#and i’ve figured out! that it should actually be two separate fics

[miniy00ng1]

Die With A Smile

Five Hargreeves x Female!Reader

wc: 1447 (not proofread)

warnings: swearing, death, lmk if i missed anything!

find my masterlist here

hiii lovelies! i absolutely love the song die with a smile and felt it fit super well with tua, so this is the outcome. i actually had two separate ending ideas for this fic, so if you'd like me to release the alternate ending (it's a happy ending) lmk in the comments. as usual pls ignore any grammar errors and i hope you enjoy! thank you <3

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The Hargreeves Siblings and their families are gathered in the broken down Umbrella Academy. After fighting the giant hybrid monster, Ben and Jennifer, that is consuming everything and everyone in its path, the siblings are trying to come up with a plan of action. 

Five, your husband, has disappeared back to the subway station where he spent several years trapped with you with little hope on finding a way back home. He left in hopes to find something that he might’ve overlooked, a solution to the cleanse. He left you behind to help care towards his injured siblings and in hopes that you could be the brains while he was gone. 

“How the hell do we beat a thing that keeps getting stronger and bigger everytime we try and fight it?” Diego asks in exasperation. The siblings pace the living area trying to figure out how to beat the monster. “It’s only a matter of time before it consumes everything and the world ends…again.” Viktor states matter-of-factly.

At this time, Five blinks into the living room and his eyes immediately finds yours–there’s a look in his eyes of realization and acceptance. You get off the couch and make your way to him, interlocking fingers and giving his hand a comforting squeeze.

“I went back to the subway station and had a very long and strange conversation with me…well multiple mes. But anyways, we are the reason why all of this is happening,” Five continues to explain to his siblings how they should have never existed but they do and that they have caused a shattered timeline. “That must’ve been what Ben was trying to show me back at the department store, he showed me the original timeline. He was trying to tell me that maybe, the cleanse isn’t a bad thing.” Viktor says, recalling the serene scene that was the original timeline. 

Five recaptures his siblings’ attention, “We have to let the Durango merge with the Cleanse. It’s the only way to fix the timeline…” “And what happens to us?” “We cease to exist.” Five replies to Diego’s question, leaving everyone in the room too stunned to speak.

“Absolutely not Five,” Your words come out shaky, “There’s got to be another way.” “Yeah! I’m with Y/N. It turns out, I don’t actually like dying all that much.” Klaus says agreeing with you. Five looks at you with hurt in his eyes, he would never willingly leave you but there’s no other way to save the world. “Y/N, I’ve been through every possible outcome, there’s nothing we can do to stop this. My siblings and I should’ve never existed in the first place. We don’t belong here, we never did.” Your eyes well up with tears, “But you guys do belong, you’re my family, you’re my love Five. If you’re not here, I don’t belong in the timeline either.” Five shakes his head at your words.

“What about our families Five? What happens to them if we cease to exist? Diego asks glancing towards to other room where his children reside. “I’m not sure.” Five says defeated while tightening his grip on your hand. The siblings look at each other unsure of what to do. Allison sits up from the couch, still clutching her stomach from her injuries, “What about that train station? Can you bring them there? Y/N could go with them and make sure they’re safe since she’s been to the station before.” Before Five can answer, Claire enters the room, rushing to her mom.

Five brings you to the side of the room for a little bit of privacy. No words are exchanged as he pulls you into his embrace, his face in the crook of your neck, holding you tight as if you would disappear from his arms. You feel your neck dampen, this is your breaking point. Tears stream down your cheeks as you push your face into Five’s chest, trying to get as close to him as possible. Sobs rack your body, you begin to hiccup as your breathing becomes uneven. 

Five tries to pull away to get you to breathe. You sob harder pulling him tighter, “Just hold me for a little while longer. Please Five, just hold me.” Five responds by cradling you in his arms, placing a gentle kiss on you head, “I’m so sorry Y/N. I love you so much. I wish there was another way.”

The Umbrella Academy is a mess of emotions as the siblings say goodbye to their loved ones and accept their fate. You stand with Claire and Lila and Diego’s family waiting for Five to blink you to the subway station. You wave to the siblings that you have grown to know and love so much. Five grabs your hand and blinks the group out of the house. 

“Okay everyone, follow me onto the train, we’re going on a little trip!” You try to put a fake smile on your face to ease the nerves of Diego and Lila’s children. You guide the group onto the train, ensuring that everyone got on before you. After stepping on you turn to face the train door, Five is standing there with a sad smile on his face. The only thing separating you two is a solid yellow line on the platform. The strange announcement that you’ve heard a number of times before goes off over the PA system. You’re heart begins to race, the doors are going to close any second now and this will be the last time you ever see Five. He continues to stare at you.

The doors begin to make noise, signalling that they’re going to close. Your eyes quickly glance between the closing doors and Five. Five’s eyes widen as he realizes what you’re about to do but it’s too late to stop you. Five instead catches you as you stumble into his arms, “What did you just do Y/N?” “I told you earlier Five, you’re my everything. Wherever you go, I’ll follow. If you’re not with me in the original timeline…what’s the point? The world is ending, I want to be next to you.”

Upon your return to the Umbrella Academy, the Hargreeves are shocked to say the least. “Are they safe? Did they make it?” Lila bombards you with questions. You nod in response and she wraps you in her arms, thanking you. “So…what do we do now? Should we say our favorite moments with each other?” Luther asks awkwardly, shifting his weight from foot to foot as nerves surge through his body. Everybody shoots down Luther’s ideas and elects to just sit and wait. 

You and Five are seated on a couch, he holds you tight. He wouldn’t say it but he was scared shitless. You read him like a book and bring your lips to his ear, “It’ll be okay Love. I’m right here with you and I wouldn’t change my decision.” He turns his head to look at you and gives you a kiss that says everything he needs to. 

Suddenly, a shrill screech and crash can be heard outside the house. “You guys! I think he’s coming and I don’t think he’s happy.” Luther calls out while looking at the large monster approaching. Five grips your hand and stands up at the announcement. You and the Hargreeves move away from the window and form a circle on the other side of the living room. The monster hybrid’s tentacle-like appendages bust throught the glass window by the front door first. Then the window by the main stairway. In no time the tentacles were approaching the siblings from every angle.

“Relax and just let it do what it wants.” Five calls out to his siblings as the tentacles begin to reach their feet. Five looks at your intertwined hands and smiles, “I know I was a hardass, but I really do love you guys, as much as you do drive me crazy.” “Ew Five, I know we’re dying or whatever but don’t get all sappy on us now.” Lila says with fake disgust. “Thank you for letting me be in your crazy family. I love you guys so much.” You chime in, a tear slipping down your face. Lila reaches out to grab your left hand. Tears are now streaming down everyones faces as they hold hands with one another. The tentacles now enveloping up to their stomachs and climbing higher and higher.

You turn your head to look at Five and he mirrors your movements. It is now up to your chin and before you world goes dark, you’re able to make out Five’s final three words–said with a smile.

taglist:

@ohmyitsfaith @clairoscharm

[mammons-lover]

Leviathan?!

Asmodeus: Leviathan! Levi, where are you?!

Mammon: Asmo, what's the fuss about?

Asmodeus: I’m looking for Levi. Have you seen him?

Mammon (shaking his head): Nah, I’ve been lookin’ for him too. Got this new racing game I wanted to play with him.

Asmodeus: Ugh, I wanted to do his makeup! Come on, help me find him. But when we do, I get to do his makeup first!

Mammon: Deal! Hey, Satan, have you seen Leviathan?

Satan: Actually, I was looking for him too. We were supposed to read together.

Asmodeus (excitedly): You guys read together?

Satan: Well, it's more like he reads, and I listen.

Mammon (smiling): Aww, that’s so sweet. Does he do voices too?

Satan (disappointed nodding): Yes...

Asmodeus (gushing): Omg! This is adorable!

Satan (annoyed): Can we just focus on finding him?

Asmodeus: Hey, twins!

Beelzebub (cheerfully): Hey, what's up? Everything okay?

Belphegor (grumpily): What do you want?

Mammon: Have you guys seen Leviathan?

Beelzebub: Lucifer took him to some convention.

Asmodeus (surprised): For real? Lucifer actually went?!

Mammon (confused): Yeah, I thought he said those places smelled bad and he didn’t like being on his feet too long.

Belphegor (laughing): He sounds so old.

Mammon (laughing): He is old.

Satan: Okay, we’re getting off track here. When is Levi coming back?

Belphegor: They’re staying for the weekend.

Satan (frustrated): How do you guys know all this, and we don't?!

Belphegor: Because I set up their tickets, and of course, I told Beel.

At the Convention

Levi (excitedly): Look, Lucifer! That’s the latest figure from My Little Devi's! Isn’t it amazing?

Lucifer (trying to look interested, but visibly overwhelmed): Yes, quite impressive. The detail is... remarkable.

Levi (bubbling with enthusiasm): And over there! They’ve got a booth for the new Final Fantasy game! We have to check it out!

Lucifer (nodding along, slightly lost): Absolutely, let’s take a look.

Lucifer follows Levi around the convention, trying his best to keep up with Levi’s boundless excitement. He’s a bit lost with all the anime and game references, but Levi is too absorbed in his passion to notice Lucifer’s occasional confusion.

Later, at the Hotel

Levi (earnestly): Lucifer, I just want to say... thanks for bringing me here. I would've had trouble coming on my own, and I couldn’t bring one of the others because, somehow, they’d mess it up.

Lucifer (softly): I’m happy to be here, Levi. We don’t often get to spend time together, just the two of us. Our personalities are quite different, after all.

Levi (smiling): Yeah, but that’s what made this so special. I had a great time.

Lucifer (sincerely): So, did I. We should do this again sometime.

As they walk to their separate rooms, Levi’s heart feels lighter than ever. He’s grateful for the unexpected time spent with Lucifer and the memories they’ve made.

To be honest, I was uncertain about the direction of the fic while writing it😭. Initially, it was going to focus on Mammon, but since I often write about him, I switched to Levi. I hope the narrative doesn't seem too scattered.

⭐️Dividers by @cafekitsune⭐️

Continuation We Missed You, Levi!

[wisecreatorprofessorwolf]

So this is going to be my very first fic on here, I’m a little nervous but kind of excited I hope you like it

Series X-Men

Remy lebeau Gambit x male reader

(Y/N) couldn’t shake the feeling something was going to happen, for years he’s trusted and honed his senses and they’ve always been wright. This was not good it was the worst sensation (Y/N) had ever felt.

Standing alone in the corner of the dimly lit room full of friends. This should be a good day, no a great day the celebration of Scott and Jeans wedding. But the feeling persists. Y/N wanders the room recognising friends and family from fellow mutants to politicians.

Y/N shuffling through the crowd of people, glass in hand, dressed to the nines for this beautiful event. Wanting nothing more than to figure out what is going to happen and wanting the room to swallow him whole, bumps into someone deep in thought he feels a pair of hands firmly planted on his shoulders. “Woah there mon ami where’s the fire”.

Y/N, startled out his thoughts bumping into his best friend could only blush “no fire, just thinking that’s all Remy” Remy was observant enough to know his friend was troubled by something, but also knows not to push Y/N’s his best friend, his wingman and his confidant.

Recently though there have been changes in this companionship the rest of the x-men had noticed the only ones to know why are the telepaths Jean Grey Summers and Charles Xavier. Jean and Charles sharing knowing glances at the pair knowing the two men and their feelings.

The changes began a month ago when Remy had started spending more time with Y/N than Rogue. The reason behind that being for a long time things between Remy and Rogue becoming more complex leading the couple to separate, when Remy had a talk with Rogue about how things had changed and they should move on.

Remy for a while now had developed feelings for his best friend Y/N, finally single he has wanted to explore these feelings and could only hope that Y/N feels the same. “Y/N you’re actually the person I was looking for”. Y/N could only look like a deer in headlights “don’t worry mon cheri, I just thought we could talk, I want to tell you something mon amour” Y/N could only blush more noticing the change from dear to love all Y/N. Outdoor think was “does Remy know oh no” Y/N was sweating bullets panicking, Remy ever observant notices Y/N start to look around the room almost wanting to escape.

Remy leading Y/N out of the room celebrating the newly weds “breath Y/N mon cheri it’s nothing bad but it’s important” Y/N was all to focused on Remy’s hand in his as he guided him out the room “ Y/N have you noticed how different the mansion has been recently”

“Well I noticed during the wedding planning Jean was relaxed and Scott was the bridezilla” with a laugh.

“No mon cheri I meant between us”

“I’ve noticed you’ve been spending more time with me, there’s been a tense atmosphere between you and Rogue, is the.”

“We broke up, I started noticing problems in the relationship and we decided to end things we deserve to be happy, right mon amour” Remy interrupted

Y/N was yet again startled as he feels Remy’s lips meet his, it was slow and sensual like electricity coursing through your whole being. Y/N felt arms tighten round his body as the kiss deepens.

“I’m sorry bout that mon cheri, I had wanted to do that for a while now babe, I wanted to tell you that I have feelings for you and want to explore them. What do you think mon Cheri would you explore this with me”.

Y/N couldn’t believe it stunned, Remy had actually felt the same way “I want to explore this too Remy you have no idea how long I’ve had feeling for you for” he leans in for a kiss. There lips meeting in a sensual dance sharing of feelings.

“Well then mon amour let’s make up for all that time shall we”.

