#and design her staff . and give her a last name listen im still working on her

[finnitesimal]

giving falin a crush on her. Swagever

local 20 year old finds out she has a type

[daydreamingintheimpalax]

Little Beginnings

Dean X Reader

Warnings: Mentions of cheating, mentions of pregnancy, possible swearing. 

A/N: Just a little something i wanted to write. Dean’s 40, Reader is 28. 

                                           ************************

You were fucking late, again. Dean was an amazing boss, and an even better friend, but just because he was a super sweet guy, didn’t mean he was going to keep letting you get away with being late. To be fair, you were about 6 months pregnant, and it did cause for a lot of doctors appointments, which Dean had driven you to a few times when Andy was too busy at work. 

Your fiance Andy and you had been engaged for the last year, deciding you were going to wait a while before getting married, Andy was up for a possible big promotion at his design company and he wanted to focus on his work, which you more than understood, so the couple times he’d failed to be there for some of the milestone appointments, you relied on the bus, making you late, opting Dean to offer to drive you so the other staff members would stop harrassing him about special treatment. I mean, you were pregnant, and it wasn’t your fault the appointments ran longer than usual and you’d missed the bus one too many times. 

The bell above the auto shop jingled, signaling that you were finally at work, you were out of breath, stopping slightly to hold your belly. “I’m here, i’m here, i’m so sorry, it was suppsed to be a simple scan and then she thought she saw something and wanted to do a more extensive exam, and i promise next time i’ll just have her reschedule for my day off.” You gasped, out of breath from running all the way from the bus stop, all the extra weight making it harder to move fast. 

Dean waved his hand dismissively, you could see he was sort of lost, trying to work the register, Dean wasn’t good at the front end work, he was however the best mechanic in town, so he handled the cars and you handled the cash. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it, not your fault, if the doctor said you needed it then she must have been worried,” he finally stops and looks at you concerned, “Everything okay? are you and the baby okay?” He asks and you smile widely. 

“SHE and i are just fine, she was just being squirmy.” You jump a little in place, finally having found out the sex. Dean’s eyes widen and a pure look of excitement and joy crosses his face.

“No way? It’s a girl?” He asks and you nod, squealing. Dean lets out a laugh and makes his way over, pulling you into him, not caring that he’s in his greasy work coveralls. “Congratulations, sweetheart!!” He speaks, placing a small kiss to your head. 

He smells like car oil, a little musk from all the sweating from working in the extreme heat and the lingering scent of his aftershave and bodywash. It comforts you, you take a breath, taking in the smell, the familiar smell, Dean has always welcomed you with open arms, making you feel perfectly at home in his auto shop for the last 4 years. He had made you feel loved and valued when your own parents basically banished you for being pregnant before being married. If they had their way, you would’ve been married years ago, they had their opinions and beleifs and you didn’t follow them, and because of it, they hadn’t spoken to you since you told them the news. 

“Have you told Andy yet?” He smiles, you shake your head, moving around him to show him how to open the cash. “Not yet, we’re suppsed to have dinner tonight, i was going to tell him then.” You smile, hardly containing your excitement. You open the register and Dean let’s out a small ‘yes’ before squishing your face, “What am i going to do without you while you’re gone.” He speaks and pinches your nose. You shove his hand away.

“You’ll be fine, plus if you need anything, call. No questions asked, just call.” You smile widely and he returns it. 

The rest of your shift goes smoothly, you count the register at the end of the day, Dean cleans up and changes, grease still on him but for the most part he got it off, he waits for you and like a true well raised gentleman, he drives you home, not wanting you to walk or take the bus alone at night. 

                                  ************************************

When you walk into your apartment, you don’t see Andy on the couch watching tv like he usually is, you assume maybe hes making dinner, since you are home much earlier than expected, the shop hadn’t been overly busy and Dean was so good with cars he had finished all his jobs for the day early.

You hang your coat up and walk into the kitchen, expecting to see Andy cooking, instead, your greeted with silence, with two almost empty plates on your kitchen table, but the part that makes your heart sink into your stomach is the two wine glasses, one, which has a very clear lipstick mark on it. 

A bang comes from your bedroom upstairs, the fire in you already ready to explode. You make your way upstairs, and before you realize it, your swinging your bedroom door open, a woman is sprawled on your bed, her ass in the air as your fiance drills her from behind, his one hand gripping her hair as the other rests on the headboard, she lets out a scream and he swears under his breath. Finally able to speak you clear your throat. 

“Are you fucking kidding me!” You yell and Andy freezes, the girl letting out a whine before she finally peels her head from your pillow. Your fucking god damn pillow. 

“Oh my god, who is that.” She squeals before yaking herself off the bed and away from him, holding your blanket to cover herself up. 

“I’m his fiance, his pregnant fiance. Who the fuck are you!” you scream, livid. 

Andy is up, blanket around his waist before he’s walking towards you. “Baby, this isn’t- i uh- i can explain.” He stumbles over his words, not knowing what to do or say.

You glare at him, “How long?” you ask, he shakes his head confused. “How long have you been fucking her? and don’t you dare fucking lie to me right now Andy!” You scream and he flinches, not used to your high vocals right now. 

He sighs, “Since you told me about the pregnancy.” He admits, running a hand through his hair, “Listen, i need to explain, i just, i needed a break, everything with the pregnancy has been too much to handle and im stressed with work, now the pregnany, i just, i needed to get away from it all.” He speaks and soon enough you’re in his face. 

“What are you sick of Andy? The fact you have barely been home since i told you about it? or the fact you haven’t been to one single appointment? Not the first time we got to see it, not the first time we got to hear the heartbeat, and now, you couldn’t be bothered to come find out the sex with me, it’s a girl, FYI, you havent been around for any of it. So what exactly are you sick of? you’re a worthless piece of shit, and i never want to see you again. Go fuck yourself.” You finish it off with a slap to his face, the contact is so loud, even the girl behind him flinches. 

She gives you a small smile when you make eye contact. “I’m really sorry, i didn’t know, he never mentioned you or the baby, if i had known...” she pauses, obvious guilt in her face. You shrug, “I know, do yourself a favour, find a better man to give yourself to, trust me, this one isn’t worth it.” You tell her, she swallows before grabbing her clothes and leaving the room, but not before glaring at Andy herself, “Don’t ever call me again.” She spits at him and he flinches, he tries to get close to you and you back away, skaking your head. 

“No, i’m leaving.” You spit out and he frowns, a little angry. “Where are you going? You’re pregnant and you know damn well your parents won’t take you back in.” He says it with a tone, almost like he’s proud to know that’s true, without them, you have nowhere to go. 

“I’ll figure something out, i haven’t needed you for the last 6 months, and obviously i still don’t.” You state, grabbing the prepared hospital bag you had done two months ago, for the most part it had enough stuff in it to get you by for a few days and you’d eventually come back for the rest of your stuff, preferably when Andy was away at work.

You storm out, getting into the car you had spent years saving to get, you had bought it on your own, but had decided since Andy made more money that he needed it more. As you drive away, you can hear Andy shouting, you roll down your window and catch the ending. 

“You stupid bitch, how the fuck am i supposed to get to work!” He shouts, you laugh, “Take a bus, asshole. I paid for the car!” Before you’re peeling out of what is no longer your drive way.

                                               ****************************

Dean’s surprised when he hears his phone ring, he isn’t expecting any calls, usually Sam is the only one who calls him, to be honest, he’s pretty much lonely most of the time. 

 Sammy tries to call each week, but he’s usually busy with work or the kids so usually Dean’s alone. Some days he wishes he had done what Sam did, settle down with a nice girl, have some babies, but most of the women he had dated just wanted the idea of a hardworking attractive man by their side, when it came down to it, they backed off when they realized he’d wanted more. it worked out for the best, none of the women in his life had ever truly been longterm material, sometimes he regretted having too much fun and not enough substance, airheads only stayed interesting for so long. 

It’s 8:30 pm and he had just finished making one of his best pasta dishes if he does say so himself. He was about to dig in and turn on some criminal minds when his phone had gone off, he stares at it, not recognizing the number. 

“Hello?” He speaks and a feminine voice is heard, “Hi, may i please speak to Mr. Dean Winchester?” She asks and he clears his throat, “Uh, speaking, who is this?” he raises a brow and his heart sinks slightly when he hears her speak. 

“Hi Mr. Winchester, my name is Sadie and i am calling on behalf of Miss Y/N Y/L/N, i’m a nurse at memorial hospital and Y/N was in a small car accident earlier and she had you listed as her second  emergency contact, she refused to allow me to call her first contact.” She speaks, Dean’s barely listened, he interupts her, completely worried why he’s being called.

“What? Where is Y/n, is she okay? is the baby okay? what happened?” He talks a mile a minute before the nurse calms him down. 

“She and the baby are fine, she is however a little shaken up, can we ask that you come down here, maybe take her home, she refuses anymore help insisting she’s fine and she wont let us call her fiance.” The nurse sighs and Dean agrees. 

He reaches the hospital in 15 minutes, rushing through the place to find y/n. Eventually he finds the nurse that called and he’s led straight to the room you’re in, you’re sitting in the bed, hands on your belly, moving them around and smiling when you feel your baby move. He let’s out a relieved sigh to see you’re okay, and thankfully, still pregnant. 

“Y/N?” He speaks and your head shoots up, you let out a soft smile, he can tell you’ve been crying. “Hey Dee, glad to see you own something other than flannel and ripped jeans.” You smirk, he looks down at his sweat pants and hoddie, smiling to himself before letting out a small chuckle. 

“Theyre my comfy clothes, shut up.” He teases and you giggle. He moves closer, sitting on your bed near you. “You wanna tell me what the hell happened, sweetheart?” He asks and you look down, focused on your hands on your belly, biting the inside of your cheek. 

“After you drove me home, i walked in on Andy fucking some girl in doggy on our bed, i was furious and yelled at him before slapping him and leaving, i grabbed my to go bag and didn’t even care if it wasn’t enough and left, i took my car and just drove off, i didn’t really know where to go and i started crying because Andy was right about my parents probably not wanting me back, so i cried harder and i guess i couldn’t see clearly and went off road. It wasn’t bad, but i sorta put some dents and bumps in it, a jogger found me and insisted i go to a hospital and called the abulance.” You shrugged. 

Dean scoffed, “Are you fucking serious, the nerve of that jackass, i swear if i ever see him i’m gonn-” You cut him off. “Dee, it’s not worth it, i’m mostly just mad at myself for not seeing it, the missed appointments, the constant late nights, he didn’t want this, the marriage, the pregnancy, he wasn’t ready, i should’ve figured it out, i should’ve seen it.” You shrug softly, wiping a tear from your eye.

Dean sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Hey, listen to me, this isn’t your fault, you didn’t force him to have sex with you, and you sure as hell didn’t get pregnant on purpose, if he didn’t want a kid, he should’ve kept his shit wrapped. He’s the asshole in this situation, not you. As for where to go, you should’ve called me, you know i always have your back. You’re staying with me,” you’re about to interupt him but he shuts you up with a hand, “No, no talking, and i’m not leaving you alone, you’re moving in with me and that’s final.” You huff and pout, making him roll his eyes. 

“Don’t try to cute your way outta this, and don’t be stubborn, i got plenty of space not being used, i could use the company.” You huff, “Fine, but at least let me pitch in for rent..” He cuts you off, “No. I’m not charging you, save your money for the baby stuff your gonna need, just help me keep my fridge stocked and we’ll call it even, i’m a bad grocery shopper.” He smiles, you roll your eyes but agree. 

                                        *****************************

“Hey dee?” You speak as he drives you back to his place, “Yeah?” he hums as he fiddles with the radio before landing on a station. You look over at him and smile. 

“Why can’t all the guys in the world be more like you?” You smile softly and he chuckles, “That wouldn’t make me one of a kind now would it darlin,” he shoots you a wink and you laugh, shaking your head. 

“No seriously though, thank you, for everything, the job, the constant rides, always making sure im eating, getting my vitamins and water intake, always keeping your mini fridge in your office stocked with snacks, you’re literally amazing, and i don’t think i could’ve handled this whole siatuation well if it wasn’t for you. At this point, you’ve done more for me and this little girl than her father has, i need you to know how much i appreciate you.” You reach over, grabbing his hand and he looks over and smiles.

“I know y/n, don’t you worry about it. Besides, one of you already has me wrapped around her finger, what’s one more? Hmm?” He smirks, laughing at your shocked face. You shake your head at him, smiling as parks the car in his driveway. You both get out of the car, but before Dean can walk to his door, you pull him back towards you.

He’s surprised at first then melts into the kiss, wrapping his arms around your slightly big middle, he chuckles and pulls away when he feels movement in your belly. You laugh softly, “I think she likes you, she’s all excited.” You smile, letting him place his hand on your belly, feeling all the movement going on. 

He smiles gently, “yeah well, i like her too, i really REALLY like her mom though.” He states, leaning in to kiss you yet again. 

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Tags: @akshi8278

[quietmyfearswith]

perfect fit {ransom drysdale x fem!reader}

perfect fit {ransom drysdale x fem!reader} 

status — completed 

warnings — cursing, unprotected penetrative sex (pls be safe when havinf sex), mirror sex, semi-public sex, degradation (slight), oral sex (female receiving), mentions of blood and being poked (briefly and not detailed)

word count — 3,370 words

a/n — lmao i have no shame i got inspired to write this because of an something i listened to which had a similar premise. i had a sequel in mind but idk if im gonna write that since i have a lot of fics planned out. feedback is appreciated and hope u guys have a lovely day !! :> 

masterlist

It was something no one expected Ransom to do; but he did it anyway.

He was just lounging in his home one day and he took one of the many notebooks he had lying around and suddenly found himself sketching different clothing articles. By the time he was able to tear his focus and hands away from the notebook, it was already 11:45 at night, “Huh, so in the past five hours I was able to design 11 clothes,” he quietly thought to himself as he closed the notebook that contained his ideas and headed to bed.

The following day consisted mostly of doing two things; more designing and making calls. He was looking for possible suppliers who could give him the materials he needed in order to bring his designs to life. He also ordered his assistant to look for tailors who were willing to sew and stitch them to life, as he did not have any intentions on making those himself. Searching for a place to lease to station where the clothes would be made and sold was also something he did.

All of that happened almost 19 months ago; Ransom just suddenly had the idea of creating his own clothing line and he was successful in that endeavor. His brand was known for its eloquent and classy designs, while still being comfortable and affordable. It was also a bonus that the materials they used were cruelty-free and vegan; though this wasn’t really his idea, something his assistant had suggested and something he mindlessly agreed with as he was burying himself in designing a dress.

When his family found out about his current endeavor, there were various reactions in response. Joni seemed to be legitimately excited to see if Ransom’s design would match her taste and even told him how she was willing to post about his line on her Instagram. Meg and Walt finally had something in common as they both teased him and questioned his sexuality since he suddenly became interested in fashion; even his own father silently had the same thoughts and concerns. His mother, however, was somewhat proud of her son following in her footsteps and making a name for himself. While Harlan was surprised on how he was persistent in pursuing fashion, for he always thought that his first grandson would be his successor in terms of writing and in handling the publishing company.

Ransom, having had enough of their judgmental comments and half-assed support, snapped at them once he broke the news as they were enjoying dessert, “Alright, all of you, eat shit! No offense, Mom, but you had a loan from Granddad and without his money you’d be nowhere! Joni, cut the shit! We all know you rely on those brand deals you have and of course, on our family’s money. And Walt? At least I’m gonna make something of my own! Unlike you who just relies heavily on the books Granddad gives you to publish. And what the fuck does fashion have to do with one’s sexuality? If clothes make people gay then why are you wearing that sorry excuse of an outfit? Scared people might find your dick too small?” 

And with that, he left the house as a sea of screams and commotion followed him, but he chose to ignore it of course.

In the span of those 19 months, his clothing line took off. Critics spoke highly of it, consumers couldn't get enough of his designs, and he was being constantly praised for his creativity. So it made Ransom feel as if he was on top of the world.

After his designs being featured on various fashion shows and being worn by numerous celebrities, the pressure to put out equally great designs was taking a toll on Ransom. Hence why he often spends time on the main store and headquarters he had in Boston. The place was fairly spacious — it had an office for where he could have meetings or design some of his clothes, a spacious and luxurious space for the customers to try on the clothes, rows of sewing machine next to an array of cloth for the workers whom he fairly compensated for their hard work, and even a small circular platform placed in front of mirrors for alterations. 

Ransom advised his staff to go home early to enjoy the start of the weekend and he would be the one to close the store and balance what they had already sold and what was left. As he was busy in the counter checking the log and counting the money, he heard the chimes of the bell that hung above the door make a sound, directing his attention to where a lovely woman stepped into the store and it felt as if all the oxygen in his body left his body with how breathtaking the woman was.

“We’re about to close in a few minutes,” was all he managed to let out as the woman stood on the opposite side of the counter; she just smiled as she placed the gown wrapped in plastic down on the counter, “Oh? I’m so sorry but I was just wondering if I can have this gown altered? I bought it hastily last week and only got to try it on two days ago since I was incredibly busy with work and realized how loose it was on me.”

He looked down on the gown as he spoke, “Yeah well we close earlier on Fridays so,” prolonging the word so, he noticed how she moved as if she was about to exit the establishment, but he wondered, “What is the work you do that kept you busy?”

The question surprised both of them; Ransom didn’t know as to why he was curious about it, but it probably had to do with how he just wanted an excuse to talk to her and listen to her soothing voice. While Y/N didn’t realize that those were one of the requirements in order to have a dress altered, she told him anyway what kept her busy.

Nodding his head, he made an impulsive decision, “My assistants just left, but I can take care of it. It shouldn’t be a big problem” Her eyes lit up excitedly and she smiled widely and thanked him for being able to accommodate her. “Just go to one of the dressing rooms and change to the gown, and head to where the platform is — just right across, okay?” She nodded and followed to where his hands pointed to where he’d be waiting for her.

As she scurried off to the change, he found himself questioning himself as he switched off the open sign, grabbed a notebook, pen, and measuring tape, and waited for her to come out. Why the hell am I making such an effort for her? And when she did step out of the dressing room and made her way to step on the circular elevated platform, he remembered just why he was going out of his way to serve her; because she looked fucking gorgeous, especially seeing her wear a gown he designed.

Standing on the platform, she shyly looked at him to which he found adorable, “Why don’t you spin around slowly for me?” She nodded and did so, “What seems to be the problem with the gown?”

With her back facing him, she craned her neck and replied, “I found the length to be too long, I’m afraid I might trip on it,” as she faced him he noticed how he was standing dangerously close, and his facial features were dead serious, “So you just want to trim it a bit?”

She nodded, “Would it be possible to create a slit?” And just as she made that suggestion, she bunched up a bit of the gown and showed him how she wanted the slit to look like; but all it did to Ransom was make him drool with how luscious and soft her legs looked like. “Okay, yeah that’s something we can do.” 

Grabbing a small container full of sewing pins he took hold of the bunched up fabric she held in her hand and told her he got it. “You know when I designed these gowns, you were exactly the target buyers I had in mind,” she tilted her to the side, confused with what he meant so he further explained, “Gorgeous, elegant, and absolutely stunning; especially once they wear my clothes.”

Her cheeks suddenly became a dark shade of red as she tried to shrug off his compliment, “Well I don’t really wear these kinds of clothes, but when a wedding comes, you have to.” As he was placing the pins on the fabrics, he looked up from where he was sitting on the platform, him being eye level with her thigh was doing nothing to prevent him from nursing a hard on, “A wedding you say?” 

Snatching a glance from where her hands rested on her hips to get out of his way, he took note of the lack of ring and voiced out his observation, “I’m not seeing any ring on both your hands, so I’m gonna assume that you’re not the bride?” She laughed softly and shook her head, “No, I'm not the bride-to-be, my best friend is.”

“Good to know,” Ransom said softly and she didn’t hear it well and was about to question what he just said as she felt the sewing pins poke her skin. “Ow, fuck!” She yelped, which made the designer realize that instead of piercing through the dress, he accidently lightly grazed her leg. “Fuck, I’m sorry!” He apologized as he pulled the pin and wiped her upper thigh that started to bleed a little. 

Feeling his warm hand envelope her hand and the thumb swiping away the crimson liquid, made her feel tingly as she looked down on him. Inching his face closer to her thigh, he looked up at her as his lips touched the area that he unintentionally hurt her in, “I’m so sorry for hurting you,” Y/N was stunned as his lips were back on her thigh after apologizing. 

Breathlessly, she just nodded and was surprised both his hands took a hold of her ankles and were softly caressing her just like how his lips were being gentle with her flesh. As his hands were sliding up towards her shins, she could feel the goosebumps on her skin rise, and by the time they reached her thighs, that was the only time Ransom detached his lips from her skin, “You taste divine, baby girl. But I’m not done with making it up to you.”

Having a sudden surge of confidence, Y/N spoke out, “Then keep kissing me if you want to make it up to me.” Ransom too, was surprised because this meek-looking beauty demanded him to do something, “I beg your pardon?” It was her turn to be brave and brazen as she smirked down on him, “Keep on kissing my thighs or else I’ll leave a bad review of your services.”

Quickly, Ransom placed his lips back on her thigh, kissing and smooching every inch he could find; he wasn’t sure if he was threatened with how his business could be negatively affected or was he just turned out at the prospect of being told by this beautiful woman to keep on admiring her figure.

Tangling her fingers on his hair, she tugged at him and guided her where she wanted his mouth as he gave verbal directions, “Higher, baby, kiss me higher.” Though his eyes were darkened with pleasure of having to know what her skin tastes like and aroused with how he met someone who was able to tell her what she wants and bosses him around; he’s never had someone do that to him, for it was always him calling the shots.

