like he was letting you go.

And was he?

He pretty much stumbled through the door because his fucks to give for himself were pretty much nonexistent at this point. He kicked his shoes off, not caring if he scuffed up the wall with black marks.

He just wanted to have a long hot shower, crawl into bed, and hide from everyone.

And that's just what he did.

His shower was well over an hour long, and that's where he broke down and cried for the majority of the time. He cried about you, and the situation his own decisions put himself in. He cried in jealousy for the threat sweeping you off your feet right now, and he cried as if that was the last night he'd ever see you again.

When he got out of the shower, well after the stream went cold, he had no more tears to shed. He was dehydrated, and he felt broken. He did a half-assed job of drying himself off before leaving the bathroom and collapsing into bed, only a towel secured around his hips.

His face was pressed into his pillow, and he tucked his arms beneath it and submerged himself even further into the soft fabric.

He recently switched detergent to whichever one you regularly used, and he just took in the familiar scent; anything to make him feel more at home without you actually being present...

George had no idea how long he was in that position for, but he fell asleep like that, only to wake to the sound of the phone ringing.

He got up and stumbled out of his room to ease the obnoxiously loud phone by picking up the call, shouting, and hanging up on whoever decided to phone at this hour-- whichever hour it was.

"Yeah," George rasped through the receiver, his tone laced with underlying irritation. He just wanted to be left alone in his sadness.

"George..."

"... Y/n?" He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the palm of his hand before you spoke, but your voice made him freeze.

"Oh Georgie..." your voice was breaking over the phone, and he could tell it wasn't the connection.

"Y/n, my Love, what's the matter?!"

"George he... He didn't show." George's heart stopped.

He didn't show.

George's grip closed tighter and tighter on the phone receiver, and he could feel the pure rage bubbling in his chest, and the plastic receiver crackling from the force under his fingers.

"Where are you?" He demanded. "I'm coming right now to get you," George was about to start throwing his shoes on, despite wearing absolutely nothing to start off with, his towel discarded and still on the bed from when he passed out.

"The same place you dropped me off."

God dammit, this fucking guy had you go to the other side of town just to be forgotten about.

It was finally settled: if George ever found out who this guy was, he'd kill him for doing this to you.

"Don't move. Be there in five." As soon as George hung up the phone, he took off to his room. He was ready in record time: under a minute. Up until the day he died, George wouldn't have been able to dress as quick as he did that night, and he never knew how he did it.

What really mattered was that George got to the other side of town in about five minutes, as he said over the phone.

George whipped into the parking lot and got out of the car. He hurried over to the front of the building to go in and search for you, but he caught a glimpse of you sitting at the curb as he grabbed the door handle.

His grip eased on the lockset, and he slowly turned to you. You were facing away from him, arms folded as you tried to shield yourself from the cool evening wind. You had no clue he was even behind you.

George sighed gently, shedding his jacket off and placing it on your shoulders without another word. He could see your whole body relax from the weighted piece of clothing, and he wondered if his scent was comforting for you too, as it was vice versa.

George heard you breathe out, but you sniffled afterwards. It broke his heart to see you like this. George looked around to see if anyone was watching, because if there was a chance this guy was cackling away in a parked car at the sight of you in tears, George would have had no problem kicking his headlights in and slashing his tires.

He dropped to the curb and sat down right next to you, not hesitating to circle his arm around your body.

At his touch, you curled yourself into a ball, and George scooped you up to squeeze you tight. And against his chest, when you knew you were safe from all harm, you gently sobbed.

George let you cry it all out, and the tighter you held onto him, the tighter he held onto you.

"Am I just unlovable George...? Is that it?" Your words were quiet and muffled, but George heard every syllable you mustered.

He pulled away from your embrace to look you in the eyes, and his grip on your arms were firm, but not tight. "Now Y/n, you do not for one second even think you're unlovable. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." His eyebrows were lowered in anger at the very idea of you feeling unloved.

Tears began to well up in your eyes, and George's expression softened. He reached his hand up to your face, and he could feel you shaking. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow again.

George wished then more than ever that he was the one who was supposed to see you. He would have shown up.

"Y/n, you deserve so much better than this. If you were mine, I’d make sure sitting alone on the curb, stood up, would be the last place you'd ever find yourself, especially when you were so excited to go out..."

George didn't know where his little spurt of confidence came from, but he was more focused on the words he was choosing to use with you, and what he was all going to say.

"... If I were yours...?" You sniffled again, cheeks and the tip of your nose turning pink and George paused at the sudden realization.

You still had a chance to be his.

And all because that boy didn't show up, he still had time to figure out how he could pull it all off; but it had to be tonight.

He took a deep breath.

"I mean, anyone would be lucky to date you. I just... I sometimes wonder why you were never mine. Why you're not mine..." his voice lowered throughout the sentence, and the end of his confession was barely above a whisper.

You watched George for a moment, lips parted, as if you couldn't believe your ears, and the young man panicked a little, deciding to disregard his last words before it suddenly became the topic of discussion.

"Oh, my Love," George's eyes suddenly saddened as he reached out to wipe away your fresh tears and smeared makeup with his thumb. Your bottom lip trembled at the contact, and he sighed.

"Just because he didn't show up doesn't mean your evening has gone to waste." He stood up and turned to look down at you.

"The night is still young." He then held his hand out in front of you, and you looked at it for a moment as if you didn't know what he wanted from you.

"Y/n... give me one night. Let me show you how a man should always treat you."

He wasn't quite sure if he just unintentionally asked you on a real life date, or if you thought of all this as an act, but even if you didn't reciprocate his feelings, it gave George the chance of a lifetime to at least pretend you were his, even if this opportunity only lasted one night.

"Please."

You didn't move at first, but George was patient. You eventually slowly reached your hand out, and George helped you up, not making the effort to let go of you afterwards.

George looked up at the restaurant, and did a double take. "... You... you don't even like fancy places like this, am I wrong?"  All you could think about when looking at him was that he knew you so well.

"A place like this on a first date is a clear sign he'd leave halfway through and I'd be stuck with the bill." George smiled a little, and so did you.

You wiped your final stray tear from your cheek and George gave your other hand a squeeze. "... I'd rather get a burger and go for a walk, to be honest."

"Then that's what we'll do," George confirmed with a nod. It was settled, then.

George and you strolled to the car, still hand-in-hand, and he courteously opened your door to help you in. He ran over to the other side afterwards and climbed in behind the wheel before pulling out and taking off to find somewhere for you both to eat.