The end

This was my very first fic that I’ve posted, wow 😯 I’m nervous and excited feel free to like, repost and comment

[robot-rarepairs-dotcom]

I'm captain of the RavWave ship.

Nobody was a child when Ravage met Soundwave. He isn't her father and he isn't her son.

Just two neurodivergent people looking out for each other, loyal to the point that when they were threatened with separation, they allowed themselves to be made into a host and a cassette, despite the mutilation and loss of freedom.

(yes this is IDW based but my fic is canon soup)

I've written over half of the Ravage/Soundwave tag on AO3. (Especially now that the confused platonic found family shippers have figured out that they should use & because yes, some people actually ship them. I'm not saying their ship is confused, just that they shouldn't be using the slash for it, lol.)

I think I’ve only seen this ship by you and one other person lol I can’t remember their name tho

I’m surprised it’s not your pfp

[arvensimp]

Choose Your Own Adventure, Part 3

The penultimate edition! lol sorry for the delay here. my self imposed 1000 word minimum and maximum is kicking my butt. also figuring out choices for what to do next was a little tricky. As a thank you for the 1000 followers, I thought it might be fun to do a Choose Your Own Adventure fic. I’ve got a starting prompt linked below, and each part will be followed by a poll where you, the audience, will pick what happens next. Each poll will only last 24 hours, so definitely act fast if you want your voice heard!

[part 1] - [part 2]

What drop, if any, do you get from the raid?

Sweet Herba Mystica

Arven falls to his knees as the crown on the massive Blissey's head teeters then shatters to the floor in a sparkling display. He gives a shuddering sigh, and you're left to watch between him and the fainting pokemon, trying to make sure he's okay. Based on the quivering smile on his features as Mabosstiff and Scovillain give loud cries of victory, you think everything is alright.

You replant your feet and pull a pokeball from one of your pockets. No point in wasting a perfectly good pokemon, especially one that would be handy in rescues. 

A moment later, and the ball gives a definitive click shut, indicating that Blissey is good and properly caught.

"...You did it…" Arven's voice sounds shaky and soft behind you. "You really…really did it!"

"We-" You're about to correct him when you notice that he's actually only speaking to Mabosstiff and Scovillain, holding both pokemon tight in his burly arms. Mabosstiff licks his face, leaving trails of shining slobber, and Scovillain's two heads are wrapped around Arven's neck, giving him a hug of its own. 

A smile tugs at your lips as you watch the scene, but Ampharos and Azumarill eventually pull your attention away. You give them each a few berries then start to gather all the remnants of Blissey's presence in the cave while Arven gathers himself.

You scramble on your knees through the berries and pokemon candies. You even find a lucky egg! Still, no plants…

That is, until your eye catches on something pink.

You scoot over to it, and lo and behold! There are several sprigs of a soft taffy-colored herb growing from the earth.

"Aha!" You can't help but cry out.

"Find something?" Arven replies from where he's still sitting with his pokemon.  He sounds surprised, if not a bit stuffed up, as if jolted from the moment he was sharing with his partners, but he's already up and bounding over to you.

"I think so! Come have a look!"

"That… That's it! Sweet herba mystica, right there!" He laughs joyously, jostling your shoulders.

Arven drops his backpack and takes out a spade. "Lemme just…"

"Oh! Uh, hold on."

He pauses, looking at you expectantly.

"These are pretty rare plants, like you said." You start, cautious. You don't want to sound like a know-it-all or like you're trying to dampen the victory.

"Rather than dig up the whole root system, just take some clippings. You can get a plant to propagate from that. It'll give the herbs here a better chance of continuing to grow and reproduce, without affecting the ecosystem."

Arven stays silent a moment.

"And you're sure I can get a whole plant to grow from just a stem and some leaves?"

"Pretty sure. Plus there's like… six or seven different sprouts here you can grab. If you take care of them, I'm sure at least one of them will give you roots?"

As you speak, you take out a pocket knife and snip off a sprig for him.

"When you get home, you'll clip it again, just exposing a fresh stem, then put it in water. Give it new water every day to keep it healthy, and within a week or so you should have roots that you can place in soil!"

Arven nods along.

"And…this is better than taking the whole plant?"

"It's more ecologically responsible, for sure, especially for what is effectively an endangered species like this, y'know? Go ahead and also take a separate soil sample, too, just so you've got some earth that you know the herbs can grow in once they've got roots going."

He huffs a sigh, crossing his arms. "When you're right, you're right. I'll see how I do trying to grow a few plants before I uproot a whole ecosystem…"

You smile.

"Exactly. Again, too. There's over half a dozen of them here.  Plenty of chances, hopefully."

"Oh." Arven's eye widens. "Uh… Are we not splitting them?"

You nearly laugh. "What? Pfft, no. I have no real interest in growing this kinda thing for myself. They're all yours. You and your team earned them together. My partners and I just played support after all." You finish with a wink that comes off without thinking.

"...Oh… Well… Thanks. Really." If you didn't know better you'd think that Arven might be blushing in the dim lighting of the crystalline cave, but you chalk it up to the fact that he's leaned down closer to the plants to start making cuttings for himself, and the light must be bouncing in odd ways, painting his cheeks in a dusty, glowing pink.

Rather than stare, you go ahead and make yourself useful by gathering soil samples. Between the two of you, it all makes for quick, if not quiet, work. When he's done, Arven stands.

"And…that's that." He brushes dirt from his pants before offering a hand to help you stand. You take it; his grip is about as strong as you'd expect, looking at his physique. Arven makes for a sturdy perch as you heft yourself back to your feet, but his palm is soft, the mark of someone who puts clear work and care into his hands. Your own hand lingers a bit even after you've stood. It's not that you're marveling. No. It's just…the feel of him, his warmth…

Arven pulls away with a forced laugh. The glowing pink of the cave must still be reflecting across his cheeks because the color hasn't faded.

"Haha, so… Um. Thanks. Again." He says, and the pair of you turn to leave.

"Of course!" You respond. "I hope these work out for the cafe."

"Same… I mean… If it doesn't work, I know who to turn to when I need a…battle buddy?" He clears his throat. "Y'know, to do raids and stuff."

"Anytime." You agree. "But, really, your team did the bulk of the work. You should be proud."

Arven pats the pocket of his jeans where his pokeballs sit. "I am."

-

You got the [SWEET] ending! Where do you see Arven next?

[Poll here]

[burins]

@try-set-me-on-fire tagged me in a couple things which i forgot to reply to bc i spent all of tuesday writing a completely separate fic from anything i'd been working on. sometimes we get a little possessed. ANYWAY. happy wip wedthursday i am back to work on the thirst trap fic and booster gold is here! hi booster <3

“Superman! Just the guy I was looking for.” Booster Gold is clapping him on the arm. Booster goddamn Gold is slinging his arm around Clark’s shoulders, completely impervious to the frigid glare Clark levels him with. Is it because Booster’s from the future that he’s utterly immune to social cues? “You see, when I heard you were experiencing a little difficulty in matters of the heart, I thought, well, who better than Booster Gold to advise you? After all, Ted and I took a little while to figure things out, so you could say I’ve been in your shoes. Ha ha!” He actually says “ha ha,” two separate words, like a cartoon character. Clark can feel his jaw grinding. It’s a good thing his teeth are invulnerable. “The real key to making any relationship work is communication, you know?” Booster continues, oblivious to Clark’s torment. “It’s all about self-expression. Ted tells me I have a real talent for it, so if you’re feeling lost, you can just copy what I’m doing.” He nods down at Clark, beaming. “Another thing you two should try is talking about your love languages. Mr. Miracle gave me this book for Christmas, he said it really helped him and Big Barda, it’s called The Five Love Languages. And there are these quizzes you can take together– that’s more communication– that tell you what kind of love language you have. Mine is words of affirmation, and Ted’s is gifts. But we both also really like physical touch.” “I’d noticed,” Clark says, because it was impossible to be in a room with Ted and Booster and not know that they were having regular and passionate sex.

eta this fic is up now!

[compacflt]

Fully support your desire to cut down on the extras as they're already so long, but as someone who was also looking forward to the sickfic section and is sad to hear it's been taken out, I will simply have to ask you about it instead! First off the discussion of home in the snippet you shared was delicious - when do you think Mav started thinking of the house as 'their' home? And Ice taking Mav to the hospital has a lot of crunch there around how they're seen and how they act in public, especially if Ice was worried and Mav was kind of out of it. Do you think Ice would have taken Mav in to the hospital if he'd really been spiking a fever and decided he needed it? How would he explain themselves? And I suppose a separate, related question: who are their official next of kin/emergency contacts?

the reason i got rid of the sickfic is cause all those questions were answered better elsewhere in the extras ❤️

i was kind of annoyed that the house inconsistently appears to be the property of whomever the plot calls for at the moment -> another reason to cut the sickfic

Yes Ice would take mav to the hospital. it happens elsewhere LOL, maverick is extremely incident-prone

obviously a fun surfing injury with friends != the sickfic’s ice taking “a friend” to the hospital in the middle of the night for dangerous levels of illness-related dehydration… implies familiarity, intimacy above everyone else… the hospital staff would probably assume they’re together, yes, & i don’t think ice would challenge that at all, especially if he had to make sure all the paperwork was filled out right. just not worth the effort. “is there anyone else we should call for mr mitchell?” / “Um no. Just me.” Yeah i took him to the hospital at 4am bc i love him and im worried about him what r u gonna do about it 🤨 violate his hipaa rights? It’s 2009 gay people exist grow up🙄 hospital staff isn’t gonna tell anyone, so who cares

(Luckily for ice in the sickfic he didn’t have to take mav to the hospital)

the point of the sickfic was to establish a precedent for one of them voluntarily taking care of the other who is unable to take care of himself, to set up the parallel of maverick taking care of Ice when he Really gets capital-s Sick. but then i still can’t bring myself to write ice actually being capital-s Sick because i have some weird neurosis where i simply dislike thinking about ice (powerful guy) being helpless or incapacitated or, um, dead. so the mav-sickfic isn’t really relevant anymore because i haven’t written (and never plan on writing, besides that one half-assed one-shot) the corollary ice-sickfic. so the sickfic became the Nixed-fic ❌

And according to this wip wednesday snippet, they are each other’s emergency contacts. don’t ask me how that works or how they figured that out, idk. some stuff you do have to talk about for logistics purposes i guess. which is kind of the point of all the house-related/money-related discussions I’ve written throughout my fics—they Have to talk about the logistics because that’s real life. But they don’t INTERPRET those logistics or assign them a normative value.

for instance debriefing presents (maverick’s) death & taxes as the only two things that ever get them to actually talk to each other lol. logistics become a vessel through which they can talk about their situation without actually talking about it. The state of being each others emergency contacts might be a death-and-taxes discussion—acknowledging permanence without acknowledging permanence

[iamatriangle]

Hi there, friend! I'd love to hear you ramble about two of my favorite Black Clover pairings Langris x Finesse and Finral x Vanessa, if you don't mind? Also, can I hear your Duck x Fakir from Princess Tutu opinions as well please? The awesome fanart you've been reblogging of them recently has given me life! Cheers!! 💖

Hi Acacia, thank you so much for the ask!! 💕 I’m having a horrifically busy semester, so I greatly appreciate the chance to sit down and talk about some of my favorite characters. This is SO EXCITING, prepare for a very lengthy post 😅

💛💙 Duck x Fakir (Starting with these two because they are my everything right now.)

My roommate convinced me to watch Princess Tutu a few weeks ago and I totally fell in love with it! The character arcs are so spectacular. I actually thought about asking you if you had seen it, as it seemed like something you might like based on the other shows you post about (But then I had already pitched it to everyone I knew irl so I figured I should just relax 😆).

But getting back to Duck and Fakir, I think they’re absolutely perfect for each other. Personally, it makes sense and compels me. I believe it’s canon that they have feelings for each other, or at least it’s strongly implied? Either way, Duck inspires Fakir and Fakir believes in Duck, which i think is so sweet, and I feel like Duck and Fakir bring out the best in each other. Also, the way they change together throughout the story is so beautiful! They both end up in way more mature and healthy places than when they started and were a big part of the other person’s growth. I think the best ships are the ones where the narrative weaves their stories together in that way.

This is just me ranting, but I need to mention how beautiful it is that Fakir loves Duck not as Princess Tutu, just as Duck. In Mytho’s case, he thought of Duck as a friend and he was very kind to her, but he didn’t love Duck, he loved princess Tutu. For Fakir to love the real her ties in SO WELL with how she grows from her insecurities and confusion about her identity. I could also scream for a very long time about the fact that Fakir would stay with her forever, even if she was only a duck. The love they have for each other is so mature, but also so sweet and innocent at the same time. They’re perfect!

That’s why the conclusion of their arc broke my heart so much, because they were perfect for each other and would have made each other so happy. It’s so bittersweet. I wouldn’t change it for anything, but I’m a sucker for the fics on ao3 where Fakir writes her back to being a girl. I can envision them having such a happy future together.

🩵🖤 Langris x Finesse

Im so excited to get the chance to talk about these two. They’re one of my all time favorite pairings and they’ve been on my mind recently! In my opinion, they make sense and are super compelling.