Poking his tongue out, he traced over the outline of her lace underwear which resulted in her letting out a moan and tightening her grip on his hair — urging him to keep going. Moving from her thigh, he kissed his way until he was face to face with the center of her pussy. Inhaling her scent, he closed his eyes as he groaned and took in her addictive scent and lunged forward to kiss and lick her clothed core. Even with the fabric in its way, he was nipping on her pussy lips and licking through it, getting a faint taste of her.

“Oh, more please,” she gasped out in pleasure; and with that plea Ransom moaned as he tore his mouth from where he was making out with her clit and smirked as she heard her sigh at the sudden loss of contact. Looking up at her, he gave her a grin as he asked, “Did you honestly think you would be the one who’ll call all the shots, baby?”

Somehow, her crimson red cheeks managed to turn into an even deeper shade of it at what he said. He then moved to pull her panties down her legs, he didn’t even wait for her to kick them out of her as he immediately licked from her clit down to her opening. Moaning out, she trembled a bit and Ransom’s hands latched themselves onto her thighs to help prevent her from falling.

“Careful now baby girl,” he warned her as he looked up to see her flushed face starting to drip with sweat, his lips never fully removing themselves from her clit so with every word he spoke the vibrations was felt throughout her core, “Wouldn’t want you to injure yourself. How are you gonna turn up to the wedding then?” 

As he finished his question, his tongue pushed itself into her tight opening and swirled around inside. Feeling dainty fingers push his face further, he was able to get a better taste of her juices that began to drip down to his tongue and he hissed at how delectable they were. Pulling out his tongue from her pussy, he immediately licked his way up to her swollen clit, “You taste amazing, baby,” he moaned out as he focused his efforts into sucking her clit hard and fast, feeling her thighs began to shake — a sign that she was close to her orgasm.

But Ransom wouldn’t let her cum right away, his left hand left the warmth of her thigh and slapped her clit multiple times, she opened her eyes in shock and looked down on the designer, aroused and elated with what he did. Getting the hint that she enjoyed what he did he teased her by saying, “You like it when I slap that clit?” Seeing how she nodded and bit her lip, he went on and slapped her clit multiple times but with not a lot of force, and his tongue went on to caress her tight opening until she once again began to quiver. 

“God you’re such a filthy slut,” he stated as he stopped the movements his tongue and hand were doing, and went on to bite lightly her thigh, “I’m gonna have so much fun with you. Have to make sure my customer leaves this place satisfied with my services.” As he mentioned the double entendre, his voice was laced with desire and hunger.

Giving her thigh one last kiss, he stood up from the platform and placed his hands on her hips and lifted her so she stood on the ground just like he was. Grabbing the back of her neck, he pushed her against him so their lips met and they began to hungrily make out. Her hands were at his cheeks, softly grazing his cheeks which contradicts how their tongues were roughly dancing with each other. While Ransom’s other hand was feeling for the zipper on her back, unzipping it and pushing the dress off of her.

Moving both his hands to touch her back, he noticed the lack of bra and felt how her nipples harden against the fabric of his shirt, he separated their lips from where they were entangled and looked down to see her breasts, “Such a nasty little girl you are, aren’t you? Wearing this gown with no bra underneath, like you wanted me to see just how good your boobs are.”

She shook her head, “The gown goes well best without a bra,” she defended. Amused with her reply Ransom decided that they’ve had enough foreplay; both his hands planted on her hips and pulled her back so it was flush against his front, “And you know what would go best with your divine body? My cock and cum,” one of his hands grabbed onto his cock and rubbed the tip of it against her folds, feeling her shudder at the sensation, “So come on and take it.”

“Shit baby girl, you’re so tight for a slut,” Ransom groaned as he threw his head back with how her walls squeezed his hard dick in one smooth motion. The hand that guided his cock in repositioned itself and held onto her hair, pulling her head back and arching her back away from his chest, which contrasted the way her ass was pushing back to accommodate Ransom’s cock.

Hand in her hair and the other on her hip, Ransom was pulling her into his cock with sharp, fast, and harsh thrusts; while her moans and whines did nothing but to fuel him to drive his thick meat deeper in her. “You like this don’t you, baby? You like how I’m just ramming into you like you’re nothing but a whore?” He taunted as he let go of her hip and began to rub, twist, and pull at her nipples.

Y/N could only nod, too blissed out to give out a verbal response for the way he was deliciously torturing her nipples disabled her from forming a coherent sentence, much less a thought. Unhappy with how she responded, he let go of her hair and slapped both her ass cheeks, “Answer me! Tell me you like it!”

She went still for a moment due to the sting of his slaps, she widened her eyes and peered over her shoulder to look at him, “I love it! I love how you’re treating me, sir.” The title she had given him made him even more feral as he ordered her, “Look in the mirror slut, look at how desperate you are for me.”

Feeling shy from seeing her blissed out state on the reflection, she instead diverted her gaze on the man behind her who was mercilessly pounding into her. She found it absolutely hot how his jaw was clenched so hard and his eyebrows were furrowed; it made her clench down on him hard which led to Ransom to slam deep inside her and grab onto her shoulders, “You’re close aren’t you, baby? You’re about to cum on my cock aren’t you?” She nodded and whined, “Yes, sir, I’m so close. Please let me cum,” he chuckled in appreciation, she begged him to cum without even telling her to do so. 

Speeding up the pace of his thrusts, his one hand was now alternating with rubbing and pinching her clit, in order to get her right on the edge. His lips were resting against her ear, his pants were only turning her on even more and with a final pinch of his fingers, she was cumming hard and with a loud wail.

Feeling how her walls squeezed him too tight to the point he couldn’t move anymore, Ransom stilled inside her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, “Fuck, you feel good.” After a couple of breaths, Ransom collapsed to sit down on the platform, taking her with him. Sitting down, he took the time to steady his breaths and recover from the intensity of their intercourse and orgasm. 

Snaking his hand to her cheek, he tilted her head enough for him to plant his lips on hers and let her give a faint taste of her own juices and he pulled apart from her not without planting a small kiss, “The gown will be ready in a week, baby. And it’s on me.”

[amelialincoln]

Electric Love pt2

sorry im working on an amelink fic but its hard cause i have little to motivate me with. soooo here's marecal

     They both awoke to the sound of an alarm blaring continuously over their heads. This happened on occasion and as terrifying as the situation was, the couple had almost gotten used to it. After the war the idea of democracy had been popular among the regions. With red and silver becoming equal, the solution had seemed obvious. But it would be wrong to say that the idea of everyone living in harmony was accepted by all. It was mostly the silvers that had an issue with it all, still craving the power they once had maintained. The small rebellion had formed about a year after the war, and raids had been happening throughout the palace almost every month since then. It was rare that anyone would come near their apartment but Cal had built an underground bunker just in case. The raids never resulted in much, other than terrifying those who lived there. Occasionally, they’d take a staff member or government official but eventually would set them free after their pleas went unanswered. 

Mare stumbled out of their bed, still half asleep. However, Cal tugged at her arm, wide awake. He’d already secured his bracelets and a dim flame lit up their bedroom. He couldn’t help but worry that since word had gotten around about Mare’s pregnancy, they may somehow be a target. To which Mare had responded, days earlier, that no silver in their right mind would come anywhere near the two of them, in fear for their lives.

“Feeling nauseous?” He asked as she gripped the stair railing and swayed softly.

“When am I not,” she grumbled, following him down into the blackness. Cal sighed with relief as he bolted the door and pulled the string to an overhead light. The concrete room contained a double bed, a cabinet full of snacks and a pathetic sink that sat in the corner, almost always dripping. Mare crawled into the mess of duvet and leaned back against the bed frame. She was usually unfazed by the break-ins and normally slept through the entire event, unlike Cal who usually spent the night watching the door and allowing flames to creep across his fingertips. He glanced over to find her hands pressed against the small bump that had formed on her midsection earlier that week. Her first trimester was exhausting her and Cal had never felt more helpless.

“You should rest,” he noted. “Practice starts at six tomorrow because of the holiday on Monday.” He knew that despite tonight’s events there was no way that Mare would miss even an hour of training.

“I would lie down but I’m trying really hard to not throw up,” she responded slowly. Mare wasn’t known as a ray of sunshine when functioning on little sleep. “I would appreciate it if you could get your child to give me a break, Tiberias.” She tried to sound bitter but he could hear the fragility in her voice.

“Do you want the plain crackers? Those usually help,” he suggested.

“Do we have any down here?” 

“No.” He expected her to yell at him but instead she leaned back in exhaustion. 

“Can you just come sit with me?” Cal glanced over at her apprehensively, not wanting to leave his position by the door. Mare rolled her eyes at his hesitation.“Cal, for fucksake it’s absolutely fine--” As if on cue the sound of their apartment door banging open echoed through the flat. Mare fell silent as the sound of moving furniture filled their ears. Someone was looking for them. Anxiety raged inside her and lightning sparked on her palms, growing brighter by the second.

“Mare, control it,” Cal hissed. Her ability was becoming more and more unpredictable as her pregnancy went on, to the point where they were in the midst of getting a necklace made out of silent stone for moments like these. Cal couldn’t help but wish they’d had it by now.

“I can’t,” her voice wavered. The light above them brightened immensely before popping and surrounding them in blackness. Light bulb glass reflected red as Cal’s flames dimly lit the room. Mare silently prayed that her purple sparks would not reappear. “Do you hear that?” She asked, as a familiar voice called out to them, calling their names over and over. ���It’s Gisa!” She moved to the side of the bed

“No Mare, it’s not.” Cal’s eyes darkened, willing her to lie back down. 

“Cal, I think I would know my own sister--” 

“It’s a voice manipulator, it’s trying to convince us to come out.”

“How do you know--” She wanted nothing more than to answer the voice calling out to her. 

“Because I hear Maven,” Cal hissed, his eyes begging her to be quiet. Mare had never wanted to throw up more. She finally processed the idea of silvers rummaging through their apartment, playing tricks on their minds. Suddenly the situation was more nauseating than the smell of Cal’s green smoothies he’d been forcing her to drink lately. He noticed her gag and shot her a look of sympathy. Eventually the calling diminished and they heard less and less footsteps above, though neither of them wanted to go back upstairs. Eventually Mare fell asleep but Cal couldn’t bring himself to leave the door, waiting for the voice of his brother to return.

She awoke the next morning to find Cal missing from the bunker. A handwritten note was left on her pillow.  

Mare,

Taking the kids up the mountain today. Don’t try and follow us, we'll be back soon enough. Rest and please just be safe.

Love, Cal

Classic. She threw her head back in frustration. Despite the break-ins being an inconvenience, they always put Cal on edge. She was surprised that he’d decided to let her out of his sight, even if it meant her getting some extra hours of sleep. She walked lazily up the stairs to find their apartment torn to shreds. Furniture was pushed over and destroyed. Picture frames had fallen off walls and glass lay shattered on the floor. Although she hadn’t been too involved in the design of their place, she couldn’t help but feel awful that all of Cal’s hard work had gone to waste. She smoothed the crinkled photos that had fallen out of their frames. Most were of her and Cal, apart from some of Mare’s family and Cal had one photo of Coriane, which he cherished greatly. She couldn’t help but grin at the thought of racing up the mountain to meet the group, the idea didn’t seem too bad to her. Undoubtedly would piss off Cal, which was always fun. She didn’t bother having breakfast, through trial and error she’d learned that eating before noon would result in an hour spent in the bathroom. Eventually, after a while of trying to tidy up the apartment, she was dying of boredom. She tied her hair back into a messy braid and pulled on her training uniform before swifty leaving the apartment, locking it behind her.

“Hey!” She whipped around to find Evangeline morphing the garden fountain into a rather inappropriate image. “Cal cleared my schedule to sit around and wait for you to try and leave.” She narrowed her eyes, obviously upset by her change in plans.

“That’s dumb,” Mare shrugged, turning to leave.

“He also lied about where he took the kids today. If you go up that mountain you aren’t going to find them.” Mare stopped in her tracks, cursing. “Why do you want to go so bad anyways?” 

“Because what else am I supposed to do?” she huffed.

“Domestic life not treating you well?” Evangeline teased, Mare glanced up at her, realizing how much she had begun to miss everyone she’d gotten close with last year. She hadn’t seen Farely in what seemed like months.

“How’s Elane?” She changed the subject and Evangeline took the bait, never upset when speaking of her girlfriend.

“She comes to visit today,” her eyes lit up with excitement. “I’m going back with her in a week and then staying awhile. There isn’t much to do around here,” she admitted, Cal had mentioned that her ‘government’ role had been less riveting than she’d anticipated.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Mare couldn’t help but grin at the idea of Evangeline in a stuffy room talking about politics.

“He did seem shaken up this morning though. The raids were bad last night?” Mare could tell Evangeline was trying to keep her from leaving but at that point she didn’t care. There were twelve off campus training sites scattered over Montford and the group could be anywhere. She sat down on the edge of the fountain and tried to look as if she wasn’t bothered.

“They don’t usually search our apartment.”

“Ah,” Evangeline responded. “Probably something to do with the bun in the oven.” She gestured to the small bump that Mare had been desperately trying to hide with baggy clothing.

“I don’t know what they think they could possibly achieve by trying to harm either of us.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Yeah, it’s messed.” Evangeline bit her lip. “The group is expanding though. If you go downtown there’s signs up everywhere. The silvers aren’t happy.”

“You think after last year people would want a break from the violence.”

“I don’t know, would be nice to have a little fun.” The rings on her fingers were morphing into tiny daggers on her palms. Mare couldn’t help but laugh.

“You haven’t changed.”

“Have any of us, really?” Evangeline shrugged. “Come on, Barrow, I know you miss silver blood on your hands.”

“We crave the chaos now but the moment we’re back in it we’ll wish we savoured these moments.” She shook her head but couldn’t suppress the rush of euphoria that passed over her as she imagined what Evangeline was suggesting. 

“You think there will be another war?” Evangeline’s voice was hushed, as if someone was listening in on the pair’s conversation. Mare nodded grimly.

“Cal’s been seeing Julian almost every night. I can tell they’re hashing out the beginnings of some plan. He’s been downplaying the silver’s revolt. I don’t know why he’s treating me like I’m too weak to handle the truth.” 

“Probably doesn’t want to stress you out.” Evangeline brushed a piece of her frizzy blond behind her ear and smirked as she watched Mare gag at the idea of her condition was making her incompetent. “Just go,” she finally caved. “They’re at the training centre in Elm.” Evangeline chuckled as the lightning girl’s eyes lit up with delight. “Tell him I told you and I’ll give the silvers a key to your underground bunker,” she added darkly, trying to hide her amusement. 

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

Judging from the time of day the group would probably be on their trek back by now. Mare decided to go anyways. The idea of getting a rise out of Cal was too appealing to pass up. He deserved it for treating her like she was useless. The dirt road was longer than she remembered or maybe she was just more out of shape than the last time she’d run it. She pushed herself faster at the thought. It took a lot for someone to sneak up on Mare. Cal failed miserably almost every day. Which is why, when she was pulled back suddenly, she froze in shock rather than fought back. Before she could react a knife was pressed to her neck and it drew a small amount of blood that began to pool under her chin. She felt the silent before it even started reaping her ability from her, tugging her strength away.

“Not so powerful now, sparks.” She could hear the enjoyment in the unfamiliar silver’s voice and wanted to spit at the nickname. The knife, however, permitted her from doing such.

“I’ve got guards watching me,” she forced out a lie. “Letting me go would be a smart move.” To her dismay the group of silvers only chuckled.

“Look Red Queen, you're the issue here. You’re the reason that reds think they can waltz into our cities and act like they aren’t the worthless vermin that they are. You may have deceived the prince but there’s no mistaking your true intentions.” Mare couldn’t begin to guess what they were talking about.

“He’s not your prince anymore.” Was all she could think of to say. Cal didn’t want anything to do with the crown anymore, or so she hoped.

“And that’s where you're wrong.” The new silver’s voice was calm and poised. “Tiberias Calore VII has been working to revise the new laws. The democratic system is flawed. It’s only a matter of time before it splits. Your boyfriend is working hard to fix the damage you caused.”

“That’s not true.” She could hear the falter in her own voice.

“So that leaves you as the problem. A red can never sit on a silver throne.” Mare could feel the knife digging deeper into her skin. 

“I don’t want your stupid throne.” She managed to kick her leg back, connecting with the soft area that she’d been aiming for. The man yelped in pain, allowing the knife to drop. Mare whirled around to find a larger group than she’d expected. As the sky began to darken she noticed a line of sweat was starting to form on the silent’s forehead.

“Get her in the vehicle,” the woman ordered, Mare could sense the weakness in her voice knowing she wouldn’t last for much longer. She could feel the static energy increasing in the air, begging to strike. The men came at her quickly. She dodged the first couple easily but more kept advancing. The silent held on to her dismay and eventually she was surrounded. It was the knife guy that hit her first, undoubtedly holding onto some sort of resentment. After that the rest was blurry until she doubled over in pain and blackness invaded her vision.

[wastelandcrown]

logan lark’s adventures in trying to appease his parents

CHAPTER 6: don’t lose ur head (the terrifying tales of the grimm monarchy)

Summary: Logan Lark is a fairly average high school student. By all means, he should be impressing his parents on all grounds. Except...he doesn’t exactly have a social life. So after his parents give him puppy dog eyes, he decides to join the local theatre's youth production. Good grief...His life is about to get weird isn’t it?

Warnings: Potential ooc behavior, Roman is a teenager who makes bad choices EXTREME edition, Remus being Remus, Intrusive Thoughts, Minor Bad Parenting, so much swearing it’s insane (If I miss something please tell me!)

Notes: This fic is based off an idea from @under-the-blue-moonlight. If you wanna be tagged in chapters, please ask!! I love this freaking chapter SO much but I’m really scared of how it’s going to be received. All feedback is extremely welcome!! 

Pairings: Intrulogical, Eventual Rociet, One-Sided Logicality, Platonic DRLAMP

Tagslist: @under-the-blue-moonlight @why-should-i-tell-youu2 @im-actually-ok @hauntedturkeycalzonedreamer @croftersjam15 @rainbowsixth @snaketho @wasinotwantedatthisexactsecond @a-soul-among-the-stars @sweet-razz-tea @the-cactus-lord

Over the course of the next month Logan learns that despite their reputations, Roman and Remus are the opposite of what everyone thinks of them.

Logan is the smartest person he knows, there is no way in hell he’d ever miss Roman’s multiple attempts to sabotage his role as Hamilton. Smart, and yet so oblivious. Each time Roman had tried to mess with Logan after he began cultivating a friendship with Remus he was miraculously saved from the torment at the last second. Remus is a hundred percent certain that Logan has no idea that he’s fighting off his brother at each and every turn. He’s not certain of much, so it’s saying a lot. There is a beautiful dichotomy in Logan’s logs of the events and the stories Remus tells about his brother’s scourge against his brand new ‘enemy’. On a page labeled ‘Roman Incidents’ in Logan’s succinct handwriting documents every incident through the month when Roman attempted to sabotage him.

July 20th - Roman tripped near my things in the drama room while holding coffee. When I went to check on my things, someone had removed the contents of my bag and filled it with around six pounds of glitter. If this happens again, throw the bag away. Glitter makes anything unsalvageable. You will keep finding it everywhere. 

Remus knew Roman had been planning something. Of course he did. Though they didn’t share a room anymore, sneaking into it had never been exceptionally hard. Neither had eavesdropping, when it counted. It counted now more than ever because Remus had become unreasonably attached to Logan and when he heard Roman talking to himself and mentioning the name of his favourite little nerd badly he knew it was now or never. It took two excruciating hours of sitting still and listening to get the juicy stuff. He almost got caught by their mother twice. She’d only been home for three days and she’d checked on Roman twice in one night. If Remus told her about the amount of effort he was putting into something she might keel over dead from shock. 

What a funny sight that would be to him. His mother, dead from the shock of his hard work to do something good, thumping onto the floor. He laughs a little, quiet enough to keep Roman from hearing. His brain supplies the rational next step of Roman running out of his room and distraughtly cradling their mother’s head in his lap. Roman sobbing. Roman blaming him. Roman screaming about how it was his fault. And it would be, if she died like that. Remus doesn’t think it’s all that funny anymore, but once the train of thought starts it can’t be stopped. He decides that eavesdropping isn’t fun anymore and makes his way to the kitchen, trying to shake the idea of his brother cursing him out for killing their mother out of his mind. 

It doesn’t really work, but he tries anyway. The kitchen is full of distractions, good and bad. The knives in the block look so enticing to his self-proclaimed ‘shitty-dick-wad brain’, but the cookies he nabs from the cupboard are so easy to shove into his mouth that he figures it evens out. He sits at the kitchen island and doesn’t even bother to turn on the light. It takes six cookies in his mouth at once before he can direct his thoughts somewhere else momentarily. How in the hell is he going to combat Roman’s plan? He spits all the cookies onto the counter as his brother walks in, flicks on the light, and sighs deeply.

“You could at least do that onto a plate.”

Remus just shrugs, so Roman speaks again, “How’s your evening been?”

“Before like...five minutes ago I was really liking it.” Which was true, Roman slides into the seat next to him and picks a cookie from the box.

“What changed?”

“Shitty brain,” He replies, “Y’know how it gets.”

“I do indeed. Do you need anything?” His voice is surprisingly soft with him, to the point where Remus has to give him a confused look before deciding what to say next. He figures out how to fuck with Roman’s plan in that moment.

“I wanna go to Party City and terrorize the night staff.” 

Roman only chuckles, Remus watches his twin put away the cookies and grab his car keys from the bowl on the counter. 

“Come on then, we can buy some of those plastic babies you like so much.”