You both came across this quiet burger place downtown, and the both of you were able to get a booth in the back for privacy so you could both scarf down your meals in peace.

George ordered the same food you did, and you both settled on sharing a milkshake together (a single milkshake eventually became two).

"God," you looked around the nearly empty joint before turning your gaze back to George. "Do you know how much more comfortable I feel in here?"

"Even when you're dressed like you belong in a dress shop window?" George smiled around his straw and you matched his grin. "Shut up. At least my hair is brushed out."

The poor guy had no clue until now that he forgot to comb his hair out after his depression shower, embarrassingly clawing his fingers through his locks to at least tidy up the mess on his head.

You just laughed out that you were teasing him, and the joyous hiccups from your laughter had George briefly forgetting everything negative that had happened so far that night.

After settling down a little, your food was brought out and you both started eating.

There wasn't much for the both of you to talk about other than the part of your day when you weren't together, and it wasn't like George wanted to mention what happened to him in the last two hours or make you upset by talking about your night.

Instead you both settled on joking about old times. Before the both of you knew it, George had you giggling and smiling once again before your dessert even came, and when the waitress came around to your table with your two-person cookie skillet, you grinned even wider.

You thanked the waitress before she went on her way, and you looked up across the treat to George, whom you were half expecting to be drooling over the cookie. Instead, he was in a dream-like trance, soft gaze fixed on you, and only you. You weren't too sure if he even knew the skillet was in front of him, he was so distracted.

"George...?" You called to him gently as to not frighten him when coming back down to reality. His response was almost immediate, like he could hear you.

And maybe he did.

"... I'm sorry, I don't know how many times I've tried to say this already tonight but have chickened out, but you look just..." George was examining every inch of you that he could see and you blushed, casting your eyes down to the table.

"Angel, look at me." George reached over the table and rested his hand over yours. You lifted your head to look him in the eye, and he hesitated for a moment. Your full attention flustered him, then again it always did, but he took a deep breath.

"You look heavenly, Y/n."

You said nothing. This time, he had you speechless, but nothing wasn't the response he was looking for.

"Dontcha believe me...?" His question echoed through your brain, and you blinked. George scanned your eyes after giving your hand a squeeze. He knew you had something to say, and he was at the edge of his seat in anticipation for your words.

"... Do you really think so?"

"Are you kidding me?! Y/n, I... when you came out of your room tonight I just... looking at you right now, I'm at a loss for words. Heavenly doesn't even scratch the surface. No word exists that perfectly describes how you look to me. Now, or ever."

There was yet another spurt of confidence that washed over George. He had a feeling his words and actions were getting the both of you somewhere, especially when his final sentence had you blushing the way you were.

At least he knew he was doing something right.

George's grip on your hand tightened a little, and he flipped your hands over so your palm was face-up in his. He brought your hand closer to him, and he kissed your fingertips before leaving a final one at the centre of your palm. His eyes never left your red face as he did this, and he grinned against your hand when you offered him a shy smile.

Oh... she IS actually liking this.

When he pulled away, George looked down at the still-untouched dessert, and he smiled, releasing another nervous breath he was holding as he finally let go of your hand. "Let's finish up so we can go on our walk. Sound good, my Love?"

You only nodded before digging in with him, every nudge of his hand against yours reducing you to a blushing mess, and George, who was gaining more confidence as every second passed, would just smile to himself knowing he was successfully turning the tables on you.

But it wasn't yet the time to give in and confess, as much as George wanted to. He still had a nice long walk to woo you on, and then he had to do the important step of walking you to your apartment door at the end of the night, and God knows that was the part he was dying to get to.

You finished your dessert not long after and George payed the bill. After helping you out of the booth, you'd left hand-in-hand again.

The both of you stepped out into the cool night and you looked up at George. "Are you cold? Did you want your jacket back?"

You were holding it in your other hand since you'd taken it off at dinner, and you shoved it in his direction without another word.

He laughed and took the jacket from you, unfolding it and pulling it back around your shoulders before rubbing his hands up and down your arms to keep you warm.

"You'll catch a cold without it. Besides, you look better in it anyways." He leaned in and kissed your cheek, smiling proudly to himself when he pulled away and continued to lead you to the car, deciding it'd be smoother to not turn around and gauge for a reaction from you.

Like before, George courteously opened the car door for you, and closed it when you were in. Their destination was his place. It wasn't for the reason one would think, but the idea of driving you to his home and inviting you in with every intention of walking right past the kettle made George's legs restless.

In reality there was a park down the road from his flat that cut pretty much directly to your own humble abode. You'd walked the trail hundreds of times together to look at the pretty flowers growing in the garden, but something told George that this time, like everything else happening that day, was going to be very different.

When you pulled up to his building he raced you to get to your door for the second time of the night; the first being at the burger place when you first arrived. He took your hand and helped you out of the car, and he didn't let go, even after locking the doors to his car and leading you both down the road.

There was a silence that fell between the both of you. It wasn't bad. You took this time to think about your night, as did George. With every step down the road and into the park you took, the smile on your face only grew wider. As for George, he began to sweat with every step he took.

Every foot forward led him closer and closer to your door, where he was going to finally let everything off his chest and confess to you. The problem was that George's confidence was quickly draining, and this was something he needed to do.

He eventually let go of your hand to wipe his palms off on his pant leg, and at the immediate loss of contact, you were turning to him with a confused look on your face.

"Sorry uh..." he breathed out slowly, cheeks dusted pink. "I-I don't know why, but I'm kinda nervous."

Your look of confusion faded into an unreadable one. "Was it holding my hand?"

George shook his head. "No no, not that, I want to hold your hand."

"So what's the problem?"

He just shook his head again. "Maybe it's just... the stress of making sure tonight is perfect for you."

"What?!" Your reaction was sudden, and George's eyebrows were raised high up on his forehead at your exclamation.

"George, tonight has already been perfect for me! I had a great meal, I'm on a lovely walk with you..." you reached out to take his hand again, and he lifted his gaze from his shoes to look you in the eye. You smiled up at him from under the streetlight, and George smiled back a little.

"Georgie, I would never have asked for a better night." You squeezed his fingers with yours and tugged him forward gently. "C'mon, Magpie. Let's get home. It'll be cooling down soon, and I don't want you walking outside much longer than needed tonight."

George followed behind, but you still took your time coming home since the both of you got caught up in another conversation. This time, it was about the flowers you were passing in the park.

"... I used to water those for you, y'know." He pointed to a cluster of marigolds. To think that was ten years earlier and they still stayed put, growing outwards and stronger than ever.