I sort of feel like at this point, I’ve thought about them so much that they’re more like my headcanon characters than a faithful representation of the actual characters in the show (I tend to do that lol😅). But even if I try my hardest to separate all of that from what is officially canon, I personally think that Langris and Finesse make more sense than Finesse and Finral. I could see those two being good together under different circumstances even if they aren’t my favorite ship, but I’m really not on board with the way the show is handling it. I’m not gonna open the can of worms that is Finral returning to his abusive household right now, but that is very unhealthy (and it seems like the show is encouraging it??) Even beyond that, I feel like Finral isn’t in the right headspace right now for a healthy relationship. He’s trying his best and I wholeheartedly believe that he cares about Finesse. But he’s been using romance and idealizing girls as a coping mechanism for a very long time, and from what we see on the show I feel like he’s romanticizing Finesse to a degree that wouldn’t be healthy in the long term. She’s his childhood crush and dream girl, and he feels like if he becomes “good enough” for her he can “win her heart.” I don’t know if I’m explaining this right at all, but in my opinion he’s not really treating her like a partner, as much he’s treating her like an ideal to someday be good enough to achieve, which is more tied in with his own self worth than actually seeing her and loving her for all she is. (Although I would totally see them together under different circumstances if he takes time to work on himself!)

Anyways getting back on track, we don’t see that kind of idealization with Langris. He seems to see her and what she wants more clearly, and loves her enough to accept that she is more interested in Finral and step aside. I feel like they so compatible as well, because neither of them are very passionate people like Finral or Vanessa are. I feel like they would have a beautiful, more subdued kind of love and would be able to fit neatly into each other’s lives.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the time period before Langris was possessed when they were engaged. My heart always breaks when I think about the fact that Langris truly believed Finesse hated him. I think he always felt that she would rather marry Finral, and that he was never able to be really open with her because of this, and even that he resented her for it. I think it’s so compelling that all of this is essentially a misunderstanding, because Finesse does like him, and clearly cares about him and trusts him because even after he went crazy at the royal knights exam she tried to defend and protect him and wasn’t afraid of him (I love Finesse, she has such a beautiful heart). I think that after some character development on Langris’s end, they would be good for each other.

💚🩷 Finral x Vanessa

Vanessa and Finral my darlings!! They have such a sweet canon friendship and seem to support each other so well. For me they make sense and are compelling.

I love how on Vanessa’s end, she is gentle with him when he needs support, but she also isn’t afraid to speak her mind to him in the early seasons when he’s being a sleaze. She keeps him in line, both in the sense that she helps him be a better person and also that she pulls him back to reality when he’s spiraling and feeling insecure. And since I mentioned Finral’s idealization of girls before, I should say that I personally can’t see this happening with Vanessa because they’ve been friends for so long and have both seen each other at their worst. He knows her so well that he couldn’t idealize her if he tried. If he falls in love with her, it’s because he truly sees her and loves her for all her faults. I think they would work so well in a relationship together in a hypothetical future when Finral has decided that going back to House Vaude isn’t the right choice and has gotten over Finesse.

Also on the topic of the future, I see them being incredible parents. They are both passionate and caring people, and I believe they would fully devote themselves to not repeating their parent’s mistakes. It would need to be a slow burn and they would both be very cautious because they value their friendship so much. But I think they make so much sense together!

Thanks again for the ask, I had so much fun with this!!

[asteria-argo]

🍎

🍎 favorite angst quote from a wip

>:-) I have two actually. This one from the untitled aro jamie fic which doesn't seem that angsty out of context but it will be that I have shared before but it is my favourite.

It comes out of fucking nowhere, one minute they’re all crowded around Sam’s fucking flatscreen pushing and shoving each other trying to win just dance III, and the next Sam is looking at him all doe eyed and concerned saying, “we’re worried about you Jamie.”

and this one from further down the line in To All The Better Places

“I read the book y’know?” Jamie says, when the tense silence becomes too fucking much for him. He’d never felt so much like he was just playing pretend being a teacher as he did now, standing beside Ted on the sidelines with his own fucking whistle around his neck, watching his kids run around like a bunch of tiny lunatics crowding around the richmond lads. “The one you gave me when you first came to Richmond.” “Oh yeah?” Ted hums, forcefully polite the same way fucking McKay was every time he ran into Jamie and Skye in the staff room. Like he’d rather be talking to anyone else. Jamie hoped he knew the feeling was fucking mutual. “how’d you like it?” “I’ve read it dozens of times, even wrote notes in the margins.” Jamie admits, and tries his best not to be offended by the way Ted’s eyebrows climb high into his hairline as if it’s some shocking thing, for Jamie to have read the book he gave him in the first place. Like Jamie didn’t have a fucking degree. “I hated it, I still hate it.” “I’m sorry to hear that.” Ted says with a mild mannered shrug. Jamie doesn’t look at him, keeps his eyes trained on the field. Shy’s shoe is untied, and she’s probably going to trip. Jamie should probably call her over to fix it. Kian and Jonah are getting too close to each other, and he thinks a shoving match is going to break out soon so he should separate them somehow too. “I was hoping you would take something useful from it.” Jamie had assumed as much, he’d just never figured out what was supposed to be fucking useful about it. “Yeah,” Jamie sighs “I was too.”

[alangdorf]

Untagged ramble post about the the fic writing I’ve been doing + snippets (kind of a lot of them actually whoops) since idk if I’ll ever actually finish them let’s gooo (spoilers for said fics obvi)

Forgetting about Tsubakura’s hat when writing is my new forgetting about Vanitas’ Unversed when writing. Though in my defense I refuse to believe that their current normal outfit is what they used to wear to work because that is so many lab dress code violations including OPEN-TOED SHOES??!??!

Relatedly I had a funny moment of realization where I was like “wait I’m writing about throwing up black goop AGAIN??? What a coincidence”

Thus far I have caused one of my friends (not a len’en fan, only knows about it through my talking about it) to have TWO separate dreams about Len’en characters. I have since also had a dream about them but this friend had two before it even happened to me once (also I may have incorporated one or two aspects of said dreams into my stuff…)

I still write in my notes app with asterisks (discord markdown) for italics. I will never change and that is a promise

Btw in order the fics are: “Tsubakura makes terrible life decisions for two months straight and then Suzumi responds to them breaking up with her by faking her own death: the fic”

Followed by “The fact that there isn’t a unique ending for BPoHC Secret Team neutral route with Tsubakura as stage 6 boss has been plaguing me and I’m ‘boutta make it everyone else’s problem” (the actual current working title) (aka thinly veiled excuse for characters having sex that’s actually a thinly veiled excuse for Suzumi to explain why they did all that nonsense in the previous fic)

Then “Hamal Cine Bad End but I had to make a whole entire oc before deciding there would be anything there worth writing because if it was just Hamal and Tsubakura interacting it would be completely unreadable (featuring second person pov yet again!! So maybe it’s unreadable anyways idk)”

And finally “I couldn’t figure out how to finish that last fic satisfyingly so instead I started writing Tsubakura pov of before and after it but that means like half of it is just Hamal and Tsubakura which is what I was trying to avoid earlier whoops! The other half is logistics (actually that’s a lie the vast majority of it is logistics. What can I say I like logistics in my angst)”

Assuming Suzumi’s eye color just looks like brown to other people cause otherwise that would make the alters extremely obvious (I think zara also did this the other day ehe)

Arde should’ve been at the cluuuuub (Seriously though Arde has quickly skyrocketed into being one of my fave Len’en characters and also probably the person I feel the most bad for in at least my version of pre-canon. Like they all made bad decisions there but Arde had soooo much nonsense to deal with and extremely few viable alternatives)

I just now remembered the Japanese school year is different and I should look up what colleges typically do there

Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to google “what is the Japanese government’s procedure for reintegrating a formerly missing person into society when their kidnapping was a 37-year-old cold case (completely unrelated to the kidnapping they just escaped from) and also they’re largely made up of nanomachines or whatever now and have very advanced peripheral neuropathy and no living friends or relatives aside from this one rando who’s known them for about an hour (in the year 2050)”

Trying to make sense of Suzumi’s powers AAAAAAAAAA are the clones DIEGETIC??? Is Hooaka’s arm just gone FOREVER?? At the very least the disguise ability being Benny’s main ability would make some sense for how I’m writing them if. It’s even possible for them to turn it on and then have Arde front afterwards agh idk

Period-accurate communications tech also continues to be a completely self-inflicted thorn in my side. I’m assuming you could delete sent messages on whatever mobile messaging service Japanese young adults were using circa 2010 because I saw a post from 2017 saying you could do that on wechat and I can’t be bothered to do deeper research when it would significantly change my plot to find out otherwise

So you know how that one drawing of mine with Tsubakura and Tsurubami keeps just getting tagged as those two when it’s actually secretly suzutsuba (even moreso now that I’ve been developing Arde more lol)? That’s how I felt realizing that all my suzutsuba stuff is actually pointing to endgame yabutsuba (romantic or qpp idk idc) (also sorry ybtb fans I’m with you but I’m probably just gonna keep writing suzutsuba instead because my brain focuses on angst 100% of the time)

Semi-relatedly the aforementioned oc is named Koemi Oumura and happens to look a fair amount like Yabusame, which is presumably just a coincidence because Yabusame is the one character confirmed to not have any homeologues (extremely funny and scary fun fact), though I did come up with her name by like moving all the kanji in Yabu’s name a little to the left so lol who knows

While doing game dialogue research I ended up realizing that part of shrine team’s convo with Sanra is Tsubakura going “yeah clothes should be comfortable and unrestrictive!” and I was like “whoops… just gonna partially ignore that cause I’ve already been hcing the fact that you bind sometimes lol sorry”

Hamal gives herself biological immortality which is brought up only as a one-liner gag

Also I hope the way I write her dialogue isn’t like, too annoying. I cannot be bothered to copy paste unicode eighth notes wait a second I have a Japanese keyboard??! Oh well; still can’t be bothered so I’m just working with tildes and hearts. My friend tried to express which Len’en character showed up in its dream by saying “which suzumi is the ~ one. that one”

Ok time for assorted snippets (all mixed up just to keep ya guessing, though they also feel a little poetic in this arrangement. Mostly from the first fic since that’s the one I most want to post [and also the only one that’s T instead of M]) and then the sex stuff will be quarantined afterwards

Tsubakura pulls out their phone and sinks to the ground, breathing heavily (partially from the exertion). They look through their contacts. Yabusame is missing yet again. Haltingly, they punch in her number (they have it memorized, they triple-checked that they had it memorized just yesterday) and hit dial.

They start talking as soon as it picks up. “Yabu, I know I told you to let me handle things on my own for now, but I… I changed my mind; I need help, I-I don’t know what to do—”

The voice that interrupts them is not Yabusame’s, but they’d still recognize it anywhere. “Oh! Hello~! Expecting someone else, were we? Silly Tsuba~<3”

Tsubakura hangs up abruptly and just. Sits there. After a few minutes they check their phone to confirm, but it’s obvious that the number they have in their head is Suzumi’s. In fact, every number they have saved to their contacts is Suzumi’s. They don’t even bother with trying to remember their friends’ street addresses; they just hope she at least left them the route to the lab.

So. The message is abundantly clear. They’re alone in this. (And if the reason they’re late to work that day is because they curled up next to a dumpster and cried until they got scared she might come outside looking for them, well, that’s nobody’s business but their own.)

“The old Suzumi never quite worked up the courage to tell you all of this, but they really looked up to you, y’know? She was awestruck from the day you met. Renowned prodigy Tsubakura Enraku, this kid who was so smart, and educated, and accomplished, and cool, and attractive, and self-assured, and not even any older than she was? Who not only accepted her affections, but reciprocated them? Invited her to live with them? Ohh, she put you on a pedestal a mile high~! Gave them quite the inferiority complex, you did~ And then—“

“Don’t,” Tsubakura breathes, but she’s not done saying her piece yet.

“—The Accident happened. And what did you do? You blamed everything on her to save you own skin. While she was in the hospital, even! You betrayed her.”

“But that wasn’t—”

Hamee clamps a hand over their mouth and clucks her tongue disapprovingly. “It doesn’t matter what you thought you were doing. You’re smarter than that, Tsu~ba~ku~ra~. You know what it would’ve looked like. Felt like. And you certainly didn’t try to clear up any misconceptions with the higher-ups afterwards, did you~?”

Tsubakura looks mortified. It’s a good look on them.

Hamee chuckles and skims her hand down to the center of their chest. “And it broke Suzumi’s poor li’l heart~</3 Well, specifically Ardey’s, at that point. All her monumental faith in you just crumbled to dust. She’s wanted nothing more than good old-fashioned revenge on you ever since.”

…

Ardey’s silence in their head is palpable.

What? No pithy comments this time~?

Don’t talk to me right now.

If you say so~

Tsubakura’s heartbeat feels like a hummingbird caught beneath her fingertips, but they put on their best brave face. “And? What about you, Ha- whatever you said your name was. What exactly is your deal supposed to be?”

“Oh, me? Pretty little Hamee~? Well…” She gently cradles their head in her hands and leans in close, smiling serenely. Their already barely-stoic facade cracks just from that. “I never stopped seeing you as that beautiful, perfect genius that Suzumi idolized so! I still keep you up on that pedestal, Tsubakura-sama~<3 And all I want to do…” She whispers the last part in their ear like a catty schoolgirl telling a mean joke. “…is drag you down from it. Until you’re just as sad and broken as the rest of us~ Forever and ever <3”

And suddenly Hamal is there (still pretty hot, admittedly, but the effect is mitigated significantly by literally everything else about her), smiling without a care in the world, cupping Tsubakura’s face delicately in her hands like she isn’t currently out in a thunderstorm with a pistol tucked into her waistband, about to actually kill someone (specifically, YOU!!!) just to torment them. “Ohh, Tsubakura-sama… did you really think you could ever escape me~?”