As Remus is falling asleep later that night, his chest feels warm. He attributes it to the upcoming scheme-ruining scheming. It’s easier than admitting that that was the first time Roman had willingly hung out with him alone since elementary school. He knows the next morning that Roman is most likely buttering up because he suspects Remus knows. Which is...fair. Even if it hurts a little. They get coffee on the way to the theatre and separate. They both have important things to do. The best part about their somewhat rocky-relationship is that they always know where the other is in order to avoid each other. Remus knows that Roman has gone to see Janus and probably make heart eyes and pine over him like a dumbass. Roman knows that Remus is off drooling over his arch nemesis. Today it is more imperative than ever. During practice Remus manages to steal Logan’s backpack while he’s busy. 

He swaps the contents out with the six pounds of glitter he bought the night before and shoves Logan’s things into his bag for safe keeping. Nobody would dare look into Remus’ bag for fear of gore or weird pornography, even if he only has one in his bag at the moment. He’s shoving a small notebook in when he catches a title. “Hamilton Performance Experiment”. It takes literally all of his self-control not to immediately snoop. He makes it through, eventually meeting up with Logan and even carrying his bag to ‘be nice’ so Logan doesn’t pick up on the bag glitter. When Roman walks by with his coffee and “trips”, spilling his coffee all over Logan’s bag, Remus smiles. 

“Oh! Logan I’m so sorry! What a terrible accident!” Roman cries, ever the actor. 

Logan looks downright frantic as he lunges for his bag and rips it open. Glitter goes everywhere. Logan’s hair, Roman’s shoes, the entire dressing room floor. The look of distress fades from Logan’s face momentarily, returning full force when he realizes his things are missing. 

Remus pulls them out of his bag in secret, walking to the corner of the room, walking back and exclaiming, “What a good prank Roman! You must be taking some tricks from my book!”

When he hands the things back to Logan, Logan smiles. He decides not to ask about the notebook. 

July 27th - One of the props from the prop room was moved in with my things. I suspect Roman because of the look on his face when Remus took the fall for me. 

Just because he didn’t ask about the notebook does not mean it left his memory. By the time he gets in the car alone with his brother he realizes that Roman is pissed off at him.

“Couldn’t you have left it alone? How did you even find out!?” 

“I have my ways. Now shut up about it before I tell mom about that time in 8th grade-”

“Okay! Okay! I’m shutting up!” 

And he did. However that included no longer voicing his plans out loud. Which meant Remus had to get creative. He was very very good at getting creative. 

Dinner with their mother was much more quiet that week. Both twins brooding and not speaking with each other, their mother only prompting Roman to talk. It was too familiar in the worst possible ways. Remus despised his mother, but he knew how much his brother loved her. She was...well she was beautiful, intelligent, a very influential fashion designer, extremely supportive. Roman would go on about how perfect she was for hours. Sure, Remus could concede that their mother was beautiful, intelligent, and a very influential fashion designer, but whenever Roman talks about her he never says she’s at all a good mother. Especially not to him. He watches her laugh breathily at one of Roman’s shitty anecdotes from practice and decides he’s had enough of family dinner. He gets up and dutifully cleans his plate and places it in the dishwasher. The chef gives him a smile, and he smiles back. 

“Remus, dear,” His mother begins in her shrill voice, “If you’re not going to eat with us, at least go and shower. Your smell is unbecoming.”

Then she turns back to her food like she didn’t just attempt to insult him. Jokes on her, it takes a lot more than that to hurt his feelings. He still ends up forcing himself into the shower for thirty-five minutes that night.

The rest of the week he’s more tired than usual, which the others notice. He makes an effort to not be, he really does. When his mom is in town, everything just sucks. He hangs out with Janus three times and Virgil once to get out of the house and away from his family. The other nights he spends sitting outside the convenience store with a monster or two. He ends up calling Logan one of those nights out of need for company. Logan chuckles when Remus makes up a silly reason for calling that he can’t even remember now, but he can remember Logan’s laugh. He listens to Logan talk about the book series he’s been reading and he feels a little lighter. He never ends up finding out what Roman has planned, but it’s so easy when it’s happening right in front of him. Despite his lethargy lately, he feels a fire lit in him when the missing prop is found with Logan’s bag. 

Virgil and Janus are the only two teenagers with keys to the prop room. If Logan stole the missing prop, he would have had to steal the key. No one but the twins even knew Janus had a key, and Virgil was dead set on not letting a soul into the prop room. The idea that Logan, precious little innocent fucking lamb Logan, committed theft not once but twice enrages Remus. When they find it with his things, Logan is utterly baffled. Then he realizes the implications and his face pales. Roman calls for Thomas, spouting off about how Logan stole the prop and he should face consequences, when Remus laughs as loudly as he can. 

“Hah! You guys are so funny! You think specs could ever!? Guess my prank worked out pretty damn good if you actually think Mr.Goody-Two-Shoes could commit such a heinous fucking crime!” 

Thomas sighs, tells Remus to just ask next time, and leaves. Roman stares at his brother for a solid minute with his mouth slightly ajar. Janus and Virgil are both looking at him like he’s insane because it’s so obvious to them that Roman did it. Patton is looking not at him, but at Logan, with so much concern. And Logan...Logan stares up at Remus with the look of a small and confused animal.

“Did you really do that?”

“Of course I did! I’m the resident rat bastard, I have to cause a little recreational chaos.”

He’s pretty sure Logan believes him until they’re leaving for the day and Logan whispers a ‘Thank you’ to him as he walks by. He would have melted into the floor if Janus hadn’t put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him down to whisper to him.

“Why the hell did you let Roman get away with that?” Virgil is on his other side now with a scowl.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about JJ! I committed a very heinous crime!”

“Then why did Roman ask to borrow Janus’ key earlier?” Virgil asks, and Remus drops his smile to replace it with an annoyed look. 

“He just fucking asked for it!? I can’t even believe I’m related to that half-witted twit.”

“Yeah,” Virgil scoffs, “Not really the sharpest sword in the armoury, is he?”

“Please, we’ve known that for years. What I’d like to know is what are we going to do about it?” This quieted Remus, but made Virgil smirk a little. 

Janus continued, “After the backpack incident, and now the stealing incident, I’m half-convinced we have a brand new chaos demon in the group.”

“At least Remus’ chaos is fun sometimes,” Virgil mutters, “Roman’s just an ass.”

Remus gets away with being quiet as they talk until they get into Janus’ beat up old van. He doesn’t call shotgun, doesn’t slap the car's ‘ass’ as a joke, he just climbs into the back and sits there. He’s so quiet that Janus and Virgil are a little shell shocked. 

“Remus?” Virgil asks quietly and pensively, it sounds just like that soft tone Roman used with him last week. 

He’s quiet, Janus starts the car and clicks his tongue, “I’m going to shove Roman down a flight of stairs.”

“Don’t.” He manages, and the boys in the front seats go quiet. Virgil passes him the aux cord. 

He plays “Call Them Brothers” by Regina Spektor and Janus and Virgil know that tonight will be a very quiet outing. 

They’re sitting at IHOP drawing dicks on their pancakes in syrup when Remus’ phone rings. Janus and Virgil know who’s calling the second Remus sees the caller ID and smiles. 

“Evening Logie-Bear, why do I get the pleasure of hearing your devilishly sexy voice in this IHOP tonight?” Remus says and Janus groans loudly.

“You’re at IHOP?” Is the first thing Logan says, which makes Remus smile even brighter.

“Yes, sir! I’m with Virge and Janny too, you wanna say hi?” 

Logan sounds a bit contemplative when he mutters, “I was hoping you’d be alone...”

Eavesdropping Janus and Virgil make surprised faces, Remus smacks Janus in the arm, “Oh you were, were you? Why? Phone sex?”

“I wanted to ask for an opinion on a predicament.” Virgil smirks and Janus nabs his phone to speak for Remus.

“Remus would love to-Remus let me talk-You should come have some pancakes with us-Ow, watch the face!-and tell us all about how your science is going.” Janus can hear Logan hiding his laughter through the phone as Remus wrestles with him in the booth. 

“It’s more of a philosophical predicament.”

Janus nearly sees red, eyes widening and making Remus cackle,“Why in the world would you ask Remus Grimm about phi-”

It’s silent for a few moments then Logan hears a familiar voice. “It’s Virgil, we’re at the IHOP on 81st and Green.”

Logan laughs brightly, “I’ll be there. Order something for me.”

They spend the evening with breakfast for dinner, and the four get into a fairly heated friendly debate about moral ethics. Janus isn’t sure he’s ever had more fun in his life. When he’s driving away from Virgil to drop Remus off at home, he can’t help but smile at Remus’ improved demeanor. 

“Remus,” He starts after they’re alone, “I thought you and Roman were doing better, did something happen?”

“He tried to sabotage Logan twice for entirely selfish reasons, I wouldn’t care if he dies!” Remus dramatically cries.

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

They’re quiet the rest of the ride, and Janus gets out to give Remus a hug before he goes in. Remus ignores Roman’s questions about his whereabouts and locks himself in his room to try and keep his mood up. It doesn’t work, but he tries. He does. 

August 3rd - Roman gave me a “peace offering” in the form of lunch. I am led to believe he was attempting to give me food poisoning, as Remus ate the lunch and has now come down with food poisoning.

His mother leaves for her office in Paris on August 1st. Roman cries and hugs her, says he’ll miss her, goes on and on about how it’s so terrible how she’s never home. He does this every time their mother and father leave, he has since they were young. Remus couldn’t give less of a shit. His plan now was finding out what Roman’s next move was. Which was hard because they were back to avoiding each other like the plague. They’d spent a few months getting better at being brothers, then one of their parents shows up and ruins it. This time it was great, Remus would never admit it, but it was. Roman made an effort when their parents weren’t around, a few months ago he started doing things like making dinner for them both and bringing it to him, offering to do a load of laundry for him while he was doing it, being mindful of his volume when practicing his singing and acting, all these little things. 

He’d even started initiating physical contact again, which Remus couldn’t get enough of. Literally. An occasional pat on the back, a grab of his hand to pull him somewhere, a light slap to his knee or arm when he said something distasteful. Giving physical affection to Remus was something that seemed to be unique to Roman. It had always been like that when they were younger, and Remus didn’t think he wanted it to stop. Any time he thinks about it he always drifts back to his head against Roman’s knee a few weeks ago when Roman had carded a hand through his hair and then a few minutes later practically tackled him to douse him in perfume The shit smelled awful, but afterwards Roman had slung an arm over his shoulder and gave him a squeeze. That and the closeness with Logan kept him buzzing for the next two days. 

Now there was nothing again. It was like Roman could turn off his affection for Remus and pretend he didn’t exist. Remus tried not to be angry about it, he really did, but he couldn’t stop the fire that he felt when the other people on stage got his praises and affection. Both of them were incredibly clingy, but Roman was so much worse at hiding it and it made Remus nearly scream. He piled all of his affectionate behavior onto Logan, and Logan never really minded. He’d place his head on Logan’s shoulder, hold his hand on stage, sit pressed up against him offstage. He loved it, he did. He loved protecting Logan, talking to Logan, existing in the same space as the dork was exhilarating. He hated having to protect Logan from his brother. There was no way in hell that Remus would let anything terrible happen to Logan, but there was no way he would ever let his brother’s stupid selfish decisions fall back on him. He knows he shouldn’t give a single shit, but he does. 

His tiredness fades with his mother, but he’s still exhausted because Roman keeps trying to fuck with Logan when he knows damn well Remus won’t let him. The selfish ass. This time, Roman has the gall to pull his entire scheme in front of Remus. 

“Logan,” He starts, his affected air is slightly dim today and his hands are hidden, “To apologize for my unkind actions, I have brought a peace offering.” 

Roman hands Logan a little bag from a restaurant Remus swears he recognizes. 

“Oh, thank you.” Logan says quietly, opening the bag and pulling out a wrapped burger. 

Logan takes it out and inspects it as Remus wracks his brain trying to remember where he knows the packaging. It hits him right before Logan takes a bite. This burger is from the restaurant that gave Roman food poisoning a few months ago. It looks like the same burger too. At this point, Remus is half-convinced Roman is taunting him. He’s in a bit of a panic and doesn’t think before he snatches the burger and shoves it in his mouth.

“Remus!” Both call out, the wrapper is still on the end of the burger so he pulls it out then chews and swallows the thing whole. 

He coughs and sputters for almost two minutes after, then shoots Roman an awful glare. 

“What just happened?” Logan asks, extremely puzzled. 

Roman is gawking at Remus again, “Why did you eat that!?” 

“Fuck you that’s why, you horsefucking shiteating egomaniac bastard.”

Roman walks off in a huff, Remus lays on the floor. 

“Are you alright?” Logan questions, handing him a water bottle.

Maneuvering onto his side, Remus takes a sip and his throat feels miles better, “I just straight up ate a burger whole like a fucking snake, how do you think I am dipshit?”

“Hm,” He pauses to think, “Bad.” 

Both boys laugh, and Logan joins Remus on the ground.

“I am beginning to believe your brother has a vendetta against me.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

Logan pauses, looking at Remus who is still occasionally wheezing.

“Are you alright...emotionally?” Remus wheezes and laughs at the same time, sounding something similar to a goose. 

“‘Thought you didn’t know much about those, poindexter.”

“I do not. However, as your friend I feel like it’s important to ask.”

Remus just sighs, closes his eyes, and blows a raspberry at the ceiling.

“Me and Roman are complicated.”

“I can tell.” Remus laughs, Logan really is something else. 

It’s quiet when Remus asks, “Do you hate him?”

“No,” Logan’s response is measured and confident like he’s asked himself this question a hundred times, “I don’t hate him. I think he’s got some things to work out, and is taking out his frustration on me as of late.”

He keeps talking, Remus covers his closed eyes with his arm, “More importantly, do you hate him?”

He almost rockets to his feet when Logan says curiously, “Or, more interestingly, do you love him?”

It takes him nearly two and a half minutes sat up and sipping water, watching Logan pack his things, to muster up the will to tell the truth. 

“Of course I love him. Nobody else is gonna fucking do it.” 

He could barely comprehend Logan’s response to his admission so he shoved it out of his mind with all the force he could muster, then waved a goodbye to him when he parted and left Remus with his mind. 

He ends up going home early because his awful decision ended up actually giving him food poisoning. He takes a sick day the next day, and spends most of the time feeling like shit physically and emotionally. His brain has kept tabs on all the shitty feelings and thoughts he’s had and is now playing out a full length shitty horror movie about his life and his dumb brother and his shitty summer crush. Then there’s that conversation with Logan. The last sentence is running through him over and over again. He keeps coming back to it, though he’s sure Logan didn’t even mean anything by it. Seventeen words and his world was sent spinning. 

“Ah, I understand, it’s hard to love somebody when they don’t act like they love you back.” 

Logan doesn’t even know the half of it. 

August 20th - Roman asked me directly to leave the production. Though I admire the effort, all it achieved was a quite awful night, and an angry lecture(?) of sorts from Janus. I do not believe Roman will be trying this tactic ever again.

Roman tries to apologize multiple times, but something angry and petty in Remus doesn’t accept any of them. They’re both getting more and more frustrated by the minute. By the time the thirteenth of August rolls around they aren’t on speaking terms again and everyone can tell that it’s taking its toll on them both. Remus acts out more than usual against people he doesn’t usually target. He scared an ensemble girl one too many times, to the point where she ended up slapping him. He deserved it, but it still stung. Roman poured himself into his role more than ever, but it only ended up stressing him out even more than usual. When his voice so much as wavered on stage it shattered his confidence. 

It affected their friends as well. Roman spent more time with Patton and Emile, avoiding Remus and Janus as much as he could possibly manage. Janus rolled his eyes but just resigned himself to the tech booth with Virgil, Remus, and Logan. The only good thing that was happening lately was Janus’ newfound attachment to Logan. The pair's insane intelligence and love of debate meant one was nearly guaranteed every other time they were in the same room. It was exhilarating to watch, and probably exhilarating to take part in. Remus didn’t much care for debates, but watching Janus and Logan go at each other with an occasional snarky comment or new suggestion from Virgil was making him grow a fondness for them. At this point there was barely anybody in the theatre who didn’t adore Logan.

The staff, the cast, the tech. Everyone adored him. He was smart, diligent, and hard-working. He asked questions, didn’t undermine others, and respected the entire cast's talent at what they did. It was magical to watch everyone in the auditorium drift under Logan’s thumb. Remus was included. They were saving Say No To This until near last because of the lack of dancing involved, but it didn’t even matter. Say No To This was not needed in Remus’ seduction plan because Logan seemed to gravitate towards him with ease. He is a damn good friend and Remus is determined to make that boy his bride. 

Despite his growing lack of sleep and reliance on caffeine, Remus is skating by just fine without anything bad happening. Until his brother decides to fuck with his life again. He’s on the thin line between being shitty in secret and full-on breakdown, Roman really isn’t helping his case. Remus is lounging on the floor while Logan reads in a chair next to the makeup mirrors. He hears someone enter, but isn’t bothered enough to move. 

Ever the polite, Logan greets the newcomer “Ah, Hello Roman, how are you?”

“I need to ask you something.” His brother asks, and Remus turns his head away from the noise. 

“Alright, what is it?” Logan sounds so measured and calm.

There is a long pause, “What is it going to take for you to realize you should quit?”

The calmness in Logan’s voice wavers, and Remus can hear it wobble, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me! I mean, it’s obvious I've been trying to get you to leave, so what’s been keeping you!?” Roman raises his voice near instantly, that same childish selfishness burns from his tongue. 

“It is none of your business.” There’s a dignified fire raging under his voice now, it’s like he’s been practicing for this. 

“You’re not even a good actor! From what I can tell, you’re entirely uninteresting and way too intellectual to be here!” Roman continues, Remus feels the urge to get up but he can’t find the will to move. 

“Roman, please think before you say something you regret.” Remus knows what Roman is going to say before it happens.

“No!” His brother is so typical, “You have no idea what this role means to me, why can’t you just leave!?”

That’s typical too, Remus opens his eyes and looks at the pair. Logan looks pissed off, Roman looks pissed off, and Janus is watching from the doorway. 

“I try very hard to give you the benefit of the doubt in regards to your debilitating egomania, but it is beginning to appear as if your whole sense of stability and purpose is built upon some false reality where you need to be the star at every possible moment. Go to therapy about it, and leave me alone.” Logan spits this in Roman’s face, then turns back to his book. 

Clenching his fists and staring at the ground, Roman looks almost defeated until he catches Remus staring and his face morphs into something so bitter he has to force himself to look away. 

“No. I will not leave you alone until I get this part. None of you have any idea how much I need it.” 

“Roman-” Janus speaks up daringly from his spot by the door, his tone is enough to warn him to stand down. 

Roman’s eyes are squeezed shut, his fists are clenched, “I know we have the same face, but I’m not a failure like my brother.”

That sends Remus to his feet and out the door before anyone can say a word. As he passes Janus on the way out Janus tries to stop him but he pushes past him, past everyone, and out the front door of the theatre. 

Janus turns on Roman in an instant, walking slowly into the room and shutting the door with purpose. Roman’s eyes are sewed shut and all the guilt he tries to push down floods him when he makes eye contact with his pissed off friend. 

“Roman, we need to have a talk.” 

[mxrcayong]

the avatar series: 01.13

masterlist.

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chapter twelve

~ flashback to 24 hours before ~

Roddie was practically imprisoned in the mayoral home. Guards were deployed all over the mansion, basically preventing her from even thinking about sneaking out past curfew, which was put at 7pm. Before, she wasn’t even done with her transit from school at 7pm. She was banned from leaving any time before 9am or after 7pm without ‘proper supervision’, making her essentially trapped in the same home as the father she despised.

It’s not like she has despised him all her life. In fact, he was an amazing father growing up. He was the one who taught her about how bending was ingrained and imperative in their culture, who taught her about the history of bending. Consequently, when he became mayor and eight years ago and his opinion rapidly changed, Roddie could practically recognized the man she called her father. Her confusion quickly changed to anger. Yes, before he was mayor – there was a mayor before who implemented the anti-pro-bending laws, but growing up; he always enthused to Roddie how much he would like to take her to one. Once he got the position of power, it seemed like he completely changed and became worse than the person before him. And when he started acting on his position of power, Roddie didn’t hesitate in separating herself from her father.

Consequently, for the last few days since the attack on the abandoned warehouse, Roddie has barely left her room. Her hopeless plans of avoiding her father initially consisted of her napping throughout the day and then working throughout the night, essentially giving her a completely different time zone from her father. However, her father was a politician. He’s practically always working. Not only that, but the staff in the home would always wake her up for meals – her mother insisting on hosting family dinners.

Being a politicians’ daughter made all eyes on them, especially now when the current news focuses on the politics of their society. Often, Roddie would use her attention to call out the government – which did nothing to repair her relationship with her father – however, this is the first time she’s been forcibly banned and censored by her parents and the staff.

Roddie cannot complain about this attention, especially if it meant that their family meals would almost always be interrupted by calls from other government officials or the press. Fortunately, this means her time with her father was interrupted.