"I used to check on them every day to make sure they weren't dying. You told me one time you really liked those flowers and I just..." he smiled a little at the memory. "I just couldn't get enough of your smile every time you saw them."

You turned to look up at him. You had absolutely no clue he did that for you. It made you love the flowers even more, and your heart jumped a little when you realized that the marigolds were the very reason George insisted you both took the trail all the tine.

"I'll still come across them when passing flower shops. I always think of you when I see them."

"Wow. George, I... I never knew you paid that much attention to me."

"Why wouldn't I? You're my best friend."

And George didn't say anything after that, especially when you didn't respond to his last comment, which he didn't even mean to say.

By the time George could think up a sentence to save himself from friend-zoning the both of you right then and there, he felt like he'd left it for too long.

His heart was sinking, and he tried to shake off the comment best he could, and walked you the rest of the way home.

His stomach was in a knot as he looked up at your apartment building. The front door to the lobby looked intimidating, and his palms began to sweat again. You slipped your hand out of George's, and it distracted him from his racing thoughts.

"You think I'm gonna just leave you here?" His question was sudden, and you blinked once.

"I'm sorry?" You looked from George, to the apartment door which was ten feet away from the both of you. "But George, I'm home?"

"I have to walk you to your door." You laughed at his response, head thrown back as you sighed. "You mean to tell me you, George Harrison, are gonna walk up five flights of stairs in the next two minutes just to make sure you can hear me lock my door and know I'm safe?"

"Would it be a real date if I didn't?"

There was another beat of silence as George watched your eyes shift from left to right in thought. You pursed your lips a little, and then looked him in the eye.

"... Suppose it wouldn't be then, no."

"Then may I walk you to your door, Y/n?"

You finally answered him with a simple nod of your head, and George reached out to take your hand again. He wordlessly led you to the door which he opened for you, and then brought you to the flight of stairs. Nowhere else to go but up.

In about two minutes, you and George got to the fifth floor. As soon as he entered the hall, it felt like the walls were slowly closing together as you both took quiet, careful steps towards the end of the way.

The entire time, your hands were glued together, and no one let go, even when you were both finally stopped, and standing in front of your door.

"I'm sorry about tonight, Y/n. I know you were saying earlier tonight turned out perfect and everything but..." George's brain was still on that platonic comment he made on the walk.

"George, there is no one I would have rather spent tonight with than you. No one."

George squeezed your hand, and then sighed. "I just wish tonight happened under different circumstances."

"Different circumstances?" You repeated a little confused, and the boy in front of you pursed his lips and nodded his head.

Deep breaths. Here it goes.

"Y/n, ever since I found out about this date, my blood has just been boiling with jealousy for that boy. Hell, I still don't even know his name and I could tell you he isn't good for you."

You looked taken aback. Jealousy was definitely not where you thought he was going with all of this.

"I fell in love with you, Y/n. Years ago. And because I feared rejection, I didn't want to take my chances and say anything. But the truth of the matter is that I'd be the happiest person alive just to be able to love you openly. I can't stand to see you cry the way he made you tonight."

Again, you stood there, no words coming to mind to respond with. Your silence didn't make George stop.

"To think for years my feelings for you haven't gone away. I've always thought you felt the same, yet you were never mine." George paused. "When can this boy get you back again, Y/n?"

There was a long silence, his eyes searching yours for your answer, and you were staring up at him like a deer in headlights.

"I-- if I'd known-- I never thought-- George, I had no clue." He could see the lost look on your face, and it made his heart ache, especially when your lip began to tremble and your eyes started filling to the brim with tears.

"Why do you think I turned down every guy who's tried to get with me? I just... I never thought you'd love me back, Georgie." His emotions sank into a deep dark guilt. All this time, and you felt the same way about him...

And then he blinked.

You feel the same way about him!

George reached out to you, his hand cupping the side of your face and stroking your cheek with his thumb. Your tears began to fall, and he pulled you into his chest tightly for a moment. "My Love," he mumbled, pulling away just far enough for him to see your face again.

"Oh, even when you're crying, you are the most beautiful thing I've ever set eyes on..." There was a beat of nothing; just the sound of shallow breaths shared between the both of you before George began to inch in slowly towards you.

"... George, what are you doing...?" Your question was gentle, and you didn't stop him from coming any closer. You didn't want to stop him.

"Something I should've done a long time ago."

His attention fixated to your mouth once before your lips finally clashed together.

For over a decade, George had waited for the moment he tasted your lips; and now that it was here, he was almost scared he wouldn't know what to do.

The both of you were holding your breath since you both felt a little unsure at first, but it was a given, he was kissing his childhood best friend, and you were, too. You kissed back a little, and George exhaled lightly through his nose, a little relieved knowing you were getting a little more comfortable with the situation.

George's hands fell to your waist, fingers curling around your body as he eventually pulled you even closer. You parted your lips a little, and he bit down on your bottom lip, pulling away after hearing you gasp.

"Oh! Did I hurt you? I'm--" George could barely rush an apology out before you pulled him down to kiss him again, and pushing him backwards until his back was flat against your door. He watched as you closed the space between you again, and your lips were on his again.

His heart was pounding, ears ringing loudly as you slipped your tongue into his mouth, and all the boy could remember thinking about was how blissful it all was in that moment. George threw his arms around you and started pushing back just a little.

You pulled away from him to gasp in a breath, George's hands grabbing your arms and pinning you against your door so he could put you in the place he was moments before; to give you the moment to experience just a fraction of all the love he would be able to eventually give to you.

His lips briefly found the crook of your neck and you moaned quietly as George sucked at your skin a little, which only resulted in him pulling away just to lean back in to kiss your lips and swallow your pleasant hums.

You eventually pulled away to face him again, lips swelled and pink, and breaths quick. You never thought you'd have so much trouble breathing while kissing someone.

Then again, it's not everyday that the man you're kissing is George Harrison.

"I know it's rare to ask this on a first date but..." George leaned down to attach his lips to the column of your throat, and he hummed against your skin when you moaned gently, delaying your question for a moment.

"... Did you maybe wanna, I don't know, come in, stick around for some tea?"

"Is that even a question?" George asked lowly against your neck, and you smiled. You reached into your purse to retrieve your apartment keys, which you blindly stuck into the keyhole since George was back to kissing you again, and the both of you stumbled through the door as soon as you got it open.

You and George kicked your shoes off after shutting the door, and you pushed him up against the wall in the front corridor to kiss him once again.