When they tune back in to the present, Yabusame’s talking again. “—and a little while after you hung up, you sent me a photo of a handwritten note, and I didn’t really understand it, ‘cause the handwriting was weird and I think I didn’t know some of the kanji, but before I could ask you what that was all about, you deleted it, and none of my messages or calls have gone through since then!”

Tsubakura looks up from where they’ve been reflexively clutching at their head to see Yabusame standing over them all concerned, hands still out like she wants to touch them but can’t. (Right; she doesn’t know where they’re injured. They’re not 100% sure themself.) Mechanically, they reach down to grab their phone from their pocket and check it over. Nothing out of the ordinary except that there’s no trace of last night’s call, and Yabusame’s number is blocked and deleted from their contacts, which they quickly rectify. “Issue was on my end. Should go through now.”

“Okayyyyy…” Yabusame pouts, and then draws back a little and fidgets nervously. “Y’know, I checked for you here and at your favorite bar, and when you weren’t either of those places, I thought reeeeally hard about checking your apartment, but you said that if I ever popped into your apartment without an invitation again, you’d string me up by my ankles!” They briefly do an impression of Tsubakura lecturing them before getting even more subdued. “And, I figured, if you were at home, and Suzumi was there, ‘cause they’re always at home these days, that either Suzumi could fix the problem, or maybe Suzumi was the problem, and I was worried that me showing up maybe would’ve. Made it worse.” She tilts her head and looks at them imploringly, the platonic ideal of puppy-dog eyes. “Was that stupid of me?”

(There’s very little point in attempting anything else, even if they were able to; it all leads to the same outcome. She loves them when they struggle against her. She loves them when they love her back. She loves them when they give up entirely. She loves every single aspect of them. She loves the very concept of them. There’s nothing they could do that could possibly dissuade her. There’s no way to win anymore.)

Hoojiro’s brows knit together, but she doesn’t make any sort of remark about the strangeness of their behavior just yet, instead holding out their phone, which she must’ve retrieved from wherever it was they’d flung it last night. Or this morning, technically. Who cares. “Your phone. It sounds like Su-somebody’s calling?” She’s clearly trying to be delicate, but it’s on silent. She must’ve looked at the screen. She knows who it is.

Tsubakura deflates back into their chair, taking the phone only to drop it face-down on the table in front of them. (They don’t want to risk declining the call; that would just tell her that they’re awake and paying attention.) The jig is pretty much up anyway, so they bury their face in their arms and groan. They’re so tired. “Yeah, tell me something I don’t know…”

Hoojiro shuffles and hesitates before addressing the elephant in the room. “Doctor, I… you claimed it was just an accident that you fell asleep here the other night, and when I left yesterday you told me you’d make sure to go home, but you clearly didn’t, and now it looks to me like your girlfriend has been unsuccessfully trying to contact you, so I guess what I mean to say is… How long have you been here? Really.”

Tsubakura groans again in response.

“Doctor,” Hoojiro admonishes.

“Shitodo,” they reply in a similar tone.

She sighs. “Tsubakura…”

They peek out at her guiltily. “…..Four days. I think.”

With the short hair, loose-fitting hospital clothes, and useless blackened limbs, they’re hardly recognizable as Tsubakura Enraku, genius prodigy, groundbreaking scientist, honorary Senri priest. But that person was killed decades ago along with everyone else (and thousands more times afterward for good measure), and all they are now is a lingering ghost left trapped in their own decaying corpse. Or maybe, if you just focus on the wan face, the dark, sunken eyes, they look like the exact same clinically depressed and perpetually exhausted Tsubakura Enraku that they’ve always been, just currently lacking any work or leisure or alcohol in which to drown themself so they can forget about the absurd tragedy that is their life. Hard to say; they’re kinda mixing their metaphors here.

“The angry one is called Ardey. Most of our ~trysts~ in the past have actually been with her fronting, but she decided it would be more practical to just straight-up kill you after you stopped wanting to have anything to do with us. Soooo she’s trying to pretend like she isn’t watching right now, teehee <3”

HEY.

“She says hi~!”

I DO NOT. SHUT UP.

Ok, this is all very. Beside the point. The point being that Tsubakura woke up to their girlfriend smothering them with a pillow. They attempt to calm down and take a deep breath, neither of which is made easier by Suzumi’s weight on their stomach. “So… uhh… did you just try to kill me?”

Suzumi laughs airily, but with an ever-so-slightly nervous edge. “Ohh, ‘kill’ is such a strong word…” She trails a finger down the underside of their jaw. “Really, what’s a little bit of suffocation between friends~?” She continues down their throat and traces along their collarbones. “If it helps, it was just a… mood swing thing. Shouldn’t happen again. I like making you squirm a liiittle too much to actually want to get rid of you~” She hooks the finger on the collar of their shirt and tugs.

“You’re trying to distract me now, aren’t you.” It’s hardly a question.

“Is it working?” Suzumi deadpans.

They should probably be more concerned, and will definitely start sleeping on the couch after this, but for now, Tsubakura swallows and makes a decision that is… not one of their smarter ones, to be honest. Whatever. Blame the oxygen deprivation, if you must.

“Well. You could be trying harder.”

“I always took you for granted, because I’m a black hole of a human being that just takes and takes and takes until there’s nothing left. I don’t know if there’s even any of the real you left in there, Suzumi. So:”

Tsubakura sinks down to one knee and reaches up a hand, their dark eyes as unreadable as ever. Hamee feels their heart skip a beat at the sight, but for all the wrong reasons. She won’t lie and claim that she hasn’t fantasized about setting up a scenario like this someday, buying a white dress and a real tux and rubbing in her victory over them with the “‘til death do us part”s and all that, but not like this. Not on their terms; not with them real and in the flesh and kneeling right here in front of her, acting out something that could’ve happened years ago if they’d been either a whole lot better for each other or just a little more stupid, but asking for a knife to the jugular rather than an “I do”. Everything about this is wrong.

“I’m giving myself to you,” Tsubakura says. “Will you take me?”

The police haven’t even bothered to get back to them about pressing charges (a laughable attempt, they know, but they had to try something) by the time Tsubakura’s old apartment goes up in flames, and the obituary of Suzumi Kuzu gets printed in the papers, accompanied by the awkward university ID photo of somebody they maybe loved, once. Just making it official that that person is long gone, they suppose.

(But they don’t believe she’s dead for even a second.)

Sex stuff is down here

They just keep having sex. It just keeps happening. I’m aroace-spec and actively religious; how did I get here? Where am I?? Hello????

The number of sex scenes I am writing around is absolutely crazy given that like. I literally can’t even bring myself to use the word “butt”. Tsubakura is mostly naked about half the time. I am matrix dodging specifics out here (to be clear all intercourse is either before/after the parts that I’m actually writing or it’s vaguely skipped over. Even if I wasn’t holding myself to particular language standards I’m always in it more for the emotional part of it and don’t care for the explicit sex stuff so everything I write should be M at most)

I am extremely aware that Hamal Cine Bad End is a lot (and definitely an extreme canon divergence; like perfect storm of things going wrong, Arde and Benet would have to be out of the picture, Hamal would need to get like 10000% less impulsive) and I’m very nervous about sharing any of it at all!! Uhhhhh what else to say about it… I’m trying not to be too gratuitous? The one actual beat-by-beat scene I have any plans for atm is much more focused on the psychological/torture aspects once it flips into gear (not particularly gory either)? Hopefully I’m handling it well? Idk I just hope if I do end up posting it that my writing speaks for itself. Stands on its own. Or whatever like you know what I mean

Ok moving on so you remember that first fic I was writing a few months ago and then abandoned? That fic was funny cause the whole idea I was going off of was using marriage as a metaphor for getting murdered (second to last snippet is a surprise cameo from that heehee; I couldn’t figure out how to write into it in a way that would make sense though) and if I ever published that one I would definitely have needed to put out a disclaimer that’s like “Yes I am happily married, yes I am aroace, yes I am only interested in super toxic shipping; I contain multitudes” (also no ace discourse please; despite the fact I could pass for allo in some ways I still choose to identify as aroace because my aro/asexuality affects a lot of areas of my life even if it’s not that visible to others)

I know I mentioned a while ago that I was projecting somewhat onto Suzumi but just to be clear I’m definitely also projecting onto Tsubakura. Sorry for giving them all my sexual preferences (and one very specific fairly minor parental trauma); it will happen again (that’s me on the left; I haven’t changed my pfp to reflect my current sona) (don’t mind the koala)

[aspenwritesstuff]

Part Three : Clueless

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🌹taglist: @drhsthl @propertyoftoru​

You found yourself wishing you could understand how anyone with even half of a heart could look at Lee Felix and describe the sweeter-than-sugar man as anything close to offputting. Even in your jaded, pessimistic state of being, his smile was an instant surge of serotonin. This woman would be so, so lucky to be the recipient of such pure, selfless love.

🌹warnings: alcohol consumption/drinking, mention of creepy male behavior, 

🌹w/c: a lil over 2k, my laptop broke and mobile won’t let me copy and paste the whole thing in one go and I do NOT wanna go paragraph by paragraph. (Translation: author is lazy.)

🌹a/n: hello, lovelies. 🌹 I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too terribly long. Thank you for sticking around and reading the newest part of Prove Me Wrong! It means a lot to have you here. 

I’ve made a separate post about my intentions with writing this particular piece, but wanted to include here that I am 100% NOT abandoning this work. I love it dearly, I promise! I will, however, be working on a few of my WIPs that have been heavy in my thoughts lately, so please be patient as I work on multiple fics at a time. 

I hope that as I publish more of my stories that they receive just as warm of a welcome as PMW has so far. Every time I get feedback it makes my lil author heart go BA-DUMP so hard, I nearly cry. 

You’d held many titles throughout your lifetime; daughter, friend, and author to name a few. Today, however, a new skillset was going to be put to the test.

Matchmaker.

As per your agreement, Felix was to be gently guided through sparking a conversation with the object of his affections - preferably one that took place on the same side of the bar that would consist of more than a refill request. 

Felix had seemed skeptical of the plan you’d sent to him after he’d gotten home from the previous night’s pottery painting. It seemed pretty straightforward to you, though you weren’t the one with the crush-induced anxiety surrounding the situation. 

Step one was getting Felix to be in the same area, off the clock, in clothes other than his uniform. You figured that would exponentially up the chances that she’d actually take notice of the man desperate for a single crumb of her attention. To get her to stop seeing Lee Felix, twenty-three year old bartender rather than Lee Felix, the man with a contagious smile with a heart - one that he wanted to give to her, at that - full of the warmest sunshine. 

It wasn’t that you thought Ryujin was shallow, though. It was admittedly easy, as an intoxicated bar-goer out with friends, to not even register the features of the one preparing your liquor. You of all people could relate to the hazy way they’d be remembered after the night ended. At least this gave you an advantage in knowing how to change the perception.

Thanks, post-breakup alcoholism.

Step two was coaching the well-meaning but admittedly hopeless Felix through a conversation with his crush - preferably a coherent and confident one, but you weren’t going to hold your breath. The poor guy did blush simply from saying her name, after all. You’d told Felix the three keys to a great introduction, pulling directly from the way love interests would often meet in your novels; brevity, humor, and mystery.

He shouldn’t overdo it, no matter how receptive she seems. Felix had tried to argue that he should jump on the opportunity to speak with her, especially after how long he’d waited, but you’d quickly countered. Interest is a fickle beast, easily deterred by a conversation that dragged on for a few minutes too long. 

You’d rather her wish you’d said more than wish you’d stopped talking.

After your blunt explanation, he was quick to change his tune - even going as far as earnestly calling himself your humble student. Which then brought you to the second rule of introductions - humor.

You wanna be funny, not creepy. No pickup lines, no matter how clever or cute you think they are.

He’d replied quickly with near instantaneous contradiction of his self imposed title.

None? 😢 Not even if it’s really cute?

You’d smiled then, picturing the pout on his gentle face as he mourned the loss of what you assumed he’d considered treasured flirtations.

Absolutely not. 

The telltale dots of what likely was an argument appeared for only a second, vanishing as soon as they’d arrived - almost like a signal of Felix’s acceptance of the rule.

You are a man whose name she doesn’t know approaching her in a bar. Save the cheesy lines until she’s comfortable.

He understood then, shamelessly admitting that you had a fantastic point that he - of course - hadn’t considered. It wasn’t anything to be criticized for. It was simply just his innate privilege as a man to not have that incessant fight-or-flight response when approached by someone of the opposite sex.

After a far-too-complicated discussion, Felix had agreed to give exchanging his cheesy, over the top humor for subtlety a shot. It was bordering on adorable, the way that he clung to each word of advice you offered. He’d thanked you at least twenty times for your wisdom, and you hadn’t even gotten to the final rule yet.

When it came to mystery, you had made it abundantly clear that there was a vast difference between dishonesty and leaving someone guessing. 

Do: Be genuine and honest. Don’t: Give every single detail. Timing is everything.