Tonight’s dinner felt like the ordinary; a tense silence, the awkward clinking of utensils, the small conversation between her parents, and the resounding noise of chewing that took over any silence. Underneath the table, Roddie had her phone out – using her utensils with one hand and her other hand was texting her friends.

to: (glopo nerds + roddie): I actually hate this so much

to: (glopo nerds + roddie): kill me now pls

from jeyes (glopo nerds + roddie): can you just say you need to study?? we do still have an exam in a month

from lele (glopo nerds + roddie: I see why you call him a nerd now.

to (glopo nerds + roddie): excuse you you’re included

from lele (glopo nerds + roddie): I would offer to come over but I’m in a similar situation lol

One benefit from living in the mayoral estate rather than her dorms? She’s literally a street away from Chenle. Normally, she’s an elevator ride and multiple hallways away. Chenle was quite literally her neighboring home. It was why she saw him as a brother – for the last eight years, they lived next to each other.

to (glopo nerds + roddie): group call in 30??? Imma try to eat fast and get the hell outta here

from nana (glopo nerds + roddie): sorry too social for you guys 💁♀️  

from jeyes (glopo nerds + roddie) even for me??? 🥺

to glopo nerds + roddie: we literally have no other friends, shut up

from nana (glopo nerds + roddie): why you gotta expose me like that 😡  I s2g ik what parents mean when they say raising children ain’t worth it

Rolling her eyes at her friends, Roddie chewed her food faster but struggled due to the texture. She was debating asking one of the chefs to put the food aside for her to eat later, but she knew her mother would only make her finish eating now. Roddie was hungry – but her hunger couldn’t even motivate her to stay around her father longer. The anticipation to leave didn’t last long as a phone call soon brought her father away from dinner and to the other room.

Usually, he closes the doors – wanting the meetings to be private, especially if Roddie was there. She was known for calling out the government, and if she knew any of their secrets? He was certain they would be all over the news the next day.

But this time, he left the door open.

“Zhong, Amon,” His voice was faint and muffled by the door, but Roddie basically did everything she can to focus on what he was saying. “Don’t you think this is going too fast?” Robotic yelling could be heard from the phone. “Wait, what do you mean a reporter has been asking you questions?” Could he mean Tari’s so-called ‘best friend’? Roddie thought. “Why does this have to speed up-“He was interrupted…and he started walking away from the door. But, Roddie couldn’t deny the panic rising in his voice. In her eighteen years of life, Roddie has never heard her father’s voice rise in octave and spill quickly.

Her eyes widened, and this didn’t go unnoticed by her mother. “Aye, anak,” When her mother speaks in her family tribe’s native language, Roddie knows she’s about to get in trouble. “You know this is serious times. Please do not escalate things. You do not know what is going on.” Roddie remained silent, rolling her eyes. She didn’t want to be like her mother – standing idly by, being submissive to her father just because of the traditional roles she was raised to live by.

Practically stuffing her face – Roddie stopped caring about the possibility of choking. “IM DAHN.” Roddie screamed, her mouth still full of food. Ignoring her mother’s critique on her manners, she sprinted up to her room on the second floor.

As soon as she got into her room, she let her back land on the back of her door. Sliding down to a squatting position, she started texting one of her best friends.

To lele: hey hey emergency, can we meet?? Your dad isn’t there right???

From lele: he just left, why? Whatsup?

To lele: was it after a call?

From lele: ye how’d you know?

To lele: I overheard the calls…do you wanna be the Watson to my holmes?

To lele: the bess to my Nancy?

To lele: the hastings to my Poirot?

From lele: I’m in ONLY if you stop comparing us to famous detectives

From lele: the teachers in class heard you once and I think they genuinely thought my name was watson for a month

From lele: also im not always the sidekick smh 🤬 I s2g can I be appreciated more pls

From lele: whats up?

“Are you sure it’s safe to invite them?” Chenle asked Roddie as the two waited in the foyer for their bending friends. “They’re benders… they’re more at risk than us.”

Roddie rolled her eyes, “It’s nothing. Honestly, Jeno barely bends unless in a designated area. We know him, he’s a damp towel when it comes to bending.” Chenle laughed at the joke shared between them that Jeno is nowhere at all funny. The laugh, hopefully, covered up his fears he had for the safety of his friends. “Plus, Jaemin is my partner-in-crime, the Robin to my Batman, the-“ Roddie was about to continue listing characters, but the look on Chenle face practically threatening to leave right now stopped her. “I can’t do activist shit without him.”  

“How are you expecting us to leave your house by the way?” The younger boy furrowed his brows, “I was allowed because I’m legit a minute away. My guards saw me enter your house. But how do we get out of here?” The older girl and mastermind behind the plan pulled out her best puppy dog eyes, making Chenle’s eyes practically roll to the back of his head. “What is it?” He practically growled.

Roddie started swaying, trying to act cuter. “Do you remember the old mannequins I had when I was into fashion for like a month?” Chenle nodded. “Can you help me look in the basement for them? We can say we’re sleeping over.”

“Where will our legs be?” Chenle almost yelled but hushed it to a whisper as guards started walking past them. “Your mannequins are legless.”

“Pillows?” Roddie said, more as a question.

“You didn’t think this out properly, did you?” Roddie ignored his question. “Do you even know where they have gone?”

Her eyes went wide momentarily, before she pulled put her phone. “I may or may not have taken photos of some documents I’ve seen laying around, maybe the address of the factory is in one of them.”

“Factory?” Chenle clarified. “Do you mean the factory on Bumi Boulevard?” Roddie’s eyes widened. How did he know classified information? “Listen, because you have a bad relationship with your father doesn’t mean I have one with mine!”

After thirty minutes of rummaging through the basement for the old mannequins and some wigs that could even remotely match their hair color and some of her father’s old college shirts to put on the mannequins. Scattering the four mannequins around the room in a somewhat cohesive manner, they had two mannequins lying down on a beanbag and two on the bed – both lying down facing the opposite direction. Roddie couldn’t help but be more thankful that Jaemin had dyed his hair bright blue or else they may not have been able to find a wig.

Screaming out her room saying they’re ‘going to be studying and then ‘having a sleepover’, Roddie blasted music in the room and the three took off. Roddie knew all the secret exits, and although the house is more guarded than usual, the four are all wearing black and due to the darkness of the night, can easily be concealed. Additionally, the guarded element of her life comes from her designated guard checking in on her every hour.

Another thing Roddie couldn’t be happier for? Jeno having a driver’s license. Bumi Boulevard, although is connected to the train station, Chenle mentioned how its in more of the outskirts of the city. “You do realize I’m not some valet.” Jeno teased, climbing into the driver’s seat with Jaemin in the shotgun.

The car lifted off the ground. “Every time you invite me to go out at night, it’s either a sleepover or when you need a ride.”

“Don’t take it personally, Jeno.” Jaemin commented from beside him. “It’s just because you don’t like parties and the only time Roddie goes out at night, other than with us, is to party.”

“That’s a noble reason!” Roddie tried to convince him, “I’m respecting your preferences.”

“Whatever.” Jeno was teasing of course. As much as they say he isn’t funny, he’s quite funny and Roddie cannot deny it. “Okay, so let’s go over a game plan. We can’t just waltz in.”

“We can’t?” Roddie asked, genuinely confused. She’s pretty much used to getting access to most government buildings, unless her father has told the police to ban her from entering. That usually happened once she breaks in. She didn’t even know about the factory yet, so it’s practically impossible that she’s been banned.

“Jaemin, I can’t give her the look or else my eyes will be off the road.” Jeno groaned. “Can you glare at her with disappointment for a minute? Maybe for even twenty? Never have I heard a more stupid statement in my life.” Jeno teased. Roddie slapped the head rest of Jeno’s seat in offense. None of them expected Jaemin to actually give Roddie a disappointed look for five minutes as Chenle started brainstorming ideas.

Jaemin interrupted Chenle’s idea of ‘dressing up like barbeque delivery guys’ with even more disappointment than Jeno implied him giving. “You guys are literally their children. Does anyone-“ Jaemin let out a soft ‘ah’ when he saw Jeno with a backpack, “Just say that you have something in your bag you have to give to your dad.”

“Okay, well it’s probably best to me.” Chenle noted. “Everyone knows how much Roddie hates her dad.”

“What if they go through the bags?” Roddie asked, remembering the security checks in the government building. “Jeno, did you pack anything that can somewhat resemble a gift?”

“I think?” Jeno questioned himself, voice full of uncertainty. “I mean, at this point, because of school and stuff, I just carry the bag out of habit. I haven’t actually touched it or opened it and saw everything inside for like…a month?”

Roddie cringed in disgust. “Okay, well, as long as there are no condoms in there or snotty tissues, I can imagine it being okay.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t okay. “Sorry to ask, but what exactly of these are you giving to your dad?” The security guard asked. Somehow, they managed to convince them that Chenle needed to bring his friends inside to reduce his anxiety about being in a government facility. Honestly, Chenle was glad this person was someone he hasn’t seen before – or else they would know Chenle basically lives in the city hall when he wasn’t with friends.

He was faced with the contents of Jeno’s bag; some lint, a beaten up water bottle, protein powder, a ‘5 free coffees’ card that expired a month ago with only three coffees being used (Jaemin scowled so hard at Jeno for not letting Jaemin use it at the sight of it), and a laptop in a casing that definitely didn’t belong to a government official.

“Oh, he left his…personal laptop at home.” Chenle lied, scratching the back of his head. “He messaged me saying he needed it…I couldn’t find his laptop case though, so I put it in…mine.” The laptop case in question? A plain white one, which had some unfortunate drawings of penises on it with sharpie (Chenle can take credit for the first penis on there- having drawn it when Jeno fell asleep during a lecture).

The security guard nodded, obviously somewhat skeptical. They sighed. “Okay, well, he’s in the meeting room with Amon so just leave it in his office. I think they’re having a private talk.” They noted, “All the guards were told to leave that floor.”

Chenle quickly nodded. The four of them nod politely and thanked them, before running to the closest map they could see inside the factory. The factory seemed to be completely made out of metal and with more levels underground than over it. Thousands of rooms surrounded the edges, but something about the factory felt like an auditorium. The floors above the very bottom floor seemed to act like balconies looking down at the center. She could see what happens on the bottom floor, which she would say is approximately 17 floors below her on ground level, from her position next to the map on the pillar. “Okay, so my dad and your dad are in the office with…Amen?”

“Amon.” Jaemin and Roddie said in-sync, remembering his name from all the news reports he’s been on.

“Right, Amon…” Chenle trailed off, before trying to understand the language on the map. It wasn’t something he’s seen before. In fact, they weren’t even words. They were numbers in some sort of sequence that doesn’t quite make sense to him, despite practically being an expert in math. “Uh…I don’t get it.”

Roddie decided to look around. Chenle and Jeno were the best at numbers. Her and Jaemin? Not so much. He once said 20 – 10 = 0 during a quickfire round of trivia. So her best bet is to observe while Jeno and Chenle analyse the plaque of the map on the pillar.

“Do you think we can find a lab coat or one of the uniforms?” Roddie asked, breaking away the trance of her friends on the plaque. “So we can get into more rooms easily.”

Jaemin snapped, grinning widely as he looked at his partner-in-crime. “Okay, I bet we can find a broom closet somewhere.” And that’s what Jaemin did. With no regards to walking into a private meeting or caught, he started trying to open any door he could see that seemed unlocked.

Behind the first door was a female bathroom, the second door was a weird test-tubey room, the third was something Roddie couldn’t even describe. It felt like some perverse and illegal version of the ‘Price is Right’ with the prices becoming more and more obscure.

Until finally, they got to a room resembling a locker room. And luckily for them, saw a cabinet labelled ‘extra uniforms’. “Thank fucking Roku.”

It felt like they were in the metal labyrinth for hours. Their hearts were consistently racing, worried about getting caught. Roddie and Chenle eventually had to disguise themselves – many guards offering to escort them to the office, to which they would always say ‘I’m heading to the bathroom’. They couldn’t feel luckier there were only so many workers here that they haven’t come across the same one twice, or else they would look like they’re having quite serious bladder problems.

They had no sense of time. The only thing that reminded them of the time was the clocks on the walls, notifying them it was now one in the morning. They got here around 10. That means they spent three hours trying to locate their parent’s secret office.

But normally, they’d be done with their meetings by now, right? Roddie thought back to all the times her father’s meeting went over time…it’s usually when something didn’t go to plan or it’s something with more risks than they thought. Shit, Roddie started biting her lip so hard – it bled at first contact with the tip of her tooth. We’re really in trouble. But she started praying they just went home by now. I hope.

It felt like a miracle the moment they got into a room that resembled an office. It required some failed attempts at lockpicking from Roddie and Jaemin, before expertful lock-picking from Jeno, who refuses to tell anyone how he learnt it. “Maybe Jeno is cooler than you guys.” Chenle teased, sneaking in behind them into the office. But the cocky words that left his mouth were the last of the same tone.

He was full of awe. This was Roddie’s dad’s office. Around the room had photos of Roddie as a child and family photos. While he was frozen in place, everyone else went searching around the room. It wasn’t long before they opened every drawer, every file (Chenle used his hacking skills to good use to open every computer file), every potential secret entrance handle – everything was turned upside down and sideways.

Everything they saw broke their hearts. Chenle’s and Roddie’s due to the destruction of their nation and Chenle’s disillusionment of his father, but Jeno’s and Jaemin’s because they could no longer feel safe.

But one folder revealed a lot. The folder title was ‘BENDING RALLY 001 – THE INITIAL STAGE’. Dozens and dozens of files and blueprints describing an event happening in a few days fell out as soon as they opened it.

“What is this?” Chenle said, almost as if he wasn’t there himself. He wasn’t like Roddie where he believed the worst in his family, particularly his father – but the documents proved otherwise.

Plans and blueprints of technology that would remove one’s ability to bend. Plans to temporarily disable their bending in order to ‘make a safer world’. But the blueprints show a sprinkler with an ‘anti-bending’ chemical in it, bracelets that look like Apple Watches with a band comparable to a single side of a handcuff. Both were made to suspend people’s bending – although there was minimal information on the blueprints if this will be permanently or temporarily suspended. A plan was made to have a registration event, mandatory for benders to come at a certain time and pick up the tool that’ll be oppressing them. There was another note saying they have to have a backroom for Amon ‘to do his magic’. What magic?

There were thousands of lists on the desks. From names of every citizen to the city to the lists of confirmed benders forced to register their bending ability due to their profession, the duo noticed that all lists focus on potential or confirmed benders living in Sooman. But one list caught Roddie’s attention.

On the top, the list showed how the official filtered and created this list. The categories were the birth year and which tribe their family has come from, according to their social identity information.

The list contained ten people and a message on top ‘to investigate these ten immediately’ and ‘nullify their risk’. Roddie couldn’t even imagine how they will be ‘nullified’.

There was one name that shouted at her, as if the black text suddenly became bold and red and underlined a million times. There was no way, Roddie thought – trying to recall her every interaction with them. It can’t be …but they don’t know that, they might kill them. She took out her phone and texted someone who could get to the bottom of this. Only once her information is confirmed will she tell them. She didn’t want to panic them.

But even as she left, the visual of ‘Tari Kotala’ dead center in the list of identities haunted her like a devil on her shoulder.

request anything for future parts / penny for your thoughts here

[helloalycia]

fake dating [seven] // brie larson

summary: just when you think everything has gone to plan and you got the girl, life has a funny way of showing you otherwise.

warning/s: none.

author's note: okay so this is the last part, im afraid! This was so fun to write and ended up longer than I imagined lmao but im really glad y'all like it! I won't be doing more parts, however, I think I've got a brie x you book brewing if you want it so yeah, stay tuned :)

one | two | three | four | five | six | masterlist

          Brie and I were stuffing ourselves at the buffet table, our plates filled high because the appetisers tasted just as good as the food from earlier. I watched her, unable to stop grinning at the fact that we were actually together together.

         She was laughing, her eyes squinted adorably and her laugh lines portraying her happiness at this moment. I couldn't have asked for a better sight.

         "Watch, I can get this in my mouth," she said, sure of herself, her hazel eyes meeting mine.

         "Brie..."

         "Just watch!" she said, before setting her plate on the table and tossing an olive in the air. She opened her mouth to catch it, but of course she was way off and it hit her on the head before bouncing onto the floor.

        "Ten out of ten," I said teasingly, to which she shoved me, almost making me drop my own plate.

         "I can usually catch it," she said, pouting adorably. "It's because you stared."

         I laughed. "Oh, yeah, next time I'll be sure to close my eyes and believe you caught it."

         "Thank you," she said, grinning.

         We continued to mess around by the appetisers, still stuffing ourselves with food, until we heard the music cut off and an announcement coming from the stage.

         "Can everybody please come to the stage where the bride will be making a speech!" a staff member said, his voice blasting through the speakers and to all the guests.

         I looked to Brie with confusion. "I thought speeches were done."

         She shrugged, unsure herself, before taking my plate off me and setting it          on the table.

         "Hey, I was eating that!" I complained, about to pick it up again, but she stepped in the way and pushed me forward gently.

         "We gotta hear what your mum has to say," she said, smiling with amusement. "Food after, I promise."

        I sighed, but intertwined my fingers with hers, letting her lead me to the small crowd of guests that had formed. My mum was on the stage, standing in front of the mic. I noticed how she didn't seem even the tiniest bit nervous. She never was. I didn't understand how her and I could be so different from one another. If I was up there, I'd probably faint.

        "If I could have your attention please," she began, looking out at everyone.

        The chatter went quiet before a silence formed. All you could hear was the mic tuning and the sound of the waves on the beach in the distance.

        "I know we already did speeches, but this is a little different," she said, her voice radiating confidence and certainty. "It's more of an announcement."

        I waited patiently, wondering what she was going to say. I saw her glance to the left, at Isaac who was stood offstage but smiling encouragingly at her. She looked back to everyone before continuing.

        "As you all know, today has been a massive step forward in my personal life," she explained, a smile on her lips. "It's a change I have welcomed with open arms and it's only made me realise that there's other aspects of my life that I wish to move forward with."

        I furrowed my eyebrows with confusion.

        "Most of you here are friends and colleagues of mine," she said, nodding. "I'm grateful for all you of. Meeting so many people in my line of work is something I anticipated. Being a lawyer and having my own firm is something I am thankful for. But I've come to a point now where I realise that it's a chapter of my life I'm ready to finish."

        I raised my eyebrows as everyone began to mutter between one another. I recalled what Naomi said about her giving away the firm, but I never realised it could actually be true. Is that what she was going to announce?

        I looked around, trying to see if Naomi and Kieran were here when finally, I caught Naomi's glare from across the crowd. She was fuming, her arms crossed and her brother shaking his head with annoyance.

        "Hey, you okay?" Brie asked quietly, squeezing my hand.

        I met her eyes. "I, erm, I don't know."

        She cocked her head to the side questioningly, but she didn't get to say anything because my mum was speaking again.

        "It took a lot of planning, but I have decided to give my firm away," she announced, everyone's eyes on her. Her eyes scanned the crowd before they met mine. "Y/N, I want to give it to you."

        I gulped down the lump in my throat as everybody turned to look at me. I suddenly felt really warm.

        "Now, you've made it very clear that you don't want to be a lawyer," my mum said, a bit of sourness still present in her voice that only I could detect from the millions of times she'd said that to me, "but this is different. You can sell the firm if you want. Or manage it. The possibilities are endless. I just want you to have it. It should stay in the family."

        I breathed out, pursing my lips. People were looking between my mum and I, expecting one of us to say something else. Even Brie was surprised, her eyes boring into the side of my head.

        "Well, honey?" my mum spoke, a flicker of confusion crossing her expression.

        I finally found my words. "Mum, I can't accept."

        I heard people gasp around me, mumbling between each other as they looked me up and down judgementally. Any one of these people would snap up the opportunity to buy this firm - it made millions.

        "Erm, what was that?" my mum asked, her smile forced now.

        I shook my head, speaking louder. "No, thank you!" All eyes were on me and I tried to focus. Brie smiled encouragingly and I remembered what I wanted to say as I looked back to my mum. "It should stay in the family, yes, but it should go to Naomi and Kieran!"

        I looked to my cousins, seeing the shock on their faces. My mum seemed speechless for one of the first times in my life. I didn't want the firm. I didn't need it. Yes, I could probably make a fortune like my mum, but that's not what I wanted. I had everything I needed. Plus, as annoying as Naomi and Kieran were, they had worked hard and deserved the firm.

        "I see," my mum finally spoke, earning everyone's attention. Her signature business-meeting smile was back on her face as she said, "The firm shall be passed down to my lovely niece and nephew, Naomi and Kieran."

        Nobody knew what to do at first, but then somebody started to clap and everyone joined in, cheering for the siblings and moving their way to congratulate them. I breathed out with relief and tried to ignore the glare coming from my mother.

        "Food?" I asked Brie, wanting nothing more than for her to drag me away from the inevitable yelling I was about to get.

        "Er, I think your mum wants you," she said, looking a little frightened when she pointed over my shoulder.

        I closed my eyes, sighing to myself, before turning around and seeing her stood with Isaac offstage, motioning for me to come to her.

        "You said you wouldn't leave me alone," I told Brie, before dragging her along with me.

        The two of us approached my mum and Isaac and she did not look happy.

        "Y/N, I need to speak with you privately," she said, containing her annoyance as best as she could whilst her eyes flickered to Brie. "It's a family matter."

        "Brie is part of the family, as you've said countless of times," I pointed out, not letting go of Brie's hand. "Whatever you say to me can be said in front of her."

        My mum breathed out before nodding. "Fine. Care to explain why you embarrassed me up there like that?"

        "Now, Y/M/N, that's not what you said you would say," Isaac spoke up before I could.

        My mum clenched her jaw before nodding. I looked at Isaac gratefully, who smiled apologetically.

        "Why don't you want the firm, Y/N?" she rephrased, less aggressively.

        "I didn't ask for it," I said calmly. "I don't need it. I already have everything I need."

        "You didn't need to ask for it," she said, shaking her head. "You're my only child. It's a family firm. You're my family."

        "So are Naomi and Kieran," I stated. "And they really wanted it."

        "You don't even like them!" she shouted quietly.

        "Y/M/N..." Isaac reminded her.

        "Sorry," she mumbled, before looking to me. "I never thought you would advocate for them when you've made it very clear how you feel about them."