Ten years was way too long for the both of you to be deprived of one another any further, and George gladly let you migrate your lips to his neck after a moment, tilting his head back for you to make things a little easier.

With your head buried into his neck and your arms circled around one another, George lazily opened this eyes to watch himself in that same mirror across the hall he looked into a few hours prior.

All the boy could do was smile to himself, breathing heavily as he watched your reflection switch to the other side of his neck after leaving a mark on the right side of his throat.

Not only was his reflection successful in this date tonight, but George himself pulled off the biggest risk he could imagine and it paid off.

He finally got the girl of his dreams.

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

A/A/N: honestly, this fic lives rent free in my head and it has been since I wrote it, so I gotta show it off to y'all. Again, I know it was long, but I really hope you enjoy it <3

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[becomingbts]

Time heals (sometimes) - 1

Summary: 6 years ago, (Y/N) thought that she was finally taking her life into her hands, leaving behind a toxic and abusive relationship with a man who taught her she’d never be worthy of love. However, it became hard to ignore his words when she met her seven soulmates who rejected her without even giving her a chance to prove herself. It took (Y/N) 3 years to realize that it wouldn’t be her end. She would live on to prove them all wrong; she would become what they all thought she wasn’t: someone worthy of love. And as she stands proudly on the stage, under the  burning spotlights and the applause and  the cries of the delirious crowd, she feels alive. Alive, just like the bond she believed to be broken.

Pairings: Y/N x OT7

GENRE: Soulmate AU!, Idol Y/NAU!, semi social-media AU!, ANGST (mainly), fluff, romance, maybe smut in the series.

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Warnings:  The series is going to be heavy with a lot of personal experiences  mixed into the fiction, so this is going to be kind of therapeutic for me. Please, consider not reading the series if you are not comfortable with: abandonment issues, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, self-harm (not descriptive and only part of MC’s past), suicide thoughts (in the past), toxic behavior, toxic and abusive relationship (in the past), depreciating self-talk and low self-esteem, a lot of curse, physical and mental pain, near death experience situation (in the past), and maybe smut scenes (happy ending though, but it will probably be quite the ride).

NOTE: So hello everyone, welcome to Time Heals (sometimes). Thank you so, so much for the warm welcoming, it has been my first time getting so many asks, I was honestly overjoyed. I still don’t really know what to call this part; is it a teaser? A note? A full chapter? I believe we’ll get some snapshot of memories like this one throughout the series because there is going to be a lot to unpack on both sides. I think it will be a chapter nevertheless because I have to establish some kind of order as to which parts should be read first, and I think this one is extremely important.

Thank you for reading,

-Dolly

Profiles #2 - here - part 2

Her scream pierced through the air while cries broke in the frenzied arena while a single blond-haired man froze, emptily staring at the stage. It felt like his senses heightened; his skin was shuddering, his eyes were frantically searching for one specific figure while his voice was lost in his throat. The screams resonating in the stadium would have been too loud for his voice to be heard anyway. 

Jimin knew he shouldn’t be there. 

Namjoon had told them more than once that none of them should try to go to one of (Y/N)’s events. It could be dangerous and they could be overwhelmed; anything could happen to them and they would still remain a nobody who fainted in the howling crowd. Would they want to take this risk? No.

So, Jimin would have had to admit that going to her very first concert in Seoul since the pandemic sounded like a very, very, very bad idea. And to be honest, it still didn’t seem to be a bright idea now that he was actually there. 

But he still went because he needed to see her for himself; to see how she was. He had so many things he dreamed about asking her. Are you okay? Are you sleeping well? Did you eat before coming to the arena? Are you nervous? Do you... remember me? 

Maybe he was torturing himself. He kept on watching her lives, following her on all social media, always made sure to leave a sweet comment, and never miss any of her new updates... Maybe he even had a folder of pictures of her on his phone but he’d never admit it to any of his mates. Taehyung would probably take his phone away from him and delete everything and Jimin couldn’t let that happen.

He felt like it was cheating. Don’t take him wrong though. When he thought that, he was not really thinking about the boys. They did collectively agree not to follow her activities as an artist but it was getting harder and harder with how popular she got anyway. Moon was everywhere. In commercials, on the radio, her songs were on the TV… Even if she was known for refusing most of the promotional contracts that were offered to her, her image was still constantly in the media despite her avoidance of it. Ironic, but the media were trying their best to find anything about her, be it positive or negative. One day she was seen on her bike, the next, she was in a coffee shop, and it kept on going on, overstepping on her privacy as if it was just a meaningless word. 

The lockdown had admittedly played a major part in Jimin’s obsession. Being in their apartment meant quickly running out of activities, and his job as a dance teacher was not really filling his free time (a lot of his classes were also canceled). It was also during that time that (Y/N) truly blew up as an independent artist. Advertisement on YouTube started being around her channel and her music, the recommendations he kept on seeing were about also her… Jimin’s resolve honestly broke easily. It was hard not to be curious about his lost soulmate even though he didn’t feel like he had the right to be hurting. 

Anyway, to come back to his main point, if Jimin felt like he was cheating; it was mostly for her. After all, (Y/N) had no means of letting the curiosity get the best of her, to know what they were doing; to simply see or contact them. He had, at first, not really thought about that. Watching her content seemed a very innocent thing to do in his opinion; billions of people were watching her content, why should he prevent himself from doing so? Yet, Jimin could still remember one of her live she did soon after that interview she had given on this damned radio show where she had revealed who her title track ‘TIME’ was about… She had gone live the next day-Jimin had jumped on his phone because of the notification-and one fan had asked her what would she do if she knew that her ‘ex-soulmates’ (and those words left a very sour taste in Jimin’s mind) were watching her. The question had silenced a previously restless Jimin, replacing his initial excitation with dread while a lump formed itself in his throat. He had not even noticed it; he was so focused on her live and her upcoming answer that Jimin had completely missed the sound of a glass breaking in the apartment. Jimin had been home alone, so even if had indeed heard it, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to check what had happened, thinking that the wind knocked it over or something. Jimin had been so absorbed by what he had been watching that he even got surprised a few hours later when Seokjin came home and yelled at him for breaking something when he had been clearly innocent, engrossed in (Y/N)’s live (not that he could tell his soulmates about that part, but yeah). (Y/N)’s live would always be more important than some random glass breaking again in their apartment. Every object was doomed with Namjoon living here anyway.