A vivid image of a puppy-esque tilt of his fluffy head projected into your mind’s eye as you read his reply.

What timing? How much is too much detail? 

His near-palpable panic was enough to encourage you to explain meticulously, if only just to ease his obvious nerves.

Let’s use me as an example, okay? If you asked what I did for a living, I would just say that I’m an author. Not the genre, not how many books I’ve published, not what I’m currently working on. Just that I’m an author. 

As for the timing? Once the conversation is easily flowing and you can tell that she’s into it, you need to excuse yourself. 

You giggled at the row of horrified-looking emojis you’d earned from your explanation, shaking your head as you read the incredulous words Felix had sent.

Isn’t that rude? Getting her invested in conversation just to leave her hanging???

You cut off the ellipses denoting he wasn’t done questioning your methods, shaking your head as your thumbs darted across the keys.

No, Felix. 

Not if you give her a means to continue the conversation.

At this point, you weren’t certain why his naivety continued to shock you - but, yet, it did. You supposed it just went to show that he truly wasn’t lying when he said he was clueless when it came to love.

I don’t get it…if I walk away we won’t be talking anymore! 

A deep breath in, exhaled slowly through your nose helped you maintain the polite, scholarly approach you’d taken thus far.

Your phone number, Felix. 

“I really hate to cut this short, but if you’d like to continue this conversation later here’s my number,” then smile, wave, and walk away.

Then what?

You wait.

Just...wait?

Just wait.

The third and final step of the Help-Felix-Get-The-Girl plan was the simplest, but arguably the most important: being in the same place at the same time. Luckily, Felix had let you know that she typically came into the bar around 8 on Fridays. You’d decided to let his eavesdropping slide, knowing his intentions were undoubtedly pure - fueled only by his sweet, schoolboy pining after Ryujin. Besides, you didn’t want to resort to stalking her socials like some kind of love-crazed maniac, so his insight had truthfully saved you some trouble. 

All that was left was to hope - even pray, to whatever deity might listen to your plea - that Felix could pull it off.

Friday evening, a quarter past six, a gentle knock came from your front door. You peered through the peephole pointlessly, knowing for close to certain that you’d be met with the nerve-wracked face of Felix on the other side. You had, after all, agreed on 6:15 to meet up before the main event. 

Door now opened wide, you offered him your best cheeky smirk before stepping aside for him to enter, “Come on in, Romeo.”

He simply nodded, eyes wider than those of a deer caught in the headlights of an eighteen-wheeler as he anxiously gulped, Adam's apple bobbing noticeably above the neckline of his black v-neck tee. 

“Loosen up, Felix,” you coached jokingly, shutting the door and following him to the couch. He’d already taken a seat on the edge of a cushion, elbows resting on his knees with his face in his hands, “Being scared won’t do anything for the outcome.”

“Easy for you to say,” he grumbled, shifting his weight to run both hands through his tousled tresses before looking to the side. 

You met his uncertain gaze as you sat next to him, offering a reassuring pat to his shoulder as you realized this wasn’t just petty nerves over speaking to this woman. Blatantly ignoring your realization that it was much more muscular than you’d ever given any thought to, you allowed your palm to land flat on the empty space between the two of you as you sighed, “Felix, look at me.”

He mimicked your exhale, though his was much more defeated than exasperated, before turning to meet your waiting gaze. His bottom lip trembling slightly as he sucked in a deep breath made your heart ache, empathy coming far too easily for the kindhearted man before you. He swallowed hard, as he had upon his entrance, eyes swirling with what you could only describe as fear.

“What are you so worried about?” you nearly whispered. He had been much more rattled than you’d initially noticed, causing you to have to fight against the rising bile of guilt in your gut for your teasing. 

He took a shuddering inhale before sighing deeply, shoulders slumping from their prior position - tensed next to his ears - as he responded softly, “I just…God, this is stupid,” he ran a hand through the ever-increasing messiness of blonde atop his head before continuing, “I don’t wanna screw this up,” he admitted, leaning his head back against the couch before continuing.

“I always say something dumb, or come on too strong,” you nodded as he explained the reason for his uncharacteristically cloudy disposition, avoiding interjection - even in the form of a hum - to provide him with your undivided attention, “Even when I’m not trying to, I somehow manage to just…put people off, y’know?” He shook his head as he leaned back into his hands, curtain of flaxen hair hiding what was undoubtedly a dejected expression as he whispered a broken, “I think there’s just something wrong with me.”

You found yourself wishing you could understand how anyone with even half of a heart could look at Lee Felix and describe the sweeter-than-sugar man as anything close to offputting. Even in your jaded, pessimistic state of being, his smile was an instant surge of serotonin. This woman would be so, so lucky to be the recipient of such pure, selfless love.

“Lix,” the nickname rolled off of your tongue without a second thought, “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

He peered at you with a slow turn of his head, cheek pressed into his palm giving his already full lips a dramatized pout, “You don’t have to say that, I know –”

“I’m not lying,” you cut him off, brows knitting together as you held his gaze firm with your own, “There really isn’t anything wrong with you,” a gentle smile that you hoped was reassuring found its way to your lips as you explained, “I think that the world is just very, very gray - and that you,” you poked his nose with the pad of your index finger, earning a noncommittal grin as you continued, “are very, very bright.”

Felix’s grinning had morphed into beaming as his freckled cheeks turned pink at the compliment. He’d released his face from his palms, turning his body more towards yours with ever-straightening posture as though each word from your mouth was filling an invisible meter of confidence.

“So, yeah…there’s nothing wrong with you. People just aren’t used to a person as unabashedly vibrant as you, Felix.”

“You’re really nice, you know that?” he said simply, prior insecurity in his voice replaced with wonder, his smile not once faltering.

“Don’t get sappy on me now, Lee,” you warned with a playful ruffling of his hair. You stood from your spot, it now being your turn to have reddened cheeks, to pour a cup of coffee in the kitchen. You weren’t even thirsty, you just hoped to hide the way his genuine compliment had affected you. 

Cup in hand and cheeks back to their presently scheduled lack-of-crimson, you faced him again with a smirk, “Now, let’s get you ready. You’ve got a lady to woo.”

“Y/N, I’m not so sure about this!” Felix called, voice laced with anxiety, from the bathroom. You’d sent him in with a few outfits you’d borrowed from a less-than-willing, bribed-with-cleaning-his-place Jisung.

“I’m sure you look just fine Lix!” the reassurance you’d tried to convey in your voice was mostly drowned out by the volume at which you had to speak from the kitchen.

The stovetop clock read 7:13, reminding you that you had but a half-hour to get Felix to the bar.

“I dunno, Y/N…” he murmured, almost unheard as you made your way towards the bathroom door.

“Lemme see,” you cooed, hiding your excitement for his mini-makeover as best as you could.

Silence.

“Felix, c’mon, I still have to do your hair. Just show me!” you’d hoped the reminder that there was yet more to do would encourage him.

You were met simply with a deep sigh, and more silence.

“Lee Felix, so help me I will kick this door in!” You wouldn’t, no. But he didn’t know that.

“Fine, fine!” his words came out in a hurried slur, followed soon after by the light ‘click’ of the bathroom lock, “You just…can’t laugh, okay?”

“Why would I laugh?” you asked, suppressing a very inopportune giggle at the request. You understood the nerves, though. Meeting up with your crush? Definitely the right time for them.

“Just…promise?” Despite the depth and rasp of his voice, he sounded so small in that moment. He sounded like a child, afraid of scolding if they were truthful. You found yourself with heartstrings pulled just enough to soften your eyes - and tone.

“I promise, Lix.”

With your assurance, Felix slowly opened the bathroom door and peered his head out. Upon witnessing your genuine expression, he nodded his head and fully appeared in the doorway.

Why he’d thought you would laugh was beyond your comprehension. The fitted black button-up you’d provided him hugged him in the most flattering way, the top two buttons undone to show his unexpectedly toned neck and chest. The sleeves were rolled to just below the elbow, keeping the otherwise business-like look casual enough for a bar.

The deep blue jeans he’d brought himself, uncertain of the way Jisung’s may fit after realizing he had a tiny waist, we’re held up by a simple black belt. They, too, fit in such a way that it brought attention to just how in-shape he was. The shirt was only half tucked on one side, furthering the facade of a casual night out.

You hadn’t realized you were staring until your gaze connected with his concerned expression, “I told you I wasn’t sure…” he started, looking down as he shuffled his feet.

“You look so handsome, Felix.”

His expression morphed into one of shock as his cheeks burned under your earnest stare. He stammered for a moment, seemingly taken aback by the deadpan compliment. Even you were surprised with the ease of which it left your lips, almost before you’d even acknowledged just how good he looked.

“Th-thank you,” he whispered, shaking his head quickly as though to reset his mind.

You swallowed hard, not trusting your words as you simply nodded once and slid past him into the bathroom. He was a quick study, Felix, taking a seat on the closed toilet lid as soon as he saw you grab the comb from the countertop.

You weren’t sure why you felt nervous to reach out and touch his hair, a heavy weight dropping further into your stomach with every inch closer the comb got.

But, eventually you did manage to straighten up his unruly mane, neatening his part and tucking a few strands strategically behind his ears.

You stifled a shiver when the side of your hand grazed his cheek.

He sat silently, not uttering a single complaint while you worked. You were torn, though, between finding comfort or nerves in that silence.

“Done,” you acknowledged before setting the comb down, stepping back from Felix so he could catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

You’d have thought he’d gotten a completely new style by the way his eyes widened upon looking. He gingerly touched his bangs, brows furrowing - likely due to concern of messing it up - before he broke into a signature grin.

“Y/N, you gotta teach me how to do this!” he suddenly shouted, giddiness replacing any lingering doubt he’d felt throughout the preparations, “I didn’t think my hair could lay this nicely without gel! You’re a genius!” he giggled as he leaned in closer to the mirror, turning his head side to side to take in each detail.

“All I did was part it, Lix,” you said through a smirk, laughter hinting at the ends of your words, “But I’ll show you sometime.”

He grinned in reply before checking his phone, back straightening seriously before he squeaked, “We’ve gotta go! It’s time!”

You nodded your agreement, smiling warmly at the excited man before you. His excitement was contagious, warming your heart like the sun on the frostbitten grass of an October morning.

His warmth was undeniable, and everything was going so smoothly.

As you got into the passenger seat of his truck, he started the engine and turned to you - expression looking a bit guilty - before tilting his head, “Are you sure you wanna wait in the truck?”

“Lix, it’ll be fine, just remember what I told you,” you reassured him with a gentle look.

“You’ve helped me so much…” he started, pulling out into the street, “I guess…I guess I just don’t want you to have to just wait alone.”

You resisted the urge to ruffle his hair after all of your hard work, opting instead to smirk and tease him with a reminder, “You’re going there to get the girl, Lix, I don’t think you should be escorting another woman.”

“I s’pose you’re right…” he agreed, though resistantly.

“Of course I am,” you said with a poke to his freckled cheek, just as he pulled into a parking spot, “Now, go! Your love awaits.”

He gave you a grateful smile before getting out, leaving the truck running so you could have music and heat.

As he glanced back from the front entrance, you gave him a thumbs up - which he returned - before watching him disappear into the bar.

Your face fell as soon as he was out of sight. Everything was going exactly as it should, and all you needed to do now was wait.

So why, as you watched the well-dressed silhouette of Lee Felix, twenty-three year old bartender disappear as a patron into his establishment, were you so restless? Why did you sit with the weight of the world in your gut?

“Good luck, Felix,” you whispered to no one, clutching your phone in your hand as though an update from Felix were all that mattered in the world.

And, though you had meant it, the words that left your mouth only felt heavier.

[rockinlibrarian]

Fic Self-Recs!

Anyway, I took the self-indulgent dare of an “I tag anyone who wants to do this!” on a post reblogged by not-even-a-personal-Tumblr so I’m sure the “I” wasn’t thinking of ME at all, but I was curious if I could do it. The tag dare is “What are your five favorite fics that you have written?” Anyway also, I failed the dare, because I had terrible trouble narrowing my 37 posted fics (3 are anonymous) (no I did NOT enter the current Masked Author event three times,* calm down) down past ten? And I’m still not sure. How can you ask someone to choose among their babies? Well, fics aren’t babies, and there are definitely some I wouldn’t pick, so there.

I would like to separate it into two parts, one of fics I can recommend to you all, one of fics I’m being entirely self-indulgent by including, but even that doesn’t work out neatly.

I’m going to start with a self-indulgent one, because my #1 favorite fic I’ve ever written is unfortunately kind of inscrutable to people who haven’t seen all three seasons of cult-favorite show Legion:

“The Magic Man of Oz”! It is my favorite so much that I think you should read it anyway even if you won’t get the references! I added an entire chapter of annotations just so you could look UP the references! It is The Wizard of Oz told through Legion references! It has a delightful intrusive narrator! It has the greatest fight scene I have ever written, maybe because it’s extremely untraditional! I will not stop harping on this, my favorite fic I wrote! So let’s skip to a less self-indulgent alternative #1:

“Exploration of the Astral Plane: An Immersive, Multidimensional Study, by Cary Loudermilk, PhD, and Oliver Anthony Bird.” I’ve been on a rereading this kick lately. While this is also Legion, it’s a prequel that requires next to no preknowledge! And it still has wacky dream imagery and unusual structure and you still get to enjoy Oliver Bird being HIM-like, he’s just not narrating!