        "I know I say stuff, but at the end of the day, they deserve the firm more than I. You're giving it to me out of obligation. They actually want to make use of it. They can continue your work with their talent and your name. You chose me over them because of this false sense of pride you have for me."

        Her expression softened. "I am proud of you."

        I smiled sadly. "Why? Because I now have a girlfriend? I'm still the same person, mum. Still a school councillor. Still living in a flat. Still not going to the gym, or buying designer clothes. I'm still me. Except I have a girlfriend who just happens to be famous. What's changed?"

        She stayed silent, looking between Brie and I. Isaac watched me, nodding his head as a proud smile appeared on his lips. I felt recognised for a change.

        "I shouldn't have come here under these circumstances," I admitted. "Brie and I weren't together, okay?"

        "Y/N-"

        "It's okay, Brie," I said, letting go of her hand as I smiled confidently at her. I looked back to my mum, who was surprised. "We weren't together. You assumed we were together because you didn't listen, mum. You never listen. I faked it. It started off as a way to make you proud, but I know I can never do that. Then it turned into me proving a point. But now I know none of that matters."

        "So, what, this is fake?" was all she could ask, motioning to the two of us.

        I shook my head. "It was very much real. Just not in the way you thought. And we're together now. That's one of the few amazing things to come out of this whole thing."

        I breathed out as my mum avoided my eyes, her expression unreadable.

        "Not so proud anymore, right?" I asked, cracking a sad smile.

        "Y/N..." Isaac began, before staying quiet. He could only speak for himself, and I didn't want to hear from him right now. I wanted to hear from the one person who wasn't saying anything to me.

        "I love you, mum, but I deserve to be treated right, despite my personal relationships and life choices," I said, finally believing my words.

        It was quiet for way too long, at least that's what it felt like. She wasn't even looking at me.

        "Thank you for coming," she finally said, but she didn't look my way as she walked away from us all.

        I closed my eyes, sighing to myself. I tried not to get my hopes up with her, but this time I really thought... I thought she would at least acknowledge my words.

        "She's going to come around," Isaac said, and I opened my eyes to see him moving forward and pulling me in for a hug. I returned the hug, frowning a little.

        "She won't," I said, sure of myself. We pulled away and I said, "Thank you, though."

        He smiled sadly. "I should go and check on her..."

        I nodded and he walked away. I pinched the bridge of my nose, tilting my head back as I willed a tear to go back into my eye. After a moment, I let go and turned around to see Brie smiling sadly at me.

        "I'm sorry that didn't go how it should have," she said softly, stepping forward and taking my hand, holding it between both of hers, "but I'm really proud of you for telling the truth. All of it."

        I felt my throat closing up horribly, a familiar feeling I always felt before I cried. I shook my head, willing myself to hold it in. "I thought... I thought telling the truth was supposed to hurt a lot less."

        I knew my mum was like this, so why was I surprised? She'd said horrible things to me in the past, but I didn't know her saying nothing would hurt so much more. My heart ached.

        "I'm so sorry, Y/N," Brie said, pulling me close to her, and I closed my eyes, tucking my head into her shoulder as she held me.

        I didn't cry - I couldn't, not here, not now. I felt silly. But Brie comforted me anyway, rubbing soothing circles on my back as I tried to ignore the pain in my chest.

***

        I breathed out with relief as I settled into the aeroplane seat. Brie and I were on our flight back to L.A and one of my least favourite things was getting through airport security. Thankfully though, we were in first class (because of my mum's pre-paid tickets) so the seats were super comfortable. Unfortunately, my mum was on the same plane as us, so I still had to see her and Isaac off when we landed.

        "Stop thinking about it," Brie said, pulling me from my thoughts. I glanced at her seat beside me and she was giving me a knowing smile. "I can tell you're thinking about it."

        "I can't help it," I said, shrugging my shoulders. I leaned on her shoulder, cuddling into her arm. "She's not speaking to me, Brie. It's been more than 24 hours."

        Brie pressed a kiss to the top of my head before leaning on me, too. "She'll come around. Isaac said so himself."

        I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing as I chewed the inside of my mouth nervously. My mum hadn't said a word to me since the wedding and at first, yeah, it hurt a lot. But I couldn't not speak to my mum. She was my mum! She couldn't just leave and not speak to me ever again. Could she?

        "You're still thinking about it, aren't you?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

        I sighed. "Maybe."

        "Think about something else," she suggested. "Food. Movies. Going back home. Anything else otherwise you're going to be upset the whole flight back."

        I sat up straight and held Brie's hand. "You're right." I looked at her, smiling as I saw how cute she looked. She was wearing no makeup and her hair was pulled back into a little bun. She was wearing an oversized hoodie and she looked so comfy. I was a little jealous.

         “What are you thinking now?" she asked, leaning on the armrest and meeting my eyes with a smile.

        I smiled wider. "I'm thinking about how cute you look. And also that I regret not bringing my own hoodie because you look really comfortable."

        Her cheeks went pink as she shook her head. "Uh-uh. Eyes off. You're not getting my hoodie, Y/N. This one's my favourite."

        "I never asked for it," I defended, chuckling.

         “You don't need to," she retorted, shaking her head still. "Eyes off."

        I laughed now, leaning forward and giving her a haste kiss. "I don't want it, don't worry."

***

        "I can't believe you stole my hoodie when I was asleep," Brie mumbled, sulking as we grabbed our suitcases off the luggage carousel.

        "You shouldn't have taken it off," I pointed out, grinning. "Totally your fault."

        She narrowed her eyes at me, shaking her head distastefully. I laughed, pulling the sleeves over my hands comfortably.

        "Smells like you," I revelled in the scent. "I love it."

        "I'm right here!" she said with raised eyebrows. "Smell me, I don't care, but don't steal my hoodie!"

        I laughed as we walked away from the luggage carousel, away from the bustle of other people collecting their luggage.

        "You can have it back if you really want," I told her, giving her my best 'serious' look.

        She stared at me curiously, before sighing with defeat. "You're lucky you're cute."

        I grinned, leaning forward and kissing her gently. When I pulled away, a hint of a smile was playing on her lips.

        "Right. Are you sure you've got everything?" she asked, her eyes scanning our luggage. "Not left anything behind?"

        I nodded. "I'm sure."

        She nodded, doing a final check before looking at me, her expression softening. "We should say goodbye to Isaac and your mum."

        My smile faded as I breathed out slowly. "Right."

        She gave me an encouraging smile and intertwined her fingers with mine. I accepted her comfort and looked out to the luggage collection point, searching for either Isaac or my mum. I eventually saw them grabbing the last of their bags before they turned, heading our way. They hadn't seen us at first and I considered just leaving. But when Isaac looked up and gave me a bright smile, I knew I couldn't.

        "You got this," Brie whispered as they stopped before us.

        I smiled at her before looking to my mum, seeing she was looking to the floor. Great.

        "Well, girls, I guess this is where we depart ways," Isaac spoke first, looking between us. "It was a pleasure having you both at the wedding. And Brie," he looked to Brie, smiling appreciatively, "you're a lovely woman. It was an honour to meet you. I hope this isn't the last time. Especially now that you and Y/N are official."

        Brie grinned. "Thank you for having me, Isaac. And I hope not either. Congratulations, once again."

        Isaac looked to me and I choked on my own words for a moment, until I felt Brie squeeze my hand.

        "Thank you, Isaac," I finally got out, letting go of Brie and hugging him suddenly. "For everything. I'll make sure to bug you with a call every week, yeah?"

        Isaac chuckled, returning the hug. When we pulled away, I noticed his eyes were a little glassy.

        "I'd really like that, Y/N," he said, unable to stop smiling now. It warmed my heart.

        I glanced at my mum, wondering if she was going to say anything. She was still staring at the floor.

        "Hey, Isaac, do you think you could help me do something?" Brie suddenly spoke. "Over, erm, over there?" She nodded to the left and I realised what she was doing. So did Isaac, too, as he nodded enthusiastically.

        "Yes, of course," he said, and the two of them walked away to give my mum and I space.

        My mum was still quiet though and I felt nervous, remembering how she walked away the last time we spoke.

        "So is this it?" I asked, grabbing her attention. "We just don't speak anymore?"

        She pursed her lips, but didn't say anything.

        "I don't want to not speak to you, mum," I told her, frowning.         

        She sighed. "I don't want to not speak either."

        I felt my racing heart slow down a little. She was speaking. That was good, right?

        "Okay, well, what now?" I asked. "You want to yell at me? Because go for it! I don't care, you can embarrass me in front of Brie and Isaac and complete strangers. It's okay."

        She cracked a small smile. "I'm not... I'm not angry."

        I furrowed my eyebrows. "You're not?"

        She shook her head. "No, Y/N. I'm just... I'm sorry."

        I widened my eyes, certainly not expecting that.

        "You were right," she said, nodding. "About what you said. I don't listen. I don't treat you fairly."

         I didn't know what to say. She usually never listened to me and she was insanely stubborn, so this was different. She was acknowledging her actions and it was something I'd only ever dreamed she would do.

        "You're not a kid anymore," she continued. "You have a life. And when you were a kid, you had to deal with me. You couldn't push me away. But now you're grown up and I don't want to lose you."

        "Mum, you'll never lose me," I said instantly, stepping forward and resting a hand on her forearm. "Yeah, you piss me off at times, but that's just who you are. I'm used to it. I still love you. I always will. I just wanted you to realise that sometimes your words hurt."

        "I get that now," she said, a tear slipping from her eye which she immediately wiped away. I was shocked at how this was affecting her. I didn't think she cared. "I'll be kinder to you, I promise."

        I smiled. "I can't wait to see that, honestly."

        She rolled her eyes and smacked me on the shoulder playfully before pulling me in for a hug, which I happily accepted.

        "I'm proud of you, Y/N," she said honestly, holding me at arm's length when we pulled away. "I mean it. You're happy and I'm glad. And Brie is wonderful. I'm glad you're both together."

        "Thank you," I said, smiling at her. "I'm sorry I lied at first."

        "I deserved it," she muttered, making me laugh. "Look. I don't want us to be like before where I'm lucky if I get a call every now and then."

        I nodded in agreement. "I'll visit you more. I'll call more. I promise."

        She smiled. "Good... now I think we should wrap this up because Isaac and Brie are trying really hard to listen to what we're saying."

        I glanced over my shoulder and suppressed a laugh when I saw the two of them pretending to have a conversation, but making it obvious they were listening in.

        "We're all good, you guys can come back," I called to them.

        They came back to us immediately, smiling hopefully.

        "All good?" Brie asked quietly, looking at me with concerned eyes.

        I smiled. "All good."

        She smiled with relief, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Awesome. I'm glad."

        "I guess this is goodbye for now," my mum said, grabbing our attention. She looked to Brie, smiling with gratitude. "Brie, dear, thank you for attending our wedding. As Isaac said earlier, I hope we can see more of each other in the future."

        Brie nodded, smiling politely. "Of course, Y/M/N."

        "First you guys should honeymoon it up," I said, looking between my mum and Isaac. "Which reminds me, where are you guys going for your honeymoon?"

        "That's undecided," Isaac said, giving my mum a knowing look. "Somebody can't make up her mind."

        My mum waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, there's no rush! We have plenty of time to decide."

        We all laughed and Brie nudged me gently, making me look at her.

        "I know where you get your indecisiveness from now," she mumbled in my ear, making me glare at her playfully.

        "Okay, girls, our taxi should be waiting for us, so we should really get going," Isaac said apologetically. "Are you both okay for a ride or...?"

        "We'll be fine," I said, waving my hand. "You guys go. I'll call you tomorrow?"

        "We look forward to it," my mum said, smiling with relief.

        We all exchanged hugs once more before bidding Isaac and my mum a goodbye. Brie and I also went our own way, managing to find a taxi to take us back to our flat. I felt so much more happier as we sat in the backseat, on our way home.

        "I'm really happy for you, Y/N," Brie said, squeezing my hand. "You did good."

        I smiled at her with adoration. "Couldn't have done it without you."

        "Yeah you could've," she said with certainty. "You're strong. That's why I love you."

        I was a little surprised to hear her say that, and she must have realised what she said because her smile faded and any confidence she once had was now gone and replaced by nervousness.

        "I- erm-"

        "You're honest," I cut her off, not breaking eye contact. "That's why I love you."

        She raised her eyebrows with surprise, but eventually a toothy smile broke out on her face.

        "I love you."

        I grinned. "I love you, too, Brie."

[alitaimagines]

request: “sooo, i could i have an imagine where hongou has an s/o. to like go off your foreign imagine with hongou where they have a foreign s/o and they get hurt and they’re upset but in the end, they come out and win the game? like the cliche move and hongou is like, omfg i’m in love? like im actually in LOVE.” 

hongou masamune x fem! reader (requests open)

fandom: ace of diamond / daiya no ace 

You looked up at Jingu Stadium with a smile on your face. This was the Meiji Jingu Stadium. The stadium that every baseball and softball player wants to end up at. It was like a myth but a myth that was real. 

“We’ve made it.” Your teammate Akari said. “We’ve made it to the one place where everyone thought we wouldn’t go too.” 

You smiled as you wiped a tear from Akari’s face. This was dream for you and your team. While the boys had won three major tournaments, this was something even bigger for the school. This was the first time the girls team had gone all the way to nationals. 

You were facing Hakuryuu High School. They had been dominating the tournament so far. They had a no hitting streak and you couldn’t lie, you and your team were a bit intimidated. Their pitcher, Fuyuko, was a beast on the mound and for the first time, Hokkaido was an underdog. 

As both teams entered their respective tunnels, you peeked out the curtain. The stadium was filled. Fans of both schools as well as family and friends. You knew that Hongou was in the front row with Renji and the rest of the boys team. 

“From Southern Hokkaido, Komadai’s Fujimaki.” The announcer said as you grabbed your schools flag and held the pole against your shoulder. “Captain ( your full name) leading Komdai’s girls softball team.” 

You waved the flag in the air as everyone from the Hokkaido section cheered loudly. You placed the pole into its designated section as Hakuryuu walked in the building. You gave an awkward smile to Fuyuko as you tipped your hat to her. 

Both you and Fuyuko exchanged baseball caps as a sign of respect. You looked over to Hongou and he held the same expression. To anyone else, he looked intimidating as usual but you knew when it came to baseball or softball, he took it seriously. When the two of you trained together, it was straight training. No love pecks or easy practices. Straight to business. 

Hakuryuu was batting first so you went to the dugout to wait your turn. When you realized that this game was not like the others, Fuyuko had already struck out your first three batters. You gave your coach a look of nervousness as she patted your back to get on the field. You heard the chants of your name from the stands but you couldn’t concentrate on it. Your focus was directly on the batter. 

You struggled with the first batter but as the nerves went away, you struck out the next two batters with ease. 

//

The game had everyone clutching to their seats. It was the bottom of the sixth and it was still tied at zero. Your team broke the no hitting streak as a few of your teammates had gotten on bases but nothing came of those loaded bases. 

You were up to bat as you looked at Fuyuko with an evil expression. You were determined to make a home run. As you went to swing the bat, instead of feeling the impact of the ball on the bat, you felt the ball hit your right shoulder. You dropped the bat as you held your shoulder in pain. 

The umpire blew the whistle as everyone on your team crowded you. The umpires ruled it an intentional hit. Fuyuko let them take her away as you were the only one to notice the small smirk on her face. 

Tears ran down your face as your manager as well as one of the on staff medical trainers escorted you to the back rooms. Before you realized what was happening, you were already running back to the pitcher and immediately sized up to her. 

“You realized that you were going to lose so you resorted to intentionally hitting a player? What are you, a dumbass? Did you forget that you could actually hurt someone and leave them with a permanent injury?” You screamed to her. “If it wasn’t for my arm, I would have kicked your ass by now.”

She didn’t say a word as Akari grabbed you and started begging you to leave her alone before you got ejected. Your manager dragged you back to one of the rooms as they started to check on your shoulder. 

//

The seventh inning was dragging as you sat in the room with the lights off. The staff had left the room as you laid down to ice your shoulder. When you seen the door open, you knew it was Masamune. 

“I don’t care about the score.” You stated as you hid your fresh tears. “Whatever happens, happens.” 

Masamune grabbed your hand as he flipped the lights on, “Well, if you didn’t know, the officials ruled you back in the game if you’re feeling okay so get up.” 

You gave him an annoyed expression as you turned your back to him, “My right shoulder is probably dislocated. Fuyuko intentionally hit me. What makes you think that I’m in any kind of mood to go back out there? To lose? I’m sorry but I’m not you. I will lose this game if I go back out so I won’t.” 

Masamune grabbed your left hand, “You dumbass, your left pitch is solid. At what point did you forget that?”

Masamune was right. He had been working with you on your left-handed pitch. It wasn’t exactly as good as your right-handed pitch but it was enough to make a team scared. You turned around and gave him a look of realization. 

“Holy shit, you’re right.” You screamed as you screamed at him to help you put your jersey back on.

The two of you walked back through the tunnel. Masamune held your hand as you gave him a kiss. It lasted longer than expected as he deepened it. When you pulled back, he motioned you to enter through the dugout. 

Your manager immediately screamed in surprise as she and the rest of the team questioned why you looked like you were about to play again. 

“You can’t play!” Akari screamed. “Your right shoulder is dislocated. We can’t have you play through an injury!” 

You laughed as you looked over to Masamune who didn’t say a word. He sat down on the bench as he motioned you to hit the field again. “Just because my right arm is injured doesn’t mean that my left arm is.” And with that, you walked back to talk with the umpires. 

They allowed you back to the mound as they announced the change in pitchers. You scanned the crowd and noticed that not only were the boys cheering as loud as possible, your mom was in the crowd with tears running down her face. 

You noticed that someone was already on third base but they only had one strike left before they were out. You begged to any god listening to you to give you a miracle tonight. You would even sell your soul to give you the win. 

You shook off your left hand before throwing the pitch. Akari caught it in her glove and gave you a tearful smile. You threw the next pitch and although it wasn’t perfect, you struck her out. 

You instructed the plan to the team. Try to have Akari get to first base to throw them off and have your third baseman bat for you. They followed through and Akari went up to bat. She looked to all of you and you gave her an encouraging smile as she swung the bat. It wasn’t until the third throw that let her get on first base but she did get on first base regardless. 

Your third baseman got on plate and you instructed her to bunt it. If they didn’t see the bunt, they would let it roll enough to get Akari to home. Bunts were  Hakuryuu’s challenge and you were determined to exploit it. As soon as she swung the bat, instead of it being a bunt, it turned into a heavy it which gained enough momentum to be a home run. 

You screamed as you jumped off the bench. Your third baseman, Gina, as well as Akari, sprinted until they got to home plate. You ran to them and gave them a tight hug. 

“Even if we get struck out, that’s the end of the inning. We’ll win as long as we get struck out!” You screamed as you noticed your shortstop hitting the plate. You whispered to her to swing just to finally end the game and she did just that. She intentionally swung even though Hakuryuu’s pitcher tried to make them foul balls. 

As she swung to the last ball heading her way, you were already on the field tackling her. Hakuryuu had lost the game and you were now the first team in Komadai’s softball history to actually win nationals. 

Since your right arm was injured, the president of Jingu stadium tapped your left shoulder as she showed you the trophy. You screamed to the team as they realized what you were holding.

You handed off the trophy to Akari as the boys team made their way on the field along with your mom. You hugged your mom tightly as she started worrying about your shoulder. When she seen Masamune approaching you, she released you. 

“I’ll leave you two alone.” She whispered as she went to talk to your coach. 

You ran into Masamune’s arms as you didn’t bother to hide your PDA from the media. He whispered congratulations into your ears as he tried to tell the media to back away from you. 

Before you knew it, you kissed Masamune once again as he tenderly rubbed your right shoulder. He knew that even though he helped you and trained you, you winning the tournament was entirely your doing. He wasn’t going to take the spotlight but he did want to continue to kiss you so he didn’t let you go when reporters ran up to you as you broke the kiss. His eye twitched in annoyance as he held your hand as you spoke to the reporters. 

[nightwingswing]

Kiss (Gotham!The Riddler x reader)

Hello my lil wings!

Hope youre all having a wonderful day/night!

This is a special request from @chosenone233.

Today is their birthday!

Happy birthday @chosenone233! Hope you have a wonderful day today!

Tags: @hamsterforlive @electra-writes33 @plethora-of-things @totallovelesson @wonderlace19 @crazyfreckledginger  @algentforthewin 

Remember if you want to be tagged in one or all my fics or have a request/idea or anything, my askbow and DM’s are always open! Feel free to ask!

Now, hope you all enjoy!

Happy Birthday!

                                          ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Easter

You know what that means?

…

Spring break!

Yaaas!

Finally!!

You and your roommates have been waiting for this vacations for months!

You three shared a dorm over at Lynchburg College. For months you heard them planning their trip to Florida when they gave you the perfect idea.

You were going on vacations too!

Where?

hmmm…..Oh, i know!

To Gotham city!

///*\\\

It had just stopped raining when you arrived over to the Gotham Royal hotel, one of the best (if not The best) hotel in the city.

As you checked in, the young man behind the desk gave you a smile as he gave you your keys to your royal suite. You smiled back as you thanked him, the man’s work partner smiles too as she gifts you with a huge basket with your favorite fruits and sweets.

You smile brightly and thank them, walking slowly with both your new basket and your bags over to the elevator.

A few minutes later, you were putting your folded clothes in the closet as the bag laid in the big table.

The room was amazing.

Big with lots of natural light, a big soft bed with silky sheets. A big couch and a tv with also a big table. The bathroom was impressive, with a big bathtub with massage, a shower and fancy comfy towels.

As you finished putting everything on its place you smiled and checked the time.

Hmmm...It's pretty late, so you decided to have a quick breakfast in a good coffee shop you’ve heard non-stop since you arrived.