On her side of the screen though, (Y/N) had seemed taken aback as she had read the question and had gritted her teeth gently. She had seemed to be pondering about her answer even though a lot of people in her chat were telling her to forget about the question if it made her uncomfortable (a lot were even scolding the person who asked). Yet, sighing softly, she had looked up at the screen: 

“I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from asking questions on this topic. It’s not taboo but I’d rather not remember everything that comes with it. However, to answer this-hopefully-last question about it, I’d ask them to turn off my stream and to stop watching any of my content. It would only be fair after all. I’ve been denied access to their lives six years ago, why would they get a free pass into mine now?” She had not smiled nor had she seemed hurt by her own comment, yet Jimin’s heart had shattered in pieces, unable to press the cancel button. 

Her voice had slowly faded into background noise while her words had been stuck in his head. 

I’d ask them to turn off my stream and to stop watching any of my content. 

How could Jimin ever do that? He realized that he truly should. Namjoon would even agree with you, as ironic as it sounded for Jimin. Namjoon had been one of the most adamant ones about rejecting your bond, after all. Jimin was shaking with bitterness while ‘Moon’ continued her stream peacefully with music. Jimin could only try to gulp his anger down as he remembered her crumbling features on that fateful day. 

“You’re not our soulmates. This name on our arms means nothing to us. You are nothing to us if not a hindrance. Leave us alone.” 

If Jimin could go back in time, he’d prevent Taehyung from spatting those words at her. Yet, he couldn’t do anything. Playing the scene over and over in his mind wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t change that she probably hated them. It wouldn’t change the song she made about them. 

And worst of all, it wouldn’t change the fact that Jimin had let himself believe that their choice had been for the best, trying to console and reassure himself, even if he had already known that it was wrong. Tears were pooling up in his eyes even if none escaped as he finally caught a glimpse of her on the stage. Suddenly brought back to reality after his subconscious memory trip, Jimin finally connected back to the world, looking around while he was still frozen on his spot. People were still screaming around him and he wondered if he looked like an intruder. Because, after all, wasn’t that what he exactly was? She said it herself that she didn’t wish for them to watch her; so what was he doing here? 

Jimin couldn’t help but stare; she looked ethereal, dressed like a queen in the middle of a sold-out arena. People were screaming her name as she yelled her infamous ‘hi people’. It was an opening sentence that Jimin heard way too many times in her vlogs and suddenly hearing it in real life seemed surreal. 

Jimin could only watch in awe, entranced with her everything. 

Screw the boys and what they would think once he’d be back from her concert. 

He had been the one to find her six years ago anyway. He had been the one to bring her to their home six years ago, hoping for the boys to change their mind once they’d meet her.

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Uploaded : 09/04/2021

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[guzhuangheaven]

Guzhuang Appreciation Month: badass dialogues

(but in the novel)

legend of ruyi :: ep 5 // ep 78

This drama is so amazing, demonstrated by these two scenes. Here you have Ruyi and Hongli watching the same play at two different stages in their lives. In episode 5, they are still clearly in love and are happy watching the play together, leaning lovingly against each other and moving in unison as one. They are also being watched fondly by Aruo, who has yet to have ideas of betraying Ruyi. Many years later, in episode 78, we have Ruyi and Hongli watching the same play, but they are physically far apart and their emotional distance from each other is also clear on their faces. They are literally being divided by the presence of Ling Yunche standing between them.

I find the parallel between the closeups of Aruo and Ling Yunche the most heartbreaking, because Aruo, despite how happy she looks for them in ep 5, would eventually try to break Ruyi and Hongli apart. And yet for all her efforts, she never succeeds because Hongli never actually believes her. On the other hand, Ling Yunche never tries to get in between Ruyi and Hongli, but just the mere presence of him is enough for Hongli to drive a wedge between himself and Ruyi. The presence of Aruo and Ling Yunche in this scene drives home the stark contrast in how the relationship has deteriorated between Ruyi and Hongli, and how Hongli went from trusting Ruyi despite all evidence against her to believing the worst of her despite no real evidence. 

What is even more heartbreaking is the play they are watching. It’s not made very clear in the drama, but the plot of the play has great significance in the novel. The play they are watching is called 墙头马上 / Over the Wall and Atop a Horse. The play is based on the poem 井底引银瓶 Silver Vase at the Bottom of the Well by Bai Juyi.

The poem by Bai Juyi, writes of a broken relationship/friendship where two people once lived happily in harmony, then one person wronged the other, causing the other person to leave and never come back; the relationship is thus severed. 

When the poem was adapted into the play 墙头马上 / Over the Wall and Atop a Horse, the play tells the story of Pei Shaojun falling in love at first sight with Li Qianjin when she was standing by a wall and he was on a horse riding by her house. The two then eloped, and lived together for seven years, having two children together, before they were discovered by Pei Shaojun’s father. Upon the discovery, Li Qianjin was condemned for getting into a clandestine relationship and Pei Shaojun caved to parental pressure and divorced her. She went back to her hometown. Many years later, after having achieved political success, Pei Shaojun went looking for Li Qianjin again, and just happened to discover that the two of them were actually engaged as children. In the play, they then reunited, got remarried and lived happily ever after.

There is however a plot point in the Ruyi novel, where Qingying does not like the ending of the play, feeling that the happy ending was forced. In the novel, Hongli and Qingying only know each other in passing at first. Then on the day that Hongli chooses his wives, Qingying is made to attend by her aunt. Before the selection ceremony, everyone is invited to watch a play, and Hongli chooses Over the Wall and Atop a Horse. Qingying, because she dislikes the happy ending, asks the theatre troupe to change the ending of the play so that in the end, Li Qianjin does not actually get back together with Pei Shaojun but stays firm in her resolve to end the relationship between them. After the play ends, Qingying leaves before the selection, but Hongli becomes intrigued by her changed ending and chases after her. This conversation below ensues, in which you can see clearly how Qingying’s belief on the matter stayed constant with her through the years. In fact, she practically predicts her own fate later with her changed ending.

~*~

Qingying stepped lightly ahead, her gown fluttering in the breeze like a white butterfly in flight. Aruo’s face was robbed of all colour and she was crying in despair. “Gege, what is wrong with you? Everything was well, why did you change the ending of the play? If Huang Hou Niang Niang hears about it, what will you do?”

Qingying shrugged. “At most, Aunt will just scold me a little. I just don’t like that ending. Today, I finally got to see how it should be played out. I’m so happy!”

“Gege might be happy,” Aruo said miserably, “but today is the consort selection. If Gege you are not chosen, then what would we do?”