Now we’ll do the rest of the Legion fics just to get them out of the way! But these ALSO require next-to-no pre-knowledge (even less, actually! “Exploration” requires you to know that it takes place in the X-Men universe and that Summerland is a retreat for traumatized mutants! These next ones don’t even require THAT!), so they make very good recommendations, too!

2. “A Strictly Scholarly Collaboration: the Original Romance of the Mind” is me writing a romance! My way! It’s all about relationship-building, nothing at all physical! Yet one of my favorite AO3 bookmarks was given to it by someone who usually deals primarily in Explicit fics and THEY said “Exceptional viewpoints, intelligence, accuracy, and romance. Solid 10/10,” so that’s a win for everyone! 2.1/2 bonus so I don’t have to give away another slot “Two (or Three) Mutant Freaks and the Strictly Scholarly Collaboration” –are bonus scenes that would exist if it took place in a world where Oliver was already friends with Cary and Kerry! Which brings us to:

3. “Two (or Three) Mutant Freaks Against the Fourth Grade,” which was my favorite that I felt the need to harp on before I wrote “Magic Man of Oz”! It’s just a cute little story about mutant nerd-boys making friends! I think everyone should read it, even if I don’t love it quite as much as I did at first! Okay, we’ll leave Legion now, I promise. How about a couple from my second most-commonly-written-for fandom?

4. “A Captain With Seven Children…What's So Fearsome About That?” asks What if Maria (not Von Trapp because she’s obviously not married in this scenario) from The Sound of Music got hired to be governess at The Umbrella Academy instead? It also requires next to no pre-knowledge of either source material! So you should read it! It’s not done yet because I haven’t figured out how to run away to Switzerland when we’re in America and the bad guy is the father himself quite yet! But that’s okay because everything else is delightful!

5. “On Soul Mates and Nemeses” is where I attempt to justify my obsession with shipping Fiktor! It has lots of little snippets of flashback scenes that are fun and really isn’t that heavy on the shipping! Which leads us back to the self-indulgent list:

2. “New World Symphony” (which is also Fiktor but also has a lot of interesting non-shipping bits) is one I only have one chapter posted for, but I swear to you, Chapters Four and Five are SO GOOD. Unfortunately Chapter Three just BARELY exists. Chapter Two is very likely to be the next thing I post, but that doesn’t make Chapter Three get any more written. You HAVE to read Chapters 4 and 5 though, I’m serious. Speaking of which:

3. “Tesseract” notoriously hasn’t been updated on AO3 since late 2021, but there’s some really amazing stuff yet to come, I promise! I keep chipping away at it and there is so much I can’t wait to share!

I’m counting this last one among the self-indulgents for the opposite reason though:

4. “The Invitation: an epilogue” DOESN’T need any advertising. It’s my most-kudoed fic! (Although “In Which Jason and Chidi Rob a Bank” is only behind by two now so it may actually lose that status sometime soon). But that doesn’t mean it’s not one of my very favorites regardless, so I have to put it on the list even if everyone already agrees with me!

Now I'm supposed to tag people! I feel like I should tag actual people to make up for the self-indulgence! @stephsageek came up as soon as I hit @ so yeah; @a-freemaniac I'm pretty sure it was your Tumblr I saw this on-- I don't know if you write fic or just read it but I'll put it out there; @littlerit; @uniasus I think you might have done this before but you're the next fic writer on my list here-- oh I think I asked you what your FAVORITE was in an ask game once, this is FIVE favorites so it counts; @destinyandcoins!

*Edit to add, 8/3/2024: This comment was a deliberately misleading half-truth. I entered the (now long-completed) Masked Author event TWICE.

[leggerefiore]

I was in the middle of writing some cute Deerling/Sawsbuck!SubMas when a pertinent question arose. What is the living situation like for Ingo and Emmet?

Do they live isolated, detached, or within modern society? If they live in a manmade structure, does it have to have special accommodations for their bodies? Do they need special clothes because of their antlers (I’m sure Elesa would be able to help them with that part at least)? Do they have jobs?

I just wanted to write some cute Bambi-esque shit, but now I’ve gotta figure out the actual LORE!

T-T

So! I have like two concurrent and sometimes fused versions of the Sawsbuck AU. Also thank you for the excuse to go on about this AU.

First is one where they are purely wild, as in living in the woods and completely separated from humanity. In this, they are both weird protectors of the forest. Ingo helps people and children who get lost get back to paths and trails so he's more socialised than Emmet, who is untrusting of humans because of hunters. Sometimes, they meet their partner and stay in the wild (s/o getting a cabin or RV and staying out there with them mostly), or...

They can be introduced to society by either s/o or Ingo deciding to actually fully interact with humans. Either way, this leads to Ingo integrating into society almost completely and getting his job as a Subway Boss (since deer man in a uniform is a cute thought). Emmet will either join Ingo, albeit more hesitantly, or choose to stay in the wild (dealer's choice on that one).

Ingo would likely get an apartment in the city if it's the AU where they join society. Maybe they have started building hybrid accessible buildings. (Since his height is quite tall for human standards, especially with his antlers.) When in the wild, however, they tend to stick to actually sleeping outside. It's what they grew up doing. Maybe adapting into s/o's cabin or RV to better enjoy central heating and AC lol.

As for clothes, nude in the wild. Not there's anything to actually see since they don't have a human lower half. Clothes added after moving into society (or if gifted it in wild with Ingo). Special clothes are probably required since they can't really go over his head (excluding button-ups or zippers). Elesa helping make them clothes is a cute idea, you should definitely do something with that if you want to in your fic lol

Good luck with writing!

[mulledcherrywine]

Amalfi (Very small appearance of actress!y/n)

A/N: Okay so fun fact i submitted this as an assignment for an creative writing class but now i’ve reworked it back into a harry fic! I actually rlly like this piece tbh, and i hope u do too <3

also yes the italian is from google translate and is no doubt FULL of mistakes so i sincerely apologize for that one.

They say it’s important to separate fiction from real life. Make sure you understand that the films you watch aren’t gospel, that the romanticization of life, food and travel are pure works of art and that life is far more gruelling in the real world. Well, whoever decided this had clearly never been to Italy in the lull of euphoric summer’s heat, just taking it all in and realizing that what is constructed to be beautiful in our imagination manifests itself even after we take off the rose coloured glasses. 

The early Amalfi sun refracted itself through the dusty windows. You gently rubbed the night's sleep from your eyes, already beginning to feel the city’s energy in your body. The clang of dishes sounded throughout the house,  no doubt it was Harry preparing coffee, something the two of you had admittedly acquired a rather unhealthy fixation for since arriving in Italy. When starting the trip in Milan, the words “Un altro caffè, per favore” (another coffee, please), had practically become reflex. As you made your way into the kitchen, your eyes were met with a rather dishevelled Harry, making a perfect mess of the kitchen.

“Oh, I figured it best not to wake you but ‘pose that was a pipe dream,” he said, leaning over an assortment of kitchen appliances, your fancy new french press looking out of place within all the other rather pedestrian ramekins and charity shop mugs. 

“You didn’t wake me, the sun did,” you said, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking at the coffee he had prepared. 

“The sun did,” he mimicked, “how do you turn everything into something artistic?” he asked, quoting your cheesily poetic telling of the morning. 

“Not sure, learned from you maybe?” 

He hummed in response, a small smirk stretching over his face. It meant more to him than you knew how much he inspired you, and you for him. 

 Walking over to the fridge, you pulled out a small flat of strawberries the two of you had picked out at last night's market. The amount of money you could have spent there was unfathomable. Lush greens piled on checker-clothed tables, fresh fruits and berries, handmade clothes and so many beautiful art pieces. If you hadn’t brought just your little canvas tote along, you probably would’ve left with all of it.  

Picking out a couple berries from the flat, you grabbed a bowl from the sage-painted kitchen cupboards, placing them inside. You had also bought Devon Cream to keep in the house, as it was one of Harry’s favourites, and he probably couldn’t have gone a week without it. You were apprehensive at first to try it, but it was now well ingrained into your daily eating thanks to him. Lastly, you had some sweet bread left over from a few nights ago which made for a perfect breakfast.. After preparing your plate, you walked back to where Harry was to get your coffee. Reaching for the mug, he eyed the slice of bread you had cut for yourself. 

“Oh, it’s fine, please don't strain yourself by cutting me a piece,” Harry joked, adding 2% to his mug. 

“Would you like a piece, Harry?” I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Please?” He muttered, jokingly sticking out his bottom lip. You lovingly rolled your eyes, going back to slice him a piece and gently laid it on a dish for him. You handed it over to him, finally taking your coffee and sitting down. 

“Good?” You asked, 

“Always,” He affirmed.

He came over to join you at the table.

“So, darling,” He started, “What’s the agenda today?” 

“I think we should go for a walk, get lost.” 

“There she goes again, I think you must’ve been a poet in another life,”

“I wish,” you scoffed. As much as you liked acting, you did sometimes wish for something a little quieter. To be a writer would be an absolute dream. 

 Harry reached into his pocket, pulling out a little crumpled map he had picked out at a newsstand just yesterday. He skimmed his fingers over the page, landing on a little octopus-shaped square on the map. You thought it was adorable he used the paper map when he could just easily use his phone.

“What about Piazza Flavio Gioia? It’s right by the water, too.” 

“Perfect” you smiled, taking the map from under his hands and looking for yourself. It really was perfect, the water was right next to it, just like he said. On the cab ride in, you could hardly catch a glimpse as your eyes were shutting down from all the travel. Just coming from touring with Harry, filming your new projects and heading here, you could barely take it in.  Now, you’d get to see it with fresh eyes. 

“Well, it would be perfect if you got dressed,” Harry noted, tugging at the silk pants I still had on from being in bed. He was already fully dressed, wearing a white button up shirt and the Bode shorts you had bought him for christmas a few years ago. His white vans were in an absolute state, but you figured he liked those more than anything and it was best not to get him a new pair. 

You sighed and got up from the table, putting your finished plate in the sink and headed for the bedroom to get ready, tiredly dragging yourself there. 

“C’mon, the faster you get dressed the faster we can leave,” he sang, sounding like your mum. You jokingly ran into the bedroom in response, going to quickly dress. As much as you wanted to just stay home all day and eat, drink and look at the sun, you were excited to go out.

It was hot here, but nothing you weren’t totally used to. The weather report had said 26o. In the wardrobe, you had a dress you’d bought back home. It was baby yellow with small roses scattered about the fabric. You had put it aside for some special occasion, should it arise. This felt like just the time. 

You removed last night's PJ’s and draped them over the chair by the bay window. You pulled on the dress, awkwardly stuffing my arms through the tighter parts of its shape. You smoothed out the wrinkled areas and checked in the mirror. This was one of those rare moments where the item you pick out looks just like it did in the dressing room, better even. 

“Ready?” Harry called from the kitchen. 

“Nearly,” you called back, putting two gold hoops into your ears and putting your hair back. You grabbed the ‘Love on Tour’ tote Harry gifted to the whole “team” from the dresser and packed it with all of the essentials. For the day, you’d take your cameras; disposable and professional, a notebook and your wallet. Once completely packed, you threw one of Harry’s button up shirts over the dress and skipped out the bedroom door. Like usual, he was already fully prepared for our day and stood by the door with his own, obnoxiously massive tote bag. 

“What do you think?” you said, doing a little spin in front of him. 

“Is that my shirt?” 

“Hm, don’t know,” you acted. 

“Well, I think you look pretty,” he stated, holding the front door for you to exit, “even though it is my shirt,” he finally said as you passed him into the hallway. You turned your head around and shot him a playful grimace. 

Taking the stairs down, Harry had to take a brief phone call. He spoke in broken Italian but you could barely make out the words “rental” and something about a car being given? Once he hung up, you were just getting to the bottom stair stretch.

“When on earth did you call a car?” you questioned,  “I didn’t even hear you on the phone earlier.” 

“Oh, you must’ve been in the shower.”

“I didn’t shower this morning, I did it last night since I knew we’d be going out today,” you noted, exiting the stairwell. 

“Then I guess you just weren’t listening.” He smiled. 

“Why are you being weird?” I interrogated, glaring into his eyes which were looking nearly everywhere but at me. 

“M’not,” he said, stepping into the lobby of the building and heading for the door, “Just thought maybe instead of a cab you would want to take this instead.” Just then, he jogged a little to the glass front doors, behind which was a baby blue convertible BMW. I pressed open the doors to follow him as he did a sorry attempt at some Bond-like hood slide. 

“How did you-” 

“Magic,” he said, hopping into the driver's seat and adjusting the mirrors. 

“This is like my dream car.” 

“Oh, well I should probably be clear this is a friend’s so, not for keeps.” 

“Doesn’t matter, just to like, be near it is enough, seriously” you dazed, taking it all in, “Thank you, H. This is really cool,” You ruffed the hair around his temple and gave him a small kiss. 

He rounded the car and got into the driver’s side door, you did the same on the passenger's side. 

“Want to be my navigator then, lovie?” He asked, handing you the same map from earlier. 

“Only if I can drive back” You contested. 

“Deal.” 

He put his arm around the back of your seat, pulled out of the drive and made for the day ahead.