Gotham Cafe

After that you’ll go sightseeing for a bit and look for a clothe shop or sewing store to buy some new cute fabrics for your new designs.

You never thought you’ll also meet a charming beautiful man there that would steal your heart!

///*\\\

You entered the rather small coffee shop to be greeted by the soft hum of peoples talking and the sweet smell of coffee and freshly made croissants.

You had been kinda busy going over the photos you made about some adorable kittens in Gotham’s park and also a few beautiful flowers you had just seen in books before.

So far you were loving it here!

You had been so distracted that you didn’t see the tall man in a fancy silky suit as you bumped into him, letting out a soft yelp of surprise.

You apologized profusely, embarrassedly looking down at your spilled books as the man tries to calm you as he helps you pick your books.

Quickly as you snatched the last book from the floor, you apologized again and ran to the counter, cheeks burning hot.

Not realizing you had left your Design notebook in the hands of the suited man.

He smiled.

“Cute.” He grins as he pulls his bowler hat on his head and walks to the counter  too, being immediately greeted as he peeped on your book.

///*\\\

As you finished ordering your french toast and Orange juice the man  from before coughed softly as he smirked.

“ Hello, miss (l/n)” He greeted, charmingly.

You jumped a bit surprised as you turn to him. Your cheeks blush as you stare at the handsome man.

He had nice brown hair and beautiful eyes behind metal glasses that framed his eyes, nice cheekbones and a breath-taking smirk.

You let a flustered shy “Hello” back

“Nice going, (n/n)” You thought as you chewed on your lower lip softly.

He let a charming laugh as you smile back.

“ Beautiful designs, I must say. I’ve never seen such beautiful designs.” He smirked.

“T-thank you…?’”You confused looked at him, thinking how would he know. “Wait how did you-” You sighs as he smiles, his knowing eyes telling you you already knew the answer.

And you did, honestly.

He noticed as he smiled and held your book out for you. You blushed harder as you grabbed it from him, your fingers touch for a bit as you two look at each other for a long while.

“ Have someone ever told you that you’re more enchanting that all the words in a book?” He smiled at your flustered state.

“I-Okay, thats kinda cute.” You smiled. “ Almost as cute as your dimples.” You wink, as now he was the one blushing.

“ Oh? Well clearly you must have been told once that you’re more beautiful than any goddess? I will be your worshipper,my queen.” he says, as he kisses your hand. 

You were blushing madly at the last line, as you softly“ Your eyes are like pools i’d love to swim in...such perfection...” You said, as effectively you got lost in his eyes until...

“ Miss, your order” The waitress says kindly as she holds your order for you,. You smile as you thank her, slighty out of it because you were on your fantasyland just now.

The man was waiting for you on a small table, holding a coffee on his hand. You shyly smiled as you took a seat.

“My name’s Edward, Edward Nygma. Thought you may call me Ed.” He smiles. You smile back.

“ I’m (Y/n), (Y/N) (L/n). But you kinda knew.” You smiled sheepishly. He smiles back.

You two talk for what feel like ages. He told you how he was Mayor’s Cobblepot chief of staff. You told him how you were a college student with the dream of becoming a fashion designer. The Two of you bonded over liking Riddles, Reading. Also you complimented him for his suit choice. A very good suit honestly.

He blushed slightly as you smiled at him.

You liked him.

You liked him a lot.

///*\\\

As you listened to Ed talk about his last work you finished your juice and smiled at him. He smiled back.

The two of you keep looking at each others with a complexity behind your eyes as your faces came closer.

Suddenly your phone beeped, breaking you from the fantastic view that was Mr. Nygma.

You blushed madly, coughing to cover for your embarrassment.

“ Im so sorry! I must go, I want to go sightseeing before I look for a sewing store!” You said as you gathered your books.

He got up too as he held the other half of your books and held a hand out for you.

“ Then let me be your guide, I’ll give you the best tour of all of gotham!” He smiled, his eyes light with happiness.

He was nice, cute and handsome so you weren’t going to say no.

“Sure! Sounds very good to me” You smiled as you hold to his arm.

“Then, my lady.” He said kissing your wrist sweetly, making you blush. “ Welcome to Gotham.”

///*\\\

Ed was a total sweetheart.

And oh my, Were you in love with the man.

OKay okay, it’s a bit cliche I know! But he and you just...clicked. He was the perfect man for you!

You two got so many things in common!

That’s what your thoughts were as him and you went out of the sewing store, he holding your bags with the new fabric like a gentleman. You smiled, thinking what a wonderful day it had been.

First he had taken you to an even more impressive than the Gotham’s garden. Then he took you around main street and the business there. After he saw you looking with a bright smile at a tv showing an ice skating competition, he took you to Gotham’s ice ring. Where, with his connections, you were able to skate for a bit.

You smiled at him, cheeks rosy as he talked about how he wishes to soon see your work completed. You smiled at him and told him he would be the first to see, to which he gave you a weird deep look that you brushed back.

“ I should go back to the hotel, it’s almost dinner time” You frown, wishing to stay with him a little while longer.

“Oh! How about we go to a nice italian restaurant I know? It’s the best in the city, besides I want to spend more time with you. You're so...fascinating” He smiles. You blush and chew your lip.” My treat” He kisses your hand sweetly, his beautiful eyes look into yours and you knew the answer.

“ Sure! sounds perfect to me!”

But let’s be honest, no one can say No to his cuteness.

He smiles as he guides you to his car.

///*\\\

In the end took you to beautiful restaurant, which looked really expensive for a college student. It smelled wonderful in there, as if they took a slice of Italy back into Gotham.

You and him took seat in the best table of the restaurant. Still chattering over the last scientific theories you had read about.

While you effusively tells him about your personal favorite, on his imagination, his dark side materialized next to you, he whispered to him his deepest desires of keeping you and never letting you go. About how perfect you were for each others. How beautiful and smart you were.

You could keep with his talks.

And he really, really loved that.

As he looked at you with lovestruck eyes the food arrived.

Before his dark self disappeared it kissed your cheek as you held your plate of (f/pasta).

“Don’t let her go, Ed” It smirked at the suited male.

“Oh I won't.” He thought to himself as he smiled sweetly at you. “ I will do everything to make her stay with me.”

///*\\\

After you finished eating, Ed suggested a walk around the property. Turns on the owners had a big beautiful garden full of flowers and plants naturally from the Tuscany of Italy. As you and ed walked around, the moonlight setting a comfortable romantic air, he stopped suddenly, making you bump into his back softly.

“ Sorry, Seems like I like bumping into you, must be magnetism” You joked/flirted. But the seriousness in his face made you stop.

His cool hand touched your cheek sweetly as his hand wrapped around your waist.

“E-edward?” You asked, blushing madly as he pulls you closer.

“ Riddle me this, (Y/n)...” His deep voice says softly, lips brush against yours

“I am just two and two.

I am hot. I am cold.

I am the parent of numbers that cannot be told.

I am a gift beyond measure, a matter of course.

I am given with pleasure when taken by force.

What am I?”

You were so mesmerized by his passionate eyes that your lips parted, tongue dried and cheeks aflame, with a small voice you answered.

“-a K-Kiss-” Your sweet voice said but soon was cut off as his chapped lips slammed into yours in a sweet soft kiss.

Your first kiss.

Oh snap it was wonderful.

You were surprised, nonetheless. But soon your eyelids closed as your hands buried in his soft dark locks, your lips followed his, shyly and nervously. It was quickly wash away as he pulled you flush in an hug, deepening the kiss  as your lips caressed and worshipped each others.

A soft moan escaped from your swollen lips as his forehead joined yours.

“ (Y/N), I like you...i like you so much. I’ve never liked anyone quite like i like you…” He caresses your cheek sweetly, smiling and blushing. Glasses slightly ajar from the kiss. You pull them straight as you smile at his cuteness “ I think-no, I am in love with you. I want to get to know you more, i want to be with you...Please, Would you go with me?” His blush was redder than the roses in the garden, he looked gorgeous with the moonlight caressing his features.

After a bit you smiled, the surprise was quickly changed by love as you kiss his lips chastely.

“ I thought this was already a date, Ed” You winked, making him smile softly and murmur a “yeah, it kinda was” with a sheepish look. “ But Yes. Yes i will. “ You hold his chin as your plump lips kiss his. “ I love you too, Ed.  A lot” His smile was bright and loving as he peppered sweet kisses on your cheeks. “ Thought, you've stolen something from me.” You smirk.

“ Oh yeah? What, my beautiful princess?” He smirks back, hugging you and pulling you close. his lips glued to yours.

“ Riddle me this...If you break me, i do not stop working.  if you touch me, i may be snared. if you lose me, nothing will matter…” You whisper seductive.

He smiles as he pulls you deeply into a kiss.

“ Your heart.” He sighs against your lips as you share a passionate kiss under the moonlight.

[frickfrackjimin]

The Right Reasons - 01

⇻ 2 years ago, Jay Park left you in the dust when he chose another girl over you during the season 14 finale of the Bachelor. Now, it’s your turn to find a chance at love as the new Bachelorette. Pairing: OT7 BTS x reader (ft. members of Monsta X, Seventeen, and NCT 127 bc why not include all of the groups I stan) Genre: fluff, future angst, lowkey crack/humor (this is a kpop fic version of the cringiest show on television cmon now) Words: 8.1K  Inspired by: The Bachelorette! I’ve been watching since Kaitlyn’s season and once Becca’s season started I got the inspo to write this! Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, slight language, guys being assholes (don’t take the way I portray any of them to heart, it’s simply for the plot of the story!), super cringe bc this is based on shitty reality TV anyways!!! sorry no interviews or intel on the guys… unless i decide to switch it up a bit towards the end ;-) we shall see) 

Start of Week 1:

Chae, Hyungwon (aged 28, 5’ 11”, College Professor, Hometown: Gwangju)

Choi, Sungcheol (aged 26, 5’ 10”, IT Consultant, Hometown: Daegu)

Hong, Joshua (aged 26, 5’ 10”, Pastry Chef, Hometown: Los Angeles)

Im, Changkyun (aged 26, 5’ 9”, Marketing Consultant, Hometown: Gwangju)

Jeon, Jeongguk (aged 24, 5’ 10”, Wedding Videographer, Hometown: Busan)

Jeon, Wonwoo (aged 25, 6’ 0”, Software Engineer, Hometown: Gyeongsangnam-do)

Jung, Hoseok (aged 28, 5’ 10”, Journalist, Hometown: Gwangju)

Jung, Jaehyun (aged 25, 5’ 11”, Realtor, Hometown: Seoul)

Kim, Mingyu (aged 24/25, 6’ 2”, Chiropractor, Hometown: Gyeonggi-do)

Kim, Namjoon (aged 27, 5’ 11”, Pharmacy Technician, Hometown: Ilsan)

Kim, Seokjin (aged 29, 5’ 10.5”, Physical Therapist, Hometown: Gwacheon)

Kim, Taehyung (aged 26, 5’ 10”, Music Producer, Hometown: Daegu)  

Kwon, Soonyoung (aged 25, 5’ 10”, Executive Assistant, Hometown: Gyeonggi-do)

Lee, Jooheon (aged 27, 5’ 10”, Graphic Designer, Hometown: Seoul)

Lee, Minhyuk (aged 28, 5’ 10”, Sales Rep, Hometown: Gwangju)

Lee, Seokmin (aged 25, 5’ 10.5”, Creative Director, Hometown: Gyeonggi-do)

Lee, Taeyong (aged 26, 5’ 9”, Sales Account Executive, Hometown: Seoul)

Min, Yoongi (aged 29, 5’ 8.5”, Professional Pianist, Hometown: Daegu)

Moon, Taeil (aged 27, 5’ 7”, Attorney, Hometown: Seoul)

Park, Jimin (aged 26, 5’ 8.5”, Social Media Coordinator, Hometown: Busan)

Seo, Johnny (aged 27, 6’ 0”, Translator, Hometown: Chicago)

Shin, Hoseok (Wonho) (aged 30, 5’ 10”, Fitness Coach, Hometown: Anyang)

Sohn, Hyunwoo (aged 29, 5’ 11”, Mechanic, Hometown: Changdong)

Yoo, Kihyun (aged 28, 5’ 9”, Dental Assistant, Hometown: Ilsan)

Yoon, Jeonghan (aged 26, 5’ 10”, Research Assistant, Hometown: Hwaseong)

Week 1:

The last time you felt this nervous was the night you first met Jay Park.

It was a year and a half ago. You had been invited by the producers of the Bachelor to participate in season 14.

Originally, you had no idea who the Bachelor was supposed to be. About a week before you began filming, you found out it was going to be Jay and your nerves went tenfold.

You had watched him on Jisoo’s season of the Bachelorette the year prior. He had been one of your favorites, but got eliminated after hometowns when Jisoo sent him home to pursue her relationships with the other guys.

Though you were nervous, you tried to not let them show when you got out of the limo. Walking up to him in front of the mansion, you had let all of your anxieties go as you decided to go for the corniest pick up line out there.

“Um, so I think we might need to call the cops tonight,” you had said with a serious face.

“What? Why?” Jay asked back, a concerned look spreading across his face.

“Because it’s illegal for you to look that good.”

That had made him laugh. You patted yourself on the back for making a good first impression, which continued as your relationship progressed throughout the next few weeks.

Before you could even realize it, you had fallen in love with him. So, so in love with him.

Everything he did made you feel so special; he was a gentleman, he listened to you when you opened up to him, and the conversations you had on and off camera were great in your eyes.

Apparently they weren’t that good to him though, since he chose the other girl, Nayeon, over you in the end.

Oh, but the best part was getting to re-watch you get rejected by Jay on television three months later, and watching him propose to Nayeon instead and seeing how happy they were. Yeah, that was just the cherry on top.

Even then, you still couldn’t bring yourself to hate the girl. She had been nothing but sweet to you all season, and it’s not like you could help that you both fell in love with the same guy - you knew that was a risk you had to take when you agreed to go on the show.

Still, you had taken a year off to mend your broken heart, focusing on loving yourself and spending a lot of time with your friends and family.

You also spent a lot of time continuing your work as a travel nurse. You visited numerous cities in the United States, as well as in Thailand and Vietnam, lending your services where they were necessary.

Now, you had time off and wanted to spend that time trying to look for love again. When the producers of the Bachelorette approached you and asked if you wanted to be the next Bachelorette, there was no way that you could say no.

You were ready for a second chance at finding love. This time, you had a good feeling that it would be a success and you’d be walking away with a ring on your finger and your arm around a man who loved you just as much as you loved him.

The season would feature 25 men all fighting for a chance to fall in love with you.

Now in the limo, you can see the front gates of the mansion in the distance. That mansion housed you and dozens of other girls before.

In that mansion, you experienced cocktail parties, emotional rose ceremonies, and went through plenty of drama between the contestants.

Now, it would be occupied by twenty-five of your own suitors. The role reversal would take some getting used to, but you were ultimately excited.

The limo came to a halt, making you shake your head briefly out of your thoughts. You smoothed down the front of your navy blue gown - one covered in sequin beading from head to toe with spaghetti straps and an open back.

Your producer, Chan, had said it made you look like you were red carpet ready, not about to meet twenty five men who probably would never meet your high expectations.

That was the goal though; you knew that if you looked good, you’d feel good too, and hopefully that would give you good judgment on the men tonight.

Stepping a silver heel ounto the stone driveway, you are met with the dimmed lighting of the infamous Bachelor Nation mansion, as well as the face of the show’s long-time host Bang Sihyuk.

After your typical greetings you needed to do for the sake of the camera, Bang walks into the house to await the other men.

Now it’s just you, left alone with your thoughts while waiting for the first limo to pull into the driveway. You can feel the cameras on you from their multiple positions on the driveway.

Some are already in the house, waiting to begin filming the cocktail party and rose ceremony later in the evening.

‘Just remember that they’re all here for you,’ you thought to yourself. ‘You have nothing to worry about, they’re the ones that have to impress you. You just need to be yourself. Everything will be fine.’

The first man to step out of the limo is gorgeous.

His hair is dyed a faded red color, the smile lighting up his face automatically makes your heart flutter. Taking a moment to button his suit jacket that fits him oh so well, you take notice of the black sticks in his hands.

You smile grows wider as he approaches you, arms automatically spreading out for a hug which you are more than happy to return.

“You look absolutely beautiful tonight! Like, wow, I can’t even believe it,” he praises, practically gawking at you but it doesn’t make you uncomfortable; if anything, it’s flattering.

“You look very handsome as well!” you compliment back, being 100% truthful.

“So my name is Hoseok, and if I’m right, I’m the first one here?”

“You would be correct,” you flirt back.

“Well then, I guess it’s only appropriate that we break these bad boys out,” he states, handing you one of the black sticks.

“What is this?” you ask, turning the stick around curiously in your hands.

“I think it’s time that we get the party started!” he exclaims, before pushing at the bottom of his stick. A loud pop sound came from the stick as confetti flew all over the two of you. You screech a bit, both in shock and out of giddiness.

“I guess it’s my turn now?” you giggle, pushing at the bottom of your stick as the other party popper explodes, numerous colors of shimmery paper flying around the two of you.

Letting out cheers of awe at the colors around you, you turn back to face Hoseok, your cheeks hurting already from smiling so much.

“That was definitely a good way to get the party started!” you cheer. “It was so nice getting to meet you Hoseok, I’ll definitely find you inside later!”

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” he smiles, going in for another hug that you gladly accept.

He gives you one last dazzling smile before turning and walking back into the mansion.

You watch him as he walks away, admiring the fit of his suit and thinking about what an amazing first meeting you had.

‘If the rest are like him, I’m screwed,’ you thought to yourself before turning back around.

The staff quickly came by and sweeped up the rest of the confetti before the next man stepped out of the limo.

The second man was tall and named Johnny, with wavy brown hair and a sweet smile.

The man after him had with milky white skin and surprisingly dyed mint green hair. 

He seemed really shy when he told you that his name was Yoongi, and that he looked forward to getting to know you more. 

He had quite the mysterious aura about him, which intrigued you. You made a mental note to try to break him out of his shell tonight during the cocktail party.

Three more men followed out of the limo, going by the names of Jeonghan, Joshua, and Hyungwon.

Jeonghan had a cute smile and laugh, Joshua had pink dyed hair with flustered red cheeks, and Hyungwon was tall and lanky with full lips.

Expecting a limo to pull up after Hyungwon entered the house, you are surprised when you instead heard the sound of a high pitched horn.

Looking towards the gate, you saw a man riding in on a bright pink electric scooter, scarily similar to a Jet X from your favorite childhood show, Zoey 101.

“Oh my gosh!” You exclaimed, laughter pouring out of your mouth before you could stop yourself.

He pulls up to a stop right in front of you, taking off his helmet and shaking his hair out.

“Are you ready?” he asks in a high pitched voice.

You’re cracking up at this point, but manage to utter out an, “Ooh!” to finish off the intro he had started.

The man walks up to you and embraces you in a light hug before grabbing your hands in his. His boxy smile is taking over his face as he begins to speak.

“So, I heard through the grapevine that you loved Zoey 101 as a kid, and I know you see me standing here, and I just had to let you know that you look good, my dear,” he says, theme song puns dropping from his tongue. It’s almost cringey, but he manages to pull it off.

“Well, I would love for you to see my world if it means I get to take a spin on this Jet X later,” you chuckle.

“That can definitely be arranged. My name is Taehyung, by the way.”

You almost miss his name, finally getting a good look at his face without being overtaken by laughter from the theme of his entrance.

His dark brown hair fell into his eyes a little, hitting the tops of his long eyelashes. He wasn’t wearing a tie, but he didn’t seem like he really needed one to look formal.

“It is very nice to meet you Taehyung,” you say, gripping his hands a bit tighter before he lets go.

“I hope to get to talk to you more inside later, maybe over some Blix and Sushi Rox,” he smiles.

“I would really like that.”

As he walks into the house, you follow him with your eyes. He turns around before entering the house and sings out, “Yeaaaah, yeah, yeaaaaah!” which makes you laugh as hard as it did the first time.

You can’t wipe the smile off of your face as the next limo pops up, greeting you with five more attractive suitors.

Mingyu was tall with a lean figure and light brown hair.

Wonho had soft eyes and his suit was threatening to burst at the seams from how muscular he was.

Jimin was small in stature but had a sweet smile that turned his eyes into crescent moons.

Jaehyun had a long nose and dimples.

Kihyun was adorable and just kept repeating how nervous he was, which was more endearing than off-putting.

As soon as the empty limo turned back onto the street, you heard wheels rolling against the driveway, signaling a new arrival. This time it was not a limo yet again.

A blur of a dark green suit jacket and black trousers passes your vision as the man rides a skateboard around on the stone driveway.

Your nerves are a bit on edge watching him, since the pavement was so uneven and he could fall at any moment.

The man does a few flip tricks on the skateboard, which would impress you if you weren’t so worried for his safety.

He does one final trick, flipping into a handstand on his skateboard, before flipping forward and landing right in front of you.

“Wow!” you exclaim because you really are at a loss for words.

“I’m Jooheon, nice to meet you,” he smiles, leaning in and wrapping his arms around you lightly.

“It’s nice to meet you too… wow I’m sorry, I’m still in shock from that entrance,” you stuttered out.

He chuckled. “I’ve been skateboarding since I was ten, it’s just a hobby but I figured it’d make a cool entrance.”

“Well, it was definitely cool, I was so worried you would fall though!” you laughed even though it wasn’t that funny.

“I honestly was worried too! I promise I’ll stick to my feet for the rest of the night.”

“I think that’s for the best,” you laugh.

The next few guys were strange and quirky in their own sense too.

The first man to step out of the next limousine, Namjoon, was adorable in every sense. He had the deepest dimples you had ever seen and tripped on his way up.