Qingying’s aunt had already intended her to be the Third Prince’s bride, and now that was not successful, she should be pushed to the Fourth Prince instead? If they needed this one forced marriage to prolong their family’s glory, would that mean all women of the Ulanara clan were little better than slaves? It would be better this way. Regardless of whether she succeeded at being chosen to be a prince’s consort or not, she got to see things done her way, for once.  

She only managed a few steps more when suddenly a voice called behind her. “Qingying Meimei!”

No one had ever called her that before. Everyone in the palace simply called her “Qingying Gege”. Curious, she turned her head to find that Hongli was chasing after her.

Thinking that he must wish to reprimand her, Qingying made herself as small as possible.

Hongli only laughed. “I chased after you to comfort you. Xiyue Gege was rude in speech, I feared that you would be offended.”

“Offended? About what?” Qingying asked in a low voice. “Fourth Prince, do you mean to mention the fact that I was rejected by the Third Prince?”

Hongli nodded, frowning. “I only fear such talk will destroy your reputation.”

Qingying laughed, all her teeth showing, against all rules of decorum, which seemed to astonish Hongli.

“I don’t care!” she declared. “There are many things that women can’t necessarily decide for themselves, such as marriage, or family. But at least, I can decide whether to mind those mocking talks, whether to care about them and let them hurt me.”

Hongli looked sad for a moment, whispering, “Your family…” But then he trailed off. Then, with a humourless smile, he said, “Over the Wall and Atop a Horse is the play I chose myself, why did you not like the ending and asked them to change it? I pick a plum blossom, lean against the wall. / You ride off among the bending poplars*. Is that not a lovely image?”

“Yes, it is very nice, it’s just…” Qingying thought a moment then said, “Over the wall and atop a horse we gaze at each other. / I know you, too, must be heartbroken*. From this beginning, the play is full of conflicts, ups and downs, all very compelling, yet in the end, there is a forced happy ending, everyone is forced to be happy, I really don’t like it at all.”

[* excerpts from the poem by Bai Juyi]

Hongli looked displeased, asking, “To be able to mend a broken mirror, husband and wife reunited and at peace again, is that not good?”

“When Li Qianjin was being insulted by Pei Shaojun’s parents, he did not protect her. He watched her leave in humiliation and did not stop her, as if all the love and years they shared did not matter. Such a heartless and weak man who dares not protect his woman, why would Li Qianjin want to get back together with him?”

Her voice was soft, but also full of conviction. Even though it went against Hongli’s beliefs, he wanted to keep her talking.

“To be reunited and together in harmony is the wishes of all families on earth. If Pei Shaojun is willing to start over, why would Li Qianjin not forgive him?”

“Why must a woman always forgive a man for his failings? Wouldn’t that teach the man that it doesn’t matter what hurt he causes? I don’t care, if he hurt her, she shouldn’t forgive him.”

“Women must be soft and gentle, and give into her husband. If she sacrifices a little, bears a little hurt feeling, they can be reunited, isn’t that happiness?”

“If she must be hurt, must sacrifice herself for this forced reunion, then it is already not a good marriage,” Qingying said stubbornly. “In my eyes, Li Qianjin is a woman who is willing to walk away, to severe the relationship, because all trust is gone.”

“If she walks away, wouldn’t that mean she spends the rest of her life alone? Everyone has their own difficult moments, if Li Qianjin is so stubborn, Pei Shaojun is put in a difficult position too.”

“Who isn’t in a difficult position?” Qingying asked. “If the woman can understand the man’s difficulties, can a man not understand a woman’s pain of being cast aside and humiliated?”

Hongli thought for a moment then laughed. “Qingying Meimei, you are much too unbending.”

Qingying merely nodded. “It’s better to live the rest of your life alone, rather than live to old age with someone who already betrayed you once. So it might be harmonious today, but if a conflict arises, what is to say Pei Shaojun will not just forsake Li Qianjin again? It is easy to change mountains**, that is the principle here.”

[** there is a Chinese saying that it is easier to change the course of rivers and shapes of mountains than to change the character of a person… aka old habits die hard but with more stakes.]

Hongli still did not agree with her logic. “Women should place obedience before all and be pliable. If she does not restrain herself and be more accepting for the greater good, then she would just suffer.”

“If one must accept being humiliated for a so-called happy ending, then I don’t want that kind of happy ending,” Qingying repeated.

“Then is Over the wall and atop a horse we gaze at each other so easily forgotten?” Hongli asked, astonished.

Qingyin turned and stared at Hongli. “If it is not easily forgotten, then why didn’t Pei Shaojun protect Li Qianjin? Hasn’t he too forgotten how they once loved each other when he cast her aside?”

Hongli could not argue against her, and finally admitted defeat. “Meimei, you really are something, I don’t know what else to say.”

Qingying laughed in delight.

“Meimei,” Hongli said, stepping closer to her, “you argued so animatedly, you must love Over the Wall and Atop a Horse. Why don’t we go back and hear the play again?”

Qingying hesitated, thinking that it would be a great loss of face if she were to return now. But Hongli was looking at her so earnestly, she found it hard to immediately refuse.

“I’ll go back first, and prepare good tea to wait for you.”

He said ‘wait’, as if he would not move the day along if she did not come. Her heart softened, and she suddenly stopped in her path.

…

[And then of course Qingying comes back to attend the selection. Hongli, who had originally intended to choose Langhua, changes his mind and chose Qingying to be his di fujin, but then Yongzheng interfered and put a stop to it… But the play is one massive foreshadowing plot device that doesn’t get explained much in the drama, but packs a punch when you read this scene.] -h

[lovclyboncs]

Everything I Wanted 2/2 (F!Reader x Todoroki)

soulmate Au! Where your soulmate tattoo appears on your wrist after you touch your soulmate for the first time.

F!reader x Todoroki

F!Reader x Bakugou (brotp)

Plot: the reader is Todoroki’s soulmate. Todoroki rejected reader because he thought he was in love with Momo and didn’t want to let fate dictate his life. Now the two of them have a conversation that was long over due.

Part one

Before getting on with the story I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who reblogged and liked part one, it means the world to me that there is people out there who enjoyed my writing, and a big thank you to @dillybuggg and to @power-house-fan12 for encouraging me to write another part sending so much love to you guys!!! 💗💗💗

“Someday?”

“Someday.”

"Todoroki-san, I met my soulmate."

"oh."

" I think we should come clean to our classmates, i really want to see where this goes"

Todoroki couldn’t blame her. They were foolish to think their puppy love could stand strong against fate.