[starlady-baby]

So, I totally meant to post this earlier, and then I forgot so- happy late Juke Jeudi! I’ve been wanting to try and post my writing more, so for you today I have part of a Juke fic that I started working on. It’s not finished yet (tbh we’ll see if I do get around to finishing it-), but I figured it might be fun to post the first bit of it. Also, it’s just pure fluff. Evidently I can’t write anything but fluff if it involves these two. Anyway, enjoy, and tell me if you’d like it to be finished eventually! 💙💜

Mornings like this had slowly become one of Luke’s favorite things. Mornings when the sun was starting to shine into the studio, all of its plants, the piano, and everything else in front of the window suddenly had a warm glow to it. Mornings when he saw the sun starting to rise and for some reason didn’t feel tired, like he normally would have.

Luke was never much of a morning person. He was the kind to stay in bed until the last moment and barely make it out the door in time to catch the bus or even make it to school if he rode his bike. Actually, most mornings he’d have to sneak into class a few minutes after the bell rang and hope that he didn’t get another tardy slip. At least that was a benefit of being a ghost, no grades or no school in general to worry about anymore.

But maybe the reason he enjoyed these mornings so much now was because it reminded him of the day his life changed. Well, his ghost life. The day when she walked into his life. The girl who made his dreams possible. He could never forget that morning, the morning when Julie Molina played the piano for the first time in a year, and how he was there to witness it. There was something so magical about the passion she exuded and how carefully yet how meaningful she played the notes and sang. Oh, he could never get enough of her voice. A voice that had been described as an angel’s by one of his closest friends, and although he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, Luke couldn’t agree more.

He smiled to himself as he saw the glow grow bigger around him, the yellow hue of it almost matching his expression. The Molina family had a game night the previous night, and after several shouting matches between the boys about who was cheating in Uno, everyone decided to call it a night. The boys went back to the studio shortly after and tried to see if they could sleep again but ended up going their separate ways during the late hours of the night into the early morning. Alex and Reggie had come back a while ago, but now both of them were inside the house talking with Ray as he got ready for work and Carlos as he got ready for school.

He hadn’t heard anything from Julie yet, but knew she was probably already awake and getting ready as well. As much as he wanted to beg her to stay home from school so they could spend time together, he knew that wouldn’t go over well with her or Ray. He sighed to himself thinking he should also probably head inside the house and say hello, but gets stopped in his tracks when he sees the studio doors open and Julie walk in.

“Well good morning.” Luke smirked at her as she made her way over to the piano.

She jumped a little and caught her breath shortly before turning towards him, also being stopped in her tracks. “Jeez, you scared me! But good morning to you too.” She smiled back.

His smirk softened into a smile as she remembered what she was doing, and grabbed some sheet music that was spread out on top of said piano. “Forgot something?” He asked.

“Oh, yeah. Mrs. Harrison is doing a check-in on what we’ve been working on, so I’ve got to perform this for her.” Julie laughed, holding up the sheet music.

“You mean what we’ve been working on?”

[countessofravenclaw]

Rodar Mi Vida down the Altar

Suprise!!! Or not, depends if you have picked up on the hints in my other fics about Jim and Yam actually dauting this whole time. So, it's time for the wedding!!! Happy bride month everbody!!!

“Here’s my famous hot chocolate!” Jim placed two cups of a steaming beverage on the living room’s coffee table. 

“Famous?” Yam looked up from her phone at Jim, “This is the first time you’ve served hot chocolate.”

“Definitely not,” Jim shook her head violently as a protest. “I’ve made this before. But maybe this is like the first time in April.” 

“Who said we can’ drink hot beverages in April?” Yam took a cup and sipped from it, “And this is good, so I think we can call it famous.” 

“I knew you’d like it,” Jim kissed Yam on top of her head before cuddling to her side and taking her own cup in her hand. “What were you looking at from your phone?” 

“I need to figure out something for Mom and Dad’s wedding anniversary,” Yam shook her head, “I totally forgot that it’s coming up.”

“Special one?”

“Kind of, their 25th,” Yam explained, “so I thought that it would be nice to get them a present, to prove that I didn’t forget about the day.”

“Well, most people don’t actually remember their parents' wedding days,” Jim raised her hands in a sort of gesture, “Because they weren’t alive.”

“Well, I was.” Yam laughed, “Mom and Dad haven’t ever done things traditionally, outside of like Mom taking Dad’s name. That was the only one. I mean they had a baby while Mom was in med school and her wedding dress was blue. They always tell me that one of their favorite memories of the day was that fact that I was there.”

“Oh please show me that pic again,” Jim asked, “You looked so cute!”

“I wanted to design my own dress,” Yam laughed as she pulled the picture of her parens’ wedding on her phone. Little 5-year-old Yamila was wearing a canary yellow dress and smiling so brightly. “Mom told me that I ended up running around naked with a veil around me for an hour before Nana got me to wear an actual dress. 

“You were the cutest flower girl in the world,” Jim smiled. 

“Well, it was very good practice,” Yam responded, “Given how many times we have had to pull bridesmaids duty.”

“Yeah…” Jim seemed to look into the distance. 

“What is it?” Yam looked at her. 

“I just started thinking, almost all of our friends are married, with outside of like Ramiro, but imagine Ramiro married…” Jim started talking. “Why have we never gotten married?”

“Huh, I don’t know,” Yam wondered, “I guess it has never been something we’ve thought we needed…”

“Have we ever truly talked about it?” Jim looked Yam into her eyes. 

“I guess not really,” Yam pondered, “I guess it has been something that isn’t done, since we’re lesbians, but that’s not true is it? We can get married if we want to, the world has changed.”

“And we’ve been together more than like Luna and Matteo or Simon and Ambar, or even Gastón and Nina and they have a child,” Jim pointed out. “I mean, I don’t think it has been something we have required in our relationship, but honestly, after seeing everyone's weddings and how happy they are… I have never been opposed to it.” 

“You know what,” Yam looked at Jim in her eyes, “Me neither. Honestly, nothing would really change, but it would be really nice, to celebrate our love.” 

It seemed like they had the same thought at the exact same time. 

“Should we get married?” They exclaimed in unison and then started laughing.

“Yes!” They yelled while laughing, also in unison. 

“Wait, this is probably not how it’s done,” Jim laughed, “But I have never proposed before.”

“Well, are there any rules?” Yam made a very serious face after getting her laughter under control and took Jim’s hand,  “Well, Jimena Medina, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” Jim grabbed Yam’s hand, “Only if you marry me as well Yamila Sanches?”

“Yes! We will marry each other.” They started laughing again and then kissed each other. 

“Wait, what do we do now?” Jim asked after they separated, “Do we just now tell everyone? Or keep it a secret? What do you do when you’re engaged?” 

“We need rings,” Yam pointed out and took her phone out again, “Where is the nearest jewelry store?”

“OOh, then we’ll need to plan a wedding,” Jim pointed out, “Oh, Yammy, we need to get married during the Pride month! But… that would be June, which is in… two months.” 

“Of course, June,” Yam nodded, “We’ll figure it out. One thing at a time. Now let’s go ring shopping!” 

“Okay!” Jim jumped up from the couch and offered her arm to Yam, “So, shall we, fiancee?”

“We shall, Fiancee.” Yam linked her arms with her and they walked through their apartment's door.

30 minutes later they were eagerly standing in front of a jewelry shop's desk.

“So, how can I assist you ladies today?” The shop assistant walked up to them.

“We’re engaged,” Jim declared, “so we want rings.”

“Well, first of all, congratulations,” The assistant smiled, “We can definitely get you some rings. Are we looking for two, or one and if that’s the case, to who?”

“Uhm, actually,” Jim and Yam looked at each other bit confused, “We… haven’t gotten that far… Which one of us should have the ring?”

“Well, traditionally the one who gets proposed to wears the ring,” The assistant explained. 

“But we both proposed,” Jim continued, “And we both said yes.”

“Well, I was just getting to that,” The assistant continued, “A lot of the women couples both get rings, no matter who proposed.  And if it was a mutual decision, like yours, that is what I’d recommend.”

“Okay then,” Yam nodded and turned to Jim, “So, I’ll pick for you and you pick for me?”

“Yes, lets do that!” Jim agreed. 

The shop assistant called another assistant over after getting both Jim’s and Yam’s ring sizes. It took maybe an hour and then they were standing in front of each other with boxes again. 

“I can’t wait for you to see this!” Jim squealed. 

“I can’t wait either,” Yam responded, “Lest reveal them at the same time.”

“On three?”

“On three.”

“1, 2, 3!!!” They counted and flipped the jewelry boxes open. 

“It’s beautiful!!!” They exclaimed in unison. Jim had chosen for Yam a ring that had a one solitaire purple leaning ruby which was a pillow cut on a gold band. Yam had also picked a gold band, and a ruby, but it was round and surrounded by smaller diamonds that resembled a vine. 

They took turns to put the rings in each other's fingers. 

“By the way, do you know where we could host a wedding in two months?” Yam asked the shop assistant after they had paid, “We really want it to be in June.” 

“Well, two months is a really narrow timeframe,” The assistant remarked, “But I also understand. I have to say that the courthouse will be your best bet.” 

“Courthouse?” Jim and Yam looked at each other again, “Well, why not? We can still decorate it and stuff.”

“Court house it is,” Jim nodded, “Why complicate things? Let's go now so we can get it reserved.”

“To the courthouse!!” Yam nodded and the girls were on their way. 

***

“You’re back already?” Matteo asked Gastón as he pulled the downstairs bedroom’s door shut, after settling Oscar down for a nap. 

“He was straight out,” He responded as he sat down on the couch next to Nina. “All the running around must have tired him out. Thanks Luna.”

“I'm nailing this godmother thing down,” Luna jumped on the couch. She had spent the past two hours running around with 16-month-old Oscar in the backyard. He had learned to walk about as soon as he had turned 1-year-old and had been such a speed fiend ever since. 

“I think we’ve some sort of lottery on how well he sleeps,” Nina added carefully, “I am almost afraid to say more, so I don’t jinx anything. Delfi told me horrible stories about sleep regression.”

“Victoria had colic,” Gastón ran his hand on her back, “Doesn’t happen to everybody.”

“So, when can we get those skates for him?” Luna continued, “Since I wasn’t allowed to give them as a birthday present.”

“Luna, we talked about this,” Nina looked at Luna, “We’re not gonna force him into any hobby.” 

“If he wants to skate, he’s more than welcome to do so,” Gastón nodded, “But not at one. I don’t think anyone’s nerves can handle that. Let's ride the bike first.”

“I hope our kids will want to skate,” Luna jumped up on the couch again, “Matteo, lets have a baby!!” 

“I’ve told you that it is gonna require a longer conversation than that,” Matteo looked at her. “But if it really is this easy, it is getting tempting.” 

“Yeah, no one said it is easy,” Gastón rolled his eyes at Matteo, “Actually it is not.”

“Did Newton stay at the nursery?” Nina asked while looking around. 

“Yeah, he did,” Gastón nodded, “Curled under the crip, like always. When we get Oscar a normal bed, he’s gonna sleep there, mark my words. We’ve lost our dog to our son.”

“It was gonna happen from the point he became best friends with Delfi when she was pregnant with Victoria—”

Nina got interrupted by all four phones dinging at the same time. 

“Huh, it’s the group chat probably,” Matteo remarked as they pulled their phones out and opened the Legends of Roller chat—Yes, it was still called that. “Wonder who it is…”

They all stared at the message sent. First there was a picture, a picture of Jim and Yam posing in front of the Buenos Aires courthouse. You wouldn’t think anything of it, if it wasn't for the hands they were holding up in the picture. Their left hands, which had a ring in both of their hands.

All four: Luna, Matteo, Nina and Gastón all did a double take on their own left hands, to check it actually was the right finger. They wouldn’t have needed to do that, because the text under the picture read:

Guess what? Wedding on 16th of June. We just booked the courthouse!!!

“I can’t believe it.” Matteo spoke first, “I never thought they would do it.”

“Well, you thought wrong,” Gastón nodded, “Like very often. Not that I saw this coming any more.” 

“THIS IS AWESOME!!!!” Luna jumped up from the couch—once again, but this time she started dancing around the living room.

“Luna, please, little quieter,” Nina shussed and pointed toward the nursery door, “The walls aren't 100 percent soundproof.”

“Oh sorry,” Luna sat back down, “But this is exciting. We thought we were all done with weddings now.”

“Not us,” Gastón shook his head, “I have eight cousins left, or eleven, depending on how you wanna count it. But this is great, just a bit surprising.”

“I guess they come to realize about marriage now,” Nina offered, “People can always change their minds.”

“That’s true. Good for them.” 

“Definitely. And we’re getting a party out of it.”

***

“We’re back!!” Pedro and Delfi were startled by Jazmin’s voice. “You weren’t answering so I used my keys.”

“Oh you’re back?” Delfi shook her head, trying to snap back in the moment. Jazmin had taken her goddaughter, 3-year-old Victoria, on a girls day out so Pedro and especially Delfi, who was about five months pregnant with their second child, could relax. 

“Yep!” Jazmin nodded happily as she walked to the living room hand in hand with Victoria, “We got our nails done and went to the hairdresser. Shopping bags are still in my car, I’ll go get them in a minute…”

“We gonna put on fashion show!” Victoria ran to the living room and jumped on Pedro’s lap. 

“Well, you definitely look the part,” Pedro laughed. The girl's jet-black hair was on two braided pigtails which were secured with a bunch of colorful elastics and a bunch of hair glitter. “You look beautiful.”