You felt bad for trying to contain a laugh, but he immediately began laughing at himself, stating that stuff like that happens to him all of the time. His clutziness was charming.

The next man, Seungcheol, came out with something that resembled a large egg in his arm.

You were hoping that it was something other than an egg, but you were proven wrong when he explained that he wants to be able to take care of you and be a good husband and future father.

To prove this, he would take care of the ostrich egg in his arms for the entire time he is in the competition.

You wanted to be polite, but you were a bit creeped out.

Thankfully, the next few guys were more normal.

Seokjin was the definition of handsome, with broad shoulders and thick lips.

Changkyun had one of the deepest voices you had ever heard and a somewhat serious aura to him.

Wonwoo had narrow, sultry eyes but a contradicting pleasant smile.

Taeyong looked like he was straight out of an anime with sharp features but a soft presence.

With the weird things that had happened so far that night, you shouldn’t have been surprised that someone showed up in a costume. That still didn’t stop the laughter from the surprise that came from seeing a man hop up the driveway in a gigantic grey bunny suit.

“Y/N!!!” he yells from the foot of the driveway as you continue to rumble in laughter at the sight.

Stepping in front of you, he grabs your hands with his fur covered ones.

“So, my name is Jeongguk, I’ve been told by my friends that I look like a bunny and I’m hoping to hop my way into your heart.”

You want to cringe at how bad that line was, but the red on his cheeks and his big doe eyes made you change your comment to, “Well, we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

The final limousine pulls up after Jeongguk enters the mansion, and you ready yourself for the last group of guys to exit the limousine.

The first man, Hyunwoo, had soft features and was very reserved, but sweet nonetheless.

Minhyuk was a big ball of sunshine and his nose scrunched a bit when he smiled.

Seokmin had the brightest smile you had ever seen on someone and you felt immediately comfortable in his presence.

Taeil had a soothing voice and fluffy hair that you just wanted to run your hands through.

As Taeil walked through the door, you thought that all of the guys had arrived. However, your producers proved you wrong when they asked you to stand back a bit on the driveway, closer to the house so the final man could make his arrival.

You were confused, but soon felt the wind pick up around you. Staring up into the night sky, you see the outline of a helicopter as it begins to descend down towards you.

“Oh my gosh!” you scream over the loud sound of the rotor blades. A guy was actually making an entrance on a helicopter?!

You can see some of the other guys in the house peeking out through the fence and even through the front door, observing the source of the loud noises outside.

Once the helicopter touches down and the blades slow to a stop, a man steps out of the rotorcraft. He is clad in black from head to toe, down to his black hair that is gelled back away from his face. He buttons his suit jacket before beginning to walk towards you.

“Figured that we had better save the best for last,” he starts, a quirky smile appearing on his face. “Hi, I’m Soonyoung.”

He envelopes you in a hug before leaning back.

“Well, that was definitely extravagant, Soonyoung,” you chortle.

“The view from up there was amazing, but I think the view I have right here in front of me is better,” he flirts.

You blush a bit, simply replying back, “Very smooth.”

After Soonyoung enters the house, you take a minute with your producers to touch up your hair and makeup, eat a granola bar, and stick a mint in your mouth.

With a full stomach and a fresh coat of lipstick, you enter the house to begin the first of many conversations throughout the night.

Once you arrive in the house, all of the men are ushered into the dining room for the official season photo.

They are lined up in three rows, with you being in the very bottom row in the middle. After about thirty minutes of taking photos and touching up, you make your official on-camera walk out to greet all of the men.

Entering the living room, all of they immediately start applauding you, all standing up from their seats and moving a bit closer.

You blush at the sudden onslaught of attention your way, but had to remind yourself that you would probably have to get used to it.

Namjoon approaches your side, holding out a glass of white wine. You thank him and grasp the stem of the glass between your fingers before turning to the rest of the room.

“Thank you all for being here tonight, I’m so happy to have met all of you, and I hope to get to know you all more throughout the night,” you pause a second, raising your glass. “So, here’s to a great first night, and to a great season, and to finding love!”

The men cheer at that as all of you taking sips from your glasses varying in liquors and spirits.

You feel a tap on your shoulder, turning to see Seokmin’s smiling face.

“Mind if I steal you for a bit?” he asks.

“Of course you can,” you respond, preparing yourself for a long night full of many, many conversations.

A few people into the night, you’re walking on the patio after finishing up conversation with Jeongguk - who had taken off his bunny costume once he got in the house and was instead wearing a maroon and black striped suit with a maroon button up shirt.

Immediately after he enters the living room through the large french doors, Jaehyun is taking you back to a sofa on the patio for his conversation of the night.

“So Jaehyun, what do you do for a living?” you ask, figuring it was a good starting point.

“I’m a realtor in Seoul,” he explains. “I’m normally situated near Gangnam.”

“Oh, that’s not too far from here, is it? Did you not have to travel far to be here?”

“Not really, I work a lot from home too. It’s nice when you make enough of a living that you don’t need to really work full-time.”

Something about his mention of his wealth was a bit off putting, but you brushed it off as him being proud of his success. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your work.

You should know, you could talk about your relationships with some of your patients for hours.

“Although, it’s actually pretty funny. The other week, your ex contacted my company for a realtor because he wanted to buy an apartment somewhere. They sent me out there, and when I saw it was him and that girl he picked over you, I could immediately tell that he had awful taste because the girl he picked was definitely not as pretty and nice as you.”

That rubbed you the wrong way. Even though you know you and Nayeon will never be friends, hearing her being talked down on by someone that doesn’t really know her doesn’t sit well with you.

“Nayeon’s actually really nice, I never had a problem with her, even now,” you assert defensively.

“Okay, well, I’m just saying, I think I got the better end of the deal” Jaehyun shrugs.

That was the final straw for you. You were so consumed by rage for this arrogant man, you don’t even think you could wait for the rose ceremony to send him home.

However, for the sake of not wanting to seem like a psycho bachelorette on the first night of the show, you withheld from screaming at him to get the hell out.

“You can think whatever you want, even if it’s rude and arrogant,” you chime back at him, standing up. “I need to go to the restroom. Thank you for speaking with me. It was really eye opening.”

You stand up, abandoning your now empty glass of wine behind with Jaehyun as you enter the house and head straight towards the restroom.

The cameramen are right on your trail, having caught the entire exchange on camera.

You locked the door behind you, effectively shutting out the cameras before slumping against the door. Resisting the urge to run your hands over your face, you take a minute to collect yourself.

Being reminded of Jay was not something that you wanted to happen tonight.

Of course, maybe a subtle comment here and there could be expected, but when Jaehyun came right out and insulted not just Jay but Nayeon as well, you were shocked and really upset that he would do such a thing.

Exiting the bathroom, you begin to make your way back to the living room to find another man to talk to. A hand lightly grabs your arm on your way back, letting go when you turn to look at him.

Taehyung gives you a sheepish smile. “Can I steal you for a bit?”

You breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of him. “Depends, am I going to get a ride on that Jet X now?”

His deep voice lets out a breathy laugh. “Not tonight, but I do have something else planned I think you’ll like.”

“Then lead the way,” you hold your hand out to him, allowing him to clasp it in his own as you make your way out to a different part of the patio.

It’s more secluded than the previous place you had been conversing, with a loveseat rather than a couch as the choice of seating. You know that the cameramen are following you without even looking.

“You looked a bit down earlier, are you okay? Are you just feeling tired? I know it’s been a long night and it’s not even halfway over yet,” he chuckles, adding some lighthearted humor to his concern.

“I wouldn’t say I’m tired per say, however I will be sleeping very well at the end of the night,” you smile. “Just a little off put by some people here is all.”

“I hope I’m not one of them.”

“No, Taehyung, you’re not,” you assure him, placing your hand on his knee.

“Well that’s good, because I actually wrote something for you.”

He reaches behind the loveseat, pulling out an acoustic guitar. How he managed to hide that without you seeing is beyond you, but it brings a smile to your face.

“I wrote this a few days ago when I was supposed to be packing,” he says quietly. “It’s not finished, but I hope you like it.”

He tunes a few of the strings before he begins to strum different chords. When he opens his mouth to begin singing, your mouth drops open a bit.

His voice sounds like silk, or milk chocolate, or something else that is comforting that you can’t think of.

The extremely deep tone in his voice brings a calming sense over you.

He manages to hit high notes with little problem, impressing you even further.

You find yourself wishing he had prepared more of the song when he strums his last chord, just so you could listen a bit longer.

“You really wrote that, Taehyung?”

He blushes. “Yeah. I’m a music producer so it’s like second nature to me to write about what I’m feeling. I was excited but nervous to begin this journey, you know? I also saw on TV how pretty and genuine and sweet you were, and I really wanted to make a good impression on you.”

You smile sweetly at him. “I think you’re doing a great job at that.”

Mingyu comes over at that time, asking if he can have some time to chat with you.

You of course can’t say no, as much as you wish you had more time to talk with Taehyung.

You both stand up, giving him a hug as he heads back into the house. Mingyu takes a seat next to you, and you try to focus your attention back on him.

“So my team’s research is basically on how certain particles in the atmosphere interact with each other in different climates that they may not normally be found in. With all of the issues with global warming and pollution, it’s really cool and important because-”

Jeonghan had sat down across from you about two minutes ago, and in that time you’ve found out that he is currently getting his Master’s Degree in agricultural and biological engineering.

He was a research assistant in a lab at the local university. You were a little lost on what he was talking about, because even though you had to take numerous science classes when getting your nursing degree, you never enjoyed that part of it. 

You preferred the clinical rounds and the on-hand experience rather than taking microbiology or anatomy and physiology.

“Hey man, mind if I steal her for a bit?”

You look up to see Taeil standing over the pair of you, Jeonghan’s rambling about his research coming to a halt.

“I literally just sat down.”

“I know, I was just wondering if I could have some time to talk to Y/N.”

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes a bit at Taeil before admitting defeat and standing up.

“It was great getting to talk to you, Y/N, no matter how short our time was,” Jeonghan says, shooting a glare at Taeil as he walks away and Taeil takes his spot.

Trying to find the right time to interrupt a conversation is always uncomfortable, no matter what side you are on. You feel for Jeonghan, but you are also a bit thankful for Taeil swooping in and interrupting.

That is, until he begins talking as well.

As soon as you find out he’s an attorney, you have to refrain from rolling your eyes.

Your uncle is an attorney, and whenever he’s not working (which is rare) he is always talking down on you, thinking he’s better because he is certified to be a professional arguer.

You haven’t had the greatest of experiences with them in the past, but you wanted to give Taeil the benefit of the doubt.

However, after conversing with him for a solid ten minutes, and him asking you to expand on your answers at least three times, you felt like your head was about to explode.

Thankfully, another man came by right when you were about to excuse yourself. 

You breathed a sigh of relief when looking upon the face of Seokjin.

Taeil thanked you for speaking with him before he got up and Seokjin took his place.

“So how’s your night been?” he asks, taking a sip of his red wine.

Gulping down a sip of your own white wine spritzer, you nod at him while replying with, “It’s been good! I’ve had a lot of great conversations.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed you’ve had a lot of conversations. Have you been able to eat anything yet?” he asks, concern laced across his features.

“I had a granola bar before I came in the house a while ago, but I’ll be okay until the end of the night,” you assure him.

He clicks his tongue at you. “You need to take care of yourself. They have all of this food catered for us in the kitchen, yet the beautiful woman we’re all here for gets nothing? I just don’t understand. That’s why I brought you this.”

It’s then that you notice the plate of food in his hand. It’s mostly desserts; two brownies, some chocolate covered strawberries, and a rice krispie treat.

Your mouth salivates a bit and your stomach lets out an embarrassing grumble of hunger at the sight.

You widen your eyes at him, being caught in your fib.

(A/N: CAUGHT IN A LIIIIIIEEEEEEEE)

He pushes the plate into your lap, and you accept it gratefully. “You’re a lifesaver, Seokjin. Thank you.”

It was really sweet of Seokjin to bring you a plate of food, even though he could have easily forgone it. It shows that he does genuinely care about your well being and making sure that you are well fed and not just surviving the night on wine spritzers and a granola bar.

“Any time. I couldn’t let all of the men pig out while you sat out here starving until morning.”

“I’ll only eat some if you have a brownie too, and tell me some more about yourself,” you offer.

“Deal. What would you like to know?” he asks before taking a bite out of one of the brownies on the plate.

Your chat ensued from there, the topic of his profession as a physical therapist and yours as a nurse paving the way for a good conversation. One that was cut short once again as Taeyong came to begin his conversation with you.

“Thank you again for the food, it was delicious, and I really appreciate it,” you say, standing up with Seokjin.

“Like I said before, any time. I enjoyed our conversation.”

You and Seokjin embrace in a lingering hug before he walks away, and Taeyong is grabbing your hand to walk with you to another place to chat.

Thankfully, there were only a handful of guys to talk to after your conversation with Taeyong.

That still didn’t mean much, considering it was nearly 1:00 in the morning and you still had to do your interviews and figure out who to send home during the rose ceremony.

Another thing on your mind was who to give the first impression rose to.

Sitting in one of the lounges with your producers, you snack on some carrot sticks while sorting through all of the photos of your suitors.

If anyone caught this on tape and it was shown on TV, no doubt the fans would get mad.

How were you, in all seriousness, really supposed to remember the names of twenty five people that you just met that day?

That’s like asking to memorize the names and faces of every member of Twice, Girls Generation, and Apink in one day. It’s impossible.

“Anyone in particular make a bad impression that you want to send home?” Chan asks.

“A few of them, actually. Which surprises me, I figured it’d be harder to try to figure out who to send home. There were a few who were rude or I just didn’t feel a connection with, I feel like this elimination is going to be the easiest,” you admit.

“That’s how it normally is. The smaller the pool and the more the relationships grow, the harder it gets.”

Setting aside the pile of those you would send home tonight, you turn back to your pile of those you want to stay.

“Now, who to give the first impression rose to is hard. A lot of them made great conversation, and a lot of them had great entrances. Soonyoung came in on a helicopter, I’m pretty sure that made a big first impression.” Chan laughs at that. 

“However, Kihyun made me laugh so hard I nearly had wine coming out of my nose, and Johnny and I had a deep conversation for it only being the first night. I could honestly give it to either of them.”

“What about Seokjin? Didn’t he bring you food halfway through the night? That was really sweet of him, and actually normal compared to some of the weird shit the other guys pulled” Chan questions.

You laugh at that, remembering how Minhyuk had brought an electronic massager to use on your back that just tickled you instead.

And how Joshua had attempted to juggle three bottles of water and ended up spilling all over himself and the couch.

“Yeah he did,” you respond, scanning the pictures and landing on Seokjin’s.

His shoulders are so broad that they had to zoom the camera out a bit on his picture, making a small smile appear on your face.

Your eyes continue to wander through the headshots, before lingering on a specific one.

You glanced at Chan through your peripherals, glancing at this man’s headshot. 

You don’t even try to contain your smile as you reminisce on his humor and quirkiness and his handsome smile.

“I know who to give the rose to.”

Stepping out of the lounge, you make your way into the living room.

Most of the men are congregated in different areas of the room; some on the couch, others in chairs, some lingering in the door frames.

All eyes turn to you as you enter the room, those in the hallways coming to stand in the living room. Everyone looks thoroughly tired, being that it’s nearly 2 in the morning by the time you did your interviews and made your decisions.

You reach toward the single rose that is sitting on a tray in the middle of the coffee table.

You remember being on their side not too long ago; having that rose stare at you, almost tauntingly, for hours on end as you sat through the first night, wondering if you would be the one that got the rose.

First impressions mean a lot, and most that receive the first impression rose stay until at least the final four.

Whispers break out among the men as you fumble with the rose between your fingers.

“It’s a big moment! You hear Joshua say to Hyungwon on your side.

“Indeed it is!” you respond, making them laugh at the embarrassment of being heard.

Taking a deep breath, you lock eyes with him and shyly ask, “Taehyung, can you come with me for a second?”

His eyes widen in surprise for a moment, before a ginormous smile makes its way onto Taehyung’s face as he stands up. “Of course.”

You grab onto his hand as he approaches you, turning around and walking to a more secluded area of the house.

You can already hear the sighs of disappointment and side comments begin to stir up in the living room from the response of your decision. You tune out the background noise and lead him to the parlour, sitting in front of the fireplace.

You look at him, blushing when you realize his smile hasn’t faded.

“So, Taehyung,” you begin.

“Tonight started off by you coming in on my dream vehicle, a hot pink Jet X, just like my childhood idol, Zoey Brooks.” you both laugh at that.

“The fact that you took the time to look into the things I like just to make a grand entrance already meant a lot. Then you catch me right after a not-so-great conversation and manage to make my mood do a complete 180 just from a smile. That song that you sang tonight was absolutely beautiful, I never wanted to stop listening to it. I loved every second I spent with you tonight, and I never felt a lull in conversation at any point. You made me feel completely comfortable from the moment we met. So, Taehyung, will you accept this rose?”

Taehyung’s eyes squeeze shut in happiness, opening them back up and saying, “Yes! Absolutely!” with uncontained laughs leaving his mouth.

You both stand up, smiles adorning your faces, as you pin the red rose to his right lapel on his suit jacket.

“It looks good on you,” you flirt, tilting the rose a bit before reaching your arms around his neck in a hug.

He wraps his arms around your waist so tight you think you might snap.

You decided to be bold and kiss his cheek when you pull back, only he had the same idea and ended up kissing your cheek as well. You both release a string of giggles.

“Great minds think alike,” Taehyung proclaims.

“Let’s see if that’s true now,” you softly speak back, leaning your head in towards his.

He meets you halfway down, his lips placing themselves on yours gently, as if asking if what he is doing is okay.

You pull back briefly, only to move back in for another kiss.

This time, Taehyung is less hesitant, placing his lips more firmly against yours for a few seconds.

His lips felt as soft as they looked; the taste of Coca-Cola on his lips surprises you, since you could have sworn he had been drinking bourbon that night.

You peck his lips one last time before pulling away from him and out of his arms. “I thought you drank bourbon tonight?” you asked, grabbing his hand and walking out with him.

“I had a drink, yeah. I’m not big on alcohol though, so I switched to soda after one glass. I’m also a major lightweight, and I didn’t feel like making a fool out of myself tonight of all nights.”

You smile at him, stopping right outside of the frame to the living room.

“Thank you for the rose, I swear I haven’t been this happy in a long time,” Taehyung admits.

“Thank you for accepting it,” you counter. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

You squeeze his hands one last time before walking back into the lounge where your producers were working.

Two hours later, the men and yourself had all finished being interviewed. It was officially time for the first rose ceremony.

Four in the morning is a strange time for anyone to be awake.

You are quite used to the late nights from work, but it’s clear that most of these men aren’t.

A majority of them you caught dozing off from the TVs in your lounge, showing what the cameras walking around were filming.

Next to you, the grand host Mr. Bang himself was knocked out, and had been for about an hour or so. Chan walked into the room after setting the dining room up into a good set-up for the rose ceremony.

“Alright Y/N, I’m going to gather the men in the dining room for the rose ceremony. We’re going to line them up, start filming, then have you walk back in to start the rose ceremony. Then we can all go home, sound good to you?”

“That sounds excellent,” you sigh, nudging Mr. Bang in the side.

“C’mon Bang, you have to be the hostess with the mostess for a bit longer, then I promise you can resume your slumber.”

He awoke from his nap, stretching a bit before one of the makeup artists came by and swiped some more concealer under his eyes for the sake of the cameras.

“Alright, I’m ready to be the hostess with the mostess. Even though I’m not a hostess.” You laugh at his ridiculousness, following him out of the lounge.

Bang walks into the dining room, taking his place by the table that holds eighteen roses on a tray. You would be sending home six men tonight. With Taehyung already having a rose, that leaves eighteen more to give out.

You thank your producer for having you practice how to pin the roses beforehand, it would definitely make the whole process go a lot faster and be a lot less painful for both parties.

Chan is next to you, waiting for your cue from the cameraman in the other room. Once he receives the signal, he pushes you forward a bit.

Your silver heels hitting the tile floor are pretty much the only sound in the room. You can tell that everyone is nervous, and honestly, you are a bit too.

You stand next to the rose table, glancing down at the multitude of roses being served literally on a silver platter. Bang is next to you, speaking to the gentlemen.

“Gentlemen, good evening, and welcome to your first rose ceremony. Most of you know how this goes, but for those that don’t, I’ll lay it out for you all. If you hear your name called, step forward to accept a rose. Taehyung, you got the first impression rose; congratulations, you have nothing to worry about tonight. As for the rest of you, if you do not hear your name, you will be sent home immediately. So, I wish you all the best, and if you’re ready, Y/N, you may begin.”

Bang backs up towards the door, merely an onlooker as you begin the process of handing out the roses.

You look at the faces of all of the men standing before you. Taking a step forward away from the table, you suddenly feel a lot more weight on your shoulders than you did ten minutes ago.

You clear your throat before speaking.

“First of all, I’d like to thank all of you for being here tonight. I know I kept saying it throughout the night but I cannot stress enough how much it means to me that you all took the time and sacrificed things to be here. It was such a great night, but this is the hard part where I have to say goodbye. Even though I have to say goodbye to some of you tonight, I am still hopeful that I can find love on this journey and I’m so thankful for that.”

Pausing after your speech, you take a look down at the platter again, grabbing a rose this time.

You fumble around with it in your hands, looking up at the men before beginning the process of handing out roses.

“Hoseok.”

He smiles from his spot on the far left end of the second row, stepping out and making the short walk towards you.

“Hoseok, will you accept this rose?”

“Always.”

(A/N: my Potterhead heart is hurting) 

Smiling, you pin the rose to the lapel of his jacket, hugging him before he turns to walk back to his spot.