Todoroki and Momo had been walking on eggshells around each other during their first year at UA. They were attracted to each other even though they weren’t each other’s destined partner. Trust them they checked, they had been so hopeful only for it to crumble when their left wrists were still void of black Ink even after they had their first kiss.

They had been laying low with their blossoming relationship until the fateful day Shoto and (y/n) first touched.

Shoto didn’t know what to think of (l/n). She didn’t stand out as a person or a hero in training, so when they were paired up on a project there seemed to be a never ending silence between them, with his lack of social skills and her lack of- well everything they didn’t even know where to begin. After a couple of awkward questions about what they wanted to do, they were able to get started, and he thought then that (l/n) wasn’t so bad, but when he dropped his pencil and they both reached for it, that’s when it all went south. He remembers the stinging feeling he felt on his wrist and couldn’t help flinching at the uncomfortable sensation.

He didn’t need to look at his wrists to know what had happened and he didn’t need to think twice before grabbing his things and giving a quiet excuse for his sudden need to be very far away from (l/n).

It wasn’t until he was locked away safely in his room that he dared look at his wrist, and there it was in bold black ink, in a surprisingly illegible yet legible font, how does someone achieve that? ‘(Y/n) (l/n)’.

He’s not quite sure how long he stared at it, but he knows that by the time he was able to organize his thoughts there were birds chirping out side welcoming the new day.

He had rejected her.

She had been okay with it.

He didn’t tell Momo who his soulmate was, but he did tell her that he didn’t want to continue hiding their relationship. What was stopping them from sharing their happiness with the rest of the class? Momo believed they would be looked down on for not waiting on their soulmates. It wasn’t common for people to date anyone who wasn’t their soulmate, it was even more uncommon to reject a soulmate, but look at him, he did it and he was perfectly fine- they were perfectly fine.

Momo was the one who came up with the idea to draw on their soulmate tattoos, unaware of the fact that there already was a name on Todoroki’s wrist, unaware of the pain she was causing to that other half.

Coming clean to their classmates had gone surprisingly well, and Todoroki wasn’t sure how he felt about that, about that fact that (y/n) didn’t yell or question him on the why.

Why had he lied?

Why had he covered her up like she was something not worth looking at?

Why did he rub his relationship in her face?

Why not give them a chance if he was gonna chase something temporary?

Instead she had looked him in the eyes and gifted him a soft smile.

After everyone had scattered around the common area after their announcement, Todoroki decided to sit outside and take a breather.

He couldn’t help but sigh.

Thinking back to the day he and (y/n) first touched, he wished he hadn’t been such a coward.

He wished he had given her a chance to speak, because looking back now he realized that he did all the talking, he called all the shots not giving her a say in the matter.

She followed his wishes and yet he can’t help but want to be selfish and take it all back.

He had been wrong to think she had been lacking anything because she was everything. She was perfect to him, for him.

He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him.

Fate had told him she was his, a gift from the universe to cherish and like a spoiled brat he threw it away, ruined it. ‘Seems to run in the family’, he thought bitterly.

(Y/n) (L/n) was everything he wanted and he didn’t deserve her.

The worst part was that the person who helped him realize that was the hotheaded blonde of 1-A (now 2-A).

He was the one who brought out the best in (y/n) or maybe the only one who had bothered to listen, who had bothered to truly see her.

Todoroki couldn’t help but resent him for it yet he was grateful, because without Bakugou pushing her to open up, he would have never realized that he had shut the door on something beautiful without opening it.

“Why are you out here? Curfew is in 20 minutes” he heard her soft voice.

He didn’t reply and he felt her sit beside him on the stairs.

And there was silence.

What could he possibly say now?

Im sorry? That seemed too shallow

“It’s okay you know?” She began.

He finally listened.

“I’ll be honest, it had hurt- you had hurt me when you shut me out without giving me a chance to prove myself worthy of being on your wrist. I questioned if it had been something I did, something I didn’t do, or if it had been my appearance that had caused you to utter those words. Bakugou told me that it shouldn’t be something I beat myself over, that if it had been me that you would have told me, but you didn’t. You just told me that your heart belonged to another”

She stopped and finally looked at him, and he at her.

“ Im sorry things between you two didn’t work out how you wanted them to-” she had began, but he didn’t let her finish.

“Don’t. It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I thought I knew what I wanted and if I’m being honest I think I just wanted to be able to choose at least one thing for myself.” He said without thinking, it was time he stopped hiding from the truth, the selfish truth he hid under his not so pure love for Momo.

“Ever since I was born I have been nothing but a tool for my father. The just right child with the just right quirk. I wasn’t allowed to spend time with my siblings, I wasn’t allowed to play, I wasn’t allowed to make my own decision. It was always my father, and then I found out I wasn’t able to choose who I wanted to be with because apparently fate did that, so I would question what it is that I got to decide for myself

because if fate and my father made the decisions then what was I left with? What part of my life was actually mines for the taking?” He looked at the ground unable to continue meeting her eyes.

“So even if it’s not enough I do apologize, (y/n), for thinking so selfishly that I didn’t take into consideration the fact that you didn’t choose me either and that I didn’t try to make it easier for the both of us” he said clenching his fist to keep some sort of anchor on his mess of emotions.

Todoroki felt a small hand (or at least smaller that his own) lay on top of his own.

“Maybe we’ve both been going about this the wrong way? So what if we have each other’s name on our wrist? that doesn’t mean we should get married next week” (y/n) said in an attempt to lighten his load, to let him know that he didn’t need to beat himself over it just like she didn’t need to.

“ let’s just start as friends and see how things go and then maybe someday who knows” she shrugged her shoulders casually and flashed him a smile.

Todoroki looked at her and she at him.

He relaxed his hand that was underneath her and let himself hold her hand.

“Someday?” He asked

“Someday” she grinned.

(Y/n) cleared her throat and held her hand out for a handshake making him raise an eyebrow

“Hi my name is (y/n) (l/n) let’s be friends”

“I’m Shoto Todoroki, and I would like that very much”

“ I’m Aizawa, the teacher and you two need to get to bed”

“Yes sir!”