“So, dresses are in the black bag, shirts in the white one, shoes in the red and accessories in the grey one,” Jazmin dropped a bunch of shopping bags on the living room’s coffee table. 

“Great,” Delfi nodded, “Thanks for this. She’s growing so fast, and I don’t have any energy to go shopping.”

“Anything for my girl,” Jazmin pulled her tablet out of her handbag, “Can I make a video over organizing the closet?”

“Sure,” Delfi sighed, “If you wanna clean it, go for it. I don’t know what we're gonna do with all the too-small clothes. Gastón and Nina just had to have a boy so we can’t pass them on.”

“Charity is always a good place,” Pedro suggested. 

“Yep.” Delfi nodded before looking at Jazmin again. “By the way, did you see the message?” 

“Which one?” Jazmin tilted her head, “The one where you told me to not get Vicky’s ears pierced, because you wanna do it when she goes to school? Or the one from Fundom, but how would you know about that…?”

“No Jazmin,” Delfi rolled her eyes, “The one from Jim and Yam.”

“Oh, this one?” Jazmin was scrolling on her phone, “OMG!!!”

“Exactly,” Pedro laughed, “Quite a suprise, and very happy one.”

“Seems like they just woke up today and decided to get married,” Delfi said with a smiling face. 

“Well, that is super progressive!!” Jazmin continued. “This is exciting! I need to ask them for an interview. World needs more super chic woman power couples.”

“Did it say when it was going to be?” Pedro looked at the message again, “Huh, in two months.”

“Court house will probably be easy to book,” Delfi suggested before looking at Pedro who was looking at her. “What?”

“It’s in two months.”

“So what? That is also two months away from the due date,” She gave him stern eyes, “I won’t be able to dance very comfortably or drink, but being pregnant is not gonna stop me from attending this wedding.” 

“That was not what I was gonna say…” Pedro raised his hands in surrender.

“Good,” Delfi smiled. 

Suddenly her phone started ringing. 

“Did you hear the news?” Ambar and Simon appeared on the screen. 

“I think everyone has heard it.”

“I’m actually not surprised,” Ambar remarked, “This is absolutely their style.” 

“You’re never surprised by anything anymore,” Delfi pointed out. “You literally knew I was pregnant before I knew.” 

“You don’t ever eat that much ice cream.”

***

“So, we got the venue booked and the rings, and everyone was notified.” Jim recounted as she and Yam walked into their apartment. “What do we do next? Dress shopping? Cake?”

“Color scheme,” Yam sat down on the couch, “We’ll need that before doing any shopping. Or do you just want a flat-out white wedding?”

“Ugh,” Jim sat next to her, “Sounds like the most boring thing imaginable. We need color… Uuuu, what about rainbows?”

“Of course—”

“May I ask why I was the last one to hear the news?!?!” The door to their apartment sprang open as Ramiro walked in. 

“This is our place so I think we should be the ones asking the questions,” Yam rolled her eyes, “Like for example why did we ever give you a key?”

“Because you trust me,” Ramiro shrugged, “Like you should have told me personally about the WEDDING?”

“We didn’t have time,” Jim explained. “But don’t tell us that you’re not happy for us. Or should we be offended?”

“Who said I wasn’t happy?” Ramiro scrunched his brow, “I am very happy, but also offended over having to hear about my best friend’s engagement through a text. That’s not the way to treat your best man.”

“Who said you got the gig?”

“Who else is gonna do it?” Ramiro grinned, “Trust me, I’m gonna give the best speech. Also, I brought cookies…but you can only get them if you…”

“Okay, you can be our best man,” Yam relented, “Just give us the cookies.”

“Oh, also, can I bring a date?” Ramiro asked as he sat down on the couch. “My girlfriend’s…”

“Wait what?!!” Jim and Yam exclaimed. “You have a girlfriend? Since when?”

“Well, I guess it is not quite official yet…” Ramiro scratched his head, “but it will be. Soon. I haven’t had the time to tell you as she lives in Ireland.”

“That’s why you've been so eager to travel?”

***

“Sorry, I’m late.” Nina walked into the mansion’s kitchen where Luna, Jim and Yam were waiting for her. 

Jim and Yam had decided to order the wedding cake from Monica and wanted to do a full-on traditional cake tasting and had asked Luna and Nina to join them. 

“No worries,” Yam nodded, “We just got here.”

“I would have been late myself if I hadn’t been here since the morning,” Luna noted.

“Okay girls,” Monica walked into the kitchen carrying a tray, “are we ready?”

“Definitely,” Jim and Yam nodded while eyeing all the cakes on the tray, “We didn’t eat any breakfast while waiting for this.” 

“But it’s 4 pm,” Luna pointed out, “Why breakfast? You did still eat lunch?”

“Of course we did,” Yam shrugged, “I don’t get your point.” 

“So, what kind of cake would you like to taste first?” Monica asked. 

“I mean that’s the problem,” Jim hung her head, “All the cake is so good, how are we supposed to pick between chocolate and strawberry.”

“We had both for our wedding,” Luna noted. 

“If recommendations are what you’re after,” Monica pulled up an chair sat down, “I’ve just mastered my recipe for a lemon cake that packs quite a punch.”

“Uuu, lets try that one first then!”

“It’s this one,” Monica cut a piece of cake for the girls. 

“This is soooo goood!!!” Jim and Yam did their finger thing. “We found the cake… What do we do now?”

“What else do you have left?” Nina asked. 

“We’re not even sure,” Yam laughed, “I’ve made a list, but we’ve never planned a wedding before, especially this fast.”

“What are you doing for the dresses for example?” 

“I actually asked if Mora would want to come and help us,” Yam noted, “She agreed and made us an appointment in a bridal shop she knows the owner of. So, we got that covered.”

“Are you going shopping together?” Luna raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, two birds with one stone.” Jim nodded, “No, not seeing the bride thing. I mean traditions are fun and beautiful, but some of them are not quite our style.”

“That is really great. Your wedding should look like you,” Nina agreed. 

***

“You remember when I used to braid your hair in the middle of the night?” Ashlyn Medina asked as she released a lock of hair from a curling iron. 

“Oh yeah.” Jim laughed as she sat on the chair, “It was past my bedtime, so I sneaked into your room. Mom and Dad never questioned why I woke up with a new hairstyle. Lyni, thanks for doing this.”

Ashlyn led the makeup and hair department at one of Buenos Aires’ theaters. Jim had known from the start that she wanted her big sister to do her hair and make-up. Ashlyn was also going to be the maid of honor. 

“I think I did make you swear that I would get to do your hair for your wedding,” Ashlyn laughed, “When you were three and Mom and Dad really were not convinced.” 

“Well, both of us will look absolutely fabulous,” Yam remarked from the other chair. She was leaning back with a face mask on her face while her hairstylist was lathering the blonde hair with some serum. Yam trusted her glam crew that always made sure she looked fabulous for photoshoots and performances. “I love these nails.” 

Both Jim and Yam flexed their fingers, where Jazmin had given them a pastel rainbow manicure. Of course, the brides would be rocking matching nails. 

“Okay, I think we’re almost done,” Ashlyn placed the flower crown on top of Jim’s head, while Yam’s glam team were finishing up her makeup. “Time for the dress.” 

“Thank you Lyni!!” Jim squealed as she looked into the mirror.

“You look beautiful.” Yam had turned to look at Jim. Her eyes were already full of hearts. 

“Okay…” Ashlyn laughed teasingly, “Save that for the altar, you aren't married yet.”

“Ashlyn,” Yam looked at her humorously. 

“Just looking out for my baby sis,” Ashlyn laughed again, “But seriously, I’m so happy for the two of you. I’d love to say that I saw this coming…but let's save that for the speeches.”

“Okay Lyni, you should go change now,” Jim said to Ashlyn while putting her earrings on.

“Don’t you need to help with the dress?” Ashlyn asked. 

“The girls will be here any minute,” Yam said, “We’re gonna do an outfit reveal for them, so we’ll have plenty of helpers.”

***

“Hey!!! Mr. Best Man!!!” Ramiro had been looking over the preparations for the ceremony space after he had gotten changed. Really boring job, but Jim and Yam had insisted—since he was the Best Man—and what didn’t you do for your best friends. They deserved the best for their wedding day. 

He looked up as he heard Simon’s voice. He was walking into the ceremony space with Pedro and Nico. Ramiro had to note that they were looking quite boring, in their normal suits. He was wearing light blue shoes and a hot pink bow tie, and his own opinion was that he looked quite stylish. 

“Hello!” He greeted them. “You’re early.” 

“We got out of the house on time, once in our life.” Pedro remarked, “Since we dropped Victoria off with my parents yesterday.” 

“This wedding was such a pleasant suprise,” Simon looked around, “We need all this color for the winter season.” Winter, as if it actually was cold or something. 

“More notice would have been nice,” Nico remarked, “I wasn’t able to find a date.”

“How sad,” Ramiro rolled his eyes. 

“Speaking of dates. You’re gonna stop being mysterious about yours soon?” Simon asked Ramiro. 

“Well, you were supposed to meet her today, but she couldn’t come,” Ramiro shook his head.

“You sure she actually exists?” Nico raised an eyebrow. 

“Yes, she does,” Ramiro rolled his eyes again, “She just has to work. She texted me ten minutes ago—Hey!!” 

“Cool!” Nico snached Ramiro's phone off his hand after he had opened the chat with his girlfriend. “She’s cute.”

“Yeah,” Pedro was also looking now, “Kind of looks familiar. Have we met her?”

“No…”

“This place is looking nice.” Matteo and Gastón walked in and that for some reason made Ramiro snatch his phone back so no more people could get a look.

***

“Hey, hey, hey!!!” Luna and Nina walked into the bridal suite where Jim and Yam had been getting ready. The other girls: Ambar, Jazmin and Delfi were already there. “Where are our brides?”

“Here!” Jim and Yam got up from the sofa where they had been sitting with matching ropes on. 

“This is so exciting!!” Luna jumped up in the air. “I love weddings.”

“We’re excited too.” Jim and Yam took each other by the hand. 

“Girls, why aren’t you in your dresses yet?” Jazmin suddenly exclaimed, “You’re running out of time soon. You’ll need to make sure that there is enough time for makeup touch ups. Where is the equipment?”

“We’re just about to get dressed.” The girls got up and walked into a side room. 

Five minutes later they emerged decked in white. Jim was wearing a T-length white dress with a sweetheart neckline and lace sleeves, while Yam’s pantsuit had a deep V-neckline and puffed sleeves of embroidered see through chiffon. They were both wearing hot pink shoes and jewelry was gold and blue. 

Yam’s hair was on a half up half down look with a high bun, while Jim was sporting three different fishtail braids on top of her curled hair. 

“Ooooh, you look beautiful!!!” Luna was jumping around again. “This is going to be so great.” 

***

The clock was striking 12 in five minutes, which meant that the ceremony was about to begin.

Yam had met College 11 in a music showcase she had done about three years ago, and they had become fast friends. So, she and Jim had asked them if they would be willing to come and perform at the wedding and of course they had said yes. The song Yes, I Do had such a special meaning for the girls, plus it just fit the occasion. 

So, Mayra and Bruno were taking their places at the side of the altar to serenade the processional and started playing. 

The best man and the maid of honor came down the aisle first. Ashlyn was holding onto Ramiro’s arm and gave a smile to her parents as they stood next to the altar. 

The music slowed down. Jim and Yam had decided that they wanted to walk down the aisle together. It also let them avoid the awkward question of whose father would walk who down. 

Jim was holding a bouquet of colorful flowers and Yam was supporting a matching corsage. Jim gave the bouquet to Ashlyn as they made it to the altar and they joined their hands together. 

“Ladies and gentlemen and everyone else who has the joy to be here today,” officiant started while Jim and Yam were staring each other in their eyes. “Welcome to the celebration of love.” 

“Yamila Sances,” Jim breathed as it was time for the vows, “We have been friends for the most of our lives, since middle school. You have always been my biggest support and confidant. I have always known I can trust you with everything. In the end, it wasn’t just friendship, it was LOVE. I love you and I promise to always be there for you, when you kick butt in the music industry and beyond. I am so excited for this new chapter together.”

“Jimena Medina. I’ve loved you ever since I can actually remember. I even love the shade of red that your hair is. I knew from the start that we would need to be in each other’s life. Either together, or as best friends. Luckily, we are getting to be both, because the strongest love is formed from friendship, am I right? This is a great new adventure for us and I am so happy we got to do it together. For the rest of our lives.”

“Do you Jimena Medina take Yamila Sances as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do!”

“Do you Yamila Sances take Jimena Medina as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

“I pronounce you wife and wife, you may kiss each other.” 

You didn’t need to tell Jim and Yam twice. They wrapped their arms around each other as their lips met and everyone cheered. 

***

“Let's all welcome our newly wedded couple!!!” The DJ announced, “Mrs. and Mrs. Medina-Sanches!!”

Jim and Yam ran inside dancing to the music before grabbing the microphone. “Welcome to our party!!! This is gonna be an amazing night!!!” 

{}

I know this wasn't as throughout as SI was, but that followed a formula. This was just a one shot, plus I am not as experineced in writing Jam. I hope you enjoyed though and leave guesses on why Ramiro is acting weirdly about his mysterious girlfriend For the vibes: Pinterest board and the Playlist