Picking up the next rose, you call out Yoongi’s name.

A small smile graces his face as you pin the rose to his lapel, hugging him and continuing the process for a handful more boys, including klutzy Namjoon, skateboarding Jooheon, and even ostrich egg owner Seungcheol.

It is now down to the last rose, and there are seven men left: Jaehyun, Jeonghan, Taeil, Hyunwoo, Minhyuk, Joshua, and Jeongguk.

Bang steps out from the shadows of the room as you stare at the final rose.

“Gentlemen, this is the final rose this evening. If your name is not called, you will be going home,” he turns to you. “Whenever you’re ready, Y/N.”

You grab onto the rose, before looking back up at the group of men remaining.

You had been between two people all night, feeling a good connection with both but knowing that one needed to go home. You stared back and forth discreetly between the two of them, before settling on one and calling out his name.

“Jeongguk.”

You see him let out a breath of relief as he steps down a level to make his way over to you.

“Jeongguk, will you accept this rose?”

“Yes, I will,” he smiles.

Pinning the rose onto his jacket, you whisper to him, “Thank you for not making me attempt to pin this onto a bunny suit.”

He giggles at you before leaning in for a quick hug. Now back in his spot, Bang comes forward again.

“Gentlemen, I’m sorry, but if your name wasn’t called, please say your goodbyes.”

The men continued to do the standard bro high-five, some men hug, some shake hands as you watch from your spot at the front of the room.

One by one, each man makes his way to you to hug you goodbye, wishing you the best and thanking you for the opportunity.

You never understood why the people leaving always thanked the Bachelor/Bachelorette for the opportunity - you’re not the one who casted them.

Still, you accepted their gratitude and sent them on their way.

By the time the rose ceremony has wrapped up, the sun is beginning to peak over the horizon, signaling the start of a new day and the end of your own.

The staff brings in flutes of mimosas, everyone grabbing one then turning to look at you.

“So here’s to surviving the first night, for making amazing impressions and for continuing the search for love,” you drawl out. “Cheers!”

“Cheers!” everyone yells out, clinking glasses and sipping on their breakfast cocktail.

‘One week down, nine to go,’ you think to yourself. Your journey has only just begun.

Week 1 Callout Order Results:

Kim, Taehyung (aged 26, 5’ 10”, Music Producer, Hometown: Daegu)

Jung, Hoseok (aged 28, 5’ 10”, Journalist, Hometown: Gwangju)

Min, Yoongi (aged 29, 5’ 8.5”, Professional Pianist, Hometown: Daegu)

Kim, Mingyu (aged 24/25, 6’ 2”, Chiropractor, Hometown: Gyeonggi-do)

Lee, Taeyong (aged 26, 5’ 9”, Sales Account Executive, Hometown: Seoul)

Chae, Hyungwon (aged 28, 5’ 11”, College Professor, Hometown: Gwangju)

Kim, Namjoon (aged 27, 5’ 11”, Pharmacy Technician, Hometown: Ilsan)

Choi, Seungcheol (aged 26, 5’ 10”, IT Consultant, Hometown: Daegu)

Jeon, Wonwoo (aged 25, 6’ 0”, Software Engineer, Hometown: Gyeongsangnam-do)

Lee, Jooheon (aged 27, 5’ 10”, Graphic Designer, Hometown: Seoul)

Yoo, Kihyun (aged 28, 5’ 9”, Dental Assistant, Hometown: Ilsan)

Kim, Seokjin (aged 29, 5’ 10.5”, Physical Therapist, Hometown: Gwacheon)

Park, Jimin (aged 26, 5’ 8.5”, Social Media Coordinator, Hometown: Busan)

Seo, Johnny (aged 27, 6’ 0”, Translator, Hometown: Chicago)

Lee, Seokmin (aged 25, 5’ 10.5”, Creative Director, Hometown: Gyeonggi-do)

Kwon, Soonyoung (aged 25, 5’ 10”, Executive Assistant, Hometown: Gyeonggi-do)

Shin, Hoseok (Wonho) (aged 30, 5’ 10”, Fitness Coach, Hometown: Anyang)

Im, Changkyun (aged 26, 5’ 9”, Marketing Consultant, Hometown: Gwangju)

Jeon, Jeongguk (aged 24, 5’ 10”, Wedding Videographer, Hometown: Busan)

Hong, Joshua (aged 26, 5’ 10”, Pastry Chef, Hometown: Los Angeles)

Jung, Jaehyun (aged 25, 5’ 11”, Realtor, Hometown: Seoul)

Lee, Minhyuk (aged 28, 5’ 10”, Sales Rep, Hometown: Gwangju)

Moon, Taeil (aged 27, 5’ 7”, Attorney, Hometown: Seoul)

Sohn, Hyunwoo (aged 29, 5’ 11”, Mechanic, Hometown: Changdong)

Yoon, Jeonghan (aged 26, 5’ 10”, Research Assistant, Hometown: Hwaseong)

[rknvna]

// ( ★ ) STAR BRIGHT CASTING AUDITION 2017 : INTERVIEW

it’s a deja vu moment -- patiently perched with a leg crossed over the other next to several other idol hopefuls; a beacon of lithesome placidness amongst a sea of electric energy within the area. she’s not sure whether her lack of nerves is something that she should be proud of during this time around, especially when there’s several others within the vicinity who are just as good as her -- if not better at what she can do -- but at the same time, nana sees no point in losing herself to thoughts of concern and anxiousness over what could happen during the interview process. a company either approves of her or not; and even then, other opportunities would most likely make their way towards her.

“im jinah-ssi?”

or. at least she hopes. but second time’s the charm after all, right?

the sound of black pumps clacking against hard concrete makes her presence known within the room, the woman making sure to greet everyone that passes her with a waist bent in a 90-degree bow, manners ever present while throwing them a dazzling smile. it’s not until she’s front of the chair until she gives a full bow and introduces herself to the the staff.

“hello! my name is im jinah, and i’m 22 years old. please take good care of me!”

several beats pass while everyone gets situated, nana all too familiar with sound tests and adapting the lighting to her angles and she adjusts herself in the chair, tugging at the hem of her black cashmere sweater and tightening her ponytail; making sure she looked presentable for the camera, intimidating her with it’s unrelenting black screen.

the director in front of her steals her attention away, and she knows it’s time to start.

“ lets start off with the question that you’ve probably been anticipating. on your application it states that you’ve been a royal trainee for nearly two years in the past -- why did you leave? ”

the soft laughter that leaves her lips is one that leaves an awkward taste in her mouth, and she’s smoothing manicured nails through her hair in response. “you didn’t tell me you were going to start off with the hardest question, you guys.” she grins through the slight blunder though, pursing glossed lips to ponder about what to say -- it’s not like she say that she outright disliked the company after her years under their belt. “royal is a great company, honestly, and the talent that they have right now as well as the ones they’ve produced are amazing. i’ve learned a lot while i was underneath their wings, especially about who i am, particularly. i just think that it wasn’t the right company for me.”

auburn hues dash from the camera to the man in front of her, and glancing in his eyes she knows he wants to press upon the topic more, but he moves on to the next question ( most likely due to time constraints ) and for that she was truly greatful.

“ i see. so why do you want to be an idol, after all? why give it another shot? ”

another question she’s been asking herself for the past several months -- since she’s been watching royal survival with envy within her eyes. “honestly? at first, i didn’t. i just wanted to dance and do things related to dancing. but i’ve realized that “just dancing” is my comfort zone, it’s something that i’m good at and no one can take away from me -- and i can’t stay in my comfort zone forever. i feel like i’m a performer, i love to entertain people on stage, and in order to grow as a performer you can’t just do what your comfortable at only and expect people to love you, you know? being an idol is a challenge to push myself to be the best performer i can be -- someone who’s more than just a one trick pony.”

“ interesting. speaking of skills, describe what you think you’re best at, and what you think you need to improve on and why. ”

“i’m confident in my dancing,” nana replies, swiveling a leg over the other as she straightens her spine in the chair, “it’s something that i’ve been doing for years and that i’m really passionate about. at my former company in japan, they trained us in several dance styles so i feel that i could be a chameleon when it comes to any dance concept. i enjoy rapping as well, which comes as a surprise to many people.i still have miles to go in that before i can say i’m content, but i feel like it’s something i can learn and build on.”

“as for what i can improve on ...” eyes study the floor for a couple of seconds while she hums, trying to capture her answer, “i’m not the best singer in the world. i’m not tone-deaf, which is a good thing i think, but i don’t think there’s any way where i’ll be able to belt notes in a ballad. it’s very weak, so i can always use some substantial lessons in that.” she nods along with her words, confirming them.

“ who would you consider to be your biggest influences? ”

this was something that wasn’t asked the last time, she thinks -- but then again, it was two years ago that she was at this audition last. “exile always comes first. they’re all amazing dancers and they have good singers, and i love the way they just captivate the audience both with their dancing and their charisma. they’re one of the reasons i started dancing myself, honestly -- and because of their school i feel more well rounded as a dancer.” the woman stops herself from going on and on -- because she talk for weeks about why she likes exile, “myname is also another influence. i love how their movement is extremely sharp, intricate and compelling. plus, the chaser is probably one of the best songs to come out of korean pop music, if you ask me.” laughter follows her words, but they die out quickly before she continues, “i also really, really admire tasha because of her tenacity as well as her flow -- it’s one of a kind, something you aren’t going to find so easily in korea. i hope that one day i can be as half as good as her in rapping and singing -- but it’s a pipe dream, honestly.”

“ what is the biggest obstacle that you’ve had to overcome so far? ”

silence fills the room for a minute as nana ponders over the question, lips jutting out in a slight pout as she thinks. her eyes wander down to the floor, and she hums for a minute before she glances back to the camera. “rather than an obstacle externally, a physical battle, i feel like i’m the biggest obstacle i’ve had to overcome – my psyche, actually.” her tongue dashes out to wet pink parcels before she continues, “you’re your own worst enemy, right? when i was a part of a crew, i went to several dance battles. during that time, you get to see so many people perform who have varying skill levels and years that they’ve been dancing. for me, back then, i used to constantly compare myself to others regardless of my skill level and that would bring me down. it took me some time and self-reflection, but now instead of bringing me down, i use that energy and drive to push me even further to become even better at what i do. it’s like a rivalry – but instead of "i want to destroy that person,” it’s more, “i see that person and their skills and i won’t lose to them,” it helps me better myself in a more healthier way.“

“ what about your family? what are they like? ”

“i’m the baby of my family, the youngest of four. i have two older brothers one sister. our family life is ... strained, to say the least.” she nods, gazing at the thin golden bangles upon her wrist, fingertips playing with them lightly, “every family has their problems, you know? mine is no different, and we don’t talk as much as we used to as a group... but at the end of the day, blood is thicker than water. we’re here for each other when we need it and we support each other when we can. my mom wasn’t that supportive of my chosen career path because she didn’t find it “profitable,” she says, making air quotes with her fingers adjacent to her face, “but i feel like she’s starting to come around, somewhat. the same with my eldest brother, too. but everyone else has been very supportive of me, and i’m thankful to have them by my side.

“ i see. a last question before i let you go -- if you weren’t trying to become an idol now, what would you be doing right now? ”

nana feels like her lower body is about to go numb due to how long she’s been sitting in this chair, beads of sweat starting to form upon her back within the sweater due to the lighting, so she internally takes a breath of relief at the revelation of the last question. “i’d be doing the same thing i’m doing right now. i’m currently finishing up my fashion design degree and hongik university, and i also have a fashion and lifestyle blog that i’m doing well in. if there wasn’t a way that i could be an idol, i’d continue doing that and focus more on modeling and trying to get my name out there in the fashion world, pretty much. i’d actually enjoy being behind the scenes of a photoshoot instead of in front -- being a stylist, setting up the scene or picking out the clothes or something of that nature. as for dance wise... i’d like to hone my dance skills enough to become choreographer. i think that’s what i would do.”

a nod comes from the man before he adjusts himself in place, taking a deep breath before saying, “that wraps it up! thank you for your time, jinah-ssi. good luck with your dream.”

“no, thank you for having me, and listen to me ramble on! i appreciate you and all the staff for your hard work!” she bows again before the red light on the camera turns off, and before she knows it she’s out the door.

[jeanbaltsubsta-blog]

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[antrozay-blog]

Jackie’s Back

That is a great way to start this blog post, coming off The Breakfast Club interview with the Legendary Jenifer Lewis. I LOVEE her! I’ve watched that 1:03:11 long interview no less than 7 times since it aired a few days ago online. I’ve seen almost everything Jenifer has played in expect the movie Jackie’s Back. So I found it on youtube and watched it for free. The movie is basically about a has-been singer who never was and she’s trying to make one last comeback. I feel that premise fits my life perfectly right now. It’s about midnight right now and I needed a few hours to calm myself down before I even wanted to start this post. I’m typing this in the legendary notes app on my phone. The plan is to copy and paste to my tumblr blog. I will see if I want to do that, but as for now me typing this is just being used as an additional outlet besides me talking to one of my instructors Kevin and my mentor Miguel. I’m currently listening to Sweet Sexy Savage by Kehlani. It is one of my favorite albums released last year that I feel deserved a Grammy. CTRL by Sza too, but we are not here to talk about that. What I am here to talk about? I don’t know where to begin. Ill start with what currently happened which brought on my current hyper/hypo emotional state and I will work myself backwards. Today was suppose to be the day that I finally take my state boards exams for my barbers license. (Shit I don’t think I told y’all I was in barber school this whole past year. A nigga really did what he said he was going to do!) I didn’t go because my model called me literally an hour before we were to leave to the testing site, saying that he was ill with the flu and that he was not going to be able to make it. I kinda had a feeling that this was going to happen. At 8am I got a text from him saying he was up throwing up all night. So I’m like ok, it’s 8am and testing isn’t until 6pm so that should be plenty of time for him to rest up and get himself together for this. Basically I went the whole day just praying to God that he get better and everything goes as planned opposed to studying and reviewing like i had planned. I’m not mad...I can’t be. He was ill and you can’t control that. I believe his story. He’s not the type to lie. Plus he was soo down to help and be apart of everything I have been doing. He used to come to the school and get his haircut by me. It just fucking sucks when I was literally right there. Finally going to complete it all. And everyone knows, or probably doesn’t know that I was suppose to been have gotten my license. I started at the Barber College Feb 2017. I graduated (well i competed my 1800 hours) in Feb 2018 like the course catalog said I would. It was a good experience that ended too fast in my opinion. I met some great people there; people that I will consider my brothers for life. I don’t think i will give an in-depth review on the school itself. I don’t feel like it. So like I was saying, I competed my hours in the middle of Feb. I didn’t get my diploma until March because I still owed $1500 on my tuition. I had the money but I wasn’t in a great rush to pay it off because truth be told I didn’t have any barbershops lined up after completion so I didn’t rush paying it. When I finally paid it off, I was suppose to schedule my testing for my license immediately. Most people already have their dates already set up for like the following week of being totally finished with school. I didn’t go right away because I didn’t have a model lined up. You’re suppose to have a model that has to fit a bunch of different requirements about age, how much hair they have to have, how much hair you have to cut off, and they do a background check and a bunch of extra shit. It’s a big thing and it was hard to find the perfect model that fit and also that can be available during the testing time which is a whole 3 hour process. Fast forward to April when I knew that I was putting this shit off for way too long and it’s time to get serious again. I’ve been doing a few house cuts here and there and also working in a barbershop called Platinum Cuts on the weekends while still working my restaurant job just enough hours to pay my bills. I knew I still had shit to do in regards to my license. After asking everyone I could think of to be my model, and getting no’s, I finally found one person. Ok bet! I got my model. I told him everything that was told to me about the requirements, background check, testing center location, testing time and all that. And i’m like “are you sure that you can do this?! once i submit your name and pay my fees you have to be my model, i can’t cancel, change models or reschedule without forfeiting the fees that i have to pay.” Roughly $200. He’s like “yes, I’m available I can do it.” Mind you, I gave him the two dates that were offered to me for testing and the testing time on the 2nd of May wasn’t good for him because he needed work done on his car. So we chose the 16th. That worked better for the both of us because i still needed to study and review all over again. Plus at the time of us scheduling, the 2nd was like a few days away. Everything was going good. I was texting back and forth with him just letting him know don’t forget, asking if everything good with him and his car and shit like that. Just staying fresh in his mind so we can get this shit done and over with. All of this for him to cancel literally last minute. FUCK! This is all just embarrassing. Having technically been done with school since Feb and I’m still not licensed nor working consistently in a barbershop. It’s a real self esteem killer. Most of the guys that I went to school with are in shops or have started their own shops. They are making money and prospering in this field and i want to be just like that. I have so many people on my side telling me how good of a barber I am, how inspiring i am, and that I should be doing a lot more than what i’m doing now. I totally agree. I need to be working consistently, cutting consistently and challenging myself everyday. I know that it’s all coming from a place of love. You have to want it for yourself. I can honestly and vulnerably say that I haven’t felt the most confident lately i’ve basically been in dark cloud of depression since Feb. I haven’t felt this low since before I started Barber College, somewhere around the time of my last post probably. It’s a huge transition from Barber College. I totally understand how university students get depressed after graduating because they can’t find jobs and end up moving back home. I can humbly say I was one of the good students there, especially towards my last few months. Im not saying I was the best hair cutter, I wasn’t and will never claim to have been. I was good. i had clientele and stayed busy for the most part. I was doing like 8-10 haircuts on a regular day. Slave labor without pay lol. I was consistent with my attendance. Which was very helpful because all the other guys that were better than me were not consistent with their attendance. Some of them have been going to the school for years. Some are even still there. The school is designed to be a one year program. I think some people think of it as their job. We could accept tips up there so they might be banking. I was pretty damn good for barely cutting hair before I started. I could do a line up, an all even and trash taper. I was cutting my own hair for 5 years prior but never cut anyone else’s hair. I was trash then compared to now lol. Growth. But going from feeling like you the shit, being told you’re the shit, being hyped up daily, having people watching you and asking you questions to actually starting at he bottom in a shop with no clientele is a major shock. That shit really had me in my feelings and questioning myself, others, my skills and it this shit really for me. It’s not the shop that I worked at (past tense) because it’s been like 3 weekends since I’ve gone back and I don’t think I want to go back. The shop owner was actually my barber from middle school up until I met my barber/mentor Ronnie in 2009. So I’m familiar with the owner, Q. He had his own shop for 10 years and he’s the only barber in there. He’s had people work beside him from time to time over the years but no one ever stayed long. He’s already got his clientele on lock. My shop expectations are: be surrounded by people i respect and get along with meet people I can learn from and take advice from be in a shop that allows growth, creativity and room to just do and be me. I don’t want to say his shop didn’t offer none of that but again, his shop is his shop. not really a full staff of ppl kinda environment. I’m looking for a shop with a lot more traffic and walk ins. When you are just starting out cutting hair, that’s what you need. Walk ins to help you build up your own clientele. let’s everyone in the shop know you can cut and they see you cut. I’m not going to talk about the hotep conspiracy theories i had to listen to. The hotep youtube pastor we watched on tv daily in there who’s favorite topics were feminization of the black male and gays. But I’ll lowkey take all of that over the hood ass shops that my weak ass town has to offer. Also I wasn’t a fan of the percentage I was paying to cut there. When first starting out you usually pay a percentage (commission) until your clientele is up enough for you to pay booth rent. I’d rather just cut at home and be able to keep all my money. I want to find another shop to work at in the meantime before I move. Oh I don’t know if I told y’all, I’m moving to Atlanta in August. I put 6 months on my apartment lease back in Feb. It’s a lot of things that I could be doing to push myself and better myself right now to get me out this depression, but I feel like why should I put in that hard work now when i’m just going to be moving away in a few months. Getting established in a shop, building clientele that I’ll prolly only cut a few times. It’s just a lot going on at the moment in my life and my focus is everywhere, yet still no where to be honest. I know what kind of barber I want to be and what type of environment I want to work in and I don’t think that Lansing has that to offer me. All my school mates know this to be true too. They know I’m different. lol. So with my fingers crossed, I’m hoping that Atlanta will treat me right. I don’t want to talk to much about Atlanta because I’ll save that for another post. Hopefully not a whole ass two years or whatever. But I will when I get settled in or when I remember that I have a blog lol. I want to stop blogging only when I’m like knocking on depressions basement door trying to get out and blog more happier feelings and thoughts. Kehlani’s album just finished playing. I think I’m going to wrap this up with my last topic; support. Why don’t we support one another? I know that I shouldn’t be expecting or seeking support or validation from others, but fuck, we all wanna get our ego stoked a little bit. we want feedback and an occasional YASSS. I do expect something. I feel like i support, have supported a lot of people. I like your music, retweet your pictures, subscribe to your podcasts and give you your life when you deserve it. I don’t get that in return. Just like this blog, i’m glad i’m doing it for the betterment of be and not for y’all to car about me. No one would probably read this anyway. There is a handful of people that truly support me. I can count on one hand. I’m so very thankful for them. Then there is the people who see my haircut pictures online and won’t like them but in person will mention to me how dope I am at cutting. Then that’s when they give that fake “when can you cut my hair” but when I call them on it and and hold them accountable for asking for a cut and tell them to come thru, they all of a sudden busy or not responding anymore. I hate that. Sometimes you need to feel a little boost and a little support from others. Affirmation. Just a simple like, retweet, or a “I see you nigga!” comment. Something. I don’t want to say it’s hate. I don’t like to use that word and I don’t want to believe that people actually hate on me. I think people need to get comfortable in themselves and in what they are doing so we can show love to one another. idk. I’m tired and I’m probably not making any sense right now. I don’t feel like proof reading this and uploading it to tumblr either. Good night.