[ravenprinzess]

run away with me.

pairing ; knight!kazuha x fem!princess!reader.

genre ; hurt-comfort, angst, fluff.

summary ; the princess has to get married in a couple of days. a certain knight who happened to be in love with her, helps her escape from her fate.

word count ; 1.4k words.

warning ; might include curse words, mention of an unhealthy relationship.

note ; aa im kinda nervous. this is the first time i write a fic like that on this app so,, hope you like it !!

all the princess could do was stare out of the window of her room and dream of a life where she wouldn't feel trapped. just two days left till her wedding. and who will she marry, you're asking ? the ruthless duke, diluc ragnvindr. she had to met him two months ago, when her parents told her they found her a suitor. of course, if she could she would of rejected it. when it came to the topic of marriage, she thought people should marry the ones they fall in love with. however, for (y/n) this topic was a bit controversial. due to being a princess, she never got out of her castle and thus never met anyone outside of wealth and royalty. her mind then trailed towards her first "date" with duke diluc, sighing as she recalled their meeting.

---

"your highness !" (y/n)'s maids called out whilst bursting into her room. today should be an eventful day for her - she'd finally meet the said man that her parents praised so much. the maids helped her slip into a silky, blue dress before pulling her hair up into a tight bun. soon enough they caked her face up with a bit of make up. they had to make sure she looked the best; after all she heard he only liked 'pretty' things. what a shallow man, the princess thought, a sigh escaping from her lips when she was rushed outside towards the royal garden, where he had supposedly been waiting. she felt as anxiety filled her up. she wasn’t sure what to expect from the duke. she heard he was quiet and cold. however, this wasn’t the only description of him.

“greetings, your highness.” the red haired man greeted shortly, taking her hand to plant a kiss on the back of her hand. “nice to meet you, sir ragnvindr.” the princess greeted back, a small smile spreading across her lips. the two of them took a seat on the bench. she took a deep breath, her (e/c) orbs gazing at the man sitting besides her. “so.” she began, seeing as he wasn’t planning on starting up a conversation with her. “why do you wish to marry me ?” the question slipped out of her lips as she attempted to strike up a conversation. his blood-like orbs glared at her coldly, his lips parting to respond, but no noise left his lips. she raised her brow curiously, receiving a disapproving head shake from him. “just for money.” he had soon blurted out. his response made her heart sink - but she appreciated his honesty. at least he didn’t lie about having ulterior motives.

---

(y/n) was sure she’d never be loved for being herself - it’ll always be for the status and the crown. or so she had thought when one day a new, young knight was sent to watch over her. kazuha kaedehara. a young man with silver hair and a red strike in his hair. she thought his appearance was somewhat unique, but didn’t think much of it anymore. she remembered their first meeting. and now, he was also standing behind the door to her room. he was simply watching her. she felt as though he was the only one who treated her like a human being and the only one who understood her struggles. he was the only one who learned how to comfort her and she cherished that a lot. and so did the knight. kazuha was head-over-heels for the princess from the moment he had met her. not only due to her striking visuals, but also for her kind heart. she was the only one who had accepted him the way he was, the only one who made his heart race as if he just ran a marathon. he remembered the first time he had to comfort her, all because of the jerk she had to soon marry.

---

"you're really pathetic, you know that ?" diluc groaned as he trained along with the princess to his future, royalty life. the two were practicing a dance - (y/n)'s hands rested on his broad shoulders while his own hands snaked around her waist. "i-i am sorry." the female blurted out. "i didn't mean to step on you." and it was true - she didn't mean to hurt him. she knew how to dance, but it seemed like she couldn't say the same about her future partner. he moved stiffly, and his legs remained in the same spot. "you did it. again." the man hissed in pain and shoved the female off of himself.

---

she bit her lip nervously before stepping closer to the man to apologize. "don't get any closer, woman. you've done enough damage as it is. man, if you'd be the future ruler then our kingdom will be doomed. you cannot do a thing right." the fiery man spat out, causing (y/n) to widen her eyes in surprise. his words stung, more than she had thought they would. she could only mutter a quiet apology before storming out of the ballroom with tears spilling down her soft cheeks. kazuha followed shortly, his heart aching from the way her fiance was treating her. that sweet lady, she didn't deserve this, he thought.

he let out a sad chuckle as he recalled his feelings. he wanted nothing more than to save her. to save her from the monster that would only devour her when they'd get married. and as if reading his thoughts, he heard a shuffling inside of her room and then something pressing against the door. "hey, kazuha ?" he heard the princess call out, the tips of his ears turning into a light shade of red. she remembered his name ! he was as happy as he could get, just from that. "yes, your highness ?" the male hummed in response. his heart skipped a beat. what will she tell him ? "remember the first time you comforted me ?" his eyes fluttered, his face heating up when he realized that just like him, she was reminiscing their early memories together. "i could never forget it, my lady."

---

right after diluc's outburst, kazuha caught a glimpse of (y/n) rushing out of the ballroom where she had supposedly trained along with the aloof duke. what caught him off guard though, was the sight of the princess' glossy eyes - it was as though she was crying. and like a good, personal knight he followed her all the way back to her bedroom. his heart broke upon hearing her sniffles and watching her wipe her eyes. and yet more tears came out of her beautiful, (e/c) orbs. "why can't i be loved and appreciated ?" the female blurted out before feeling a warm hand on her shoulder. she turned around, her gaze meeting her knight's red hues. "you are loved and appreciated, just not by the people you're looking at." was all he told her. he took her hand to his lips, kissing it softly before letting her get into her room.

---

"what you said back then, did you mean it ?" her sweet voice came to his ears, snapping him out of his memories almost immediately. he let out a heavy sigh, biting his bottom lip nervously. "may i come in ? we should talk about this face to face." he knew that if he'd get caught he'd get into serious trouble - but right now that was the least of his troubles. instead, all he wanted was to comfort her and show her how much he, himself, loves her; unlike her own fiance. his eyes flickered in nervousness when he was greeted in silence in return. was that a stupid thing to say ? he opened his mouth to apologize, but before any word could escape - he heard the door opening swiftly and a hand tugging gently on his wrist.

he was met with the sight of the beautiful princess; his heart feeling as if it would burst out of his chest at any given moment. "so ?" she tilted her head as she watched him curiously and anticipated his response. kazuha could only note how adorable she looked like that. "it's true." he finally let out, taking a deep breath. if he'd already started, he might as well just confess already- right ? "i love you; i cherish you so much. you have no idea how painful it is to watch you dance with him. it's even more painful to watch him treat you like this. this is why i want to take care of you, i want to love you and cherish you. i want to show you how you should really be treated. so, run away with me. let me be your husband. let me love you forever and always, till death breaks us apart. what are you saying, princess (y/n) ?"

and suddenly, the idea of running away with kazuha was the only thing you wanted and hoped for. maybe with him you'd find your true happiness.